Chapter 3: Insightful Diamonds, Wild Rainbows, and Timid Butterflies
Davenport’s Secret
Chapter 3: Insightful Diamonds, Wild Rainbows, and Timid Butterflies
Davenport lay on the floor, desperately trying to clean the bottom of the last of his sofas. He sneezed, as the dust managed to find its way to his nose. His was not a glamorous job on the best of days, and this part was certainly was not. The store bell chimed, and he greeted his customer.
“Could you say that again? I couldn’t hear you under there.”
Davenport recognized the voice, and hit his head in his rush to get out from under the sofa. As he rubbed the back of his head, Rarity looked at him with concern. “Are you alright, dear?”
Davenport nodded, and got back to his hooves. “I’m fine. I’m just dusty and slightly embarrassed. I hate to be rude, but could you give me a moment so I can clean myself off?”
Rarity understood completely. “Of course, being dirty is just dreadful, especially when you have to keep up appearances for your shop.”
After putting away his duster, Davenport stepped outside and did his best to knock the dirt off his coat. He was glad that Rarity had shown up instead of Rainbow. He didn’t know if he could deal with Rainbow’s antics so early in the day. When he stepped back in, closing the door behind, he found Rarity lounging on one of his best sofas.
Rarity poked the sofa’s cushion with a hoof. “I have to say, this is nice, but it just doesn’t match my chase lounge.”
“That was one of the finest pieces that I have ever had in this shop. I’m glad you still like it.” Davenport made his way behind the counter, and poured himself a strong cup of coffee. “Would you like some? I have another mug.”
She smiled at his offer. “No, thank you, I’ve already had a cup this morning, and I don’t plan to stay long. I just wanted to come by and tell you how sorry I am about my behavior yesterday.”
Davenport gently waved her words away with a hoof. “Don’t worry about it. I know you, and I know you meant nothing by it. Please, don’t give it another thought.”
She looked down and stroked the fabric of the sofa softly, before adding, “Well I’m not being completely honest. There is one thing I would like to ask you. Do you like…”
The shop’s chime rang again, halting the conversation. Rainbow stepped into the shop, and took note of their positions. She began to grin as she looked back and forth between Davenport and Rarity. “Am I interrupting something? I can come back later, if you two are busy.”
“Rainbow, you should have learned about jumping to conclusions after yesterday.” Rarity said with more than a little annoyance in her voice. “I came to apologize for my behavior, and decided to try this sofa, nothing else.”
Rainbow gave her a mischievous grin. “It looks to me like you were modeling for him like a mare in one of those old paintings.” Rainbow made a point to look at the bare countertop. “Where are your art supplies? You shouldn’t let such an opportunity go to waste. Maybe you could use her lying on your sofas as part of an advertisement? I’ve even got the catch phrase for it: Can you imagine such beauty in your home? You can have it every day, if you buy a sofa from Quills and Sofas.”
Rarity flushed in embarrassment. “Rainbow, I am not some advertising tart!”
Davenport had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. He put his mug down, and grinned at Rainbow. “I don’t think the ads would attract the kind of ponies I would be hoping for, but thanks for the idea. What can I do for you today, Rainbow?”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, and looked at the floor. “I’m here to apologize too.” She pulled an envelope from the saddle bags she was wearing, and offered it to Davenport. “I not good at this kind of thing, so I hope these will make everything good between us.”
He opened the envelope, and sighed at what he saw. “You didn’t have to do this.” He up-ended the envelope and two of Rainbow’s feathers floated down to the counter. “I accept your apology, but I can’t take these as part of it. Let me pay you fair price, and we will call the whole thing over, alright?”
He began to inspect the feathers, and Rainbow watched intently. Rarity sat up on the sofa, and watched him work as well.
“How do my feathers compare to Fluttershy’s?”
Davenport slowly looked up at her. “You saw that?”
Rarity made a polite noise, getting his attention, and confessed, “We watched you two the whole time you were at Fluttershy’s. Rainbow has been looking out for her since they were both in flight school. Fluttershy is such a delicate thing; we were just concerned for her.”
