Chapter Twenty-three: Girl Talk
"...And so I donated most of the profits I made from that sale to the animal shelters and soup kitchens-- after expenses, of course."
"Oh, Rarity, that's... ahh... wonderful..."
Rarity and Fluttershy were in the spa, getting a delightful massage by the sisters that ran it, Aloe and Lotus. Apart from the four of them and Bulk Biceps, who was in another part of the building tidying up, they were the only customers there.
Rarity glanced over at Fluttershy. Her response seemed a little... off. As if she was focused on something else.
She had been like that ever since they had entered the spa. In each of the spa's activities so far, Rarity had tried to make some normal small talk, and usually Fluttershy was interested in what she had to say. But today she was looking off into space and daydreaming. She was smiling slightly with a bit of droopy eyes, giving the occasional "That's nice" or "Okay" or "Mmm-hmm" before sighing contentedly. She wasn't sure if the happy sigh was because of the treatment she was getting or because of her daydream.
She reached out and poked Fluttershy's leg. "Darling? What's the matter?"
"Hmm?" Fluttershy drew her head up. "Lotus, did you do that?"
"Do vhat?" she asked with her signature accent.
"Poke my leg."
"That was me, Darling," Rarity clarified as Aloe stretched out a bad spot in her back. "Ahh..."
"Oh, sorry. It's just hard for me to tell. With her touching me, you know?" She indicated Lotus, then lay down on her belly flatter, a more content smile on her face. "What do you mean, what's the matter?"
"Is there something on your mind?"
"What? Oh, no, Rarity, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" She stretched herself like a cat, cricking out a few joints. "Oohoo, that tingles..." she giggled. Lotus and Aloe stopped their massage and stepped aside to allow Fluttershy and Rarity to step down from their massage tables.
"Well, I'm not saying that it's bad, per se," Rarity said as they went to the hot tub in the spa house and stepped up to enter in. "It's just that you seem a lot more... affable today than usual."
"I am?" Fluttershy asked as she slowly lowered herself into the hot tub, wincing at the heat. "Oh. I'm sorry."
"Nonono, don't be!" Rarity said as she also stepped in. "I just want to know why."
Fluttershy looked at her uncertainly. "Oh. Y-you do?"
"If it's blocking your concentration that much, don't you think you should talk about it with a friend?" Rarity asked. The two spa sisters came up to supervise with gentle smiles. "Now come on, you can trust me."
"Um..." Fluttershy looked down. "Well, I don't think anything bad happened recently. Apart from the Friendship Mission's results, I mean."
"So what happened?"
She grew a cute smile. "Well... I-I've been thinking... about the Guardians of the Sun, actually."
"Ze Guardians of ze Sun?" Aloe asked, above them on the hot tub's platform. "Are zey zose stallions zat came to Ponyville a leetle beet ago?"
"Zat pegasus zat did a Sonic Flameboom vas razer... eenteresting," Lotus put in, next to Aloe. "But zat unicorn ees very handsome. I vonder eef- "
"He's taken!" Fluttershy said rather fiercely. She then shrunk away. "Sorry!" she squeaked.
"He is?" Rarity asked in surprise. If he was, then who was the lucky mare? And how did Fluttershy know?
Fluttershy stood up a little straighter. She looked both excited and nervous to say the next sentence. "Well, I'm actually about to find out." She giggled in excitement. "You see, Noble Blade-"
"What about him?" Rarity asked dangerously.
Fluttershy giggled again and grew a wide smile, hugging herself. "He... he asked me on a date!" She sighed in bliss. "I've been thinking about him this whole time!"
Something snapped inside Rarity.
Her left eye twitched.
"That'll be eight bits."
Noble happily gave the three flower ponies the desired amount, and his hoof now held a bouquet of flowers.
"Who's the flowers for?" the mare at the counter asked slyly. "Is it a special occasion?"
Noble sat on his haunches and ran a hoof through his thick blue mane, a small blush on his face at the thought of Fluttershy. "Yeah, I suppose that can be it. A, uh, date on Friday."
