Butterflies In Her Stomach

Chapters

Director's Cut: Chapter 1
Butterflies In Her Stomach

Director's Cut: Chapter 1

Butterflies In Her Stomach: Director's Cut: Chapter 1

Fluttershy wearily pushed the door to her cottage closed behind her, and let out a tired sigh. She carefully wriggled her way out of her brown vest, and folded it up so it would be ready to use again during next year’s Winter Wrap-Up.

“I think I’m starting to see why animals love to hibernate so much,” Fluttershy said to herself as she stored the vest in her closet. “I feel like I could sleep for a month.”

The closet door clicked shut, and Fluttershy screamed. A familiar pink mare had been standing behind the door, out of Fluttershy’s sight. “Hiya, Fluttershy!” Pinkie said cheerfully.

“Puh-Pinkie!” Fluttershy squeaked. “Wh-when did you get here?”

“Just a second ago!” Pinkie said, still grinning. “Sorry if I scared you!”

“It’s… it’s fine,” Fluttershy said as her heart rate started to go down to normal, not-terrified levels. “Um, is there something you need? I was just about to go to bed…”

Pinkie gasped. “Bed? Now?”

“It’s past midnight…”

“Actually, it’s eleven fifty-nine,” Pinkie said matter-of-factly. “Hold on, now it’s midnight. But that’s not the issue here!”

“Then what is the issue?” Fluttershy asked.

“Thanks to Twilight’s super-duper organizationismal skills, this is the earliest we’ve ever finished Winter Wrap-Up! Like, in the history of Ponyville! So, we’re celebrating with a brand new festival!” Pinkie announced. “Why would you want to be in bed when you could be PARTYING!”

“Because I’ve been working since sunrise…” Fluttershy said meekly.

“Irrelephant!” Pinkie snapped. “Come on, Fluttershy, why don’t you stop by for just a little while? It’ll be fun!”

“Pinkie, I don’t know…” Fluttershy said, trying not to meet her friend’s gaze.

“Pleeeaaaaassseee?” Pinkie begged, dropping to Fluttershy’s hooves and looking up at her with big, tear-filled, blue eyes. Fluttershy gulped, trying with all her might to resist, but it was no use.

Fluttershy sighed. “Just a little while, okay? I really would like to get some-”

“Awesome! Let’s go!” Pinkie said, not letting Fluttershy finish her sentence before grabbing her. Fluttershy felt an odd tugging sensation, as if her entire body was being pulled away by something, and then…

“Wh-wh-what?”

They were standing in the middle of Ponyville.

“Bu-but we were just… at my house… what just…” Fluttershy stammered, trying to make some sense of this new development.

“And now we’re here!” Pinkie said as if that explained everything. “So, what do you wanna do? We’ve got snacks, pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, dancing… Ooh, I bet you wanna dance!”

Fluttershy started looking at her surroundings. Yes, this was undoubtedly smack-dab in the center of Ponyville, which was, as Pinkie had said, in the middle of a festival. There were ponies milling about with smiles on their faces, a group of local musicians were on a raised stage plying their craft, a crowd of ponies dancing in time with the music… Pinkie had truly outdone herself.

“Um, I don’t know if I want to… I mean, I’m not very good at…” Fluttershy said, but was quickly drowned out by Pinkie’s over-exuberance.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’ll be fun! Wait right here, and I’ll get you somepony to dance with!” Pinkie said, hopping off into the crowds. Fluttershy’s eyes widened.

“S-somepony to d-d-dance with?” She repeated, her voice trembling. She gulped, and took a few deep, calming breaths. “M-maybe this won’t be so bad. I mean, Pinkie wouldn’t try to make me feel embarrassed on purpose…”

“I’m back! And look who I brought!” Pinkie announced, popping up behind Fluttershy. The pegasus squeaked in surprise, and turned around to face Pinkie and the pony she’d brought with her.

He was big, he was red, he was wearing a yoke, and Fluttershy knew exactly who he was.

In the space of a second, the blood in her veins turned to ice and fire, her heart thumped in her ears, and her heart dropped into her stomach.

Of all the ponies in Ponyville, Pinkie had to choose him.

“You remember Big Mac, right?” Pinkie asked, gesturing at the mountainous earth pony.

Fluttershy tried to say something, but the only thing that came out was a small squeak. She cast her gaze to her hooves, dead set on not meeting Big Macintosh’s eyes.

“Mac, you remember Fluttershy, don’t you?” Pinkie asked, turning her attention away from the terrified pegasus.

“Ee…” Big Mac’s voice came out at a higher pitch than he was accustomed to. He cleared his throat. “Eeyup.”

There was silence for a few moments. Pinkie glanced between the two ponies, noticing that Fluttershy was staring at the ground with an expression of both terror and embarrassment, and that Big Mac was idly kicking at the ground, looking everywhere but at Fluttershy.

“Oh-kay,” Pinkie finally said, smashing the silence apart. “No need for introductions, then, so I’ll just get out of your way so you can both start cuttin’ a rug! That is such a weird saying.”

And with that, she bounced away, only looking back once. She grimaced. “Pinkamena Diane Pie, methinks you may have reeeaaally figged up this time,” She said to herself.

The silence between Fluttershy and Big Macintosh dragged on for several minutes, but Fluttershy could have sworn it felt longer.

Finally, Big Macintosh broke the silence by clearing his throat again. “So, uh…” He said, choosing his words as carefully as he could. “It’s… been a while.”

“M…mhmm,” Fluttershy mumbled. “Since the, um, the blizzard.”

“Still mighty grateful for that, ma’am,” Big Mac said. His eyes widened. “I mean, uh, m-miss.”

“J-just Fluttershy’s fine,” Fluttershy said to the ground. “I-if you want to, I mean. I’m not saying you should call me Fluttershy, but…” She trailed off.

“A-alright, then,” Big Mac said. “Mi – uh, Fluttershy.”

There it was again. Fluttershy’s heart pumped harder than normal, and it felt like her stomach had dropped out of her body. All he’d done was say her name. How was he doing this to her?

The music stopped, and for a brief moment, Fluttershy was terrified she’d gone deaf. Then she heard the other dancers stomping in appreciation, and the band prepared to start their next song.

Up on the raised stage, one of the musicians, a blue earth pony with a bridged pair of eighth notes on his side, stepped forwards, a shining saxophone held in his hooves. With a practiced motion, he stood up on his hind legs, put his instrument to his lips, and started to play.

It was a soft, slow jazz number that Blues led the other musicians in playing, and Fluttershy noticed the crowd of dancers had all partnered up for a slow dance.

“So, uh,” Big Macintosh coughed. “I don’t think Miss Pinkie’s gon’ let us leave ‘til we get at least one dance, so…” He shakily held out a hoof to Fluttershy. “Sh-sh-shall we?”

Fluttershy peeked out from behind her mane, looking at Big Mac’s outstretched hoof as if it was an irate viper. Realizing that he had a point, she nodded uneasily, and put her hoof on top of his.

Once, when she was young, Fluttershy had accidentally flown through a storm cloud. Actually, it was more like she fell through a storm cloud. She could still remember how it had felt: as if every part of her body was made out of lightning, giving her goosebumps that didn’t fade away for hours.

Touching Big Macintosh felt almost exactly the same. Like a jolt of electricity running up her leg. But unlike the storm cloud incident, this felt good. And Fluttershy had no idea why.

“I’m n-not very good at dancing,” Fluttershy said, raising herself up to her hind legs.

“’S alright. I’m not much good m’self,” Big Macintosh said.

Fluttershy thanked the Fates that the music was slow; if they had been moving any faster, things would have gotten messy. Fluttershy’s legs wobbled, unused to standing like this, even less used to dancing, and in no way prepared for the strange effects of Big Macintosh. Fluttershy kept her eyes on the ground, and for the most part, so did Big Mac.

Fluttershy caught some motion out of the corner of her eye, and she glanced upwards briefly to see Big Macintosh slowly leaning towards her. Her heart promptly decided to stop beating.

Fluttershy’s mind was running at a mile a minute as she tried to process what was happening. ‘Oh goodness no what is he doing is he going to no of course not what do I do what do I do PANIC.’ With her decision made, she acted, and quickly pushed herself away from Big Mac, not thinking about the outcome.

Fluttershy teetered backwards and fell, landing on her back. She quickly opened her mouth to apologize, but she found that it was clamped shut at the sight of Big Macintosh similarly losing his balance and falling forwards.

‘So this is how it ends,’ Fluttershy thought as Big Mac fell slowly. ‘In my next life, I hope I’m born a turtle.’

She clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable impact. There was a pair of heavy clumps, and the sound of Big Macintosh sighing in relief. Fluttershy opened her eyes, confused as to why she wasn’t as flat as a flapjack.

Big Macintosh was standing over her, all four hooves on the ground. Fluttershy started breathing again. Of course he hadn’t fallen. It would have been easy for him to simply stop his fall with his front legs. And now he was standing over her, looking down at her with concern, and…

Th-thump.

“Y’ alright?” Big Mac asked, stepping away from Fluttershy so she could stand.

Fluttershy wanted to respond to the simple question, to tell him that she was perfectly fine, thank you, but she couldn’t. Her mouth was refusing to work for her. Her heart was trying to hammer itself out of her ribcage. Her face felt like it was on fire. She couldn’t pry her eyes away from meeting Big Macintosh’s gaze.

Her entire body was refusing to work, and it was all because of him.

Fluttershy made a snap decision. She flipped herself back up into a standing position, coiled her legs, spread her wings, and flew away as fast as she could. She didn’t look back as she tore away from the festival, making a beeline back home.

Fluttershy’s legs were still shaking, her tongue was still fumbling around, her heart was still

Th-thump

beating like a drum, and she was dead tired.

Whatever was going on with her, she would be able to find out after a good night’s rest. She’d probably feel better in the morning. Definitely.

Fluttershy lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling, her bloodshot eyes unblinking. Her heart was still thumping inside her chest with enough force to be externally visible, and morning light was streaming through the window.

It had been almost seven hours since she had run away from the dance. Fluttershy had been unable to get a second of sleep since then.

Fluttershy felt a small weight hop up onto the bed, jostling the mattress. A second later, Angel was standing next to her head, looking grouchy, as usual. He pointed at his wrist to bring her attention to the time, and then at his stomach, which chose that moment to gurgle.

Fluttershy sighed and sat up. “I’m coming, Angel,” She said, rolling out of bed. She bit back a yawn. “Just a minute, I’ll get you some breakfast.”

Angel scowled down at his food dish and the smattering of lettuce leaves within. He looked up at Fluttershy with disdain. His so-called ‘owner’ just sighed.

“I’m sorry, Angel, but I didn’t get much sleep last night,” She said tiredly. “Maybe I’m coming down with a cold? Yes, that would explain why I felt so weird last night.” Angel rolled his eyes, making it clear that he really didn’t care. “I should go see Nurse Redheart… no, I’m sure she’s busy, I don’t want to get in her way, and I’m not even sure I’m sick…” Again, Angel rolled his eyes so hard that he almost sprained something. “Oh, I know!”

Angel gave a start, surprised by the suddenness of Fluttershy jumping into action. She quickly left the kitchen, headed straight for the front door.

“I’ll be back in a little while, Angel,” She said as she pulled the door open. “I’m going to go see Twilight, so I should be back in an hour or so. Be good!”

The door clicked shut. Angel looked back at his dish full of plain lettuce.

Still scowling, he started to eat. But he did not enjoy it.

"Okay, run that by me again,” Twilight said, cracking open the book ‘Self-Diagnosis and You: You Don’t Have Cancer, Stop Panicking’.

“Okay, um, my heart was beating really hard,” Fluttershy said. Twilight flipped to a new page.

“Heavy heart palpitations,” She said. “What else?”

“I felt… clumsy. Like my legs didn’t want to work right,” Fluttershy said, shaking her legs as an example.

Twilight turned to another page. “Okay, loss of coordination, that’s good. Well, not really good, since you might be sick, but… Forget it. Anything else?”

Fluttershy creased her brow in thought. “Um, I felt tingly…” Flip flip flip. “A bit light-headed…” Flip flip flip. “It was like there was a rock in my belly…” Flip flip flip. “And I couldn’t sleep.”

