Friendship's Just the Start

by Casswolf

Ch 3 - Time Marches On

Time passed, as time was prone to do (albeit with a small hiccup where it decided to flow backwards for a short period, but Discord had looked suitably contrite afterwards and promised not to do it again). Eventually Rarity had managed to find the time amidst her work to create a painting of Fluttershy that didn’t make the pegasus out to be some sort of otherworldly goddess - truthfully she had to admit that a bright, happy-go-lucky scene of her friend cavorting with a selection of her cuter critters fitted Fluttershy’s aesthetic better anyway.

She still kept the original and, true to her word, would spend the occasional late night daydreaming over it and shedding bittersweet tears of course.

Rarity had been quite upfront with her friends about using them as inspiration for her first paintings in the end, and insisted on gifting them the results of her efforts. Unfortunately Pinkie Pie had hijacked the concept at the last minute to turn things into an impromptu ‘Rarity is super-duper-luper talented and pretty and painted us all amazing pictures, yay’ party. Part of the unicorn still wondered why the pink mare had a fully decorated cake to hand that matched this bizarre theme, not to mention a full banner, but she had decided not to dwell on it. The laws of reality seemed to turn a blind eye to Pinkie’s shenanigans. And besides, at least this way there were drinks and snacks.

Twilight Sparkle had already had her sneak preview, of course, but enough time had passed that the alicorn seemed to view it with completely fresh eyes. “Oh thank you!” she had gushed. “I’d completely forgotten how many little details you’d put in. We really will have to hang this in the castle somewhere for everypony to see.”

“You sure you ain’t been doing this all your life, sugarcube?” Applejack had asked with a good-natured smile upon being shown her rustic landscape. ”I mean, I don’t know much about art, but I can tell when someone has a knack for somethin’, and hoo-wee, you’re good at this, girl! Reckon you’ll bring a tear to ol’ Granny Smith’s eye with this, you will.”

“Rarity, this is awesome!” Rainbow Dash had reacted to her comic book likeness with predictable enthusiasm. “Like, seriously awesome! Like, ‘I’m gonna show it everyone because it’s that darned awesome’ awesome!” The pegasus threw an arm over Rarity’s shoulders. “But seriously, talk to me if you ever get bored of the whole fashion thing. I’ve got a great idea for a story, ‘The Super Awesome Adventures of Rainbow Dash’. If you’d do the artwork we could make a fortune!” For some reason the white mare seriously doubted this, but for once she decided to hold her tongue on the matter.

“Yay it’s all whee! And then it’s waaagh! And then it’s bubblicious!” Pinkie Pie had excitedly bounced around in circles spouting out what presumably only made sense to her. “With curly-wurlies! I love it!” The ensuing hug had almost left Rarity with bruised ribs, but the unicorn barely noticed; Discord had appeared out of nowhere at that point, for some reason wearing a top hat and monocle. He had viewed Pinkie’s present pensively, stroking his beard.

“Hmm… hardly groundbreaking, yet the raw talent is unquestionably there. Maybe a touch overly precise, but the piece certainly performs the task of showing a window into the soul of a larger than life, but completely deranged individual.” Up until this point he had been affecting a mock snooty tone, but Discord’s voice returned to normal as he decided to join in the ongoing hug. “Surrealism from Rarity!” he had almost sobbed. “Baby’s first little dalliance with chaos! I’m so proud!” Here the draconequus had disengaged before thrusting a card and bottle of wine into Rarity’s face. “Sorry I can’t stay for the party, but I really have to go deal with a galaxy-eating carrot. Pesky thing escaped from my garden about an hour ago. Toodles!” The unicorn couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or amused at the card, which read ‘congratulations on not being totally boring!’, but the wine had proven to be surprisingly nice and even more surprisingly not booby-trapped, so she went with the more charitable option.

Fluttershy’s reaction, finally, had cemented what a good idea it had been to go back to the drawing board after her first attempt at painting her. The petite mare’s blue eyes grew as large as saucers and she audibly gasped upon being gifted her present, a rare occurrence for a pony who could barely make herself heard at the best of times . “Rarity… it…” Fluttershy practically bowled her friend over in a hug. “It’s gorgeous!” High praise indeed from a pony who usually used the word ‘nice’ more than Rainbow Dash did ‘awesome’. “I love it so much!” The two ponies stayed in the embrace for a short while, Rarity pausing from smiling blissfully just long enough to stick her tongue out at Twilight Sparkle, who was fixing her with a very pointed look. All of a sudden Fluttershy pulled away, a thought having struck her that ruined the moment. “Oh, but Rarity, you must have spent so long on these, I know I thought you might enjoy trying something new, but your work… I’m sorry.”