Despite feeling irked at having his privacy so thoroughly invaded, he calmly stated, “It’s nice to know that she has such good friends. I promise I would never hurt a feather or hair on her.” Davenport reached under the counter, and retrieved his quill making tools. “To be honest, Rainbow, your feathers are stronger.” He trimmed down the two feathers, and placed the resulting quills on the shelf with the other pegasus quills. “I think you would be pleased to know that I would recommend your quills for somepony with good writing form. Stiffer quills can take a touch to use, but the results are typically sharper.”
Rainbow puffed herself up a bit at the perceived complement. “Did you hear that, Rarity? I’m so awesome, I even have great feathers.”
Rarity rolled her eyes in response. Davenport couldn’t help but laugh, as he paid Rainbow. “I’ll make sure they find their way to a writer who will appreciate them.”
“Thanks for the bits, and thanks for being cool about yesterday. Maybe I do read a little too much adventure stuff.” Rainbow waved, and then left the shop, leaving the door open behind her.
Rarity used her magic, and shut the door behind Rainbow. She made certain that Rainbow was away from the shop, before turning back to the shop’s proprietor. “She was genuine with her apology, but I think you’re in for some more trouble from her. Rainbow does not give up that easily.”
Davenport’s shoulders slumped at the idea. “I know. I just hope that whatever she tries next is not too disruptive. I have a business to run.”
Rarity examined one of her hooves, and looked self-satisfied. “I noticed something when you put Rainbow’s quills on the shelf. You don’t have any yellow pegasus quills for sale.”
Davenport slowly turned to look at the shelf. She was right, not one yellow quill was on display. He turned back to her, with a sheepish look.
Rarity arched an eyebrow at him. “I can only assume that Fluttershy’s quills went into your personal supplies. Am I right?”
Davenport croaked, “Yes.”
“After seeing you two together, hearing you talk about her yesterday, and the fact that you kept her quills for yourself, I assume you like her.” Rarity smiled, knowing her intuition was correct.
Davenport put his chin down on the counter, knowing it was pointless to protest. Rarity’s keen eye for detail had left his crush completely exposed, and any denial he would put forth would only make the matter worse. “Yes, I like her. Just, please, don’t tell anypony.”
“May I ask why you find her so alluring?” Rarity leaned towards him, eagerly awaiting his answer.
Davenport closed his eyes, as he listed, “She is such a gentle soul. I have never heard her say a harsh word to anypony. She has a loving heart, and it really shows when she is with her animals. Her singing voice is amazing. I could name dozens of other great qualities that she has.”
Rarity nodded in appreciation of his words. She was glad that he saw Fluttershy as an individual, and not just as a pretty mare. “Did your little arrangement with her, for the feathers, start due to your emotions, or because of business?”
“Strictly business, I thought that if I could get feathers from her they would be in better shape than the ones that I had been getting. I was surprised she agreed to the idea, to tell the truth.” He opened his eyes, and Rarity could tell he was being earnest. “After spending some time with her, she began to relax around me a little. I slowly began to see more and more of her personality, and I fell for her. I have never met another mare like her. She is simply beautiful through and through.”
Rarity regarded him with a new perspective. “But you haven’t moved on these feelings?”
He raised his head from the counter. “No, I’m scared she would push me away. I don’t want to endanger what I have with her. I could take the blow to my business well enough, but I will not risk my friendship with her.”
Rarity gracefully removed herself from the sofa, walked over to Davenport, and gently put her hoof on his shoulder. “She wouldn’t do that. I’ve known her for years, she may curl up into a ball and not talk for a few minutes, but she would never push you away. You should tell her how you feel. It would be good for both of your sakes.”
“Thank you. I think I will.”
*****
That weekend, Davenport once again headed down the path to Fluttershy’s. His saddle bags did not contain his customary tools, but held a bundle of carrots and a bouquet of flowers. The carrots were meant to fulfill his promise to Angel. The flowers were intended for Fluttershy.
As he came to the cottage’s door, he took a deep breath and steadied himself. He whispered as he knocked on the door, “Celestia, please don’t let this go poorly.” After an agonizing couple of moments, the door opened. He was greeted by an irritable white rabbit, not the kind yellow pony he had hoped to see. “Hello. Is Fluttershy at home?”
Angel shook his head.
