It was a warm, sunny summer's day much like any other.
The sun hung far up in the azure sky, framed by the occasional puffy white cumulus cloud as it drifted by on some unseen, unending journey through the heavens.
A gentle breeze occasionally cut through the warm air, causing the fields of tall grass and wildflowers to dance to and fro. The bees would make an appearance above the flowers for a few moments during these breezes before diving back down to collect more pollen for their hive.
Songbirds soared overhead, tweeting their beautiful melodies, searching for mates and scavenging for food. They came in all sorts of colors, sizes, and each had their own unique tunes. They made for a perfect, almost therapeutic ambience against the sounds of the trees and grass in the wind.
Ponyville was like this during spring and summer. Just outside town in the local fields that had been designated as parks for ponies to enjoy when they wanted a peaceful place to go and relax. For the most part, the fields had a pretty even distribution of ponies out on dates, hanging out with family and friends, or parents letting their foals run amuck, who would stray from their parents, galloping and frolicking through the waving, endless expanses of daisies and wheat grass.
You, too, ordinarily spent your off-days amongst these fields. But lately, you and your closest friend, Fluttershy, had been spending time together sipping tea and munching sandwiches further out, nearest the trees bordering the local forests, a fair distance away from the other ponies.
This was only a recent development, as Fluttershy began selecting these locations more and more often.
You and Fluttershy had been friends for months, and your friendship was as strong as it had ever been. But for some reason, she'd been growing less and less talkative during these "picnic dates", as she called them. You worried that perhaps something was coming between the two of you, and had openly expressed concern, to which she assured you that everything was just fine -- and then fell into silence once more.
Was everything okay? Was your friendship with this mare in danger of reaching some untimely end due to unspoken circumstances?
You desired greatly to find out, but always feared pressing for the truth too much. You knew Fluttershy to be fragile, much like the flowers that surrounded the two of you today, on this current picnic. But you also knew for certain that something was amiss, and that soon, you'd have to break and ask her what it was that was on her mind.
In all the days you'd known her, she'd only ever been this quiet when you first met downtown, where you politely allowed her to buy the last of the tomatoes from the tomato stand, even though you'd been there before her.
Something about her, when you first laid eyes on her pretty, disappointed face, made you suddenly very chivalrous, and you immediately stepped aside, surrendering the vegetables to her, an action she thanked you profusely for and sparked your friendship with her.
From then on, you began hanging out. She was very quiet at first, but eventually, she opened up like a flower.
But now, she was back to being so painfully demure -- so shy and quiet like in the early days of your friendship with her.
And her eyes. Those deep pools of sparkling turquoise that seemed to drill deep into your soul, all while hiding so many secrets you desperately wished to hear. She watched you with these eyes, even when neither of you spoke... she just kept staring. When you noticed and glanced over at her, smiling, she would grow rosy on the cheeks and quickly turn away, hiding her face behind her cascading cotton-candy pink mane.
What was she thinking about?
Today, as you sat on your haunches on the plaid blanket laid out for the two of you to conduct your picnic on, you pondered what she could possibly be thinking about that made her act so reserved suddenly.
You lift your floral-pattern-decorated tea cup to your lips and sip gingerly, looking out over the fields around you. Everything was so perfect today, just like every other time you came out here with Fluttershy. Nearby, giving you partial shade, was a tree that had half-broken and fallen, and a stream just beyond it trickled by into the forest and disappeared. Everything was essentially perfect. The only thing that made it feel off was Fluttershy's silence.
You throw a glance in her direction. She has the third daisy of the day in her hooves as she sits on her haunches on the other side of the blanket. Her head is hung and she wears a faint smile as she looks down, slowly picking the petals loose, letting them go to flutter away in the breeze. She looks up when she realizes that you've been watching her and releases the flower, letting it fall between her legs.
"Oh, hello. Um, sorry. I've just been a little distracted today..." she apologizes in a soft, gentle voice. She brushes her mane aside with a sweep of a hoof and beams at you, but for some reason, it seems feigned. You sense a fair bit of sadness in her voice and wonder why.
You're not falling for it. But for the sake of understanding, hoping to not be too cajoling, you press just a little further. "No worries. I just noticed you were picking petals. Who for?"
"Hmm?" she hums in reply, then realizes what you're asking, drawing back as though something had just popped up in her face. "Oh, um, nopony..." She looks off into the distance, a longing, almost sad look on her face.
You lean forward a bit to see her face better, and she peeks sheepishly through her mane back at you.
"Fluttershy... are you okay...?"
"I've never been better! Don't be silly. Nothing's wrong. I'm not waiting for anything or anypony. I was just picking the flowers' petals to pass time..." She scrunches up her muzzle.
"Right..." You shift your body so that you're laying on your right side, facing her. "You know you can talk to me about anything. I'm willing to listen."
She nods slowly, making eye contact with you, that forced smile returning at full force. "Of course. But it's nothing big. Nothing... I can talk to you about..."
This catches your attention like a net, and your ears perk up. "Are you sure? We're here, alone." You wave an arm out in a half-circle at the surrounding, picturesque landscape. "I won't tell anypony anything you share with me. I promise."
