Fluttershy is whistling merrily as she floats through her house, running a duster over all her baubles and knick-knacks, when she hears a knock at her door. It makes her jump, then chuckle at herself as she lands and walks over, wondering who could be there. It’s a beautiful day out, and there’s no reason for other ponies to avoid her house, but she didn’t have plans for today.
She opens the door with a soft smile. “Hel-” she starts, but loses her train of thought when she sees nothing but the open air. “Hello?” she calls out, confused. “Is anypony there?”
From the sky drops a mass of pink, dangling upside down from above the door and peering inside. “Hi Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie shouts. Fluttershy yelps and rockets backwards, immediately putting distance between the two, before processing things and landing to catch her breath. Pinkie grins wide, her puffy mane dangling down into the doorway and swaying in the breeze to eclipse the outside world.
Fluttershy exhales hard, grounding herself, and walks back to the door as Pinkie drops down. “Hello, Pinkie Pie,” she says, still out of breath. She runs a hoof through her mane to make sure it’s not a mess, then looks up, her smile returned and bigger than ever. “It’s wonderful to see you again so soon.”
Pinkie rubs the back of her head awkwardly. “Yeah, it is kinda soon, isn’t it. You’re supposed to wait, what, like three days after a first date?” She chuckles quietly.
“I’m pretty sure it’s at least supposed to be more than a single night,” Fluttershy replies. Her tone is casual, almost glib. “Please, come inside, though! It really is lovely to see you.”
The two move inside and get comfortable on Fluttershy’s sofa. It’s a rather small seat, generally shared by friends who won’t mind being cramped together, but today the two ponies are both very aware of how tight it is. They shift awkwardly, neither one entirely sure of how close would be too close. It’s not long before a blush starts to form on Fluttershy’s cheeks.
“So, um, how are you?” Fluttershy asks.
“I’m good!” Pinkie says, talking just a bit too fast. “Yeah, good. Like, really good. Last night was good! Stop saying good. It was fun.”
Fluttershy giggles. “Pinkie, I’m sorry if this is too forward, but… Well, you seemed a lot less nervous about this last night.”
“Yeah, right?” She laughs, sharp and awkward. “I dunno, that just felt different somehow. Like, that was just a date, having fun. But today it feels, like, actually real.”
“Haven’t you done this before, though?” Fluttershy asks.
Pinkie laughs, which drains into a sigh. “You’d think so, huh? Not really. I think other ponies are scared of me or somethin. I’m kinda a lot to handle.”
Fluttershy reaches out and rubs Pinkie’s shoulder, and Pinkie leans into her. “I’m sorry,” Fluttershy says softly. “I promise I’m not scared of you, though.”
Pinkie smiles, sits up, and shakes her head to blow away the sadness. Her mane flops around, setting in front of her face. Without thinking, Fluttershy reaches out and pushes the hair out of the way for her. “Thank you, Fluttershy,” Pinkie says. “You’re the best. Hey, uh, do you wanna go out? Have a real, not set up by Rainbow Dash date?”
Fluttershy purses her lips. “Um, you actually caught me in the middle of cleaning the house,” she says. “But, um, you’re welcome to stay while I finish up, and then we can go do something after! If you think that… you’d enjoy that?”
Pinkie smiles wide. “Sounds great! Lemme know if you need anything, otherwise I’ll just sit here and talk at you or whatever, kay?”
So, Pinkie lounges on the sofa as Fluttershy moves around the house and cleans. She picks up clutter, and Pinkie talks about baking. Fluttershy polishes glass as she listens to rambling about different ideas for upcoming birthdays. The mail gets sorted, tv shows get recounted, the two ponies smiling and laughing together all throughout.
Fluttershy is sweeping when Pinkie, propped upside down on the couch, decides to bring something up. “Hey, Fluttershy,” she says. “I gots a question for ya.”
“Yes, dear?” Fluttershy says without thinking, then catches herself and goes deep red. Pinkie coughs and falls off the couch, landing with a thunk on her head.
“Dear?” Pinkie repeats in a teasing tone.
