In the dressing room, several hours before her wedding, sat a worried and anxious Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or as she is better known, Cadence. After such a horrific ordeal as her own, it is no surprise that she would be a little traumatized. Nopony else was in the room with her to see the tear stains or the fearful looks she cast around the room. Not yet, at least.
She was applying the makeup required to hide the tear trails when a knock on the door alerted her that somepony wished to see her. She quickly powdered her face with some blush to hide the salty tracks, then turned in her seat. The door opened with a burst of teal magic.
As the door opened it admitted a pair of mares to walk in. The one on the left was a bouncy pink pony with a cotton candy mane. The right, a shy yellow mare with a rosy mane that flowed and curled its way to the floor.
"Oh, hello Pinkie. Hello Fluttershy. What brings the two of you to my quarters?"
"Well, you've been in here for almost an hour, Princess." Fluttershy said. Cadence's eyes widened.
"No, no. It must've only been a few minutes. I couldn't have been...." But as she checked the clock on the wall she realized how lost in thought she had been.
"Princess? A-are you okay?"
"Your smile looks like it's on the wrong way." Pinkie noted. Cadence gave her a funny look. In response Pinkie tilted her head a full one-eighty, making her head upside-down. "Oh! There we go! You know you shouldn't put it on that way. This isn't a very comfortable way to see somepony smile." This elicited a short round of giggles from the mares in the room as she straightened her head.
"*sigh* To answer your question, Fluttershy, I am a little... nervous. I just don't know if I can handle a wedding right now."
"Of course you can! It's just kissing a stallion! That's not hard!" Pinkie said.
"Pinkie, I think she means she's a little stressed."
"Oh..."
"Yes, I'm not sure that we should go ahead with this wedding right now. Maybe we should push it back a few days..."
"Oh, don't do that! That would be really disappointing for everypony! They came here for a wedding and you should give it to them!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Not to mention Shining Armor. He's been looking forward to this as long as you have." Fluttershy added.
"I suppose..." But Fluttershy could see by the look on her face that she still wasn't sure.
"I think me and Pinkie should tell you a story." She said, smiling.
"Oo! Is it the one about when you stood up to that dragon? Oh! Or maybe the time we were in that play, or when Trixie came to town. How about the time we stopped Discord? Or the time you took self-confidence classes? What about the time we fought off all those changelings? Or may-" After having tried to interrupt her vocally, Fluttershy was forced to resort to kissing her full on the lips, much to Cadence's surprise. "Oh! Is that my prize? Did I get it right?"
"Uhm... no. But you can still keep it." Fluttershy said, smiling sheepishly.
"Uhm..." Cadence stammered.
"Oh... Uhm..."
"Did I miss something?"
"I don't know. Did you see us kiss?" Pinkie asked.
"Yes?"
"Then I don't think you missed anything." Pinkie said, holding a hoof up to her chin thoughtfully.
"Are you two...?"
"Yes." Fluttershy answered.
"Uhm... give me a minute."
"Sheesh. Applejack needed less time than this. And she thought we were insane for a moment there!"
"Pinkie, she's been in there for seven seconds."
"It's nine now."
"Okay... I think I'm over it." Cadence said as she walked out of the bathroom. Let's not discuss what she spent eleven seconds doing in there. (It was most likely just staring at the mirror.) "What was the story you wanted to tell me?"
"Oh it was actually the story of how me and Pinkie got together..."
"But we spoiled the ending. That's a bit of a bummer, isn't it?" Pinkie added.
"Nevertheless, I would love to here your story."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O-okay... Uhm... Where should we start?
When we met Twilight?
No... that's too far back. We had just met Gilda when I first got my crush on you.
I was crushing on you way longer...
R-really?
Yep! *smooch*
*ahem* I don't think I'm quite used to that yet...
Oh, sorry Princess.
Cadence is fine.
Oh, Sorry Cadence.
So where do you think we should start, Pinkie?
Probably a few days before our first date?
Okay...
Lemme think... I was working in the sweet shop... And Rarity asked me about something...
Lemon drops...
What?
She said it was lemon drops.
That can't be it... It reminded me of you! It must've been... no wait, that's right... I had run into you face first the day before, and your coat tasted like lemons... Why was that?
Angel has an interesting sense of humor...
Angel?
My pet bunny.
He's a bit demanding sometimes.
A lot demanding. Oh! Was that too harsh? I didn't mean it.
No, no. It's alright. We're all friends here...Well, at the least...
Heehee. Yeah. *smooch*
Pinkie! *giggle* Stop that!
*pout* Fine.
So what exactly happened? You're confusing me.
Oh, Rarity mentioned those lemon drops and I thought of Fluttershy. I said... something... I don't remember what... and it gave away to Rarity that I liked Fluttershy.
She said you complimented my flank.
Well, that makes sense. It is pretty nice.
*cough* I'm still here.
Sorry.
How do the two of you make it through the day without announcing your relationship to the world?
She's usually more controlled.
Only when I have to be...
Okay so after Rarity found out?
Right. She had me go over to the boutique with her.
~~~---~~~---~~~---~~~
"Alright, dear. Tell me all about it."
"Well, I don't even remember how it started. I've just liked her for a LONG time." Pinkie answered quietly.
"Have you considered telling her?"
"No. Well, yes.... but I think a party isn't the best idea."