"Lucky mare," she pouted. "Getting a guy like you."
Noble used his magic to make his wallet teleport back inside his private quarters in Canterlot. He was going to ignore the comment.
"If you want to keep the flowers fresh until Friday, all you have to do is- "
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"
Noble felt like his ears were going to fly off from the very sudden outburst. Years of battle training made him instinctively drop to the ground and cover his ears. But even muffled, the scream seemed to permeate every inch of him, and he was very nearly blown away from the scream.
When it finally stopped, Noble's mane stuck up everywhere and he had skidded back a few feet. He took his hooves away from his ears and discovered, to his surprise and relief, that there wasn't any blood leaking from them. He then looked at the bouquet he had in his hoof and sighed disappointedly. It was ruined by the scream that sounded like the roar of a beast of Tartarus. The flowers were broken off of the stems, most of them snapped in half.
"What... what in Equestria was that?" he asked dizzily.
All around him most other ponies were getting up slowly from the sonic scream. He noticed that a few mirrors were broken and some windows cracked. The pony that had sold him his bouquet had collapsed on the ground and was on the verge of fainting.
Noble hurriedly went to her side and propped her up, beginning to shake her. "Do not faint on me! I shall save thee!"
"Catastrophe..." the mare weakly murmured.
"What?" Noble asked concernedly.
"The bouquet... ruined! The horror! The horror!" She started to shake.
Noble's mouth thinned in amusement and relief.
Pinkie Pie was finishing up the frosting on a massive pink cake with white frosting on the borders. As she started to finish the edge of the top layer, so high in the ceiling she had to use a stepladder to reach the top, she suddenly felt a Combo coming on. Her mane stuck straight first. Then her knee twitched. Finally she stuck out her tongue uncontrollably, making her drop the frosting baster she was holding in her mouth.
She knew this particular Combo perfectly well, of course. That Combo meant Rarity was about to scream. And, sure enough-
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"
Pinkie fell off the stepladder into the cake, splattering it everywhere on the walls, floor, and ceiling.
Pinkie popped her head out of the cake ruins and licked herself clean in one swoop with an abnormally long tongue. "Wow, that was fun!" She grinned. "Can we do it again?"
And she dug into the remnants of the cake hungrily.
Firestorm was deeply concentrated. Frowning with his tongue out and crouching, he was gripping a permanent marker in his hoof and was drawing a perfectly detailed mustache and goatee on Noble Blade's suit of armor. He was just adding the final curl to the end of the long mustache when-
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"
The marker slipped. "FFFFFFFF- " Firestorm jumped backwards all the way across Noble Blade's bedroom and hit the wall with a bang, jostling the massive broadsword hanging up just above his head on the wall. As he got up, stars swirled above his head like orbiting planets. He shook them away hurriedly. Then he looked at the armor and gaped at the sight.
The marker had slipped across the face, squiggling his vandalism.
"NOOOOOOO!" Firestorm wailed, and assumed a pose of despair. "MY MASTERPIECE!" He let out a strangled sound, like a cat giving birth, and threw his head back against the wall hard.
He was in the perfect position for him to then see the sword drop on his face. The pommel hit his forehead with a smack, and he fell to the ground with his tongue lolled out to the side and his eyes crossed.
"Do you honestly think there can be ten Elements?" Starlight asked Twilight in the castle library.
"I really don't know!" Twilight said hurriedly, flipping through the pages of a thick history book. "Nothing in Equestria's recorded history says anything about any others! But for that one carving to come out of nowhere and prove the history of the world wrong... I'm not sure at this point." She pointed at Starlight. "Hey, could you hoof me that copy of- "
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"
A surprised burst of energy shot out of both their horns and suddenly every book in the library sprang out of their shelves, burying both of them in a mountain of books and scrolls.
