Fluttershy~

Rarity trotted daintily over a small hill on her way to Fluttershy's cottage.

And stopped, for just a moment.

The rainbow that had run along the road with her all the way - more or less - went on to the meek pegasus' cottage, in the door, and out again.

Rarity considered for a moment how Spectrum Slash had treated her, and what Fluttershy's reaction would have been like if the rainbow pegasus had treated her in anything like a similar way.

She immediately broke into a gallop.

A voice at the back of Rarity's mind pointed out that if Spectrum had been as nasty to Fluttershy, then Rainbow Dash would have done a lot worse than merely raining on her; she took what comfort she could from that, but galloped nonetheless.

"Fluttershy? Fluttershy, dear, are you there?" she cried out, as she approached.

"I'm right here, Rarity!"

Rarity breathed a small sigh of relief.

"I'm just cleaning up some rainbows. The door's not locked, you can come in if you like."

"Spectrum Slash?" asked Rarity, stepping indoors.

"Oh, you met her?" asked Fluttershy. Now that Rarity could see her friend, her concerns were laid at rest; Fluttershy showed no trembling, no tearstains, no sign of distress at all. She had placed her hoof through the strap of a cleaning sponge, and with the help of this, and a bucket of water, she was cleaning the rainbow out of the air in the middle of her living room.

A number of chipmunks, mice, rats, birds, and other small creatures were also holding tiny sponges; they looked up at Rarity for a moment, pausing in their work until Angel Bunny attracted their attention by stomping his foot and frowned at them.

"Yes," said Rarity, carefully dodging the rainbow in the doorway as she stepped in. She wasn't sure if it would stain her coat, but she wasn't prepared to take any chances. "She seems a most uncouth individual, in my opinion. Would you believe, she seemed to suspect me of lurking in the bushes like a cut-rate villain, accosting random ponies and forcing them into, in her words, 'lame dresses'! I mean, really!"

Rarity sat down, and spotted a spare sponge. Lifting it in her magic, she joined in Fluttershy's cleanup operation.

"As if anypony could consider any dress from Carousel Boutique to be lame!" continued Rarity. "Not to mention, the accusation itself is so ridiculous as to be farcical! I mean, hiding in the bushes in a white coat? It certainly wouldn't stay white for long if not properly cared for!"

"Um, okay." said Fluttershy, recognising that Rarity just needed somepony to vent at for a few minutes and probably wouldn't listen to much until she was done in any case.

~~~~~

"...so anyway," said Rarity, once they'd cleaned the rainbows out of most of Fluttershy's living room, "do you have any idea where that uncouth barbarian came from, or why she was being shown around by Rainbow Dash?"

"Oh, yes." said Fluttershy, quietly.

"Really?" said Rarity. "Then do you mind if I ask where she came from?"

"Eep!" squeaked Fluttershy, rather wishing that Rarity hadn't picked just that moment to start listening again. She didn't feel that she could tell Rarity of Dash's ambitions to be an author, or of the "totally awesome!" character that the other pegasus had created. Fluttershy also didn't feel comfortable telling Rarity that Discord had been involved; the dragonequus still wasn't really trusted by some of her friends, and Fluttershy was fairly sure that pointing out Discord's part in this scheme wouldn't help his reputation in the least. Nor did Fluttershy wish to admit that she'd been the one to suggest to Rainbow that she ask Twilight for comment on her story; Fluttershy knew it was cowardly of her, to be so unwilling to tell Rainbow the problems with her story, but she was sure that Twilight would have no trouble doing so in a polite and sensitive manner. On top of that, she also didn't want to tell her friend anything directly untruthful to her old friend Rarity; besides, she had already admitted to knowing of Spectrum Slash's origins.

With all those considerations in mind, it took Fluttershy some time to answer.

"Fluttershy?" asked Rarity, with concern in her voice.

"Oh, um, I mean... Pinkie was here earlier." said Fluttershy, softly, as an answer to her dilemma dawned upon her. "She said the rainbow trail started in Twilight's castle."

"Oh, I see." said Rarity. "No doubt the rainbow, at least, is due to some spell gone wrong. Well, come along then, let's go and talk to Twilight, shall we?"

"Um, do we... have to?" asked Fluttershy, nervously.

"Oh, come now, Fluttershy darling, there's nothing to be afraid of." insisted Rarity. "We're just going to talk to a friend for a bit, to satisfy our curiousity."

"Um... Pinkie did say that Twilight was going on a research binge..." said Fluttershy, nervously.

"No doubt Spectrum's rainbow is due to a misfired spell, then. And if Twilight's already sleep-deprived enough to do that, then she's at the stage where her research needs to be interrupted in any case."

Wielding a floating sponge to take care of any perticularly inconvenient patches of rainbow, Rarity trotted firmly off towards Twilight's castle. "Come along, darling!" she called out as she went.

Fluttershy sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this." she said, quietly, to Angel Bunny before she left.

Angel Bunny gave her a look comprised of a mixture between sympathy and relief that this was one problem he wouldn't have to sort out.

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CCC

CCC #1 · Nov 6th, 2014 · · ·

5227687

Of the Mane Six, she's the one by far most likely to show up in an evil role.

5227734

Well, it's far more flattering than Fashion White was, at the very least. Not that that says much...

SageBrony07

SageBrony07 #2 · Nov 6th, 2014 · · ·

I'm glad to see how things are turning out. Good luck with the next chapter. I can't wait to see it.

FanOfMostEverything

FanOfMostEverything #3 · Nov 7th, 2014 · 1 · ·

Huh. I'm trying to imagine waving a sponge in the air to remove persistent, intangible rainbows. That's magic for you. Every time I think I have it figured out, something like this happens, and I find I can't question it.

furbyguy