Moments later, Pinke had hopped off the couch (and therefore, my lap) and had gone to acquire more snacks. For better or for worse, I had no time to think about Pinkie's kiss or her ominous (exciting?) confession thereafter as a knocking came on Pinkie’s door. Pinkie rushed to the door and opened it, revealing Fluttershy wearing an incredibly nice European-style dress adorned with a handbag covered in pins. Pinkie latched onto Fluttershy, picking her up into a spinning hug that brought her inside. Pinkie kicked the door closed behind her before placing Fluttershy down with a gentleness that did not appear in the hug she was being released from. After a moment, Fluttershy regained her bearings.
“Um, hey, Pinkie,” she said, still shaken from the hug. She looked around the room, quickly noticing me. A small smile came to her face. “Oh, Twilight!” she moved over to sit next to me. “You’re here early too?”
I rubbed the back of my neck, nervously laughing. “Yeah, my nerves made me walk a little faster,” I replied.
“You want something to drink, Shyshy?” Pinkie asked from the kitchen. Fluttershy turned her attention to Pinkie.
“Just a water, please, if that’s okay!” she replied with a slightly raised voice. She had gotten somewhat better at projecting her voice since I’d first met her. Even though I knew it wasn’t really my place, considering how new I was to the group, I was proud of her. Pinkie quickly returned with a plastic cup of water, giving it to Fluttershy before, much to my shock, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. Fluttershy blushed and giggled as Pinkie returned to the table of snacks. My head darted back and forth between them, confused, before finally landing my gaze on Fluttershy, whose expression was turning increasingly nervous.
“Oh, y-you know Pinkie, she’s just… like that.” Even though her tone was incredibly unconvincing, her reasoning was sound.
“I… see,” I responded. Fluttershy's gaze nervously shifted to Pinkie before tilting her head at her, like she was silently asking a question. I turned to look at Pinkie, who responded to Fluttershy's possible inquiry with a big smile and a thumbs up. I turned back to Fluttershy, who nodded at Pinkie before looking at me with a newfound sense of determination. One that went completely unnoticed by me at the time.
"Twilight, I-"
"Is that Ghost in the Shell?" Fluttershy stopped her speech in its' tracks, turning to look at where my vision was pointed. I was looking at Fluttershy's handbag, specifically, the pins that covered it. I was specifically looking at one pin that showed a front-view shot of a familiar-looking Neighponese woman. I lightly pointed at the pin, turning my gaze to Fluttershy. "That's Major Serpent Saber, right?"
Fluttershy's head quickly turned back to me, her eyes wide with excitement. Whatever she was going to say, she was happy to drop it in favor of this new topic. "Oh, yes! It's specifically Stand Alone Complex, I got it at a convention a few months ago!" Fluttershy leaned closer to me, immediately instilling worry in me considering what happened the last time someone's face got this close to mine. "I didn't know you watched anime, Twilight." I waved my hand dismissively.
"Not really," I responded, which elicited a disappointed frown from Fluttershy. "Not anymore, at least. In the brief overlap of time that my brother was still living with us and I was old enough to watch more mature stuff, he showed me his entire collection of Japanese movies. He loved them, insisted on sharing that love with me." Fluttershy's smile returned.
"So you've seen all the classics then?" she asked. I shrugged.
"Maybe?" I quickly turned around to see what Pinkie was doing, only to see her still looking at us while slowly chowing down on snacks. She almost looked like she was waiting for something. I turned back to Fluttershy. "I think I remember..." I rested my hand on my chin, trying to remember the movies Shining Armor had shown me before he moved in with Cadence. "Arika?"
"Akira!" Fluttershy corrected with a rapid head nod. It was strange watching her getting this excited over something, but bearing witness to her joyful smile and wide eyes made my heart strangely aflutter. "I haven't watched it in ages, I need to rewatch it again..." Fluttershy then pulled her bag onto her lap, having the pin-covered front side facing me. "Anything else you recognize?" she asked me, her eyes piercing mine expectantly. I glanced over all her pins, unable to find another that rang a bell. I shook my head.
"I'm sorry, no," I replied apologetically. Fluttershy's smile faltered. She looked over to Pinkie, before looking back at me with a nervous glance.
