//------------------------------//
// Chapter 31 - I want it 
// Story: Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness 
// by bigsnusnu 
//------------------------------//

I want it

The Ponyville Day Spa was the perfect place to relax and leave one's worries behind, and Rarity knew it very well, she was the number one customer of that place. Whenever she felt tired, upset, sad, or just needed a place to think or vent her worries, she visited that place, where she was always well looked after by the twin girls Aloe and Lotus.

It had been days since Rarity had wanted to go to the spa, mainly to get rid of the stress after everything that had happened with Trixie and the Ursa attack. However, she decided to arm herself with patience and wait a couple of days as there was a day this week that was very special for her, the day she shared the spa with one of her best friends, a friend who had been hiding from everything and everyone for several days, however, Rarity had the confidence that she definitely wouldn’t miss their special day as spa friends.

While Rarity waited impatiently in the spa lobby, playing with the feathers of an elegant hat she was wearing, finally the one who she had waited for appeared. Opening the door to the spa, Fluttershy came in slowly, always with her shy presence, or perhaps a little more timid than usual, as Rarity instantly noticed that her friend was glancing behind her in fear, as if she was afraid that someone was observing.

"Fluttershy! You finally arrived." Rarity greeted happily, approaching her friend and inviting her to come by. "Come, dear. I have planned an extra special day for the both of us! I paid for both the full treatment of relaxation and beauty; there is so much to talk about!"

Knowing how enthusiastic her friend was when it came to the spa, Fluttershy just smiled and got carried away while Rarity told her to follow Aloe and Lotus, who had everything ready for them to have a nice and relaxing morning.

While both friends began their spa session with a nice steam bath, Rarity asked the question that had been worrying her for days now.

"Fluttershy, darling, why are you not around the other ponies these days?" Rarity asked with a trace of concern. "Were you hiding from us?"

"Eh? I... Um... No, it's not that..." Fluttershy replied timidly, lowering her head a little embarrassed. "I... I just needed to order my thoughts."

"Your thoughts? Because of what happened with the dragon?" Rarity asked worriedly.

Fluttershy nodded shyly as the steam from the sauna prevented her from seeing Rarity as Fluttershy had blushed, for when Rarity mentioned the dragon, what came to Fluttershy’s mind was not when she confronted that great beast, but what happened after, when she took Dusk Shine between her hooves and kissed him passionately, which was the real reason why she had not dared to appear in town, because even at that moment, she didn’t know what she would do if saw the others with Dusk Shine.

"Well, I guess it was normal for you to take your time to assimilate it, that it, it’s not every day you’d prepare yourself with courage, and face a huge dragon. You were really amazing!" Rarity said cheerfully, trying to motivate her friend into thinking that she was amazing when she remembered the dragon. "On the other hoof, the days that you weren’t around, many things happened."

"Oh, yes, something I heard on the way here." Fluttershy said with a thoughtful face. "It seems that a great uproar occurred."

"You can't imagine it, darling." Rarity said, excited to gossip to her friend about everything that had happened.

While both ponies were going through the different salons of the spa, taking a beauty treatment, followed by a relaxing massage, and finally taking a bath in the spa's large Jacuzzi, Rarity told Fluttershy everything that had happened in the town during those days, where obviously the most important event was everything that happened with Trixie's magic show. Meanwhile, upon learning of all that happened, Fluttershy was surprised and scared more and more to learn of the great danger that her friends had been exposed to. She never imagined that it would have been such a dangerous thing, a life-and-death situation that her friends were involved in while she had been hiding in her house because of her own silly worries! That made Fluttershy begin to feel very bad about herself for not being there with her friends, even though she knew that her presence there would have been useless.

"I... I'm sorry." Fluttershy said once Rarity finished telling her what happened, with a barely audible voice, as if she were about to cry. "I didn’t know all of that, I... I should have been with you."

"Don't worry darling. In fact, it's a good thing you weren’t, it was terrifying!" Rarity answered trying to encourage her friend. "Besides, it was really Dusk who saved the day. We didn't do anything."

At that moment Rarity remembered something else that could not be removed from her mind, from when in the duel of magic Dusk chose his three friends and did not choose her.

"I congratulate you, it's the most logical thing, to leave the dead weight behind." That's what Trixie said that time. Something that had been running around Rarity’s head and was still bothering her.

"Yes... I was totally useless..." Rarity added sadly, tormented not knowing if Dusk would truly see her as the weakest and most useless of all his friends.

Realizing that she was becoming melancholy for no reason, Rarity quickly erased those thoughts and returned to focus on Fluttershy, who had sunk deeper into the jacuzzi, keeping only her sad eyes on the water. Seeing her expression, Rarity knew immediately that Fluttershy was probably thinking the same thing she had been doing a moment ago, that she had been useless because she could not help her friends in danger, so the unicorn decided to change the subject to return to relax, after all that was the goal of going to the spa.

"Oh, Fluttershy, I just remembered, I need your help!" Rarity said with a radiant smile, lifting her front hooves out of the water and putting them on Fluttershy's shoulders to get her out of the water and look her straight in the eyes. "I want you to be my model!"

"Huh?" Fluttershy answered without understanding what her friend was talking about.

"You will not believe what happened! When I came here, I found the very same Photo Finish, the famous fashion photographer!" Rarity said very excitedly. "Don't ask me what I was doing in a town like Ponyville, but I was shocked to see a celebrity like her here, and that's not all! She came up to me! She seems to like my new hat, and she told me that we would go today in the afternoon to take some pictures in my boutique, don't you think it's great!?"

"Oh, that's fantastic." Fluttershy answered timidly, without yet understanding where she was coming in and the favor that Rarity asked of her. "But I don't understand-"

"I need somepony beautiful and elegant to model some of my designs, and you are perfect for it!" Rarity said, anticipating what Fluttershy wanted to ask.

"Um... I... I don't know." Fluttershy answered sincerely since modeling meant being the center of attention for everyone to look at her, and that was something that someone as timid as she was did not like. "N-You haven’t thought about asking the other girls?"

Thinking of her other friends, Rarity looked up and let out a sigh of disappointment thinking about what it would be like to ask her other friends to be her model. Knowing them, Applejack and Rainbow Dash would refuse immediately, and even if they accepted, they would not like to be receiving orders and would dislike being photographed wearing a beautiful dress. While Pinkie Pie would definitely approve, but Rarity could already see how her crazy friend would cause a big uproar, dressing in all her clothes at once while doing ridiculous poses for the camera.

