Worst-kept Secrets
Fluttershy paced around her living room, looking worried as Angel watched. Rarity had brought to her attention that she may have the teensiest bit of a crush on somepony she knew. But that pony was also happily spoken for with one of her best friends ever. She was at odds with herself, but was leaning towards never bringing it up to either of them. It was for the best, after all. She stopped her pacing, taking a deep breath and turning to face the door, which swung wide open to reveal Rainbow Dash.
“Hey, Fluttershy!” She said with a wave. “You wanna get some lunch?”
Fluttershy jumped, backing away for a moment. “What?! I don’t have a crush on him!” She blurted out.
“Whoa, I didn’t say anything about crushes!” the Wonderbolt corrected. She furrowed her brow, looking at her friend curiously. “Wait... Who are you even talking about?”
Fluttershy calmed down, walking over to her. “Oh, nothing. It’s not important.” She headed out the door, Rainbow Dash’s gaze following her. “Lunch sounds lovely.” She took off, her friend following suit.
“Okay…” She flew on, the two of them making their way to Hay Burger.
Hours later, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were gathered in the throne room of the castle in their respective seats. They looked around, knowing full well that not everypony that would usually be in the room was there.
Rainbow Dash was the first to speak, clearing her throat. “So, I know Fluttershy isn’t here, but… There’s a reason for that.” She sank into her throne. “I didn’t invite her to this gathering.” The other ponies in the room simultaneously gasped.
“Why the hay wouldn’t you invite ‘er to this?” Applejack asked, leaning towards the rainbow-maned pony. “She’s just as much a part of this as any of us!”
“Well… It’s about Fluttershy.” Dash admitted. “You’ve seen her these past few days, right? I invited her to lunch, and she blurted something about a ‘crush’, then brushed it off like it was nothing! I think something is really bothering her. She just doesn’t want to admit it.”
“So, what do you want us to do about it?” Twilight asked. “If she doesn’t want to admit it, it wouldn’t be right of us to force it out of her.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I don’t think so. If this keeps getting to her, she could get distracted from more important things!” She turned to face the entrance as if anticipating the mare’s arrival. “You know how fragile she can be. If this gets bad, it could scare her into never leaving her house!”
Rarity’s head sank. “Dashie has a point…” She told them. “I’ve talked to Fluttershy about her recent goings-on already, but I still worry. She’s so terribly shy that she may try to bottle all of this up rather than facing it like I suggested.”
“Do ya happen to know just who she’s so flustered about?” Applejack wondered.
“Has she not told you about her recent adventure?” Rarity replied. “It’s obvious to anypony who knows about that.”
Twilight looked suspiciously at Rarity, then directed her eyes towards Fluttershy’s empty throne. “I’ve heard about what happened from both her and Boltsinger… But what does that have to do with…” Her eyes widened. “... Oh.” She got up from her seat, waving to the other mares. “Excuse me!” With that, she disappeared in a bright magenta flash.
“Y’all wanna explain this to me?” Applejack requested.
In the master bedroom of the castle, Boltsinger was sitting on the couch, his wings extended straight out. Abu was swinging back and forth between said wings and the stallion’s outstretched tail as he read. He was just getting to the best part of the book when he heard the telltale ‘poof’ of teleportation.
“Hi, Twilight.” He said, raising a hoof as he kept reading. Twilight magically grasped the book, lifting it away to reveal a stern expression. “You alright?”
“Did you know about how Fluttershy has been acting?” Twilight asked.
“Um… She’s been acting like Fluttershy.” He answered. “I haven’t seen her in a few days. Why?”
“You haven’t noticed her... staring?” the Princess continued.
“What would she be staring at?” He conjectured. “Are you talking about since Baltimare?”
“You really have no idea, do you?” she inquired. She got onto the couch and dropped the book back onto his lap.
Boltsinger marked his book, putting it aside. “No idea about what? What’s bothering you?” His wings returned to their resting position as his monkey sidekick hung from his neck, looking at the Princess.
Twilight let out a sigh. “It’s nothing you need to worry about. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She gave him a hug and made for the door. Before she exited, she quickly turned around, squinting her eyes. “Are you sure you haven’t noticed anything different about Fluttershy?”