The door slammed open, and Spike sprinted into the room, surprised and scared out of his mind. "What in Equest- " he started, then slipped on a fallen book. "WHOAH!" he cried, and fell backwards on the ground with a thud. The book promptly flew across the room and smacked Twilight in the face, who had just poked her head out of the book pile she was buried in. The book slipped off of her face slowly and lay open in front of Twilight at a chapter entitled, "Soap, oil, marbles, and roller skates: How to avoid slipping accidents."
Beside her, Starlight poked her own head out of the book pile, utterly baffled at what had just happened.
"NOOOOOOO!" a melodramatic voice wailed from above them, and they all looked up. "MY MASTERPIECE!" The voice let out some indistinguishable sound similar to that of a pregnant cat, and there came a thud. There immediately followed a heavy smack, and it was silent.
Starlight turned to look at Twilight. She raised an eyebrow. "Firestorm?"
"Firestorm," Twilight swiftly confirmed.
"And just like that I hit the Timber Wolf in the eye- like that!" Rainbow demonstrated the strike on an invisible opponent with a yardstick she had picked up in the clubhouse. "And he blew into sticks!"
"Wow!" Scootaloo cried, applauding wildly while sitting down on her haunches. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were sitting on either side of her in the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse. "I can't believe you actually did that!"
Rainbow Dash chuckled sheepishly. "Well, I couldn't have done it without Firestorm," she replied.
Applebloom tilted her head. "Isn't he the same pony that beat you a while back?"
Rainbow shook her head. "No. The thing is, he told me that I won after all."
"Why'd he do that?" Scootaloo asked. "To make you happy?"
Rainbow took a second before replying. "That's what he said."
"Why does he care if you're happy or not?" Scootaloo asked with interest.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"
Rainbow recoiled instantly. All three fillies jumped a foot in the air and screamed in fright, then sped in three separate bursts of air to Rainbow Dash, clinging on to Rainbow's legs with all the force they could muster. They were trembling so hard they were making Rainbow shudder herself. For the entire duration of the shriek, they were all screaming in terror. Then the scream finally died down.
But the three fillies were still screaming, holding on to Rainbow for dear life and trembling.
Rainbow pried first Sweetie Belle, then Applebloom, then Scootaloo off of her. "Okay, okay!" she had to yell over their abnormal volume. "That's enough! It's gone!"
And they stopped almost instantly.
The door to the clubhouse then burst open with a BANG and in barged Applejack, making the fillies all scream again and jump backwards to the back of the clubhouse. "Which one o' y'all got hurt?" she hurriedly asked, eyeing the trembling fillies with concern.
"Nothing's hurt here except our ears," Rainbow reported, digging a hoof into one of them. "Is it just me, or did that sound like Rarity?"
"Ah mean, who else do we know that's that loud?"
"Fluttershy?" Sweetie Belle asked, raising a hoof.
"That's only when she's havin' a bad day," Applejack told her.
She will never love you.
SMASH
You don't deserve her. You should not get her. Why would she want to be with you anyway?
SMASH
You are a murderer. A pony that enjoys slaying his enemies more than being with friends...whatever they are, anyway.
SMASH
Who could love you? Who could love me? A mutilated soldier for Celestia, a weapon, a demented murderer.
Freedom Fighter smashed his weapon into the next dead tree, sending another flurry of woodchips away from him. He had snuck out of the castle after the report and escaped to the border of Ponyville, next to the Everfree Forest. He noticed he had been looking at Twilight somewhat affectionately during the meeting and lingering his gaze when she wasn't looking. So he decided to drive those thoughts away by cutting dead standing trees into oblivion, but it wasn't working all that well.
Maybe we should do the ritual after this, he suggested.
Freedom Fighter looked over his left shoulder. 'The ritual? But that's only after battles!'
It'll make you feel a lot better.
'I can't do that!'
You will.
'I don't want it!'
You do!
Freedom Fighter twisted both ends of the staff until they lined up in a certain way and they clicked, activating the enchantments on it. The staff glowed yellow in the grooves running up and down the staff like rivers. 'I DON'T!' he silently screamed, and swung the staff at another tree.