"No, darling, you are definitely the ideal for this work." Rarity finally responded, moving closer to Fluttershy and looking at her with big puppy eyes. "Please! Please! Please!"

Fluttershy stared nervously at Rarity's pleading eyes. She didn’t want to play the role of a model, and less in front of a professional photographer, however, she could not say no to a friend who needed her, even after not being there with them when they faced a huge Ursa.

"I-It's okay..." Fluttershy finally said, agreeing to help her friend.

"I knew I could count on you, darling." Rarity said giving a small and affectionate hug to her friend.

"Sorry, Rarity." Aloe suddenly said, entering the main room where the jacuzzi was. "There is somepony who wants to see you, and I thought it would not be bad to let it go." the pink pony added, smiling knowingly as she looked at Rarity.

Then, after Aloe, appeared Dusk Shine, and he has recovered a little from the wounds he suffered after the blow of the Ursa, but still had some bandages on his torso and one of his hind legs.

"Hi, I knew I would find you two here." Dusk said with joy when he saw the heads of his two friends in the jacuzzi, knowing in advance that Fluttershy and Rarity usually went together that day of the week to the spa. "I... I wanted to know if we could talk for a moment." Dusk added, getting a little nervous for some reason, diverting his gaze and looking at the floor.

Suddenly Rarity heard bubbles at her side, where Fluttershy had been slowly lowering her head under the water while her face had gone completely red and it looked like the pegasus was foaming at her mouth because it was underwater.

"It can't be! Why is he here! I'm not ready yet! I don't know what to do!" Fluttershy thought hysterically, that as soon as she saw Dusk appear, she became completely red with embarrassment. However, the initial embarrassment she had, slowly gave way to fear and guilt. "Oh my! He really came out very hurt from that time, he still has bandages, and I was not there to support him as all the others were! I... I'm the worst friend in the world!"

"We'll go right away!" Rarity said with a smile, getting up from the jacuzzi.

"Oh! Um... I... actually wanted to talk to Fluttershy, alone if possible." Dusk said a little uncomfortable to see that he had not explained well who he wanted to talk to.

"I choose Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash!" It was what Rarity immediately recalled when she saw Dusk again leave her aside, such as the day of the magic duel with Trixie.

"I-It's okay... no problem, hehe." Rarity tried to smile even though she felt a temporary pain in her chest.

Upon hearing that Dusk wanted to talk to her alone, Fluttershy became much more nervous and left the jacuzzi slowly and awkwardly, at which time Lotus, the sister of Aloe, ran to dry her. As soon as Fluttershy was completely dry, she approached slowly with her head down to where Dusk was, without being able to look him in the eyes, much like Dusk, who when approaching Fluttershy, also became somewhat nervous. Then both ponies walked silently out of the jacuzzi room to leave the spa together.

"Wow... Why were they so nervous?" Aloe asked approaching the Jacuzzi, taking advantage of the fact that Dusk and Fluttershy had left, ready to talk about rumors with their best client and personal friend, Rarity.

"Surely it's because of the kiss..." Rarity answered in a muffled voice, and her head bowed, slowly emerging from the jacuzzi.

"Noooo! Dusk kissed Fluttershy!?" Aloe asked surprised, approaching with a towel to dry Rarity. "Then they're dating!?"

"No, it was more of an accident. Fluttershy was too excited and... well, it's a long story." Rarity answered again with the same tone of voice and her head still crouched.

"Oh... well, accidents happen." Aloe said, carefully drying Rarity's beautiful tail and nimbly combing it back into her usual elegant style. "But the best part is that you're still in the competition, are you not? You're going to make Dusk fall with your charms at any time, that's for sure!"

At Aloe's comment, Rarity was silent for a few seconds. Aloe knew that Rarity was after Dusk Shine, after all, she had been there when they met, so every time Rarity went to the spa, she enjoyed that girl talk in which she found out what that supposed love relationship was like.

"And why would he be interested in somepony like me?" Rarity asked finally, still not showing her face to Aloe, who was still drying the hooves and body of Rarity.

"Why? Because you're beautiful, one of the most beautiful mares in town, you don’t know how many mares come to the spa saying how envious they are of you, and I suppose that also includes me a little bit, haha." Aloe answered honestly, who had always admired the good taste, elegance and natural beauty that her friend had.

"That's just superficial... True love... value the inside." Rarity added in the same muted tone of voice, suddenly realizing something. "Maybe... my inside is wrong..."

"What are you talking about? You're even more beautiful on the inside!" Aloe said surprised at what Rarity said. "You helped my sister and I when we needed it the most, without you our dream of doing a spa would never have been realized! You are the most generous and self-less pony I know!"

Aloe finished speaking, just as she finished drying Rarity's hair, then she stood in front of her with a smile to finally see her face, but her smile disappeared instantly upon seeing Rarity's face.

"Sniff... then... Why am I the last one?" Rarity said looking at the ground with concern as tears ran down her cheeks. "Why are you leaving me out? Sniff... W-Why... why don't you like me?" Rarity added, crying tenderly as her frustration and doubts finally came to light.

Meanwhile, Dusk and Fluttershy had finally left the spa, then both stopped outside and stood, facing each other while an uncomfortable silence reigned and neither of them was able to look at each other in the eyes, with fear of what the other was thinking and feeling.

"This is really uncomfortable... She isn't even looking at me in the face, she should definitely be mad at me..." Dusk thought concerned, who had already drawn his conclusions about what he thought was happening. "She hasn’t talked to me for days, she has talked to every other pony but me, she didn't even appear for the magic duel that day... Maybe she’s upset about that kiss? After all, I am a colt. I am stronger. I could’ve stopped her. I let myself go and kissed her when she wasn't emotionally well... Does she think I abused her, is that why she doesn't want to talk to me anymore?"

"What do I do! He must hate me!" Fluttershy thought at the same time as her inherent insecurity played tricks on her. "First I forced him to kiss me and then I wasn’t there when he needed me most... I... I was so nervous about the kiss, I didn’t leave my house in days, but that's no excuse! Just as the other girls were, they are real friends, but I... Oh no, what if he doesn't even want to be my friend anymore!?"

