The Farmer and his Flower

by Absolom

Rating: everyone
Tags: Human, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Granny Smith, Romance, Rarity, Big Macintosh, Fluttershy
Length: 13160

A medium length romance story about Big Macintosh and Fluttershy, that follows them along the roads of kindness, confidence and affection. But will they truly be able to find love given their completely different lives and backgrounds? Who knows.

Big Macintosh and Fluttershy meet under pretty normal circumstances and find that there may be an inkling of infatuation within their hearts. After spending some time together, Big Mac decides he wants to train Fluttershy to become strong willed and confident in herself. Will his methods succeed? Will something more emerge from these interactions? Will they be able to stand up to the judging eyes of friends and strangers alike? Well, I suppose you'll have to read it and find out.

Published 2014-08-15 18:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-10-08 21:20:16 UTC

An informal, formal meeting

Author's Note

A/N: This is my first story. Ever, so please, keep that in mind considering my odd (and almost certainly improper) writing style.

Criticism or praise of any kind whatsoever is very much appreciated, like I said before I'm a novice to writing, so my writing style, pacing and punctuation are quite rough (I think). Any suggestions or advice is also very much appreciated.

Also, the year of this story "02" does not stand for 2002, it is the amount of years that have passed since the start of my original story, as all of my stories take place in the same universe this helps greatly in understanding when and where each of my stories ties in to each other. If you don't exactly understand, it'll make more sense if/when you read another one of my stories (even though none of them exist yet).

Characters are in human form, this is simply because of personal preference. I find it awkward and difficult to make sense of ponies doing human things, like grasping things, picking things up, fighting, (that is, if there would be any) Etc.

Lastly, I'm very sorry if it appears I copied anyone's work, that is not my intention at all, and all of the content (well other than the characters and setting) in this story I thought up on my own, if you still see some similarities, please don't hesitate to PM me and tell me the similarities between mine and someone else's story. Now without more of that nonsense I think I'll start the story.

All content belongs to its respective owners, I own nothing (except my OC's, which I highly doubt will even be mentioned in this story), otherwise all of this would be canon (probably).

An informal, formal meeting

CHAPTER 1. June 6th/02/3:06 PM/3rd person.

Big Mac was working around the farm as he normally would, plowing the fields and preparing the ground for new crops. After many hours of work, starting as soon as the sun had risen, to now, he decided it was about time for a break. Unhooking himself from the plow he began heading for the farmhouse; after a few minutes of walking he arrived at the back door, quickly opening it and making a b-line for the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, he poured himself a cold glass of cider and headed out to the front porch. Once outside he took a seat in one of the 4 rocking chairs that were outside, slowly chugging the contents of his glass. After finishing his glass, he began looking around, observing the world around him.

After a short amount of time, he began nodding off, not noticing the young woman approaching him. "Um…excuse me" the woman said in a meek voice.

He looked up slowly to see who was speaking. He recognized her as one of Applejack's friends. "What can Ah help ya with?" he asked curiously.

"Oh…I…um…i-is Applejack around?" she asked, stammering quite a bit.

"Nope," he said simply.

"Oh...ok, I'll just come back later," she said and began walking away.

"Are ya sure Ah can't help y'all with anythin' ma'am?" he asked, offering any assistance.

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to be a bother," she said in a gentle voice hardly above a whisper.

"It ain't a problem ma'am, if it involves apples, then it's my job ta help ya," he said in a matter-o-factly tone.

"A-alright…if it's not any trouble, I'd like to buy some apples," she said, dialing the volume of her voice up a slight amount.

"Alright," he said as he stood up. She seemed a little frightened by his size and began backing up, not taking into account the few steps leading up to the porch right behind her.

Once she stepped on the edge of the first step, she immediately lost her balance and began falling backwards. "Oh no!" she said in a panicked voice, as she began falling. Without thinking, Big Mac sprung forward and grabbed one of her flailing hands and tugged her back onto the porch. Once realizing she was safe, she opened her eyes and realized she was leaning against Big Mac, with her head against his chest. She immediately started blushing and backed up quickly, making sure not to fall this time.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" she was saying before getting cut off.

"It's alright," he said in a calming tone.

"…Th-thank you," she said, still blushing.

"No problem ma'am, now, how many apples did ya need?" he asked, getting back to business.

"Um…a crate," she said, not sounding exactly sure.

"A whole crate?" he asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

"…Yes…I need them for my animals," she said, clearing up Big Mac's confusion a bit.

"Any specific kind?" he asked curiously.

"Um, no, I don't think the animals will mind," she said gently.

"Alright…feel free ta take a seat, Ah'll be right back with a crate of apples," he said and began walking to the other side of the building.

Once on the other side he unlocked and opened the cellar door, heading down the stairs and examining the crates and reading the date on each. He grabbed a somewhat older batch (as the animals surely wouldn't care) of McIntosh apples. Hoisting the crate onto his right shoulder. He began his walk back to the exit, locking the cellar as he exited it, continuing his walk to the front.

Once arriving at the front porch he noticed her sitting in one of the rocking chairs, quietly singing a song he had never heard before, he noticed she hadn't seen him and decided to listen in.

"I want to fly high…so I can reach the highest of all the heavens. Somebody will be…waiting for me, so I've got to fly higher…" she finished, lingering on the last note.

"Y'all sing mighty fine ma'am," he said as he approached her from the side.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she jumped in surprise, looking to her side to see him.

"Ah'm sorry Ah startled ya, Ah jus' wanted y'all ta finish yer lovely song," he said as he walked up to her and stood next to her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bug you with my singing," she said, blushing furiously and hiding her face behind her long pink hair.

"Yer a great singer, Ah reckon Ah could listen to ya all day," he said, reassuring her.

"R-really?" she asked, standing up and looking up into his green eyes with her teal ones, causing him to blush very slightly.

"Eeyup," he said honestly.

"O-oh…thank you, Big Macintosh," she said in a quiet but grateful tone.

"Y'all know my name?" he asked curiously.

"Yes…Applejack talks about you sometimes," she said.

"Y'all could'a said that sooner…but, putting two and two together, y'all must be Fluttershy, right?" he asked.

"Y-yes…how did you-" she was about to ask, before getting cut off.

"Applejack talks a lot," he said honestly.

"Hehe…I guess…that's a good thing this time," she said and started blushing near the end of her sentence.

"Eeyup…" he said simply.

"H-how much?" she asked, changing the subject.

He looked at her with a confused look on his face, before remembering that he had a crate of apples on his shoulder. "Oh, a crate this size would be $40, but…Ah think we can let one go fer free, for a family friend," he said.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly take it for free," she said in response.

"Don't worry about it, Ah could go ta the orchard an' get this many apples in less 'n ten minutes," he said honestly.

"You really don't mind?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Nope," he said simply.

"Oh…thank you again, Big Macintosh," she said, and continued. "Are you sure, Applejack won't be mad?" she asked.

"Applejack ain't who Ah'm worried about an' y'all can jus' call me Big Mac," he said plainly.

"Oh…ok, well, I guess I'll be on my way then," she said as she put her arms out for the crate.

Once giving her a quick once over and examining the crate, he decided that the crate was too large for her.

"Ah'll carry it," he said suddenly.

She gave him a shocked look before responding "I couldn't possibly have you do that, I've already taken up too much of your time," she said in an almost worried sounding voice.

"It's no problem, Miss Fluttershy, Ah'm happy ta help, just lead the way," he said genuinely.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Eeyup." he said confirming his answer.

"O-ok." she said, and began walking; Big Mac following close behind.

The two walked, heading into town to deliver the apples to Fluttershy's house. Big Mac quickly gained a decent amount of attention because of his size, he either didn't notice the many pairs of eyes staring at him or decided to ignore it. But Fluttershy on the other hand, being the meek woman that she is became quite distressed at all the people looking in her direction and began slowing down her pace.

Big Mac immediately noticing her decrease in speed (mainly due to him being a few paces behind her), slowed down as well and veered off to her left side, to avoid a collision with her smaller frame. He walked up beside her, noticing a look of uncertainty or distress on her face. He then spoke up to address the problem (whatever it may be).

