Fluttering Hearts

A cool wind rushed through the trees on a warm day at Sweet Apple Acres. There Big Macintosh could be found lying on his stomach, lazily chewing a few apples of his namesake, taking in the scenery around him. He seldom took the time to admire the land he called his home, since he was often working so hard. It was nice to gaze at the scenery for a moment while his mind dwelt on other matters. It had been two days since his night with Fluttershy. He’d had so much fun with her that night, and he’d hoped she did too. He wanted to talk with her again, but he couldn’t decide if it was too soon or not. He’d often heard that mares appreciate a colt who doesn’t rush things too much. Then again, some didn’t have patience for those who played games and weren’t honest about their feelings.

Before he could formulate a solid idea, his noggin ached as he felt an apple hurled against it. Shaking the pain away, he turned back to find the eldest of his younger sisters giving him a grimacing stare as she watched him lazing away. “Well, lookee here.” Applejack drawled walking towards him. “Never thought I’d see one of the Apple family taking a little rest when he knows that there’s work to be done.”

“You’re sure one to talk.” Big Macintosh responded a bit aggravated. “I’d gotten started on my share of the apple bucking before you were even awake this morning.”

Applejack glared at him with intensity for a moment, before busting out into a sweet laugh. “Heh heh, I know. I’m just giving ya a hard time.” If Big Macintosh could be considered the heart of Sweet Apple Acres by working hard to constantly pump life into the body, Applejack could easily be deemed the brain of the organization. It was Applejack who handled the business side of the farm, collecting what was needed of their harvest to sell in town. Though she sometimes let her pride get in the way of her friends and family, she was a wonderful pony at heart; Big Macintosh considered himself lucky to have her as a sister. She plopped down beside her brother, snatching up an apple from the pile he’d gathered for himself. “Ta be honest, I wanted to talk to ya.”

“Yeah? ‘Bout what?”

“You know… stuff.”

“What kinda' stuff’?”

“Like, the weather, family stuff, maybe certain events that took place with a certain mare friend of mine…”

Big Macintosh heaved a sigh as he listened to his sister beat around the bush not so delicately. “Just spit it out: Ya want to hear how it went with me an’ Fluttershy, huh?”

“Well, if y’all insist!” Applejack replied, rolling her eyes. “I mean I guess I’ll listen, you’re just dyin to talk about it.” She took a bite out of the apple she’d stolen.

“Well, we had a really nice time. Took her out to eat and then we saw a show afterwards, there.”

“Come on, Big Mac, I wanna hear more than that! Did ya take her somewhere fancy?

“Of course.”

“Let her get whatever she wanted?”

“M-hm.”

“Did ya kiss her?”

“Eey- hey, wait!” the orange pony snickered at her older brother’s hesitation. “I ain't one to kiss and tell.”

“Meaning ya did, but ya just aren’t gonna tell me, right?” She received no response from her brother. “Gosh, you’re such a prude! If you ain’t more assertive with mares, they tend to up an’ leave ya!”

“Fluttershy ain’t like that.” He responded in a low tone. “In fact, I think she’d like it better if we took things slow.”

Applejack finished the apple, and tossed it behind her. “I guess you got a point there. She’s probably the least outgoing pony I ever did meet. Heck, that’s probably the best speed for a mare like her. You’re gonna have to work your way into her real slowly, ya know what I mean?”

Big Macintosh snorted angrily at his sister’s gesture. “Applejack…”

“Big Macintosh?” she returned playfully, trying to push his buttons at this point.

“Applejack!” he was really beginning to lose patience with her now.

“Big Macintosh?” sounded a soft voice from above.

“Fluttershy!” Big Macintosh’s eyes widened as his brain registered the name he’d just spoken. He looked upwards to see the yellow Pegasus of his dreams hovering above him, similar to an angel delivering wonderful news. “Fluttershy! What are y’all doing here?”

“Oh, I always come on this day to pick up some apples for my animals.” She replied as she descended to the ground and delicately touched down in front of Big Macintosh. “They just love how sweet they are, especially the bunnies. They just gobble them up… um, kind of ferociously, actually.”

“You mean y’all come around here every week on this day?”

“M-hm, every week. Usually around the same time too, since I spend all morning getting everyone fed.”