"Um, would you mind, maybe..." Her gaze fell to the ground. "...if I told you about them?" I smiled warmly and gave her a nod. Her face lit up again. Even if it was gone for only a moment, I realized that I had missed it.
My mind began to wander as Fluttershy told me all about the magical girls and demonic swordsmen that adorned her bag. Fluttershy rarely spoke up, but when she was able to talk about something that interested her, her joy was almost as infectious as Pinkie's. It was different, though. If Pinkie Pie was like a disco ball, sparkling joy all over a room with reckless abandon, Fluttershy was like a candelabra, small and subtle but still bright, warm, and effortlessly beautiful. Even though I loved all my friends equally, I still held a special place in my heart for Fluttershy after she was the first to show me real kindness during the Friendship Games. Once I had transferred to Canterlot High, she was the first person I told about my... past.
"Um, Twilight? Are you okay?" Fluttershy's concern pulled me from my thoughts, leading me to realize that I'd been staring at her for some time. There was no way I was going to tell Fluttershy that I was thinking about how beautiful she was, so I came up with a convincing lie.
"I, uh..." my eyes scanned her bag. "I was just wondering what that pin was from?" I pointed to a black pin adorned with the letters 'DxD.' Fluttershy looked at where I was pointing, before looking back at me.
She did not break eye contact for seven seconds.
"...Let's not talk about that one," she said slowly, a look of discomfort on her face. No, not discomfort... embarrassment? It was time to quickly change subjects.
"What's Stand Alone Complex?" I asked, curious about what Fluttershy mentioned before. Happy Fluttershy returned immediately.
"Oh, it's a re-adaptation of the original Ghost in the Shell manga that aired about ten years after the movie came out. The original movie, while good, missed a lot of parts of the original manga, so a new team wanted to make a more complete adaptation that stood alone from the movie, hence the name."
"But it's still about Serpent Saber, right?" Fluttershy nodded.
"Yes, though she's a lot different from her counterpart in the 1995 film. She's a bit more aloof and cool, but nowhere near as over-the-top as she is in the manga. More like a middle ground between the two."
I nodded my head in interest. "I guess I should watch it sometime."
"Um, I have it physically, if you'd want to come over and watch it..." Fluttershy politely offered. Once again, I nodded.
"I'd love to, Fluttershy," I responded with a smile. Fluttershy smiled back, a twinkle of something in her eyes. "I, um... I used to watch Ghost in the Shell over and over again when I was younger," I admitted to Fluttershy, who tilted her head in curiosity. "That sense of disconnect that Major Saber felt within herself, like her mind and body were two separate entities, one merely piloting the other, it... really connected with me." Fluttershy nodded in understanding as I continued. "When he left, Shining gave me his copy to keep. I think he knew what I was going through, and how it helped."
Fluttershy noticed the frown on my face. "You really miss him, don't you?" she asked me, even though she already knew the answer. I nodded.
"He was my anchor to the world. I felt lost without him," I admitted. "At least, until I met you girls."
Fluttershy put down her now empty cup and wrapped me up in her arms. Fluttershy wasn't a very physical person, only really joining in on group hugs or reciprocating Pinkie's vicious grapples, so the hug very much came as a surprise. Fluttershy pulled away, her arms not leaving my shoulders. "I'm really glad we met you, Twilight," she said. "I'm really glad... I met you..."
And then Fluttershy kissed me.
Fluttershy's kiss was much like Fluttershy herself: soft, gentle, and full of love. Unexpectedly, it was also a lot longer than Pinkie's too, much to my pleasure. Gently, I began moving my lips, and she moved hers in kind. My brain was disconnected from my body, not fully registering the situation and merely going with the flow, letting Fluttershy's kindness guide me. Eventually, slowly, remorsefully, Fluttershy's face moved away from mine. It was only then I noticed that behind me, Pinkie Pie was clapping.
"Yeah, you go, Flutters!" she exclaimed, increasing Fluttershy's already high levels of embarrassment. Her gaze whipped between me and Pinkie.
"...I need to use the bathroom." With that, Fluttershy dashed upstairs. I looked at Pinkie, who simply smirked at me as she ate another chip, winking.
"Told ya."