-The Friend She Never Had
It wasn't abnormal for for something like this to happen and Rarity was excited by it more than she usually would be. The phone was ringing, however, there was a feeling inside of her that completely screamed "drama". That was something little that Rarity had taken for granted back when she didn't have much of a tight watch from her parents, so when an opportunity arose for her now, she was all for it.
Now, Rarity wasn't one to like to normally take place in petty, little games; but, when it can to excitement, she couldn't pass up the chance. She quickly answered the phone that she knew was an incoming call from a dear friend.
"Fluttershy, darling." Rarity smiled as she picked up the phone that was laying on her bedside table.
She heard a little murmur from the other end, but she didn't even give herself enough time to understand the response before she replied.
"Oh, please tell me it's today! You're ready, are you not?" Rarity squealed into the receiver. She could hear a slight static sound begin to start at her loud question. She quickly back her ear from the phone until it settled down once more. She then brought it back in wait for a reply.
It took a few moments, as it normally did when talking to Fluttershy on a phone or even in person for that matter. Especially in subjects that the yellow pony didn't really find quite easily spoken of. This was one of those conversations, and Rarity respected that and gave her time to answer without question.
"I need to talk to you...about...something important...actually...instead..." Fluttershy finally made out an audible response and Rarity looked around as she took in her friends words.
She tapped her hoof softly on her floorboards as she decided how to respond. This was a bit of a let down to the mare in all honesty, however, it could be even more exciting than what she had in mind. Last time Fluttershy had to talk to her about something, it was pretty juicy and that was actually what Rarity was getting so worked up about now. Fluttershy's old friend that she was madly in love with had recently moved to town.
Okay...she knew that was kind of an exaggeration on what was really the case, but she liked to think that Fluttershy had a deep love for some stallion from her childhood. It was a lot more exciting than just a little crush that she had developed. But nonetheless, Rarity was still happy to help Fluttershy in any way possible. After all, that was her best friend.
"Of course we can talk. Your place, or mine?"
---
Rarity sat in the quiet little cottage that Fluttershy called home. She was still a little shocked that Fluttershy lived alone and was a few years older than her. She would have never thought that when they first met, but, you get to know a pony she guessed.
Fluttershy walked out of the kitchen with some tea she had promised the unicorn for their little "chat". She set down the cups on a little wooden coffee table in the middle of the den. Rarity lifted her cup after letting it cool for a moment. The blue aura brought it to her lips as she took a quick and delicate sip. She smiled at the taste and set it down until she was ready for more.
She liked to drink her tea slowly but surely. That was one of Rarity's perks.
Fluttershy didn't touch her cup. She let it sit on the table as the steam began to slowly wisp away until it was no longer hot and fresh. She didn't seem interested in this at all. She was looking past Rarity's shoulder towards the back wall. It was a little discomforting to the white mare, but she just let her friend daze for a few more moments before she decided to break the silence.
"Now, Fluttershy dear, what is ever the matter with you. You're not yourself. I can tell. No need to deny." Rarity smiled as the pony instantly looked at her in order to refuse the diagnosis, but Rarity's words were too quick for Fluttershy. The pegasus slowly looked down.
"It such a nice week, don't you agree?" Rarity took another sip of her tea. The flavor was complementing her statement.
"The air is fresh. The weather is lovely. The tea is fantastic, and you have a certain somepony to still welcome to town." Rarity winked at her last remark. Fluttershy quickly looked up again from her daze. She seemed to have winced slightly at the sound of Rarity's words.
Rarity regretted her wording just the slightest bit, but at the same time, she was really ready for Fluttershy to stop being so timid and just talk to her old friend. She wanted a little bit of excitement in her life. Just a little bit even if it didn't exactly include her.
"That's....kind of what I wanted to talk about..." Fluttershy didn't hesitate to long to reply this time. Rarity was proud.
Before she could give the pony any more time to continue, however...Rarity quickly interrupted.
"Great! I was dying to finally hear those words! This is the time. No going back now!" Rarity smiled as she jumped up from her last sip of tea. She wasn't exactly finished with it, but this was much more important. She pulled her friend up with a tug and began towards the door.
"Wait...that's..." Fluttershy struggled to be pulled.
"No, you can't quit now. You already made the first step!" Rarity tried to be encouraging but it didn't seem to be helping the pegasus much. Rarity didn't notice.