“And are you feeling this right now?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy shook her head.

“No, it was just last night, when I was with…” Fluttershy trailed off into mumbling. “No, I’m not feeling it.”

“Well, according to the book, there’s two possibilities: first, you may have contracted an ancient illness that toppled empires in a matter of days…” Twilight said, reading from the book.

Fluttershy gulped. “Oh my. I certainly hope it’s not that. What’s the other one?”

“It just says ‘Lovesick. See also; in denial’,” Twilight read. She looked back at Fluttershy. “You said you felt this when, exactly?”

Fluttershy squeaked. “On second thought, maybe it is the empire-toppling one,” She decided, backing away towards the door. “I guess I’ll just g-go back home and wither away in peace so nopony has to share my f-”

A cloud of purple magic briefly surrounded Twilight, and she vanished with a pop, reappearing in a similar cloud behind Fluttershy. Fluttershy screamed in shock, and jumped away from Twilight. “D-don’t touch me! I m-might be contagious!”

“Fluttershy, if you actually had the Pinkish-Purple Plague, you would probably be dead right now,” Twilight said, smirking. “Now, come on, tell me what’s wrong.”

Fluttershy started to retreat behind her mane. “Nothing’s wrong, really, I just felt a bit under the weather after the party last night and-”

Twilight, grinning like she had won the lottery, stepped up to Fluttershy. “If you ask me, Fluttershy, I’d say that it sounds like you have a crush on somepony.”

Fluttershy’s eyes were wide with terror as she stammered out an answer. “I – no – muh-maybe – wait – no…” She dropped to the ground, throwing her forelegs over her head. “I don’t know,” She squeaked out. “I really, really don’t know.”

“Here you are,” Twilight said, placing a steaming cup of coffee in front of Fluttershy. “Do you want some sugar with that?”

“No, thank you,” Fluttershy said, staring at the cup. Twilight sat down across from her, and started adding some sugar to her own cup. She blew on it to cool it down, and took a careful sip.

“Are you sure you’re okay? I really didn’t mean to be so pushy, I was just…” Twilight was cut off by Fluttershy shaking her head.

“It’s fine. You… gave me a lot to think about,” She said. “I’ve never really had a crush before, but thinking back on it… I think you’re right.” She sighed, letting her head fall to the table’s surface. “I’ve g-got a crush on somepony.”

“Mind if I ask who the lucky pony is?” Twilight requested, taking another sip of her coffee.

“I think…” Fluttershy cleared her throat. “I mean, it’s just a guess, really, I’m not sure, but… B-b-big Macintosh.” She felt her face flush. She’d said it. Out loud. Actually said it. It felt like a heavy weight was lifted from her chest.

“Applejack’s brother?” Twilight said, her eyebrows lifted. “Wow, I never would have guessed.”

“It’s stupid, I know,” Fluttershy said. “He’s so big, so tough, and I’m so… not.”

“He’d be lucky to have you,” Twilight said, smiling. “Does he know?”

“Twilight, I didn’t know until a few minutes ago,” Fluttershy answered. “Not to mention that I’d have no idea what to do if he did know…”

“If you’re interested, I might have a few books lying around on the subject,” Twilight suggested, motioning to the many bookshelves lining Twilight’s office.

“Um, no offense, Twilight, but I don’t think this is a problem that can be solved by reading a book,” Fluttershy said, picking up her coffee cup. A few seconds after taking a delicate sip, her face scrunched up in distaste at the bitterness. “On second thought, I think some sugar would be a good idea.”

Twilight levitated two lumps of sugar out of the small dish on the tea tray, and dropped them into Fluttershy’s coffee. The pegasus whispered a quick ‘thank you’ and picked up a spoon to stir her drink. “You might have a point about that,” Twilight admitted as Fluttershy took another sip. “Most of the books contradict each other, anyway. This might be a problem that needs a more personal touch, like…” Twilight’s eyes brightened as an idea came to her. “Perhaps Rarity?”

“Mmm,” Fluttershy swallowed her mouthful of coffee. “That’s probably my best chance. Do you think she’ll be busy?”

“I have no idea,” Twilight said, shrugging. “But it can’t hurt to try, can it?”

“I suppose not,” Fluttershy said. “I guess I’ll be headed to Carousel Boutique, then. Um, after I finish this coffee, of course.”

“Will you please stop fidgeting?”

“Sorry. Not a fan o’ needles,” Big Macintosh said, keeping his eyes on the tiny bit of metal floating next to his shoulder. The fashionista peering at him through red horn-rimmed glasses rolled her eyes.

“You won’t have to worry about me accidentally jabbing you if you stop squirming,” Rarity said. “I can’t get any work done on my new ‘Large and In-Charge’ line of suits if my model won’t stand still.”

"Coulda gotten somepony else t' model for ya," Big Macintosh said, looking away from the needle.

"You're the only pony in town with the right build," Rarity said. "Besides, your sister said I could borrow you for as long as I need."

Big Macintosh groaned. She was right, of course. Apparently, Applejack had owed Rarity a favor, and the fashionista had chosen to cash that favor in to get Big Mac to model for her. He took a deep breath, and tried to focus on other, more important things while the fashionista worked. Future harvests, tools that needed repairing…

…Last night…

“Bit for your thoughts.”

Big Macintosh was snapped out of his thoughts by the sudden statement. “Beg pardon?”

“You just looked like you were thinking about something. Care to share?” Rarity asked, not looking up from her work. Big Mac shook his head.

“Nope,” He said simply.

“It wouldn’t happen to be related to the… events of last night, would it?” Rarity asked.

“Y’ saw that?” Big Macintosh asked, already knowing the answer. Rarity nodded.

“Darling, half the town saw it,” Rarity said, laughing. “Oh, don’t worry, I won’t hold your dancing skills against you.”

“Ain’t my business what town thinks o’ me,” Big Mac said. “I know darn well I got four left hooves. It don’t bother me none.”

“Then why look so glum?” Rarity asked. Mac shook his head.

“Don’t wanna talk about it,” He said. “Ain’t nopony’s problem but mine.”

“That’s a good philosophy to have, I suppose,” Rarity said. “Can you lift your right leg, please?” Big Macintosh lifted his front right leg. “No, no, your other right.” He put that leg down and lifted his back right leg off the ground. “Thank you. Now, don’t move.”

Rarity returned to her work, diligently taking measurements off Big Macintosh’s back leg, and mumbling to herself as she wrote down the proportions. She continued in silence for a few more minutes.

“Say, Miss Rarity?” Big Macintosh asked, breaking the silent spell.

“I’m almost done here, darling. Just a few more minutes, then you can head straight home,” Rarity said, wrapping the measuring tape around his withers.

“Wasn’t wonderin’ ‘bout that, honestly. Jus’ wanted t’ ask ya a quick question,” Big Macintosh said, as if he was carefully choosing his words.

“Go right ahead,” Rarity answered.

“You an’ Miss Fluttershy ‘re close, right?” Big Mac asked. Rarity nodded, as if motioning for him to continue. “She… ain’t th’ type t’ hold a grudge, is she?”

“About what? Your near-miss last night?” Rarity gave a bell-like laugh. “I truly don’t think she knows the meaning of the word. If anything, she’s probably blaming…” Rarity’s needle stopped moving. The fashionista looked at the farmer quizzically. “Hold on. I thought you just said that you didn’t care what ponies thought about you.”

Big Macintosh gulped so hard he accidentally swallowed the sprig of hay in his mouth. “I, uh, don’t.”

“Then why does it matter if Fluttershy holds a grudge against you or not?” Rarity asked, circling around Big Mac so she could look him straight in the eye.

“It d-d-don’t,” Big Macintosh said, taking a sudden interest in everything in the room that wasn’t Rarity. “Jus’ curious is all.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Rarity said, forcefully turning Big Mac’s head so he was looking straight at her. The big red farmer suddenly found himself terrified of the ladylike fashionista and the look in her eyes. “You say you don’t care about what the town thinks of you, but what makes Fluttershy the exception to that rule?”

“N-nothin’,” Big Macintosh said, shrinking away from the unicorn. He was convinced that if he listened closely, he would be able to hear the millions of small, gilded cogs in the socially-gifted unicorn’s mind as she took the known variables and fit them together to find an answer to this discrepancy.

Rarity threw a hoof over her mouth and gasped as realization struck like lightning. “Of course!” She yelled “I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner! You’re in love with her!”

Big Macintosh winced. “How th’ hay did y-”

“Please, darling, you’re as easy to read as a cheap paperback. You were stammering. In all the time I have known you, you have never stammered,” Rarity said simply.

“Ya got that from my stammerin’?”

“Among other things, yes,” Rarity said. “But, oh, this is fantastic! Completely unexpected! So much like a romance novel! Darling, you have got to tell me everything!”

“Ma’am, yer actin’ worse’n Apple Bloom on Hearth’s Warmin’,” Big Macintosh said, rubbing his face. “Consarnit, I can’t believe this. Jus’… jus’ keep it quiet, please? I don’t want this gettin’ out.”

“Oh, you don’t want anypony ‘spilling the beans’ before you do, as it were?” Rarity asked, nudging Big Mac in the ribs. “Perfectly understandable. She won’t hear a peep from me about it.”

“I ain’t plannin’ on spillin’ th’ beans,” Big Macintosh said. “I don’t want ‘er t’ know.”

Rarity’s face fell like a sack of bricks. “You what?”

“I don’t plan on tellin’ her that I might be in love with ‘er,” Big Mac stated. “’Sides, it’d never work ‘tween us. I wouldn’t know what t’ do.”

“So you’re not even going to try?” Rarity asked incredulously. Big Macintosh just shook his head.

“Nope.”

Rarity stared at him as if he had just proclaimed that nylon was superior to silk in every manner. She opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, then closed her mouth. She let out a deep sigh, and lifted her red glasses off her face. “Oh,” She said. “You fool.”

“Huh?” Big Macintosh grunted.

“You’re a fool, Macintosh Apple. A simple fool,” Rarity said, setting her glasses aside. “Take off that silly tuxedo. I’m done measuring, and we need to have a serious talk.”

Big Macintosh couldn't help but feel the slightest bit out of place as he sat in Rarity’s parlor. There was no way around it: the furniture had been designed with a smaller pony in mind. The table only went up to his knee.

“Are you certain you don’t want any?” Rarity asked, waving the teapot under Big Macintosh’s nose. “It’s Earl Neigh…”

“Not a fan o’ tea, thanks,” The farmer said, pushing the floating teapot away.

“Ah, well. More for me, I suppose,” Rarity decided, filling her own teacup. “Do you want anything else? I’m certain I have something around here that would be to your tastes.”

“I jus’ wanna get this finished an’ head home,” Big Macintosh admitted. “Ya kinda grabbed me in th’ middle o’ doin’ my chores.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be as brief as I can,” Rarity promised, leaning back in her red sofa as she brought her teacup to her lips. “I’m just hoping to convince you to stop being such an unromantic fool and try talking to Fluttershy.”

“It’s not yer concern, ma’am,” Big Macintosh said. “I don’t tell you how t’ life yer life, an’ I’d like it if you did th’ same with me.”

Rarity’s teacup returned to its saucer. “I am not telling you to do anything. This is merely a bit of friendly advice, darling,” She said, adjusting her position on the sofa. “And my advice is this: There has never been an issue that was solved by pretending it did not exist. You’re doing yourself no favors by keeping quiet about it, Macintosh.”

“I got my reasons fer not tellin’ ‘er,” Big Macintosh said. “Main one bein’ that I’m too busy on th’ farm t’ have time fer romance…”

Rarity let out a bell-like laugh. “That’s no excuse. My parents met while my mother was pursuing her doctorate in pre-Discordian history and my father was the star quarterback of the Ponyville Plows,” She said. “They made time in their schedules for one another. And if you were to ask them now if they felt it was the right choice, well, they’ve been happily married for twenty-five years. That should be answer enough.”

“Studyin’ an’ hoofball ain’t the same as farmwork,” Big Macintosh argued. “Ya gotta work day in an’ day out…”

“And yet here you are, sitting with me in my parlor and having a lovely conversation,” Rarity said. “No, I can tell there’s something you’re not telling me. It’s not time you’re worried about at all, is it? Are you scared, Macintosh?”

