"Aaannngeelll!" Fluttershy called out.
Fluttershy was searching around Sugarcube Corner
for her rabbit Angel.
The shy yellow mare had been looking for her best friend all day and now she was really starting to get worried. She had looked all around the woods, asked several ponies if they'd seen him and had even flown up to Cloudsdale to talk to Dash.
"Rainbow Dash," she said, "If um. . .if it's not a problem, could you maybe scan the town for Angel? H-he's been missing all day and…"
Rainbow Dash looked at her like she had just said the most absurd thing she had ever heard.
"Uh, Fluttershy?" said Dash.
"I don't think that would help much; I can't see things that well from way up here."
Rainbow Dash paused for a moment. It was a ridiculous idea, but she did love Angel.
"Unless…I mean, of course, unless you want me to go get Gilda? She has really good eyes"
Fluttershy quickly cut her off
"Oh! No, that's okay. Thanks anyway...bye"
Rainbow Dash just shrugged.
"Okay, let me know if you change your mind," said Dash as she laid back down on the cloud she'd chosen for her nap.
Fluttershy had asked all her friends and not one of them had seen Angel anywhere.
"Oh Angel, where could you have gone?" Fluttershy slumped down on the ground feeling almost as bad as the time that nasty griffon had yelled at her.
You know he likes carrots, she thought. Maybe he went to find some.
With that, she was off to the Apple family farm.
Big Macintosh was sitting by the barnyard, scratching his head with one large hoof. He had noticed that every day now a single carrot went missing from his farm's carrot patch, and he couldn't figure out what in the world was stealing them.
One morning, he decided to fix the problem so before he did anything else with his day he erected a cement barrier around the carrot patch, even burying it a full seven feet under the edges, all the way down to the rock bed.
"That oughta do it" he muttered as he dusted himself off, satisfied with his work.
That evening, Mac was resting after a hard day's work and he was just finishing his supper, which consisted of a bowl of hot oats and a side of apple fries, when a muffled cry broke the silence in his room.
The stallion edged out of his bed to take a look outside his window, and there on the hill he could make out the outline of a lone pony silhouetted by the light of the moon.
Getting dressed, which consisted of putting on his trademark yoke, something more out of habit than any actual need to do so, he quietly cantered past Granny Smith who slept in the living room in her rocking chair with a knitting ball sitting in her lap.
Mac walked around the hill to behind the mysterious pony, being careful not to be noticed. As he got closer he could make out some details of the crying pony; for one, it was a mare. This alone had him wondering what a solitary young female was doing this late at night out in the cold. It was fall and the wind could chill the blood of a dragon this time of the year, let alone a pony.
Quietly, Mac trotted up behind the mare, the light revealing a yellow coat and a luscious pink mane. Mac knew he had seen a mare like this somewhere before, but was having trouble remembering in his exhausted state.
He stopped and began to think of what he should do. He was never a pony for talking to others and even less so when it came to dealing with emotions. The stallion was just about to make himself known when the young mare began to speak.
"Oh, Angel, I hope you're alright, I promise to let you have all the carrots you want just as long as you come back to me..." a single tear fell down Fluttershy's face as she wept. She had spent all day looking, asked everypony she knew, even asked Applejack if she'd seen him around the farm, but not a single pony had seen her little bunny friend.
Mac quietly sat himself down.
"Carrots?" he wondered.
"Maybe…Nah." Finally he decided he should talk to her. Granny had always told him that he should always help a mare or filly in need, "It's the gentlecolt thing to do."
Well, that settled it. Mac walked silently up to the crying mare in an effort to not startle her.
"Um, miss...why are you crying?"
Fluttershy gasped and leapt at least two feet into the air, but she stopped crying and abruptly turned towards the mystery voice. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw the large red pony walking toward her. She recognized him, it was AJ's brother. She had seen him often, working around the farm, but had never dared to speak a word to him. He was just so…big.
He was practically a stranger to her and it was dark, causing the yellow mare to shy away from the approaching figure.
Mac spoke again, this time quelling his voice to try and ease the pegasus pony.
"Miss, why are you crying?" he repeated with a much gentler tone.
Fluttershy responded by taking a quivering step back. She tripped on a rock as she did so, and even though she tried to regain her hoof-hold, she slid on the grass, wet with the night's dew.
Mac saw the pink-haired pony falling and dashed at her as she began slipping down the hill, it would only be moments before she went tumbling down the steep incline.