Big Macintosh turned an aggravated glare at his sister as he lowered his voice to a whisper “And y’all didn’t think to let me know she was coming over?”

“Slipped mah mind.” Applejack replied with a wide smirk on her face. “Anyway, sorry, but I forgot to pick out a few for ya, Fluttershy. But I’ll betcha Big Mac here wouldn’t mind bucking up a few more, would ya?”

“How about you just take the pile I got here? Picked ‘em this morning, so you’re good to go. I’ll just double what I did today after you’re gone.”

“Oh, thank you Macintosh, these would be lovely-“Fluttershy’s voice was trampled by Applejack suddenly cutting in on her.

“Oh no, no, no, not these here apples. Why, they’re all spoiled!”

“No they ain’t.” Big Macintosh reminded her. “You and I were just eating-!”

“Are so!” Applejack searched around, and quickly dug her hoof into the ground before rubbing it up against one apple from Macintosh’s pile. “Why look, there’s a worm in that one!” Big Macintosh took a look and indeed there was a visible worm, though it was more on the apple than inside. “And you know what they say, ‘one bad apple spoils the bunch’.” With a firm kick, every apple that Big Macintosh had picked that morning was knocked and spread all over the ground. “Guess you better get to back to bucking.”

Heaving a very aggravated groan, the red pony began a slow trot away from the two mares towards a patch of trees that hadn’t been tampered with yet.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Macintosh!” Fluttershy called out to him as he left “I don’t mean to be so much trouble!”

“Nonsense!” Applejack intervened, nudging her towards him. “Why he’s just happy to help you out. Ain't that right, brother?”

While his sister was certainly not at the top of his favorite ponies list at the moment, Big Macintosh certainly didn’t mind performing a service for the pegasus of his affection. He turned and beamed at Fluttershy, nodding his head in approval.

“Oh, well, thank you so much! I guess I’ll come back in a little while-“

“Nuh-uh, you ain't going nowhere!” Applejack lowered her voice so that Big Macintosh couldn’t hear them talk “Go follow Big Mac, keep him company! I’m sure he’d love that. And you would too wouldn’t ya?”

Fluttershy raised a hoof to her mouth to contain her sudden gasp. “Oh my, I hadn’t thought of that. I… I guess I could. But, but, what if I mess it up or something?”

“You don’t have nothing to mess up, sugarcube, you’re just spending time with him. Relax; Big Mac ain't nopony to expect the world out of ya.”

“I guess you’re right. Thank you, Applejack.” Fluttershy brushed her head up against Applejack’s briefly in a hug, then quickly trotted the other way “Big Macintosh, wait for me!”

Applejack watched as the pegasus caught up with her date, and they exchanged some words between themselves. She shook her head as she watched the two of them and muttered to herself “You’re welcome, brother.”

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Sorry ‘bout back there, Fluttershy.” Big Macintosh vented, trotting through the large apple trees with the fair pegasus by his side. “You just surprised me a little. I didn’t expect you to drop by today.”

“Oh no, it’s okay.” She responded politely “I’m surprised that Applejack didn’t tell you before that I come by every week.”

“Well, she’s really been pushing my buttons lately, about…” he looked over at Fluttershy’s face, admiring its beauty, and then turned away quickly. “Stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” Fluttershy asked her voice full of care.

“Eh, nothing.”

“Oh, please tell me! I mean, if it’s personal I understand, but I’d really like to know!”

Big Macintosh considered for a moment. It wouldn’t be fair to keep her away all the time, especially if he was planning on being in a relationship with her. A relationship? He thought to himself. Well, let’s not go that far just yet. But he did want to grow closer to her, so he had to let her in a little bit. “Well, she’s been teasing me about you- you know, about our date and stuff.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy’s face lit up as she stopped in her tracks to put the pieces together, and responded with a girlish giggle of delight. “Oh! I see, how funny! And what has she been saying about us?”

Big Macintosh grinned and rolled his eyes. “Well, you’re a mare like her; I’ll bet you could guess what she’d ask.”

“Mm, I suppose I could. So, I guess she’s been asking if we… kissed?” Big Macintosh’s ears drooped as his face turned a darker shade of red. Fluttershy giggled again, as she suddenly brushed up against his side. “Well, I think it was very sweet of you. You certainly know how to charm a pegasus.”