Big Macintosh’s brow furrowed. “I got nothin’ t’ be scared of,” He said firmly.

Rarity sat up, conducting herself with poise as she addressed the muscular farmer. “Macintosh Apple, I cannot help you if you continue lying to me,” She said, her stare steely and resolute. “I am going to give you a choice. You can either stay here, tell me the truth, and listen to what I have to say with an open mind, or…” She turned her head towards the door. “…You can leave this room, go home, finish your chores, and spend the rest of your life asking yourself ‘what if’.”

Big Macintosh fell completely and utterly silent. His eyes were pointed at the door, but Rarity was certain that he wasn’t looking at it. She could see the inner conflict raging inside him. The only thing keeping the big red pony from leaving was a single thought: ‘What if she’s right?’

For five long minutes, the silence continued. Rarity waited patiently, sipping at her tea every so often.

Finally, Big Macintosh closed his eyes, and hung his head. “I’m afraid o’ what might happen,” He said in a heavy voice. “What if I tell ‘er? What if she don’t feel th’ same way about me? What if…” Big Macintosh swallowed past the lump that had formed in his throat. “What if she does feel th’ same way?” He looked up at Rarity, his eyes pleading for an answer.

“What harm is there in trying?” Rarity asked. “You don’t have to propose to her. Just ask her out to lunch, or a picnic, or whatever you feel like. Just ask her.”

Big Mac rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t even know what I’d say,” He said.

Rarity smiled, reaching out to pat the earth pony on the shoulder. “You can cross that bridge when you…”

Knock knock knock.

Rarity’s ears perked up at the tiny sound of hoof against wood coming from downstairs. Rarity knew exactly one pony that would knock on a door with a sign that said, in large, red letters, ‘Come In, We’re OPEN.’

The fashionista fought to contain the grin working its way across her face. “Excuse me for a moment,” She said, hopping off the sofa. “I’d best go see who’s at the door.”

Only after the parlor door was closed behind her did Rarity let herself grin like a mischievous cat.

The welcoming bell rang as Rarity pulled the front door open. “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique,” She recited. “Where everything is chiq, unique, and magnifique.”

“Good morning, Rarity,” The yellow pegasus waiting outside said quietly. “Are you busy?”

“Why, Fluttershy! What a surprise to see you!” Rarity lied, still grinning. “Oh, I assure you, I am quite free! Come in, come, come!” Rarity pulled her dear friend inside and closed the door, making sure to flip the sign to the side that read ‘CLOSED’. “It’s been so long since we’ve had a nice chat, darling.”

“…I talked to you yesterday during Winter Wrap-Up,” Fluttershy corrected her, sounding unsure of herself.

“Oh, but it’s felt like a long time, and that’s what matters,” Rarity said, dragging Fluttershy upstairs. “We simply must catch up. I was just having tea with another visitor in the parlor – do you like Earl Neigh?”

“You have another visitor? I can come back later, if you’d like…” Fluttershy suggested. Rarity clicked her tongue at that.

“Nonsense, dear; the more the merrier, as they say. Besides…” Rarity waved her horn, and the door to the parlor swung open. “We were just talking about you.”

Two pairs of eyes, one green, one blue, met. Two sets of lungs drew in a sharp breath. Two throats clenched, two hearts thundered, two minds temporarily shut down.

“I believe you two are acquainted?” Rarity asked rhetorically, still grinning like mad. “Fluttershy, Big Macintosh. Big Macintosh, the proverbial bridge.”

No response from the earth pony. His jaw was working up and down, but nothing was coming out of his mouth.

‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have tried to push things along this hard,’ Rarity thought. Realizing she was going to get nothing out of Macintosh, Rarity turned her attention to Fluttershy.

“Aren’t you going to say ‘hello’, Flutter-” Rarity’s train of thought stopped dead once she got a good look at Fluttershy’s face. She was as red as a ripe beet.

‘No,’ Rarity thought, disbelieving. Her eyes scanned over Fluttershy. Her friend’s pupils were the size of small beads, and her heartbeat was actually visible. ‘No. Fates above, she can’t possibly be… can she?’

“Fluttershy? Are you feeling alright, dear?” Rarity asked in a hushed voice. Fluttershy shook her head with tiny, barely-noticeable motions. “I see. Will you excuse us for a moment? Thank you.” Not waiting for Big Macintosh’s reply, Rarity dragged Fluttershy out of the room by her tail, slamming the door shut behind her. As soon as the door was closed, Fluttershy started moving again.

“I’m sorry I think I might be coming down with a cold I’ll talk to you later Rarity,” Fluttershy said in one breath, trying to walk away on shaking legs.

“Oh no you don’t,” Rarity said, jumping in front of her. “Fluttershy, it is very important that you answer me honestly: are you in love with Big Macintosh?”

Fluttershy’s jaw dropped. “H-h-how did you…”

“And did you come to me for advice?” Rarity hissed. Fluttershy bit her bottom lip, and nodded. “Good. Here’s my advice, then. Wait. Here.” Without another word, Rarity tore past Fluttershy, nearly tearing the door to the parlor off its hinges in her haste to get inside. She closed the door, and ran up to Big Mac, who was still recovering from the shock.

“Macintosh Apple, listen to me and listen well,” Rarity said, putting her front hooves on Big Macintosh’s shoulders. “This. Is. Your. Chance. Get out there this instant and talk to Fluttershy.”

“But what if…” Big Macintosh started, but Rarity cut him off with a sharp blow to the skull.

“If she says no I will eat every piece of clothing in this building,” She said urgently. “Just go.”

Big Macintosh blinked. “I don’t even know what t’ say…”

“I can’t help you with that. Just act natural,” Rarity said, stepping aside and pointing at the door. “She’s not going to wait forever, you know.”

“I jus’… don’t think I’m ready,” Big Macintosh said, shifting uncomfortably. “Y’ can’t push this sorta thing along-”

“Macintosh, I know both of you. If I don’t give you at least a little push, neither of you will do anything,” Rarity said. “Just be yourself. That’s the only advice I can give you for this part.”

“Hold on, ‘neither o’ us’?” Big Mac repeated. Rarity growled.

“Are you going to keep stalling for time?” Rarity asked impatiently. “Because I can go out there and ask her to leave.”

“No! No, yer right, its jus’…” Big Mac took a deep breath. “Sure she won’t…?” Rarity just nodded in response. “Alrighty, then.”

He drew in another breath, and took the first step towards the door.

Fluttershy shifted from side to side, a thousand answerless questions racing through her head. Why was Big Macintosh here? Why was he having tea with Rarity? How had Rarity known what she’d wanted to talk about? Why had she been told to wait outside?

…Why had they been talking about her?

These questions, as well as most other conscious thought, left her mind in an instant following the sound of the parlor door opening again. A massive, red shape filled the doorway, before stepping through and closing the door. Big Macintosh stood before her, tall, strong, and about as nervous as Angel on bath day.

“M-mornin’, ma’am,” He said, dipping his head. Fluttershy fought to compose herself.

“Um, good morning,” She said in a tiny voice. She congratulated herself internally; she’d been able to get out a full sentence, more or less.

“I, uh,” Big Macintosh coughed. “Wanted t’ apologize. ‘Bout last night.”

“I-it wasn’t your fault,” Fluttershy responded, surprising herself even further. “It was mine. I… panicked, and thought you were going to…” Fluttershy stopped there. She couldn’t bring herself to continue that sentence.

“Still thought I should apologize,” Big Macintosh said, scratching the back of his head. “I-I was thinkin’. That, uh, I should make it up t’ ya somehow.”

The farmer cleared his throat, his face a healthy shade of pink. Fluttershy thought to herself that she should tell him that it was unnecessary, but something told her that she should let him finish.

“D’ you… wanna have lunch together sometime?”

There was a moment of complete silence, and for Fluttershy, the world slowed to a crawl. She could see fat beads of sweat rolling down the farmer’s neck and collecting on his yoke. She could see the undisguised terror and hope in his eyes, the way he tensed his entire body as if bracing himself, the agitated twitching of his tail.

For a brief, wonderful second, Fluttershy truly saw Big Macintosh Apple.

Her answer was obvious.

“Okay.”

A pearl of warmth blossomed in Fluttershy’s chest. She’d said it. She hadn’t stammered, she hadn’t whispered, she’d just looked him straight in the eye and said it. And it felt so right.

If Fluttershy had listened closely, she would have been able to hear a squeal coming from the parlor.

Big Macintosh blinked at her. “D-did you jus’ say…”

“M-mhmm.”

Big Macintosh’s face broke out into the widest smile that Fluttershy had ever seen him make. “That’s – uh, g-great! Erm, I mean,” He wiped the smile off his face, returning to his usual well-composed expression. “Good. That’s good. So, uh…”

“I’m, I’m free Thursday,” Fluttershy suggested. “I-if that’s alright with you, of course.”

“Thursday’s fine,” Big Macintosh said. “I know a good place out in th’ woods. F-for a picnic.”

“O-okay,” Fluttershy said. “That sounds – nice.”

“I’ll jus’… drop by your place ‘round noon, I reckon?” Big Macintosh asked.

“O-okay.”

The two ponies fell silent, neither knowing what to say at this point. Thankfully, the mastermind behind these events did.

“Then it’s a date!” Rarity announced, suddenly appearing between the nascent couple. Fluttershy squeaked in terror, and Big Macintosh took a small step backwards. They hadn’t even noticed the parlor door opening. “Now, Macintosh, I’m afraid I’ve kept you for far too long. I’m certain your sister needs you back at the farm-”

“Wha-”

“Just go,” Rarity hissed to him, so low that Fluttershy could barely hear her. “You have a date, don’t drag the conversation on any longer. Trust me.”

“I – a-alright,” Big Macintosh said, realizing that Rarity was correct. “Then, uh, I’ll see you Thursday, mi – I mean, Fluttershy.”

“O-okay,” Fluttershy said as the large stallion walked past her. “B-bye.”

Fluttershy and Rarity were silent as they listened to the sound of the farmer’s heavy hoofsteps going down the stairs, and moments later, the tiny ringing of the welcome bell as the door was opened.

As soon as she heard the front door closing, Rarity let out a piercing squeal as a look of pure glee passed over her face, hopping up and down in a way reminiscent of Pinkie Pie.

“I can’t believe that worked! I can’t believe that worked!” She crowed, bouncing around Fluttershy. “I thought it would take him weeks, I tell you! Weeks!”

Fluttershy’s eyes were empty as her mind finally realized what she had done. The pegasus sat down. “I,” She said. “I have a date.”

“Hmm?” Rarity stopped jumping. “Sorry, dear?”

“I have a date,” Fluttershy said, turning to Rarity, her eyes still empty. “I have a date.”

“…Are you alright?” Rarity asked.

“I have a date.”

“We’ve established that.”

“I have a date.”

“Yes, dear, you’ve said that.”

“I have a date.”

“Oh, for goodness sake,” Rarity rolled her eyes. “It’s just a date, Fluttershy. No need to be so panicked.”

“I’ve never been on a date before,” Fluttershy said. “And now I have one.”

“You’ve never been on a – of course. I shouldn’t be so surprised,” Rarity said, shaking her head. “No need to worry, darling, I’ll be more than happy to help you get ready. Let’s see, I’ll need to design a dress. Something casual, not too fancy, but not boring, no. I’m thinking…”

She kept on talking, but Fluttershy couldn’t hear her. In her mind, there was only one, simple truth.

“I have a date.”

Big Macintosh stood outside the Carousel Boutique, staring out into nothingness.

“I’ve got a date,” He said to himself. “I’ve got a date.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“I’ve got a date.”

That simple thought on his mind, he began the walk home, a happy spring in his step.

Author's Note

Part one of the first year anniversary rewrite of Butterflies In Her Stomach. I changed a lot of things from the original, as you could probably tell. Originally, the plan was for this to be its own story, but that got ixnayed when I say that it's against site rules to post a rewrite as its own story. So I thought, what the heck, I'll just put it on the original as a new chapter. Boom, problem solved.