"F-Fluttershy..." Dusk finally said nervous, deciding to break the silence and speak first of something that was not related to the kiss, since from that event was what caused Fluttershy to stop talking to him. "I-I haven’t seen you for a long time... M-Many things have happened around here. As you can see from my bandages, some real dangerous things happened, but luckily the other girls were there to support me, hehe... Still, it caught my attention that you were not-"

"No..." Fluttershy interrupted in a strangled whisper, with a face of horror, breathing agitatedly and with her eyes about to cry. "No! Don't say you don't want to be my friend anymore; don't say you don't want to see me anymore. I wouldn't be able stand it!" Fluttershy was terrified that Dusk would want to end their friendship.

"No!" Fluttershy screamed again, crying, turning and fleeing, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to hear Dusk say something so cruel.

Seeing Fluttershy flee, Dusk instantly felt a pain in his chest to confirm the fear that had been in his mind all those days, and now it was a reality. Apparently, Fluttershy hated him.





The Carousel Boutique was chaotic, though not literally. Well, although everything was in perfect order for the next visits to receive, the cries, comings and goings of Rarity made everything seem chaotic.

It was only minutes before Photo Finish arrived at the boutique and Rarity still felt dissatisfied, and it wasn’t because of her model, it was because Fluttershy had arrived more than an hour ago and had tried every dress that Rarity wanted, literally following every instruction she had given her, it was the insecurity of the white unicorn that didn't let her be calm.

"No! It's not good yet!" Rarity said looking at Fluttershy carefully, who was wearing a beautiful evening dress designed by Rarity. "Pincushion!"

As soon as Rarity said 'pincushion' Spike appeared almost magically next to the unicorn, lifting his back so that Rarity could get the pins she had accidentally stuck into Spike's hard scales. Something that the unicorn still didn’t realize, since she only stretched her hoof and took out a pin without seeing, always with her eyes fixed on the dress, just thinking that Spike was offering her usual pincushion.

While Rarity was retouching the dress for the hundredth time, Spike only looked with the face of a fool in love with the beautiful unicorn, thanking his luck for being able to be useful to such a beautiful being.

"Anything to see her smile..." Spike thought dumbfounded, not realizing that Rarity was so tense that she neither smiled nor realized what Spike was doing for her.

"More ribbons!" Rarity shouted, while Spike ran to put more ribbons to the headdress that Fluttershy wore on her head. "No! Less ribbon!" She immediately retracted, while Spike removed the ribbons he had just put.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy stood like a statue, obeying everything Rarity had said, making a promise to herself that she would not disappoint her friend, no, she would never repeat the terrible mistake she had made with Dusk Shine, she would never disappoint a friend again, even if they ask her to do something she didn't like, as was the case now.

Rarity stretched her hoof to take another pin, but when she did not find it, she finally turned her attention from the dress for a second.

"Pincush-!" Rarity shouted looking at the ground, only to see Spike, who wasn’t able to arrive in time for Rarity since he was putting the ribbons on Fluttershy. "Spike, what's on your back!?" Rarity screamed in horror when seeing her pins stuck in Spike's back.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt, my scales are very hard, it's like acupuncture." Spike smiled sweetly.

That pause in his accelerated work finally made Rarity see what was happening around her. She had been using poor innocent Spike as a pincushion and the poor little dragon didn’t say anything to disturb her; and there was also Fluttershy, who barely breathed as she tried to look like a mannequin.

"Oh no, please forgive me." Rarity said sadly, pulling with her magic all the needles from Spike's back and caressing him with her cheek tenderly as she looked at Fluttershy. "I let myself be carried away by my stress, you just wanted to help me, and I was abusing your goodwill."

"No, it's okay, you just want it to go perfect, and we really want to help you, right, Spike?" Fluttershy answered with a tender smile.

"Heh... Hehehe... Heh..." It was all Spike could say, giggling foolishly as he had lost all reasoning as he was caressed sweetly by the soft cheek of his beloved.

"I-I will give it my best effort." Fluttershy added, determined not to disappoint her great friend.

"I'm sure you will." Rarity answered with a satisfied smile, knowing that she could totally trust her friend. "Just follow my instructions and everything will come out-"

Clink-Clink! The bells at the entrance of the boutique rung and interrupted what Rarity wanted to say. The two ponies that were dressed in tights entered instantly, immediately putting on elegant poses and making their way for a pony with light blue hair, white hair, and wearing a bulky black dress with white, a set that combined perfectly with a big and opaque pink lens that covered her eyes completely.

"I, Photo Finish, have arrived." The pony of the pink lenses said proudly, making an elegant pose, worthy of a fashion catalog.

Both Fluttershy and Rarity froze on their nerves, knowing that the time for which they had prepared so much had finally arrived.

"P-Photo Finish, it's an honor-" Rarity greeted nervously, approaching the famous photographer.

Rarity was instantly silent when she saw that Photo Finish passed by her without even seeing her as if she had not heard her. Then Photo Finish stopped in front of Fluttershy, who made every effort to not be nervous.

"Yes ... this can be useful..." Photo Finish said speaking to herself. A comment that made a smile grow on Rarity’s face, she was happy to see that they valued their hard work in that dress. "Okay, let's start."

Then Photo Finish opened a suitcase that one of her assistants gave her, from which came a large camera. Then the photographer got into position behind the camera and only raised one of her hooves, which Fluttershy and Rarity had to assume that it meant she was ready to take pictures.

"I know you can do this. Remember, attitude!" Rarity whispered quickly into Fluttershy's ear to give her confidence, coming out from the scene quick so Photo Finish could do her job.

Fluttershy took a breath, gave a big sigh, and showed the most determined face she had shown until then, prepared to do whatever it took to help Rarity and so little by little to mend her grave mistake for having been a bad friend.

Fluttershy made each and every one of the poses that Rarity had shown her and taught her about fashion photographs, making heroic poses, dramatic turns, fatal looks, all perfect, all worthy of a professional model, something that moved and made Rarity very happy. However, the one who was not as excited as her was Photo Finish, who had been silent for the entire time, with each moment took pictures more slowly, just moving her right hoof occasionally as if she was trying to push a fly away from her.

