IGOR

by mellon collie

I DON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE / ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?

"but this just might be better for us, you know?"

It couldn't have been her.

She was supposed to be holed up in her cottage, wasn't she? That's why Rarity had gone out to the market later than usual. She did her absolute best to make sure they didn't run into eachother.

But there she was, hiding her face behind her hair and barely stammering out a greeting. It reminded Rarity of their first meeting.

It felt like a hole had formed in her chest.

"Hello, Fluttershy."

"...It— it's been awhile."

"It has." Rarity swallowed, but her throat was no less dry. "How have you been?"

"I've, um, been okay."

Rarity barely mustered a smile. "That's good, that's good."

The two fell silent, and Rarity felt like she was going to suffocate.

"It's good to see you again," she finally said.

"Yeah..." Fluttershy muttered.

Rarity could feel the hole in her chest growing larger with each passing second.

"I'm—I'm gonna go now," Fluttershy said, her eyes pointed firmly to the ground.

"Oh. Oh— alright."

Fluttershy turned around and walked away. She didn't notice Rarity watching her walk away, or the tears that formed in her eyes in only a few moments.

Rarity didn't buy anything at the market that day.

---

"are we still friends? can we be friends?"

---

"Shy?"

Fluttershy snapped out of her daze, rapidly turning her head to face Rainbow Dash.

"Yes?"

"You zoned out there. You were watching Rarity dance and you had that look in your eye."

"The... look?"

"You know what I mean. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Rainbow, I- I think you have more important things to worry about today."

"I know, but I'm not gonna start ignoring my friends just because I'm getting married."

Fluttershy playfully rolled her eyes.

"Look," Rainbow continued, "I know this is eating you up inside, and the longer you sit here staring at her the more it's gonna hurt. So you should just go talk to her!"

Fluttershy made to protest, but Rainbow cut her off.

"You can't keep running away from her forever, Shy. Someday you're gonna have to talk again, and today's as good a day as any."

"...Fine." Fluttershy looked out to the crowd but could no longer see Rarity.

"I think she went out into the fields. Probably, uh, that way?" Rainbow pointed left.

"Ok, thanks Dash. Now get back to your wedding."

"I will! See you later."

Fluttershy nodded and walked off.

---

Rarity took a seat under a large tree and let out a deep sigh.

She looked up at the leaves, observing the way they faded from green to orange. As her mind went to dress designs that took cues from autumn leaves, she began to hear hoofsteps approaching.

Fluttershy sat down next to her.

"Hey, Rarity."

Rarity looked over and blanched. "Oh, um, hey, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy had an air of calmness around her that Rarity hadn't sensed in months.

"Needed a break from the reception?" the pegasus asked.

Rarity took a breath before answering to calm her nerves.

"Yes and no. I mostly just wanted some time to relax. I've been positively swamped in work because of the wedding."

"You did— you did both of the suits, right?"

Rarity nodded. Being able to talk about things like this helped put her mind at ease. "Applejack's was no problem, but I didn't expect Rainbow to be so invested in hers! She wanted every little detail of it to be perfect."

"I— I think you did a great job on them."

"Thank you."

They sat in silence before Rarity perked up.

"Oh, excuse me for being rude. What have you been up to?"

"Not much, but I'm doing a lot better now. I spent a lot of time with Tree Hugger and it helped."

"Oh, that's nice. How has she been? We haven't spoken in forever."

"She— she's started writing poetry."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we write together now. It's fun."

"You write too?"

"I was— I was always too scared to show other ponies. Maybe I'll show you them sometime."

"I'd be happy to read them. I'm glad you're doing good on your own."

Fluttershy hesitated for a second before asking, "Rarity?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think... do you think we could be friends again?"

The two fell silent, but the silence was comfortable. Rarity didn't feel a sinking feeling in her chest as she thought.

"I would like that a lot. But I don't know if we're fully ready to go back to the way things were. You get what I mean, right?"

"Yeah. We should probably take things slow."

"Maybe we could, hm..." Rarity trailed off.

"We could do something with the girls? We— We haven't done anything together in awhile."

Rarity smiled. Fluttershy smiled back.

"That sounds like a lovely idea."

---

Applejack passed a mug of cider to Rarity. "So, how are things with Fluttershy?"

Rarity took a sip of the cider and smiled.

"They're good, I think. We talked for a little while earlier, and we agreed to be friends again."

"Well that's great, Rares!" Applejack grinned. When Rarity didn't reply, her grin faltered. "There's a 'but', ain't there."

"Yes," Rarity sighed. "Things aren't the same as they were before we started dating. They never will be, I know that. I guess there's just a part of me that misses that."

"I think the best advice I could give you is to stop focusin' so much on the past. You're only gonna stay hurt when you're caught up on how things were. You gotta look to what the future holds, and the new memories you can make with Fluttershy."

"I... I guess you're right. It's just... things are always gonna be different between us. What if she isn't as happy as she used to be? What if things get really bad again? What if I hurt her again? What if—"

"How do you know any of that's gonna happen?"

"I./. I guess I don't. I'm just worried. She's the one who said she wanted to be friends again, but..."

"Well there ya go! She wants this just as much as you do. You just gotta take things slow."

"She said the same thing to me. Actually, after that she said she wanted to do a get-together with the girls."

"Really? That sounds like a great idea."

"When are you free?"

"Well, Rainbow and I are goin' on our honeymoon, but after that..."

Rarity looked across the field to see Fluttershy and Rainbow talking together.

She smiled, and when Fluttershy looked over, she did too.

Author's Note:

this ending is a little rushed, but i wanted to get some kind of conclusion out before i completely lost interest in writing this
thank you for finishing this story, despite how many hiatuses i took

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

11122507
So it's a bunch of songs? How's it have an overarching plot then?

[mellon collie]

11503269
the songs are all about the end of a relationship. i didnt take a ton of stuff from the album honestly, i mainly just took the concept and put my own spin on it