Anyway, the next chapter is going to be released, um, when it's finished. Which might be a while, since I'm back at college now. But rest assured, I'm working on it. Just not, you know, very quickly.

Hey, I'm a college student. I'm 'busy'.

PS: Have you read My Little Mages? Please read My Little Mages.

Oh, whatever. Leave a comment, if it pleases you.

Butterflies In Her Stomach

Butterflies in Her Stomach
By Wragnaroq
Cover Image by deviantART's Whitestar1802, used with permission.
I do NOT own MLP: FiM. This may or may not be a good thing.

“Winter Wrap-up, Winter Wrap-uuuup…” Twilight sang to herself as she made her way to bed. Twilight’s second Winter Wrap-up since arriving in Ponyville had been an overwhelming success. With Twilight orchestrating the events, things had been as precise as a well-made watch. The Wrap-up had been finished just a little bit before midnight, making it the fastest Wrap-up that Ponyville had seen in years. For Twilight, it had been one of the most tiring days of her life, and just the thought of lying down on the cushions and letting sleep take her was enough to drive her…

“Hey Twilight! Whatcha doin’?”

Oh, not now.

Twilight groaned. “Pinkie, I’m not going to ask why you’re here. I am just going to keep walking as if I had not heard you and go straight to sleep.” The eternally hyper pink pony gasped, covering her mouth with one hoof.

“You… you’re going to bed?! Even with what I have planned for pulling off Ponyville’s most successful Winter Wrap-up since forever?”

Twilight’s eye started to twitch. “Pinkie, if the next words out of your mouth involve ‘party’, I swear…”

“Party?” Pinkie repeated, dumbfounded. “Silly Twilight! Parties are so beneath me!” She said, patting the unicorn on the head. Twilight couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at this statement.

“Really,” She said sarcastically.

“Well, duh! When Pinkie Pie plans something, it’s only one thing, Twilight!”

Suddenly, they were outside.

“A PAR-TAY!”

“What just… where… wha… huh?” Twilight could only stammer. They were standing in the middle of the town center, in the middle of the biggest party Twilight had ever seen. Of course, at this point, it could hardly be called a ‘party’; it was more along the lines of a ‘festival’.

“We ain’t sleepin’ ‘til the sun starts peepin’!” Pinkie cheered, hopping off to places unknown. Twilight was still trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened.

“What… what is this? I… I don’t even…”

A lock of hair sprung up from Twilight’s mane. She swiftly decided that she needed a drink.

While Twilight tried to take her mind off of Pinkie’s latest impossible antic, the party was still in full swing. Of course, the mass of the party was in the town square, which was almost completely filled with dancing ponies. Not long after Twilight decided to drown her confusion in drink, two ponies suddenly appeared almost exactly where Pinkie Pie had suddenly brought Twilight.

"A PAR-TAY!" Pinkie shouted again. The pony with her, a yellow pegasus with a light-pink mane, looked around in confusion.

"Pinkie, how did we get here?" Fluttershy asked as politely as she could. "We were just at my cottage..."

"Details, details!" Pinkie said.

"I, um, I'm sorry, Pinkie, but I was trying to go to sleep when you showed up... I'd love to stay, but I really need to..." Fluttershy said, trying to move away from the pink pony. She was only stopped by the sheer force of Pinkie’s pouting.

“You… you don’t like the party?” Pinkie asked tearfully. Her mane had started to deflate a bit.

“Oh, no, it’s not that I don’t like it, it’s a good party, I just really want to go to bed…”

Pinkie’s mane instantly inflated to its full poofiness upon hearing Fluttershy’s praise. “Aw, come on, Fluttershy! You can’t leave without having at least one dance!” Pinkie said.

“But I…”

“Pleeeeaaassseee?” Pinkie begged, looking at Fluttershy with the wateriest eyes she could manage. Fluttershy sighed, defeated.

“Okay, just one dance,” She decided. Pinkie whooped in triumph, then dragged Fluttershy back into the crowd.

“You wait right here! I’ll go get you a partner!” Pinkie said, bouncing off in search of another pony who looked in need of a dancing partner. A few seconds later, she returned, dragging a large red stallion behind her.

“You two have fun now! Auntie Pinkie sees some other ponies not dancing!” Pinkie said, shoving the two together and then bouncing off to find another pony she decided was idling at the edge of the crowd. Fluttershy and the red stallion watched her go, still not sure what had just happened. The stallion cleared his throat.

“Erm… e-evenin’, Fluttershy. It’s been a while,” The stallion said, trying to strike up a conversation. There was a slight pinkish tint to his face.

“E-evening, um, Big Macintosh,” Fluttershy said, trying to hide her own blush. “Um, how’s Belle doing?”

“Aw, she’s doin’ fine, thanks t’ you…”

“I DON’T SEE MUCH DANCING, YOU TWO!” Pinkie’s voice wafted over the crowd. Big Mac and Fluttershy glanced at each other. Finally, Big Mac held out a hoof to her.

“Erm, care to dance, ma’am?” He asked. Fluttershy blushed, but she set her hoof on top of Big Macintosh’s all the same. Her heart fluttered inside her chest as she did so.

“I’m, um, not very good at dancing,” Fluttershy admitted, standing up on her back legs. He did the same, and set his other massive hoof on her shoulder, while trying to stay balanced.

“’S alright. Ah’m not much good mahself,” He said. The pair started to move awkwardly, neither being very used to standing on their hind legs.

The band, a small assortment of musicians from the Canterlot Royal Orchestra that Pinkie had called in, were playing a type of song that Fluttershy honestly didn’t know the name of. It was slow, which was good, because Fluttershy worried that if she and Big Mac tried to dance any faster than what they were doing now, it would probably end up with one of them on the ground.

They kept on dancing for a few minutes, their eyes glued to their hooves, too frightened of what would happen if they looked away for even a moment. The minutes passed by without incident, until an urge struck Big Macintosh.

It was an innocent little urge, something that Big Mac had barely any control over. It simply occurred to him in a moment of weakness, and he acted on it almost instantly. In retrospect, it was a very, very bad idea. But Big Mac didn’t think that at the moment.

He tried to… he didn’t know what to call it. He’d seen it in movies before, where the stallion sort of leaned forward, and his dancing partner leaned back, then the stallion pulled her back up and they kept dancing.

Big Mac learned three things at that moment.

First, that move was a bit of an advanced move.

Second, balancing on two legs was not easy.

Third, when pulling off that move, it helps if the partner is also an advanced dancer.

Fluttershy turned a deep shade of red when she saw the stallion leaning in. ‘Oh goodness no is he trying to kiss me I’m not ready for this what should I do what should I do what should I do PANIC,’ She thought, misinterpreting Big Mac’s actions as being a bit more romantic than they were trying to be. She pushed away from the stallion immediately, not thinking about what would happen when she did so.

Both ponies lost their balance. Fluttershy, having been pushing herself away from Big Mac, fell backwards, landing on her back. Big Mac, having suddenly lost his support, fell forwards, straight at Fluttershy.

‘So this is how it ends,’ Fluttershy thought as Big Mac fell. ‘In my next life, I hope I’m born a turtle.’

With a heavy thwump, Big Mac hit the ground next to Fluttershy, having narrowly avoided hitting her by turning his body while he was falling. “Ouch,” He noted. “Y’ alright, ma’am?” He asked, looking over at Fluttershy.

“I… I… I… I…” Fluttershy gulped, “Y-yes…”

“Well, that’s good, at least,” Big Mac said, standing up and holding out a hoof to the fallen pegasus. “Right sorry ‘bout that. Ah… Ah honestly don’t know what came over me.” Fluttershy glanced between the massive stallion and the hoof he was offering her.

Th-thump.

She finally accepted his help, using his hoof to help her stand back up.

“Sure y’re alright?” Big Mac asked again.

“Oh, of course I’m alright, thank you. I’m… I’m sorry, but I really do have to go now. It was, um, um, um, n-nice dancing with you, Mister Big Macintosh,” Fluttershy said. She turned around, quickly taking off and fleeing from the scene. She couldn’t bear to look him in the eye. If she did, she felt like she might pass out from embarrassment.
Why did thinking about him make her feel so… so odd?

The next day…

"Okay, Fluttershy, you can do this. No turning back. Twilight is the smartest pony ever, she'll definitely be able to help..." Fluttershy said to herself as she stood in front of the door to the Books and Branches Library. She lifted a hoof and knocked carefully. A few moments later, the door opened, revealing a purple, tired-looking unicorn. "Um, good morning, Twilight. I hope I didn't wake you..." Fluttershy said apologetically.

"It's no problem, Fluttershy. I didn't get much sleep anyway. Is there something you need?" Twilight asked, standing aside to let Fluttershy enter the library.

“I just have a question I wanted to ask you, if it's no problem," Fluttershy said, walking into the library. “I'm planning on asking the others as well, but I came to you first because you’re the smartest pony that I know, and there’s a lot of books here, this being a library and all, so I just wanted to ask you, um…” Fluttershy blushed. “What is… love?”

“Love?”

“Yes. I-is that weird that I’m asking about this? Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ll just… I’ll just leave,” Fluttershy said, making for the door. Twilight stopped her.

“Wait here a moment. I’ll be right back,” She said, and in a poof of purple magic, she teleported to another part of the library, already pulling a book off the top shelf. “Let’s see here, love, love, l-o-v-e… here we are,” She said, leafing through a heavy book. “Hoofster’s Dictionary defines love as ‘an intense feeling of deep affection’, such as what a mother would feel for her newborn. What else do we have…”

She teleported away again, searching through several more shelves until she found what she was looking for. “‘On Love’, by Stendhoof, says that there are four different types of love. I think there’s some more books here…” She continued pulling books off the shelves, listing titles and authors that Fluttershy had never heard of, then deposited them in a pile in front of Fluttershy. She was obviously on a roll.

After a few more minutes of searching, and several more books, Twilight finally stopped, with a veritable mountain of books on the ground in front of Fluttershy. "I think that these are all the books we have on love. I've read all of them, so I can give you the basic run-down if you'd like...”

“You don’t know what love is, do you?” Fluttershy asked.

“…Beyond definitions? No, not really.”

Fluttershy sighed. “Sorry I wasted your time.”

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, where the sugar is super-duper-luper! Oh, hi Fluttershy! How was your dance with Big Mac last night?” Pinkie Pie asked as soon as Fluttershy opened the door to the sweet shop. Somehow, Pinkie looked just as chipper as she always did, despite having gotten maybe ten minutes of sleep after cleaning up the party.

“It was, um, it was fine,” Fluttershy said, flushing a little bit. Pinkie Pie leaned over the counter, coming almost nose-to-nose with Fluttershy.

“Then whydja run off so quick, huh?” She asked, her eyes staring into Fluttershy’s soul. Fluttershy squeaked and shrank away from Pinkie.

“It’s, um, it’s a long story,” Fluttershy said. “I just came here because I have a question I wanted to ask you, and I know I’m probably going to regret it… um, Pinkie, what is love?”

Pinkie fell completely silent.

“Oh, I don’t know…” She said.

“Okay, sorry to waste your time…” Fluttershy said, about to turn around and leave.

“What can I do? What else can I say, it’s uuup to you…” Pinkie continued. She was singing now.

“Pinkie? What are you…”

Pinkie popped away from the counter, reappearing at Fluttershy’s side with a hoof around her shoulder. “I know we’re one, just me and you! Give me a sign!”

She started to bob her head up and down. “WHAT IS LOVE! Baby, don’t hurt me, don’t hurt meeee… no more!”

“Pinkie?”

“WHAT IS LOVE!”

At this point, Pinkie started hopping around the store, still bobbing her head and singing. Fluttershy quietly saw herself out.

“Excuse me, Rainbow?”

“Hrm? Wha?” Rainbow Dash grunted, picking her head up from the cloud she had been resting on. Fluttershy was hovering next to her.

“Can I ask you a quick question, please?”

“Mh, fine. What is it?”

“Well, um, what do you think love is?”

“A nice mid-morning nap on a soft cloud.”

“I don’t think that’s…”

Too late. Rainbow Dash was already asleep again.

Fluttershy went to Sweet Apple Acres next, hoping to ask Applejack while avoiding her brother and the source of her discomfort. After a few minutes of searching, she found AJ in the barn, setting aside a bale of hay.