“Oh come now, darling, you know me, it has to be all or nothing when I’m involved! Besides, it turns out I’m a surprisingly fast worker, if anything was sacrificed it was the time I would have spent reading romance novels and eating ice cream. Consider this a thank you gift for finding me a distraction that helps me stick to my diet!” The unicorn laughed pleasantly with an endearing shake of her deep purple mane, although her mind was adding a little bit extra to her comment. Now if only I could be brave enough to ask if you’d be in my exercise regime as well…

---

The following days had been a blur of work for the purple-maned mare. As much as she hadn’t been lying about keeping on top of her work, the real busy season did eventually set in. Final adjustments to prototypes for her winter line had to be done, as did the designs for eye-grabbing catwalk outfits for the following spring and their accompanying toned-down versions. Plus there was the admittedly tiresome job of staying on top of how her retail boutiques were doing; as much as she trusted her staff, Coco Pommel in particular, being hooves-on with everything was a hard habit to break. Fortunately the change of pace had reinvigorated Rarity, enough so that in spite of all of this plus her commissions she was actually able to steal an hour or two’s nap nearly every night, which had to have been a first for her.

Business was booming and, outside of one particular area of her life the unicorn had simply been too busy to really think about too much, things were going swimmingly, leaving Rarity in a far better mood than she had been for some time. Even the Grand Galloping Gala itself, an event she only attended these days because it was her only chance to catch up with a handful of crucial clients, didn’t seem quite as boring as usual after a few glasses of rose wine once the conversations she needed to be sober for were over.

“Remind me why I ever thought events like these were interesting?” she had moaned once all the formal meeting and greeting was over and Twilight Sparkle was free to chat with for a while.

“Tell me about it!” Twilight had agreed as the two nibbled on an assortment of snacks. “I think when you’re not in the middle of all of this it seems special, and it is... as long as it doesn't happen too often. Then it just gets annoying.”

“And then when it does become a near daily thing you get to see the uglier side of the supposedly well-bred, and before you know it you’re wanting to just stay in bed rather than deal with them.” Somehow Princess Celestia had joined the two, pouring a glass of wine and downing it in one before either could react.

“P...princess!” Rarity had gasped, but she had been cut off by the slender white alicorn before she could bow..

“Rarity, please, I’ve had my fill of formality to the point I’m starting to wish I’d invited Discord again.” Celestia downed a second glass full glass of wine like she was taking a shot. “I’d at least like to spend a short while just chatting with friends before I get dragged away to play politics once more.”

It had been a rather fun experience after that. Rarity had always considered Luna the more relatable of the alicorn sisters, but a good half hour trading notes over how different the assembled throng was in the ballroom compared to in the courts or the boutique had really helped her to see the pony behind the legend that was Celestia. The copious amounts of wine had helped, but in the end had nothing to do with how their little group parted ways with hugs rather than curtsies.

---

Following that there had been something of an influx of requests, word had quickly spread that the up and coming designer had the ear of the land’s highest royalty, but Rarity had a post-Gala plan in place for a while and refused to budge. She would continue to work on her retail designs, at this point a good portion of her income, and would honour existing commissions. Unfortunately for those hoping to ride the surge of popularity that the last Gala had afforded Rarity, the unicorn had decided to take a much needed sabbatical for a month or two. Early summer was going to be her own for the first time in a few years.

As her staged winding down for her break of sorts continued, Rarity was given more chances to expand her wider attempts at art. She was already a dab hand when it came to making jewellery, although making a few standalone pieces rather than designing with a full outfit in mind had been somewhat liberating. Rarity decided that renting out a studio and investing in some of the more specialised tools needed to work with silver and gold was something worth looking into - most of the modern set of haute couture designers had a secondary line of work, be that fragrances or furniture. Perhaps jewellery could be her little niche in that respect.

Pottery was rather fun when she took a few classes of it; as much as the unicorn disliked getting messy in her daily life, somehow it didn’t seem much of a bother when there was a vision driving her forward. Plus she did rather enjoy the sensations of working with clay, it was rather close to the weekly mud baths she enjoyed with a certain beautiful friend of hers during their spa dates.