Fluttershy sputters and trips over her words. “Well, I, Um… It just kind of came out. I’m sorry if it was too soon, or if you don’t like it, or, oh, maybe you don’t even know if you want to-”
Pinkie trots over and cuts Fluttershy off by kissing her on the cheek. Fluttershy’s jaw drops as she goes completely speechless. The broom clatters as it falls to the floor. Pinkie giggles and hops back to the sofa. “Get outta your own head, silly,” she says. “It was cute. Call me whatever.”
“I, um,” Fluttershy stutters, trying to regain her composure. “You had a question?” she asks, deigning to change the subject instead.
“Oh, yeah,” she says. “Hah, I almost forgot. Yeah, how come you’re not being, like, sarcastic or whatever? I thought you were having fun with it last night.”
Fluttershy sighs and walks over to join Pinkie on the couch. They still don’t move to be especially intimate, but they don’t shy away from it either. Neither wants to make the first move to get closer, but at the same time neither would stop the other.
“I was having fun with it last night,” Fluttershy says. “I was having a lot of fun, actually. It’s just… it’s difficult.”
“I mean, I know you weren’t always making the best jokes, but that’s what practice is for!” Pinkie reassures her. “Even I used to make bad jokes.”
“Used to?” Fluttershy says coyly.
Pinkie snorts out a laugh. “See, there it is! You can do it.”
“I know,” Fluttershy sighs, “but that was in response to something you said. I can’t bring myself to just be mean for no reason.”
“Hmm,” Pinkie thinks. “I think I get it. You need me to say stuff so that I have it coming. But I don’t really think it would be a good idea for me to make those kinds of jokes about you.”
“No, no,” Fluttershy says, “I agree. I wouldn’t enjoy that like you do. I’m really sorry, Pinkie, but I just don’t know if I can make it a routine thing.”
Pinkie makes a disappointed noise, frowning and looking at a wall. Fluttershy places a hoof on her shoulder, concerned, but Pinkie stays quiet.
After a minute or so of silence, Fluttershy leans over and kisses Pinkie on the cheek. “Get out of your own head, silly,” she says.
Pinkie jumps a bit, startled, and her eyes go wide. Then, she starts giggling and moves in to lean against Fluttershy. “You stole my line,” she says, quiet and soft as she rests her head on Fluttershy.
They stay like that, Pinkie pressed up against Fluttershy, Fluttershy gently rubbing Pinkie’s back, for a few minutes before Pinkie speaks up again. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I got scared. I thought, if you didn’t have an outlet, I would be too much for you, and I don’t wanna be the reason you stop dating again.”
“Pinkie, I can’t promise you that everything will work out, or that not having an outlet won’t be bad for me,” Fluttershy tells her, “but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. We had fun today. Try to focus on that, instead of dwelling on worst case scenarios.”
They relax a while longer, letting the silence say the things they can’t. The room dims as the sun outside starts to lower, hiding behind clouds on its way westward. Birds outside chirp, then go quiet as other birds speak up. The ponies soak each other in, content just to hear the other breathe.
“Hey, Pinkie,” Fluttershy says, breaking the silence. “Would you still like to go out?”
Pinkie perks up. “I mean, yeah, sure,” she says. “If you’re up for it.”
“Well,” Fluttershy tells her, “I’ll be up for it if you get off me and let me move. My leg has been asleep for twenty minutes.”
Soon they’re out the door, walking side by side down the streets of Ponyville. The evening glow washes over them, a cool breeze dragging in the frigid nighttime air. They wander the sparsely populated streets around town, not confining themselves to the barren back roads, but not confronting the crowds and raucousness of Mane Street either. Every so often another pony walks by, and they nervously step apart a bit, but as soon as they think the coast is clear they’re right back together, walking step in step.
“So where we goin?” Pinkie asks, the full breadth of her peppiness returned.
“I’m not sure,” Fluttershy says. “I thought we would just go where the wind takes us.”
“Ooh, let’s go in there!” Pinkie suggests, pointing at a nearby bakery.