"What's wrong?" he asked, gaining her attention.

"I-I'm not used to having so many people looking at me," she said in a meek tone, moving a small amount closer to him.

"It's alright, Ah'm sure they don't mean no harm by it," he said, trying to reassure her.

"I know, it's just…it makes me nervous," she said, still adopting a timid tone of voice.

"So…ya don't like people lookin' at ya?" he asked curiously.

"No…It makes me feel like they're judging me," she said.

"They can't really judge ya, they don't even know ya, maybe they're jealous...ya never know," he said, shrugging slightly and making a decent point.

"What could they possibly envy in me? I'm timid, weak and I can hardly even stand up for myself," she said.

"Whether that's the case or not, they don't know, they jus' see a beautiful woman walkin' through town, mindin' her own business," he said honestly.

"You think I'm…beautiful?" she asked hesitantly.

"Ah don't think yer beautiful, Ah know it, anybody with eyes could see that, jus' ask 'em," he said honestly.

She was silent for a few moments before she responded. "…You really think so?" she asked curiously.

"Eeyup," he said simply, causing her to blush.

"O-oh…" was all she said.

"If'n y'all don't believe me jus' ask someone, Ah'm sure they won't mind," he said simply.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly work up enough nerve to do that…and besides, you're probably just being nice," she said in a somewhat glum tone, while she looked down at the ground.

"Stay here," he said suddenly, as he put his crate of apples down and briskly walked toward a small group of people. Leaving a surprised Fluttershy behind. Once he made it to them, he was out of clear earshot of Fluttershy.

"Sorry ta disturb y'all, but can Ah ask y'all a quick question?" he asked the small group of people, to which they said yes. "Y'all see that woman standing over there?" He asked while pointing toward Fluttershy. The group quickly nodded and/or said yes.

"Do y'all think she's attractive?" he asked, to which everyone quickly said yes. "Alright, thank ya kindly," he said and made his way back to Fluttershy.

"What did you say?" she asked him curiously.

"If they thought y'all were attractive," he said as simply as he said most things.

"W-what!? Why would you do that?" she asked, sounding somewhat distraught.

"Jus' wanted to see what they would say," he said simply.

"…What…did they say?" she asked curiously.

"They all said yes," he said as plainly as he normally would.

"Really?" she asked.

"Eeyup," he said. "If y'all don't mind, Ah think we should keep goin'." picking up the crate of apples and waiting for Fluttershy's response.

"…Ok," she said as if she was in deep thought and began walking, Big Mac walking next to her this time.

They continued walking through town, on the way to Fluttershy's house, still garnering the attention of quite a few people; Fluttershy did however become a little bit more comfortable with the whole situation.

She then noticed two women she recognized, walking toward them from straight in front of her and Big Mac. The two women stared intently at her and Big Mac while they walked, moving to the side so they could pass around them, she then heard one of the women speaking loudly as they passed them.

"What are they doing together? There's no way that timid mess could be going out with him" one of the women said.

"Look at the crate, I'm sure he's just delivering something for her because she's too weak to carry it," the other woman said.

"Yeah that's gotta be it, there's no way she could woo that tall tan hunk of muscle," the first woman said.

After she said that Fluttershy couldn't tell what they were saying anymore, but it didn't really matter because she really didn't want to hear more; she then looked down at the ground as she walked, with a glum expression on her face.

"Don't worry about what those two were talkin' about," Big Mac said after he noticed Fluttershy's sad expression.

"Why shouldn't I? What they said was true," she said in response.

"Ah don't normally listen in on conversations, but Ah could tell that those two wanted us ta hear what they were sayin' because of how loud they were talkin', so what they said is most likely jealousy talkin'."

"How do you know?" she asked curiously.

"Ah don't, but believe it or not, Ah've been around the block a few times an' people ain't that intentionally mean unless they're jealous or envious of someone."

"Why would they be jealous?" she asked curiously.

"Haven't we already been through this?" he asked.

"…You think they're jealous of my…looks?" she asked with slight confusion backing her tone.

"It's possible, or because yer with me," he said, unintentionally bringing up a new topic.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, Ah don't leave the farm much fer a reason; because of women like them…luckily Ah had y'all here ta keep me safe!" he said half-jokingly.

"So…you're saying they were deliberately being mean because they were jealous of me…being with you?" she asked curiously, sounding somewhat confused.

"Somethin' like that."

"…Oh...well…you're welcome," she said somewhat jokingly.

"Heh, Ah didn't know ya had a sense of humor," he said, obviously not being serious.

"Hehe, I didn't think you had one either," she said in response.

He chuckled lightly and then looked at her intently for a moment, lingering his gaze on her eyes a little too long, provoking her to blush and hide her face behind her hair. "It's a shame we hadn't formally met until today Miss Fluttershy," he said honestly.

"Y-yeah…but I-I'm glad we did." her blush persisting

"…Eeyup."

They continued walking in relative silence toward Fluttershy's house, exiting the town and walking on a dirt path, sparking a bit of curiosity in Big Mac's mind. A woman who's afraid of her own shadow, living by herself a good distance away from safety, in a house right on the edge of a forest filled with potentially dangerous animals. This didn't sit right with him.

"Y'all live out here all by yerself?" he asked curiously.

"Of course not! I have my animals to keep me company," she said in a matter-o-factly voice.

"…Ah didn't think about that…but, don't y'all ever get lonely?" he asked curiously.

"You mean…like interaction with my own species?" she asked.

"Well, if y'all wanna be technical about it, then yeah, that's about the gist of it."

"Sometimes…but I have friends that I do things with every so often."

"Ah figured as much, Ah know one of 'em pretty well," he said, referring to Applejack.

"Hehe, I suppose you do don't you?" she asked with a friendly smile.

"Eeyup." he said simply.

After a short amount of time, Big Mac noticed what looked to be Fluttershy's house in the distance.

"Is that it?" he asked.

"Yes," she said simply in response.

"It's…really quite beautiful, Ah wasn't expecting this," he said sincerely.

"You really think so?" she asked.

"Not meanin' to sound rude Miss Fluttershy, but Ah don't say things that Ah don't mean; so yes Ah really think so," he said honestly.

"O-oh…I'm sorry," she said apologetically.

"An' y'all apologize even though ya didn't do nothin' wrong," he said, pointing out a trait of hers.

"I-I'm sor-" she was saying before being interrupted.

"There it is again…Miss Fluttershy, don't apologize fer things y'all shouldn't be apologizin' for," he said as he gave her a friendly smile.

"Ok I'm sor- I mean, alright," she said, correcting herself.

"There ya go!" he said enthusiastically.

After he said that they arrived at a small bridge, that went over a small stream in front of Fluttershy's house and shortly after, arrived at her front door.

"Hold on a minute," she said as she took a pair of keys out of one of her pockets and quickly unlocked her front door. "Follow me please," she said, opening the door and walking inside.

"Alright," he said as he followed her inside. Once he entered he quickly took note of how uniquely homey and attractive the inside of her house was, he noticed the intricate design of the wood that covered the walls, the somewhat simplistic furniture that was scattered about and the various openings and ramps for small creatures throughout the room and most likely other rooms. "Y'all got a nice place here Miss Fluttershy," he said honestly.

"I should've cleaned up a bit, it's a mess in here," she said, sounding somewhat embarrassed.

He took a quick look around the room with a somewhat confused look on his face before he responded. "This is messy? It looks pretty darn clean considerin' y'all let wild critters run around here," he said.

"You're just being nice, it's awful in here," she said and began walking again.

Big Mac having plenty of experience with women (from having two sisters a grandmother and at one time a mother) knew it was unwise to argue with a woman, and decided to stop while he was ahead. "If y'all say so," he said simply and left it at that.

They continued heading for a doorway at the back right of the room, which led to a small room that appeared to be a laundry room; Big Mac momentarily forgetting that this was indeed a woman's laundry room, gave the room a once over, quickly noticing Fluttershy's unmentionables, bras and other articles of clothing scattered about the room, he immediately turned a deep shade of crimson and looked down at the floor, luckily she hadn't seemed to notice and they continued walking, Fluttershy opened a door that led outside and held it open for him.