It cleaved through the entire width of the tree in one swoop. The diagonal sizzling cut was glowing and cauterized with heat. It stayed like that for just a second before it slid off the stump and crashed to the ground with a loud thud, cracking dead branches underneath.
Don't kid yourself. I know you do.
Freedom Fighter swirled himself around, holding the glowing yellow staff out, and it went through another tree with another sizzle. 'NO I DON'T!' he bellowed internally as the tree keeled over with a cracking noise.
I will make you do it.
He raised his staff again, intending to cleave through another tree on the horizontal. When you're done here, we'll go and lock ourselves in our room, and then we'll-
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"
AAAAAAAH! The staff flew out of his hooves as he made a wild swing and it embedded itself to the hilt in the trunk of a tree ten feet away. Freedom Fighter instinctively huddled close to the ground in an instant, holding his hooves to his head. IF I HAD MY VOICE I'D BE SCREAMING!
'BUT WHY?!' he bellowed back at himself.
I HAVE NO IDEA!
Eventually the awful noise died down and Freedom Fighter slowly took his hooves away from his ears and was surprised to see that his ears weren't lying in his hooves. He stood up. All around him the grass was facing the opposite direction from the scream's force. Composing his thoughts, he tried to cheer himself up with some laughter.
WHAT IN THE HECK WAS THAT SCREAM OF TERROR I JUST HEARD?!
'HOW MUCH DOES A HEART TRANSPLANT COST? I THINK MINE JUST POPPED OUT OF MY CHEST!'
THAT"S NOT THE ONLY THING THAT POPPED OUT!
Freedom Fighter tried to stick his tongue out at the comment but failed. 'OH MY HECK, YOU ARE DISGUSTING!'
I LIKE SCREAMING!
Freedom Fighter recoiled. WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?
I LIKE SCREAMING!
Freedom Fighter looked over his left shoulder. 'DID YOU INVITE HIM?'
NOOO! Freedom Fighter shook his head. I'VE ALREADY GOT ENOUGH ISSUES HERE!
Then he rested his chin in his hoof. What- everrr, he said in a long, obnoxious, stretched-out voice. You guys are, like, super lame right now! And this bodysuit is super tacky! He plucked at the armored suit that covered every inch of his skin.
He then narrowed his eyes. ALL RIGHT! he roared silently. WHO INVITED THE WHINY TEENAGER INTO THIS MESS?
I LIKE SCREAMING!
'HIT HER BEFORE SHE STARTS TO WHINE ABOUT HAVING A BOYFRIEND!'
Freedom Fighter punched himself in the face. He staggered, clutching his nose. 'OW, DUDE! YOU HIT ME INSTEAD OF THE TEENAGER!'
SORRY!
You all need to go to, like, a crazy asylum-a! Like, really! I literally cannot even-a! He scoffed.
LEAVE NOW AND NEVER COME BACK!
Freedom Fighter scoffed obnoxiously. Don't tell me what to do, freak show! And chill out! Like, stop with the screaming for, like, one second!
BUT I DON'T WANT TO STOP SCREAMING!
'BEGONE, THOUGHT!'
Both of the voices made little "Hmmph"ing noises before falling silent.
Freedom Fighter then silently laughed at the conversation he had made up. He knew how to handle the sad thoughts that crept into his head.
For the moment, anyway.
Discord was sitting comfortably in his home in the swirly, hallucinated town of Chaosville, sipping Earl Grey tea with his pinkie finger out- which he had decided to make into the exact same shape and size of Pinkie Pie. Why weren't all pinkies shaped like that?
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!"
And for the second time that day Discord spewed out his tea. He then started to choke; he had accidentally swallowed his tooth. He gagged and tried to force it up.
A loud flash of white came from behind him. "Never fear! For I shall save you, friend!" Another copy of Discord appeared from behind him and started to give him the Heimlich Maneuver. After a few thrusts the small curved tooth shot out of his throat across the room and embedded itself in the wall.