"What's wrong with her? Obviously, she's a professional model, why isn’t she paying attention to the signals I give her?" Photo Finish thought frustrated, believing that Fluttershy was a professional when she saw those poses. "She's making good poses, but that's not what I'm looking for, do I have to tell her with words what I want as if she were a rookie!?"

Finally there came a moment when Fluttershy made another beautiful catalog pose, showing a flirtatious look, however, Photo Finish did not take the photo, instead, she just lowered her head and sighed disappointedly, thinking that all of this had been a waste of time

Clink-Clink! For the second time, the boutique bells rang, welcoming a well-known lavender colt.

"Sorry for the intrusion Rarity, but you haven’t seen Spike have you?" Dusk Shine asked as soon as he entered the boutique. "I've been looking for him for hours and-"

Dusk Shine was immediately silent to see that it seemed that he has interrupted something important, since the boutique was with several ponies, all turning to see who had interrupted them. The only one who did not seem to pay attention to Dusk was the photographer, who was always submerged in her own world and just kept waiting for that spectacular photo that she thought she could achieve when she saw that innocent yellow pegasus.

As soon as Dusk entered the boutique, Rarity's heart was glad. Arriving at such a precise moment was the best thing that could ever happen to her, so he can see her prevailing with one of her designs, being photographed by the most famous fashion photographer of Equestria, it was what she needed as an impulse to show Dusk her value as a mare, now he would see her triumph!

Also, Fluttershy’s mood had immediately changed, upon seeing Dusk enter, she instantly forgot her poses, and everything related to the photographer, becoming very nervous, much more than usual, hiding behind her hair, not wanting Dusk to see her at that moment, less after what had happened that morning.

"Yes!" Photo Finish suddenly shouted, coming back to life as her camera flash flashed one after the other as she pulled out a flurry of photos of Fluttershy.

"You came at the best time!" Rarity said approaching Dusk with a big smile, inviting him to move forward and enter where everyone else was.

"Huh... I... I just came for Spike..." Dusk said totally nervous, glancing at Fluttershy, and being reminded of that morning. "I-I don't think it's a good idea to be here... They must be busy."

"Not at all darling, you see, today in the morning I was wearing one of my most elegant hats, then you will not believe what happened to me! The pony herself Photo Fi-" Rarity said, beginning to tell what happened that morning, one of the most exciting moments that had happened to her, however, she stopped when she saw that Dusk didn’t even look at her.

Rarity followed Dusk's gaze and saw that he was fixed on Fluttershy, both glancing at each other with nervous glances. In that instant Rarity bit her lip with discomfort, feeling a twinge of pain in her chest as she felt ignored again by Dusk, it was even more painful to see that it was just when she felt she was doing something memorable and worthy of admiration.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy could not help but glance at Dusk while Dusk approached at Rarity's request, which made her breathing shake and becoming increasingly nervous and uncomfortable. The only thing Fluttershy thought was that he wanted to get out of there, she did not want to force Dusk to be seeing a bad friend like her, and most importantly, she did not want Dusk to come up and tell her that their friendship was over, just like In her imagination it had almost happened that morning, something that just by remembering it, made Fluttershy feel a pain in her chest, just as her friend felt, only for a totally different reason.

The shy Pegasus unconsciously took a step back from the fear of being near Dusk. Then she accidentally stepped on the edge of her dress, lost her balance and fell over.

Photo Finish instantly stopped taking pictures and looked at Fluttershy with a stern look, as if what she had just done was not of a professional of her standards.

"E-Everything is fine!" Rarity shouted when she saw Photo Finish dissatisfied, quickly approaching her friend to help her get up. "Easy, you’re doing well, just do what I told you." Rarity whispered in Fluttershy's ear as she helped her.

"It's true, I can't disappoint Rarity, no matter how I feel, I have to do this!" Fluttershy thought with determination, ready to start making the poses that Rarity had taught her, just as she had at the beginning. However, unfortunately, Fluttershy's feelings prevented her from complying fully with what she wanted.

Fluttershy started making the poses that Rarity had shown her, ready for Photo Finish to take her pictures, however, each time she made a pose, she could feel Dusk staring at her, and as much as she tried with all her might, she couldn’t help but get nervous. Every time she made an elegant and serious pose, it lasted only a couple of seconds, then she could not help but glance nervously and turn her head in shame so that Dusk would not see her.

While Fluttershy was making these strange poses, Rarity could not believe what was happening. Her friend was making perfect poses, but then ruined them shortly after, and the worst of all was that to her bad luck it seemed that Photo Finish took a picture of Fluttershy when she stopped making an elegant pose!

"Why, why are you doing this Fluttershy!?" Rarity thought frightened and frustrated to see how her chance to be recognized was fading because of Fluttershy and her strange poses. "Is she doing it on purpose? Maybe she... No! That's impossible! How can such a thought occur to me!" Rarity immediately dismissed her thoughts, knowing that her friend could never do such a thing to her.

"Keep a single pose! Stop changing so suddenly!" Photo Finish shouted suddenly, annoyed by Fluttershy's unprofessionalism. The only reason why she kept taking photos was because despite everything while taking the photos, she could see the potential that was in front of her.

For his part, Dusk Shine couldn't help but cover his eyes from embarrassment to see that Fluttershy was acting so weird in front of a professional photographer. If he could, he would have done anything to help Fluttershy, but obviously, that wouldn’t have been professional and the photographer could also get angry with Rarity, and also... surely Fluttershy didn’t want him near her, definitely, she must still be angry with him.

The shout of Photo Finish had made Fluttershy totally nervous, but what was decisive was seeing Dusk Shine covering his eyes so he would not see her, making her determination to help Rarity completely shaken, to the point that Fluttershy could not perform any more elegant poses and would only try to hide behind her mane, without the courage to run away from there.

At that moment, Photo Finish took out a series of quick photos, pressing her camera consistently, and automatically saving them into her suitcase again.

"I'm done!" Photo Finish said, turning around and heading towards the exit, without looking or speaking to anyone, followed by her two assistants. "What a waste, only half of the photos went well..."

Both Fluttershy and Rarity were silent with their heads down, knowing that everything had been a disaster despite all the effort they had given.

"Tomorrow we will repeat it, photo shoot in the park." Photo Finish said surprisingly as one of her assistants opened the door of the boutique. Then she and her assistants left the boutique and closed the door.

