Chapter 4 – From Doormat to Diva
Back at Fluttershy’s cottage, the distraught pegasus had bundled herself up on the sofa with a duvet wrapped around her, tears cascading from her bloodshot eyes as she sobbed in self-pity. Angel — the usually grumpy bunny — had taken it upon himself to comfort the poor mare, holding onto one of her hooves with his ears drooping behind him. I still love you, Fluttershy imagined him saying, but it did little to alleviate the crushing despair.
“I knew it was pointless,” she whispered to the pet rabbit, running a hoof across his head and holding him closer to her chest. “Why would anypony want a mare like me? He’s much better off with Cheerilee anyway. At least she’ll make him happy.” Saying this aloud only made her feel worse, and she wrapped herself up tighter, crying harder than before.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Angel looked up at his owner expectantly but Fluttershy shook her head. On a day like today, she didn’t want any visitors. She especially didn’t want anypony to see her like this.
There was another knock — louder this time — followed by a voice. “Fluttershy? It’s me, Pinkie.” The pink mare sounded far more reserved than her usual self.
“I’m sorry, Pinkie Pie,” the pegasus gave in response. “I could really do with some alone time.”
“How come?” the earth pony replied, sounding as if she definitely knew the answer.
“I give up. I’m done. Thank you for trying, Pinkie, but it’s a lost cause. Cheerilee won before I even had a chance.”
“Nuh-uh! It’s not over yet! He’s not dating Cheerliee, you silly-billy!”
Fluttershy’s eyes opened in shock. “He’s not!? But how… How do you know?”
“Well if you open up then I can tell you! Honestly, having a conversation with a door isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
Fluttershy gave a nod to Angel who quickly bounded over to the door and unlocked it. Pinkie sprang in, complete with her usual bounce and smile. Upon seeing her friend though, she gasped dramatically, leaping towards the emotional pegasus and hugging her tightly.
“Oh no, stop crying!” she pleaded. “I’ll make it all better, I promise!”
“I’ll be fine, Pinkie. You said that Big Mac isn’t dating Cheerilee. How did you even know that’s what I was upset about?”
“Oh, you see, while Applejack was showing me how to make apple crumble Big Mac zoomed past really quickly and came into the house looking for something and I said ‘Hey Big Mac!’ and he was all in a hurry and I wondered why he wasn’t still in the orchard with you and so I said ‘What’cha doin’?’ and he’s all like ‘Gotta visit Cheerilee and fix her pipes!’ and I’m all like ‘Oh, OK’ but then—”
“Slow down, Pinkie!” Fluttershy ordered, instantly clasping a hoof over her mouth as she realised how demanding she sounded. “I… I’m sorry. Could you take things a little slower?”
Pinkie gave a salute and continued. “As I was saying, after he said that to me I was afraid that he was dating Cheerilee too. Then I thought about you being left on that orchard all alone, and how sad you’d be because you’d be thinking the same thing. But I spoke with Applejack and she said she was absolutely certain that her brother didn’t have a special somepony, and that Cheerilee was nothing more than a friend! So he really did go there just to fix her pipes! And I mean in the literal sense, not the ‘naughty’ sense.”
Fluttershy wiped the last of her tears away. “So you’re sure that he’s single?”
“Absolutely! I asked Applejack over and over again just to be doubly sure, and since she’s the element of honesty and all that, she couldn’t lie about something, could she?”
Fluttershy pondered on this for a moment. “But even if he’s single, that doesn’t mean that he likes me. If he felt the same way I do, why would he go off to Cheerilee’s?”
“But he didn’t say ‘no’, did he?”
The pegasus paused, glancing at the floor nervously. “No…”
Pinkie clapped her hooves together jubilantly. “Great! If he didn’t say ‘no’, it means that he might say ‘yes’! Maybe he’s shy, just like you! Don’t give up now, Fluttershy. Just go back later and ask him out for real!”
“I… I don’t think I could do that,” Fluttershy trembled, shaking her head from side to side. “I’m so nervous! If he was so desperate to get to Cheerilee’s then… It wouldn’t have mattered anyway because even if I did ask him out he’d probably say ‘no’, and that would be awful…”
“Of course he’d wanna go out with you!” Pinkie cried.
