The definition of "Soulmate"

by The SideKick

Pinkie is Pinkie and Fluttershy loves it.

The walk to Sweet Apple Acres from Carousel Boutique was a long one, just as Fluttershy wanted it to be at the moment. It gave her all the time she wanted to avoid talking with Rainbow Dash about the complex feelings that had been built up over the course of their friendship. Truly it was a rather taxing mess of emotions to bare and even with Rarity's help on the whole matter it still wasn't a talk the butter mare was looking towards. The possibility of having to reject her closest friend's romantic interest, possibly being Rainbow telling her that she wasn't her soulmate and she couldn't see in color which would explain why she never mentioned it, or even the possibility that Rainbow-

"FLUTTERSHY!!!"

"Wha-GUH!"

Fluttershy's train of thought was completely broken when the pony she had fallen in love with hug tackled her, having snuck up on her while she had been thinking. They rolled head over hooves before stopping, Pinkie being on top of Fluttershy as she hugged and nuzzled her, Fluttershy too dazed to respond. Before she could recover Pinkie was already off of her and offering a hoof, a giant classic Pinkie grin on her face. Mind catching up with the current situation Fluttershy's face blossomed like a rose as she tentatively took the proffered hoof in her own and dragged herself up.

"Hia Flutters, whatcha doing heading to Applejack's?"

Fluttershy had made great strides in gaining bravery and confidence over her life, but all that work was always washed away by the radiant glow of the party mare's smile. Head behind a veil of hair, one singular eye poking out staring at a very interesting caterpillar on the road (Seriously, this is Fluttershy after all), and hooves kicking lightly at the dirt Fluttershy tried to squeeze out a reply through her suddenly very constricted throat.

"H-hi Pinkie, I was ju-just going to talk to Appl-Applejack about something..."

Hearing her friend's quiet demeanor shine through strong as ever Pinkie's smile became more subtle and she lowered herself just a bit to catch the pegasus's eye.

"Going to talk to her about what? Helping watch over your animals while the cutie map sends you somewhere?"

Fluttershy was faced with a terrible dilemma as she looked into the crystal blue eyes of the exuberant mare, their beauty encapturing yet the nervous tingles running through her spine wanted her to look away. Eyes never leaving Pinkie's Fluttershy nodded ever so slightly.

"No? So what were you going to talk to Applejack about?"

Nerves winning out Fluttershy broke eye contact before she spoke.

"About stuff."

Now laying completely flat on the ground Pinkie scooted a little closer towards Fluttershy the way a dog would on their stomach, never losing her smile all the while.

"What stuff?"

Fluttershy leaned back a little.

"Stuff about things."

Pinkie scooted even closer, her chin right in Fluttershy's chest fluff as she looked up at her, smile betraying her innocence as she pressed Fluttershy more for answers.

"What things?"

Fluttershy positioned her head away from Pinkie, fighting the urge to lay her head on top of hers, while enjoying the contact.

"Things about...soulmates."

Pinkie now was crouching off the ground, her face having pierced the wall of pink threads that separated it from Fluttershy's. The smell of confections and light sweat from a good day's work around ovens was turning the head of the meek yellow mare rather red.

"I didn't catch that, one more time if you don't mind."

Not being able to take much more Fluttershy pushed Pinkie away gently to an arms length. Breathing slowly to try and get her blood flowing away from just her head Fluttershy felt the tiniest, littlest, most minuscule bit of braveness return to her.

"I said I was going to talk to her about so...sou...soulmates. *EEP*

Head at an angle Pinkie looked perplexed at the supposed reason to her friend's shyness. Or reason for being more shy than normal at least.

"You were gonna talk to AJ about soulmates? Don't take these as me calling you a silly pony, you're more a pretty kind of pony than a silly kind, but what you just said was very silly!"

A sentence that might have gone without scrutinization under better conditions left the light hoofed mare practically floating off without the need of her wings with how light headed it made her feel.

("Oh no she's onto me and now she thinks I'm a big old liar and she smells really nice today and she's going to never want to go out with a liar and I still need to talk to Rainbow AND DID SHE JUST CALL ME PRETTY?!")