"This. Can’t. Be... Did you hear that!? She asked for another photo session!" Rarity shouted totally excited after knowing that her chance to be a star was still alive. "I can't believe she's giving me another chance!"

"I... I'm sorry, it was my fault." Fluttershy said with sorrow, approaching her friend.

"That isn’t true darling." Rarity said with a fake smile, then put on a more tender and worried look. "You did very well, and tomorrow we'll do even better! Just... remember, tomorrow do exactly what I ask, and don't get nervous."

As soon as Rarity said to not get nervous, she did the exact opposite, Fluttershy glanced sideways at Dusk, who was looking at both of them intently. Then Fluttershy looked away, hiding her face with her hair, not being able to look at Dusk in the eye, knowing that he must hate her for being a bad friend.

"I understand... Not only are you angry with me, you don’t even want to see me..." Dusk thought sadly, slowly and quietly leaving the boutique.





"That’s it! That's the perfect one!" Rarity said excitedly to see how well Fluttershy had one of her most beautiful outfits, a tight white suit decorated with bright blue sapphires.

Fluttershy and Rarity had spent the entire morning in the park, preparing for the arrival of Photo Finish, trying on dress after dress until finally Rarity was pleased.

"This dress will definitely fascinate you!" Rarity said, smiling proudly of her work, then looking at Fluttershy with a little more seriousness. "Now, remember Fluttershy, we shall not repeat the same mistakes of yesterday, you will concentrate, make the poses as I taught you, show with a unique pose to the beauty and elegance of a mare!"

"Yes, I won’t disappoint you this time!" Fluttershy answered full of confidence. "Also, Dusk isn’t here today, so I'll be able to concentrate without having any problems." Fluttershy thought relieved.

"Quick, we're late." Photo Finish suddenly said, finally appearing in the park followed by a retinue of ponies who attended her. Saying as if Rarity and Fluttershy were the ones who had arrived late to the place.

As soon as Fluttershy looked at Photo Finish, she concentrated, and before they even gave her an order, she made a great and elegant pose, much more dramatic and elegant than any of the poses made yesterday, worthy of the cover of any magazine.

"That's it! Fluttershy looks spectacular!" Rarity thought proudly of her friend. "I knew she could do it if she followed my advice, she-"

"What do you think you’re doing? Didn’t you understand anything I said yesterday?" Photo Finish said, totally annoyed by Fluttershy's unprofessionalism. "Stop doing that pose and get out of that ridiculous dress."

At Photo Finish’s comment, both Fluttershy and Rarity froze, as none of them expected the famous photographer to react to what they thought was right. The one who was hurt the most was Rarity, especially by the fact that someone of the caliber of Photo Finish would have called her suit that she considered cute, ridiculous. All that hard work she put in seemed like it wasn’t enough to satisfy her.

While both the mares remained frozen still, Photo Finish turned around and began giving instructions to her assistants. At that moment one of the photographer's assistants approached her boss, the only one of the assistants who had the courage to ask the question that everyone was asking at that moment.

"Excuse me, Madame." The assistant said timidly, who very rarely had dared to speak to her boss, but she found that this time it was necessary.

"What do you want." Photo Finish said without paying much attention, while still giving orders to the other attendees.

"I... um... I don't think that dress that the model was wearing is ridiculous, I think it's very nice." The assistant said with some fear.

"I already know that, I said it because I'm really annoyed that they are not following my instructions." Photo Finish responded as if what she was saying was the most obvious thing in the world. "That dress is very beautiful, but I don't need a dress to overshadow the model, the model must shine with their own light, that's what I'm looking for, that's why I came to this town! I'm looking for something unique!"

When listening to her wise boss, the assistant gave a smile of relief to see that her fashion sense was not bad at all, something very different from what was going through the mind of Rarity at that moment.

"Rarity, are you okay?" Fluttershy asked worried when she saw Rarity’s face, who had a face of pain that she couldn’t hide.

"Huh... I-I... y-yes, yes, I'm fine, don't worry." Rarity answered with difficulty, her mouth dry and showing a sad smile.

"Rarity, this dress is beautiful, I don’t think she knows what she's talking about." Fluttershy said honestly.

"N-No... she must be right, she's a fashion expert after all..." Rarity said with a sad look as if she had lost something very dear to her. Something not very far from reality, because with just one word, Photo Finish had made Rarity question all her sense of what she found beautiful and elegant. "Do what she tells you... take off your dress, maybe she wants to see another of my designs."

"Oh, no, no costumes, the model must be natural." Said the Photo Finish assistant, who reached out to hear Rarity's comment.

"B-But then how is she going to do-" Rarity said confused, stopping abruptly to suddenly realize the truth as she spoke. "She... She's not interested in me... She's interested in... Fluttershy." Rarity said almost in a whisper as she felt her dreams break completely.

"Huh!?" Fluttershy said surprised and scared at what Rarity had just said. Feeling great sorrow at seeing the pain on Rarity's face. "T-That's not possible... I... I won’t continue with this."

"Don't!" Rarity shouted immediately, waking up and taking Fluttershy by the shoulders to stare at her. "Listen Fluttershy, this is a unique opportunity! You can become a great star, be famous! P-Please, don’t sacrifice this great opportunity because of me..." At that moment Rarity did everything possible to remove the grief and disappointment in her heart and spoke to her friend with a sincere smile. "I would feel even worse if you lose this opportunity because of me, do it for both of us! Become a star for both of us! I... I’ll be supporting you."

Fluttershy looked at her friend's sad eyes and couldn’t help but share that same grief she felt, as well as a great guilt, since after all, she had seen how excited Rarity had been for all that, and now, without even meaning to, she had taken away her dream. And not only that, but now Rarity is supporting her in that stolen dream! Her dear friend sincerely wanted her to continue with that and triumph in her place. That being said, what other options did Fluttershy have but to accept? Although she’d give everything to go from being with her animals to helping her friends, fame was something that she didn't want at all in her life.

"It's... It's okay if that’s what you want." Answered Fluttershy, smiling kindly at Rarity, determined to respond to the confidence that her friend was giving her.

The photo session began, with Fluttershy in the center of a small garden, while Photo Finish was facing her a few steps away, with her camera ready to work. While Rarity only managed to be with the assistance of the famous photographer, who were much further away from Fluttershy and Photo Finish.

