//------------------------------// // EARFQUAKE // Story: IGOR // by mellon collie //------------------------------// "cause when it all comes crashing down, i'll need you" Fluttershy was patiently waiting in front of the door. She perked up when she heard faint hoofsteps from inside, but became confused when they suddenly stopped. A voice was heard, but she recognized it as being from Sweetie Belle. The hoofsteps resumed after a few moments, but they sounded different this time. The door opened, and before she knew it she was swept into a hug. "Oh, Fluttershy, it's so good to see you!" Rarity exclaimed, squeezing Fluttershy a little tighter. Fluttershy made a quiet squeaking noise before hugging back. "It's good to see— to see you too." Fluttershy nuzzled her marefriend before pulling away from the hug. Her face felt a little warmer afterwards. Even after all this time Rarity could still make her blush just from simply touching her. Her gaze went to rarity's horn, which was still glowing a light blue. She was about to ask what she was using it for when she saw Sweetie Belle waving at her. She giggled a bit as the filly was set down, and the aura went away. After exchanging greetings, Sweetie Belle trotted away to finish her breakfast. "So, what brings you out here?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy turned to face Rarity and gave her a warm smile. "Oh, I was just.. thinking about you. I feel like we haven't seen each other in forever." Rarity playfully rolled her eyes. "We saw each other two days ago, dear." The two shared a laugh about that. "But now that you mention it.." Fluttershy cocked her head slightly. "We haven't gone on a proper date in a while. How about tonight? My treat, of course." At Fluttershy's fervent nodding, Rarity grinned. "Then it's a date! Come here around, say, seven o'clock? Does that work for you?" "That sounds lovely." Fluttershy stepped forward and nuzzled her marefriend again. Rarity nuzzled back and placed a soft kiss on Fluttershy's cheek. "Would you like some tea while you're here?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy responded in the affirmative, and the unicorn soon walked to the kitchen to prepare the drinks. When Rarity left her line of sight, Fluttershy's gaze was drawn to the expansive amount of dresses in the workroom. Some were light and prim, others tight and revealing. There were dresses for all different occasions. Formal wear, casual wear, even a half-finished wedding dress was being worn by a mannequin. She couldn't recall who the dress was for, even though Rarity had gushed about the prospect of designing it to her multiple times. They all looked beautiful to Fluttershy, just like every dress her marefriend made. Something that caught her attention was how much of well.. her there was in the dresses. Her mane color, her coat color, there was even a butterfly on a dress or two resemblant of her cutie mark. Sure, most couples showed their bond through a colored stripe on their saddlebags — mainly couples who weren't too keen on being affectionate in public — but this was a bit much. Of course, Fluttershy had plenty of pictures of her and her marefriend on the walls, and she had taken a particular liking to white and purple over time, so she couldn't judge. Besides, being a bit much was one of Fluttershy's favorite things about Rarity. The mare in question entered the workroom, levitating a pair of steaming hot teacups. "I made sleepytime, your favorite," She sing-songed. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Fluttershy was staring at the yellow dress she had made earlier, seemingly entranced. A light chuckle escaped her lips, causing Fluttershy to break out of her trance and turn to face her. "I take it that you like that dress?" "It— it's beautiful," Fluttershy responded, a smile that warmed Rarity's heart on her face. "Thank you." Rarity put a hoof on her chest. "I do suppose I've had some more motivation these past few months, after all." She winked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy's face warmed up at the wink. "It feels like you— you just get better with every dress you make." "You flatter me, you really do. Lets drink, shall we?" Rarity turned to face the kitchen before walking to it, Fluttershy following closely behind. When they arrived in the kitchen, Sweetie Belle had left, leaving a cleaned plate in the sink. Rarity set the teacups down on the table and took a seat. Fluttershy mirrored this and pulled her cup closer. "So, how have things things been with you?" the pegasus asked, before lightly blowing on her tea. "Darling, things