“But how do you know that!?” Fluttershy retorted in a harsh tone. “I’m just ‘some pony’. I’m nothing special…”
“Fluttershy, you are so special, and I’m not giving up on you!” Pinkie gave her friend a stern look. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure you get a chance at your ‘happy ever after’, and do you know why? Because you’re my friend! And do you know what friends do for each other?”
“Um… help each other?” Fluttershy whispered in reply.
“Right! Now stop getting all down in the dumps and follow me!”
Fluttershy huddled herself back into her duvet. “No! I can’t see him! I’m… I’m too afraid…”
“That’s not the plan!” said Pinkie, breaking out into a wide grin. “You’re right; maybe you’re not ready to ask him out just yet. So it’s time that you got a helping hoof…”
Pinkie rapped loudly on the door to the Carousel Boutique, an anxious-looking Fluttershy behind her.
“Just a moment!” called Rarity, opening up the door with her magic and spying her two friends. “Pinkie Pie? Fluttershy? What brings you two dears to my wonderful establishment?”
“Fluttershy needs a dress!” Pinkie chimed, trotting inside. “It’s for something special.”
“Oh really? That’s wonderful!” the unicorn exclaimed, striding up to Fluttershy and beaming from ear to ear. “So what’s the occasion?”
“If all goes as planned…” Pinkie began with a sly grin, “It’ll be a wedding.”
“A wedding? If all goes as planned?” Rarity raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Come on, Fluttershy, tell her!”
The young pegasus blushed, staring intently at the floor as Rarity looked at her curiously. “It… it’s nothing, really. I just… wanted something to make me look nice.”
The unicorn blinked, taking a few moments to look back and forth between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Finally, the answer dawned on her, and a joyful smile crept onto her face. “Well this is just delightful! Fluttershy, I’m ever so touched that you would come to me for this kind of help. So who’s the lucky stallion?”
“I… I… um…” Fluttershy stuttered, becoming increasingly flustered. “It’s… it’s nothing like that…”
“So, a mare then?” Rarity asked confusedly. “I must admit, I never would’ve taken you for a filly-fooler. But I guess it would be crass of me to make such assumptions.”
“It’s Big Mac!” the pegasus belted out in exasperation, taking both Rarity and herself by surprise. Pinkie, however, still grinned much the same as she usually did. “I mean… um…”
Rarity’s eyes lit up, her expression morphing into one of foalish glee. “Big Mac? Oh, sweet heavens!”
“Is… is something wrong?”
“Not at all, darling! In fact, this is excellent news! Why, you two would make the most adorable couple. Just picture it! The timid young pegasus meets the stallion of her dreams, a stocky farm-pony with a kind heart. After winning over his affections you both gallop off into the sunset… Why, it’d be the greatest love story in Ponyville history!” Rarity fainted to the floor in a fit of giddiness, her eyes glazed over as she giggled to herself.
“Which is why we need your help!” Pinkie Pie piped up, bouncing back and forth over the grounded unicorn. “We need the most super-duper dress to make Fluttershy look super-duper pretty! We need something special — something that Big Mac could never ever say ‘no’ to.”
“Yes! Of course!” Rarity exclaimed, springing back into action. “Follow me, Fluttershy! First I need to take some measurements and… Oh, this is going to be so much fun!”
Fluttershy hesitantly slinked after the rejuvenated unicorn, receiving a friendly wink from Pinkie. Feeling a touch of the nerves, she took three deep breaths. Come on, you have to do this! You’re doing this to impress Big Mac, remember? Oh, but what if he thinks I’m acting too promiscuous? What if he hates me for it? I don’t want to try and look too… um… se— appealing…
“Do hurry up, Fluttershy!” Rarity called, gesturing towards the centre of the room and pulling out sheets of fabric with her magic. “Now, which colour undergarments would you prefer? Black or red?”
The pegasus merely sighed in response.
“Do hold still, darling,” Rarity instructed, sewing the dress into place. “This is delicate work, you know.”