Unaware of her friend's mental breakdown Pinkie went on as perusal.

"It's just plain funny that the first pony you'd talk to about soulmates of all things would be Applejack, not that she's not super duper smart about a lot of stuff, but we all know that as over the top she can be about that Rarity is the number one when it comes to stuff like that! SO it's just silly that you'd skip over her to go talk to Applejack. Unless-"

*GASP*

"It's because Rarity's been your super secret soulmate this whole time and you're just now talking about it! Perhaps because you've found another pony that isn't your soulmate but you reallyreallyREALLY like and you don't know how to feel about it or tell either of them about it!"

Fluttershy nearly missed it during Pinkie's tirade as she tried to calm her own mental crisis, but she managed to catch her voice losing some of its gusto as she spoke.

"Who is it? Is it BigMac? I bet it's Big Mac! The two of you are like peas in a pod. If peas were really quiet and didn't say a lot, which they don't actually, so that makes more sense than I thought!"

Pinkie grabbed Fluttershy shaking here in her frenzy for answers, though she did have the mind not to shake her too hard.

"Is BigMac your pea pod pal?!"

Giving her head a good few firm shakes to stop the world from spinning Fluttershy detangled herself from Pinkie.

"N-no, Big Mac isn't my pea pod pal. But I did talk to Rarity first when I decided to go see Applejack too."

Fluttershy gauged Pinkie again, this time, hard as it was, not concentrating on the mares looks but instead her overall attitude. If it had been any other pony then it would be impossible for them to notice anything about Pinkie that was different from the way she normally acted, but Fluttershy especially of all their friends was able to easily see the slightly downtrodden mood she was in.

Her smile was ever so less grand than was normal, her movements not quite as exuberant, and her voice was near undetectably less happy as opposed to the near bursting joy it would without previous fail to contain.

It made Fluttershy worry, forcing her to shove personal troubles aside for a moment. Going in easy Fluttershy started with a simple question.

"What about you Pinkie, why are you out here?"

Pinkie flinched, looking to be somewhat nervous struck by the question for whatever reason Fluttershy was trying to ascertain.

"Me? I was...talking to Applejack about something just like you were."

"Oh? About what?"

It was very disconcerting to see Pinkie so withdrawn from talking. Fluttershy had seen her friend on more than one occasion have her speech contained due to nervousness, but this seemed different, like she was embarrassed to say anything. Eyes creased and darting to and fro, one foreleg withdrawn, and a tense stance were all stacked atop her previous uncharacteristic attributes. It was honestly worrying Fluttershy to the point of uncomfortableness, but just before she could skip the small talk and ask Pinkie what was wrong the mare in question spoke first.

"Well, if I'm being honest I was talking to her about something kinda sorta similar to what you were gonna talk to her about. It's something that's been on my mind for a while and every time I think about it my tummy gets all fluttery and I feel like I could just start floating around like a pegasus, but also at the exact same time my tummy feels like it has the really big weight dropped into it and I'll get dragged right back of the air and have to start dragging it around wherever I walk!"

Pinkie looked up to Fluttershy with sheepish eyes.

"You know what I mean?"

Memories flash through Fluttershy's mind of all the times she has ever thought of Pinkie.

"Actually, yes I do."

Pinkie perked up a bit.

"Really?! Is it because of the whole soulmate business?"

"We-well, yes."

"Soooo~ mind telling me exactly who it is your soulmate is then?"

Fluttershy almost completely relapsed into her shell of hair but persevered over her emotions to give Pinkie an answer, confident that it wouldn't tip off her off to the romantic feelings Fluttershy held closely guarded from her.

"It's um...Rainbow Dash actually. When I first meet her back when she did the Sonic Rainboom is when I started seeing in color. I thought it was because I was on the ground for the first time, but later on I found out from my parents that it was because I met my soulmate. It was all really confusing and a bit scary for me, it's very rare that a pony of my age at the time would meet their soulmate, and if I'm being honest it hasn't really gotten any better. It's always made me so nervous trying to bring the subject up with Rainbow, and frustratingly she has never brought up the topic herself."

