Fluttershy beamed at the utility pony, stepping inside to usher him into her home. The animals that were ever-present around her scampered away from the intruder, though a few sniffed at him curiously.
"Alright, miss, this ought to set you up." He smiled, nodding towards a newly-added wire jutting from her wall. "You're now connected to the rest of Equestria. I tell you, this new 'Telephone' system is pretty neat."
"It really is." Fluttershy nodded her agreement. "Twilight Sparkle certainly developed a modern miracle."
"Well, standard with all installations is the first-edition Equestrian Phonebook." The unicorn's horn leapt to life as he withdrew a thin book from his saddlebags. Fluttershy took it cautiously, noting how thin the thing seemed to be. "That's got all the numbers in Equestria. Though the way her conference made it seem, Twilight thinks there's going to be too many to fit in just one book. Who knows? That might just be a collector's item before long."
"Thank you." Fluttershy gingerly set the book down next to her newly-acquired phone, the white plastic gleaming in the muted light of her cottage home.
"Well, I'm off. Got one more installation to take care of before the day's out. Enjoy your new phone, Fluttershy."
"Thanks again, Gadget. Have a nice day!" She waved the unicorn goodbye, smiling as he crossed the bridge over the creek and left her home behind him. With a soft sigh, she turned towards the phone, trepidation filling her heart. The way she understood it, this new technology was going to change the face of Equestria, connecting ponies from all across the land at instant speeds. There were already numbers set up for well-to-do ponies, and in light of their time spent as the Elements of Harmony, Fluttershy had been given one of the early-model phones as a thank-you from Twilight herself.
"Let's see..." She picked up the manual and began flipping through it, familiarizing herself with the functions of the new piece of technology that would soon be a staple in every Equestrian home and business. She came to learn the basic operation, her own phone number to give out to friends, family, and other interested parties, and even the voicemail system. She could even record her own message, personalized for her own number! Mystified, Fluttershy picked up the receiver, flipped open the phone book, and dialed a random number.
"Hello?"
"Uuh, h-hi!" She squeaked into the reciever. "I-I'm terribly sorry, I-I just wanted to test it, and see if it worked."
"Well it works just fine from my end!" The tinny voice sounded friendly enough, and Fluttershy could almost hear the jovial smile on their lips. It was a feminine voice, low in tone but not without a gleeful sound to it. "My name's Midnight Star, and I'm in Trottingham. You?"
"Oh, uuh... Fluttershy. I live in Ponyville."
"Wow." Midnight Star breathed. "All the way out there in Ponyville, and I can talk to you like you were right here in front of me. This is wild!"
The two of them talked for a long while, marveling at the new technology, and trading information about their lives. Fluttershy highlighted the number with a nearby marker and gave Midnight Star her own, so they could talk again before hanging up and peering out of the window.
"Goodness, I must have talked to her for almost an hour! It's time to feed you all." Her critter friends had gathered around her, as they usually did, while she had been on the phone. Now, it was time for them to eat. She set around to filling their bowls and trays with the proper amounts and types of food, relishing in their thankfulness. Even Angel seemed happier than usual at his dinner salad.
Yet through it all, she kept casting glances at the white phone, still as pristine and unmarred as the moment she had taken it out of its package. Beside it, the phone book.
'She couldn't have, could she...?' Fluttershy mused, looking intently at that book. The critters munched and chattered happily among themselves, but Fluttershy was on the edge about something else entirely. She cast another look outside at the steadily-darkening sky, and fighting the mounting sadness in her gut.
"It couldn't hurt to check." She mused, flipping the book open once more. She found the section for Manehattan, and began searching through the alphabetized names.
"Rare Find, Rare Streak... No, she's not here..." Fluttershy pursed her lips, tapping the page thoughtfully. "Maybe...?" She turned over to the commercial page, just after that one, and began looking for a different name. "Oh my." She laid a hoof on the line of text, compact and tiny amidst the other, blocky numbers that seemed to be nothing short of newspaper advertisements.
'Carousel Boutique - 003-0039'
Her hoof hovered over the dial, the receiver already tucked against her ear. She stared at those seven numbers. She had already dialed somepony, and even spoken to them for a long while. It'd be easy. Just turn the dial using the hole for the specific number and...
What if she picked up? What would Fluttershy say?
What could she say?
Slowly, the dial began to turn. After seven rotations, the receiver began to ring. Once. Twice. A half-dozen times. Halfway through the seventh, it was cut off and replaced by a cheery, almost haunting voice from Fluttershy's past.
"Thank you for calling the Carousel Boutique, where fashion is sleek, chic, and manefique! I'm afraid you've reached us outside of our normal business hours of Eight A.M. to Six P.M., Monday through Thursday, and nine to three on Fridays. We are closed Saturdays and Sundays, as well as all major holidays. Please, leave your name and number along with a brief message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If this is a business inquiry, please leave your company's name and a more detailed message. As this is also my home number, please indicate personal messages at the start."
It was tinny, and filled with a little bit of static, but Fluttershy could hear Rarity's gorgeous voice as if the alabaster mare were standing directly in front of her. A tightness gripped her chest at the sound, just like she had remembered it; and imagined it in all the sleepless, fretful nights since.
"Oh, and if this is Fluttershy..."
Her heart could have stopped.
"I still love you."
She slammed the receiver home, dashed upstairs, and bolted under the covers of her bed.
----------
"You're jokin'!" Applejack's eyes went wide. "It said that?"
"I swear I didn't hear wrong, Applejack!" Fluttershy wailed, fighting tears. "I'd tell you to call her right now so you could hear for yourself!"