“Pinkie, you live in a bakery,” Fluttershy says.
“Yeah, but I don’t live in that bakery. Old Lady Petunia makes the absolute best banana bread in Equestria, you’ve just gotta try it.”
“Okay, if you insist. I’m not sure if I could stop you, anyway.”
“You’re darn tootin!”
They visit the bakery, and then down the street they visit an antique shop, then a shoe store. Pinkie leads Fluttershy on a whirlwind tour of all of her favorite places in Ponyville, which, because she is Pinkie Pie, is most of the places in Ponyville. They bounce around town, paying no mind to the rapidly setting sun. After all, who needs it when you have somepony right beside you to light up your life.
The two get more and more comfortable as the date goes on. Pinkie stops feeling awkward and moving away when ponies walk by, and soon after Fluttershy is able to follow suit. The first time another pony catches on and stops to ask about it, neither of them quite know how to respond, but by the third or fourth Pinkie has no trouble outright announcing their relationship. Of course, this embarrasses Fluttershy to no end, but there’s always a smile behind her blazing cheeks.
It isn’t until she tries to drag Fluttershy into a third bakery that it strikes Fluttershy to speak up.
“Pinkie,” she says, “what could possibly be in this bakery that was not in the last two.”
Pinkie scoffs. “Only the biggest donut holes outside of Canterlot! When you see the size of them you’re gonna flip.”
“I don’t know, Pinkie,” Fluttershy says, her voice dry and sarcastic. “The last shop didn’t exactly have the biggest donuts, are you sure the donut holes will fit?”
Pinkie cracks up. “C’moooon, Fluttershy, this is the last bakery.”
“This could be the last bakery in Equestria and you would just build a new one down the street to keep it going.”
The chuckles become a full on laughing fit. “Oh man, Fluttershy,” she says in between bouts of giggling, “you have no idea how funny it is to hear you say that stuff.”
Fluttershy looks shocked. “It really hasn’t gotten any less funny?” she asks.
“Geez, not even a little,” Pinkie says. “Like, yeah it’ll stop getting me that bad eventually, but not for a while. And it’ll still be fun.”
“I hope so,” Fluttershy says. “It is really fun. I’d like to be able to make you laugh like that more often.”
“Aww,” Pinkie says. She leans over and gives Fluttershy another peck on the cheek. “You’re the best. The bestest even.”
“Only if you don’t count yourself,” Fluttershy says as she returns the kiss. Pinkie giggles and presses herself up against Fluttershy, closing her eyes and taking in the warmth and love in the air.
“Hey, wait a sec,” Pinkie says after a bit, “that was, like, several quips. You didn’t feel bad about it?”
“Huh,” Fluttershy remarks, thinking. “I… don’t think that I did. You were pestering me and it just kind of happened.”
“Hmm,” Pinkie thinks, sitting on the ground and putting a hoof to her chin. Then she lights up. “Fluttershy, I know how to make you feel okay with bein mean to me!”
“Really?” Fluttershy asks. “How?”
“I just gotta be super annoying! I’m really good at that, and you don’t seem to mind it, so if I just pester you all the time you’ll feel fine about teasing me.” Pinkie grins, her hope shining through her face.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Fluttershy admits. “I do actually have fun when you’re bugging me for things. I think it’s cute. I’m not sure, though. I don’t want you to feel like you have to be somepony you’re not.”
“Pssh.” Pinkie waves away her concerns. “Please, I hold myself back all the time so I’m not overwhelming. If you think you can take it, I can dish it out.”
“Okay,” Fluttershy says. She brightens up, a smile crossing her face. “Let’s try it.”
“Just…” Pinkie says, second guessing herself, “make sure you tell me if it’s ever too much, okay?”
“Of course, Pinkie. Trust me, do you really think I would ask you to be more annoying if I didn’t enjoy it?”
“Yay!” Pinkie shouts, leaping into the air with joy. “Okay, then it’s bakery time! C’mon c’mon c’mon!”
Fluttershy laughs and follows her girlfriend into the store, their giddy excitement glowing through the dark streets.