Fluttershy might have gone on, of course avoiding bringing up her infatuation, but Pinkie unintentionally cut her off with a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh..."

Just as soon as it left her mouth did Pinkie look like she had just been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar, which was silly considering her occupation, and quickly removed her hoof from the metaphorical silly jar and instead placed it in her mouth. These actions that would normally just be labeled as "Pinkie does stuff" and left in a mental folder captured Fluttershy's interest. Picking her words carefully she began to prod her celebration centric friend.

"Pinkie, would you mind telling me what it is you talked with Applejack about, you never really told me."

A light layer of sweat breaking over her Pinkie was very hesitant to answer but after a moment of nervous hoof chewing she removed the gnawed hoof and spoke.

"I was talking to her about love."

Fluttershy's heart jumped into overdrive to pump enough blood into her brain to power yet another freakout over the simple spoken yet endless complex in its possible meanings sentence. Pinkie went on like before, unaware.

"There this pony see, and not just any pony. She's the prettiest and most nicest and just all around SWEETEST pony I've ever met!"

Almost all of Pinkie's ill feeling vanished as she spoke of the apparent pony of her dreams.

"She always listens to me no matter what and tries all of my new recipes and-!"

Fluttershy came back to reality from performing mental maintenance just as Pinkie's face fell a tad.

"And...I guess I was really scared when she wasn't my soulmate. I really like, and I really didn't want something as silly as soulmates to make it so I couldn't be with her. So I went to talk to the most straightforward pony I knew! I was sure that while rarity could tell me all day long about mushy-gushyness of love, that Applejack would be able to tell me all serious important stuff I needed to know about soulmates and love. I never thought the whole soulmates thing was all that important, you shouldn't have to have something tell you who you like! But I guess I needed somepony to tell that to me after I made my mind up about y-THE pony I love."

Shifty-eyed, Pinkie didn't say anymore inviting Fluttershy to respond.

"So you don't think soulmates really matter when it come to the pony you love?"

While Fluttershy was still working on gently coaxing out of Pinkie who the mare was and why she seemed so nervous to speak her name, Fluttershy also felt there was no better time than right now while they were on the topic to get a full picture of Pinkie's feelings on the whole soulmate/love dynamic.

"Well YEAH, that is what I just said and got back from talking with AJ about. Why do you ask?"

"Because I..."

Fluttershy hesitated a moment, thinking about what she going to say first.

"-I wanted to talk to Applejack about essentially the same thing. And I suppose you got most of what I'm going through right. Rainbow Dash is my soulmate, yes, but I'm not in love with her."

Fluttershy took note of Pinkie's slight lift in mood at that last part.

"There is a pony I love though, and again it's not Big Macintosh, though he is a fine gentlecolt and I do hope he finds a nice mare to settle down with. It was just today in fact that I was able to work up the courage to fully admit that I was in love with her, but with it came a lot of concerns regarding my kinship with Rainbow Dash, so I went to talk with Rarity."

Face redding a bit Fluttershy brought a hoof to the back of her head in a nervous gesture normally not within her repertoire yet felt right in this particular situation.

"I got a pretty clear answer that I was happy with after a somewhat awkward talk with her. She had sent me off to talk to Rainbow Dash about it too, just make sure that there were absolutely no misunderstandings, but..."

Her eyes sank to the ground with a small note of defeat entering her voice.

"I chickened out before I even made it half-way there. My mind just started filling with all these terrible scenarios. I sorta haggled with myself that a second opinion wouldn't hurt and that's why I'm here."

Fluttershy kept her head down for but only a second before she was wrapped in a soft hug.

"It's okay Flutter-butter, I know talks like that can be mega scary.I'm just super duper happy you were at least brave enough to tell me."

Instinctively Fluttershy nuzzled into Pinkie.

"Thank you Pinkie, for understanding."

A light laugh left Pinkie's lips.

"Of COURSE I understand, we're practically in the same boat! I mean come on, we both have ponies we're in love with and go around talking to our friends about all our worries about silly soulmates and stuff on the exact same day?! We might as well be on the S.S. Problem Buddies!"