“Horse apples, I wanted to talk to ask her about something. Well, at least I didn’t waste lugging these things around.” Davenport took off his saddle bags, and opened one of the side pouches. Angel leapt in the air with joy, as Davenport pulled out the large bundle of carrots. Davenport held the reward out to the rabbit. “I always make good on my business deals.” Angel took the carrots, their weight almost made him drop them. “Could you tell me where Fluttershy is?” Angel put the carrots down, and went through a complex pantomime of giving somepony a massage and then applying a mud mask. “She went to the spa then.” Angel nodded once again. Davenport sighed. “She could be gone for hours. I’d hate for the flowers to wilt before I can give them to her.”
Angel’s eyes widened, as he realized what Davenport’s intentions were. The carrots had paid off Davenport’s debt, but they did not buy the rabbit’s good will. Angel quickly moved the carrots out of the way, and slammed the door. “Well, I guess I know what he thinks about the idea.”
He began to put his saddle bags back on, when a soft voice called, “Hello, Davenport.”
He placed the bags back on the ground, and smiled as Fluttershy came up the path. “You have perfect timing. I wanted to talk to you, and Angel told me you were out. I thought I would miss you today.”
“Rarity and I just got finished at the spa.”
“I thought you looked particularly relaxed. I’m glad to see you enjoyed it.”
She ducked her face behind her hair, not expecting such kind words. “Thanks. Is there something I could help you with?”
“I wanted to ask you something.” Davenport opened another section of his saddle bags, and gently retrieved the flowers. He held the bouquet out to her. “Would you like to have dinner with me this evening?”
Fluttershy blushed crimson, and took the flowers. She barely whispered, “You mean like a date?”
Davenport’s fears began to resurface at her hesitation. “It doesn’t have to be a ‘date,’ if you don’t want it to be.”
She shook her head. “No, a date sounds nice, but…” Davenport’s heart all but stopped, as he waited for her to finish her sentence. “I promised Twilight that I would watch the sky with her tonight. She’s real excited about an alignment of stars that only happens once a year.”
Davenport’s heartbeat returned to normal. It was not the perfect scenario that he had hoped for, but at least she had not said no. “We can get together some other time then. When would be a good evening for you?”
Fluttershy would not look at him, but she had a small, bashful smile as she examined the flowers. “I’m leaving tomorrow to see my parents for a few days. I’m not sure how long I am going to stay, so I can’t tell you when a good time would be.” Davenport offered to keep an eye on her animals, but she politely refused. “Rainbow and Applejack are going to look after my animals for me, but thanks for offering.”
After thinking it over for moment, Davenport suggested, “Let’s not worry about a particular day till after you get back. Send me a note, or come by the shop, and we’ll make plans then. There’s no rush, so just write or swing by whenever you like.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I will.”
Davenport put back on his saddle bags, and gave her a warm smile. “I really look forward to spending an evening with you. Enjoy the stars tonight, and have a safe trip.”
As he headed back down the path, she added, “Thanks for the flowers, they’re my favorites.”
“You’re welcome. I had help in picking them out, so I can’t talk all the credit.” Davenport replied.
*****
Shortly after Fluttershy thanked him for the flowers, Davenport realized something. To make the date with Fluttershy as pleasant for her as possible he would need help. He gotten Rose Luck’s advice when he picked out the flowers, he would need even more help setting up a successful date. Sure, he could do the typical routine. But he wanted to make the evening special. For insight into how he should set things up, he had to get help from the one pony that had known Fluttershy the longest.
Davenport sat beside Rainbow’s mailbox, and fumed as he looked up at Rainbow’s house. “I should have remembered she was the only pony in Ponyville to live in a cloud house.” He had not been able to get Rainbow’s attention by yelling, he could not knock on her door, and he had no way of catching her in the air, if she was out. “Rainbow Dash, you need to open that door before my sanity returns!”
He suddenly felt the presence of another pony, and slowly turned. Davenport about jumped out of his saddle bags, as he came nose to nose with Pinkie. After taking a moment to get some air back into his lungs, he gasped, “By Celestia’s feathers, how do you do that?!”
“Do what? I’ve been sitting here for a couple of minutes. You’ve been just too busy yelling at Rainbow’s house to notice me.” Pinkie looked up at Rainbow’s house and tilted her head to the side. “Would it help if I yelled too? Though, I don’t think Rainbow is going to hear you. She’s at the library.”