haven't changed at all since the last time you asked that," Rarity tittered. "I've been good, the boutiques are doing well, and I've been making dresses by the dozen." A proud look appeared on her face. "I heard back from the yaks in Yakyakistan." "Ooh, what did they say?" "They are in!" Rarity overexcitedly slammed a hoof on the table, causing a small amount of tea to spill. "Whoops." She levitated a tissue over and wiped down the spilt tea, absentmindendly discarding the damp tissue afterwards. "Excuse me for that." Her smile became a sheepish one. "That's— that's great news. I'm so proud of you, Rarity," Fluttershy beamed, taking a sip of her tea. "Thank you. I'm proud of myself too. I never could've imagined owning two boutiques across Equestria, let alone four." Rarity took a sip of her own tea. "I've come so far in the past few years.." She gained a wistful look as she spoke. "You're happy with it, right?" Rarity blinked, caught off guard by the question. "Of course I'm happy. Couldn't be happier." She cleared her throat. "It's just.. sometimes I miss when i was first starting out. I was such a wide-eyed idealist. I expected to reach the stars, but now that I actully have I just, I don't know. I expected it to be more fufilling, you know?" "Oh, I'm sorry." Fluttershy's expression shifted to a sympathetic one. "I get what it's like to be— to be disillusioned with something." "I wouldn't say disillusioned. More so, um, not exactly as happy as I expected to be when I became a world famous fashion designer?" At Fluttershy's flat look, Rarity continued. "I'm not unhappy, not at all. Just, could be happier. I'm not unhappy." She playfully jabbed a hoof in Fluttershy's direction to emphasize her point. Fluttershy giggled in response, taking a sip of tea before speaking. "I never said you were. I'm— I'm really happy for you. Speaking of being happy.." She took a breath in. "I think that I'm truly starting to get better." "Oh, thats wonderful!" Rarity beamed. Despite how good the news was, she felt the faintest twitch in her chest. She didn't know why it had happened, nor did she dwell on it in the moment. "What makes you say that?" "Well, I've been feeling— I've been feeling a lot better over the past few weeks. Have I not been telling you about that?" Fluttershy looked quizzical as she impulsively fidgeted with her hooves. "Right. Sorry, I've just been so busy with my work lately. It's like my mind is constantly buzzing." Rarity put on an apologetic look. She truly had forgotten about Fluttershy's improving mental health. That was strange. Normally she didn't up and forget something that important. Then again, maybe she was just burnt out from overworking. Fluttershy took a sip of her tea before continuing. "No worries. This morning I talked to a few— a few different ponies before I came here." That piqued Rarity's interest. "It's so.. nice to be social again." A soft smile graced her lips as she took another sip of her tea. "That's just lovely, Fluttershy." Rarity smiled warmly. "I'm happy to hear it. You've come so far since.. uh.." She trailed off, creating an awkward air in the room for a moment before getting the conversation back on track. "So. Do you have any plans before our date tonight?" Fluttershy perked up at the swift topic change. "I think I'm going to spend some time with Discord. I haven't talked to him in a bit." Rarity's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. She had never liked Discord. Sure, she tolerated him, but that was begrudgingly at best. She acted civil to him around the others, and she had forgiven him of his past actions after he proved he was trying to change, but she couldn't stand him otherwise. He was abrasive, arrogant, mischievous, and above all else, he seemed to care a little too much about Fluttershy. An anecdote that Starlight had once told her was that, apparently, he wasn't interested in saving his friends from the Changeling Kingdom until Fluttershy was mentioned, where, to quote Starlight, "his eyes flashed red with fury." Was she jealous? Maybe. She had reasons to be, though. Discord was always overly touchy-feely with Fluttershy, and at times it seemed like she was the only pony that he actually liked. And Fluttershy was none the wiser to his transparent attempts to steal her away. Rarity had tried telling her about it multiple times, but the pegasus brushed it off everytime. It frustrated her to no end. "Hm." Rarity coughed into her hoof. "What are you planning to do with him?" Fluttershy playfully rolled her eyes. "Today's our weekly tea party. He— he couldn't make it last week, so we're