Fluttershy was so scared that she simply froze. As she fell, her mind filled with images of possible dangers that might lie at the bottom of the hill, images of spikes and rubble, of rivers or even deep dark holes. To top it off, Applejack's big brother was running full speed at her, and it never occurred to her that he might be trying to catch her.
"W-what have I done to anger him?" she thought to herself, even stuttering in her head from the fear.
"W-why is he running at me?"
Fluttershy closed her eyes and braced herself.
Just before Mac collided with the terror-stricken mare, he soared over her, landed firmly on the hillside, gripping tightly with his hooves, and began to gently push her back up the hill cautiously as not to harm her wings
.
Fluttershy sat there staring into darkness before she realized she still had her eyes closed. Slowly, she opened them and saw that she was safe and unharmed, her vision meeting a large red stallion with a worried look on his face.
"That was a close one missy, you almost had quite a tumble" the stallion trotted around the still trembling mare checking for injuries but fortunately saw none.
"Now I didn't mean to go and scare ya like that, but I heard you crying and I just can't stand to see a filly cry" his voice fell softer than he had begun with
"So miss, you gonna tell me why you was way up here crying like that?"
Mac had seen a lot of young mares in his life, but never one so shy as this. He had saved her from a nasty fall, and yet she just sat there staring at him with one eye open, her face carefully covered with one of her small yellow wings.
"She actually looks cute like that." Mac thought to himself, as a small smile broke across his face.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Mac finally decided that the pegasus was not ready to talk as small tears began to run down her face. Mac hated to see the young pony in this state and knew he had to try something to cheer the sad yellow mare up.
"Well that's alright if you don't wanna talk." he said, taking a seat next to her.
"I'll do all the talkin' for ya if ya like. My name's Big Macintosh … but everypony just calls me Mac."
Fluttershy feigned fearful ignorance, but was truly listening. Letting Mac do the talking as he had offered, she desperately wanted to say thank you, or anything for that matter, but the words clenched in her throat every time she went to open her mouth. But he was nice, she was glad to have somepony to talk to, even if that pony was the only one doing the talking.
Big Mac continued talking long into the night, losing track of time as he spoke to the timid pony who now sat a little more confidently besides him. All the while he repeatedly stole glimpses of the yellow filly without her noticing. He continued the one sided conversation until he could see that she had stopped crying.
Mac sat there gazing at the stars of the open night sky with her, both of them remaining very quiet for a time. Mac had almost completely forgotten about the mare sitting next to him, lost in the quiet beauty of the night until a small yellow head gently came to rest on his shoulder.
Mac was so surprised by the sudden closeness of the female pony that he nearly jumped out of his skin, but he held his nerve and instead only turned his head to see the yellow mare closing her eyes.
"She must be exhausted after crying for so long..." he thought.
Mac decided to stay still and let the tired pony sleep. Besides, it was cold, and her wings were soft and warm against his coat. So he carefully curled up next to her, allowing her one extended wing to cover part of him as they drifted off to sleep together. They were both snoring loudly by the time the moon had reached its peak in the night sky.
It was well into the next day by the time Fluttershy awoke, in fact the only reason she had woken at all was because of the heat from the sun on her face. The first thing she noticed was the large stallion sleeping under her wing, the second thing she noticed was that it was probably around noon and she still hadn't found Angel. She almost immediately forgot all about Mac and jumped to her hooves yelling the bunny's name.
Big Mac stirred from his sleep as he heard the soft voice in an uncharacteristically loud tone calling out. His eyes opened groggily and were greeted by the sight of the same yellow and pink mare from last night. She stood a ways in front of him on the edge of the hillside yelling out into the open air again and again.
Mac would have said something to her but with fear realized that it was well into the day, and that he was late for his morning chores. The stallion shuddered at the thought of what AJ would do to him if she found him sleeping in, he was probably already in trouble as it was.
Big Mac was just about to run off but thought better of it, after all most of the day was already gone and it was likely that the morning work had already been done as well.
"Best to let her cool off than try to talk to her right now" he thought.
He suddenly remembered why he was up there in the first place, to help a sorrowful mare, and with that recollection in mind he trotted up behind the yellow pegasus.
"S'cuse me, miss, but do you think you could tell me who you're looking for?"
She turned around, a blush adorning her face as she realized she'd forgotten the stallion, and that her loud voice was probably what had awoken him.