“Heck, y’all are the one who kissed me! I just pecked ya on the cheek.”

“Oh, I know, but I couldn’t have enjoyed it without you of course.”

The red pony smiled warmly at her, and brushed his head up against hers. “Glad y’all liked it, sweetheart.” He breathed in deeply taking in the scent from her hair. It smelled sweet, like lilacs. It was almost as if she had used a shampoo composed of them just before coming over to see him. Well, to see Applejack. Bumping into him had been pure coincidence… right? “Anyways… let’s get you them apples.”

Big Macintosh had led Fluttershy into a deep part of the land, farthest away from the farmhouse, where a multitude of trees gathered. While the trees here didn’t differ much from the trees in view of everypony else, the main attraction was the large tree jutting from the ground in the middle of the plantation. Its trunk was as thick as a house, and the top of the tree wasn’t even visible to either of their eyes. “Oh, wow…” Fluttershy stared in awe at the biggest tree she had probably seen in her life. “What is this thing?”

“It’s a tree!” Big Macintosh replied quickly, receiving a harsh stare from Fluttershy with the message saying You know what I mean “I’m just messin with ya. This here’s Big Timber. She’s kinda a secret on this here farm. Nopony else knows about it except me, and AJ of course.”

“But, but I’ve never heard Applejack talk about it before…”

“Heh, well, that’s probably ‘cause she’s embarrassed of it. Now, you don’t go telling her I told you this, but she ain’t ever been able to buck any apples from this here tree. She’s a mighty fine applebucker, and she’s got a lot of strength in those legs, but she ain't quite up to the challenge. That’s why she doesn’t talk about it.”

“Wow, a tree that Applejack can’t buck. I didn’t think something like that existed!” Fluttershy’s head had remained fixated upwards, trying to perceive the top of the colossal apple tree. She finally returned her gaze downwards, facing towards Big Macintosh “So, does that mean you can do it?”

“Heh, well…” Big Macintosh caught a proud look on his face, as he ushered towards her. “Y’all might want to stand back a bit.” Scooting herself away from the tree, Big Macintosh slowly raised one of his hind legs, and laid a quick strike into the base of the tree, while the ground around them shook slightly.

“Um, did it work?” Fluttershy asked, taking notice that no apples had fallen from his mighty strike.

“Give it a minute.” Big Macintosh reassured, pressing a hoof to his ear “Ya hear that?”

Fluttershy turned her ears up, as a swirling mass of leaves began to crumple above them, as if a hurricane had swept through. Without warning, a torrent of apples began to fall to the left and right of them, all pounding the ground with a powerful thud.

“Ah, shoot!” Big Macintosh yelled as he ran towards Fluttershy. “I must have hit harder than I meant to. Here, get under me.” Big Macintosh lifted a forehoof ushering her to take shelter.”

“But what about you?” she protested.

“I can take it. Now get!”

In a hurry, Fluttershy crawled underneath Big Macintosh as he took the widest stance he could muster to protect Fluttershy. Apple after apple dropped to the ground, some of them landing on Big Macintosh, who stood resolute in defending his mare and collecting them in the bucket fixated on his strong back. After what seemed an eternity, the rainfall of fruit finally ceased, as Fluttershy crawled out from underneath him. “Is it over…?”

“Yeah.” He responded short of breath. The entire ground around was covered in apples, only a few fragments of grass could be seen. “I’m real sorry ‘bout that, Fluttershy, I guess I was trying to show-!”

His speech was cut off as Fluttershy threw herself at him, wrapping both forelegs around him in a tight hug. “Oh, thank you so much, Big Macintosh! I can’t believe you protected me like that! You’re so brave; I don’t know how to repay you!” Before he knew it, Fluttershy planted a passionate kiss on his cheek, and rubbed her face up against his, beaming in complete happiness.

A wide and silly grin appeared over Big Macintosh’s face as he chuckled to himself “Gawrsh…” he responded in a daze. He cleared his throat and regained his composure quickly. “I mean, it ain’t any trouble. I’m glad you’re safe.” He looked down into Fluttershy’s eyes, and this time kept them locked in for a while, admiring how bright and beautiful they were. It was as if he could see into her soul, and everything he saw shimmered like the sun after a rainy day. It brought him a sense of happiness he didn’t even attempt to describe, in fear that words could never do it justice.