“What is love? Well, can’t say Ah ever expected you to ask that, sugarcube,” Applejack said.

“So, what do you think it is?” Fluttershy asked.

“Ah don’t know mahself, but my ma, Apple Sauce, told me that when she first met my pa, Orange Juice, up in Manehattan, she heard a full choir o’ angels playin’ banjos. Does that help?”

“Um, no.”

“Shoot, sugarcube, that’s all Ah got. Ah’m sorry, but Ah really don’t think that Ah’m exactly the number one pony to ask about love. Have ya thought about askin’ Rarity? If any pony in Ponyville would know what love is, it’d be her.”

“Okay, thank you very much,” Fluttershy said, standing up and moving for the barn door. “I was going to go visit her right…”

“Applejack, have you seen th’…”

Fluttershy froze solid. Big Macintosh had just rounded the corner, and now stood in the large doorway.

“Oh! Mi-miss Fluttershy!” Big Mac said. There was a slight pinkish tint to his face that nopony but Applejack picked up on. Fluttershy, at a loss for words, squeaked.

“Erm, is there somethin’ wrong? You jus' ran off last night ‘fore Ah could apologi…” Big Mac was cut off when Fluttershy ran past him.

“I’m very, very sorry but I have to go now! Bye Applejack!” She belted before taking to the air. Big Macintosh watched her leave, barely even noticing Applejack walking up to him, a skeptical look on her face.

“Can’t say Ah’ve ever seen that pony act that shy before,” She said. “What happened last night? Anythin’ Ah should know ‘bout?”

“Nnope. N-nothin’ at all,” Big Mac said, failing to hide his blush. “Ah’ve, uh, Ah’ve got some chores t’ finish up. ‘Scuse me.” And he walked very quickly away from the scene.

Applejack narrowed her eyes. Fluttershy had suddenly gotten very curious about love, her brother had started acting like a schoolcolt, and to top it all off, he’d been blushing. Something was up.

Rarity was completely silent as Fluttershy asked her question. She let out a deep breath. “Just a moment, dear,” She said. All the various items she had been levitating around the boutique flew back to their usual resting places, the mannequine that bore her latest dress was pushed off to the side, and her red glasses were neatly placed on a table.

“Alright, now that I am unburdened… Could you repeat that?” Rarity asked when all was done.

“Rarity, do you know what love feels like?” Fluttershy asked again.

“Hmm… I’d say that love feels like…” Rarity paused, at a loss for words. “I’m not really sure how to describe it, in all honesty. Now, can I ask you a question?”

Fluttershy nodded.

“Why do you want to know?” Rarity asked.

“Um… what?”

“Fluttershy, darling, when a mare comes to her best friend asking about what love feels like, that usually means that she thinks she’s feeling it, but isn’t sure,” Rarity said matter-of-factly. “So? Care to tell me who the lucky pony is?”

“It’s, um, it’s nopony important…” Fluttershy said. It felt like her face was about to actually catch fire. Rarity had seen through her like she was made out of glass.

“Does he have a crimson red coat? An orange mane with the texture and smell of straw? Legs that could kick the Princess to the moon? A jaw that could crack walnuts? A name that starts with a ‘B’ and ends with an ‘Ig Macintosh’?” Rarity asked, leaning into her friend.

Fluttershy’s pupils dilated.

“H-how?”

“Why, I saw you two ‘dancing’ last night, although I’d hardly call that dancing. And might I say, you chose quite well,” Rarity purred. “That Macintosh is a stud.”

“I didn’t ch-ch-choose him. Pinkie Pie basically dragged us together.”

“Then Pinkie must have a good eye. Not only is he an eyeful, he was staring straight at you the entire evening…”

Fluttershy had believed that her face couldn’t turn any redder. She was wrong.

“He… he was?” She squeaked.

“I saw him with my own two eyes, dear. I barely even saw him blink!” Rarity said. Fluttershy tried to hide her blush behind her mane.

“Rarity?” She asked in a tiny voice.

“Yeees?”

“I still don’t know if what I’m feeling is l-love.”

“I see. Well, how about you tell me how being around him makes you feel?” Rarity suggested, pulling over a sofa for them to sit on.

“Okay, I’ll try,” Fluttershy said, sitting down next to Rarity. “Um… warm, I think?”

“How so?”

“That’s… kind of it. It just feels like my chest is very, very, warm.”

“Anything else?”

“Last night, I thought he was going to… to… to…” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word, but Rarity’s look showed that she understood. “…And I kind of just panicked.”

“Ah, when you tumbled. Graceful, might I add.”

“And then when I went home, I tried to go to sleep, but I kept on thinking about what would have happened if I hadn’t… panicked.”

“Go on. What else did you think about?”

“I’d, um, I’d rather not say… But I ended up barely getting any sleep, because I just couldn’t stop thinking about him and…”

“Hold on for a moment, dear. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t last night the first time you’d ever spoken with him?” Rarity asked. The symptoms were pointing to Fluttershy being smitten, but she was worried that her friend was getting a bit in over her head.

“Actually, no,” Fluttershy said. “I first met him a few months ago, in Neighvember.”

“Did you now?” Rarity said. “Care to tell me about it?”

“Um, alright,” Fluttershy said. “It started out when one of the cows at Sweet Apple Acres broke its leg, so Applejack asked me to come lend a hoof. Apple Bloom tried to help me some, but I asked her to leave after she accidentally put a cast on the wrong leg.” Fluttershy paused. “And the wrong cow.”

“So? How did you meet Big Macintosh?”

“After Apple Bloom decided she wouldn’t be getting her cutie mark for being a vet, Big Macintosh offered to help me. He didn’t have much to do, since all the crops had already been harvested and… Um, anyway. He was…” Fluttershy sighed a little bit. “…He was very, very gentle. I mean, more gentle than you would expect a stallion of that size to be. He was very soft-spoken, and he did his best to help me calm Belle – that’s the cow, by the way – whenever she had one of her panic attacks. We talked a little bit, sometimes, about… things.”

“Such as?”

“Um, the weather, how the other animals were doing, if Belle was still being a drama queen…”

“That’s… that’s all you would talk about.”

“I think so. I had to go back to the farm every few days to check up on Belle, assure her that she wasn’t going to die from a little broken leg, and then Big Mac and I would just… talk.”

“About the weather,” Rarity clarified in a deadpan voice.

“Um, sometimes,” Fluttershy said.

“Nothing else.”

“That’s right.”

“Was there anything else? Anything at all?”

“There was one time that…” Fluttershy clamped her mouth shut. “I’m sorry. It’s a silly story, you probably don’t want to hear it…”

“Fluttershy, as your best friend, if you can’t trust me with something, you can’t trust anypony. So please, tell me what happened.”

“O-okay… It was just after Belle’s leg had fully healed. After we brought her back to the rest of the herd, Big Macintosh thanked me for having done so much hard work, but I told him that it was nothing at all, really, and then he said that he was still grateful, and then he… he…” Fluttershy gulped. “Really, it’s very silly, Rarity. I… I should just…”

“Ohh, no, dearie! You aren’t going anywhere until you tell me!” Rarity said, grabbing the Pegasus as she tried to get away. Fluttershy struggled in her grasp for a few moments until she gave up.

“…You promise you won’t laugh?” Fluttershy asked.

“Cross my heart, and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye,” Rarity said. “And not one of those sewing needles. I mean a great big knitting needle. The ones that barely even have a point.”

“Okay, well, he looked at me and he…” Fluttershy’s voice trailed off, becoming too quiet for Rarity to hear.

“Speak up, dear.”

“…He… he just… s-smiled at me,” Fluttershy confessed. She buried her face in her hooves, blushing madly.

“He… smiled at you?”

“Y-yes. It wasn’t a very big smile, but it made me feel… happy. Then my heart started to beat a bit faster, my head felt a bit lighter, and it felt like there was a… a hole in my belly,” Fluttershy continued. “When I left, I just felt like I was in a daze for the rest of the day, and I couldn’t even remember the flight back home, because I was just… just…”

“There, there, darling, it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Rarity said, patting her friend on the back reassuringly.

“But what if it is?” Fluttershy asked. “What if… what if he doesn’t like me? What if I make a fool of myself? What if… what if…” She fought back panicked tears, her mind going into overdrive as she kept on picturing the worst-case scenarios. “I just… I don’t know what to do!” She cried. The dams broke, and the tears made thin lines on her cheeks.

Rarity pulled her friend into a warm hug, holding her until the tears stopped.

“Rarity… will you… could you… help me?” Fluttershy pleaded. Rarity smiled at her.

“Why, of course I’ll help. I could hardly call myself a friend if I didn’t,” Rarity said.

“Then… you can help me t-talk to him?” Fluttershy asked. Rarity nodded.

“Naturally! In fact, I’ve already got a few ideas on ways to go about doing this,” Rarity said, rubbing her hooves together in anticipation. “Now, here’s what I need you to do. Run over to the library, and tell Twilight that I’m calling in that favor she owes me. Then, bring her straight back here, and I’ll explain the rest of the plan. By the end of the day, we are going to find out exactly what Big Macintosh thinks of you.”

“Aaand lift up your right leg, please,” Rarity said. Big Macintosh complied, lifting up his front right leg.

“No, no, no, your other right,” Rarity corrected him. Big Mac lifted up his back right leg this time, patiently letting Rarity magically wrap a measuring tape around his fetlock. Rarity scribbled down the measurements, then started taking the measurements from other parts of his leg.

“Ah still don’t understand why ya needed me, ma’am,” Big Mac said. Rarity had come to Sweet Apple Acres not even an hour ago, asked Applejack if she could borrow Big Macintosh, then magically dragged him back to the Carousel Boutique with her. And she still hadn’t told him why she was taking his measurements.

“I’ve recently gotten a number of requests for suits from some members of the nobility in Canterlot, and some of them are a good deal more muscular than the average pony around here. So, I needed some proportions from a similarly built stallion, and you just happened to be the only pony in town I could think of who fits the bill. Plus, I wouldn’t want to miss out on a conversation with a fine specimen such as yourself,” Rarity said, looking at him over her glasses with a little gleam in her eye.

“Erm… fine specimen?” Big Mac repeated.

“Why, naturally,” Rarity said. Suddenly, Big Mac was very conscious of the way she was looking at him. Like she wanted to eat him. He gulped.

“Ah’m, uh, Ah’m flattered, ma’am,” He said, not meeting her gaze.

“So you should be. Now, before I continue with the measurements, I have one simple little question for you, if you don’t mind,” Rarity said.

“Go ahead,” Mac replied.

“Big Macintosh, do you think I’m pretty?”

The piece of hay in Big Mac’s mouth vanished, sucked down his throat as he drew in a sudden breath. “C-c-come again?”

“Do you think that I am attractive?” Rarity repeated.

“That’s, uh, not exactly a question Ah feel very comfortable…” Big Mac trailed off. Scissors. Dozens of pairs of scissors were suddenly floating in the air around him, wrapped in Rarity’s magic. And they were all pointed directly at him, razor-sharp jaws opened.

“Oh, do go on,” Rarity said. All the scissors snipped simultaneously.

“…Uh, yes, ma’am, Ah think you’re very pretty,” Big Mac said. A bead of sweat rolled down his neck.

“Am I the prettiest mare in Ponyville?” Rarity asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him. The scissors inched closer.

“…Yer in th’ top five,” Big Mac said, then quickly realized that he should not have said that. A pair of scissors darted forwards, snipped off a bit of his mane, and returned to its previous position.

“Come again? I’m afraid I didn’t hear that,” Rarity said, tossing her violet curls.

“Ma’am, Ah don’t think yer thinkin’ quite properly…”

“Am. I. The. Prettiest. Mare. In. Ponyville?” Rarity asked through gritted teeth. The swarm of scissors inched forward on each word. Points of metal pressed against Big Mac’s hide. “Answer truthfully,” Rarity said, her cheerful demeanor reappearing at the drop of a hat. Still, Mac could tell just what would happen if he didn’t give the answer she liked.

The Apple family was a family of honest ponies. Honest ponies who were very bad at lying.

“Yer… th’ second-prettiest mare in Ponyville,” Big Mac said, clenching his eyes shut as he prepared himself to be turned into ribbons.