"That's... who are you and what have you done with Pinkie Pie?" Rarity asked, completely flabbergasted.
"Uhm... Pinkie Pie and I've thrown parties with her...Why?" Pinkie replied with a small grin.
"Hmph. In any case... you never thought that maybe you should just tell her? Wouldn't that be the best idea?"
"I don't know, is it?"
"Of course!"
"How should I do it?"
"Here... I think I have an idea."
~~~---~~~---~~~---~~~
So what was her plan?
I don't know. She got interrupted by Fluttershy bursting through the window.
I didn't burst through the window! I knocked on the door.
*quirked eyebrow*
Oh... I think she's right...
~~~---~~~---~~~---~~~
Rarity opened the door to admit one distressed Fluttershy.
"Rarity, I need your help wi-... oh h-hi, Pinkie..."
"H-hi..."
Rarity stood there, perplexed at the awkwardness between the two. Firstly, Pinkie was quiet, not bouncing, and waiting to speak. Second, Fluttershy had almost seemed frantic, but was instantly calmed by the sight of Pinkie.... Crud.
Rarity knew exactly what was going on, but she couldn't tell either of them.
"N-nevermind, Rarity.. I think I was over reacting..." Fluttershy said before turning away and flying off.
~~~---~~~---~~~---~~~
Hey.... what were you gonna ask Rarity about?
Advice. About you.
Heh. Go figure...
So what did you do next?
We mostly just acted really awkward.
And shy.
I kinda thought it was fun, until I couldn't stand sitting by and doing nothing.
But she couldn't work up the guts to say anything.
Neither could you!
*smooch* I know.
Hey! The princess-
I'm getting used to it.
Oh, cool! *smooooooch*
Wow....
That doesn't mean you can lay it on thick.
Sorry. I couldn't help it.
Okay, so how did you two end up on your first date?
Let's do that again...
What?
Hmm? Oh! Sorry, n-nothing. Pinkie? Why don't you tell her?
So you can daydream? *grin*
Erm... *blush*Yes, but you seem really excited anyway.
Okay!
~~~---~~~---~~~---~~~
"So what your asking is....if there is a spell that grants improved confidence?" Twilight asked.
"Mhmm." Pinkie replied, nodding vigorously.
"Uhm... why would you need to improve your confidence? Your Pinkie Pie! You're the first pony to introduce herself to every new pony in town. You're the first pony to make friends with Cranky, for goodness' sake!"
"But this is different, Twilight! Please?"
"Fine. I think there's something here..." She turned and started levitating books down to eye level, reading their titles then sending them back. Eventually, she found the book she was looking for, opened it and found the page she was looking for. "Okay, the effects of this are a little vague... Are you sure?"
"Will it hurt?"
"It might sting..."
"Okay.... Let's do it."
~~~---~~~---~~~---~~~
Did the spell work?
Nope. It sure stung a lot, though.
Oh, not too much, I hope?
Not too much for you. *smooch*
*giggle* That was really cheesy, Pinkie.
It really was.
I know.
So what happened? If the spell didn't work, then what DID you do?
Me? Nothing. I was just too nervous to ask her out.
Oh, that's right. I was the one that worked up the guts first, wasn't I?
Sort of...
What's that supposed to mean?
You'll see! But if we told you now...
That'd spoil the story.
~~~---~~~---~~~---~~~
"What's up, Shy?"
"C-could you help me be more confident?"
Rainbow just stared at her. It's not like being confident was really something you could teach. But then again, how often did somepony ask Rainbow Dash to show them how to do something she was good at?
Not very...
"Uhh... sure. Why?"
"I-uhm...I wanted to talk to somepony... special to me... B-but I'm too nervous." Rainbow quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Somepony special, huh? Okay... I guess I can help ya out."
"Oh thank you, thank you!"
"Okay! Jeeze, don't get all sappy on me."
The next few days consisted of coaching sessions that, oddly, reminded Fluttershy of the cheering lessons she'd received back before the Best Young Fliers Competition. Eventually, Rainbow decided that, though there was little progress whatsoever, it was time for Fluttershy to put her new found confidence to use.
~~~---~~~---~~~---~~~
What happened next?
I went to talk to her.
Duh!
Oh, of course.
I found her in Sugar Cube Corner, and got her into her room, where we had some privacy.
~~~---~~~---~~~---~~~
"Wh-what's up, Flutters?"
"W-well I uhm..." Her confidence petered out dramatically. The two stood there, knowing what they wanted to tell each other, but not having the courage to say it. Eventually they both decided to just throw caution to the wind and say it.
"Do you wanna go out sometime?" They said in unison, both with flaming red cheeks and with wide eyes. When they realized that they had both said the same thing they both broke into huge grins.
"Yes." They answered each other.
~~~---~~~---~~~---~~~
Awww.
And that's how it happened.
Yes. Our first date was nice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
"Oh that's my alarm!" Cadence said, standing from her chair. "I need to get in my dress and get ready!" The two love birds in her company helped her into her dress and with her makeup. Once that was said and done it was time for Pinkie and Fluttershy to get dressed up and ready.
Once Cadence's door was shut behind them Fluttershy leaned over and kissed Pinkie. She quirked an eyebrow in response.
"What was that for?"
"For being so cute." Pinkie gave her a huge grin, holding her head up high. Fluttershy nuzzled into her neck. "I love you."
"You too, Flutters."
