Butterfly in the Orchard

Time passed, memories were made. The next few months are made for us and are made for them. the couple spent the week after the storm healing the wounds and creating new memories. The stallion helped the week trying to tend to the animals in her cottage. A few laughs were exchanged as follies and mishaps occurred. After the mare’s left was healed and she could walk well, they spent a day in the park, watching the clouds pass by. It was their first intimate kiss not caused by a mishap. Memories were made.

Time passed, memories were made. Weeks later, the stallion is in need of help picking the gardens while his sister ails from a bad stomach. The carrots are plentiful and the mare in charge of them is on vacation. The Fluttershy brought some of her ferrets to help the harvest. They help the business in a time of need. Memories were made.

Time passed, memories were made, the late summer days are here and the apple family reunion has arrived, Fluttershy comes to visit Big Mac, she meets his extended family. The Apples treat her like a guest. She feels comfortable, though shy with new ponies. Memories were made.

Time passed, memories were made. Nightmare Might came and Big Mac carried the children in hi wagon, like every year. Fluttershy hid in her home again, but received a visit from the cutely dressed fillies, being led by Big Mac and her friends. They made a simple costume for her to wear, though she didn’t accept it. But still memories were made.

It wasn’t until the last few weeks of fall that things began to change. Slowly the mare started seeing less of her loved one. It didn’t seem like much at first, seeing as it was Apple season, but when it came to a close she noticed he would disappear before she would come to his door. One day she waited for him on his doorstep, hoping to get an answer. All she saw was a tired stallion coming home, smelling of sweat and perfumes. He passed her with only a kiss on her cheek. Nothing was said. His sister came down and promised to talk to him. Days later Applejack wouldn’t tell what he said. Time passes memories are made.

Fall passed and the snow came, bringing a halt to most of the agricultural work. Weeks in and the worry grew further like an untreated fungus. To calm herself, Fluttershy sought to treat this fungus with the topical cream known as her friends.

“Rarity,” called Fluttershy to her fashionista friend as she knocked on her door. “can I ask you something?”

The door opened, with a red-nosed white unicorn coming to wearing a white robe with lines of purple coming around the edges. “Can I help you?” she asked. She took one glance at the pony and retorted her previous statement, “oh Fluttershy, I didn’t expect to see you here, can you come in” she gestured inwards, “The cold air is tickling my cold.”

The yellow Pegasus floated in, her mind heavy with though. She sat down on the floor. Rarity came to her offering a cup of tea. Fluttershy took the cup in her hooves and took a sip to calm her nerves.

“I’m sorry but what is it you wanted to ask me?” Rarity asked with her napkin at the ready.

“Well,” Fluttershy started, “you know how I have been going out with Big Mac?” she paused to get assurance that Rarity was still listening.

“My dear, that’s old news,” she answered in a nasal voice, “every pony already knows you two are an item”

“Right,” she continued, “and you know how we have been, together constantly,” paused again for assurance, “until recently” she muttered. “And how he said he loved me,” pause, “and how we’ve never had sex” Rarity’s ears perked up to listen to this. “my question is, do you think Big Mac would go off with another mare behind my back?”

Rarity’s eyes opened up as she saw her friend stare sadly into her tea. “Oh my,” was all she could say. She rummaged her mind to find some peaceful words. “Are you finding him under suspicion?” she asked.

“Well, a few weeks back, when I was seeing less and less of him, I went to Sweet Apple Acres to talk with him,”

“And?” Rarity asked her to continue as she wiped her nose.

“He came back late, smelling of sweat and flower products.”

Rarity gasped, following was a cough, which killed the moment a bit. “Oh my, did you confront him?”

“Well…” she tried to explain, “I talked with Applejack, she promised to talk with him…” she stopped to bring herself to recall the moment.

“Well…” pushed Rarity.

“She didn’t talk about it afterwards.” She let out a cry. “She tried to avoid the conversation,” she sniffed, “even told me to forget it ever happened.”