“Then who is the prettiest mare in Ponyville?” Rarity asked sweetly. She hadn’t killed him yet, which Big Mac counted as a good thing.

“…Ah ain’t gonna say,” Big Mac said.

“Ooh, I’m going to have to guess now, aren’t I? I do so hate guessing games…” Rarity tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Is she… a pegasus?”

Big Mac’s pulse intensified. She couldn’t. How could she know? Is she guessing?

“That’s a yes, I suppose… Is it… Derpy Hooves?”

“N-nope.”

“How about… Rainbow Dash?”

“Nope.”

“Then what about…” A small grin grew on Rarity’s face. “…Fluttershy?”

Every muscle in Mac’s body tightened. If a pot of water was put on his face, it would have started boiling in seconds. There was a small, barely audible squeak from a corner of the room.

“I suspected as much,” Rarity said. The scissors backed off, flying back to the places around the room they belonged.

“Yer… yer not gonna kill me?” Big Mac said, afraid to move.

“Of course not!” Rarity said, looking like she was insulted that Mac would even consider such a thing. “Oh, but don’t try to run…”

Big Macintosh was already on the move by the time Rarity had told him not to. He got maybe three steps towards the door before he tripped and fell.

“…I tied your hooves together,” Rarity finished. “When did I ever say I was done with you?”

Sure enough, Rarity had, at some point, used a length of some type of cloth to tie Big Mac’s legs together. Big Mac tried to fight against it, but found that the cloth was too strong for him to break. An impressive feat.

“Jus’ what is it ya want from me?” Big Mac asked, trying to stand back up and failing.

“Oh, not much. I juuust wanted to talk, if you don’t mind,” Rarity said, sitting on the ground next to the fallen Big Mac.

“Ya coulda jus’ asked.”

“But this was so much fun! Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get straight to business. About dear Fluttershy,” Rarity said, her voice pointed.

Big Macintosh blushed. “Ma’am, please don’t tell anypony ‘bout that.”

“I assure you, rumor-spreading is not my intent. Nopony outside this room will ever hear about this conversation,” Rarity promised.

“An’ if Ah tell ya what ya want t’ know, y’ll let me go?” Big Mac asked.

“Of course.”

“Fine then,” Big Mac sighed, feeling defeated. “What do ya want t’ know?”

“First of all, I would just like to know exactly what it is you feel about her.”

“Don’t you already know th’ answer t’ that question?” Big Mac asked.

“If my deductions are correct, then yes. But still, I’d like to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Now answer the question,” Rarity said.

“Well, Ah’m no expert at this sorta thing, but Ah think that Ah might be in…” His voice fell into a mumble.

“Could you please speak up a bit?”

“Ah said, Ah think that maybe, just maybe, Ah might be in… in lo-lo-lllllll-love,” Big Macintosh finally said, forcing out the final word.

There was another small squeak.

“Did you hear somethin’?”

“Not at all. Now, next question. When did you start to feel like you were in love with her?” Rarity asked, casting a glance to an empty corner of the room.

“It’s a long story, but alright,” Big Mac said. “It was back in Neighvember. Belle, one of the cows down at th’ farm, broke ‘er leg in an empty gopher hole, so AJ asked Fluttershy t’ come an’ take care of ‘er. She came by every few days after she put a cast on Belle t’ make sure everythin’ was alright, and Ah gave ‘er some help where Ah could. There were no more fields t’ plow or apples t’ collect, so Ah had some free time.”

“That’s nice, but what I really want to know is when you started to suspect you were in love with her,” Rarity said, putting the embarrassed stallion back on track.

“Er, sorry. It was a few days after she put th’ cast on Belle, and Belle started… overthinkin’ things. She became convinced that th’ only reason that Fluttershy kept on comin’ back was because there was somethin’ really wrong. So when Fluttershy asked ‘er t’ lie down so she could check th’ cast, Belle… panicked. A bit.”

“Did she now? Fluttershy neglected to tell me that,” Rarity hissed below her breath. Big Mac didn’t hear her.

“Belle started thrashin’ around, screamin’ up a storm. Ah had t’ hold ‘her down so that she wouldn’t keep on runnin’ about, and Fluttershy calmed her down by singin’ her t’ sleep, an’ then…” Big Macintosh sighed, a small smile growing on his face. “It was mid afternoon. Th’ sunlight was comin’ through th’ rafters, and it just… hit her. Darned near made her shine. She had this beautiful smile on her face, an’ she just looked so… happy with th’ work she’d done. An’ Ah thought to myself: by th’ Princesses, she’s gorgeous. She’s got a heart softer than a cloud, she’s kind enough t’ sing a panickin’ cow t' sleep, she’s… well, she’s th’ most incredible mare Ah’ve ever met,” Big Mac said. "An' Ah think that was when Ah started t' fall in love with 'er." Rarity sniffled a little bit.

“Oh, that’s so sweet. Why didn’t you just… sweep her off her hooves right then and there?” Rarity asked.

“’S because Ah’m… Ah’m nothin’ compared t’ ‘er. She’s th’ most gosh-darned beautiful mare in Ponyville, hay, maybe in all o’ Equestria, includin’ th’ Princesses, an’ Ah don’t care that that’s practically blasphemy. She was a supermodel. She’s almost literally th’ ponification o’ kindness, she helped save Equestria twice, an’ me?” Big Mac scoffed. “Ah’m jus’ Big Macintosh Apple. Th’ big dumb guy. Th’ farm colt whose special talent is pullin’ plows.” He sighed. “What could a mare like ‘er see in a stallion like me?”

Rarity smiled a little bit. With a wave of her horn, the cloth holding Big Macintosh legs came loose and flapped away. Big Mac stood up, staring at the floor in shame. Rarity patted him on the shoulder.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Rarity said. She turned Big Mac to face an empty corner of the room. “Twilight, you can drop the spell now.”

There was a purple shimmer in the air as two ponies faded into sight. One was a purple unicorn, visibly drained from the act of holding up an invisibility spell for so long over two ponies. The other was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane, who was standing completely still, her eyes looking like they might fall out of her head.

Fluttershy.

Big Macintosh’s blood ran cold.

“I… I… Um… um… eh…” Fluttershy stammered, her pupils barely even the size of pinpricks. She let out a long squeak, then her eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted. Big Mac was still in shock.

“She… she was here th’ entire time,” He said in disbelief.

“I said that nopony outside this room would ever hear about this conversation,” Rarity said smugly. “I never said that we were alone.”

“Ah… Ah… Ah jus’ need t’… t’ lie down for a moment,” Big Mac said.

Then he fainted, hitting the ground with a significantly louder thump than Fluttershy. Rarity smiled proudly.

“I do believe that was a complete success,” She decided. Twilight Sparkle groaned.

“Was… all this necessary?” She asked.

“Necessary? No, not really. Entertaining? Oh, completely,” Rarity said. She floated out her measuring tape again and started taking measurements on Macintosh’s chest. Twilight lifted an eyebrow at the act.

“What? I wasn’t lying about my new ‘Large and In Charge’ line! I’m just feeding two birds with one seed!”

“Fine, fine. So what’s the next step of your ‘brilliant plan’?” Twilight asked dryly.

“Truth be told, the next step is dependent on both parties being conscious. So… we wait, I suppose,” Rarity guessed.

Not half an hour later, Fluttershy and Big Mac started to stir. It might have been a coincidence, but the fact that Twilight had finally gotten bored of waiting and casted a wake-up spell was also a major factor.

“Nuh… What in tarnation…?” Big Mac groaned as he rose shakily to his hooves.

“AWAY!” Rarity called out suddenly, grabbing Twilight and racing out the door. The door slammed shut and clicked behind them.

“What in th’ name o’…” Big Mac said, still about half-asleep.

“We’re not letting you out until you two come to some sort of agreement!” Rarity called from the other side of the door.

“‘You two’?” Big Mac repeated. That was when he noticed the pegasus just starting to wake up. The first thought to go through Mac’s mind was ‘Oh crabapples, it wasn’t a dream.’ The memory of what had happened before he fainted quickly returned to him, and his heart started to race. She had heard everything.

His terror dissipated not even a second later, as Fluttershy sat up, her eyes still closed, and yawned. Big Mac counted it as one of the most adorable things he had ever seen. After the yawn passed, Fluttershy opened her eyes, smacking her dry lips together.

Then she saw Big Macintosh. Her eyes opened as if they were spring-loaded. Her mouth flapped wildly, as if she was trying to talk but her throat didn’t really feel like it.

“B-big M-macintosh?” She stammered. “Th-that wasn’t a d-dream?”

“N-nope. Ah’m surprised, too,” Big Mac said. Neither pony could bear to look the other in the eyes. Fluttershy pawed the ground, her face almost completely red.

“U-um…” Fluttershy finally broke the silence. “D-did you mean what you said?” She asked, her mane covering her face.

“I… uh…” Big Macintosh gulped, a knot having formed in his throat. This was it. Do or die of embarrassment. Tell her.

“E… ee…”

Tell her.

“Eeee…”

Big Mac paused. Breathe in, breathe out. He could do this. He could. He planted a hoof down, and uttered one word, more filled of conviction than anything else he had ever said.

“Eeyup.”

Big Macintosh: Master of Words.

There was a heavy slam as Rarity hit her head against a wall.

Big Macintosh felt himself swell with accomplishment. He’d done it. After so much time spent pining after her from the other side of the market, being almost incapable of talking whenever she came to the farm to visit Applejack, so many nights of sleep lost because she was dancing through his mind, he’d finally said it.

He’d finally said it. It might have been an accident, but she’d heard him admit to admiring her, and…

And…

‘OH CRABAPPLES WHAT IS SHE GONNA SAY,’ Big Macintosh’s mind screamed. He’d forgotten about this part. The part where she could either fill his heart with helium and tie it to a string, or tear it out from his chest, stomp on it, and then shove it back down his throat.

What was she going to say?

Fluttershy smiled. A small, warm smile, clearly spelling out her joy while not shouting it from the rooftops.

“I’m… I’m glad,” She said. “Really, I’m… I’m happy.” Big Mac bit his lip, waiting for the next few words she would say.

“But…”

His heart plummeted, falling straight down into his stomach.

“But I’m… I’m not sure I’m ready for a full relationship yet…” Fluttershy said. Now, Big Mac’s stomach fell. He hung his head in shame.

“Ah… Ah understand. You don’t want t’ have anythin’ t’ do with me…” He said, dejected. “Ah’ll jus’… Ah’ll jus’ go.” He turned away from her, trudging towards the door. Life sucked.

“Oh! Ah, w-wait!” Fluttershy called, running to get between Big Mac and the door. What she did next completely changed Big Mac’s mood for the better. She nuzzled against his neck.

“Now what on earth?” Big Mac said in disbelief.

“I’m… I’m sorry, but… you didn’t let me finish what I was going to say,” Fluttershy said. “I… like you. I do. I just don’t really want to… jump straight into a relationship.”

“So, yer sayin’ that…”

“I, um, I want to be able to get to know you a little bit better. I think,” Fluttershy said. “So, um…” She gulped. “Do you want to… g-go out sometime this week?”

“Do Ah want to?” Big Mac chuckled. “Ah think that’d make me th’ happiest stallion in Equestria.”

Outside the room, Rarity wiped a tear from her eye.

“Our little Fluttershy is… all grown up!” She cried.

A few minutes later, Big Mac walked out of the room, beaming.

“Somepony looks happy,” Rarity remarked. Big Mac, being unable to hold back his enthusiasm, grabbed Rarity and pulled her into a massive bear hug. Rarity swore she felt her ribs crack a little bit.

“Ah honestly don’t think Ah can thank y’ enough, Miss Rarity!” He said, putting her back down.

“No thanks are necessary,” Rarity said. “But if you make her upset in any way…”

“Ah know, Ah know,” Big Mac said, still smiling. “Ah’ve gotta get back t’ the farm. Ah’ll bring back a whole bushel of apples for ya. Hay, Ah’ll get two,” He said. He walked past Rarity and Twilight in a daze, humming to himself happily. A moment later, Fluttershy walked out of the room.