Discord turned around and hugged the carbon copy of himself in relief. "Oh, thank me so very much!"
"I'm welcome!" the copy said jovially, and with a loud snap he vanished.
Discord then looked around, trying to ascertain where that shrill shriek had come from. It sounded like Rarity, but it couldn't possibly be Rarity. Discord was in another separate dimension, so it simply wouldn't make any sense.
As he thought this he laughed. "Ohoho, of course it wouldn't make any sense to hear it! I'm the god of chaos! It doesn't make sense!" He picked a spare tooth out of his mismatched body and stuck that in his mouth in place of his missing tooth. "My, my, sometimes I amaze even myself."
He leaped back in his recliner, propping his legs up on the armrests. He returned to what he had been thinking of before he had been interrupted by Rarity's impossible scream. He was thinking about Fluttershy and that goody-two-horseshoes Noble Blade. The very mention of his name made him scowl.
They both liked each other! His best friend, the one that had been there for him when nopony else was, was now getting into a relationship? With a pony he knew next to nothing about? Now Discord felt like a third wheel, like he was useless... What would he be to Fluttershy if she now was obsessed with another pony? It was almost like one of those silly friendship problems the ponies were getting into all the time, where it was all about feelings and words and at the end of it all, a silly little mantra that should have been obvious from the beginning.
A secret princess bodyguard? How likely. And she didn't need a warrior for her to be with! She needed somepony who was understanding and calm and peaceable. Somepony that could make her strong and stand by her and protect... her...
Discord realized right then with a beleaguered expression that all of those characteristics could be found in a knight. Specifically, a pony that literally had the word noble in his name.
He facepalmed in defeat and stretched his face. "Oh, Celestia, what am I doing?" He didn't know what to do, for the first time he could remember.
"How goes the preparations for the Gala?" Luna asked.
"They should be finished by the time we planned," Celestia said. "You should attend this year! It'll be fun!"
"Thou sayest it will be," Luna muttered. "But thou hatest it with a passion."
Celestia laughed. "You got me there."
The two royal sisters were on a balcony overlooking Canterlot, with Ponyville in the faraway distance. They had taken a break from their royal duties for the day supervising the Gala setup and addressing the court.
"Besides," Luna continued, "the event taketh place at night, at which time I shall be overseeing the dream realm. 'Tis physically impossible for me to attend."
"Why not take a day off?" Celestia asked pleasantly. "Well, night, I mean. The ponies of Equestria can go without a supervisor for one night. You have a duty to yourself as well, you know. You can't spend all of your time with that mindset."
"The task of overseeing the dream realm is not something somepony can simply take days off from," Luna pointed out. "And plus, I do not wish to spent this supposedly fun night surrounded by stuck-up nobles trying to prune my hoof with their kissing."
"Speaking of Nobles..." Celestia said.
"Speaking of Nobles what?" Luna asked.
"You reminded me of Noble Blade. For the first time, the Guardians of the Sun are available to attend the Gala!" Celestia giddily laughed. "I need something new to spice up the gala, and I think they will be just the thing to make the night unforgettable!"
"The Canterlot nobility won't like it," Luna warned.
"The Canterlot nobility don't have to like it." Celestia shrugged.
"Do you hear that?" Luna suddenly asked.
"Hear what?"
"Listen!"
They both opened their ears. From far away, in the direction of Ponyville, a faint female voice could be heard screaming. It sounded outraged, and lasted for at least five seconds.
When it was over, Celestia looked at Luna, an amused expression on her face. "Now who do you suppose that is?"
"Who else do we know that is that loud?" Luna replied with a smirk.
They both were silent for a moment before reaching a conclusion. "Rarity," they said simultaneously, then they both started to giggle uncontrollably.
"Hold on, do you hear something?" Shining Armor asked Cadence, holding up a hoof for silence. They were in their private bedroom in the Crystal Empire.