Prose, however, seemed to be her downfall. An attempt at writing resulted in an entire five scrolls devoted to the cut of a character’s dress, and Rarity’s poetry… well, she tried to pour her heart out but second readings of her attempts made it quite clear that the only time she had progressed since her school days was when the subject matter had been a pegasus she was trying very hard not to let influence on her work.

“It’s really not fair,” the unicorn had whined during one of her spa sessions, doing anything to distract herself from staring at the yellow pony sat next to her in the sauna. It wasn’t working all that well, all things considered. “I can speak well enough, and the ideas are there, but they never seem to hit parchment in a way I’m satisfied with!”

“Um, maybe you’re being too hard on yourself?” Fluttershy had offered gingerly. “I could take a look if you want?”

Rarity had turned beet red at this suggestion, much to her friend’s confustion, then laughed nervously. “No, no, I wouldn’t subject you to the horror that is my poetry. It made for far better kindling than it did reading, I can assure you. I was sorely temped to also bury the ashes just to be safe, it really was that atrocious.”

“Oh.” The blue-eyed pegasus seemed a little disappointed. “Well, I guess no pony could possibly be good at everything. You’re already amazing at making clothes, and you’re really good at painting, too. Sometimes I think that not being perfect can be what makes something perfect. Um… if that makes sense?”

“Darling, you are a treasure.” Rarity couldn’t help herself, the words had lifted her spirits so. Impulsively she leaned over and gave her friend a quick peck on the cheek, causing her to blush deeply and stare at her hooves for a few moments. An... interesting reaction, but best not read too much into it. “I have no idea what I’d do without you.”

“You’d do just fine, Rarity,” her yellow friend all but whispered timidly. “I really don’t do very much but keep you company.”

“Maybe so,” Rarity snorted. “If you ignore the countless times you’ve helped me put last minute orders together, whipping up the most exquisite herbal teas for me, your being the only pony who’s ever been able to handle Opalescence consistently, plus being a constant source of amazing ideas and inspiration, all you do is keep me company. Or as I like to put it, ‘keep me from going insane’. Please don’t sell yourself short like that, darling, I really would be lost without you in my life.” There was a long pause, and for a second the white mare worried that she had said too much and overwhelmed her companion.

Finally the blush faded slightly from Fluttershy’s face and she fixed Rarity with her beautiful blue eyes, a slight smile on her lips. “You… you make it sound so important, but I’m only trying to be a good friend. Um… but thank you, I’m glad I’ve been able to help you.”

That you exist at all is enough to see me through the day, the rest is just the icing on a particularly heavenly cake. Rarity choked back the desire to be even more forthcoming about how her pink-maned friend enriched her life, reasoning that she had already pushed her luck far enough for one day. “I doubt I’ll ever be able to express how grateful I am for that help, dear, but to just accept a mere thank you seems so little!”

“It’s all I need, Rarity,” Fluttershy beamed, finally deciding to just accept the praise rather than argue against it. She placed a hoof on top of her friend’s reassuringly. “Well, I mean, I really like the company, too, and… and…”

“I think I get the idea, darling,” Rarity laughed warmly. “No grand gestures to show my appreciation, I do know you better than that!” No grand gestures, for certain, but there was something about recent events that was making the unicorn rethink her position regarding her feelings. She had never been one to ignore her heart before, and surely Twilight Sparkle had been right, surely the worst case scenario involved an awkward moment or two and things carrying on as before?

For better or for worse, at that point the two ponies had been interrupted by Aloe, one of the owners of their favourite spa, pointing out that it was time for them to move on to their mud treatment. The moment had been lost, but the thoughts remained, growing stronger and stronger with every passing second now that the distractions of work had been almost removed. Thoughts of two little words.

What.

If?

Author's Note:

Just some good ol' time progression to set a few plot points up. Not least is 'whoops, you accidentally went up in Discord's estimation, Rarity, this may not be good for your tenuous grasp on reality'.

Am probably going to thwack the rating up to Teen at this point due to general normalisation of alcohol. Dunno if that's overkill or not but better safe than sorry in my book.

Comments

[Casswolf]

8216494
Haha, thanks. It's not my first rodeo for fanfic, but certainly my first MLP one. And yeah, I thought Flarity needed more love so decided to be the change I wanted to see!