"Calm down, now, ah believe ya." Applejack raised her hooves defensively. "Iffen y'all say that's what Rarity's voicemail message said, ah ain't in mah right mind to doubt ya. Jes'... well, that's the number for her boutique, too, innit?"
"I... I think so." Fluttershy sniffled, looking forlornly at the bland tablespread of Applejack's kitchen table. "She made it seem like it was both."
"Well, that don't strike me as right professional at all, then, now, does it?" Applejack reached a hoof across the table to pat the back of her own soothingly. "Y'all sure you didn't take it the wrong way?"
"I don't know, Applejack, I just... I don't know what to think anymore. It's been..."
"Three years, ain't it?"
"It really has, hasn't it...?" Fluttershy felt a fresh wave of sadness wash over her at that realization. Three years since Twilight had re-located to Canterlot. Three years since Pinkie Pie had opened her bakery in Trottingham. Three years that Rainbow Dash had been flying with the Wonderbolts...
Three years since Rarity moved out of her house. Their house.
"Jes' call her back, Fluttershy." Applejack derailed her train of thought, nudging her gently. "Ain't no harm in callin' and hangin' up iffen she answers. An' y'all cin make certain ya didn't mis-hear the voicemail message."
"I... I guess..." Fluttershy whimpered, looking down at her hooves. "B-but what if I c-can't?"
"Oh, y'all stop that now." Applejack scoffed. "Yer one of the strongest, most bravest ponies ah know, Fluttershy. It's jes a phone, not a dragon. Iffen y'all can stand up to one of them fer yer friends, what's stoppin' you from makin' a single call?"
"You know what? You're right." Fluttershy sniffed away her tears, smiling at Applejack. "I'm gonna go home right now and call her back. An-and if she picks up, then... Then I'm going to talk to her!"
"Yee-haw!" Applejack reared with excitement. "You git her, Fluttershy!"
"Yeah!" She dashed out of Applejack's kitchen and took to the skies, flying low over the trees on her way back to her own house. Determination and excitement filled her as she soared low and fast, intent on making it home as soon as possible.
She was going to call Rarity.
----------
The receiver sat in the crook of her neck, the steady dial tone filling her ear with its monotonous, nerve-wracking beep. Her hoof hovered over the dial, moments away from spinning it those seven times that would connect her with Rarity's boutique. The book sat open before her, the number highlighted and easy to read. She couldn't forget it.
But she couldn't dial it either.
Slowly, Fluttershy replaced the receiver, giving a soft sigh of relief as the dial tone cut out. She stared at the white plastic contraption, at that taunting dial sitting in front of her eyes, promising her a connection to Rarity, to the pony she once thought she loved and loved her in return.
As she languished, Fluttershy recalled those parting words.
"I'm just so unsure of myself, darling! I don't feel the same... OOMPH that my work used to give me. It's like... it's like I'm just not fulfilling my destiny anymore. So I'm moving to Manehattan. I'll re-open the boutique, and maybe there I can find myself again...'
That was three years ago. Rarity had abandoned their love, their home, and gone to chase her dreams. The phones weren't exactly brand-new technology, though. They'd been out for upwards of six months now.
'How long as her message been like that?' Fluttershy found herself wondering, even as she stared at the imposing dial. 'Does she really still love me? After all this time? Would she really have gone all these months with the same message, just ready for anypony to hear if she didn't answer?'
She had to find out. Determination anew filled her, and Fluttershy picked up the receiver. The dial spun under her hoof, sliding back to its default, static setting after each spin. The phone began to ring in her ear, two times... three.
Halfway through the seventh, it cut out once more.
"Thank you for calling the Carousel Boutique, where fashion is sleek, chic, and manefique! I'm afraid you've reached us outside of our normal business hours of Eight A.M. to Six P.M., Monday through Thursday, and nine to three on Fridays. We are closed Saturdays and Sundays, as well as all major holidays. Please, leave your name and number along with a brief message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If this is a business inquiry, please leave your company's name and a more detailed message. As this is also my home number, please indicate personal messages at the start.
"Oh, and if this is Fluttershy... I still love you."
She swallowed past the lump in her throat, her eyes catching her own seven-digit number, written next to the phone for good measure.
"Oh-one-oh, four-oh-oh-two."
----------
Rarity stared at the seven digits, penned neatly in her own style of writing on a slim slip of paper next to the voicemail machine. That voice, it had to have been her... Nopony's tone was the same, or held that same uncertainty.
She had to know.
Purposefully, she spun the dial, holding the receiver to her ear. It rang several times, cutting out halfway through the ninth. Rarity's heart leapt up into her throat as Fluttershy's voice, still as shy and indistinct as it had ever been, poured through the receiver into her ear.
"You've reached Fluttershy's home. I'm sorry I missed you, but I'm away right now." Rarity could have cried. It HAD been Fluttershy that called her! She couldn't help it as two tears streaked from her eyes, her hoof covering her mouth. "If you're calling about the spare bedroom, I'm afraid it's been rented out..." Okay, so she must have put a personal ad out for her spare room. That had once been Rarity's creation room, back when they had lived together. "If you're curious about the state of my heart, it's still broken-"
Rarity's blood froze in her veins. What had she just heard? Did she even hear correctly? Did Fluttershy just say something about her heart still being broken?
"-But it's beginning to heal, I think. Oh, and by the way, if you haven't figured it out already, this isn't a recording."
Rarity's mouth dropped open, her heart throbbing in her chest.
"Can't you tell? This is Fluttershy... And I still love you."