"Come on Fluttershy don't be such a dope…you can do this! " she timidly thought to herself. Taking a deep breath and attempting to talk to the intimidating large stallion standing before her.
"Hi . . . I-I'm . . . Flut -Fluttershy . . . sorry I woke you"
A large grin crept across Macs face, the yellow mare was so bashful that she could barely say her own name, and some how, Mac thought, the adorable trait just made her appear even more attractive.
The red stallion gave a soft chuckle as he spoke
"Pay no mind to that-" he spoke with a slight muffle whilst he stretched his back, cracking it loudly.
"I needed to get up any way. I'm just glad you're feeling a bit better now" He paused briefly, scratching his head with a hoof.
"Uh . . . Fluttershy was it?" Fluttershy quickly nodded.
"And…you're looking for somepony? Right?" Fluttershy managed another shy nod whilst she subtly hid one of her glimmering emerald eyes with her beautiful pink fringe.
.
"I can help you find this friend of yours . . . but you're gonna have to help me a bit, you know . . . speakin'?"
Fluttershy was just about to tell him about her little bunny friend when there was a loud screaming coming from the bottom of the hill.
"BIG MAC! WHY YOU NO GOOD, SLACKIN', LAZY, GOOD FER NOTHIN'-!" the voice boiled with rage and trailed off with various insults amalgamated together.
The furious mare stormed up the hill toward Big Mac and Fluttershy, though she seemed to only register Mac.
Mac sat there frozen stiff as a look of pure terror stole his face.
"What am I gonna say? What am I gonna do? AJ's gonna kill me!" while these thoughts rushed through his head, Fluttershy sat watching the event unfold in blissful confusion.
As AJ rounded the hill, she began berating her big brother with questions, completely oblivious of her friend standing mere feet away.
"What in the hay is goin' on here?"
"I was..." Mac desperately tried to answer his sister but she swiftly cut him off.
"I don't care what you was doin'! Do you have any idea how worried granny was?!" she butted him in the face with her own
"Huh? Well do ya!?" she raged on whilst staring him down with a single eye pressed against his own, his ears flopped down in fear. He was at a loss for words, how in Equestria was he supposed to tell his sister that he had spent the whole night sleeping with a mystery mare? He quickly figured that it would just be best to tell a small white lie, lest face his sibling's wrath.
Big Mac took in a deep breath as he prepared to bite the bit, as they say.
"AJ, I'll be perfectly honest with ya…I was-"
"He was helping me find Angel" Fluttershy quickly interjected as she finally realized why AJ was so angry.
"Yeah yeah, I was helping her find her…her, ahh…" Big Mac gave Fluttershy a subtle glance for help.
"He was helping me find my little bunny friend, oh yes".
"Yeah sis, I was helping her find Angel her little bunny, honest" AJ skeptically looked back and forth between the two before finally resting her eyes on her big brother.
"Fine!" she said stoutly, poking her brother in the chest with an angry hoof.
"But if I find out yer lyin', I'm gonna tell Granny, and then…well you jus' better not be lyin'" her words had Big Mac petrified because she hadn't actually described what would happen to him, and AJ rarely threw around threats like they were nothing.
He quickly trotted over to Fluttershy and motioned for her to follow him. As they began to walk away, the sound of AJ yelling shadowed them.
"You're lucky Fluttershy's one of my friends, anypony else and you'd be lassoed quicker than Rainbow in a lightnin' storm" Big Mac quickly increased the pace, wanting to get out of sight before his sister changed her mind.
Mac suddenly realized he was leaving his new friend behind and made a short stop as Fluttershy cantered to catch up, he gave her a friendly smile before they both continued on and were now heading at a leisurely pace towards the barn when a thought suddenly occurred to him, stopping him in his tracks.
"Fluttershy?" he asked curiously.
"Is it true you're really lookin' for your bunny friend as you've been sayin'?" Fluttershy then briefly halted in front of him and in sweetest yet serious voice Mac had ever heard, she simply said
"Yes" though all the while shyly looking at the ground.
Big Mac was beginning to piece it all together.
"I think I may be able to help ya miss Fluttershy" he said with a huge smile on his face. Fluttershy looked up at the tall male pony, her ears lifting slightly from their defensive position, and for the first time she actually made eye contact with him.
"Re…really?" she suddenly perked up as hope began to fill her face.