Moments before Photo Finish began taking her photographs, Fluttershy thought that although the objective of all that had changed, because now she was not even wearing a beautiful dress from Rarity to exhibit, she thought that she could similarly show that the sense of Rarity's fashion and beauty was not bad at all, so Fluttershy decided that she would still follow her friend's advice on modeling, about being quiet and quiet as a mannequin while putting on an elegant pose and following every order that was given to her.

With this thought, Fluttershy began to pose for the camera, just like yesterday, however, also like the day before, this only discouraged the famous photographer.

"Ugh, what don’t you understand!? Do what you did yesterday!" Screamed Photo Finish, finally deciding to talk to the model, as it seemed that her initial assessment had been wrong and that yellow pegasus was really only a rookie in modeling.

"I... I do that..." Fluttershy said in a nervous voice, but without losing her elegant pose or serious look, determined to faithfully follow the advice Rarity had given her.

"What is this? It seems she really doesn’t understand... I want something more natural! A genuine reaction and emotion, a real-" Photo Finish thought, stopping her train of thought after remembering something that could help to repeat the magic that she had sporadically managed to capture in her camera that day.

At that moment Photo Finish raised her hoove and instantly, two of her assistants ran to where she was. Then the photographer whispered something to the both of them and suddenly the assistants ran at full speed towards the town.

A couple of minutes passed in which Fluttershy remained immobile maintaining the same pose, not knowing what to do, since Rarity had told her that a model should be silent unless given some instruction, however, in all that time, Photo Finish just sat there, waiting for something that only she seemed to know what it was.

Then, finally, the photographer's assistants returned, but not alone, they returned with a third pony. Rarity was the first to realize who this third-known pony was.

"Why did they bring Dusk Shine here!?" Rarity thought uneasily, slightly suspecting the reason for the lavender colt's presence there.

"Who’s in danger!?" Dusk Shine asked as soon as he arrived, looking around, but seeing that it seemed like everything was quiet, he turned to see Photo Finish assistants. "You said-"

"Of course there’s something in danger, my photo shoot!" Photo Finish said annoyed as if every word was lost time. "Now go up there with the model."

As soon as Fluttershy saw Dusk, she immediately lost her composure and stopped doing her elegant pose and returned to her shy posture.

"Perfect!" immediately said by Photo Finish, taking advantage of the fact that Fluttershy had finally returned to the innate shyness that she so much wanted to photograph.

Dusk was confused for a second, trying to understand what was happening. It seemed that no one was in danger and that it had only been an excuse to go there to be photographed along with Fluttershy for some reason, but why him? In addition, although he didn’t understand the whole environment, Dusk did know something, and that was that Fluttershy didn’t want to be with him, or at least that's what he thought.

"I... I don't think it's a good idea to stand next to her." Dusk said to the photographer.

"Why? Don't you want to help her have some good pictures? Don’t you want to help her be recognized and famous? I need to photograph you both together!" Asked Photo Finish, without taking her eye off the camera.

Dusk turned to see Fluttershy, who in vain was trying to make a pose while also trying to hide her face behind her mane at the same time to avoid looking at Dusk.

"The photographer wants me to be with Fluttershy. If I refuse, maybe she'll get angry and leave, I should do it, maybe... maybe this is the opportunity to talk to her..." Dusk thought, deciding to follow the photographer’s steps.

As Dusk approached, Fluttershy became weaker and weaker as she tried to keep the poses that Rarity had taught her. As he stood at her side, the only thing that Fluttershy could maintain was her gaze away from Dusk's, looking towards the horizon, not realizing that the rest of her body had lost its mettle and kept her typical shy stance.

"Fluttershy... Can we talk?" Dusk asked once he stood next to Fluttershy.

"Don't say anything." Fluttershy responded immediately, after looking askance at Rarity and swearing to herself again that she would not disappoint her, so she had to keep quiet, just as Rarity had taught her that she should make a good model. She had to overcome her nerves by being with Dusk at that precise moment, and for that, as much as she wanted to, she should not talk to him in the photo session.

"Oh... It's... It's okay... I'm sorry." Dusk answered with regret, feeling rejected and looking with sorrow to another side.

"Yes! That's right! Keep it up! Perfect!" Photo Finish said ecstatic, happy to finally be able to take the photos of Fluttershy on her most timid side; and even happier to see Dusk's reaction. That couple looked so naturally beautiful in their feelings that Photo Finish finally began to photograph the couple from different angles while they remained motionless in their own thoughts. "You will be the most famous couple of all Equestria! I can feel it! This will be sensational!"

"Couple? That would never happen, he hates me!" Fluttershy thought sadly when she heard Photo Finish's comment.

"Couple? That would never happen, she hates me!" Dusk thought sadly when he heard Photo Finish's comment.

"Couple? That... Will that be true?" Rarity thought nervously when she heard Photo Finish's comment.

Although Rarity had told Fluttershy to continue with the photo shoot for the two of them, the truth was that since the session had begun, she had begun to feel a great emptiness in her heart, which had grown when she saw that her friend was stealing her dream of being famous, and her dream of being a recognized couple in love with Dusk.

"They... they really look like a shy couple in love, they're not even able to look at each other in the eye or in front of the cameras, they are... two of a kind..." Rarity thought sadly as she saw her lover and her great friend shared that 'happy moment' together, not realizing how uncomfortable her two friends really felt at that precise moment.





"Your dress was very beautiful." Suddenly one of the assistants of Photo Finish said, who was standing next to Rarity.

"Huh? Oh, thank you..." Rarity answered a little surprised when she heard someone talking to her.

"It's a shame, actually the Madame had been interested in your designs, if it had not been for that model, you would be the one that would be photographed." The assistant added, trying to cheer up Rarity by revealing that truth to her.

"If it had not been for that model? Does that mean it was Fluttershy's fault? Did she do something wrong? Then why did they choose her over me? And if so... What if she did something wrong on purpose to take away my dream?" Rarity thought, misunderstanding what the assistant had just said, again thinking that Fluttershy could have intentionally sabotaged her, just as she had thought the day before. "N-No! That's ridiculous... I'm thinking too much... It's... It's ridiculous." Rarity discarded that crazy idea from her head again, however, unlike the yesterday, this time that thought was not something she could erase completely from err mind.

