What is a Fluttershy

by Digi

Chapter 1

Fluttershy was nervous, not that this was any different from her normal state of mind, but recently it had been a near constant burden on her. Despite everything she had done, there was still one thing that she could not force herself to do, no matter how hard she wished to: Admit her feelings. It had been sometime since the young fliers competition where Fluttershy had delivered the most energetic cheer she had ever done. It had possibly been the loudest anything she had ever done, to be precise. When Dash had finally managed to achieve a sonic rainboom, Fluttershy's heart had soared and she almost felt like it would rip itself free from her chest. The feeling had yet to completely subside.

At first, Fluttershy assumed that she continued to feel so happy because her friend had achieved a lifelong dream, and she had seen it happen with her own eyes cheering her lungs out at the spectacle. However, the more the yellow pegasus thought about her feelings the more she realized that it was almost as if they had always been there, and were merely hidden. From that day forth, every time Fluttershy approached Rainbow Dash her heart once more sang as it had on that day, and due to the pegasus' shyness her feelings caused her to panic and she became even more reclusive toward the rainbow maned pegasus than ever before.

Fluttershy had always cared about Dash, admiring her strength and bravery. But this new surge of emotion for the blue pony was something Fluttershy was not prepared for. On top of all of that there was still one major obstacle that always seemed to stand right in front of the shy pony, a massive wall that seemed impossible to move. Rainbow Dash was a mare. It was such a simple little observation, but it came with a whole new wave of confusion. Mare's were supposed to be with colts, weren’t they? She had heard words, rumors really, about such odd relationships, fillyfoolers and coltcuddlers they were called. Those words tended to be used in a hurtful manner and Fluttershy was not sure if she could handle such labels being applied to her. After all she liked colts, didn't she?

She knew that there was only one pony she trusted deeply enough to confront her conflicts with, an old friend that had been with Fluttershy for most of her life. The white, nearly grey, unicorn known as Rarity. Despite their relationship, it had still taken a good portion of the day for the pegasus to work up the nerve to go see her friend. Even at the steps to Rarity's personal boutique, Fluttershy was still nervous, nearly giving up then and there. Before she could convince herself to leave the door swung open startling her. She let out a small squeak and dived into a nearby bush, a typical response for the shy pony. “Fluttershy?” said Rarity recognizing the yellow pegasus' squeaks.

“Oh...um hi Rarity,” came Fluttershy's rather meek response from her bush hiding spot.

“Now, now my dear I know that you are skittish, but you must come out of that bush before it ruins your beautiful mane.”

Fluttershy slowly removed herself from the plant, but to Rarity's disappointment, some of the bush's twigs and leaves had embedded themselves in the pegasus’ pink mane. “Oh well,” sighed Rarity “I suppose it's a good thing that we are so close to my boutique. Now come along and let's get you fixed up.”

On the one hoof, this fit perfectly into Fluttershy's plan, she just wished she had been able to walk in by herself. As Rarity set to her task she began to talk, nothing really important just general chit chat, something Rarity was fairly prone to do while she worked with somepony. Normally, Fluttershy would be more than happy to just sit and listen as the unicorn worked, but she had come to the boutique with a purpose. The shy pegasus knew she had to say something, but it still did not make it any easier.

“Rarity?”

“What is it dear.”

“Can...can I ask you a question?”

“Of course, you know as well as I do that you can ask me about anything.”

“Have...have you ever felt, odd around somepony?”

Rarity paused for a brief second. “Could you be more specific dear,” came her reply as she levitated a brush to begin smoothing out any knots in the pegasus' mane.

“Well, whenever you are near them you just feel...nice,”

“I can't exactly help you unless you are more specific Fluttershy. What exactly do you mean by nice?”

Fluttershy began to fidget in her seat as she attempted to find the right words. “I mean, when you are with them you can't help but feel...happy and, warm all over.” She felt like that was not enough but the exact words escaped her.

“If I may,” interrupted Rarity “this pony that you are having these warm, happy feelings for. Do you get the feeling that you would do anything for them?”

Fluttershy nodded after a brief pause prompting Rarity to continue. “Not only would you want to do anything for them, but they also make you feel better about yourself.” Again Flutershy nodded, and she began to smile as she believed Rarity knew what the pegasus was going through.

“On top of that, you feel like you could do anything for them, and would do anything to see them happy?”

Fluttershy began to nod even harder. Rarity's words finally giving her feelings a more solid form.

“If that is the case than there is a very simple answer,” continued Rarity, her voice containing a nearly giddy tone to it, her smile beaming at the pegasus.