“Well… let’s fill that bag of yours up.” He reminded her, breaking contact and leaning over to pick up what little of the mass of fruit she needed.

“Oh, right.” Fluttershy followed Macintosh closely as he picked fallen apples off the ground and placed them in her saddlebags. “I still can’t believe you were able to make all of this happen. You’re so strong.”

Big Macintosh smirked at hearing her flatter him so. “Nah. I’m just a hard worker. And I may have pushed myself harder than most when I was little.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when I was just a little colt, before either of my sisters were born, I wasn’t too social. I didn’t have as many friends as my school mates. I just wanted to work the farm as best I could. One day I ventured out a bit further into the farm deeper than I’d ever gone, and found Big Timber here. I’d never seen such a big tree before. I kicked it as hard as I could, but I didn’t get a single apple to fall.” He motioned towards Fluttershy to follow him to another side of the tree. “See this?”

“What is that?” Fluttershy asked, taking note of a large indention in the tree, in the shape of a large hoof.

“That’s mine, of course. After that day, I’d come out here whenever I finished my daily round of applebucking. I’d buck this tree until I couldn’t even stand on my hooves anymore, then I’d drag myself home after resting for a bit. My mom worried about me, and pop said that I was in over my head, and that I’d never be able to make anything fall. But I kept trying, no matter what he said. I pushed myself every day, made sure I took on extra chores so I could buff myself up, and kept bucking that darn tree til I dropped. A few months later, while I kept kicking up a storm here, I felt something drop on my head. Not sure how it happened, but it was a Macintosh apple, and when it hit me, it split clear down the middle in two halves.”

Fluttershy made an excited gasp as she glanced at Big Macintosh’s rump “Was that how you got your…?”

Big Macintosh flaunted his cutie mark proudly, with the half apple displaying its inner seeds. “Eeyup. Last one in my class to get it, but it came at just the right time. I ran all the way home and crashed through the door to pop, telling him about what I’d done. He tussled my mane and told me he’d never been more proud to be proven wrong in his life.”

“That’s such a sweet story! Um… Big Macintosh?” Fluttershy asked nervously, digging one hoof into the ground. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Well sure you can. What’s up?”

“What happened to… your parents?”

Big Macintosh’s face changed from a warm glowing smile to one of scorn. He turned away from Fluttershy and returned to gathering up apples from the ground. “What do ya think happened to ‘em?” he asked with no emotion in his voice.

“They died, didn’t they?” she asked with resentment. Big Macintosh nodded solemnly, not wanting to look at her in the face. “What happened to them?”

“I just told ya, they died.” He responded with aggravation clearly building up in him.

“But, that’s not what I meant. How did they-?”

“Don’t matter how they did, they just died!” He snapped without warning “That’s what happens to ponies. One day they’re healthy and happy, and the next day they’re dead, and there ain’t nothing you can do to bring ‘em back. Now stop pestering me about it.” Gritting his teeth in anger, Big Macintosh heard a frightened gasp behind him, suddenly bringing him back to his senses. He turned to see Fluttershy’s body trembling slightly, as her lip quivered in fear. “Fluttershy, I’m so sorry!” the red pony pleaded suddenly. “I didn’t mean it. I just lost my temper. Please don’t be upset, please!”

Fluttershy took a deep breath and closed her eyes, turning away from Big Macintosh. “I need to go” she responded flatly, as she quickly took flight, accidentally dropping her bag half full of apples.

“Wait, Fluttershy, come back! Please come back!” his cries fell on deaf ears as the form of the yellow Pegasus grew smaller and smaller in his vision. Big Macintosh didn’t know what to feel. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to break something. In a fit of rage, he let out a fierce yell and with all of his might, kicked Big Timber behind him, emitting a thunderous boom that rang throughout the forest, and sent many birds large and small into a panicked flight. He stood there for a moment huffing and puffing before he heard the all too familiar sound from earlier, of the sudden gust falling down from above.

“Oh, sh-!”