In Manehatten, over the noises of the city's carriages and pedestrians, a pony sitting at an outside diner almost choked on his drink. He could have sworn he had heard a faint voice in his ears. He looked around for a moment before muttering, "I say!" and returned to his drink.
The creature stopped. He twitched an ear. He swiveled his head from side to side, under the wide hooded cloak he wore. He could have sworn he had heard something. Then he slumped, and drew his cloak closer about him. "Nal mi'yalk ta kush," he murmured, and shrugged.
He looked up through the forest, and refocused his goal. Northward was Canterlot, small and faint through the trees. He needed to reach that place, and fast.
The creature following a few meters behind him growled.
Rarity had on an absolutely outraged face. The force of her scream had sent all three other ponies in the room scattering for cover. Aloe and Lotus had leaped up comically into the air and were holding on desperately to the rafters. Fluttershy, meanwhile, had jumped out of the hot tub and had hidden under a towel cart, shaking so hard the cart rattled.
"HE ASKED OUT YOU? OUT OF ALL THE PONIES HE COULD HAVE CHOSEN?"
Fluttershy began to sob at her friend's tone of voice. She wrapped herself in her mane and tail and made tiny whimpering noises.
Rarity saw the damage done and her demeanor visibly softened. She got out of the hot tub and came over to where she was and tried to coax her out. "Oh, Fluttershy, I'm so sorry! I lost my temper, didn't I?"
Fluttershy mumbled something.
"What was that, darling?" Rarity put her head in closer.
"Y-y-you like him, too, d-don't you?" she trembled.
Rarity put a hoof on Fluttershy's arm. "Now- "
Fluttershy jerked her arm back away from her in fright, squeaking a bit at the contact Rarity had made. That one single action ripped Rarity's heart in pieces. Fluttershy was scared of her friend! That should never happen!
The door to the spa burst open and in the doorway stood the massive form of Bulk Biceps, his worker's hat dangling off his head and his wild red eyes wide with fear. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" he cried. Seeing the forms of Fluttershy and Rarity, however, he stopped, meekly backed out, and shut the door, mumbling, "Sorry," in the softest voice anyone could remember him using.
Her voice trembling a bit, Rarity spoke. "Listen to me, o-okay? Yes... yes, I do like him. He's charming and interesting and smart."
"Y-yes... I've noticed that about him too..." Fluttershy squeaked.
Rarity tried to say the next words sincerely. "But he got to you first, and that's all that matters. He chose you, and I should be happy for you. You have an absolutely perfect chance. But..." She sighed. "I can't help but feel a little... you see, I'm..."
"Yes?" she asked, poking her head out. There were some trails of residual tears on her face.
"I'm jealous!" she blurted. "This is like Trenderhoof all over again, except it's worse! Unlike him, he's actually sticking around, and he's proved to be likeable, and the love's mutual! I can't handle this! I just can't!" She exhaled in exhaustion. "You remember all those years ago when you became a model for Photo Finish and I was jealous of your fame?"
Fluttershy nodded mutely.
"It's like that too. But oh, it's so much worse this time! You had what I wanted, both back then and now! This stuff that's happening to me- I-it's just too much!"
There was a moment of silence. Then Fluttershy spoke up. "Um, if you really think about it... nothing's actually happened to you."
Rarity fixed her a look. "Do explain."
"He hasn't left you or anything, since the two of you were never together. He isn't breaking your heart, since you weren't an interest to begin with. He isn't changing his relationship to you by not being your boyfriend. You didn't have a date before, and you don't have a date now. If you think about it, your position hasn't changed."
Rarity hung her head in shame. She was right! Noble didn't hurt Rarity by not loving her! He hadn't done anything to her by asking out someone else! But...
"But all the same... I wish he could go with me! He's perfect for me!"
"Didn't you say the same thing about Blueblood?" Fluttershy asked suspiciously.
Rarity's ears flattened. "...Yes... I did... but it- it's not fair for a pony you like to love someone else!"