Boltsinger scratched his muzzle with a wing. “Um… Maybe she’s been a little more forward? I dunno. Maybe performing that solo boosted her confidence. Is that bad?”
Twilight took a deep breath, smiling. “No, that’s not bad at all. I’ll tell you all about it later. Sorry to bother you!”
Boltsinger blinked, confused. “You never bother me. You know that.” He stated. “Well… Whatever’s going on, I hope you can resolve it. Tell everypony I said ‘hi’.”
“I will.” Twilight confirmed, heading out the door. She made her way back to the throne room the normal way. He doesn’t seem to have a clue about all this… she thought to herself. What could have gotten into Fluttershy’s head?
“So yer tellin’ me that those two were in Baltimare for two whole days together, and somehow he managed to sweep her right offa her hooves?” Applejack asked as Twilight entered the room. “Does ‘e even know ‘e did that?”
“Apparently not.” Twilight informed them, coming into the room and sitting in her throne. “He’s pretty oblivious to the whole situation. And I would rather keep it that way for now.”
“You sure that’s the best idea?” the farm pony queried, leaning on the map towards the Princess. “He ain’t exactly a dunce, y’know. I’d bet the farm he’ll figure it out whether ya tell ‘im or not.”
“Well, what if we distracted him?” Pinkie suggested. “He does so much stuff already, with Twilight doing all the tutoring stuff, and working at the farm. It would be super easy to keep him occupied!”
Rarity pondered the idea for a moment. “I do have some outfits in mind for stallions in my next collection… Perhaps I can enlist his help making them?”
“Well, whatever we do, we just need to make sure he doesn’t catch onto Fluttershy’s feelings!” Rainbow Dash interjected. “And the rest of us can go and help Fluttershy!” She held a hoof out as the other four ponies placed their hooves on top of hers, all of them nodding in agreement. “Just one question… How do we help her?”
Boltsinger found himself in Rarity’s boutique, wearing what looked to be a loose-fitting white outfit with gold trim and a cape that extended out over his tail. There was a poofy turban-like hat on his head with an eliptical red jewel at the base and a purple feather extending out from under it. Rarity was sewing everything in place, humming to herself as she went.
“So, why did you need my help with this?” He asked. “Don’t you have mannequins for that?”
“Yes, but I wanted to make sure the pony modeling the outfit had a good fit!” Rarity explained, getting another seam done. “You did help with the inspiration for this line, after all!”
“Wait, what?” the stallion started, looking at the outfit. “All I did was tell you about the story I got Abu’s name from!”
“Yes, and that inspired me to create a whole line based on those delightful stories!” She told him, tugging on the cape while she excitedly raised her head. “And, who better to model the outfit that Alkham Fahm wore when he took the persona of Eazri Almas than the stallion who, himself, got together with a Princess in one of the most unlikely scenarios imaginable?” Boltsinger took on a blank expression. Rarity dropped the cape and backed off a few steps. “I mean, it was unlikely, but that doesn’t make it any less lovely!”
The stallion looked at the outfit, raising his wings and performing a twinkling gesture with his feathers. “You know I’m not an Earth Pony, right?” He pointed out. “Alkham didn’t have wings.”
“Yes, but outfits can be accomodated to anypony of any kind! This will just help to prove that!” she said, adjusting his hat a little. “There, it’s perfect!” She backed up, taking a good look at him.
“Good! Can I take it off now?” He requested. “It’s nice, but it’s weird, too. I feel like I can’t quite fly so well with all the loose fabric.”
Rarity gave a nod, putting a changing curtain between them as the Pegasus slipped out of the fancy outfit. “Besides, I’ve used up enough of your time for one day. I’m certain everything is fine now.”
Boltsinger poked his head out from behind the curtain. “Why wouldn’t everything be fine?” He asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Rarity floated the outfit over to a hanger, putting it with some of the other outfits she had made. “What? I didn’t say anything like that!” She fibbed, looking back and forth.
“What’s going on?” He inquired, stepping closer to her. “Does this have anything to do with whatever Twilight was talking about when she interrogated me yesterday?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she told him, backing away and shaking her head. “There’s nothing going on!”
Boltsinger scrunched his face, leaning in closer still. “Can you explain why I’ve been feeling like I did something really bad to Fluttershy, then?”