Mac now saw her face for the first time in its entirety, not covered by a wing, not dimmed by the moon light nor hidden by her fringe. She was just so…adorable, he thought. There was just something about her in the way she moved, in the way she spoke, every word seemed to quietly echo from a mile away, but always struck him directly in the heart.
He quickly recovered and flinched a little when he realized he was staring blindly at her with his mouth hanging wide open.
"Ahem…why yes, I do believe I can…in fact I've a sneakin' suspicion where we might find that lost varm…I mean lost friend of yers, here follow me"
As they trotted off toward his carrot field, Big Mac glanced over at Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus actually smiled at him momentarily before her self awareness got the better of her and she quickly darted her eyes away, but this only made him smile even harder.
"Why…" he thought to himself
"I would do anything to see her smile again…"
As they rounded the field and the tall wall he had constructed around it, Mac looked over at the yellow pegasus, she had resumed her sad look once again
"Uh, miss Fluttershy…I'll have your pet in a jiffy!" and with that he leapt high into the air and over the wall.
As his strong legs hit the ground on the other side of the fence, he noticed that he was missing a whole six more carrots. Mac almost yelled for the no good varmint to come out, but it was only by the thought of Fluttershy and how sad she was to lose her friend that he was able to quell his anger.
After only a few minutes of looking he had cornered the critter and had grabbed it with his mouth by the scruff of its neck. Angel was not happy at all, he kicked and struggled the whole time
"Now listen here" Mac mumbled incoherently
"I have a very sad mare on the other side of this wall, and she's been lookin' all over for you. Now if you want out o' here you're gonna cooperate or I can just leave you in here for a few more days" Angel huffed and folded his arms as if he was perfectly fine with this.
"Without any carrots" with this, Angel hastily changed his attitude. Mac turned his head and gently set the bunny down on his back before crouching low to the dirt.
"Now hold on tight…"
Before Angel could take warning however, Big Mac had jumped up and over the wall and was behind Fluttershy in a flash.
"Uh, miss Fluttershy? I believe I have somethin o' yers"
Fluttershy slowly lifted her head, ears rising curiously. She turned around, her eyes lingering on the Red pony before suddenly realizing that on his back sat a perfectly healthy looking bunny rabbit. In fact, she was absolutely sure it was Angel.
Her face bloomed instantly and she flew as fast as she could towards Mac who quickly ducked to avoid colliding with her. Angel was plucked off from his back with great speed and care, Mac looked over at the two friends, both happy as could be. The best part of all for him, however, was that Fluttershy was smiling once again and it was then that he realized that he had never seen a more beautiful smile in all of his life.
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed over and over.
"You've done so much for me! I just wanted ...wanted to tell you how grateful I am"
Her excitement was short-lived as her voice lowered to a gentle whisper once more. Mac made a subtle step closer to the yellow pegasus.
"Why it was nothing miss Fluttershy"
Big Mac lifted the shy mares face with one gentle hoof
"I would have done it for anypony as beautiful, as adorable as yourself"
Fluttershy had been so sad, had said so little and yet Mac had still been a perfect gentlecolt who had done so much for her out of the kindness of his heart. She was so happy to have gotten Angel back, and when the marvelous stallion had told her of her beauty, she broke down into tears. She just couldn't resist, he was just such a caring pony, and she was far too shy to say anything to him.
Fluttershy wondered if she would ever be able to love another pony at all, or if she would live a secluded life for ever, it was just too much for her. She leapt at him and wrapped her hooves around his neck, weeping silent tears into his mane.
Mac was taken aback by the yellow mare's reaction, as it was not at all what he had expected her to do. Despite his below average intelligence, he was smart enough to sense that she needed him right now, so he embraced her for as long as it took for the crying to stop.
As Fluttershy finally ceased sobbing, she slowly let go of the big red pony, her front legs aching from holding onto Macs yoke for too long, but she was feeling better despite the numb feeling.
Mac stood there in silence contemplating what, if anything, he should say. His mane was warm and soaked with her tears, but he was more worried about her. She simply sat there, so incredibly sad but with no idea as to why, she was so happy a few moments before.
Fluttershy looked up at the stallion, her eyes red from crying so intensely, but she was far too tired to care. She could see the worry on Macs face and knew that it was worry for her. It was touching really, for she knew he had no idea why she was crying in the first place, and yet he continued to sympathize with her.