Crouching down and placing his fore legs over his head, he was met with a large barrage of falling apples, even more massive than the one before. It went on for several minutes before finally dying down; leaving no single inch of ground to be seen past the new apple coating it had just been given. After the dust had cleared, a woozy Big Macintosh appeared from underneath a large pile of them, shaking his head roughly to clear his daze. “Figures” he said to himself softly, taking a glance at Fluttershy’s forgotten saddle bag. “That probably ain’t even close to the punishment I oughta get.” Picking her bags up with his teeth, Big Macintosh slowly made his way back to the farm, leaving a fresh and deep hoof mark into the large tree behind him.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Big Macintosh watched his shadow grow as Princess Celestia’s sun slowly descended on the farm. He trotted along carrying in his teeth Fluttershy’s forgotten bag full of apples intended for her critters. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was carrying them. He knew full well she wouldn’t want to see him, so she wasn’t likely still on the property. She’d most likely gone home. He couldn’t bring himself to visit her cottage at the moment. Maybe he’d leave them with his sister, and she’d find a way to get them to her. It’d just seemed a waste to leave them on the ground for nopony else to appreciate them.

“Macintosh!” a voice called out for him suddenly. “Hey, Big Mac!” he lifted his eyes slowly and caught a glimpse of his sister galloping towards him, a worried expression on her face. “I just saw Fluttershy fly off towards home. Everything okay?”

“No.” Big Macintosh replied softly, dropping the bag. “I yelled at her. She probably hates me now.”

Applejack let out a gasp “Well, why on Earth would you yell at sweet ol’ Fluttershy?”

“Because she asked about ma and pa, alright?”

“Oh…” Applejack winced, as she was well aware about how touchy her brother was on the subject of their departed parents. “That makes sense. I’m sorry, Mac, and I know how y’all feel, but ya gotta realize that ponies are gonna ask about it sometimes. Ya can’t go flying off the handle just because somepony gets curious!”

“Well, what do ya want me to do about it?” Big Macintosh barked at her “Damage has already been done. She don’t wanna face me, and I don’t particularly wanna see her either.”

“Well, tough!” Applejack barked back, digging her face into his. “You may feel bad now, but you’re gonna feel even worse if you let her get away without even trying to make up for it. I’m good friends with Fluttershy, and she’s got enough sense in her to hear you out.” Applejack lifted up Fluttershy’s bag and forced it into her brother’s mouth. “Now, you take these apples and you run yourself over to her house and you talk it out with her, ya hear me?”

“But, I-!” he protested.

“I ain’t hearing it!” Applejack replied trotting closer to Big Macintosh’s rump, giving it a firm slap. “Now git!”

Letting out a frightened whinny, Big Macintosh reared up and sprinted off of the farm as fast as he could, making his way off towards Fluttershy’s cottage. He wasn’t sure what he could do or say, but all that mattered in his mind right now was getting over there as fast as he could.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Finally arriving at Fluttershy’s small abode, Big Macintosh stopped himself in front of her door to catch his breath. He had quite literally not stopped running since the moment his sister smacked him across the flank and sent him sprinting away. He dropped the bag of apples in front of his door, took a deep breath, and tapped gently on her door.

“Hey, Fluttershy?” he asked weakly. “It’s me. Look, I know how I reacted to you was uncalled for, and I really should have thought of what I was saying.” He pressed his ear to the door, but couldn’t hear any sort of response. “If you don’t wanna ever see me again, I don’t blame you. I just… here’s your apples, outside the door. You can come get ‘em after I leave, I guess. Well… goodbye.” About facing, Big Macintosh began to walk away back to his own farm, until he heard a small creak behind him.

“Get in here, now!” Fluttershy’s tiny voice shouted rather fiercely at him. “Um… please!”

Turning around, Big Macintosh pranced into her home, while she shut the door behind him. “Fluttershy, I-“

Fluttershy cut him off suddenly. “No, I have something to say, and I’m going to say it. Rainbow Dash said that I need to be more assertive, and I’m choosing now to do so.” She cleared her throat before she continued. “You’re right, what you said was uncalled for, and I still don’t understand why you did it.” Big Macintosh’s ears drooped as he braced himself for the assault he expected and probably deserved. “I still don’t understand why you said that to me. It just doesn’t make any sense. For you to just… apologize to me.”

Big Macintosh raised himself suddenly puzzled at her words. “Apologized?”

“Yes… after I clearly upset you, you apologized to me. Why would you do such a thing?”