"I guess you're right Pinkie, but that does bring up an interesting question."

Letting go slowly of Fluttershy backed up and gave her a look of intrigue.

"If you wo-would be willing, cou-"

Fluttershy's voice cracked a bit, the question one of the hardest she ever had to ask.

"You is the pony yo-you've fa-fa-fallen in l-l-l-*GULP*...in love with?"

Pinkie looked as nerve-wracked as Fluttershy was feeling the millisecond the last syllable of the question came out.

"OH THAT! WELL OF COURSE I WOULDN'T MIND TELLING YOU, THAT IS IF YOU REALLY ARE INTERESTED TO KNOW! ARE YOU REALLY INTERESTED TO KNOW?!"

"Ye-yes, I a-am very i-i-interested to kn-know."

"WELL DUH, OBVIOUSLY YOU WANT TO KNOW, WHY ELSE WOULD YOU ASK?! WHAT A SILLY QUESTION OF ME TO ASK! YUP, SILLY OLD PINKIE!"

"A bi-bit silly y-yes."

"YUP!"

"Ye-yeah."

"MMMM HHMM!"

"Hmm..."

Fluttershy could pass for a cyclops tilting its head to the right with how far behind her mane she was hiding while Pinkie might as well have found the caps lock on the keyboard of life. The two stared at each other for a few minutes before Pinkie's forced smile became a bit genuine, a small giggle escaping the prison of her tight lips. The giggle rolled right along into a weak laugh that quickly built up into a full on chortle, Pinkie falling over on her back from just how hard she was laughing now. Fluttershy was confused at first but started to get the joke when she realized the way the two must of looked talking the way they were and had a hardy little laugh of her own.

When Pinkie had control of her breathing again Fluttershy helped her up to her hooves, both of them with huge dopey grins on their faces. Pinkie was the first to say something.

"We were acting super silly just now, you were all stuttery like you were super cold and I was talking all loud like we were in a super awesome rave party!"

"Yes, we were acting rather funnily, weren't we? It was my fault though, it was rude of me to ask you about your special somepony when it was obvious you aren't comfortable talking about it."

Pinkie quickly started to wave her hooves frantically back and forth.

"Nonono, it's fine! It's my fault because I get so duper super nervous and jittery and all that when I think about yo-THEM!!!"

Again Pinkie was getting familiar with the taste of her hoof as she clamped it over her mouth, leaving Fluttershy to wonder it they did in fact taste sweet if she keeps shoving her own hooves in her mouth. Possibly delicious appendages aside the meek mare thought is was about time she dissected Pinkie's odd behavior. Well, oddER than normal.

She thought over their conversation and tried to pick apart the things that were just normal Pinkie mannerisms and what were the interesting details that might give her insight to her friend's dilemma. Fluttershy knew all too well about being nervous talking to others about personal romance, but this was Pinkie we are talking about. The mare almost never has trouble talking about what's on her mind no matter how personal. So Fluttershy made it her new goal in the few moments while Pinkie was looking more wound up than a spring to figure out what was-

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!"

"EEEEK!"

Fluttershy was almost literally blown back by the force of Pinkie's exclamation, the offender looking to have every drop of blood in her body in her face right now and a crazed look in her eyes. Before the poor pegasus could even start to grasp what was going on she found herself being crushed in a hug.

*1 "FluttershyI'minlovewithyouandIknowIhavebeenforthelastweekandI'vebeentryingtotellyousowecouldgoondatesandsnuggleandhavekissiesandothersuperdupermegaultraamazingfuncouplethingsbutI'dalwaysgetthatflutteryweightedfeelinganditwouldmakemenervousandscaredandthenIstartedthinkingaboutsoulmatesanditmadememorescaredeventhoughIthinkit'sreallyweird AND-!"

And then Pinkie gave Fluttershy a quick messy kiss on the lips before flopping on her back with exasperated relief, breathing heavily. Fluttershy followed quickly to the ground on her side, her legs having given out on her.