Rarity covered her mouth, not to cover a sneeze but in suspense. “Fluttershy, my dear, that is just awful,” she sat back looking for comforting words. “You know, I will have a talk with Appl, ap, aaaaa.” She sneezed before she could finish that sentence, “sorry, I guess I can’t, not in this condition.” She looked over to the saddened mare. “How’s about you talk with somepony else, I feel pretty useless here.”

“Okay,” the yellow Pegasus replied. Heading out the door she began to wonder who she can talk to. ‘Pinkie was too playful to take this seriously.’ She thought to herself, ‘that only leaves Rainbow dash and Twilight, but Rainbow might over react and hurt Big Mac.’  she thought of this quickly, she wanted to solve this as soon as possible. "Twilight with her books could bring me to a speedy conclusion" she thought aloud as she faced the eastern district. "to Twilight's"

Upon arriving at the large oak tree library she noticed the door was open. Quietly she entered, only to see a green baby dragon cleaning the bookshelves. She stealthily walked over to him hearing him mumble on about how he should be at the Boutique with Rarity.

“Um, hello” Fluttershy timidly called,

“What? Oh, hi Fluttershy,” he answered, “did you just come in?” he looked at her with curiosity as she looked around.

“Is, uh, Twilight in?” she asked with slight hesitation.

The baby dragon answered, “She’s up in her room comparing books with her coltfriend.”

“Is it okay if I wait for her, it’s really important.”

Spike went back to his pet, feeding it gingersnaps. A noise came from upstairs, a laughter of some sort that brought down Fluttershy. The bedroom door swung open as the exited purple mare and her companion, a light brown earth stallion with dark brown mane with a streak of rust orange, walk down stairs giggling and chortling. The mare looks at the library book table and sees the saddened butter colored Pegasus.

“I’ll meet you in the kitchen Rusty,” she called out to the stallion. He listened and headed into the kitchen by himself. “Is something wrong?” she asked the Pegasus.

“Oh, um… I hope I’m not intruding on anything.” The Pegasus shuffled into a defensive position.

“Oh that? It’s nothing, we were just having a discussion on the works of  Daring Do. He just felt a bit hungry.” Twilight looked at the kitchen entry way and smiled.

“How did you meet him?”

“Well it was weird, but he came into the library and rummaged books out of the fiction section. He came n to read away the frustrations of his day and we ended up discussing the books he was reading. He kept on coming here every week after work to discuss literature.” She realized she stared talking about herself again, “But it wasn’t as romantic as you and Big Mac.”

Fluttershy lowered her head in and gave a big sigh. The purple mare could sense her words did more harm than good.

“Oh my, did I say something wrong?” she asked with worry.

The Pegasus gave a light squeak. “I-its fine,” she said softly, “I’m just worried about…” she shook.

Twilight looked at her. she fears something may have happened to her relationship. Using her magic she brought out a book on relationships titled ‘From First Sight to Final Vows: Resolving Problems in Your Ship.’ Not the most elegant title, but it might work.

“Let’s take a look at the book,” she said with a look of pride in helping her friend. “Now, what problems are you having?”

“Well, I haven’t seen much of him recently. I think he may be avoiding me.”

The unicorn took a look in the section titled ‘neglect’ and read through the first section. “When a stallion starts to find time for himself, it may mean that the mare is strangling their relationship, the mare might be smothering the stallion and not giving him enough space. This could also happen when the stallion grows tired of the everyday routine and wants to spice up their life. This could also be used in vise versa.” She continued to think about what circumstances she was going through. “What have you been noticing in his behavior?”

“Well, he would stay out late and get home tired, and sometimes smelling of oils and fumes.” Fluttershy hesitantly explained.

Twilight searched through the reference guide to find the solution to the problem. Her face sparked as she found the page, but then came to a drop when the truth was reveled. She looked between the book and her friend to find out what to tell her. “Uh,” she mumbled as she came to terms that this was one thing she didn’t need to hear, not yet.

