Fluttershy's heart pounded as she walked into the building. Her body was ever so slightly quaking, but she looked around at the other patrons, fearing the thoughts those other ponies had about the mare with the body shaking like jello. Her thoughts screamed at her to turn back, that it wasn't worth it, and that the same horrible cycle of ponies laughing at her would begin again.
She looked around, her body tense. The sign hanging from the ceiling bore the words, "Ponyville's Annual Short Story Contest". All around her were ponies, looking at notebooks and small books, reading each of the entries. Some of the reactions of the ponies were those of delight, and bemoaning the fact that the story they read wasn't longer. Other reactions included nose wrinkles of disgust, confused looks, and gagging at the content of the story.
Fluttershy paid more attention to the negative reactions, imagining those reactions to her short story. She backed up, glancing at the table in the corner where her notebook laid, containing her story about the odd friendship between a bear and a fish. Nopony was looking at it, but she was worried about the quality of her story.
"Oh, Fluttershy!"
She turned to see a certain white unicorn trot toward her. "Oh, hi, Rarity. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, just reading a bunch of the marvelous stories that have been entered in the contest! And, well, some that are... not so marvelous." She grimaced and shuddered. Then she turned and smiled at Fluttershy. "Are you reading some of the stories, dear?"
Fluttershy brushed her hoof on the ground. "Well, actually, I... I... I entered a story..."
Rarity gasped, and then her eyes twinkled. "Really? Oh, my, Fluttershy! I had no idea you wrote stories! Do you mind showing me yours?"
Fluttershy pointed to the table in the corner. "It's over there."
Rarity leaned to look at the table which Fluttershy pointed out. "All tucked away in that little corner?"
Fluttershy nodded, and the both of them trotted to the table. As Rarity picked up the notebook and began to read, Fluttershy looked away, making use of her mane to block out the inevitable expressions that her friend would make. While Rarity would attempt to spare her feelings, Fluttershy felt like it wouldn't be up to par with Rarity's refined tastes.
"My, my, Fluttershy," Rarity said. "This is wonderful!"
Fluttershy jumped, and turned to look at her friend, who wore a warm and sincere smile. Rarity levitated the notebook and said, "It's very gentle and poetic. Why, I never thought that a friendship between a fish and a bear could simply be beautiful." She narrowed her eyes. "Just how many talents are you hiding, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth. "Uh..."
Rarity shook her head. "Oh, never mind that--I'm sure if more ponies came over here to read it, they'd love it. Now, I know I saw Twilight around here somewhere..."
"Oh, it's fine, really," Fluttershy said. "I don't think it's that great anyway."
Rarity put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "If you don't think it's that great, why did you enter it in the first place?"
"Well, I guess I thought it'd be nice to share something of mine for once... but, I don't know, what if other ponies don't like it?"
Rarity pursed her lips. "I see. Well, what I know is that if you create a work of art, you'll never know what others think unless you put it out there to be judged. And usually, the criticism that comes isn't so bad. We just need to tell them it's a story worth reading--draw them in."
Fluttershy sat down and twiddled her hooves. "What if I come off as bragging?"
"It's okay to promote your story, darling--or, how about I go and promote it for you?" Rarity beamed at her. "I'm certain that I can convince some ponies to come over here and give your story a look. After all, I wouldn't want any of these poor souls to miss out on such a sweet and simple tale written so beautifully. Of course, it's okay if you don't want me to."
Fluttershy looked at the floor for a moment, and then up at Rarity again. The warm look that the unicorn was giving her calmed her nerves somewhat, so Fluttershy simply answered with a nod.
"Splendid!" Rarity exclaimed. "I'll get ponies to read your story in no time, and I promise they're going to love it."
Fluttershy forced a smile as Rarity trotted to the first pony she saw. She watched her strike up a conversation, catching the pony's attention. Fluttershy tried to read Rarity's body language in order to see just how she was advertising the story, and the other pony pursed his lips and nodded. And then when Rarity pointed the stallion to Fluttershy's table, the yellow pegasus froze.
She could only hear her own heartbeat as the pony approached, and time slowed down as the pony picked up the notebook, a skeptical look on his face. He opened it up, and his eyes ran across the page, his face unchanging. Fluttershy could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead, and she shot a glance at Rarity, who shot an encouraging look back, while standing there in preparation for whatever was to happen.
It seemed like hours before the stallion put the notebook down. Fluttershy looked up at him, bracing herself for the story being panned.
The pony nodded, and said, "It's not half bad."
Fluttershy blinked. Her tension evaporated, and all she was was confused.
He smiled at her, and added, "Good job--I really liked it."
With that, he turned around, and trotted away, though he paused when he was near Rarity and said to her, "Thanks for the recommendation. I needed to read something sweet."
When the stallion left, Rarity returned to the table. "Now, was it that bad?"
Fluttershy shook her head, relief washing over her.
Rarity beamed. "So, are you all right with me recommending your story to other ponies?"
Fluttershy twiddled her hooves. "Well... just one at a time, okay?"
A fish & a bear? Try a dragon & pony
You are going toREAD ME!
This was a nice chapter. I liked three things in particular:
(1) - Rarity being the one to draw out Fluttershy. In the series, Fluttershy and Rarity are each others' second best friends, and in at about half the episodes where Fluttershy is drawn out of her shell, it's either by Rarity or by Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy only peeks her head out for really good friends.
(2) - That, while Fluttershy's story was good, it wasn't so utterly-amazing that it blew everyone away. Fluttershy showed talent, but not unbelievable talent -- especially in a relatively inexperienced writer. I could easily see Fluttershy being somewhat good at writing: she's intelligent, imaginative and (my version of her) came from her own strange little corner of the Pegasus upper crust.
(3) - Rarity succeeded in drawing Fluttershy a bit out of her shell -- but not completely. That made your drabble feel more realistic. It's like the way the series develops characters.
Ah, the humble creator's paradox. You want to get your work out there, but you don't want to be obnoxious about plugging it. You want people to see your work, but you worry about what they might say. I can definitely empathize with Fluttershy here. Putting this stuff out for the world to see can be nerve-wracking at the best of times, but it's still worth the risk.
5817691 In the series, I'd gotten the impression that Rarity and Fluttershy were each other's best friends, because they had the most in common with each other. I suppose it depends on your definition of best friend. Certainly Rainbow Dash is Fluttershy's oldest friend, and I am sure RD would take a bullet for Fluttershy, but they don't have a lot of common interests, and it doesn't seem like they hang out that often just the two of them, except when Rainbow wants something from Fluttershy (her ability to go to Cloudsdale and cheer, or help make a tornado, etc.) Meanwhile Rarity takes Fluttershy to the spa every week (and probably pays), has her singing with the Ponytones now (though only practice sessions and peferming in front of animals) and apparently has her modeling dresses all the time.
In the end, who is your best friend, the childhood friend who was there for you when you needed them most, and would still drop everything if you really needed it, or the newer friend you have a lot more in common with and spend more time with? If Fluttershy had to give a kidney to save either Rainbow Dash or Rarity, who would she pick? (I don't know the answer to that one).
This story feels really meta.