Fluttershy was both expectant about Rarity's answer and concerned, since she had suspected what the answer might be.

“You're in love,” came the unicorn’s reply as Fluttershy found Rarity’s forehooves wrapped around her, “Oh, how wonderful, Fluttershy! I have sooo been looking forward to this day. So do tell! Who is the lucky colt?”

Fluttershy sagged a bit at her friends excitement. Her personal fear had been slightly confirmed, but looking at Rarity's expectant face made her feel even worse. She had to tell the unicorn who she had fallen for, besides she had been friends with Rarity long enough that she knew that the unicorn would not drop the subject until she told her. “Rainbow Dash,” she squeaked.

“Now Fluttershy you can tell me anything. I promise there is nothing to worry about,”

“Rainbow Dash.”

“If you could, dearie, repeat that one more time?”

Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut as she worked up as much courage as she could. “I'M IN LOVE WITH RAINBOW DASH!” She shouted, then quickly covered her mouth with a small squeak, her eyes going wide as she realized what she just blurted out.

For what seemed like eons there was nothing. In reality it had been only a few seconds before Rarity broke the silence. “Well that was...unexpected,” said the unicorn, turning her gaze away from Fluttershy, her face showing her deep in thought.

Fluttershy had hoped that telling someone would alleviate her feelings, it seemed like it had only made it worse. Now my best friend is going to hate me, thought Fluttershy tears already welling up and her head drooping low. How could this happen? How can I ever get through this, now? The tears had begun to flow freely, as the yellow pegasus was sure she had made an enemy of her former friend. However, she was surprised to find the unicorn wrapping her forehooves around the weeping pegasus once more. Fluttershy became even more confused when Rarity began to stroke the shy ponies mane in a comforting way.

“There, there now. I am not going anywhere just let it all out.”

“You...you...don't hate...me?” Fluttershy managed to choke out between sobs.

“Oh darling, what ever would make you think that?”

“I...I'm...in love...with a...another mare. Isn't....that wrong?”

“Now if there is anything I know, besides my amazing fashion sense, it is matters of the heart. If your heart truly tells you that you love a filly, then what right do I have in saying no?” She held out Fluttershy and looked her over. “You are a wonderful pony, and anypony, be they colt or filly, would be honored to have your attention and your kind heart.”

“Thank you, Rarity,” said Fluttershy, a small smile working its way to her face.

“I am honored to help,” she said wiping some of the tears from her dear friends face. “Now then, we need to get you looking presentable again.”

Rarity then resumed her work. This time, she was attempting to change Fluttershy's appearance, but only just so. She intended to make it so the shy pegasus' natural good looks were accentuated by her changes rather than altering Fluttershy's look altogether. The unicorn resumed her talk, but this time Fluttershy joined in. They covered various topics, but mostly their conversation's were about love and relationships. Rarity even shared her first experiences in love with the yellow pony.

Fluttershy was enraptured by the stories and feelings Rarity described. While the unicorn herself had not fallen for a filly like Fluttershy had, the advice and knowledge the unicorn had gained was not taken for granted. She was even more surprised to find out about all the troubles Rarity had gone through in order to gain such wisdom. The fact that her close friend had faced so much hardship in her own search for a companion and was still going strong gave the yellow pony hope.

However, their time together had drawn to a close. Rarity was adding the last few touches to her work, in reality she had not changed that much. A bit of makeup for Fluttershy’s eyes and cheeks, along with a hair clip to help hold her pink mane back. Lastly, a thorough hair treatment to make her mane and coat shine as much as possible. Normally, such a process would not have taken long, but the two ponies where enjoying their conversation so much that Rarity took each step in a gentle stride to stretch out the time they spent together. To say Fluttershy's spirits had lifted by the whole experience would be an understatement, as she felt downright giddy. She was still unsure about her feelings toward Rainbow Dash, but she felt that she had made her first steps in the right direction.

“You know,” said Rarity as she walked her friend to the door. “You really should confront Dash on your feeling, at some point.”

“Yes, I know,”

“You don't have to force yourself, but it will only eat you up inside until you do.”

Fluttershy merely nodded.

“So, do you know what you are going to do next?”

“I...I think I have some studying to do,”

Rairty gave the shy pegasus one last hug. “I wish you the best of luck. I do hope you find what you are looking for.”

Fluttershy nodded “Thank you again, Rarity,” and with that she headed off toward Ponyville's library.

Comments

[jileel]

This is looking good already.

[MasterZero]

Pretty good so far. Always good to see Rarity being the generous, good hearted mare we all know she is.

Hopefully Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash will be together soon. I love opposite-attract couples like them.

Thumbs up!