The unicorn dropped her hooves from the pony and resorted to using her levitating magic. Fluttershy scurried as her legs left the floor beneath her. Rarity didn't seem to have too much sympathy at this point.
"Now...where does the young fellow reside?" Rarity looked behind her to her squirming friend. She smiled softly at the fearing face of Fluttershy.
"Well...can....you put me down first so we can talk this out...." Fluttershy tried to reason, but Rarity was relentless at this point. She needed some good action before she was to die of boredom which she tended to whine about lately.
"Just tell me where your friend lives, dear?" Rarity looked over with puppy eyes at the yellow mare. Fluttershy sighed and let her legs dangle as she resided her struggle.
"In a cloud towards the town." Fluttershy didn't terry with her reply. Her quivering eyes lowered as Rarity's smile brightened. The two were most definitely a pair.
"I think I know where it is! I've seen it from my house. I guess I didn't notice it was a new addition..." Rarity thought to herself for a moment before she started on her journey again.
"Wait...I didn't actually mean to go there....we...can't do that." Fluttershy began to sound more nervous now than annoyed or afraid. Rarity turned again. This wasn't new either, just like her phone ringing earlier. She knew Fluttershy was beyond nervous, but it had to be done and she definitely didn't want to wait too much longer. Fluttershy didn't need to wait a month or two before welcoming a new member of Ponyville. That would be too delayed for such an occasion. It needed to still be a fresh move to really have the same impact.
"It's going to be okay. I'm coming with you, remember?" Rarity reassured her friend, or at least, she thought she had reassured her. She turned back to her path before noticed Fluttershy was still shaking with anxiety.
The whole trip to their destination was the same. Fluttershy trying to turn back, but Rarity persisting on. Nothing out of the ordinary for the two, and definitely not the last time it would happen; however, like many a time, Rarity won.
"That must be it up there." Rarity looked at the cloud home above their heads. Her eyes glimmered at the sight. It was surely a nice place for somepony who had just moved to a new area by themselves. This stallion must have good family, or be sucessful on his own. She was already jealous that isn't wasn't her instead that knew this pony. But of course, she was happy for Fluttershy.
"I wish I could go up there with you, but alas..." Rarity slowly broke the news to her friend that she wouldn't exactly "be there" with her when she met her old friend like she had said. She would if she could, and she knew this. She really wanted to be there in person when it all went down, but she just accepted that she would merely have to hear about it from her friend after it happens.
Fluttershy looked up at the home. Her eyes were dazzled by the scene herself. She gulped and then looked back at Rarity.
"Look....Rarity....I don't think this is a good idea after all...." Fluttershy tried to reason with her friend, but Rarity wasn't going to have it.
"Oh dear. It's really not going to be all that bad after it's said and done. You just have to make that first leap and go ahead and do it already. No "buts" about it." Rarity put her hoof down this time. She was slightly getting frustrated with her friends shy nature, but she knew she couldn't be mad at her for something like this. It was really none of her business to start with, but she just couldn't admit to that.
"Rarity...I know you want me to do this, but...I have to tell you something....actually I've been trying to tell you the whole time, but I just haven't gotten the chance, but...what I called you about earlier...and what I want to say now is....my old friend...well....they....we...weren't....really..." Fluttershy was cut off by a loud voice coming from overhead. She turned upwards as did Rarity.
A light twinkled from the home above them as a voice called out to them.
"What are you doing standing down there for?"
The voice wasn't really pleasant to Rarity's ears. If this was the friend of Fluttershy, then she was deeply disappointed. Such a let down, and she was only judging by their voice. She couldn't even see them for the glare of the sun in her eyes when she tried to make out the figure, however, his voice was quite squeaky and nonetheless, really unattractive for the stallion she was picturing in her mind this whole time. She wasn't going to let Fluttershy know that though....that would be very rude and not like Rarity at all. She just kept her mouth shut and let Fluttershy handle this.
"I asked you a question. This is technically my property, so I don't really appreciate you standing all over it." The voice continued to ring from up above. Rarity was taken aback by the rudeness of this unknown pony. She was really getting a bad first impression on Fluttershy's love interest.
Fluttershy stood in fear. No words escaped her and Rarity noticed. She looked like a deer stuck in headlights. She was completely frozen. No movement. Nothing. She was out of it.