"Very well, enough of nature, let's continue with the photos in the studio, I need the right light for the next shots." Photo Finish suddenly said, keeping her camera and starting to walk towards the town, quickly followed by all her assistants.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy looked at the photographer and then turned to see Rarity, unsure of what to do.

"D-Don't worry... go with them, I'll be fine." Rarity said with a false smile, determined to trust her friend until the end.

Fluttershy stared at the floor for a few seconds, then sighed and finally followed Photo Finish group into town, with a fixed goal in mind: Don't disappoint Rarity!

While Fluttershy was leaving, Dusk took the advantage to quickly approach Rarity to clear the doubts that he still had.

"Rarity, what was all that about?" Dusk asked confused. "Why were they photographing Fluttershy? Why did they ask me to accompany her? And how come they’re not taking pictures of your dresses?"

"Well... It seems they’re more interested in Fluttershy..." Rarity said sadly, but she immediately realized that she shouldn’t be sad about that and put on a nervous smile. "B-But don't worry, I-I'm really glad that she's being valued... in my place..."

"Oh... I see..." Dusk said scratching his head, regretting that Rarity didn’t understood what he asked, but relieved to know that she was okay, without realizing the truth. "So... what should I do now? Should I follow Fluttershy to her photo shoot?"

That question from Dusk, made an idea come to Rarity's mind. She remained silent for a few seconds, not knowing whether to put that idea into motion or not, as she was afraid of the answer she might get, however, she finally summoned up enough courage and asked.

"Y-You know, I just remembered that I have another photo shoot somewhere else..." Rarity lied, glancing at Dusk with insecurity. "You... you could come with me, or maybe you... you prefer to go with Fluttershy. Whatever you choose will be fine for me..."

"Stay with me, please! I feel so sad and alone right now... Even if it's just this time, just this time! Choose me! Please choose me!" Rarity thought intensely at that very moment.

Before his decision that he was about to take, Dusk remained thoughtful for a second, immediately analyzing logically which was the best option. Dusk immediately prioritized that he still had to try to solve his problem with Fluttershy, although she didn’t want to talk to him, he should keep trying to solve that big problem. In addition, Fluttershy surely was not used to cameras as Rarity is, she would definitely know how to handle herself better in a photo session than Fluttershy, after all, Dusk always found Rarity’s great inner strength admirable in comparison to Fluttershy or any of his other friends.

"I think I'll go with Fluttershy if it's okay for you." Dusk said after arriving at a logical answer, without realizing the Rarity’s true feelings at that time.

"I-It's okay." Rarity said with her voice almost on the verge of breaking, doing her best to show a trembling smile as she felt the feeling of rejection once again, her heart broke.

That's how Dusk left to catch up with Fluttershy, not realizing that he not only has one problem, but now two. Two hearts about to break without the possibility of a solution.





The small Ponyville events room had been taken as the venue for Photo Finish’s photo shoot. And there, in the center of everything, were Dusk Shine and Fluttershy, surrounded by lights, in front of a white background, in front of the whole group of Photo Finish’s team, who remained behind the photographer as she quickly took picture after picture. Photos that in her opinion went perfect, since, in all that time, neither Dusk nor Fluttershy had even looked at each other, both seemed so shy and uncomfortable together that you could even feel it in the air, a feeling that Photo Finish enjoyed trying to translate it into her work.

From the beginning of the photo shoot, Dusk had waited until there was some sought of break time so he would not interrupt Fluttershy's work or ruin the photos, however, everything had happened too quickly. As soon as he arrived at the living room, the Photo Finish assistants made him go up against his will, and immediately put him on the spot next to Fluttershy, who, as in the whole morning, didn’t even look at him; and then of course there was a series of photos that had not stopped for a second, so Dusk could only stand there, uncomfortable, without even being able to talk to his friend to resolve the great misunderstanding that was between them.

Meanwhile, in Fluttershy's mind, everything was in chaos.

"This is the worst thing that’s happening to me! Photo Finish is forcing Dusk to pose with me, but I know he must be thinking about how bad it feels to be with a bad friend like me!" Fluttershy thought desolate, still thinking that she was a bad friend and that Dusk must hate her for that. "I don't want to be here, but what can I do? I promised Rarity!"

Every time Fluttershy looked melancholy, it was as if Photo Finish found gold in front of her, the photographs kept coming out and taking the best angle of that shy and melancholy pegasus. And in the opinion of the photographer, the male model was not left behind, because although she had initially brought him here to only bring out the feelings of the Pegasus, that lavender unicorn hasn’t even understood what his role was about, giving looks of bewilderment and he doubts that they fit perfectly with the eyes of the pegasus. Now Photo Finish was sure; those two ponies were exactly what she had been looking for! She already had the photos, and now it was time to take the next big step.

"I think I will make a fashion show, and it will be the best way to let the world know my two new diamonds in the rough." Photo Finish suddenly said, stopping her photo picking and turning to see her three assistants and point at each one of them. "You, interview the models, I need their stories for the magazine. You, bring me a coffee. And you, bring me a pencil and paper, I need to write a letter to Hoity Toity."

Instantly, Photo Finish’s assistants ran to do what they were told to do. One of the attendants immediately approached Dusk and began to ask several questions while writing down what he said carefully, all to the dismay of Dusk, who had waited for that little break to finally be able to talk to Fluttershy. On the other hand, this was the perfect opportunity for Fluttershy to finally be able to think about what to do to get out of this uncomfortable situation.

Fluttershy sighed and closed her eyes, trying to calm down for the first time today and tried to think about everything more clearly, however it was more difficult due to the noise of the room, since behind it was Dusk talking to one of the assistants, apparently talking about what happened at the Summer Sun Celebration; and on the other hand there was Photo Finish, who spoke quickly while dictating a letter to her assistant, something that Fluttershy unconsciously couldn’t stop paying attention to since they were talking about her.

"...I finally found that 'something special' I was looking for when coming to a small town like this." Photo Finish said, dictating the letter to her assistant. "These new models, you can almost see in the photographs their true feelings! They are so shy and uncomfortable together, but you can feel that there is something beyond that! Those feelings, I want to capture those true feelings! I'm tired of photographing the same false faces of those models of the capital..."

"Wait... Is that what you like, that I'm shy and uncomfortable with Dusk Shine?" Fluttershy thought surprised, finally realizing why Rarity's beautiful dress didn’t satisfy Photo Finish. "It's not that Rarity was wrong, it's just that Photo Finish wanted something different! She wanted somepony shy like me..."

