A Shy Encounter

The sun was shining brightly upon the far-reaching fields of Sweet Apple Acres. It was a peaceful and beautiful place, and was thus a source of great pride, not only for he local residents of the town of Canterlot, but especially the good-natured Apple family who lived there. One of their more prominent members, a young girl named Applejack, was currently walking down one of the many rows of apple trees that lined the fields there, carrying a basket filled with many of the red and delicious fruits. And all the while she was whistling a merry tune to herself. Clearly there was little she enjoyed more than working on the family farm, especially on a gorgeous day like today. However, as she was walking towards the edge of the field, her attention was drawn to the fact that she was not alone here.

Stopping, it took only a moment for Applejack to realise that there was another girl here. Specifically, it was one she knew well as a friend from Canterlot High, Fluttershy. The pink-haired girl was standing next to a large tree, with her back turned to Applejack, looking at something beyond it. Judging from the lack of a greeting on her friend's part, it was obvious to the farm girl that she had not realised that she was there. So, smiling to herself, she gently put down her basket of apples before sauntering off to see the usually-timid girl. Once she was only a few feet away from her, she spoke.

"Well howdy there, Fluttershy!"

Needless to say, this caused quite a reaction, as Fluttershy more-or-less jumped into the sky before spinning around and looking at Applejack with shock on her face.

"Eep! I...I mean...hello to you too, Applejack."

Raising an eyebrow Applejack looked at her friend, who was nervously looking at the ground, almost as if she was outright refusing to look her in the eye.

"Somethin wrong, sugarcube?"

Fluttershy shook her head frantically at that before meekly responding.

"No! I mean...no. Nothing's wrong. I'm just here to...admire the apples! Yes, that's what I'm here for!"

Applejack never liked to think such things about her closest friends, but she always knew a lie when she heard one, and that was one whopper she'd just heard from Fluttershy. Narrowing her eyes a little, she considered why her friend would attempt to deceive her like that, though Fluttershy was still reluctant to look right at her, instead staring at the grass beneath her. As curiosity began to grip her, Applejack instead turned her attention to what Fluttershy might have been looking at, and so stepped to one side to get a better look at what was beyond the tree she stood by. To her surprise, she saw that, quite a few trees away, was none other than her brother, Big Macintosh, who was working on the tree much like she had been doing. Looking from her brother, to Flutterhy, and then back to Mac, Applejack scratched her head a little, showing clear confusion about all this.

"Fluttershy? Were y'all watchin mah brother?"

Her friend's face erupted into the brightest shade of red possible before twiddling her thumbs a little. That was all the proof applejack needed to confirm her suspicions, though it did little to sate her confusion.

"But...why? And why would y'all be nervous about...?"

Just then, as she considered that question, it was as if a spark went off in her mind. She stared full-on at Fluttershy, at the blush on her face, and began to understand. She raised a hand and pointed a finger at her, before it drifted to pointing in the direction her brother hand been in. The finger went back and forth between the two, all while Applejack's mouth was starting to hang open wider and wider. Fluttershy, seeing this, looked utterly mortified and gabbed a hold of her long hair, using it to cover her face, perhaps in the vain hope that all this would go away if she couldn’t see it. But it didn't go away, as Applejack finally managed to get her words together.

"Ya mean...y'all like...mah brother?!"

A quick whimper from Fluttershy, followed by a nod, gave Applejack her answer. To say that she was surprised by this would have been an understatement. To think, that one of her closest friends would have an attraction or feelings towards her brother like that was not something she was expecting. What was expected even less was Fluttershy finally emerging from her hair again to practically leap forward, her hands clasped together, and staring right into Applejack's eyes with a pleading look on her face.

"Oh, please don't be mad, Applejack! It's just...Mac has always been so nice and kind to me and..."

But she was stopped from saying anything further by Applejack, who raised a hand. After a brief moment of silence between the two, Applejack smiled at her friend.

"It's alright, Sugarcube. Ah don't have a problem. In fact, I'm actually kinda happy for ya."