Fluttershy leaned in as she saw the unicorn closed the book. An awkward smile washed over her face. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, there was nothing I could find that could help you” she lied. The yellow Pegasus dropped her head and headed out the door. The stallion came out of the kitchen, having heard the short conversation. He took the time to ask what had occurred, he was surprised by what she told him.

The Pegasus, now several meters away, looked back at the library, “you too Twilight?” she said in a soft, broken hearted voice. The mare headed north.

She hopes to find somepony that could help her, but three of her friends are useless. One by illness, and the others took are omitting the truth. The two left are her oldest friend and an extremely hyperactive mare. One she knows would try to protect her at any, cost causing damage along the way, and the other would lead her through an adventure filled with silly puns and confetti. "rainbow dash, then." she whispered to herself. she hoped to bring some light to the problem she was facing. "She has always helped me with my problems, it would be a great help. I'm sure she won't over do things again."

She headed over to the weather team’s office to find Rainbow Dash. On her way onto the doorstep, she heard a shout inside. the medium pitched voice was easily recognizable. Fluttershy stopped and tried to listen to the conversation.

“When have you ever seen somepony leave a mug of hot cocoa on a table just for you?” shouted the female voice.

“Well, my ma would leave me one when I came ho…” replied a scared male.

“Do I look like your mom?”

“Well, uh”

“That was the last bag of cocoa, Thunderlane, the last bag, and that was also a turnover I brought back from home, which was made by my good friend.”

“I didn’t kno…”

“Well you should have asked, now I have to go out and buy both hot cocoa and a pastry, two things I would have gotten free if some ungrateful ox didn’t eat them. I woke up late this morning, that was technically my breakfast.”

“But it though it was…”

“How would you like it if your lunch was taken by some big lummox that didn’t care for your feelings?” the crowd began to murmur.

“That’s enough’ interrupted a voice of reason, “Rainbow, I’m giving you the day off, you obviously aren’t fit to work today. Go eat and go do whatever; I just don’t want you scaring the others, again.”

“Fine!” she gave one last shout before she stormed out finding a frightened mare at the doorstep. “he-ya, Fluttershy?” she looked at her expression, feeling worried. “You hear that didn’t you?”

The yellow mare gave a nod.

“Don’t worry. I doubt they would fire me. I'm supervisor.” She turns to her growling stomach and gives a giggle. “Wanna go eat? I forgot breakfast… and lost my lunch.”

They made their way to the diner. the waitress, pumpkin turnover, was busy tat day, taking orders for the lunch rush. The cyan mare ordered the large stack of pancakes, the yellow one ordered some toast. Rainbow Dash was in a chipper mood, she had not noticed the sorrow on Fluttershy’s expression. She tried to hide it as best she can.

“I got lucky this place still serves breakfast at this hour.” Said Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy nodded with a half hearted smile. Rainbow Dash took notice.

She dropped her fork slowly and straightened her back, raising her neck. “fluttershy?” she asked in a calm tone, “I’ve known you for how long?”

“Since flight camp” Fluttershy replied.

“And, even though I am younger than you by almost a year, I took you in like a little sister. Correct?”

“Ten months to be exact, but yes”

“And as my pegisister, I helped you solve whatever problems you faced, bullies, tests, your first estrus, when that bird died… any problem, right?”

She gave a nod,

"Then why won’t you tell me your current problem?”

The yellow Pegasus was shocked, “how could you tell?”

“After fifteen years of knowing you I can see the signs of when you are in trouble” she said while raising an eyebrow in a semi-annoyed expression. “I know when something is bugging you, well more than the usual things.”

“Well… I, uh”

"Are you having money problems again?” Rainbow asked with flat emotion, “I thought we solved that when they declared your ‘animal control’ and pet adoption as a nontaxable service to the community”

“It’s not that… it’s, uh,”

“Is somepony hurting you again?”

