Somepony Better

Rarity's heart exploded when she saw who had entered her shop.

It was Fluttershy, but for an unusual reason she was riding a small cloud around. Fluttershy wasn't much of a weather pegasus, but seeing her on top of the cloud compelled Rarity to want to suggest otherwise  because it was the most adorable thing she ever saw.

The premise in itself wasn't strange, but now that she thought of it, something about it confused her. Not a single mental image of Fluttershy on a cloud came to mind. Surely this could be the case, Rarity told herself, she is a pegasus after all. There was the one time where they went to Cloudsdale to see Rainbow Dash compete, but was a little bit preoccupied by those wings Twilight had whipped up for her. Also that was one big cloud and didn't hold the same effect.

As hard as she tried to think, no memory of Fluttershy simply sitting on a cloud came to mind. It didn't matter in the end, she was making a memory right now.

The pegasus never ceased to amaze her. The way she just laid down on the cloud with her two front hooves dangling off the front held an uncanny grace to it. The whiteness of the cloud perfect accented her complexion giving her a very 'bright and early' look. The puffiness helped to bring out and contrast her natural, succulent curves. Her beautiful mane and tail were always at their best and her cheery expression perfectly wrapped up the adorable and innocent little package at Rarity's door.

Oh Flutter darling... You mustn't surprise me so... wonderfully...

"Oh hello darling. What brings a mare like you around to my lonely boutique?" Rarity replied.

Princess Luna drifted down on a dark cloud, sitting identically to Fluttershy in every way. Same position and cheery smile. Rarity was weary of her though. Luna has come a long way since her last excursion into Ponyville, but she still held a certain darkness about her.

"Greetings Rarity. Fluttershy hath told me of thou's talent to conjure garments of aesthetics and impracticality." Luna smiled brightly.

The Princess's uncharacteristically light tone completely threw Rarity off. "Indeed?"

"Well you see, I've been showing the princess--" Fluttershy started.

"Luna..." Luna kindly corrected.

"Oh right, I've been showing Luna around Ponyville all day and I told her that you might be willing to possibly consider giving her own of your famous makeovers." Fluttershy blushed and smiled gingerly.

"Oh..." Rarity was immediately envious of the Luna for getting to spend an entire day with her Fluttershy."Yes, of course!" She resumed her usual confident demeanor, it wasn't everyday that she got to work with a Princess. Maybe it'd be fun. "Right this way Princess! You know the first time I saw your new mane I had the most brilliant..."

*

"You look smashing! Don't you think Princess?" Rarity exclaimed a few hours later.

Luna awkwardly shifted around in her new stockings. While nothing more than simple knitted tubes for a pony to cover their hooves and legs with, they were indisputably adorable. The horizontal stripes perfectly accented the flank and natural curve of the leg while the colours broke up the chromatic monotony of the extremities. Despite Luna never looking cuter than she did right now, she still wasn't sold.

"I am not sure fair Rarity, art thou certain that this it the style that young ponies wearest these days?" She said, looking at her own flank, semi-provacatively in the mirror. "I desire only the most attractive attire."

"Darling, I design the styles that ponies where these days," Rarity reassured. "Believe me, socks are in."

"I think you look wonderful Princess Luna," Fluttershy commented with a blush.

"Well if thou insists..." She was still skeptical.

"So Princess, if you don't mind me asking. Why the sudden interest in modern fashion? I'd imagine that you'd never require or desire the fashions of us common pony. You are quite literally a timeless model of grace and majesty, ageless in beauty." Rarity mused. Normally she would never have dreamed of talking to the Princess so casually, but their time together had torn down some barriers and reset some comfort zones.

"Thou flatterest me." Rarity swore for a second that the Princess had lost her regal grace and blushed. But as soon as she blinked it was gone. "To be the most honest, I have just recently found reason to don the fashions of the modern age."

Luna winked at somepony. And it wasn't Rarity.