"Thank ya kindly," he said while looking away from her. He then quickly noticed a large number of animals of all kinds in her backyard, everything from a flamingo to a tortoise and a wide variety of others. "…Y'all really do have a lot of animals," he said completely astonished.

"Yeah…they're really good company," she said.

"Eeyup…" he said plainly, still averting his gaze.

She gave a slight look of inquiry, but decided not to say anything.

"Where do y'all want this?" he asked.

"Umm…where you're standing is fine," she said, still finding his current behavior slightly odd.

"Alright." he said and placed the crate down on the ground gently. He then stood up and looked around at the animals, trying hard to avoid looking at Fluttershy.

"Is everything alright?" she asked obviously confused.

He knew he couldn't avoid looking at her any longer without coming off as rude. So he slowly turned his head to look at her and instantly turned red again, but he knew he couldn't look away this time and quickly responded.

"Eeyup," he said quickly. "…Ah guess Ah'll be goin' now," he said as he was going to begin walking toward the gate that led to the outside of Fluttershy's property. "Goodbye Fluttershy."

"Wait!" she said a little louder than she intended.

He turned around and responded. "What is it?"

"O-oh…umm…w-would you like to…stay for tea?" she asked stammering quite a bit, with an unsure undertone to her voice.

"Ah don't think Ah can, Ah have-" he was saying before thinking about it a little bit, in all honesty he deserved a break, after all, he worked all day, he never asked for much and he never let his family down; and besides, he finished quite a bit of work for the relatively short amount of time he had worked. After a bit of thought, he decided what his answer would be.

"Eeyup," he said and finally ceased blushing.

Tea time

Author's Note

A/N: ...Well, chapter 1 wasn't that greatly received, more dislikes than likes actually. Oh well, I never asked for much, and since I know I'm a novice writer, I'm ok with people disliking my writing, since it's mediocre quality.

I can't guarantee that this chapter will hold up well.

But anything is greatly appreciated Flames/trolls/reviews/comments/likes/favorites/advice/tips Etc. (ok maybe I don't greatly appreciate flames and trolls, but I don't hate them). Anyway, on with the story.

Also, thanks for sticking around, and if you're wondering, this story will be (probably) around 16-17 chapters, and right around the 35K word mark. It's also up on and it's on chapter 14 over there. It's a little bit less edited, but it's still easy to read, despite the many errors in my punctuation. (Or so I'm told).

Tea time

CHAPTER 2. June 6th/02/3:42 PM/3rd person.

She was rather surprised, but pleased nonetheless at his answer. "Really!?" she asked more enthusiastically than she intended.

"Eeyup," he said with a genuine smile plastered on his face.

"Ok, follow me," she said as she began walking back towards the back door, sounding a bit more cheerful than usual.

He did as she said and followed her, staying a few paces behind.

Once they entered he made sure not to look around the room and made a mental note not to think about what was in the room.

They continued through the house, passing through the living room and into another room that was placed at the bottom of a staircase.

Entering it, it turned out to be what he expected it to be. A kitchen.

"I'll start heating some water, you can pick whatever flavor you want," she said as she gestured toward a medium-small off-white metal box decorated with a fence in the background and a rooster & hen in the foreground that housed a large variety of tea boxes.

He examined all the boxes, listing the flavors as he did so. Green, lemon, raspberry, peppermint, ginger, chamomile, apples & cinnamon, black, orange spice and white.

He decided to stay on the safe side and go with black, since that's what he used to make sweet tea.

"What flavor do y'all want?" he asked, since he was already there.

"I'll have apples & cinnamon, if you don't mind," she said.

He grabbed a packet of both flavors and brought them over to where she was heating the water.

"Here ya go," he said simply as he gave her the tea packets. He considered if he should offer his assistance in making the tea, but considering you just boil water and put the tea bags in, he decided against it, as it could unintentionally imply that he thinks she's incompetent.

So he simply sat down at a small round table that seated (what looked to be) up to 4 people at the far end of the room, placed next to a rather large window.

He was examining the room around him, when he noticed a small white rabbit on the ground near his foot, it seemed to actually be looking at him, with a look that almost seemed to be saying "What are you doing here?" it's face was very expressive for a common rabbit, which he took note of considering it was still looking intently at him. Under normal circumstances he would've treated the rodent as vermin, but this was Fluttershy's pet, so that obviously wasn't an option.

It looked friendly enough, so he reached his hand down to pet the small creature.

Possibly out of fear, the rabbit bit him on the hand, causing him to wince slightly. He had grown accustomed to pain over the many years he worked on the farm so this wasn't anything he wasn't used to. He was confident the rodent had its shots, so he decided not to make a big deal out of a tiny bite mark on his hand.

Oddly enough, the rabbit didn't run away, it simply stayed where it was, causing a bit of confusion to befall Big Mac; he looked at the rabbit with a curious expression on his face, wondering what the small creature was thinking. After a few more seconds, he averted his gaze from the small creature.

He then shifted his gaze to Fluttershy, she was almost done with the tea preparation, all she needed was a pair of cups and spoons, after getting the cups she went over to sit with Big Macintosh, placing a cup in front of him and sitting down in the chair across from him.

Once she did so, the rabbit quickly hopped over to her and hopped onto her lap, this caught Big Mac completely off-guard. That was odd behavior for a rabbit, let alone a rabbit that just bit him.

"Hi Angel!" she said happily to the rabbit.

"Did y'all train that rabbit?" Big Mac asked curiously.

"Actually no, he's always acted this way…well at least when it's not meal time"

"Really?...how'd ya get 'im?" he asked.

"…I found him as a baby…he was so tiny and all alone," she said in a tone that suggested she was in deep thought and continued. "His mother probably abandoned him because he was too small and weak…and in many ways, I sympathized with him." a subtle tone of sadness tracing her voice.

Big Mac was not expecting such a drastic change in tone and certainly did not intend to make the demure woman upset. "…Ah'm sorry if Ah brought back any painful memories, Ah sincerely didn't mean to," he said honestly.

"…It's alright, I know you didn't mean to," she said and gave him a reassuring smile.

He felt angry with himself for making Fluttershy upset, even if it was by accident, he hated seeing people upset, especially women.

He didn't exactly know what to say, usually he was rather quick when it came to supporting people, but for some reason he was at a loss for words.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, it's really not your fault; I become sad so easily that just a simple memory about how I met Angel can get me emotional," she said admittedly.

"…Do y'all wanna talk about it? Ah know ya don't know me very well, but Ah'm willin' ta listen, if'n yer willin' ta tell me," he said with a sincere smile on his face.

She didn't respond right away and looked out the window at the animals living in her backyard. "I wouldn't want to bore you by talking about myself," she said in a somewhat sad tone of voice.

"If y'all aren't comfortable, Ah understand, but trust me when Ah say ya won't bore me," he said honestly. "An' besides, we're friends now right? an' friends are there for each other; so don't feel like y'all can't talk ta me about yourself." a comforting smile spread across his face.

"…Thank you, that means a lot to me. And actually, I feel oddly comfortable around you, it's as if I've known you for years," she said sincerely. "I can't figure out why though, maybe it's the way you carry yourself, how you know what you are and how the world views you, but yet, you're still full of confidence even knowing there's people who think you're a dolt, or think you're unwise, even though that's the furthest from the truth...I wish I could be more like you," she said as she looked into her empty cup.

"What makes y'all think ya can't?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

She looked up at him with a slightly puzzled look and responded "I'm just too insecure…I could never be as strong as you or Applejack…or any of my friends for that matter," she said, as she looked back down into her cup.

"Look at me Fluttershy," he said, provoking her to look up at him. "No-one is born strong." a serious look on his face.

"I guess…But what about you and Applejack?" she asked.

"I wasn't at all strong or confident 'til Ah was in my early teens…but Ah was never as confident as Applejack...at least, not 'til then," he said honestly.

"What caused you to become more confident?" she asked curiously.

"Necessity…" he said plainly, and lowered his gaze slightly; staring as if he was in deep thought.