“Well, yes… in a way”

“Who is it?” she got up as if interrogating her.

“Well it’s, Bbbb” she was getting shaky, “bbb, Big mm, Mac”

The cyan Pegasus sat down in surprise. “Big Mac is hurting you?” he rubbed her head in ponder. “How is he doing it? Is he hitting you?”

“Well, he keeps avoiding me, I think he may be seeing somepony else,” she twiddled her hooves under the table.

“Somepony else? You mean cheating on you?”

“Maybe it’s because I haven’t put out”

“Have you talked with AJ about this?”

“She… didn’t want to tell me.” He ears drooped.

“That no good a, have you at least looked for help with Twilight?”

“She wasn’t too helpful.”

The rainbow maned mare placed her hooves on her temples and growled in frustration, getting the attention of the restaurant patrons. The waitress trots on over, worried that it has to do with their service. “Oh my, were the flapjacks too heavy on you?” she asked.

Rainbow Dash calmed herself down as much as she could, “it’s nothing, I got it under control.”

The waitress smiled and walked off whispering to herself.

“First we eat Pancakes,” Rainbow states in a serious tone, “then we have a chat with your Coltfriend.”

After finishing pancakes, and choking on a few of them, Rainbow Dash led Fluttershy through the frigid air over Ponyville. The two then conversed on the possible culprits for the reverse cuckoldry.

“I have followed Big Mac these past few weeks when I got a chance through my weather duties” Rainbow explained, “I saw him go to four different places constantly. The Jewelry store, the flower shop, the Sugar Cube Corner, and the park”

“Why the park?”

“He meets somepony there, I couldn’t tell who it was since I was so high up, but whoever they are they were pink with a yellow mane,” she let the deepness of the situation seep in, “and had something red on their head”

Fluttershy sulked in as her friend pulled her to the Jewelry store. Reaching the street they noticed the door swing open, out came the tall red stallion in question.

“Right on time” whispered Rainbow Dash as she and Fluttershy hid on the adjacent roof. They follow the stallion across town. he led them to the flower shop where he went inside, he came out with a small bag, which he hooked to his yoke. The two mares grew impatient as he headed into Sugar Cube Corner. They peaked in through the window, watching him drink a milkshake, cherry flavored. The two stepped back as Rainbow dash came up with a plan.

“He might be here for a while,” she declared, “I suggest we find out who that mystery pony is?”

“What pony?” said a high pitched voice that resembled the squeak of a clean window.

The two jumped, they were not expecting to see Pinkie pie. “What are you doing here?” asked Rainbow,

“I just saw you two out here looking in and I though, hey why not invite them in and share our new hot chocolate with them? But then I heard you talking about a mystery pony, and knowing all ponies in town I thought I could help them, I mean unless it’s a pony I haven’t met before, but then I would need to give them a great big party and a welcome from my Welcome Wagon…” she saw the serious look on their faces, “so who is this mystery pony?”

“Well,” started Fluttershy, “they have a pink coat and blonde mane”

“That’s the opposite of you” she said with a giggle, Fluttershy was not amused, “ahem, that would be Cherry Twist,”

“Cherry Twist?” the two said simultaneously.

“Uh-huh, she has a big red bow on her mane and offers her services to all Stallions in need of help.”

“Sounds like a glorified prostitute to me,” Rainbow groaned.

“Excuse Me?” said a mare heading past them, “I am not a prostitute.” The two fell to see the pink pony in question.

“Oh yeah, and what are you then?”

“Tha… that is none of your business.” She stammered, “my business is with stallions and stallions only. Speaking of which i am meeting a client in here”  she pointed at the bakery.

“That’s cause you are not a filly-fooler” Rainbow continued to batter the mare, “do you like colts as well?”

“Oh like you aren’t one?” the mare was getting annoyed.

“What?”