Realizing that, Fluttershy sighed in relief that she could make Rarity feel better knowing that, but she became concerned, even more than before, to discover something else, something more problematic.

"This is bad! She wants to photograph somepony as shy as me, and I... I can't stop being what I am! What can I do? How can I stop her from admiring me so that she will finally leave me alone?" Fluttershy thought frightened, but immediately realized the obvious answer. "If she wants to photograph somepony who is really shy, then she'll hate to photograph somepony who does something daring, if I can do that, then she'll not want to photograph me anymore, and Rarity will not be mad at me for giving up." Fluttershy thought innocently.

Meanwhile…

"Fluttershy?" Dusk asked after the assistant stopped interviewing him; however, Fluttershy didn't seem to listen and continued with a face of absolute concentration.

"Wow... she’s really concentrating... Maybe while I wasn’t here Photo Finish gave her some instructions... Who would even say that she would like these kinds of things..." Dusk thought a bit surprised, determined to put more effort into the photographs to help Fluttershy and so she could forgive him for what he thought he had done wrong.

At the end of Dusk’s interview, the assistant of Photo Finish finished her notes and set out to interview Fluttershy. However, she was immediately stopped by her boss, who had already finished dictating the letter.

"We’ll continue with the interviews later, now let's continue with the photographs!" shouted Photo Finish, putting herself back behind her camera. "Let the magic begin again!"

While Photo Finish’s assistants ran to get in position and adjust the lights of the set, a shadow slipped behind the window of that room to secretly spy on that photo shoot. That mysterious shadow that had gone unnoticed was Rarity, who had done her best to resist going to observe the photoshoot Dusk and Fluttershy, but finally, her insecurities about what could happen between them led her to go after them and spy on them from a distance.

"I know it's not good to spy, but I... I need to know if there's really anything going on between them!" Rarity thought completely worried, afraid of what she might see there now that Fluttershy and Dusk thought she wasn't watching.

"Action!" Photo Finish shouted beginning to take photographs again.

Dusk Shine maintained the same pose he had been holding all this time, which in his opinion was not even a pose, since all he did was stand right there like a statue, uncomfortable, not knowing what to do more than just standing next to Fluttershy, thinking that she was mad at him. Meanwhile, Fluttershy also maintained her same shy initial pose, only this time she kept her eyes closed as she sighed to give herself value to what she was about to do.

"Be brave, be bold, that's what she doesn't want!" Fluttershy thought to give herself one last impulse of courage.

Suddenly Fluttershy left her shy look, turned, and looked with a flirtatious look at Dusk, who could not help but look into her eyes when he saw the sudden change of attitude. Then Fluttershy took Dusk hoof, made him turn around to face her, and then pulled him closer to her giving her a tight, tight hug, in which even she slightly raised one of her hind legs to entangle her's with Dusk's, and so that their hug would be even closer and romantic, all while Fluttershy's face was almost touching the surprised and blushed face of Dusk.

Before Fluttershy's surprising and daring move, everyone in the room stood still and silent, even Photo Finish, who had been taken completely by surprise.

"F-Fluttershy... W-What are you-" Dusk whispered totally nervous and blushing, not understanding what was happening. However, he wasn't able to finish his sentence as Fluttershy interrupted him.

"I must stand it... I must stand it..." Fluttershy whispered to herself, who kept her eyes closed as she felt how her cheeks were going to explode from how red they were from the embarrassment of what she was doing. All this had been done so that Photo Finish would stop being interested in her as a model, but that didn’t stop her from being dead from shame at that moment for what she had just done. "I must stand it... I must stand it..." Fluttershy kept repeating herself to give herself courage for playing Dusk Shine so daringly.

"Must you stand it?" Dusk thought to listen to what Fluttershy was saying. "Does she hate me so much that she can't stand being with me? Did Photo Finish tell her to do this and she's hugging me just because she was forced?" He finished thinking sad and confused, misinterpreting what Fluttershy repeated.

Click! Click! Click! Click!

"Brilliant! Splendid! Magnificent!" Photo Finish shouted fascinated, taking photos at full speed, since she didn't want to miss a second of that beautiful image that her models gave her, all to complete surprise of Fluttershy.

What Fluttershy had done had not been in the plans of the photographer, she had even been frightened for a second to see the sudden change in the attitude of her model, from a shy presence to a bold attitude, as planned by Fluttershy. But what the shy pegasus had not taken into consideration, was that even if she tried, she couldn't hide her true emotions, so after hugging Dusk closely, she could not help but close her eyes and blush, becoming the living image of shyness, purity, and innocence that a mare could show when hugging a colt, which of course immediately fascinated Photo Finish.

"No... It didn't turn out how it was supposed to..." Fluttershy thought disappointed and crestfallen, releasing Dusk from the embrace and looking with sadness and resignation towards the floor.

"I knew it... She can't stand even touching me... she only did it because they asked her to..." Dusk thought sadder than ever, realizing that apparently his friendship with Fluttershy definitely had no solution.

"It can't be..." Rarity thought aloud, without believing what she had just seen. She just confirmed it, Fluttershy had just lied to her, she wanted to be the model of Photo Finish, she enjoyed that, and mainly, she enjoyed modeling with Dusk, and not only that, she was taking advantage of that opportunity, that it must have been HER chance, to take advantage and flirted with Dusk Shine.

Rarity didn't know what to do. Her feelings were a mess. At that moment she felt anger, sadness, disappointment, betrayal, jealousy, so many negative feelings that the only thing she could do was to run from there to her house, running with a broken heart while the only thing she wanted at that moment of her life was to be alone after feeling that she had lost everything.

"Well, we finished today's session." Photo Finish said, guarding her camera while her assistants quickly disarmed the entire set.

"I'm leaving." Dusk said sadly as he began to make his way out, without even looking at Fluttershy, as he knew that she barely resisted being close to him.

"D-Dusk..." Fluttershy said weakly in an almost inaudible whisper, stretching her hoof to try to catch up with Dusk, but stopping immediately.

"I knew it... Now he hates me even more..." Fluttershy thought, lowering her head, almost to the brink of tears at the feeling that every second she was drifting more and more away from Dusk Shine.

# End of chapter 31