“Weeeeell? Did you make any arrangements?” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “W-we’re going to go to lunch together on Thursday. It’s not formal or anything, but I’m so… so happy I could just… just…” Finding herself unable to contain her joy, she simply grabbed Rarity and pulled her into a hug, giggling like mad. “Oh, thank you, Rarity! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re the best friend I could ever ever ask for!”

“It’s good to see you so happy, Fluttershy,” Twilight remarked.

“You don’t need to thank me so much, Fluttershy,” Rarity said, returning her friend’s hug. “Now, however, we are going to need to start preparing you for the big day. Wait until after that to thank me.”

Thursday...

“Rule number one.”

“Don’t panic.”

“Two.”

“Don’t panic.”

“Three.”

“Be myself.”

“Four.”

“Don’t be too shy.”

“Five.”

“…Um… I’m sorry, Rarity, what was number five?” Fluttershy asked. Rarity pulled her comb through Fluttershy’s mane again.

“Rule number five for your date with Big Macintosh is that if he is not a perfect gentlecolt, if he doesn’t hold doors for you, tries to make you pay for his meal, or uses you as a shield against flying apple-flavored confections…”

“Um, Rarity…”

“…then you will buck him in between the legs so hard that he won’t be able to walk in a straight line for the rest of his life. Every stallion in the area should wince in pain. Celestia herself should receive reports about the incident, and she’ll say, ‘this was a bucking well deserved’. A memorial should be put up afterwards, reading ‘On this spot, Prince Blueblood was rightfully-”

“Rarity!”

“What?!” Rarity screamed. Finally, she realized that during her hate-fueled ranting, her comb had come across a knot in Fluttershy’s mane, but Rarity had not stopped trying to pull it through. Fluttershy’s mane was very close to being pulled out of her scalp.

“Oh. Um, sorry, Fluttershy, I just got a little bit… distracted. It’s hard to forget a miserable date,” Rarity said, floating the comb out of Fluttershy’s mane carefully. “Don’t worry, you’ll have a better first date with Big Macintosh than I did with that lout.”

“I hope so,” Fluttershy said.

“You’re going to do just fine, darling. Don’t you worry one little bit,” She said, giving her friend a quick hug. She pulled away, and looked over Fluttershy with a critical eye. “Now, let’s see. Mane, soft and silky. Hooves?” Fluttershy held out one hoof for Rarity to inspect. “Sparkling. Makeup, too light to notice, but just enough to have an effect. Teeth?” Fluttershy bared her teeth. “Beautiful. I dare say that you are going to knock his socks off.”

“He doesn’t wear socks.”

“Then he’ll have to go into town, preferably to the Carousel Boutique, and purchase the finest pair of socks he can find for the sole purpose of being knocked out of them,” Rarity said, giving Fluttershy a pat on the back. Fluttershy smiled weakly.

“I’m still a bit nervous…” She admitted. “What if something goes wrong?”

“Fluttershy, trust me. Nothing will go wrong today. Applejack told me she would make sure that Big Macintosh was well groomed before he left…”

“Well, Ah’m off. Ah’ll be back later on,” Big Macintosh said, opening the door.

“Hold yer horses, Mac!” Applejack said, jumping in front of him.

“What?” Big Mac asked, slightly nervous from the look his little sister was giving him.

“Breath,” She ordered. Big Macintosh opened his mouth and breathed in Applejack’s face. She sniffed, then jabbed him on the shoulder.

“Ah knew it was you that took th’ last piece o’ hay bacon!” She admonished.

“Ah was hungry!”

“Jus’ get goin’, loverboy!”

“…And I asked Rainbow Dash for the forecast, and she said that it would be absolutely perfect all day. So just don’t worry about it, and have fun.”

“Thank you, Rarity,” Fluttershy said sincerely.

“What are friends for?” Rarity said. She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall of Fluttershy’s cottage and started picking up her saddlebags. “He’ll be here in a few minutes to pick you up. Since my work here is done, I bid you adieu. And, of course, good luck.”

“Thank you very much, Rarity. I’ll let you know how it was tomorrow,” Fluttershy said, watching her friend leave the cottage.

Big Macintosh stared at the door. There was only one thing standing between him and, quite possibly, the mare of his dreams, and it was a stupid plank of wood. He had never seen such an insurmountable obstacle.

He lifted a hoof to knock on the door, but stopped an inch away from it. He tried again, but his body just did not want to knock on the door. After several moments of internal fighting, Big Mac’s mind won, and he knocked on the door.

And by ‘knocked on the door’, we mean ‘put a hole in it’.

Fluttershy jumped when she saw the red hoof punch through her door. She’d known Big Macintosh was outside, but, as per Rarity’s advice, was waiting for him to knock. She now had a new mail slot to show for it.

“Aw, crabapples,” Big Mac cursed, pulling his hoof out of the new hole. He knocked again, much more softly this time. Fluttershy opened the door. Big Mac’s eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw her.

She’d always been pretty, at least in his eyes, but now, she was simply drop-dead beautiful. Her light pink mane had a slight shine to it, as did the rest of her body. Even though Big Mac had just put a hole in her door, she didn’t seem to mind at all, instead looking at him both expectantly and nervously. Her eyes lit up when she saw the freshly-picked flowers he was holding in his mouth.

“…Erm, hello,” Big Mac finally said, once he was sure that he would be able to open his mouth without it falling to the ground.

“…Hello,” Fluttershy responded, trying to hide behind her mane. An instant later, she remembered Rarity’s advice not to be so shy and shook her mane out of her face.

“Ah, Ah got these fer you…” Big Mac said, pointing to the flowers. Fluttershy blushed.

“Oh, they’re lovely,” She said, taking them from him by biting on a part of the stem that wasn’t being held by Big Mac. She took a small sniff as she grabbed the flowers. He smelled like sweat, like hard work, and most importantly, like nature. Fluttershy decided she loved that smell. She realized that Big Mac had let go of the flowers and was waiting for her to take them. With a mighty blush, she pulled away, uttering a quick thanks as she flew to another room in the cottage to find a vase for the flowers.

Big Mac took the opportunity to look around the room. It was…

…Where had all those animals come from?

Why were they all glaring at him?

As Big Mac glanced nervously between the seemingly hundreds of gathered birds, rodents, and insects, a small white form dropped down onto his face. A bunny. The most threatening bunny Big Mac had ever seen.

The bunny glared at him for a full minute, staring straight into the stallion’s eyes with a look of pure hatred and contempt. The message was clear. You touch one hair on her head, and we will end you. It was incredibly obvious that it was not a threat. It was a promise.

“Oh, I see you’ve met Angel,” Fluttershy said, returning from her successful vase-finding mission. Angel instantly hopped off Big Mac’s face. All the other animals had disappeared. As Angel hopped away, he gave Big Mac a parting glare over his shoulder. We are watching you, it said. Big Mac gulped.

“Don’t let the tough-guy act fool you. He’s a real softy at heart,” Fluttershy said. Angel made a cutting motion across his throat.

“Ah… Ah can see that,” Big Mac lied.

“So, um, should we get going? I-if that’s alright with you,” Fluttershy asked.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said, standing aside to let Fluttershy reach the door.

“Oh, wait, just a moment, please,” Fluttershy said. She pulled one of the flowers that Big Mac had given her out of her mane and tucked it into his yoke. Big Mac smiled.

“Now Ah feel purty,” He joked. Fluttershy giggled, and the couple started walking down the path. “Sorry ‘bout th’ door, by th’ way.”

“It’s okay. I was considering getting a mail slot anyway,” Fluttershy lied. “Do you have anything, um, planned?” She asked. The big pony nodded proudly.

“Eeyup. Ah know this nice café we can eat at, an' then… Ah’m not sure how t’ say this…” He said, blushing a little bit. “Ah think it sounds kinda silly.”

“What?”

“Well, ya see, Ah was kinda hopin’ we could just… go fer a walk in th’ park?” Big Mac said, grinning sheepishly.

“That sounds good,” Fluttershy said.

“Y’ don’t think it’s odd that a pony like me would wanna go on a walk in th’ park?”

“Oh, not at all!” Fluttershy assured him.

“Well, Ah’m glad.”

Fluttershy giggled a little bit. This was already looking like it would be a good date.

“Welcome to the Sunflower Café. My name is Sunshine, how can I help you?” The beaming yellow mare asked Fluttershy and Big Macintosh as they entered the café. It was a small building, and not very busy, but it was fairly well kept, and there were pleasant aromas wafting from the kitchen.

“Table fer two, please,” Big Mac said.

“Alrighty! This way, please!” Sunshine said happily, leading the couple to a small empty table. She set two menus down on it, her enormous smile never once fading. “Would you like something to drink?” She asked.

“Just water, if that’s alright,” Fluttershy said, taking her seat.

“Same,” Big Mac said.

“Two waters! I’ll be right back, then!” Sunshine said, skipping off.

“This is a… nice place,” Fluttershy said when Sunshine was gone.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed, looking through the menu.

There was silence between them as both ponies contemplated what to say next.

“So, um...” They both said. They fell silent.

“You can go first…” They both said again. Again, silence.

“Okay then, I’ll…”

Silence. Again. Big Mac motioned for Fluttershy to continue.

“Okay, um, I just wanted to know, um, what you wanted to talk about,” Fluttershy said. Big Macintosh chuckled.

“Truth be told, that was th’ same thing Ah was gonna say,” He said. “How’s about we talk about…”

“Water’s here!” Sunshine’s cheery voice announced. She placed the two glasses of water in front of the shy ponies. “Do you know what you’d like to order?”

“Um, no, not yet, thank you,” Fluttershy said.

“Let me know when you’re ready to order, then!” Sunshine said, and she skipped away again.

“…Now Ah’ve plum gone an’ forgotten what Ah was gonna say,” Big Mac said.

“Then, can I ask you a question?” Fluttershy asked. Big Mac nodded. “Um, I was just wondering, could you tell me the story about how you got your cutie mark?”

“This old thing?” Big Mac said, looking down at his flank. “It’s not much of a story, but Ah’ll tell ya. It was a couple years back, at a family reunion in Sweet Apple Acres. The grown-ups were out in th’ orchards, checkin’ up on how our trees were doin’, leavin’ me an’ two of mah cousins, Braeburn an’ Caramel, alone at th’ house. You’ve met Braeburn, right?”

“Oh, yes, when we went to Appleoosa. He was nice, if a bit… energetic.”

“That’s Braeburn, alright. He’s been like that pretty much ‘is entire life. Now, it was jus’ th’ three of us, since Applejack was takin’ a nap – she was jus’ a foal at th’ time - an’ then Braeburn had th’ brilliant idea t’ take th’ old plow fer a joyride.”

“How do you take a plow for a joyride?”

“Beats me. But Braeburn thought it could be done, so he dragged me an’ Caramel along. He had Caramel try pullin’ th’ plow first, but Caramel ain’t exactly th’ most muscular o’ ponies, so that didn’t work. Then he tried, but he claims that he’d have been able t’ do it if Caramel an’ me hadn’t been sittin’ on th’ plow.”

“You were sitting on the plow?”

“Eeyup. Braeburn’s good at a lotta things. Thinkin’ straight ain’t always one of ‘em. So anyway, he had me try pullin’ th’ plow next, an’ that was lots more successful than their attempts. It jus’ felt right, pullin’ it through th’ soil behind me. Th’ feelin’ o’ resistance from th’ ground, th’ hard work it took… it felt good. Ah think that was when Ah realized that farmin’ was in my blood, an’ my cutie mark showed up right then an’ there,” Big Macintosh sighed. “One o’ th’ proudest moments o’ my life.”

“Oh, that’s a wonderful story,” Fluttershy said politely. Big Mac nodded.

“O’ course, when th’ grown-ups got back from th’ orchards, we got in trouble fer diggin’ a furrow through th’ only road to th’ farm. Ah ended up takin’ most o’ th’ blame, since Ah was the one who actually pulled th’ plow,” Big Mac finished. Fluttershy giggled, then put a hoof over her mouth.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t have laughed,” She said.

“It’s alright,” Big Mac said.

“Excuse me,” Sunshine’s chipper voice popped up. “Are you ready to order yet?”

