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// Chapter 11: Rarity's a gem 
// Story: Fluttershy the Transcolt 
// by Mintyluc 
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I scampered toward Rarity’s boutique as an endless amount of thoughts rushed through my head. I felt anxiety about the situation even though Rarity had made it clear that she was there for me. I trotted on, trusting Rarity more than I was able to trust myself and my own instincts. She said she would help me, which was all I needed to know. 

Ponyville passed by me at a steady pace: I saw the Cakes, Pinkie Pie outside their shop, and Applejack paying a visit to them. More faces blurred past me as I saw books and drinks and friends and laughing. I couldn’t stop and though I’d longed to say hello, I moved forward. 
When I eventually reached Rarity’s shop I rang twice and waited for her face at the door, “Fluttershy, darling!” Rarity said as she pulled me into a hug, “How are you? Well I hope?” she asked quickly, hardly giving me a chance to speak. 

“I’m….well.” I stated, thinking hard about my answer before responding. 

It was true. After opening up to the Girls about my feelings, a weight lifted off me that I didn’t even know was there before. It seemed almost as if I was so used to feeling that stress there that I’d accepted it as a natural state of mind when it didn’t have to be. 

Rarity grabbed my shawl and hung it up as she ushered me into a back room of hers, “Juuust well?” she asked. She then started a pot of tea for us, but mostly for her. She sat down on the couch in the room and I took a seat next to her. “How was Soarin’s house after we left?” 

I beamed with excitement, “Oh! Really good. We talked a lot…Oh, he is so friendly.” Rarity smiled as she called over Opal. Opal promptly appeared on the far end of the couch, where she laid in a fluffy bed. I continued on, “I want to see him again.” I muttered.

This caused Rarity to laugh out loud. “I bet you do, dear. A fine stallion like him…” she let out a howl and flicked her own tail, giggling.

I laughed; she knew that isn’t quite what I meant. I went on, “He is just so easy to talk to. And we have a connection that basically no one else around here has.” 

Rarity nodded mindlessly as she brought over a tiny tea tray with piping hot mint tea. Sliced lemons were in a bowl next to the teapot as well as matching tea cups. She had placed everything just so and used her magic to float it over my head and on the coffee table. Rarity sat on a chair that stood next to the couch and poured us tea. 

“He can really help you.” Rarity said, “This is something that is very good to talk about. And he may be able to help you figure out what you’re feeling.” I grabbed the teacup that was right in front of me, one lemon slice was floating in the tea. I nodded, sipping slowly. Rarity went on, “Though I wonder dear….” she sipped her tea as she side-eyed me curiously. My ears perked up and I gave her my attention. "Has he offered you anything in the way of clothes?" It honestly hadn’t come up, nor was that something I’d considered. I shrugged and shook my head, taking another sip. 

“His clothes might not fit you correctly anyway…” Rarity had her Game Face on and I could recognize the look in her eye: she wanted to make clothes for me. She met my stare, set her teacup down, and proceeded to happily trot away to a back room. 

I swished the lemon around in the teacup, the tea was level with a strip of gold paint on the inside. Soon the sound of her dainty hooves returned and she arrived with a book floating above her head; it was her sketch book. She opened it up and set it down next to the tea tray, shooing Opal off the couch. 

I looked over her sketches in awe; she had sweaters, shirts, and scarves. They were in shades of pink and yellow, but really worked for the colt-ish look she was going for. I was impressed, but I didn’t cry until she turned the page and there was more. “Rarity!” I said in between gasps and tears. 

She was close to me and her eyes were wide, “So you like them?” Rarity asked. I looked over at her and then quickly wrapped my arms around her, now in a full-blown sob. Her generosity knew no limits. She continued to offer getting started on some of them soon. “If you’d like?” Rarity said, “I have a few projects I’d have to set aside, but they can certainly wait.” 

I smiled more, breathing a little slower now. 

Rarity blinked a few times at me and rubbed her muzzle against my own. “Besides…I think you will make a handsome yellow colt…” she whispered. 

I sat there and laughed a little bit, my cheeks turning increasingly red. “Oh, t-thank you.” I said to her. She smiled and nodded, then used her magic to float the book back near us. She then pointed out a shirt that she especially liked and said she was excited to get started. My head was still floating from her touching me the way she had, but I nodded after she shared her new idea anyway. 

Rarity pointed to a different sweater in the levitating book and said, “This one would make you look  simply magical . I think it would completely transform you.” 

Rarity’s faith in clothes was always surprising me, though what her words reminded me of Soarin’s story about the magical transition he had. 

“R-rarity?” I asked. 

She was looking at me and closed the book in her hooves, silently, so I continued. 

“Do you think Twilight would be able t-to learn…transformation magic on ponies?” 

Rarity stood up and levitated the book to a new tabletop. She opened a few drawers that were in the room and gathered and display of pink and yellow fabrics. She tried a few colors together while she pondered my question. “It’s not that I doubt her aptitude,” she said after several more moments, “She would need a teacher for such specialized and powerful magic like that though. And in that case, you might as well visit the teacher on your own.” She turned to me and shrugged. “Cut out the middle-pony, if you will?” 

I nodded, sipped the last of my tea, and then set the cup down on the tray. She was right. I looked up at her, meeting her eyes. 
She carried on, “Is that something you would want?” 

I shrugged as I watched Rarity refill my teacup from the other side of the room. I looked over at her suddenly, her magic was simply awe-inspiring. She winked at me, flicked her tail, and then turned her head to attend to her colored fabrics.

Soarin mentioned a pony in Canterlot he had seen, but he also said it was “with a price”. I wondered what he considered that much to be, considering his status as a Wonderbolt. Rarity would want to help me pay, but she just told me that she would stop her projects to make me clothes that she likely wouldn’t accept money for. How would she have enough money to help me pay for such a thing?

“Well yes, but I w-would probably need to…uhm, pay them.” I said after a few swallows of tea. 

Rarity flipped her hoof in the air, waving my comment off, “That can come later darling,” she said to me, continuing to mix-and-match fabrics, “For now I am concerned about which of these three you like best.” She turned around again, presenting me with three color combinations. She levitated them so that they were just above the tea set and sat down close to me. With her head on my shoulder she proceeded to tell me what she liked about each of them. Her spirit sparkled.