Rarity again thought she caught the Princess in a humble moment. That wink at Fluttershy held such a devious connotation to it, but it was quick and Rarity convinced herself she was just seeing thing. However, Fluttershy was much easier to scarlet and turned  scarlet after falling to Luna's ire.

Rarity blinked stupidly at the exchange.

What...? What did I just see?

Well whatever it was, I'm going to find out.

"Uhh... Well there you have have it Princess! Modern fashion! Go ahead and just keep those. Consider it a gift of good will towards the crown!" Rarity finished up quickly, she had a few things to ask Fluttershy preferably with the Princess out of the room.

"Nay, I could not! The least I can do is giving you fair offerings for the socks," Luna protested.

Rarity wasn't going to fight money being thrown at her.

"Well if you insist. If I may make the humble request to speak to my dear friend Fluttershy in private. Perhaps you could trot around my boutique and break them in so to speak."

Before Luna could say another world, Rarity gently hurried her out of the room and quickly closed the doors. Fluttershy looked at her quizzically.

She couldn't believe she had just forced the Princess out of the room, but her emotions had gotten the better of her. It was obvious something was going on between the pegasus and the Princess. She needed to know what that thing was. Fluttershy was probably already confused by Rarity's sudden strange behaviour so to avoid sounding accusing, she'd need to be smooth.

"Flutter darling, however did you become such good friends with the princess?" Rarity asked coyly.

"Oh uhh... she uhh..." Fluttershy stuttered. Silence followed.

"Something the matter?" Rarity had thought it would have been an easy question, but it seems that she'd gotten to the root of this quickly.

"No..."

"Are you sure?"

"It's nothing..." Fluttershy hid behind her mane.

"Flutter, I know when something's bothering you. You are my best friend after all." Rarity put her hoof on Fluttershy's compassionately and looked her straight in the eye. "You can tell me..."

Fluttershy let out a heavy sigh. Her dropped her facade to a face wracked by worry. "Promise you won't tell anypony or freak out?" Fluttershy shuffled her hooves and looked down.

"I promise." Rarity couldn't help but feel a sense of intimacy with Fluttershy. Whatever was bothering her was clearly bothering her a lot. Something told her she wouldn't have just told any of her friends about this.

"I"m Princess Luna's Royal Concubine...' Fluttershy muttered quietly.

Rarity first reaction was to gasp and scoff and generally overreact in ways that would become increasingly harder to describe. This was then followed by a frantic search for words  in the form of short sporadic chokes while adorning a twitchy eye and placing her hooves in every imaginable position on her face in every combination. Finally she ended her reaction with a cocked head and single word.

"What...?" she choked out.

Fluttershy buried her face in her cloud. "I'm Princess Luna's Royal Concubine."

Rarity felt the urge to react in the exact same way all over again. The pure shock of that unimaginable combination of words would have stopped her heart were she an older pony. After a deep breath she composed herself enough to push a progressive question. "So... How did this happen?"

Fluttershy's words came fast now. Rarity must have opened her up. "Remember last Nightmare Night?"

"Uhh sort of..." She remembered waking up in Fleur de Lis' suite with massive hangover. That was about it.

"Well Twilight brought Princess over cause she thought I'd be able to teach her how to talk quietly so I ran away. I ran away two times, one time into a door, and then I just sort of watched Twilight coax her into being quieter. I didn't do anything I swear. And then she came up and hugged me because she was so happy." Fluttershy paused to take a breath.

"Go on..."

"Well apparently Princesses aren't supposed to ever show public displays of affection towards any pony without declaring them a Royal Concubine or fiance or something. It all started yesterday when I went to sleep. She came to me in my dream and told me about it and when I woke up she was standing there. She's a super nice pony but I just don't know what to do. And please save me Rarity, I like you more..." Her friend cried and whimpered pathetically. It broke Rarity's heart.

That last thing she said stuck out to her.

She likes me more...?