She looked at him with a confused look, not sure what he meant. "I don't understand, why was it a necessity for you to be stronger and more confident?" she asked with a look of inquiry.

He hesitated on his response and let out a short sigh. "When yer the only one physically capable of doin' work an' have 2 younger sisters an' a grandmother lookin' ta you fer every kind of support…y'all can't be weak, even if all yer strength is gone," he said and brought his hand to his mouth and rested his head on it after he was done speaking.

"…Oh…I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking when I-" she was saying when the kettle began to screech, effectively interrupting her sentence.

"I should probably get that…" she said as she stood up and walked over to the kettle.

Big Macintosh followed shortly after, cup in hand.

Fluttershy then removed the kettle and set it to the side for the time being. She then put her cup down and put the tea bag in it, then picking up the kettle and pouring water into her cup. Looking behind her she saw Big Mac and gestured for him to offer her his cup, he did so and she poured water into it.

He then picked up his tea bag off of the counter and placed it into his cup and the pair walked back over to the table.

Fluttershy was about to speak when Big Macintosh spoke up. "Y'all don't have ta apologize, it ain't yer fault."

Fluttershy hesitated on her response "…But I brought back those painful memories…I should apologize."

"Ah haven't gone a single day without thinkin' of those memories, Ah've learned ta live with it...an' if it never happened, Ah wouldn't be half the man Ah am today," he said honestly.

"…I suppose that's true," she said in an unsure tone and took a sip of her tea.

He followed suit and took a sip as well before speaking. "So, as Ah was sayin', no-one is born strong." he said suddenly, completely changing the subject and dropping his somber attitude.

She seemed a little hesitant, but decided to just continue on with the conversation. "…So, you actually think I can become strong?" she asked curiously.

"Eeyup, but that's if'n y'all weren't strong ta begin with; yer already strong, in yer own way. But Ah believe y'all can get stronger," he said simply and took another sip of his tea.

"W-what? You think I'm strong?" she asked with a shocked looked on her face.

"Eeyup," he said simply and took another sip of his tea.

"How!?" she asked in a shocked and confused voice.

"Well, Applejack told me about how ya stopped a manticore jus' by bein' kind ta it, so y'all have strength when it comes ta animals, Ah've never heard of anyone tamin' a manticore," he said and continued. "An' yer kindness, Ah mean, there's that sayin' 'kill 'em with kindness' So y'all don't even need ta be physically strong, as long as yer strong at what ya do," he said, making a decent point and taking another sip of his tea.

"…I guess so…but I want to be strong like you," she said, catching him slightly off guard.

He considered asking why, but decided against it. "Alright."

She looked at him with an expression of minor confusion and responded. "…Alright? What do you mean?" she asked.

"Y'all said ya wanna be strong like me, right?" he asked.

"Yes…" she said trailing a bit.

"Well, the only way yer gonna be strong like me, is if someone teaches ya."

She then realized what he meant. "Do you mean…" she said trailing off.

He then gulped down the rest of his tea and answered. "Eeyup, Ah'm gonna train ya!" he said with enthusiastic finality.

So...tomorrow?

CHAPTER 3. June 6th/02/3:54 PM/3rd person.

She looked at him as if he was insane for a few seconds before responding. "W-what!? You couldn't possibly be serious!" she said as she continued staring at him as if he had gone mad.

"But Ah am; If y'all wanna be strong like me, then someone's gotta teach ya an' who better ta do that than me?" he asked curiously, making a good point.

She was about to respond but couldn't think of a good counter to his logic. "…I guess that's true," she said, hesitantly agreeing with him.

"So yer gonna let me teach y'all?" he asked curiously.

She slowly sipped what was left of her tea before responding. "I-I guess so…" she said hesitantly.

"So when an' where is good fer y'all?" he asked.

"Well now wouldn't be a good time, I have to take care of my animals soon and that's practically a full time job, I might have some time tomorrow at around four and I don't really care where it is," she said honestly.

"Alright, tomorrow sounds good, Ah'll come pick y'all up at four," he said.

"Oh, you don't have to pick me up, just tell me where we're meeting and I'll go there," she said.

"Don't worry about it, Ah'd be happy ta come pick y'all up," he said with an honest smile on his face.

"…That's really sweet of you," she said honestly. "But then you'd have to walk so much further..." she said, trailing off a bit.

"Ah walk the majority of the day, jus' about every day, so walkin' ta yer house an' back shouldn't be a problem," he said.

"Well alright, if you want to, I don't mind," she said as she picked up her cup and stood up.

She then held out her hand for his cup, to which he happily complied. "Thank ya kindly," he said honestly.

"No problem," she said in response and then walked over to the sink and placed both of the cups in it.

Big Mac then looked around the room, looking for a clock, but to no avail, so he decided to ask Fluttershy if she knew what time it was. "Miss Fluttershy," he said, getting her attention.

"Yes?" she asked in response.

"Do y'all know what time it is, by any chance?" he asked curiously.

"Umm, no, but there's a clock in the living room," she said as she pointed toward the doorway.

"Alright, thanks," he said as he got up and walked into the living room. Once in the other room he quickly found the clock on the nearest wall; its arms indicated that it was 4:03 PM. His eyes then widened slightly at the realization that he had stayed longer than he intended.

"Hey Fluttershy," he called into the other room.

"Yes?" she called back from the kitchen.

He then walked back into the kitchen and responded. "Ah have ta get goin', Ah really need ta get back ta work on the farm," he said getting ready to leave.

"Oh…alright, see you tomorrow then?" she said with a curious undertone.

"Eeyup."

"Well…I guess I'll show you out," she said as she began walking toward the entrance of the kitchen. Once she made it to about where Big Macintosh was standing they both walked to the front door.

Once making it to the front door, they both stood there for a few moments without saying anything, until Big Mac spoke up. "Ah guess Ah'll be goin' now," he said as he opened the door and walked a few steps outside before turning back around. "Goodbye Fluttershy, Ah had a lot of fun today..." he said, looking as if he wanted to say more.

"I did too, I never thought I could be so comfortable around someone I just met," she said honestly.

"Ah guess y'all learn new things about yerself everyday…so anyway, Ah'll be seein' y'all tomorrow?" he siad with an undertone of inquiry.

"Yes," she said simply.

"Alright, see y'all soon," he said as he prepared to depart.

"Goodbye Big Mac," she said with a wide smile on her face and closed the door slowly.

Big Mac hesitated and stared at the door for a few seconds before making his way back to Sweet Apple Acres with a genuine smile spread happily across his face.

Fluttershy slowly walked over to her couch and sat down, she then proceeded to stare at the door that Big Macintosh was just on the other side of. "…Applejack's brother…who would've thought."

Angel then hopped up onto the cushion next to her, where he then started gesturing toward her.

"What's that Angel?" she asked the small white rabbit.

He then made another set of gestures and noises.

"What!? That's not true!" she said loudly (for her).

He then nodded his head and made another set of gestures.

Her face then turned a hot shade of red and she responded. "A-Angel! That's ridiculous! We hardly even know each other," she said, her cheeks continuing to burn red.

He then shrugged and hopped away.

"…He's just a bunny…what does he know..." she said defiantly to herself.

Big Mac continued his walk to the farm in silence, his mind a mess of thoughts as he walked through Ponyville. He was so in tune with his thoughts that he hadn't noticed a couple of women walk up beside him and was caught off guard when they spoke up, making their presence known.

It was the same two women that he had seen earlier on his walk to Fluttershy's house.

"Hey big guy, what're you doing around here?" the first woman asked with a happy smile on her face. She was a slender woman with greenish blue eyes and curly dark blue hair with a light pink streak in it.

"Walkin'," he said simply.

"Oh, well I could've told you that!" she said loudly and started laughing for a few seconds.

"So, you wanna go do something?" the second woman asked curiously. She had a similar build to her friend and had bright yellow eyes and straight pale mint green hair with a white streak in it.

"Eeyup."

"Really!?" both of the women said almost in unison.

"What do you want to go do?" the first woman asked.

"Go home an' continue workin'," he said simply, causing both of the girls to rear back slightly and don confused looks on their faces.

"What?" the first women asked in a confused tone of voice.