making up for it." "Well, don't have too much fun, love," Rarity teased, but she noticed that Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably in her seat ever so slightly. Fluttershy let out a quiet sigh. This constant argument was starting to get tiring. "Rarity, nothing's going on between Discord and I. I've assured you this so ma— many times." She took a sip of her tea to calm herself down before she truly got upset. "I know that." Rarity's voice betrayed her dishonesty. "Can't a mare be insecure every once and a while?" Fluttershy took a breath in, and softly let it out. "Yeah. I know I spend a— a lot of time with Discord, but thats because I'm his closest friend. I have to be there for him just as much as the rest of my friends." "Can we drop this for now? I don't particularly feel like fighting at the moment," Rarity snapped, though she quickly backpedalled. "I don't want to argue just for the sake of arguing." Was that what this was, though? She fiddled with her tea cup as she thought of what to say. "I'm sorry for blowing up on you, but I just get jealous really easily." "Theres no need to apo— to apologize, Rarity." Fluttershy put on her best smile. She didn't want Rarity to be mad at her, so she decided to apologize as well. "I know that Discord can be.. a bit much. And I know that you don't like him. I'm sorry." She began to stand up before Rarity spoke, stopping her in her tracks. "It's alright, darling. Don't worry about it. I might have been overreacting a tad." The unicorn conceded, even if she didn't quite believe it herself. She drained the last of her tea in one big gulp as Fluttershy walked over to her. True to her prediction, Fluttershy pulled her into a hug. Rarity hugged back, placing a kiss on Fluttershy's lips after they pulled back of it. "Well, I think I'm going to— to head home now." Fluttershy kissed Rarity's cheek before turning away. "I'll see you later, Rarity. I love you." "I love you too. Remember, seven o'clock." Rarity bit her tongue to avoid further comment. Things had turned around so quickly and she didn't trust herself not to start another argument. Fluttershy silently nodded before jauntily trotting away and out the door. Once her marefriend was outside, Rarity shut the door with her magic. She sighed, the previous conversation playing in her head at breakneck speed. Her gaze went to the teacups. Fluttershy hadn't finished hers. Rarity thought back to the twitch she had felt earlier. Why did that happen? Was it because she didn't want Fluttershy to be happy? Of course not. She was delighted for Fluttershy. Seeing her get better was great. Why wouldn't she want a change like that to happen? Oh. A change. Rarity had grown to associate big changes — whether it be something like a new job, a new look, or, yes, a change in attitude — with the beginning of the end. Almost every relationship she had been in had a major change happen close to the end. It always seemed to spell doom in Rarity's eyes. She wouldn't stand for that with Fluttershy. Fluttershy meant way too much to her to fall out of her grasp that easily. This was the happiest she had been in years, so why would she let it go to waste? She would fight for this relationship if push came to shove. and it seemed like she would have to, especially if Discord tried to get in the way like she was expecting him to. Maybe that was too judgemental towards Discord, but Rarity didn't care. If he tried anything there would be hell to pay, she would make sure of that. She wanted to believe Fluttershy's word of the two just being friends, she really did. Fluttershy had no reason to lie to her. But even then, after so much had happened in the past, her trust broken so many times, she found herself doubting things easily. Had it really been a good idea to not tell Fluttershy about any of her past relationships? Rarity bit her lip and glanced around the room, trying to find something to distract herself. She cleaned the teacups with her magic and put them away before leaving the kitchen. Then she remembered what she always did when she needed to suppress her thoughts. "Work on some dresses! Why didn't I think of that sooner?" She left the kitchen and went over to her work space. "Maybe I am overworking myself.." She let the statement hang in the air for a second before shrugging and enveloping her sketchbook in her magic, flipping to the page with the dress she had been sketching earlier. She stared at it, silently mulling over each different aspect of it. "Oh, I know the perfect color for this one!" With that, she set off to work, her musings momentarily discarded.