Mac was just about to tell the mare something as he leaned in close to say it was going to be alright, that whatever the problem was, she was always welcome at Sweet Apple Acres, he would have said all theses things and more but he somehow couldn't get the words out of his mouth.
Fluttershy knew she had to do something as all of her fears of living alone began to build again. He was probably going to tell her something that was going to melt her heart, she could feel the tears welling in her eyes, but she refused to go into another fit of tears. Rather than embarrassing herself yet again, she stopped him from opening his mouth with her own, it was the single bravest thing she had ever done in her life, more so than staring down a cockatrice, or talking down a furious red dragon.
At first Mac had not realized what had just happened, his eyes met with Fluttershy's but his mind was somewhere else. It was like a dream, as if he was seeing somepony else being kissed, but the warmth of the yellow mares mouth on his, Fluttershy's hot breath on his face suddenly brought him back to reality.
Even though those thoughts only took a few moments to race through his mind, it felt like hours. He parted his mouth slowly, closing his eyes, lost in the unexpected tenderness of the moment, and just as soon as it had happened it was over, Fluttershy's mouth left his with the quiet sound of a kiss. He opened his eyes and expected to see a cute mare but instead he saw an empty space.
Fluttershy had opened her eyes and saw her lips on Macs, his eyes closed, her face flushed bright red and she abruptly ended the kiss. Rather than have to explain her actions to the large pony, she simply leapt into the air and soared faster than she ever had before heading in the direction of home. She never turned back for fear that the stallion would see her.
Mac stood there for a moment confused as to where Fluttershy was, but more than that, he could not believe he had just had his first kiss. Both of these thoughts ran through his head as he turned from left and right frantically looking for Fluttershy, but she was nowhere to be seen.
It finally deduced that she must have run off in fear. He felt guilty for kissing the shy mare like that all of a sudden, but then he remembered that she was the one who had kissed him.
"Why?" he pondered
"And why had she run off?"
But all these questions where overpowered by a much more important one.
"Is this what love felt like?"
Mac knew one begrudging thing however, he was going to have to skip work yet again if he was going to go and look for Fluttershy. He had to talk to her again, he had to ask her why she had kissed him, he had to find out if she liked him, perhaps more…or if it was just a crazy spur of the moment.
He had to understand why he was feeling so strange, but he had no idea where he should look, he had only just met Fluttershy, and in the few words she had spoken to him she had never told him where she lived.
Well that settled it, there was only one thing left to do, Mac was going to have to bite the bit yet again, he was going to have to ask the one mare he knew would know where Fluttershy was. Unfortunately, that was AJ, which also meant explaining some very uncomfortable things to her that she would simply not like.
Big Mac began the long, reluctant walk back to his house. As he rounded the hill, AJ was already there, waiting for him. Every step from then he took was harder than the last, he knew he had to do it though, if anything for the sake of his pride, because while he was not one to like confrontation, especially when his sister was involved, he was a stallion after all.
"AJ?..." asked Mac with an air of dread about his voice
"There you are" said AJ with an undertone of anger
"Where you been all day, huh? Aside from foolin' around with Fluttershy?"
Big Mac was stunned, had AJ some how spied them?
"It's…it's not what you think" Mac exclaimed.
"Oh it's exactly what I think, thinkin' you can pull the wool over my eyes do ya?"
AJ shoved an angry hoof into his face as she spoke.
"You think you can help Fluttershy find her pet and then put off work as if yer still helping her"
"Well actually…"
Mac attempted to take a defensive stance, realizing AJ had gotten the wrong end of the stick.
"No you can't fool me, I saw her fly off and then you've just been sittin' there kickin' dirt all this time!"
"Well you see that's…" Mac desperately tried to explain what had really happened, but AJ was having none of it.
"Don't you interrupt me! I don't know what's gotten into you lately but you better snap outta it real quick or-"
"Would ya just listen for one stinkin' minute?" he interrupted furiously. AJ stood there in slight disbelief, staring him down as anger seethed from her pores. Leaning in very close to her brother, she barely managed to contain herself as she spoke
"Now you better have somethin' mighty worth sayin' to say…"
"Well…actually that's what I wanted to ya talk about"
"You see last night…well the reason…what I'm try'na say is-"
"Oh would ya jus' spit it out already!" AJ yelled, Mac's anger fueled bravado from only moments before was now replaced by dread, he had no idea how to explain it so he just blurted out the first thing that popped into his mind.