Fluttershy looked visibly taken aback by that.

"Re...really?!"

Applejack nodded.

"Eyup. If mah brother was gonna get together with someone..."

She raised a hand and gently placed it on Fluttershy's shoulder.

"...ahm glad it was one of mah friends."

There was a pause, and Fluttershy looked quite unsure about all this. But after a while, the girl broke out into a massive smile, not unlike the kind that Pinkie Pie might have plastered over her face. After Applejack smiled in return, Fluttershy, in a move quite forward by her standards, wrapped her arms around Applejack in a hug. Although initially taken aback by this, Applejack nevertheless chuckled and returned it briefly before the two parted from one another. With that over and done with, Applejack raised a hand and gestured to where her brother had been standing.

"Well, guess y'all need to get over there and say hello."

After hearing that, Fluttershy's face regained it's earlier blush as she took a step backwards.

"Oh no! I...I can't!"

Applejack raised an eyebrow at that.

"Oh come on now, Fluttershy! Mah brother ain't some big monster or somethin. Just walk on over and talk to him."

Fluttershy shook her head a great deal.

"No, I...I just can't! I...I...I just can't talk about that kind of thing with him. I'll...freeze up. I'll look ridiculous!"

Applejack knew that Fluttershy was nervous about talking to people outside of her usual circle, but then, she was often afraid of EVERYTHING, or most things at least. Getting her to approach a boy in a romantic sense would be a pretty big hurdle for her, that much was clear, and Applejack thought long and hard about what she could say to get her to just talk to him. Before she got the chance however, a loud and familiar voice started speaking out of nowhere.

"AJ's right, Flutters. You gotta just march on over there and wow him!"

Both Applejack and Fluttershy looked around to find the source of the mysterious voice, only to then realise that it was coming from straight above them. Looking upwards, they immediately caught sight of another dear friend of theirs, Rainbow Dash, who was currently lounging on a large branch of the tree, and looking very pleased with herself right now. Applejack on the other hand looked more than a little annoyed.

"Rainbow! Y'all told me ya couldn't make it to help out today!"

The rainbow-haired looked only a little bit guilty at that before sitting up straight and looking down at her two friends.

"AJ, you should know me better than that by now. And as for you, Fluttershy..."

Rainbow, to the shock of both of them, immediately leapt down from the branch and landed without a scratch right between them, causing both to take a step backwards. After taking a moment to feel smug about her perfect landing, Rainbow placed a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder and gave a smirk.

"So...Big Mac, eh?"

Fluttershy's face resumed it's aforementioned blush, causing Rainbow to chuckle at that.

"Relax, Flutters. You got good taste. He is quite a hunk after all!"

Applejack narrowed her eyes a little at that.

"Y'all realise that's mah brother yer talkin about, right?"

Rainbow looked over to Applejack with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, hot is still hot. And Flutters here is hardly the first girl to think that about him."

Applejack still wasn't feeling entirely comfortable with how her friend had just regarded her elder sibling, but it would be a lie to say that she was wrong about what she'd just said. Instead, she simply let out a sigh and rubbed her temples a bit before looking at her again.

"Dash, I'm sure Fluttershy appreciates yer advice an all, but y'all know her. She needs to take this slow. She can't just saunter over there an ask him out, just like that!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes a little before chuckling again.

"Of course she can! She grew up with me after all, and I'm sure all my confidence must have rubbed off on her at SOME point!"

Needless to say, Applejack couldn't help but facepalm at that statement, much to Rainbow's chagrin. Fluttershy meanwhile had simply been watching her two friends from the background, too nervous to speak up. However, her attention focused entirely on Applejack as she began to walk over to her, giving her a soft and reassuring smile.

"Now y'all listen here, sugar. If y'all want to take yer time on this, ya have mah blessin fer it. Don't ya let nobody push you faster than ya wanna be."