If she wasn't mistaken Fluttershy had just met her half-way finally. It was just the smallest statement, but it held enough for weight for her it's deeper meaning. Immediately Rarity took a certain ownership of Fluttershy's feelings. Somepony had hurt her Fluttershy and she needed to go right that wrong.

"Oh my... Fluttershy, this is no ordinary problem, this will take a long night of talking and venting to resolve."

Fluttershy looked at Rarity hopefully and smiled. Her confidence alone helped calm her down.

"Please excuse me. I'm going to inform the princess of our sudden change in plans." A fire burned in her, one that would let her tell off a Princess. " I'll be right back."

Rarity marched over to the door and swung them open. Luna was waiting on her cloud patiently.

"Princess I know it's short notice but Fluttershy has requested an extremely ambitious and difficult design. I'll need to have her for the rest of the night. I know you're probably busy anyways, being a princess and all so you wouldn't mind, would you?" Rarity inflected a bit of rhetoric into her tone. She wasn't exactly asking the Princess to leave.

Luna shot Fluttershy a glare. "Nay, of course it doth not troubleth me." Luna's words were thick and tense. She obviously knew exactly what was going on, but wasn't about to call Rarity out on her bluff. "I had planned to meet with Twilight Sparkle this evening so this fits perfectly."

"Thank you, your grace is infinite your Majesty." Rarity made sure to butter up every thing she said almost sarcastically. "And of course I will show your Majesty out."

Rarity could not believe she actually got away with that.

*

"The Royal law decrees that any pony who shares in an affectionate gesture with a Royal Princess is presented the title 'Royal Concubine' to be held as a matrilineal vassalage to the Princess in question. Any title claims can only be pressed by the respective Princess," Rarity read out loud. She looked further down the page for any additional notes or clarification but found none.

"Well that's just silly. A princess could just go around hugging anypony she wishes and force them into the concubinage."  Rarity said, trying to lighten the mood. As preposterous as the law was, Rarity was concerned because concubinage meant Fluttershy couldn't see other ponies, Rarity included.

"Well she told me that she could release me from it. Since technically I'm her vassal, she could take my title away. The law was set in place to stop ponies from trying to court the Princesses. It's a little over the top, but it worked." Fluttershy explained. "She told me she and her sister have released a bunch of ponies from concubinage because of things like this."

"Well why doesn't she release you?" Rarity raised her voice a bit.

Fluttershy was silent. It spoke for itself.

"Flutter darling, you're not telling me what I think you're telling me."

More silence.

Fluttershy shook a bit as sobs forced their way up her throat. Rarity was too caught up in her own emotions to catch it.

"Are you telling me that Princess Luna is interested in you?" The words seemed so foreign as they left her mouth.

Only Fluttershy's cries broke the silence now.

"But what about our date?!" Rarity cried out. These words weren't so foreign. They hit both of them right in the heart. It was a simple concept that perfectly perturbed the predicament.

Fluttershy's refusal to talk  provoked the cracking unicorn.

"Fluttershy! Say something!"

She wanted to.

She wanted to tell Rarity that it was all some horribly conceived joke.

She wanted to tell her she how much she thought about her after she professed her feelings, how wonderful it made her feel when she realized her best friend had gone through the gates of Tartarus to show her how much she loved her.

She wanted to tell her how stupid she felt when she realized how many obvious signs she missed.

She wanted to tell her how she was ready to make up for all of the heartache she put Rarity through and that Friday was going to be the first date of many.

Even though wasn't completely sure of Rarity, her heart had opened up to her and she was ready to let her in if she could make a home there.

She couldn't tell Rarity any of those things though.She wouldn't break Rarity's heart further by adding hope and the longing "what ifs" to the mix.

Fluttershy didn't know where she found the courage to speak, but one thing needed to be said.

"The date is off. I have a hot date with Luna on Friday now..." Next Chapter: Dearly Beloved's Long Night Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 19 Minutes