The warm mid-morning sunlight pours through an open window. The sound of birds singing welcomes you back into the waking world, whether you asked of it or not. You toss and turn, yawning, the scent of vegetable soup doing a better job for your senses than the birds. You guess your room-mate must be making himself breakfast.
And then you remember.
You finally lift your eyelids, taking in Fluttershy’s main room. A lot of the animals seem to have left, going about their daily business in the outside world, a few of them scuttle back and forth without a care. But what got your attention the most was the pegasus who had just placed two steaming bowls of soup on the nearby table, next to some slices of soft bread.
“Good morning, sleepyhead!” she chirps as melodically as the birds, “Did you get a good night’s sleep?”
“Yeah, I feel great,” you lift yourself up off the couch, and help yourself to your soup bowl and a couple bread slices, “What about you? Feeling better?”
She blushes, and stares into her own soup. “I’m feeling much better now, thank you, but…” she hesitates.
“But what?” you ask, soaking up some of the soup with your bread, “You can tell me.”
“It’s just that… I feel so embarrassed,” she concludes, “I’m sorry I broke down in front of you, I really didn’t see it coming.”
“Oh, don’t feel that way, Fluttershy,” you console her, “Sometimes things just pile on top of you in ways you don’t expect. It’s best not to keep these feelings bottled up, you know.”
She returns a smile, “I know. And um, thank you for helping me get through that. I’m glad I had somepony’s shoulder close by.”
“Always happy to help! Anytime you need a spare hoof with the anything, I’d be more than willing to lend you mine!”
“I’d like that,” she grins, “if… if you’re not busy or anything.”
“Alright, whenever I have some free time then!” you agree, “I’m not doing much these days anyway, it’s mostly my room-mate who-” something clicks in your head, “Oh heck, I’ve not been home since yesterday! He’s probably put a search party together by now!”
Fluttershy giggles at your sudden, inelegant epiphany, “You should really get back to let him know you’re alright.”
You nod, mopping up the remaining soup with the last of your bread, “I’ll be back around later,” you tell her, “I’ll help you with feeding the critters.”
After saying quick goodbyes, Fluttershy shows you the door, letting you trot outside into the morning sunlight. You notice her waver for a moment before she shuts the door. She’s probably just organising her thoughts from yesterday. Maybe you could swing by again later, just in case her troubles are still to unruly…
The same goes for your troubles too. Why’d you let her pour her feelings out and not do the same thing in return? Would she appreciate it? What if she doesn’t? But if she does…
Ah, screw it!
You turn around on the spot and head back to Fluttershy’s home. It’s worth a shot. Better to know today, rather than spend a lifetime wondering "what if".
Knock-knock-knock.
Two sea-foam blue eyes peek out from a crack in her open door.
“Oh, hello again. You must live very close by if you managed to get back this quickly!”
“It’s not that, Fluttershy. I just want to ask you something before I go.”
The pegasus pushes the door all the way open, her head cutely tilted to the side. “What is it?”
You open your mouth to tell her, but find it hard to find the right words. Taking a deep breath, you try again;
“I want to tell you,” you begin, choosing your words carefully and slowly, “That I was being honest when I said you were the kindest, most caring pony I’ve ever met. And I… uh…”
You forget the exact words you were planning to say - those deep, spellbinding eyes captivate you with their reflection of the morning light.
“Argh, this sounded far easier in my head. The thing is, Fluttershy, I think you’re really nice.”
Nice? Was that the best word you could honestly think of? Seriously?
“And, er, I want you to be nice together. No, wait, I mean us. I want us to be nice together.”
Wait, that didn’t make a lick of sense. Your hooves paw at the ground as you try to set your mind back on track.
“What I’m trying to say is… that I like you. And I… don’t want to not ask you out.” You have no idea why you just used double negatives, “Because if I didn’t ask you out, I’d never find out if you’d go on a… a date with me. So I wanna do the opposite of not asking you out-”
You’re cut off in the middle of your awkwardly brain-teasing proposal by a soft snout pressing up against your cheeks. The brief touch of Fluttershy’s warm lips on the side of your face sends you into a dizzy blush so vivid you would probably glow in the dark.
“It’s a date!” she chuckles with a cheerful pinch of enthusiasm, her endearing yellow face now as red as yours. “Come back this evening, I’ll be getting ready in the meantime!“
You nod. Her door closes. You stand perfectly still, waiting your mind to process what just happened. Once it finally sinks in, you trot off, wearing the biggest, daftest smile ever.
Yesterday, you were just planning to go for a walk. Today, you’re planning to go on a date with the prettiest, kindest, most beautiful pony in Equestria.
“Fluttershy.” That name rolls off your tongue so well.