"I kissed Fluttershy!" his eyes widened and his pupils shrunk as he realized what he had just said, AJ's face changed from anger to shock in an instant then back to anger once again.
"What…did…you just say?!"
AJ was now walking toward her big brother forcing him to step backward as he sheepishly tried to explain himself
"Well that is, actually, she kissed me"
AJ stopped in her tracks.
"Now I've heard everything. You just don't stop do ya Mac, first you try to skip work, then you tell me you kissed Fluttershy, then you say she kissed you…who d'ya take me for? Granny Smith?"
AJ pouted and suddenly became very silent, sweat began to bead on Macs scalp whilst every fiber in his being was telling him to run, but his heart was telling him to stand his ground. Finally finding the words, AJ spoke
"I'm tellin' Granny" AJ turned around to do just that but Mac quickly blocked her path with his huge girth.
"It's the truth AJ!" it was Macs turn to be angry again as he stomped the ground furiously, rattling a chain on a nearby gate.
"How long have ya known me sis?" he continued with a tone of frankness about his voice.
"I don't understand what this has to do wi-" AJ began before Mac abruptly cut her off.
"Just answer the question!"
"Ugh, our whole lives, but I still don't-" AJ reluctantly answered
"And in all those years, how many times have I missed work without a good reason?" said Mac, interrupting her once more.
AJ was getting angry but she stifled it, for the simple fact that Mac was right.
"Never" she finally admitted.
"Then believe me, I have a darn good reason for missin' work" he said, his face taking on a softer look. AJ just sat down and cooled off, ready to listen.
"Alright, I'm listening, but this better be good"
The large stallion nervously scratched one of his legs with his hoof as he tried to find the words to describe everything.
"Last night, I was sleepin', and I heard the strangest thing. I woke up and I heard somepony crying, I looked outside and I saw a pony up atop that there hill"
"An' that was Fluttershy right?" AJ asked curiously, cocking her head slightly.
"Well yeah but I didn't know that at the time, in fact today was the first time I even heard her name".
"She was crying?" asked AJ worry in her voice.
"Now I'm getting' to that, so like I said, I heard somepony cryin', so I went to investigate, and like ya said it was Fluttershy. Now I had never met her personally before, I only seen her a few times when she came to visit you, so I asked her what was wrong and why she was cryin'…after all Granny always told me you should always help a filly in distress-"
"-It's the gentlcolt thing to do" AJ interrupted, finishing his sentence for him
"Yeah grannies full of old fashion wisdom like that" she finished with a hint of a smile crossing her face.
"Right, that's what she always taught me, so I tried to talk to her, but it turned out to be a lot harder than I thought…Fluttershy is one shy pony"
"Anyway…I spent all night doin' all the talkin' an' before I knew it, she was asleep on my shoulder. Now I was just following Granny's advice, I didn't want to wake her and didn't know what to do, so I just curled up under her wings and fell asleep…"
"So lemme get this straight…" AJ poked her brother in the chest
"You and Fluttershy…slept together?"
Big Mac blushed a shade darker than his usual coat color at his sisters comment
"No no! That's not what I-" before he could finish however, AJ had burst into hysterics.
"You shoulda seen yer face! Ahahaha!"
Big Mac, however, was not amused at all.
"I'm serious AJ, she was so sad! You shoulda seen her, and all I could think about was makin' her happy which is why I was takin' so long to get back after helping her out"
AJ took a moment and composed herself, remembering why they were having the conversation in the first place.
"Right, so you helped her find Angel an' then she kissed you?" she raised an eyebrow still in disbelief, but she kept her opinion to herself because as unbelievable as it had sounded, she had never seen her brother more serious.
"You gotta believe me, she kissed ME, but that's not why I was takin' so long to get back here…see before she…" Mac's red face darkened further in embarrassment.
"Before she kissed you" said AJ, finishing his sentence for him, laughing just a bit to herself at how uncomfortable her big brother was getting but as crazy as his story sounded, she was beginning to believe him.
"Before she kissed me…" he continued.
"I had just found Angel and returned him to her, and she was so darned happy, and to be honest with ya sis, I was so glad to have helped her, it felt good helpin' Fluttershy"
"Well yeah, helpin' people always feel good Mac" AJ interjected.
"Yeah sis I get that…but it felt more than good, why…when I saw your little filly friend cryin' up top that hill, all alone, why it broke my heart, and she's so sweet and so shy, and…well I just had to help her AJ!"
Suddenly Mac's face took on a somber appearance.