Rainbow Dash, sitting in a library, Davenport almost dismissed the idea as another absurd Pinkie moment. But, as random as Pinkie could be, she was certainly reliable at knowing where ponies were around town. “Thanks Pinkie, you’re a life saver.”
“No, silly, I’m a pony. I was just curious why you were yelling at Rainbow’s house.” The look she gave him clearly conveyed that she was expecting an explanation.
Davenport tried to phrase his words carefully. “I need her help setting something up.”
Pinkie leapt to her feet. “Rainbow is great at helping with stuff. She’s helped me make deliveries for the Cakes a bunch of times. She’s so fast, it takes no time at all.” Pinkie motioned for him to follow her, and they set off towards the library.
“You don’t have to come to the library with me, I appreciate it though.”
The pink pony never stopped bouncing along the road. “I wanted to talk to her too, so we can go to the library together. It will be fun to have somepony to talk to.”
To his irritation and amazement, Pinkie did not stop talking the whole way to the library. She talked to him, to ponies they passed, even to birds that flew overhead, never once seeming to take a breath. Davenport had never been so happy to be in the quiet of a library as when he stepped into the Golden Oaks Library, and Pinkie finally ceased talking.
Pinkie had been right, Rainbow sat near Twilight. The pegasus was intently reading a book she had laid on the main table. The sight made putting up with Pinkie’s incessant chatter worth it.
Pinkie greeted the pair of readers, “Hey you two. Davenport needs some help.” The two looked up from their respective books with concern.
He waved his hooves in the air. “Nothing serious, I just need a little help from Rainbow.”
Rainbow smiled ear to ear. “You need help from the great Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer is Equestria?” Davenport began to feel that he had made a mistake, but still hesitantly nodded.
Twilight closed her book, with a skillful flick of magic. “Pinkie and I can help too. We’ve handled everything from dragons and hydras to manticores.”
“It’s nothing like that.” Davenport started to fidget. He had planned to talk to Rainbow alone. The conversation was going to be difficult enough without other ponies listening.
Pinkie hopped up and down. “Let us help too! Rainbow’s going to help you. We’re going to help Rainbow, because she’s our friend, so you might as well tell us what you need help with at the same time.”
Davenport internally sighed, Why does she have to make sense at the most inconvenient moments? He swallowed, before telling Rainbow. “I need your help with a date.”
Rainbow was perplexed by his words. “You came to me for date advice?”
Davenport shook his head. “Yes, no, sort of. It’s hard to explain. I need you to tell me a few things, so that I can set up a date.”
Twilight cut to the heart of the matter. “Who is the date with?”
As calmly as he could, he named, “Fluttershy.”
There were three very different reactions to his statement. Twilight’s eyes widened in curiosity at the notion, Pinkie made a high pitched squeal of excitement, and Rainbow’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
“Please wait a moment, before you continue. Our friends need to be here for this.” With a flash of purple light, Twilight vanished.
Rainbow recovered her slack jaw, and asked Davenport, “You realize Fluttershy is leaving for a few days, right?”
Davenport rubbed a hoof between his eyes. His hopes of keeping things simple had vanished as thoroughly as Twilight. “I know, I asked her about the date this afternoon. We’re going to set a time later. I want to take the time to plan an evening she can enjoy.” Davenport sat down heavily. He had really hoped there would not be a scene like this, but life had conspired against him.
Twilight reappeared, with another burst of light, along with two others. Rarity and Applejack took a moment to orient themselves with their new location, before looking around at the gathered ponies.
Applejack adjusted her hat back to its proper position. “Now, what’s so important that ya’ll couldn’t hold off till I got my apples in the barn?”
Rarity looked over at Davenport, saw his expression, and gave him a knowing smile. “I take it you took my advice?”
Rarity’s question made Applejack look Davenport over. “What advice?”
Pinkie all but vibrated with excitement. She blurted out, “Fluttershy said yes to a date with Davenport! We’re going to have the biggest party ever!”
“No, we are not.” Rarity’s unyielding tone caused Pinkie to freeze in place. “This is a special and private occasion. No parties.” Pinkie all but deflated at the thought of not having a party to mark the event. Rarity added, “However, in due time, after he proposes, you can throw the biggest party that Ponyville has ever seen.” Rarity’s prediction renewed the pink pony’s vigor.