“You… you do?” Rarity wondered. “But, darling, you know you didn’t do anything bad. She just has a crush on you, is--” Her hooves rose from the floor, clamping her mouth shut. Boltsinger looked at her, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. “Oh dear… I’ve said too much, haven’t I?”
The stallion shook his head. “You think?!” He let out a frustrated groan that shook the entire boutique. “Oh, Celestia, what am I gonna do?!” He began pacing around the room. “I know you didn’t mean to, but… Why did you have to tell me that?!” He brought his wings up to his head, rubbing his temples. His rump hit the floor as he breathed a loud and heavy sigh. “You know what I’m gonna have to do, right?” He looked at Rarity, who sat back with wide eyes and shook her head. He looked at the floor, pawing it with his hoof. “I have to turn her down. And… So, what does Twilight think about all this?”
“I think she’s mostly just worried about her friend.” Rarity told him. “After she… interrogated… you, she wanted to keep it a secret from you so that we could all focus on helping Fluttershy.”
After a few minutes of thought, Boltsinger finally rose to his hooves. “Okay… Okay, I think I know what to do…” He moved to exit the building. “I’ll just… um… Yeah, that’s it!” He turned to Rarity. “I’ve gotta go. I need to do a few things and… think this over some more…” He waved a wing as he rushed out the door.
Sitting at a table in the library, Boltsinger was writing on a piece of parchment, mumbling to himself as he went. Twilight trotted in, heading over to the stallion. “What’re you doing?” She asked, taking a look at the paper.
“Writing to Sunburst.” He answered. He clenched his jaw tighter on the quill as he kept going. “Rarity spilled your little secret, by the way…”
“My what?” Twilight replied, taken aback. “What do you mean, secret? I don’t have a secret! We talk to each other about everything, remember? You’re silly…”
Boltsinger sat up, spitting out the quill and looking at her sternly. “How’s Fluttershy doing? You able to get her to face her feelings?” He picked the quill up again and dipped it in the ink. “I doubt she’s actually done so. She’s not very honest with herself sometimes…”
“Oh… That secret…” the Princess admitted. “You’re right, though… She just spent the day talking about her animals, and denied every little thing we said about you.”
Boltsinger took a deep breath, the air nearly visible as it came out of his nostrils. “I understand you wanting to keep it from me, really I do… But I wish you hadn’t. No matter what, I hate what I’m going to have to do.” He finished his writing and rolled the parchment into a scroll as Twilight stepped back.
“You’re not gonna…?” She began.
“Don’t worry, I still love you.” He affirmed. “Nothing will ever change that. It’s Fluttershy I’m worried about.” He moved to the center of the room and took a binding, sealing the scroll shut. “I know how emotional Fluttershy can get, and how easy it is to… make her cry… It kills me just to even imagine her heartbroken…” He turned to face the Alicorn once more. “But I feel like that’s the only thing I can do to help her face her feelings and get past them. And… once I do that, I don’t know what’s going to happen. So…” He pointed to the scroll with his wing. “I’ve written to Sunburst, asking if he can accommodate me for a while.”
“What? Why would he need to have you over?” Twilight queried.
“So that I don’t get in between you two.” He explained, picking the scroll up and tucking it under his wing. “Your friendships are quite literally one of the most important things in all of Equestria to maintain. I do not want to be the thing that creates a rift between you. So, I’m going to give both of you some space.” He put his wing on her shoulder. “Focus on your friendship, and try to mend any damage that I may cause. Then send word when you’re ready. I’ll do… what I have to… once I’ve heard back from Sunburst, okay?”
Twilight hung her head. He had made a good argument, but the thought of a heartbroken Fluttershy was, indeed, a lot to bear. She looked into his eyes, seeing the sad determination in them, and relented. “Okay… But don’t be gone too long, all right?”
Boltsinger smiled and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Only as long as I need to be. Besides, it’s a good chance to catch up with Sunburst! Maybe I’ll go visit Flurry Heart while I’m at it!” He headed over to the exit, calling for Spike.
The Princess of Friendship moved to one of the many chairs dotting the room, sitting down and taking a look at her pendant. “I just hope the damage won’t be too bad…”
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8668510
It was the best I could come up with. Pinkie is... interesting to write for, but I doubt I was able to get her antics down completely. I'll take your advice into account next time I follow her around for a chapter.
This... won't end well.