"I'd do anything to make her smile again…" AJ took note of it and it occurred to her that he had said "I would do anything to see her smile AGAIN" as if something had happened to make Fluttershy sad?
Mac's face began to tear up as he remembered how Fluttershy had cried into his mane, how she was so happy one moment and so sad the next, if only he could know what had made her cry? Mac slumped to the ground, quickly turning his back to his sister, Mac hated to cry in front of his sister, this was so unlike him.
AJ was concerned for her brother she could tell he was crying despite the fact that he had turned away from her. Simply out of respect and love for him, she acted as if she hadn't noticed
"What happened Mac?" she asked as she set a comforting hoof on his shoulder.
Mac was silent for some time, doing his best to hold back his tears, making small sniffling noises as he tried. He was grateful that his sister had not said anything about him being so soft, usually she would have had some smart remark to make, but this time she let him keep the tough act without a word.
After much deliberation, he finally he answered.
"Well that's just it AJ" he said whilst trying to hold back more tears.
"She was fine one moment and crying into my mane the next, I didn't know what to do…" despite his best efforts he was a sobbing mess that he could hide no longer from his sister.
"So what did you do Mac?" asked AJ with real concern in her voice this time.
"Well nothin, I just let her cry…finally she let go of me, and I was just about to ask her what was wrong when she…she kissed me" AJ became very still, she couldn't believe it, she tried not to believe it, but anyway that AJ tried to look at it, her brother had told the truth.
"Mac" she said sullenly, now looking her big brother in the face.
"I believe you, and I don't know what's goin' on, but we're gonna find out, I can tell that you love her"
"Well that's just it AJ, I don't know if I do or not…in fact I don't know much about her at all, except that she's shy, she likes to cry and she ran off without a word"
"Don't know if you love her?" AJ said with a tinge of laughter in her voice
"Big brother I ain't never seen you cry for nothin'" she continued as she wiped a tear from her brothers face.
"You ain't never skipped work for nothin worse than a broken rib"
She playfully jabbed his side before than lifting his chin with her hoof.
"And if that ain't love that I don't know what is" she spoke quietly, smiling.
Mac looked at his sister, a smile slowly developing on his face despite himself. "well" he said standing up "what do I do now?" he asked wiping the last of the tears from his face.
"Now I'll tell ya what you're gonna do, you're gonna go to her house, you're gonna tell her how ya feel, and you're gonna find out what's wrong with that silly filly, and you're gonna tell her you ain't leavin' till you get a strait answer outta her"
Mac was glad to have a sister like AJ. She may have had a terrible temper, she may have be thick headed sometimes, but she was the one pony he knew he could talk to. Besides, he thought to himself, she's always better at this emotional stuff than me.
"Now come on big brother, you're lookin' somethin' awful. Go get some sleep, you got a big day ahead of you"
"But I got to help you close the farm for the night" Mac said, now back to his normal working self.
"You ain't doin nothin'" she said as she forced her brother towards the house, Macs cries of protest could be heard from miles away but eventually he surrendered to his sisters will, and soon fell fast asleep. That night he dreamt he was running through a field full of butterflies.
Big Mac awoke to the sounds of birds, something he had never really paid much attention to but for some reason this morning they sounded extra musical to him.
That's when it hit him, today he was suppose to go to Fluttershy's house and settle his love problems.
He decided to leave his yoke at home this time; after all he would not need it since he wasn't working that day. Big Mac cringed at the thought of skipping work for yet another day, but he had AJ's blessing and that was good enough for him.
As Mac walked down the stairs to the living room he could hear the sound of hushed voices, but they where quickly silenced as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
There in the living room sat Granny, and AJ both with silly grins on their faces, that could only mean one thing…they had been talking about him.
"I sure hope nopony has been telling things to other ponies that they ought not to know" said Mac looking directly at his sister. AJ just grinned sheepishly, while Granny quickly looked away and began knitting as if she knew nothing.
As Mac left the house he could hear the return of muffled voices along with girlish laughter. He just rolled his eyes with a smirk and continued on his way. Some things, he thought to himself, never change.
Mac recited the direction AJ had given him in his head again and again to try and remember. As he walked past Sugar Cube Corner, he could not help but notice the many awkward stares he was getting from the town folk, most whom had never seen him out side of the farm and still others without his trade mark yoke.