Pinkie felt like the world was both falling apart and being put back together all at the same time. She had just admitted her feeling to the pony she cared the most for and even kissed her! Before she even knew if she felt the same way! Pinkie was super scared as she let Fluttershy take her time to answer, pensive about if she was about to get rejected or not. The silence stretched on for a good long time, making Pinkie more paranoid and hollow feeling, yet she dared not move until she heard Fluttershy speak.

*Sob*

("Oh Celestia please no.")

Very slowly with jerky movements Pinkie made to get to a sitting position. When she was upright what she saw made her want to just run home and lock herself away for the rest of eternity and beyond. Fluttershy was sitting up as well and crying, head down. Pinkie felt tears of her own starting to seep through her eyes.

"I'm-"*HIC*"...I'm sorry Fluttershy. I shouldn't have kissed you like that. I understand if...if...um?"

Pinkie was now thoroughly confused as Fluttershy got up and walked over to her. She was still crying, but she was also...smiling? Pinkie just sat there and waited as Fluttershy sat directly in front of her and stared her right in the eyes. And then with a gentle hug to bring her head closer Fluttershy kissed Pinkie, slowly and lovingly. Pinkie didn't care at the moment for her confusion or previous dread, she just melted into the kiss, wrapping her hooves around her partner. They stayed like this for who knows how long until they at last detached to breath. Both their tears had stopped now, Pinkie having a huge love sick smile and Fluttershy with a content satisfied one.

"Sorry I scared you Pinkie, but I was just so glad to hear you say you loved me. It's obvious now, but you were the pony I was talking about when I mentioned I figured out I was in love today."

Pinkie hummed happily and nuzzled into Fluttershy.

"I'ma gonna snuggle you foreveeeeer~."

Fluttershy was happy to let her do just that when said snuggler jumped into the air from her sitting state.

"BUT if I do that we'll never get to go on our first-" *GASP* "-REAL DATE! I've got so much to get ready!"

Quickly Pinkie had Fluttershy on her hooves and nudged back down the path heading back towards Ponyville.

"I've gotta go get our date set up, while I'm doing that you can go have that talk with Dashy!"

Then in a puff of dust Pinkie was blazing a trail to town, then made a sharp u-turn and skidded to halt in front of Fluttershy.

"I almost forgot!"

She leaned in and gave Fluttershy a peck on the lips before she was off again calling behind her.

"Meet me at Sugar Cube Corner what you're done talking with Dashy, LOVE YOU!"

And then she was but only a speck on the horizon as she bounded away.

After minutes of sitting there blank faced Fluttershy at last made to move, getting up and walking at a leisurely pace the way Pinkie had gone.

"I suppose I don't have any more excuses now."

With feelings of love fueled bliss colliding with anxiety over her upcoming talk Fluttershy step by step made her way to Rainbow Dash's house.

---

*1 "Fluttershy I'm in love with you and I know I have been for the last week and I've been trying to tell you so we could go on dates and snuggle and have kissies and other super duper mega ultra amazing fun couple things but I'd always get that fluttery weighted feeling and it would make me nervous and scared and then I started thinking about soulmates and it made me more scared even though I think it's really weird AND-!"

Author's Note:

Just give it to me straight, was it good or bad?

Comments

[The SideKick]

7334400

Angle is the rabbit's name, why would it not be capptilized? And pegasus I don't capitalize on purpose because that's the name of the pony type, most spell check programs want to capitalize it because they think you're talking about the horse from geek mythology.

But I'll change impatience, and yes that is a mermaid pony. What else would you call

[Peachy Keen]

I really really like this story! How it's not getting more attention, I'll never know. Pinkie and Fluttershy are very sweet together, you write them well, and I love that we're getting a great Fluttershy story within the head-canon of 'Colors of the Soul'! I'm looking forward to reading more of this!

Seriously, great job!

[KiraM]

fantastic

[randomsurprise]

Heh, well, to answer ur question: it was hella good n' as sweet as I remembered it

[Lore Horse]

I don't suppose you have another chapter in the making for this do you?

[Torta]

Is incredible.