She sighs, looking back out over the fields, her mane pushed back by the breeze coming through. She still has that same look, making you worry even more that it was something awful.
"It's nothing you can help with, really. You just... have to figure it out..." she says quietly, her voice trailing off.
Now you're confused. What did that possibly mean? "I, um... I don't understand," you say, scratching your chin thoughtfully.
She turns and smiles, but this time, it seems genuine. There's also a twinkle in her eyes, with a hint of mischief. "I suppose that's the thrill of waiting. I'll just keep waiting... I really don't mind..."
You sit up, scratching your head. What in Equestria was she talking about? This conversation had taken a turn that left you clear in the dust. "I really don't know what you mean, Fluttershy. Can you give me a hint, at least?"
She turns away, towards the fast-setting sun off to the west now, picking a daisy and plucking a petal from it. "I've been giving you hints..." she says without turning to you.
You carefully scoot your tea and plate of sandwiches aside and move over beside her, looking off into the distance. "Fluttershy, what are you talking about? I haven't gotten any hints from you about anything. All I know is lately you've been really quiet, asking me to come out here alone and very far from the other ponies. I don't understand."
She just keeps picking apart the daisy, staring down at it, her exquisite mane framing her face. "Exactly," she replies almost inaudibly. "I love being out here with you. Just... sitting here, enjoying the scenery, your presence, the quiescence... just waiting and watching the sky in peace..."
You cock your head to the side, brushing your mane from your eyes after it was thrown there by the wind that just blew through. "I love those things too, but you keep saying you're 'waiting.' Waiting for what...?" You lean forward a bit, trying to get a better glimpse of her face. You don't see any expression that gives away what she might mean -- just that same longing look in her eyes.
"I am waiting. I can wait a thousand hours if that's what it takes. I don't mind... I'll keep picking these flowers apart, too. Eventually you'll understand that I have things I want to say, things I want to just shout, but I can't... I just can't..." She sighs and lets the flower that was now stripped of petals fall to the ground and goes back to staring out across the waving, grassy fields mottled with the many vibrant colors of wildflowers. You follow her gaze and get to thinking again.
She keeps saying she's waiting, that eventually you'll understand. Understand what? You find yourself more confused than ever. You expected some clarity upon questioning her, but instead, she fed you these mysterious statements about waiting.
...Wait a minute.
A thought forces its way to the forefront of your mind. The plucking of petals, the waiting, taking you out further from the other ponies, the smiles, the eyes...
Your heart skips a beat when you come to a realization.
"Fluttershy," you croak, your throat suddenly dry as cotton. "Are you... waiting... for me...?"
She takes a deep breath, letting it go slowly and watching a pair of Baltimare orioles zoom overhead, off to their nest somewhere in the forest, no doubt. Finally, after an eternity of silence, she replies. "I've been waiting on you, yes..." she admits with the barest hint of a smile at the corner of her lips, glancing over at you through her mane, then immediately averting her eyes.
How could you be so oblivious? You facehoof, sighing heavily at your foolishness. It was now very clear to you what she wanted, what she'd been waiting on.
These picnics, far out from the presence of other ponies, were space for you and her. Space for you to finally ask her what she'd been waiting and working tirelessly for these past couple weeks.
How is it you missed this all until now? With the patience of a saint, she'd been trying so hard to get the message across to you, trying so hard, and you failed to catch the meaning behind it until now. For a moment, you felt terrible for the poor mare, but the resolution was simply to do what she'd been waiting on all this time.
And how did she know that you like her? It wasn't something you told anypony -- especially her, for that matter -- but yes, you had indeed developed a crush on her over time. But you always assumed she was either not interested or out of your league. Or both.
Then again, ponies don't get to pick who they fall in love with, it just happens. And things definitely aren't always what they seem, as this situation proves.
You peer curiously over at the shy pegasus, who was still looking off ahead into the fields, the warm, yellow glow of the sun highlighting the angelic features of her face as she holds her mane between her hooves and strokes it nervously.
Hoping it not to be too much too soon, you reach over and gently take her dainty left hoof in your right, and she stops stroking her mane to peek through it over at you, her gorgeous eyes searching yours, darting back and forth as a smile creeps across her face.
You grin warmly at her and give her a wink: "You don't have to wait anymore."
And just like that, she opens up like a flower once more, all those feelings of anxiety and sadness of having waited so long melting away instantaneously.
She scoots up closer to you, resting her head on your firm shoulder. For a moment, with this beautiful mare beside you, the fields of flowers and grass before you waving in the wind, and the yellow ball of light descending upon the horizon as it retreats for the onset of night, you feel like everything is okay. You feel no worry, no care. Nothing you'd ever experienced in life before this could compare to this moment, and by the way she was reacting, she clearly felt the same.
This was all she wanted, and you had deprived her of it for too long. You have a lot of making up to do.
And to think if you hadn't noticed her efforts, you wouldn't have been able to hold her soft, warm body close while watching the sun disappear below the horizon, the stars coming out to play as the blackness of night took over.
If you hadn't noticed, Fluttershy would've just kept waiting.