He tried to ignore it, he was just glad that his coat matched his blush, no need for anypony to know how nervous he truly was. After all, he thought to himself, he had never really talked to a filly other than his family members, and of course, Fluttershy.
Just thinking of Fluttershy filled his stomach with butterflies. He also began to wonder what he was supposed to say when he did finally get to Fluttershy.
Mac was nearing his destination as he could hear the sounds of chickens from a nearby coup from somewhere in the distance. He walked down a small path through some trees which opened up to a yard, and there was a large beautiful cottage. There was no doubt about it, from the description AJ had given him this was definitely the place. Big Mac swallowed hard
"Well it's now or never" he mumbled to himself.
Mac slowly walked up to the steps, trembling, and knocked lightly, afraid he might break the door. Every nerve in his body was on edge as nopony answered the door. After several moments he knocked again, this time placing his ear to the door. Suddenly, there was the shuffle of hooves on a wooden floor.
Mean while inside the house Fluttershy had spied Mac coming down the lane, she was now pacing the floor frantically
"Oh angel what should I do!" she cried. Angel sat there his arms folded on his chest, talking in his little rabbit way
"Oh I know Angel but what should I say? He'll never forgive me…"
"Oh Angel if only I hadn't been such a silly filly in front of him" Fluttershy stomped her hooves in frustration. Angel hopped behind her and began to push her toward the door
"No Angel I can't…I won't…" she began to grab onto the hallway entrance with all four of her hooves, Angel let her go momentarily but only to place his fingers between his lips and let out a whistle.
Fluttershy tried to make her escape through an outside window, only to be confronted by a large flock of birds
"Oh my babies, I don't have time right now to play with you" she cried, but the birds were in no mind to play either. Fluttershy leapt into the air only to be caught by the birds.
"No!" she cried.
Mac could hear the strangest noises coming from the other side of the door, among them was the frightened squeal of what he could only guess was Fluttershy, the thought of Fluttershy coming to harm was all the motivation he needed, he took several steps back and rammed Fluttershy's door, it crashed easily behind his massive bulk though he hurt his shoulder in the process.
Mac burst into the room knocking several books off a near by shelf, he quickly stopped to survey his surroundings, he listened intently and heard another cry, this time he could tell it was coming from upstairs. He wasted no time, ignoring the verbal beating he was getting from Angel passing him on his way up the stairs
"I'm comin' Fluttershy!" he cried, hoping she could hear him.
Fluttershy could not understand why her forest friends where forcing her to stay where she was, she began to get even more frantic as she heard Mac holler from down the stairs, everything was all going so wrong
"Why!" she cried to herself
"Why could I not have just acted like a shy little pony? Why did I have to kiss him!?" she whined to herself in between struggling with the many birds that had now filled the room.
Fluttershy began to worry, the birds where getting frantic and while she didn't want to hurt them, they had begun to hurt her. Birds where pulling her long mane in every direction, some where even plucking her feathers out, she was about to break down in tears again when the door to her room burst open, the hinges nearly bursting. Fluttershy let out a loud scream at the sudden noise and the birds soon fled leaving Fluttershy sprawled on the floor in a mess. Mac quickly rushed to her side, all thoughts of embarrassment overpowered by his worry for her.
Fluttershy sat there with her face turned away from the big red pony, Mac took one tender hoof to her face and gently turned it toward him, she gingerly looked up at him with one tear filled eye, her other eye covered by her hair.
"I'm so sorry…" she whimpered as tears filled her eyes, before he could say anything she wrapped her hooves around him.
Mac was so glad she was safe, he just held her there until her tears began to stop finally speaking when she let him go.
"You know" said Mac as he brushed the hair from her face
"We really gotta stop meetin' like this" Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle just a little at the bold statement, as it helped to break the tension.
"Yes... I guess I need to stop getting into trouble…" she said, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. Mac gently helped her to her feet and gazed into her eyes.
"Nah…If ya'll didn't get in trouble then I wouldn't be there to save ya"
Fluttershy hugged the big pony and squeezed him tight
"You know, you can save me whenever you want, but can we maybe just go get something to eat together every once and a while…you know nothing special"
Mac gently broke the hug to look at her once more
"Why miss Shy…is that a date?"
Fluttershy was so happy after she realized she had actually just asked somepony on a date.
"Oh yes, that would be just wonderful!"
Angel looked into the room and saw the two ponies looking into each others eyes, and smiled to himself thinking of how well his plan had worked out after all.