“Everypony knows you have feelings for that farm mare. We could feel it since that Running of the Leaves a few years ago. You two have been awfully chummy ever since.”

Rainbow growled at the ever tiresome pony. Before she jumped up and declaring a duel to the death, Fluttershy stepped forth, with hopefully a voice of reason. “Um, excuse me, if I may interrupt, I would like to say something” she trotted up to the light pink mare with her head high. Pinkie Pie had her popcorn ready. He opened her eyes and said, “Now listen here missy, you do not take another mare’s stallion, even if it is for business. Your business, though legal, is not a proper form for a lady to behave herself, flapping her hole at every stallion that crosses her path.” She started to give her The Stare, “now leave, and never let me catch you around my stallion again, or I will send my friend Harry the bear to give you a special bear hug. And guess what, it’s painful!”

The stare was super effective. The mare was fumbling on her steps. “You’re crazy, I’m out of here. you can tell Big Mac he can solve this himself” she ran off.

Fluttershy barely let out a huff when she heard the ting-a-ling of the door to the shop. “What is going on out here?” said the voice of a stallion coming out. the voice had gotten the attention of the ponies inside.

Fluttershy turned to him, still steaming with anger, “and you, what do you think you’re doing?”

The stallion walked over to her, “what do you mean? What are you so angry?” he asked in confusion.

“Don’t play dumb, you were seeing that harlot behind my back.”

“Harlot? She was helping me with something,”

“What skills that would prove you good in bed?”

Once Fluttershy started she couldn’t stop. The two spectators now became plenty as the ponies of the street stood to watch. Rainbow dash became uncomfortable with the chaos she had just caused. Pinkie was opening another bag of popcorn stating that this was the “most entertaining argument she has witnessed, more entertaining when the cakes messed up an order.”

“Miss Shy, what are you talking about?”

“Why don’t you tell me,” she replied with a sarcastic tone. “You leave me wondering where you were these past weeks and you didn’t think about how I would feel?”

“But I was…”

“What! Are you finally going to drop me?”

“I was going to Propose to you!” he finally got some words in. Fluttershy and the spectators stopped in shock. He reached into his bag, pulling out a small box. He placed on the ground, as he placed his front knees on the ground.

The mare took the box and opened it. Inside was a butterfly shaped gem attached to a hoof sized clip. The mare was in tears. Her frown turned over and she let out an embarrassed squeak.

“I was working hard to afford the changes to the gem I already had. I even took a job testing deodorants for Lotus and Aloe. Cherry twist is a relationship specialist, she was helping me find the best time and place for this,” he digressed, “this was going to be for a few weeks, but what do you say.

The mare leapt and gave the stallion a big kiss. "i wish you could have told me something." she said, "then i wouldn't have gone crazy."

"and then what, ruin the surprise," the stallion, "I had to tell my sister to lie for me, she would be in charge of the cake if she did."

the two laughed. Soon the crowd joined in. these two ponies have just stopped dating, but they opened a new chapter in their lives, one that Celestia has written on her own.

time passed, memories were made, as the day came closer the Mare of the hour made a letter to Celestia writing her thoughts on what had transpired the time she spent with her Special Somepony.

_________________________________

Dear Princess Celestia.

It has been one crazy year and a half, and I have heard a lot. As you may have heard, I started dating one of my friend's brother, Big Macintosh, and things were never the same. At first my friends were skeptical about the relationship, along with many mares and stallions in town, but soon they came to accept it. Rumors have also made their way through us, but we learned that they are not worth listening. He helped me pulling over my fears that had to do with the assault I sustained all those years ago, along with other problems, and this has also taught me that all relationships have troubles, whether they are about money or miss heard conversations, when you are together you can solve them with a quiet conversation and some love. Oh, and I am writing to you because my wedding is in a few days. I am nervous about it, but what will keep me going will be the thought that my life would be with him, and it would be forever. I can’t wait to tell him those words, “I do.”

Your loyal servant,

Fluttershy

The End