Soft music hung in the air, accompanied by the scents of a hundred different kinds of wildflower – so many that she couldn’t recognise them all, though she could pick out daisies and bluebottles and lavender and violets and…well, a lot really. A thousand flowers, all entwined together to create a beautiful intermingling of scents – and they were all arranged so beautifully, lining the walls and entwined gently with one another, swaying just ever so slightly in a breeze so light she couldn’t even feel it.
The meadow was alive, and it was dancing – dancing just for her, as though Equestria itself wanted to reach up and embrace her, to hold her tight and never, ever let go. Slowly, without even realising that she was doing it, she began to sway. To dance with them, to take in their joy and their calm and to repay it with her love. As her hooves carried her lightly through the flowers, ever so carefully, her eyes were closed and she was smiling a small, peaceful smile.
A pair of forelegs wrapped around her, and her smile grew wider. As the warmth from the other pony – her pony – flowed through her she could feel the sweet, gentle breath on her neck.
“Do you like it?” Came the whisper, soft and scared and excited all at once.
She didn’t answer with words. There weren’t enough in all the world to say what she wanted to, and she didn’t need them anyway. Instead she turned her head and lay a soft kiss on the honey-sweet lips of that perfect pony. And then she pulled away, holding onto her love’s hoof and spinning lightly. Her eyes were still closed, but that was alright – she could feel that loving grin as plainly as the grass beneath her hooves.
With a single step, she ceased simply swaying and began to dance in earnest, and a heartbeat later the other half of her danced with her. What started as a slow, calm thing became faster, wilder, more alive. Where once her steps had faltered, now they were sure and steady. Their steps grew faster, and so did her heartbeat. And with each step her smile grew wider and her heart grew lighter, little by little.
They danced for hours. Or maybe only minutes. She didn’t know, and she didn’t care – however long the moment lasted, it was perfect. And when it was done they stood together, right at the heart of the meadow. Just where they had started. She knew it, even though she couldn’t see it, because she knew that no matter what Pinkie Pie would always lead her home.
“I love you, Pinkie.” She whispered the words as she opened her eyes and smiled at her pink pony. The smile she received in kind was wide and blinding and beautiful, and the musical giggle that accompanied it made her heart skip a beat.
“I love you too, Fluttershy. More than anything.”
“Thank you.” she whispered as she spun on the spot, taking everything in one more time. The campfire, the single tent, the ever-dancing flowers and the pony, still perfect. “For this. For all of this.”
“You don’t gotta thank me,” that voice, the sweetest of music, filled the air again, “I like being here with you. I like seeing you smile – and I really liked dancing with you, too.”
Fluttershy nodded, just once, and leaned closer to the one she loved, letting the party pony’s heartbeat flow through her. She tried to speak, and faltered. Just once. A reassuring squeeze and the words came, slow and fumbling. “Um…if…if I asked, do you think maybe you’d stay with me? Forever and ever?”
She heard Pinkie’s breath catch, and felt the tears before she saw them. For a moment panic washed over her – and then the soft reply, brimming with more joy than Fluttershy had ever heard in it. “You..you want me to stay?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Forever and ever.”
The forelegs wrapped around her pulled her closer, and a face wet with tears pressed into her neck. That was okay. Tears were good, sometimes. “Forever and ever,” came the gentle answer, just a whisper in her ear with the strength of a thunderclap.
Fluttershy smiled, and snuggled closer to her pony. There was nothing more to say.