“Sorry, Rarity,” said Fluttershy, feeling her heart rate flutter. “It’s just that I’m not used to having something so tight around my… Um…”
“Well it has to be tight around the crotch,” Rarity said matter-of-factly, rummaging through her drawers. “One must accentuate one’s assets accordingly if one is to impress the opposite sex. Now, loosen up a little. I feel like I’m dressing a stone statue.”
But you just told me to be still! Fluttershy thought to herself, trying to understand the fashionista’s logic. “OK, I’ll try.”
“Lookin’ good, Fluttershy!” Pinkie cheered from the other side of the room, taking another mouthful of popcorn that she’d unexplainably pulled from behind her back. “Big Mac is gonna love it!”
“Are you sure this isn’t a bit much?” the pegasus asked, taking a peek at the silky red dress flowing behind her.
“Nonsense, darling!” Rarity exclaimed proudly. “This might even be my finest work! I don’t know what it is, but knowing that I’ll be bringing together two star-crossed lovers fills me with a burning passion! Oh, to think that one day the two of you might have adorable little foals running about the place is just magical!”
Fluttershy was silent as she pondered over this, imagining what her life could be like ten years from now. Happily married to the stallion of her dreams… Children of her very own… Together, they’d be a family. Family… Such a wonderful word…
“Fluttershy? Are you alright?” Rarity asked, breaking the pegasus’ trance.
“Oh, sorry,” Fluttershy replied, blushing. “I kind of drifted off for a moment there.”
“There’ll be enough time for that later,” Rarity commented with a knowing smile. “As for now, I present to you, the new and improved Fluttershy!”
The cheerful unicorn pulled down a velvet cloth from in front of them to reveal a mirror, and Fluttershy caught her first glimpse of Rarity’s latest creation. The deep red fabric shimmered in the light, hugging at her midsection before spreading out into a meticulously woven skirt that billowed with her every movement. Fluttershy spent a few moments gawping at her own reflection, her smile slowly widening.
“I look so beautiful…” she said solemnly, running a hoof across the uncannily smooth fabric. “Thank you, Rarity. This… this is more than I could have imagined.”
“It has been a pleasure,” Rarity said cheerfully, standing beside her friend.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Owe me? Oh, Fluttershy, I couldn’t possibly charge you for this! All I ask in return is that if anypony asks about your dress you kindly direct them to the Carousel Boutique. Also, if you could keep me up to date on everything you and Big Mac get up to, that would be excellent. I’m off to Canterlot tomorrow for the Silverwing fashion show and I hope you’ve made some progress by the time I get back in a few days.”
“Well I… I can’t promise anything,” Fluttershy replied timidly, the reality of her current situation springing to mind. “But I’ll be sure to do my best. I’m just… a little nervous about all this. How can I just walk up to him dressed this way?”
“You leave that to me,” Pinkie said shrewdly, skipping over to the mare’s side. “I’ve been thinking about the best way to set you two up, and then I remembered something Scratchy said to me. Don’t worry, Fluttershy. I’ll have this all under control…”
Applejack couldn’t help but be curious. Something was up and she knew it. Big Mac was being awfully quiet. Not that he was much of a chatterbox, of course. And yet, there was something different about this particular brand of silence that her brother had fallen victim to. There were moments when she’d catch him smiling to himself, sometimes even twitching his lips like he was on the brink of speaking, but without making a sound.
Still, he was working as hard as ever and didn’t appear to be in any kind of distress. Perhaps he was just in a good mood? Maybe. But she knew her brother better than that. She had a sneaking suspicion that something — or possibly someone — was on his mind.
As the two siblings worked together to plant new seeds across the freshly ploughed soil, she stopped for a moment, a burning question on the tip of her tongue. Just as she’d opened her mouth, she watched as Big Mac trotted along, a veritable spring in his step. It was ever so subtle — no more than a slight hoof-movement — but it was still there. Applejack quickly shut her trap. For some reason, the question she wanted to ask felt like too much of an intrusion.
Big Mac smiled as he pushed soil over the seeds, thinking of how one day these tiny, insignificant droplets would grow into massive trees. And then, these trees would shed their own fruit — their own seeds — and the cycle would begin anew, ushering in a new generation.
It’s a beautiful world, he thought to himself.