"Ah want…ta go home…an' continue…workin'," he said slowly, making sure the woman understood him this time.

"Oh I get it, you're just one of those stupid farmers who does nothing but work all day!" the first woman said with an angry tone.

He wasn't the least bit phased by the woman's words and simply responded with an "Eeyup."

"Gah! Come on, let's just leave this ignorant dolt alone!" the first woman said in aggravation and began walking away hastily.

The second woman hesitated for a few seconds before saying her parting words. "Sorry about her, she's not usually like this," she said and began jogging to catch up with her friend.

He continued on his way, unfazed by what had just transpired. After several minutes of walking he made it back to the farm and walked into the front door, just to be immediately greeted by Granny Smith.

"Where've y'all been?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah was doin' a delivery," he said simply in response.

"Ta where? Canterlot? Y'all've never taken that long unless y'all was makin' an out of town delivery," she said making a good point.

"Uhh…Ah was-" he was saying before being interrupted.

"Don't try an' lie ta me Big Macintosh, y'all know yer as bad as Applejack when it comes ta lyin'."

"Eeyup…"

"Now then, tell me where y'all've been," she said demandingly.

"Don't make a big deal outta this, ok?" he asked of her.

"Fine, fine, jus' tell me," she said impatiently.

"An' don't tell Applejack, alright?" he asked of her once again.

"Just git on with it!" she said, losing her patience.

"…Ah was at Miss Fluttershy's house," he said simply.

"Applejacks pretty lil' demure friend?" she asked curiously.

"…Eeyup."

"Hmmm, so when am Ah gonna be havin' lil' great grands scamperin' about mah house?" she asked with a curious look on her face.

"Granny…it ain't like that, y'all said the same thing years ago when Ah started spendin' time with Miss Cheerilee again," he said simply and shook his head in slight disappointment.

"Well ya don't just go hangin' around with a girl from yer school days, after years of not even sayin' hi to her unless y'all want a lil' bit more than ta 'relive the old days'," she said, sarcastically air quoting the last few words.

"It don't matter granny, Ah'm gonna go back ta work now," he said dropping the subject and walking toward the back door.

"Fine, Ah guess Ah'm just a crazy old coot; but Ah'm a crazy old coot that wants great grands, so git to it!" she called after him.

"Eeyup!" he called back and closed the back door behind him. Beginning his work for the remainder of the day.

"…Ah'm never gonna here the end of this," he said to himself, as he dragged his hand down his face in frustration.

Author's Note

A/N: Not much to say here.

Feel free to do whatever, anything helps me.

Rest easy everybody.

Thanks again.

Odd methods

CHAPTER 4. June 7th/02/3:42 PM/3rd person.

Big Macintosh was working hard around the farm, picking up the slack from yesterday and keeping an eye on the position of the sun. He had worked so much out in the fields that he learned how to tell time just by looking at where the sun was in the sky.

He realized that he should probably head out now, lest he be late to pick up Fluttershy.

After a few minutes of walking he made it to the house and quickly getting himself a glass of sweet tea to help cool him down.

"Hey Big Mac!" he heard his youngest sister call from behind him, startling him slightly.

He turned around to see his sister standing only a few paces away from him.

"Howdy Apple Bloom," he said simply and continued. "How was school?" he asked curiously and took a quick gulp of his tea.

"It was fine..." she said in an un-enthused voice.

"Jus' fine?" he asked with a curious look on his face.

"Well it ain't like Ah like goin' ta school," she said with a slightly furrowed brow.

"Ah understand, school wasn't that fun fer me either," he said slightly empathetically and continued. "But, it's somethin' ya jus' gotta do," he said as he shrugged slightly.

"Ah know."

"Well, at least y'all have friends ya can spend time with, right?" he said with a curious grin on his face.

"Yeah, that's true," she said, thinking about her friends.

"See? There's always a bright side," he said cheerfully and finished off the rest of his tea.

"Yer right. Thanks, Big Mac!" she said as she gleefully hugged her brother's waist.

"No problem," he said with a genuine smile plastered on his face as he hugged his youngest sister affectionately with one arm.

After they finished their hug Big Mac put his cup away and prepared to leave to go pick up Fluttershy.

"Ah gotta go sugarcube. Ah'll be back soon, so stay outta trouble," he said as he gave a slightly stern look.

"Goin' ta go pick up Fluttershy huh?" she said with a raised eyebrow and a sly smirk on her face.

He froze for a few seconds before responding. "How did y'all know that?" he asked with obvious confusion.

"Granny told me," she said simply as she shrugged with a "what're ya gonna do" look on her face.

"…Well, Ah did say don't tell Applejack, Ah didn't say nothin' about tellin' y'all..." he said as he silently loathed his grandmother's craftiness.

She giggled lightly before responding. "Don't worry, Ah won't tell Applejack!" she said in a seemingly honest tone.

"Promise?" he asked with a very slightly stern look across his face.

"Ah Promise," she said as she raised her right hand, signifying she was telling the truth.

"…Pinkie promise?" he asked jokingly with a raised eyebrow.

She then performed a series of motions as she chanted. "Cross my heart an' hope ta fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" she finished and quickly started giggling followed by Big Mac's hearty chuckling.

"Alright, Ah gotta go or Ah'm gonna be late!" he said as he began walking away briskly.

"Bye!" she called after him.

"Bye," He called back as he lifted his right hand to signal goodbye.

Fluttershy was pacing her living room nervously, wondering if making plans with Big Mac was a good idea. She didn't have any other plans but if word got out that she was spending time with Big Macintosh people could very easily get the wrong idea. What if Rarity caught wind? She knew if it came to that she'd never hear the end of it.

"What should I do!?" she said to herself with a distressed and panicked look laying segue to her soft features.

Angel sat on the couch watching Fluttershy pacing worriedly around the house; in mild amusement.

"Angel! What should I do!?" she asked the small white rabbit.

He shrugged in response with a seemingly bemused smile on his face.

"Angel this is serious! I don't know what to do..." she said, going from panic to sadness.

His features softened slightly at seeing her upset. He then reluctantly made a set of gestures that she might listen to.

"You…think I should go through with this?" she asked the rabbit.

He simply nodded in response.

"But!..." she said before actually thinking about what she was going to say. "…I guess you're right…why would I make plans with someone and not follow through? Let alone a few minutes before we're supposed to meet up…that would be so mean," she said and nodded slightly as she came to a new decision.

Angel nodded as well in agreement.

"Angel, do I look ok?" she asked as she twirled slowly, showing off her simple yellow sun dress with small white frills at the bottom and three pink butterflies on her left hip.

He simply shrugged and nodded slowly, probably not caring about fashion.

"Oh, ok…I hope this is appropriate for whatever Big Macintosh has planned," she said after giving herself another once over. "But what if he thinks I look bad?" she said more to herself than Angel.

He simply shrugged again, not possibly having experience with her dilemma.

"Maybe I should go change into something more…conservative," she said to herself as she headed toward her staircase.

Before making it to the first step, there was a few solid knocks on the door, causing her to jump and yelp quietly.

After gaining her composure she walked to the door and hesitantly opened it to reveal Big Macintosh on the other side.

"Howdy Miss Fluttershy," he greeted simply.

"O-oh, hello," she said in response.

"Are y'all ready ta go, or do ya still need time ta get ready?" he asked her curiously.

"I think I'm ready to go..." she said, unsure if she had everything she needed.

"Are ya sure? Ah'll wait if y'all need ta get somethin'," he said, making sure she was ready.

"No, I'm sure I have everything I need," she said honestly.

"Alright," he said as he stepped to the side, making room for her to pass.

"Bye Angel, watch the house while I'm away," she said to the intelligent rabbit before exiting.

He simply batted his paw in response.

She then walked past Big Macintosh who (like a gentleman) was holding the door for her.

"Thank you," she said after clearing out of the way of the door so he could close it.

Big Mac then closed the door, following up with his typical response of "Eeyup."

She waited for him to take the lead and start walking before she began speaking. "So, where are we going?" she asked curiously.

"Sweet Apple Acres."