"Then you should know perfectly well how Spike feels every day," Fluttershy retaliated, a bit of scolding in her voice now. "All the time, he has to put up with having his crush," she pointed at Rarity, "going after other stallions who already want somepony else! You can't complain about this problem until you solve the problem going on under your very nose that you know about, but haven't done anything about yet!"
Rarity recoiled at her friend's severity. "Th-this has nothing to do with Spikey-wikey," she feebly defended.
"You're right. This has to do with you. With your way of looking not only at other stallions, but love itself! Yes, it'd be hard to see Noble Blade ask out somepony else. " She paused with a gasp as she tried to imagine that, then pushed the offending thought out of her head-- she knew Noble Blade wouldn't betray her like that. "But if I were to hold on to those feelings after it's clear he's into somepony else, I'm just making it hard for both myself and him! And I'd eventually be happy in the end because the mare that gets him will be with the most perfect stallion in Equestria!"
"But that's you talking! I don't always feel happy for everypony, okay? I don't always feel content watching everypony with someone special, and me not having that for myself just makes it worse!"
"Have you ever thought about why you don't have that for yourself?" Fluttershy demanded, moving out from under the cart. "It's because you either treat stallions like ponies to be manipulated to make your life easier, or you treat them like garbage when they don't measure up to your standard!"
Rarity felt her words strike her like a slap in the face. She recoiled, gasping a little. She wasn't all that aware that what she was doing was wrong, but now that Fluttershy had violently pointed that out, she felt all of her guilt rush to her stomach like the tears were rushing to her eyes right now.
She collapsed, her voice cracking. "Oh, listen to me! I'm so selfish! I've yelled at you because you got off well, and... and I'm feeling possessive of a stallion I've never been with!" She took a few deep breaths as Fluttershy relaxed her face of indignation, replaced instantly with a look of concern. Fluttershy held a hoof to her mouth in worry as Rarity said, "Sometimes... I wonder if I'm... worthy..."
"Of what?" Fluttershy softly asked.
"Of being the Element of Generosity!" Rarity yelled in despair. "I feel... like an awful friend and a t-terrible example! I'm supposed to be generous, but I feel so selfish!" She started to leak tears down her face.
Fluttershy came up to her and held her against her chest as she bawled in shame. The two spa sisters by then had come down from the ceiling and, noticing their condition, decided to back away a few paces.
Rarity's bawling eventually turned to sniffles. "I'm so sorry, Fluttershy..."
"For having a crush?"
"Well, that and my mascara's running and getting on you."
Fluttershy wiped the dark stain off her chest from where Rarity had pressed her face into it. "You shouldn't apologize for having a crush on him," she said.
"I shouldn't?" Rarity asked in bewilderment, looking up. Her tears stopped.
"Well, have you done anything rash because of your crush? Did you force Noble into a corner and plead with him to love you? Did you do anything to separate him from the others? Did you try to hurt him? Were you plotting or scheming anything? Did you, um... oh, gosh... kiss him?" She said the last part very quietly.
Thinking over it all, Rarity slowly replied, "Nooo..."
Fluttershy looked relieved. "Then you have nothing to apologize for. I don't mind that you have a crush on him, you know. It means that I'm so lucky that he could have had his choice of anyone and he chose me, and that makes me feel so special to have him. And I'm sorry that you're stuck like this. I'm really, really sorry that you can only imagine it. And I honestly hope you can get that for yourself someday."
Rarity felt a spark of relief in her heart, relief that she wasn't damaging to their relationship after all. She could have felt awful, but instead she felt at peace.
"Having feelings for somepony you like is great and wonderful," Fluttershy continued. "They're perfectly natural, and you haven't done anything wrong because of it. But if he wants somepony else, it's best to respect his feelings by keeping yours in check."
There was silence for a moment.
"Wow, Fluttershy. I didn't know you could be that... profound!"
"It's because my wonderful friends have taught me so much," Fluttershy said, extending a hoof to Rarity.
