It was common knowledge that when a pony meets their soulmate that they will gain the ability to see in color, but otherwise would see the world in gray-scale until then. For most it took them up to their budding adulthood to find them, but some could very well be old and ageing before they find their soul mate. Some may never find their soul mate before life takes the ultimate toll. This doesn't mean they don't live fulfilling lives, many even marry happily without ever seeing, or caring to see, a single color. All though while it is known that a pony doesn't need to find their soulmate to have love or happiness, it is better known that when a pony does in fact find them that they spend the rest of their life with them, often marrying them or at least living happily as a couple for the rest of their lives.
So just imagine how terribly confused and scared poor Fluttershy was when on the day she met her soon to be good friend Rainbow Dash she could suddenly see in color.
At the time the filly hadn't even been given the "Talk" as it were regarding soulmates, leaving her with no explanation as to why she could see something that could hardly be explained with a few simple words. When she had gotten home and told as much to her parents they were extremely surprised to say the least. They could hardly believe their little butterfly found her soul mate at such a young age! With nothing else to do about it they sat her down and explained "Soulmates" and their relevance to color.
"A soul mate my dear is a pony that helps your life feel so much more complete than it was before. You'll find that your life will be so much fuller than it was before, that you feel just all that much better when you're around them. Some ponies have said that the reason you see in color when you find your soulmate is that the ponies are filling in a very special place in each others souls that wasn't there before."
This is how "Soulmates" had been first explained to her so long ago, and that was the explanation that would stick with her for many years to come. Having been told this (and being a bit of a pushover for cheesy romance) she felt that she was obligated to ask out her new soul buddy to a date, but being true to her namesake she was never able to muster the emotional strength necessary to do so. One might think that this would be the point in our story where Rainbow Dash takes the infinitive and asks Fluttershy instead now that she knew she was her soulmate.
But instead she had never made mention that she could see in color.It frustrated Fluttershy to no end, not being able to say anything herself and never being able to glen any kind of information subtly from the head strong peagus. If she could see in color than surely Rainbow had to too, right? This set the tone of their friendship for years to come. Fluttershy too scared to try to make any kind of move, and Rainbow Dash never doing anything to acknowledge their connection much to her friends silent anger.
Despite its tenseness it was still a strong friendship that held true against many hardships as the two grew together. Through laughter, crying, yelling, whispering that was meant to be yelling, and even their vastly different personalities the two remained powerful friends. Then in a quiet little town called Ponyville Fluttershy met a pony that after many strange and fantastic adventures she realized was doing something to her that she didn't think was possible for her anymore.
In the privacy of her little cottage home Fluttershy had called another meeting of the stuffed animal friends, and Angel Bunny, council of the large soft bed for a very serious matter.
"I think I've fallen in l...lo...I think I'm in lo..."
Angle was beginning to get very cross with the stuttering pegasus and started thumping his foot to show his impatience, knocking over a stuffed merpony by accident.
"Oh I’m sorry Angel, I know you're getting cranky because you haven’t eaten yet, it's just so hard to say out loud. I know I need to get it off my chest, I just wish it wasn’t so embarrassing."
Letting out a little sigh the bunny's face changed to one of understanding. Hopping close he patted her side to show his support. Fluttershy smiled down at the him.
"Thank you Angel."
Taking a breath she looked back at the stuffed animals to try to bare her heart to her many plush friends and pet bunny once again.
"I'm in l...lo..."
She bolted her eyes closed as she forced the words out of her mouth.
"I'm in love with Pinkie Pie."
Slowly opening her eyes Fluttershy was happy to find that the world hadn't shattered because of her admittance. Then she remembered that Pinkie was in fact NOT her soul mate, and everything seemed to swirl around her, vision getting blurry.
"But how can I be in love with Pinkie? I thought your soul mate was the pony you were suppose to love...but then again me and Rainbow Dash have never really talked about our connection. And what if Rainbow IS in love with me?! How could I possibly tell her that I don't feel the same way, her soul mate?! And again what if she does NOT see in color, maybe that's why she never talks about it because somehow I'm her soul mate but she's not mine?! Can that even happen?! AND-AND-AND-?!?!"
And she passed out, her own neuroses being too much for her. These made Angel very upset, now how much longer was he going to have to wait to get his dinner?