She was caught off guard by his answer and took a moment to compose herself before responding. "Sweet Apple Acres? Why are we going there?" she asked with somewhat alarmed confusion.

"Well, y'all said ya didn't care where we went, an' that's probably the best place ta learn how ta be strong...that Ah know of at least," he said making a good point.

"Well, I guess you're right, but what if Applejack sees us?" she asked.

He looked at her with a somewhat confused expression tilting his head slightly as he did so and responded. "What if she does, Ah don't see how that has anythin' ta do with y'all learnin' ta be stronger," he said with a hint of confusion lingering in his voice and continued. "Besides, Applejack's one of yer best friends, right? why wouldn't y'all wanna see her?" he asked curiously.

"Well, yes, she is one of my closest friends. But if she sees us together she might tell Rarity," she said, leaving Big Mac even more confused.

"…Ah don't see the problem," he said with obvious confusion.

"If Rarity hears about us being together, regardless of the circumstances, she's never going to let me hear the end of it," she said clearing up some of his confusion.

"Oh, alright, Ah think Ah understand now," he said, not bothering to ask what it is Rarity would be saying, as he had some idea, but deciding to say something anyway. "Does Applejack gossip?" he asked more to himself than to Fluttershy.

"No, she really doesn't…but when it comes to something like this. I'm not sure how she would react," she said with honest uncertainty.

"Well, if we run into her, Ah'm sure we can explain the circumstances ta her," he said, not worrying about it, but bringing up another potential problem. "Now Granny on the other hand, there ain't nothing ya can say ta her ta make her change her mind," he said with a somewhat distressed look on his face.

"Granny Smith?" she asked curiously.

"Eeyup. Jus' try ta ignore anything she says, because it's more than likely she'll say somethin' rather…abrasive," he said, giving her a quick heads up.

"Oh, I doubt she'll say anything too bad," she said optimistically with a pleasant smile spread across her face.

"Well, jus' be ready in case she does," he said plainly.

"Ok." nodding as she said so.

After a number of minutes, they arrived at the farm, walking up to the front porch where Big Mac opened the door for Fluttershy and himself, following her inside after she passed. He wasn't prepared for what he saw next.

Applejack was waiting for them, sitting on a couch in the living room. "Well howdy you two," she said in a tone that Big Mac found very odd, it was like she was feigning excitement, or something along those lines.

"Applejack? Ah thought y'all was selling merchandise today; why are y'all here?" he asked with obvious confusion.

"Oh, no reason really, Ah jus' wanted ta say hi ta my brother and my friend," she said continuing her odd mannerisms.

Big Mac was put a bit on edge from her current behavior, he hadn't really seen her act like this before, so he wasn't sure how to react. "Applejack, Ah don't know why yer actin' like this, but Ah assure ya, there ain't no reason why y'all should be," he said cautiously.

"Really?" she said as she stood up and began walking toward them, causing Fluttershy to back up a few steps. Big Macintosh wasn't so easily moved. As she stood only a couple feet from Big Mac she continued. "Tell me...why did y'all want ta keep yer little meet up with one of my best friends a secret from me?" she asked with a threatening undertone.

Big Mac was still confused, but he stood his ground, knowing full well that Applejack wouldn't try anything. "Maybe because Ah knew y'all might respond like this?" he said, still trying to stay on the safe side.

Fluttershy was silently freaking out as she watched the two powerful farmers stand off only a few feet from her.

Applejack didn't address his question as she asked him another question. "What were y'all plannin' on doin' with my friend?" she asked still adopting a threatening tone.

"Ah was and still am plannin' on makin' her a stronger person," he said, trying to keep it brief.

"An' why do y'all wanna do that!?" she asked accusingly.

"Maybe 'cus she wants ta be?" he said plainly.

Applejack seemed at a sudden loss for words before responding. "Why'd she ask y'all fer help an' not me?" she asked him curiously.

"Why are y'all askin' me?" he asked in response.

Applejack was then at another loss for words, before changing her view to Fluttershy, who still looked terrified.

Applejack immediately changed the way she was acting and softened her features. "Ah'm sorry sugar-cube, Ah shoulda been more sensitive about this...Ah don't think Ah need ta ask why y'all didn't come ta me fer this..." she said with an expression of regret on her face.

Fluttershy hesitated in her response. "It's alright Applejack," she said simply, choosing not to elaborate.

"Ah'm really sorry sugar-cube…Ah'll stay out of yer way now," Applejack said apologetically as she headed for the door.

"Wait! Applejack," Fluttershy said to her friend.

"…Yes?" she asked hesitantly.

"You don't have to go."

"Actually, Ah do sugar-cube. Ah've slacked off enough fer one day, Ah have ta get back ta work," she said honestly and continued shortly after, shifting her view to Big Mac. "An' Don't y'all try anythin', or Ah swear Ah'll-" she was saying before Big Mac cut her off.

"Ah know."

"Good, Ah gotta go, see y'all later," she said as she hastily exited the house and quickly shut the door.

Big Mac then looked at Fluttershy with a somewhat shameful look on his face. "Ah'm sorry about that…Ah didn't expect her ta be here, or to act like that," he said apologetically.

"…It's ok," she said hesitantly, still slightly shaken up from what just happened.

"…Well, Ah guess we should go get started. Follow me," he said as he began walking toward the back door. Fluttershy following close behind. Exiting the building and heading in a seemingly pointless direction, before Big Mac suddenly stopped, almost causing Fluttershy to run into him.

"Why'd you stop?" she asked curiously.

"There's no need ta go any further, here's fine," he said and turned around before uttering a very unexpected combination of words. "Now; hit me." he said plainly, causing an extreme wave of confusion to assault Fluttershy.

"W-what!? Did you just say what I thought you said?" she asked, her eyes wide with confusion.

"Eeyup, hit me," he said again, still adopting a simple tone.

"You can't be serious! Why would I do that!?" she asked, still utterly confused.

"'Cus Ah asked ya to, would y'all prefer hugging me? Or perhaps kissing me?...No?, Alright then. Now hit me," he said, confusing Fluttershy even more.

She then began blushing slightly before responding. "I can't."

"Why not?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"…I just don't hit people, it's not something I've ever liked or been comfortable doing," she said honestly.

"That's the point. If Ah asked y'all ta do somethin' y'all was comfortable with, it wouldn't make ya stronger, you'd just stay the same. Now hit me."

"I don't get it, why would making me do something I'm not comfortable with, make me stronger?" she asked with curious confusion.

"Ah'm not makin' y'all do anythin', choosin' ta do something y'all ain't comfortable with, will eventually make y'all more comfortable with doin' things you don't like doin', which will make y'all more comfortable with yerself," he said, making a seemingly decent point.

"But I don't want to be more comfortable with hitting people," she said, still resistant on Big Mac's method.

"It ain't hitting Ah want y'all ta be more comfortable with, Ah want y'all ta be more comfortable with the concept."

"…I think I understand, but I still don't want to hit you," she said honestly.

"Ah know y'all don't wanna hit me. If y'all really are adamant about not hitting me, do something else, Ah just want y'all ta throw yer reluctance out the window an' do somethin' y'all ain't used ta doin'."

She didn't respond, she obviously wasn't very comfortable with this method and process, but she knew Big Mac knew that and that's why he was trying to teach this way. So Fluttershy took a leap of faith and did something that did indeed catch Big Mac off guard.

She lunged forward quickly and hugged him tightly around his torso. How she managed to get her arms on the inside of his, was a mystery to him.

He was stunned by her actions, but not entirely surprised, it was after all, a good alternative to hitting him. He initially decided against hugging her back, as that would force her to do something she wasn't comfortable with for a longer duration. But to his surprise, she continued hugging him, continuing her actions for much longer than he was anticipating. So after a few more seconds of contemplating, he hugged her back gently.

Author's Note

A/N: Hey look, notes that mean absolutely nothing...Nothing to say here other than; thanks for reading. (I do wish my like and dislike meter would balance out though).

3.14 is good

CHAPTER 5. June 7th/02/4:22 PM/3rd person.

After a few more seconds the pair separated and stood speechless for a few moments before Fluttershy spoke up. "I feel kind of guilty...." she said, surprisingly not having a large blush across her face.