With a quivering smile, Rarity shook it. "I suppose that's my friendship lesson. I can just... admire him from afar. He's your special somepony. And I don't want to interfere and take it away."
"Then who is your special somepony?" She giggled. "Is it Firestorm?"
Rarity gagged. "Oh, Celestia forbid!" They then laughed, forgetting entirely any hard feelings or words they had spoken, and reverting back to their state of friendship.
The spa sisters, seeing the sudden lack of hostility, came close. "I suppoze jour problem ees... resolved?" Aloe asked curiously. Seeing the nods they gave, she continued. "Zen let us treat jou to furzer joys of ze spa."
As Fluttershy and Rarity went back into the hot tub, gently easing themselves in, Rarity said, "You know, it's a lot of fun just doing this with a friend. Maybe we should have invited the Guardians of the Sun here too." Seeing the expression Fluttershy made, Rarity said, "Minus, you know, Noble Blade. It would be a bit... uncomfortable." She pondered. "Actually, you know what, not Firestorm either."
"Because he wouldn't like the spa, or because the two of you can barely stand each other?" Fluttershy asked.
Rarity thought about that. "Both," she decided.
"But that only leaves Freedom Fighter," Fluttershy said. "And I don't think he'd be very comfortable here."
"What makes you say that?" Rarity asked.
"The poor thing's almost as shy as I am," Fluttershy said. "And he might scare the others."
Reflecting on the mysterious pony's macabre tendencies and reserved nature, Rarity silently agreed.
"He hasn't said a word since he first got here," Fluttershy was saying.
"That's something he can't help," Rarity pointed out.
"Oh. Right." Fluttershy blushed. "But there's another thing. He hasn't taken that bodysuit of his off this whole time either, and you'd need to, in order to enjoy the spa." She splashed the water. "And I don't think he'd want to take it off no matter how we tell him. But... why?"
"Vell, eef a pony vants to be kept secret, zat's up to heem," Lotus put in, twisting a towel so the water squeezed out of it and onto the tiled ground. "But I zink he's hiding somezing. Ozzervise, vhy vould he keep a secret?"
Rarity and Fluttershy pursed their lips in thought.
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Ha! Love all the reactions!
Very good story. You don’t need any criticism, you should be giving others that.
Oh no you didn’t.
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Oh yes I did.
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Bad. Bad meme.
8617568
Freedom fighter but that’s mainly because he has a type of disability. You can probably imagine I like that type of thing in a guy. Yeah I know I am I think the autos are cool to Noble is awesome especially when he speaks in this very old language
Brady, I think even my universes characters heard that!
Well, I guess we finally know what caused the Hum phenomenon back in 2018.
Well I guess this has been out for about three years now, but I'm just finding it now so I'll share my thoughts now.
Those first few chapters are rough like really rough, almost stopped reading and gave up on it rough, but they were also fun and most importantly intriguing, you've been getting better and better with every chapter, which is what leads me to this comment, this is the first prefect chapter for me, wouldn't change a thing loved it.
And lastly I'll put in my two cents on your OCs Firestorm's my favorite, sarcastic jokesters mixed with a genuine good natured character just entertain me the most.
Freedom Fighter intrigues me the most, probably cuz I see a lot (to much really) of him in myself, I get down myself and talk to myself way to much, but mostly I just want to know what the heck happened him and that last scene with Rarity and Fluttershy gives me hope for him,
And lastly Noble Blade, man how to say this, I like how honorable and kind he is, and how he interacts with the other Guardians of the Sun, and how he's doesn't pull his punches and says what needs to be said, but for real dude! His dialogues with the Mane 6 are so cringe. I mean who says any that stuff to people they've just barely met lol, I get Firestorm he's trying to be cringe, but Noble almost makes me gag lol. don't get me wrong overall I like the guy, but I guess I've never been a big believer in love at first sight, an extra chapter between him meeting Fluttershy and asking her out filling in their knowledge of each other would make it more believable for me.
But really thanks for this can't wait to see what happens next