"Am I going to have to go down there myself and move you? Geez!"
Rarity didn't know if she could take much more of this obnoxious scene. The crude voice was starting to make her angry and she couldn't stand looking at Fluttershy anymore. She wasn't going to sit here and let this newbie talk to her as if she was trash. Rarity was above that. She couldn't take this talk for much longer and she knew she had to step in for Fluttershy. The poor mare was too afraid to budge and Rarity had to come save the day.
Her eyes twinkled at the sunlit glare above. Her brow scruffled as she took one step back to get a better view of the home above her. Her mane glimmered as she brought her neck up and tilted her head ever so lightly to the left. It was totally...ON.
"Pardon me good fellow. We just happened to be walking by when we noticed a new home in town. It was unlike us to just shrug off such an event. We decided to stop by and welcome this new pony to our lovely little town. Could you tell us who this fellow may be so we can greet him and be on our way?" Rarity smirked at her comeback. She really let him have it!
The silence only lasted about three seconds between Rarity's voice and the other one from above. The response was quick and sharp quite like Opal's claws when you pet her in the wrong way. Rarity squinted with anger.
"You really think you are somethin' huh? Well if you came to give somepony a welcome party then go ahead. I'm waiting." The voice crackled with a quiet snicker. They knew they were working up Rarity's nerves.
"I never! This is completely preposterous! You sir have no manners." Rarity jerked her head up with a quick "hmph" as she turned away and continued to leave the embarrassing sight. She almost forgot Fluttershy still standing in disbelief behind her.
Before she could turn around to receive her friend and deep burst of laughter came from the cloud above. It seemed as if the pony was rolling around, hooves to their stomach as they cackled out loud. Rarity clenched her teeth. She would dare not be laughed at by somepony as simple as this!
"I will--"
Rarity was cut off as a figure began to fly towards them quickly. Her mane blew all over as the pony landed between her and her friend. She quickly began to pat her mane down once more as she grumbled in pure anger.
"Don't get so worked up. I was only messing with you. Thanks for stopping by. Really! That was thoughtful." The pony said as Rarity finally looked up at got a good look at the perpetrator from the cloud above.
"Hi. My name is Rainbow Dash." The pony smiled as they held out their hoof towards the dumbfounded unicorn. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. Maybe this was the wrong pony but...this pony was not what she was expecting. Not at all. This pony was definitely not what Fluttershy had ever described and part of that is probably because she never really did describe her old friend. She merely spoke of them. Rarity did most of the visual describing in her own imagination but she didn't really realize that until this very moment as she stood and looked face to face with the pony that Fluttershy had been crushing over since she was a child. Rarity was looking face to face with that mare.
"How...do you do." Rarity didn't say much of anything else. She didn't know exactly where to stand at this point. She wasn't upset, but more...shocked.
"Your name is....?" The pony of the name Dash persisted of Rarity.
"Oh! Of course. Silly me. My name is Rarity." She locked hooves with the stranger and shook only once. She was still in disbelief.
Her eyes traveled to Fluttershy who was still staring with the fear of death. Dash quickly recognized that there was another presence among them and turned her attention towards the silent yellow pony.
"Hello there. I'm Rainbow Dash." She smiled towards Fluttershy with no regards as to recognition of her at all. She didn't seem to know who Fluttershy was, or maybe she was playing another joke on them.
Fluttershy merely brought out her hoof and shook Dash's. She said nothing.
Rarity couldn't speak. She couldn't believe was she was seeing. It appeared that they didn't know each other at all. Was this really the right pony? Had there been a mistake?? There must have been! This was definitely not that old friend Fluttershy used to talk about all the time. This was definitely not the right one!
"Fluttershy, we must be going. It was nice to meet you. Enjoy your stay." Rarity regarded the stranger once more before grabbing her friend and walking off at a quick pace.
The rainbow maned pony didn't reply. At least, Rarity didn't give her time to before she rushed off. Fluttershy merely followed her without question. The two scurried off leaving Rainbow Dash alone. The mare stood there for a few moments before shrugging off the whole situation and flying back up to her home. There were so many strange ponies in Ponyville...
---
Rarity didn't say much at all on their way back to the yellow ponies cottage on the edge of the forest. Fluttershy said nothing. This was not unusual.
With all the unusual things happening today to Rarity, there were still so many normal things as well...