"Why's that?" he asked curiously.

"…Because, I wasn't exactly uncomfortable when I did that," she said as she began blushing furiously mid-sentence.

Big Mac didn't exactly know how to respond. Luckily, he didn't have to, because shortly after Fluttershy said that there was a yell from the house. "Way ta go Macintosh! Now go in fer the kiss!" he heard an all too familiar woman's voice echo through his eardrums.

He then face-palmed and called back. "It ain't like that Granny!" he said louder than he had said anything for days.

"It sure does look that way!" she called back quickly. He decided not to call back as he knew all too well that he wasn't going to get anywhere arguing with his grandmother.

"Ah'm sorry about her, she hasn't been on her meds recently," he said jokingly.

She laughed lightly for a few seconds before she responded. "It's ok, I think she's funnier this way," she said in response.

"No doubt, but she also says whatever jus' happens ta be floatin' around her head," he said plainly and continued. "An' sometimes, it ain't somethin' people wanna hear," he said and got another call from Granny Smith.

"Big Macintosh, Ah know y'all heard me!" Granny Smith called from the house.

"Eeyup!" he called back simply and waited for her response.

"Ah'm gonna whup y'all when yer girlfriend leaves!" she called back loudly.

"Alright," he called back, dialing the volume of his voice down slightly; he stopped hearing responses from Granny Smith after that.

Fluttershy laughed slightly and spoke up. "I actually think she's serious! You better watch out," she said half-jokingly and laughed some more.

He laughed as well before responding. "She ain't one ta bluff, so Ah think yer right."

Fluttershy was about to respond when her stomach suddenly growled, catching her and Big Mac off guard.

"Unless y'all have a baby dragon inside of ya, Ah'd have ta guess that yer hungry, right?" he asked with a voice of inquiry accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

"…Yes, I skipped lunch today, I should've thought ahead a bit more," she said admittedly as she blushed slightly.

"Well, we have plenty of food in the house if y'all want any."

"No, I'm fi-" she was saying before her stomach growled again, louder this time.

"Come on, let's go get some food in ya before y'all turn into nothin'," he said as he turned to the side and gestured for her to follow him.

"O-ok if it's not a bother to you."

"Not at all," he said simply and started walking, Fluttershy close behind.

After a short walk, the pair entered the house through the back door and were heading toward the kitchen when they were (not surprisingly) stopped by Granny Smith.

"Well howdy there lovebirds. Done with "warmin' up" already?" she asked, sounding completely serious.

This time Fluttershy wasn't the only one who started blushing. But Big Macintosh quickly got a hold of his emotions and replied.

"Granny...how many times do Ah have ta tell y'all that it ain't like that?" he asked, trying to keep his emotions from seeping into his voice.

"There ain't a specific number, but Ah reckon there's two answers to that question," she said causing Big Mac to raise his eyebrow in curiosity.

"An' what're they?" he asked curiously, not fully prepared for her answer.

"Ah'll stop askin' under two circumstances, the first un bein' that Ah die and the second un bein' y'all have a kid. Whichever comes first," she said causing Big Mac to cringe internally as he thought about his grandmother passing away. She then continued. "But Ah hope y'all ain't gonna take too long on that second un, because Ah wanna see the face of at least one of my great grands before Ah leave ya ta take care of the farm in my stead," she said, causing Big Mac to don a more saddened look.

"Granny…y'all know Ah hate when ya talk about dyin'," he said simply.

"Well, death is a reality Macintosh an' we all know Ah'm closer to it than anyone within a hundred miles," she said not helping Big Macintosh's mood in the slightest.

"Ah'm not talkin' about this right now," he said simply, concealing his emotions as he headed for the kitchen.

"Fine, we'll talk 'bout it later when Ah'm whuppin' ya, fer back talkin' me," she said as she headed for the front door at a reasonable pace for her age.

He didn't respond; waiting for the sound of the door closing, to continue speaking to the women who stayed silent during it all. "…Don't worry about her, Ah'll be damned if she doesn't outlive me, she has more kick in her than any Apple alive today," he said defiantly after stopping in the kitchen.

"I understand," she said simply.

"So, what would y'all like ta eat?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Well, what do you have?" she asked curiously.

"We have leftovers from yesterday which includes collard greens, mashed turnips, corn on the cob, spinach, carrots and an assortment of apple desserts and dishes," he said as he opened the fridge, allowing her the opportunity to look inside, he then continued. "But if y'all don't want any of that, Ah can make ya somethin' else or we can go somewhere else ta eat," he said honestly.

"No, no, the leftovers sound fine, but, what do you have for apple dishes? That's your family's specialty so I'm just wondering," she asked in anticipation of his answer.

"Well, we have fritters, pie, dumplin's, crisps and I think that's about it, we tend to save the other dishes for costumers unless we have a hankerin' fer somethin'," he said as he tried being as informative as he could.

"Can I try some apple pie?" she asked curiously.

"Well, we came in here fer y'all ta get somethin' ta eat in the first place, so yes, y'all can have some apple pie," he said simply and took two pies out of the fridge and placed them on the nearby counter.

"Why is there two?" she asked curiously.

"They're two different kinds of pie, one's sweeter and slightly softer while the other is a bit tarter and firmer," he said as he pointed to the corresponding pies.

"Oh, ok, I'll have a piece of the sweeter one."

"Would you like it warmed up?" he asked curiously.

"No, I like my pie cold," she said in response.

"Alright, the silverware is in that drawer over there" he said as he pointed to the drawer and then got a plate and pie cutter and cut her a slice of the sweet pie.

After she returned with her fork, he gave her the plate with the pie on it. "Thank you," she said as he handed her the plate, she then cut a small piece out of it and took a bite.

She was instantly shocked at how good it tasted. She had only bought pies from Applejack a few times and she didn't remember any of them being as good as this one.

"This is the best pie I've ever eaten, tell Granny Smith she needs to share this recipe with me!" she said gleefully, knowing that she would never get the recipe.

"Actually, Ah made that pie; Granny made the other one, but Ah'm glad y'all like it!" he said in a happy tone.

"You…made this pie?...will you share the recipe with me?" she asked curiously.

"Ah don't have a recipe, Apple Bloom wanted something sweeter than Granny's pie, so I made that," he said simply before continuing. "But Ah could probably recreate it, if Ah can remember the ingredients," he said optimistically.

"So you'll try?" she asked curiously, extremely insistent on learning this recipe.

"Yes, Ah'll try, but only under one circumstance," he said, causing Fluttershy to give him a look of inquiry.

"And what's that?" she asked somewhat hesitantly.

"Y'all have ta continue trainin' with me," he said, causing Fluttershy to cock her head to the side slightly with a confused look on her face.

"Well, I was planning on doing that anyway, becoming a stronger person is going to help me later on," she said simply.

"Alright then; do y'all want ta continue after yer done eatin' or do ya want ta do this another time?" he asked curiously.

"I suppose we should continue after I'm done eating. It would be rude to walk over here and only stay for a few minutes, eat your food and then leave," she said, making a good point.

"Ah guess that's true," he said plainly and continued. "…Fluttershy," he said simply, not sure how he should bring up his next question.

"Yes?" she asked in response. He was hesitant on his response, but he knew he should ask as it would open up new possibilities.

"…Do y'all…know how ta dance?" he asked curiously.

She was surprised by the sudden question but answered as best she could. "I used to know how to do a simple waltz, but it's been years since the last time I danced; so no, probably not," she said in response.

"Then Ah guess that's the next thing we'll do," he said, sparking a two-toned response from Fluttershy.

"Oh ok...wait, what!?" she asked in utter confusion.

"Ah'm gonna teach y'all how ta dance."

Author's Note

A/N: Kinda an odd cutoff point, but oh well, I don't care. I hope you enjoy(ed?) Leave a like if you want to, leave a dislike if you want to, whichever is fine.

The tapping of shoes on hardwood

CHAPTER 6. June 7th/02/4:46 PM/3rd person.

"You're going to teach me…how to dance?" she asked with slight confusion in her voice.

"Eeyup."