Fluttershy let out a deep exhale, as if Applejack's words had lifted a great weight from her shoulders. Rainbow, watching the two, felt a little disappointed that her advice wasn't going to be taken up, but realised that Applejack was probably right in this, even though she was loathe to admit it openly. However, before any of the three girls could say anything further, another familiar voice, a somewhat sultry one this time, could now be heard.

"So...a clandestine meeting regarding a romantic interest? Do tell!"

All three of the girls turned their heads to see that the voice had come from none other than Adagio Dazzle, former siren and leader of the Dazzlings. Once a feared enemy of them and their other friends, both she and her two cohorts, Aria and Sonata, had become fellow members of their group. If not outright friends, then certainly semi-friends, if such a word existed. As the girl approached the three, Applejack had a somewhat confused look on her face.

"Wha...is everyone just turnin up on mah farm today?"

Adagio scoffed at that before speaking up again.

"Nevermind why I'm here! Let's get back to the issue of getting our friend Fluttershy here some action. Faust knows I need something to fill my afternoon!"

Rainbow frowned at that.

"Hey! We've already decided that Fluttershy will do this when she's ready, and she's not. What do you think will happen if she goes over there before she wants to? She'll be a nervous wreck!"

The former siren raised an eyebrow at the sporty girl before turning towards Fluttershy, looking her over from head to toe.

"Please! With the right tutoring, little Fluttershy here could get that handsome brother of Applejack's to practically follow her around like a dog if she wanted!"

Applejack, naturally, didn’t take too kindly to that kind of talk, either regarding Fluttershy or her brother, and so looked at Adagio with a somewhat disdainful look as she crossed her arms.

"And ah suppose y'all have some fool-proof plan to get em hooked up or somethin?"

Looking her right in the eye, Adagio gained her characteristic mischievous smirk before nodding a little. She then faced Fluttershy once more before walking up to her, and the latter had to resist the urge to take a step backwards. After reaching her, Adagio put a finger to her own chin before really paying attention to the timid young girl. After a few moments, her usual smirk reappeared as she spoke up to Fluttershy.

"Yes, there's certainly potential here. Pretty face, cute, sweet-sounding voice. You could definitely catch a guy's eye with ease."

Fluttershy, somewhat unsure about receiving such compliments by her one-time enemy, looked at Adagio with uncertainty in her eyes.

"Um...thank you?"

Adagio raised an eyebrow before continuing soon afterwards.

"First things first though. Let's see your walk."

Fluttershy seemed more than a little confused at that, as evidenced by her tone of voice.

"M...my walk?"

Adagio rolled her eyes.

"Yes, dear. Let's see you strut your stuff!"

As one might expect, Fluttershy was looking more than a little flustered at that, but nevertheless attempted to do as she was being advised. So, she began walking a short distance, looking down at the ground the whole time, as if she might trip over something at any time. Her hands were clasped together and her steps were short and fairly quick. All in all it gave the impression of someone who wanted to walk down a street very fast without bumping into anyone or even being noticed. Seeing this display, Adagio slapped her forehead in frustration before letting out a groan.

"Ugh! No! Not like that! You have to walk as if you own everything and everyone around you. A walk that says that nobody is more noticeable than you right now. A walk...a walk like this!"

As expected, Adagio gave a demonstration of her own, walking towards where Fluttershy had stopped moving off to. Her movements were slow and sultry, with one hand on her hip as she moved. And speaking of hips, they were swaying from side to side in an almost hypnotic manner. And all the while she had a most seductive look on her face. As Fluttershy watched this demonstration, her face, once again, began to blush fiercely, especially since it was towards her that Adagio was walking. After reaching just a few steps away from Fluttershy, Adagio stopped before looking pleased with her action.

"Like that! You think you can do that?"

Fluttershy fumbled her words a little before just shutting her mouth and shaking her head, giving Adagio her answer. Glancing over to the other two girls, who simply shrugged their shoulders, Adagio thought on that for a moment before looking Fluttershy over again. As her usual mischievous smirk returned to her face, an idea formed in her mind. Raising one hand, and before Fluttershy could stop her, Adagio unbuttoned the top button of the girl's blouse with almost lightning-fast movements, thus causing only the very top of her chest to become more exposed. Being Fluttershy, this naturally led to another loud "eep" escaping her before she covered her chest with her arms, recoiling from Adagio a little, as the latter kept on smirking.