“Um, I’ll have the daffodil salad, please,” Fluttershy said, giving her menu a quick glance.

“An’ Ah’ll jus’ have a hay sandwich, thanks,” Big Mac said.

“Alright, your meals will be out in a few minutes. Is there anything else?” Sunshine asked. Both ponies shook their heads. With a polite smile, Sunshine walked off to take care of another customer.

“An’ what about yourself? How’d ya get yer cutie mark?” Big Macintosh asked, changing the subject from himself to his date.

“Well, it was back when I lived in Cloudsdale…”

Twilight had learned many things during her time in Ponyville studying the magic of frienship. She had learned that you shouldn't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. That you shouldn't keep secrets from friends. That you should not attempt to apply logic to Pinkie Pie. These were just some of the many lessons she had learned, but there was one lesson that just hadn't clicked yet.

In the future, she would call it 'The Rainbow Crash Law'. It stated that whenever three specific things were happening, Rainbow Dash would end up flying through her window. First, Twilight must be alone in her study, reading. Second, the window must be closed. And third, Twilight must have just gotten comfortable.

She'd figure it out one day. But that day was not this day. So, when Twilight had just curled up in her study that day, a brand new book in hoof, she accidentally dared the universe to throw Rainbow Dash through her window.

The universe did not disappoint.

“TWILIIIIIIIIIGHT!”

Twilight winced as she heard the window break.

"I have a door, Rainbow," She said, closing her book and turning around to face the pegasus sitting in the center of her study. Somehow, Rainbow Dash never got any injuries when she crashed through that window.

“This was faster," Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head to get little bits of glass out of her mane.

"What's got you in such a rush you needed to break my window? Again?" Twilight asked, pulling out a broom and dustpan and sweeping up the broken glass.

"I need your help really quickly. Do you know a locator spell? It’s really important!”

“A locator spell? For what?”

“We need to find Fluttershy, ASAP. I’ve looked all over town, but I can’t find her!” Rainbow said.

“She’s on her date with Macintosh, isn’t she? What’s so important?” Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash cleared her throat self-consciously.

“Let’s just say that, uh, I really need to organize my office a bit better,” She said.

“You have an office?”

“I’m the captain of the weather team! Of course I have an office! I just… forget about it a lot.”

“Sure, sure. So what’s the problem?”

“Well, Rarity asked me to give her the forecast for today so that Fluttershy could know what the weather would be like for her date, but I… accidentally gave her last week’s forecast,” Rainbow admitted.

“And?”

“And I just found today’s forecast,” Rainbow said, pulling out a paper bearing the Cloudsdale Weather Factory’s letterhead. Twilight levitated it to herself, giving it a quick glance. As she finished reading it, her eyes popped open.

“…Wow. That is… that is a lot of rain,” She said. “How long?”

“At the rate it’s moving, I’d say… fifteen, twenty minutes,” Rainbow guessed. “So do you have a locator spell or not?”

“I’m sorry, Rainbow, but the only locator spells I know are for finding lost items. I can’t find ponies with it. You really have no idea where they are?”

“Pinkie said she saw them leaving a café a few minutes ago, but didn’t know where they were going.”

“So, if we can’t find out where they were going…”

“…Then her date might be ruined by the rain.”

“I’ll help you look around town. As soon as…” Twilight looked at the broken glass on the floor. “As soon as I clean this up.”

“You know, maybe if you didn't leave your window shut so often..."

"Don't finish that sentence."

“You were right about the café. That was good,” Fluttershy said as she and Big Macintosh walked through the wooded area of the park.

“Sure was,” Big Mac agreed. They kept on walking in silence for a minute.

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, is there some specific place we’re going?” Fluttershy finally asked.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said, and he stopped walking. “Right ‘ere.”

Fluttershy looked around the small clearing. “Is there something special about this place?” She asked, slightly confused.

“Not really,” Big Mac said. “Jus’ a little surprise Ah prepared.”

“A surprise? I’m not really much of a fan of surprises…” Fluttershy admitted.

“Ah think y’ll like this one. Ah just need ya t’ close yer eyes fer a minute,” Big Mac said.

“Um, alright,” Fluttershy said, and she closed her eyes. “They’re closed now.”

“Good. Now, where’d Ah put it…” There was the sound of rustling bushes as Big Mac searched through them for whatever it was he had hidden. “Here we go. Found it,” He announced a moment later.

“Can I open my eyes now?” Fluttershy asked.

“Not yet. One moment, an’ Ah’ll have it up an’…” There was a click, and music started to play. “Alright, ya can open ‘em.”

Fluttershy cracked her eyes open. Sitting on the grass next to Big Macintosh was a small battery-powered radio. Big Macintosh cleared his throat.

“Miz Fluttershy, may Ah have this dance?” He asked, bowing to her and holding out a hoof. Fluttershy blushed.

“Is this… the song from the party?”

“Eeyup. Took me a while t’ find, but Ah hope it was worth th’ effort,” Big Mac said proudly. “Ah just thought it’d be nice t’ have another go at it.”

“That’s… very thoughtful,” Fluttershy said. “You planned all this?”

“’Course. Now, shall we?” Big Mac asked. Fluttershy smiled, and placed her hoof on top of his.

“Let’s.”

And so the two ponies started to dance. Of course, neither of them had improved their dancing abilities in the days since the party, but there was one difference between then and now: they were not looking at their hooves the entire time. They were dancing slowly, that was true, but they weren’t being painfully shy, instead actually looking each other in the eyes.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and Fluttershy did not realize her path intercepted something on the ground: a root. Her hoof caught on the root, and she stumbled straight into Big Macintosh. This caused him to lose his balance, and he fell on his back, the Pegasus filly on top of him.

“Are… are you alright?” Fluttershy asked. “I’m so so sorry, I didn’t notice the root…”

“Ah’m… all right. Bit shaken, but all right,” Big Mac said. “But Ah think we both need t’ work on our balance.”

Fluttershy started to giggle. Big Mac joined her, and soon, the wooded area was filled with the pair’s laughter. Fluttershy rolled off Big Macintosh, laying on her back next to him, and the two just kept on laughing.

Finally, the laughter died down, but neither pony stood up, instead just looking up at the sky. Big Mac pointed at a cloud.

“Kinda looks like a barn, Ah think,” He said.

“A little bit. Ooh, that one’s a fish!” Fluttershy said, pointing to another cloud.

“There’s a plow.”

“I see a tree.”

“That one looks like a dog.”

“I think that one’s a chicken.”

“Ah don’t see it,” Big Mac admitted, moving his head adjacent to Fluttershy’s to see if that would change his view. “Huh. Ah guess it does.”

A second later, both of them realized just how close together they were. Of course, they didn’t do anything to move.

For a few more minutes, they just lay there, pointing at clouds and saying what they looked like. They were so concentrated on the clouds just above them that they didn’t notice the wall of dark clouds rolling in until it was literally on top of them.

“A ceiling?” They both said simultaneously. A drop of rain fell on Fluttershy’s snout. More soon followed

“Ah think it’s startin’ t’ rain,” Big Mac pointed out, standing up.

“But… but Rarity told me that the weather would be fine,” Fluttershy said.

“Sure don’t look like it,” Big Mac replied, helping Fluttershy stand up. Then, the skies opened, and the rain fell like a waterfall.

“Um, my cottage isn’t far from here!” Fluttershy said.

“Lead th’ way!” Big Mac said, grabbing his now-soaked radio and following Fluttershy out of the park.

By the time they had reached Fluttershy’s cottage and shut the door behind them, both ponies were completely soaked. Their manes and tails dripped, and Big Mac’s radio was completely ruined.

“That was… a surprise,” Big Mac said. Meanwhile, Fluttershy shook herself off like a dog, inadvertently spraying Big Macintosh.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Fluttershy apologized, looking at the stallion who was now even wetter. Big Macintosh grinned.

“Two can play at that game,” He said, and then he shook himself off, spraying Fluttershy. Fluttershy recoiled from the water, giggling with the knowledge that Big Mac was just playing.

“Oh, it’s on!” She decided, and shook herself off again. Big Mac laughed and jumped out of the way of the spray. “Hold still, please!” Fluttershy said, chasing Big Macintosh around the room.

“Can’t catch me that easy!” Big Mac laughed, launching a counterattack.

The rainstorm lasted almost an hour, and when the rain finally stopped, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh were lying in the middle of the room, with Fluttershy draped over Big Mac’s back like a blanket. Both ponies were still giggling from their playful antics, and utterly tired.

“Ah think th’ rain stopped,” Big Macintosh pointed out.

“That’s good,” Fluttershy said. She didn’t try to pull herself off Big Mac.

“Do y’ think y’ could get off?” Big Mac asked politely. Fluttershy smiled.

“Too comfy,” She said.

“Glad t’ hear that. But in all seriousness, Ah really should be headin’ home,” He said. Fluttershy pouted.

“You have to?”

“Sorry, but if Ah’m home too late, Granny’s prolly gonna jump t’ conclusions an’ start plannin’ a weddin’,” Big Mac said.

“Why would she…” Fluttershy stopped as realization hit her. “Oh. I, um, I see.” She pulled herself off him fairly quickly after that, even if she wasn’t happy about it. “I, uh, I had a really good time today.”

“Me too,” Big Mac said, standing up slowly. The two ponies just stared at each other for a minute, trying to think of the right thing to say next.

“So, erm, do you want t’ do this again sometime?”

“Of course! If, if that’s all right with you,” Fluttershy said. Big Mac smiled widely.

“’S no problem in mah book,” He said. “Then Ah’ll see you later?”

“I hope so,” Fluttershy said. Big Macintosh started to head for the door. “Oh, um, hold on!”

“Somethin’ wrong?” Big Mac asked, turning back to face her. Fluttershy gulped, fighting back the urge to stare at her hooves.

“Um, I was just thinking that, if it’s no trouble to you and you wanted to, um, before you left, have one, um…” Fluttershy took a deep breath. “K-kiss?”

Big Mac’s heart stopped for a long moment.

“Ah… Ah’d… Ah’d love t’,” He said. It wouldn’t have looked very proper if he’d suddenly started prancing around the room like Apple Bloom on a snow day.

“Then, um…” Fluttershy shut her eyes, and started to lean forward. Big Macintosh braced himself and did the same. It took almost two minutes for them to cover the distance of two feet, but neither would complain about the results later.

When their lips finally touched, Fluttershy almost thought she was flying. Her head felt light, her heart even lighter. Warmth spread from her heart to the rest of her body. It was almost euphoric. In that moment, Fluttershy realized her question had finally been answered. This was love.

The kiss felt far too brief. It only lasted a few seconds, but Fluttershy knew that they were among the most joyful moments of her life. Finally, they parted, both having warm smiles on their faces.

“Ah’ll… Ah’ll talk t’ you later,” Big Mac said.

“O-okay. B-bye,” Fluttershy responded. Big Mac turned around and left, closing the door behind him gently. Only when she could no longer hear him walking away did she finally allow herself to break out in a massive smile. She took a deep breath, and let loose her feelings from the afternoon.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!”

Outside, when he was sure that he was out of earshot of the cottage, Big Macintosh let a huge smile spread across his face, and he let loose his feelings from the afternoon.

“YEEEEEHAAAAAW! AH THINK AH’VE GOT A MAREFRIEND!”

A/N HOLY CRAP THIS THING IS THIRTY FIVE PAGES LONG. I'm... I'm speechless. Good work, me.
As you can probably guess, this is the first time I've ever written an FiM fanfiction, and also the first time I've ever written a story that was pure shipping. I really hope that I did well on it.
Please, please, PLEASE review and let me know what you thought about it. The more constructive criticism I get, the better my (possible) next story will be.
EDIT: HUGE thanks to Outlaw4rc for showing me the painfully obvious solution to one of this story's problems. I removed the whole scene with Spike confronting Twilight about the hot sauce, and will use it in my next story, thanks to his/her suggestion. Honestly, the thought of using it for another story never occurred to me. Thanks SO MUCH.
EDIT II, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: Okay, forget about Edit number one. The whole thing about Twilight's hot sauce addiction has been removed. Please see my blog for an explanation. (4/16/12)
Anyway, look forward to my next story, which will be put out as soon as it's done and not a second earlier.