"I didn't even know you could dance," she said as she scratched her brow with one finger accompanied by a befuddled look.

"There's a lot that no-one knows about me," he said honestly pointing out a very true fact.

"What else can you do? Let me guess you're also a good singer?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah wouldn't say Ah'm a good singer, but Ah guess y'all could say Ah can sing," he said modestly.

"…You're a complete enigma, you know that?" she asked as she gave him a deadpan look.

"Well, nobody really tries ta get ta know me, so Ah guess in a way that's true," he said as he shrugged slightly.

Fluttershy seemed slightly saddened by his last choice of words. "…That's not fair, you deserve friends just as much as anyone else," she said defiantly catching Big Mac somewhat off guard.

"Ah have friends. An' in the end, even if Ah can only count 'em on one hand, at least Ah'm lucky enough ta have 'em," he said genuinely.

Fluttershy stayed quiet for a while, thinking about what he said. "…So what dances do you know?" she asked curiously, changing the subject.

"Well, Ah only really know how ta waltz, but Ah used ta be able ta tap dance an' Ah knew how ta swing dance…but it's been about ten years since Ah had trainin' of any sort, so Ah doubt Ah can do those energetic ones anymore," he said honestly, never ceasing to surprise Fluttershy.

"You used to tap dance and swing dance!?" she asked in utter shock.

"Well Ah never had a partner ta swing dance with, so Ah guess Ah never did that. But Ah did tap dance when Ah use ta have more free time," he said plainly.

"…Wow…but how can you know how to swing dance without ever doing it?" she asked curiously.

"Well, ma an' pa used ta dance a lot. Ma taught me the ins an' outs of dancin', but Ah wasn't strong enough or tall enough ta swing dance with her, so Ah ended up just watchin' an' copyin' pa's movements. Eventually, Ah got pretty good at it, but…Ah never got ta see if Ah could actually do it," he said in a somewhat glum tone toward the end.

Fluttershy considered apologizing but decided against it, as she didn't mean to bring up his parents. "…So…you want me to be your partner?" she asked curiously.

"Ah suppose so, but Ah'd have ta teach ya first, if yer alright with that," he said with a raised eyebrow, half expecting her to decline.

"…Well, I don't know, this is kinda sudden," she said somewhat hesitantly.

He chuckled lightly before responding. "The last day an' a half has been nothin' but sudden!" he said half-jokingly and let out another short series of chuckles.

She reared back slightly and donned a look of thought, before letting out a series of laughter herself. "You're right!" she said in agreement as the pair began laughing together for a short amount of time.

"Ya know what, fine, let's do this!" Fluttershy said gleefully.

"That's the spirit!" Big Mac said enthusiastically in response.

After Fluttershy was done eating, the pair headed into the living room, it was a relatively scarce room with a decent amount of space. Perfect for dancing or parties (not that they ever hosted any).

Big Macintosh offered his hand to Fluttershy, who took it gently. Big Macintosh gingerly held her significantly smaller and softer hand with his own, the pair then walked into the center of the room and faced each other.

The two then took the appropriate positions, albeit, the transition was somewhat awkward and clunky. He cupped his free hand and rested it on her shoulder blade, while she raised her left arm and rested her hand halfway on his shoulder and halfway on his upper arm. The two then stared at each other, donning different looks.

Fluttershy had a slight blush mixed with a small and slightly nervous looking smile, while Big Mac was almost the opposite.

He seemed much calmer as he stared down at Fluttershy with a reassuring smile on his face.

"Follow my lead," he said as he waited for her response before taking action.

"O-ok," she said somewhat nervously.

The pair then began moving slowly (and rather awkwardly) in a small square pattern as they stared at each other.

"Try ta relax a bit," he said, taking note of how tense she felt under his touch.

"Alright," she said quietly in response.

The two continued rotating slowly in a square, becoming slightly more fluid as Fluttershy relaxed her muscles slightly.

"Steady yer breathin'," he said, once again taking note of something Fluttershy was doing.

"I-I'll try," she said, stammering a bit.

The two continued for a few more minutes as they gradually became more in tune with each other's movements, making their square pattern into more of a circle.

"Yer doin' good," he said as he smiled genuinely toward her, causing her to blush slightly.

"Thanks…" she said quietly in response.

The two continued for what seemed like a while to both of them, but in reality it had only been a few minutes, the pair just continued dancing, forgetting about the world around them, their movements increasing in fluidity as they circled around the room semi-gracefully.

Big Macintosh then decided to speak up. "Do y'all wanna try goin' faster?" he asked curiously.

"Eeyup," she said simply in response, causing his smile to widen as they increased speed.

The bottom of Fluttershy's dress flaring out with each rotation. Her simplistic canary yellow flats lightly tapping against the hardwood floor in contrast to the thumping of her partner's work boots. Her nervous smile and tense muscles were now long gone as she smiled sincerely at Big Mac.

After a few more minutes, the pair finally stopped their dance and stared into each other's eyes, their smiles replaced with deadpan stares as they seemed lost in each other's gaze, neither one preparing to move until they heard a shrill girl's exclamation of excitement, snapping both of them out of their trance-like state and causing them to look in the direction of the noise.

"You two are sooo cute together!" squealed Apple Bloom happily.

For the first time in a while, Big Macintosh was at a loss for words.

"Ah always thought y'all an' Miss Cheerilee were cute together, Ah guess Ah was wrong!" she said with great enthusiasm.

"It ain't what it looks like Apple Bloom," he said, sounding ever so slightly nervous.

Fluttershy remained quiet, having a stunned expression on her face.

"Well, it sure did look like y'all was dancin' fer a good ten minutes an' then ya stared into each other's eyes all romantic-like," Apple Bloom said, bringing up a very valid point.

Big Mac didn't know what to say, he considered telling her about Fluttershy's confidence training, but she probably wouldn't understand how dancing has anything to do with confidence.

"Well, even if y'all deny it, y'all looked happier than ya have in a long time, so even Ah can tell there's more goin' on than what yer sayin'," she said, showing a surprising amount of wisdom for someone her age.

Big Macintosh silently cursed his sister's cleverness, but he took her words with a grain of salt. "Apple Bloom…" he said trailing off.

"Aw hush up, Ah'm gonna go hang out with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. See ya later Big Mac." she said briskly as she walked out the front door.

Fluttershy and Big Macintosh stood silently for a few moments before Fluttershy broke the silence.

"Is she allowed to talk to you like that?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"…Ah may've raised her, but Ah'm still her brother, so there's no rules of speech for us." he said as he seemed to stare past Fluttershy absent-mindedly.

"Oh…ok."

"…Ah suppose we're done fer today," he said, still seeming as if he wasn't all there.

"…Alright," She said in an almost sad sounding tone.

Big Mac didn't seem to notice, but he snapped out of his half-minded phase and responded. "When's the next time y'all can be around?" he asked curiously.

She tilted her head slightly as her face donned a thought-processing face, after a few moments she responded. "Well, I can't make it tomorrow, or the day after, but I can probably manage Monday, if you're free," she said in an orderly fashion.

"Alright, Ah can make extra time on Monday, but what time is good fer y'all?" he asked curiously.

"Umm, a little earlier than when we started today…so around 2:30 or 3:00 would be good." she said, being as informative as possible.

"Alright," he said simply and continued. "Would y'all like me ta walk y'all home?" he asked curiously.

"No, I'm going to meet up with a friend soon. But thank you for the offer," she said honestly.

"Eeyup," he said simply and then the two headed for the front door.

"See you in a couple days," she said with a friendly smile on her face.

"Hopefully," he said in response as he opened the front door for her.

"Bye…" she said, her face looking as if she was unsure of what she wanted to do.

"Bye," he said simply, sharing a similar but more subtle expression.

She then walked away as Big Macintosh watched her go for a few lingering moments before shutting the door and heading back inside.

Author's Note

I apologize to any continuous readers for the wait. I was considering not continuing because I have a lot going on and this just didn't seem worth the time and effort for the small reward it grants. But I'm going to keep my word and continue this thing until it's done and over with. Anyway, thanks for reading, and feel free to like or dislike.