The door chime at Sugarcube Corner always brought Fluttershy a sense of peace. That soft ring told her she had entered a place of friends, good food and...
“Fluttershy!” The familiar voice of Pinkie Pie came from behind the counter. “I’ll be right with you, just wrapping up this gift basket!”
Their usual table by the front window was open, so Fluttershy went ahead and sat down. The shop wasn’t busy this afternoon, with only two ponies in the back by the fireplace. Obviously lovers, the two earth ponies were holding hooves while they talked, mugs having been forgotten & cold for quite a while.
Fluttershy smiled and took off her hat. Winter was in full swing, and ponies were getting ready to celebrate Hearth’s Warming. Sugarcube Corner itself was a shimmering splendor of decorations, candles and tinsel everywhere, with candy-themed drawings & wooden carvings hanging on each wall.
She was admiring a particularly colorful foal’s painting of a candy cane when Pinkie Pie came over with a tray bearing two mugs of steaming cocoa and a plate of sugar cookies. “Sorry for making you wait, Fluttershy. We just have so many Hearthswarming orders today!”
“It’s alright, Pinkie. I know you’re always busy.” In fact, Fluttershy had been stopping by weekly to check in on Pinkie and share a drink on her break. Since Twilight’s coronation as the sole ruler of Equestria, it was harder for each of the girls to find time together. Pinkie was always working at Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy had her sanctuary & tea parties with Discord, and the other girls had their own lives to keep up with. This weekly break-time had become her way of staying close to Pinkie.
Minutes went by as they talked about their lives, sipping at cocoa and just enjoying the moment. It was not long before Pinkie had to get back to work though, and as she was getting up to clear the dishes from the table, Fluttershy remembered something.
“Oh! I almost forgot. The mayor is having a tree dedication ceremony tonight in Ponyville town square just after sundown. They’re going to have carols and unicorns will light up magic jewels on the tree. I thought you might like to go, if you have time.”
Pinkie’s eyes lit up. “Ooooh! That sounds like loads of fun! Count me in!”
“Great!” Fluttershy exclaimed with a smile. “It's a date!”
crash!
Time seemed to freeze for a moment. Pinkie was staring at the wall with a peculiar look on her face, the tray having gone slack. One mug was dribbling on the ground, but another had smashed into a million pieces on the floor.
For her part, Fluttershy was in shock. It took her some time to realize what had happened. “O-oh my, Pinkie are y-“
“Sorryaboutthatgottagoseeyabye!”
A pink blur suddenly ran up the stairs, and a door could be heard slamming shut. The couple by the fireplace just looked confused, while Mrs. Cake came from behind the counter with a dustpan and brush to begin cleaning up the mess.
“Was it something I said?” Fluttershy finally managed to get out.
The brushing on the floor paused momentarily before Mrs. Cake finished scooping up the broken pieces of ceramic and took the mess over to her counter. Rather than throwing it away though, she left the dustpan there and trotted back to the table, taking a seat across from a very bewildered looking Fluttershy.
“In a manner of speaking, dearie: yes, it was.” Mrs. Cake had a wistful expression on her muzzle that Fluttershy couldn’t quite place. “Normally, I wouldn’t break a promise like this, but... that poor filly has been holding it in for so long, I just can’t stand to see her upset.”
“H-holding what in?”
It took Mrs. Cake some time to find the right words, but when she did, the older mare looked Fluttershy right in the eye. “Pinkie Pie has had a crush on you for years, hun. She’s always looked up to you, but over time it seems to have become more than that.”
Sugarcube Corner was filled with a soft chorus of Oh my and Oh dear for a solid minute while Fluttershy fretted with this news. With saintly patience, Mrs. Cake just waited until the other mare had time to work her way through the conflicting emotions, until Fluttershy was ready to talk.
“Why... why did she never say anything to me?”
“She was afraid of hurting you, dear,” Mrs. Cake sighed. “We all know Pinkie is... high-strung. And she’s confessed to being a little less than considerate at times in her enthusiasm. Poor filly is terrified she’ll drive you away with her excitement, or bust out and say the wrong thing to hurt your feelings. So she’s kept it all bottled up until now.”
Fluttershy tapped her hooves together nervously. “So when I invited her to the ceremony tonight...” Her eyes went wide. “Oh no. I said ‘It’s a date,’ and she...”
“She panicked,” nodded the older mare. “That’s all she’s wanted for a very long time, but it’s also what she’s feared. Now she either has to tell you how she feels, or try to keep from showing it. And we all know Pinkie doesn't find it easy to hold anything back.”
Now Fluttershy had gone from tapping her hooves to nervously pulling her mane to her chest, stroking it to stay calm. “What do I do now?”
She watched as Mrs. Cake got up from her chair. “That’s up to you, dearie. Just... please, let her down gently if you aren’t interested. Pinkie Pie does everything to an extreme, and I’m afraid a broken heart would just leave her inconsolable for weeks.”
With that, Sugarcube Corner went back to being a little more normal. Mrs. Cake threw out the broken shards of mug, then returned to the cookies she’d been arranging into a decorative box. Fluttershy left her seat and walked back out into the cold sunshine, the ring of the door chime just a little less cheerful than before.
In the back, the two earth ponies were staring awkwardly at their cold mugs of cocoa.
Sunset in Ponyville came just as it should, the last warm rays beginning to fade as Fluttershy approached the town square. A brief thought of Twilight’s getting better with her timing flashed across her mind, but otherwise she kept drifting back to what she would have to say to Pinkie Pie.
That is, if the mare showed up. Crowds had already gathered around the tree, but Fluttershy didn’t see Pinkie around anywhere. With a few discreet Um, excuse me’s, she found a spot that let her have a good view of the mayor’s platform & the tree, while still making herself easy to find in the crowd.
Songs were sung, and more ponies came as the last of the light faded. Mayor Mare stepped upon the platform to her podium and began her speech. Just then, someone cleared their throat next to Fluttershy. She turned to see an unusually downturn Pinkie Pie standing next to her. “Uh, hi. Sorry I’m late. Things and stuff came up, and I kinda lost track of the time but, I didn’t want to leave you out here alone, and...”
Fluttershy just smiled and patted a hoof on the ground next to her. “It’s okay. I saved you a spot.” Pinkie trotted up and sat down, staying unusually quiet. As the mayor’s speech went on, something occurred to Fluttershy.
“Pinkie? You’re trembling. Are you okay?”
“O-oh, that? Yeah, it’s just cold. So cold out here, brrrrr, those pegasi sure overdid it today, didn’t they? I should’ve put on something warmer!”
Considering Pinkie was wearing a full padded coat, boots and a thick hat, that seemed unlikely. Instead of pointing out the lie, Fluttershy decided a different approach would be better.
The moment her wing slipped across Pinkie’s back, the trembling stopped. Fluttershy pulled her friend in close and whispered, “I know how scary it can be to open up to somepony. But I do care about you, Pinkie. Don’t ever forget that.”
Pinkie leaned against Fluttershy for a moment before whispering “Thank you” back. Just then, the plaza was filled with light as a trio of unicorns on stage used their magic to light crystals throughout the tree. Ooohs and ahhs washed through the crowd before music started playing somewhere behind them.
As the crowd began singing the first words of a Hearthswarming carol, two ponies just sat together enjoying each other's warmth and comfort. Their own words would come later. For now, just being together was enough.