"There! That'll help catch his eye, I'm sure."

Applejack and Rainbow chose this moment to finally step forward.

"Hey now! Whatcha gotta go an do that for!" Applejack asked angrily.

Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah! Fluttershy doesn't need...to...wow."

The rainbow-haired girl had, rather embarrassingly, found herself staring at Fluttershy's barely-exposed-yet-still-noticeable cleavage, prompting the latter to blush even worse than before. After a quick jab to the rib's from Applejack's elbow, Rainbow regained her senses before pointing at Adagio in an accusing manner.

"Fluttershy doesn't need that kind of thing to get Mac's attention!"

Adagio scoffed at that.

"You think not? Then pray tell, Rainbow. Exactly how else is this little wallflower going to get him?"

Fluttershy looked on, afraid that an all-out fight might break out between the three other girls over this. However, it was here that another sound made itself heard. It was the unmistakeable sound of someone clearing their throat. But unlike the other suddenly-appearing voices, this one was deep and masculine. All four girls stopped dead in their tracks, looking as though someone had come along and practically paralysed them. None of them, especially Fluttershy, wanted to be the first to glance at that which they knew was there, and so, without saying a word, they all began to slowly turn their heads in the same direction. Now looking in the same spot, all of the girls found themselves nervously staring at a strong-looking farm boy, whose arms were crossed and whose face had a look of mild annoyance about it.

As Big Mac looked from one girl to the other, Applejack felt the need to speak up first, although she had to clear her throat herself before doing so.

"Um...big brother? How long have y'all been standin there? A few seconds?"

"Nope," Mac responded.

"A few minutes?" Rainbow chimed in.

"Nope," Mac answered.

"Let me guess...the whole time?" Adagio asked.

"Eyup," Mac replied.

To say that this situation was painful and awkward would have been the biggest understatement ever uttered by a human being. Fluttershy especially looked more nervous than she'd ever been, and that was saying something. Most of the colour had drained from her face and she looked as if she was about to pass out. However, before she got the chance to do so, Mac unfolded his arms and walked towards her, completely oblivious to the looks the other three girls were giving him. Fluttershy was on the verge of hyperventilating as Mac finally reached her, and watched as he reached into his pocket and rummaged around a bit before pulling something out. He handed it to the shaking girl, who looked down at it to see that it was some kind of advertisement card, one showing the address of a new cafe that had opened up in town earlier that month. After staring at it for a while, a look of realisation crossed her face as she looked up at Mac.

"You...you want me to go with you? To the cafe?"

Mac smiled and nodded.

"Eyup."

Fluttershy, who understandably was not quite believing what she'd just heard, looked past Mac to the other girls, only to see that they all merely shrugged their shoulders at her. Taking a gulp, Fluttershy resumed looking at Mac.

"Um...okay. Is...is three o'clock tomorrow okay?"

Mac's smile widened a little at that before speaking up again.

"Eyup."

Fluttershy, although still shaking a little, nevertheless smiled back at him.

"Well...I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Mac said nothing this time, instead giving her a nod in confirmation over that. After another shared smile between the two, Mac turned and began to walk away from the collection of girls, giving more nods to the other three as farewells before walking off to continue with his chores. Applejack, Rainbow and Adagio all stared with their mouths agape, clearly having trouble wrapping their heads over what had just transpired. So, they all turned to Fluttershy in silence, and saw that she was looking down with glee at the card Mac had given her. Realising that she was being watched, Fluttershy cleared her throat a little before stuffing the card in her pocket and addressing them.

"Thanks, girls. I really appreciate your help."

So, the three girls watched as Fluttershy began to merrily make her way away from them. After a few moments had passed, and she could no longer be seen, the other three stared at each other before Applejack spoke what was on all of their minds.

"Well...guess that settles that then."