Fluttershy knocked on the door to the Carousel Boutique and let herself in. It was after hours, and Rarity’s shop was closed to the public, but as usual the door was unlatched.
“Rarity?” Fluttershy wiped her hooves on the mat inside the door, brushing away the snow and slush from the street. “I got your message.”
“In here, darling!” Rarity’s voice came from the workshop. “Come on back.”
Fluttershy pushed through the cloth partition. As she expected, Rarity was standing beside one of her mannequins, puzzling over the final details of her latest creation.
And what a creation it was – every shade of blue Fluttershy knew existed, and many more she had no names for. Pleats of cyan and teal and sapphire lay across sheaves of viridian and lapis and iris. A rainbow, all in blue, in all the shades of night.
“Oh, Rarity,” she whispered. She drew closer, and when Rarity nodded, she reached out a hoof to touch the collar. The fabric was smooth as water and caught the light with a metallic sheen. She leaned forward to brush her cheek against the cloth. It felt like a cloud, and smelled like cotton and dreams.
“It’s wonderful,” she continued. “I mean, I knew it was going to be beautiful when I saw the drawings, but this… It’s beautiful.”
“You say that, but every time I look at it I see something else to fix. Something that’s not perfect.” Rarity frowned at the dress. “But I’ll never finish if I keep thinking like that. It’s time to put a pin in it.”
Fluttershy smiled and her wings fluffed with joy. “You’re ready, then? You’re going to talk to her?”
“Yes. Well, sort of. It’s, ah, complicated.” Rarity dithered and fussed with the already perfect saddle. “You know her birthday is coming up. I was just going to give it to her as a present, and let it speak for itself.”
Fluttershy’s smile slipped away. She trotted around the mannequin to Rarity’s side, and sat with her wing across the unicorn’s back. “Rarity, you said you were going to talk with her. Tell her how you felt. This—” she gestured at the dress with her other wing “—is wonderful, and it will show her how strongly you feel, but it’s not what really matters. You know that.”
Rarity slipped out from beneath Fluttershy’s wing. “If I talk to her, she might say ‘no.’ Or worse, she might feel sorry for me! She would just smile and say it’s lovely but that she doesn’t really think of me that way, that we’re just friends, and… oh! Just thinking about it makes me want to tear this dress up and never mention it again.”
“Well, I think that would be a real shame,” Fluttershy said. “But dreams are worth fighting for. What if she says ‘yes’?”
“If, Fluttershy! If!” Rarity stomped in a dainty circle around the dress. “But if I just give her this gift, won’t she understand what I mean? Then, if she reciprocates, she can confess how she feels and we’ll both be utterly happy. And if she doesn’t, she’ll just thank me for the dress and needn’t say any more, and she won’t have to reject me, and nopony gets hurt!”
“Sometimes love hurts, Rarity. But you can’t be afraid of it.”
Rarity was silent for a spell, and then she let out a long sigh. “When did you become so forward, Fluttershy? So daring?”
“Oh, I’m not. I think if I were in love with a pony I’d be afraid too, even if they came to me. Maybe that’s why she hasn’t said anything yet? Maybe she’s afraid, too?”
Rarity snorted. “Wouldn’t that be perfect? Love, defeated by fear of being hurt.”
“It sounds sad, like that.”
“Not sad. Pitiful. Do you think I’m pitiful, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “I’m the pitiful one, Rarity. I just think that—urk!”
She found she suddenly couldn’t breathe, so tightly were Rarity’s forelegs wrapped around her chest. As hugs went, it was something between a corset and a boa constrictor.
“You’re not pitiful,” Rarity whispered fiercely. “Sometimes I think you’re the best of us.”
Seconds later, when she could breathe, “Only because of my friends. Especially the brave ones.”
“Bravery.” Rarity glanced at the dress, then down at her hooves. “Odd, how facing her is harder than facing a dragon. But I think you’re right. We… I’ll talk with her.”
Fluttershy smiled. “That’s a good first step.”