“Because, I yelled at you! And you looked so horrified, like you were about to cry, I had to say something.”

“I was about to cry.” She responded, closing her eyes. “Because I felt so guilty for making you upset. I could hear how sad you were when you talked to me. I felt like such a terrible pony.” Her tiny voice began to tremble as she spoke. Big Macintosh was absolutely dumbfounded. Here he thought that Fluttershy was angry at him for losing his temper, when she was really upset with herself for making him relive painful memories from his past. “But then you suddenly apologize to me, as if you did something wrong, when you were just expressing how you felt.” Fluttershy ran towards Big Macintosh and violently slammed her head into his large chest, causing him to utter a subtle “Oof!” at the sudden force, before she burst into tears “How could you do that to me!?”

“Fluttershy, I’m so sorry.”

“Stop apologizing!”

“Oh, right, I’m so-! Well… what do you want me to say?”

Fluttershy paused from her sobbing, and took a deep breath before she spoke. “What I want you to say, is why you feel like you need to protect me from knowing when you’re upset with me.”

Big Macintosh thought about what the best response would be right now. He needed to be truthful to her, even if it was only in small degrees. “Because, you’re very special to me.”

Fluttershy’s tearful eyes widened as she sniffed and caught her breath “Well, you’re special to me too. But if we’re going to be each other’s special someone, we can’t afford to keep our feelings from each other, the good or the bad. We need to be honest with each other, completely.”

Big Macintosh shut his eyes, and sighed deeply. “Fluttershy…” he responded slowly. “What happened to my folks really tore me up when I was young. I’m still sore about it, even after all these years. I ain’t ready to talk about it now. Heck, I might never be ready.” He looked into her eyes to inflict his sincerity. “But it ain’t nothing personal. It’s not that I want to protect just you from hearing it; I don’t want to talk to nopony about it. That’s just how I feel.”

Her eyes still full of tears, Fluttershy smiled weakly at him, and wiped her eyes off on his chest. “Thank you. That’s all I needed you to say.” She cuddled her head into his fur, as Big Macintosh planted a gentle kiss on her head. “You know, you can kiss my face… if you want.” Fluttershy giggled as she spoke.

“Oh, really?” Big Macintosh responded in surprise.

She nodded. “We already did before.”

“Yeah, but that was your doing, not mine.”

“Well, it’s not like you don’t get to have a say in how our relationship works, you know…”

“Wait, when did we get into an official relationship?”

“That’s what I meant by ‘special someone’s’ silly!”

“Oh… heh, I guess you’re right.” Big Macintosh said sheepishly. Looking into her cyan eyes, he leaned in slowly and made contact with her quivering lips. Or perhaps those were his own, he wasn’t able to tell. As soon as they touched, however, they immediately relaxed, as they took comfort in each other’s embrace. Her lips tasted like the best hay he’d ever baled, with a pinch of sugar sprinkled on top. It sent a shiver through his body as he opened his eyes and looked her over. Breaking the kiss, the two ponies leaned their foreheads together, giggling in delight at each other’s company.

“Oh my.” Fluttershy piped. “That was... fun!”

“Heh, yeah. We oughta do it again sometime soon.”

“Yes. Real soon.” She leaned in and swiped another quick kiss on his lips.

“Hey, watch it! I wasn’t ready that time.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

“That’s alright. I’m ready now.” Now it was his turn to catch her off guard as he pushed into her with his strong lips, enticing her to giggle at his sudden forwardness. After a few minutes of exchanging locked lips, Big Macintosh noticed how dark it had become outside. “Ah, horse feathers. I better get back home.”

“Oh, really?” Fluttershy responded disappointed. “It’s still so early though!”

“I know, but I really need to be getting to bed early. Tomorrow’s plowing day, so I need to wake up ‘fore the sun’s even up.”

“I see. Well, I’m still so glad you came over, Big Macintosh.”

“You oughta thank my sister.”

“What do you mean?”

“Eh, nothing. Goodnight, sweetie.” Taking another quick kiss from her, Big Macintosh quickly made his way out her front door, trotting light-hoofed back to his farm, humming to himself as he pranced. With his newfound joy, he was ready to take on tomorrow’s plowing duties head on, without a care in the world.