Unconvinced, Applejack looked over at Rarity. “Sugar cube, what makes you so certain he’s goin’ to do any proposin’?”
“This gentlecolt and I had a nice conversation about Fluttershy the other day.” Rarity put a hoof to her chest, as she looked over at Davenport. “I have never heard such a sincere and thoughtful admittance of affection for a lady in all my life. He cares deeply for our Fluttershy.” Her words embarrassed the stallion, and he looked towards the floor.
Rainbow asked about what Davenport had said about Fluttershy. Rarity repeated Davenport’s words about Fluttershy’s personality and her inner and outer beauty. The rest of the gathered ponies listened with rapt attention. Twilight, much to Davenport’s mortification, began taking notes.
The librarian’s quill stopped. She looked up from her writing, needing some clarification before she could continue. “Why were you two having this conversation in the first place?”
Rainbow tried to slink under the table, as Rarity described the events that led up to her going to apologize to Davenport. Rarity also explained how she came to realize Davenport’s affection for Fluttershy, due to his tone when talking about their friend and the absence of her quills from the store’s shelves. Pinkie filled in the gap in Rainbow’s story, by telling how Rainbow had come to her for help first.
Both Twilight and Rarity gave Rainbow a harsh look. Twilight sternly stated, “Rainbow, we’re going to have a talk about his later.”
Davenport gave the unhappy duo a lopsided grin. “The whole mess with the letter is why I started looking for Rainbow.” He looked over to where Rainbow was still half-hidden under the table. “You’ve known Fluttershy the longest of anypony in Ponyville, right?” Rainbow nodded. “I would like to make you a deal. You help me set up my date with Fluttershy, and I will tell you what was in the letter. Provided, of course, that you tell nopony else what the letter was about.”
Twilight tried to get his attention, but Rainbow spoke first, “If you’ll extend the deal to cover my friends, I accept.”
Davenport thought that Rainbow’s added term was reasonable. “Consider them included in the agreement as well. Since Twilight already knows what is in the letter, I will provide her with a set of my finest quills.”
Rarity smirked. “I’m sure quills from a certain pegasus won’t be included in that set.”
Davenport’s blush all but reached his ears. The group spent the next hour discussing ways to make the date go well. Twilight began making lists of accepted, workable, and rejected ideas. Davenport helped clear off the table to give Twilight more room to work. As he shelved the various books he had collected, his hoof paused midway to a shelf when he noticed the title of the book that Rainbow had been reading. He quietly laughed, as he placed the book back in its rightful place.
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
905 users online
1,871,391 hits today, 2,139,894 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
AW man. I thought he liked Rainbow Dash.
2672093 I tried to be fair, I really did! When it came to hints, I wanted them to not be too obvious, but I also didn't want them to be so slight that readers couldn't pull things together. I get irritated at stories that give no hints whatsoever, or shove things in the reader's face. I was hoping to strike a balance between the two extremes.
There still is a secret left to be revealed, I hope I have played fair with it through the story as well.
I thought he liked twilight I won't lie. Also I know what the other secret is I think. What he does and what the letter is about... that might not be it though.
2640920 Thanks for reading my story! I also wanted to congratulate you on being the Equestria Confidential Read of the Week! I knew I recognized your avatar, but did not put the story and the author together till now. Black and White and Red All Over was one of the first shipping stories that I read on FiMfiction, and it remains one of my favorites.
And there it is she's still bragging lol
Awww he really does have a crush on Fluttershy that's so cute
Don't ask it's just makes things harder when it comes to Pinkie Pie
Okay wow so Davenport was basically cleaning up everything in the shop until Rarity showed up and she wanted to apologize for what happened the other day and it looks like she was not the only one Rainbow Dash also showed up as well and despite she kind of took everything out of contacts she also apologized for what happened as well and after rainbow left Rarity did say something about Davenport he had a crush on Fluttershy and he admitted he just doesn't know how to go tell her that but without making it to pushing it and Rarity gave him some advice and hopefully this would help him once he got to Fluttershy's house she was not home but luckily she came just in time and ask her on a date the thing is she's about to leave to visit her parents and I know this is before season 7 came around and I'm sure her brother will be there as well but she still didn't say no but now he needs some advice from Rainbow Dash about Fluttershy and it looks like he got more help than he never thought he would have well hopefully things will work out for both of them