"Well... no... not a bad thing." Fluttershy brushed a pink bang away for the millionth time and gazed across the barn. "After all, for some ponies having a relationship isn't very important to them."
Applejack blinked at that. She leaned on one pair of legs, then the other. "Well... uh... of c-course it's important!" She smiled. "How else are ya gonna have young'n's made? Y'know... to carry on the family."
"Hmmm-hmm-hmmm..." Fluttershy chuckled breathily. She turned to smile at Applejack. "There's more than one way to carry on a family."
Applejack leaned back. "There is?"
"I find that love—more than anything—is the key to carrying the family name on."
"Uhhhhhhhhh..." Applejack smiled wryly. "But at some point that love leads to squirtin' somepony out, right?" She fought the urge to chuckle. "Ain't gonna be a job for storks. I found that out real dang young."
"Heehee... but it's not all biology, Applejack."
"Heh... say that to the ol' country doc who delivered Big—er... my brother and me."
Fluttershy smiled confidently at Applejack. "Do you love your parents?"
Applejack gulped. "More than life itself."
"And do they love you?"
"Oh... without a doubt." Applejack exhaled with a slight shudder. "In fact... I-I'm sure of it."
"Then what does it matter where you came from or how you got to be?" Fluttershy cocked her head aside. "So long as you know the ponies who love you and that they know that you love them back, then shouldn't everything be right in the world?"
Applejack was silent for a while. "I... uh... I-I guess I always factored in the blood-relation thang."
"And that's okay."
"I just... never put too much more thought to it," Applejack said, rubbing her head. "Or figured it needed more thought." She gulped. "I like keepin' things simple. A mare lurves a stallion. A stallion lurves a mare. Eventually you've got a Mommy and Daddy and everythang repeats itself."
"Is that the way your family's grown throughout the generations?"
Applejack squinted. "Is there a reason it shouldn't?"
Fluttershy stifled a giggle. "I'm just surprised, is all. I mean—at least here in Equestria—it's quite common for mares to pair up."
"It is?" Applejack immediately winced for saying that. She glanced nervously across the barn.
"Well, females outnumber males almost four to one."
"I... uh..."
"In fact... when I grew up to realize that I... uhm... f-fancied stallions..." Fluttershy blushed slightly. "I felt somewhat left out. So many fillies I grew up with liked other fillies. In fact, even my best friend—"
"I'm sorry."
Fluttershy gave Applejack a strange look. "Whatever for?"
"I must sound like a dumb ox."
"Not at all...!" Fluttershy shook her head. "Why would you even say that about yourself?"
"I feel... as if I never really opened my eyes to the matter before. Not that find anything wrong with it." Applejack gulped. "Just... I... uh..." A tired sigh. "I reckon I don't get out much. Most of my days are spent on the farm and that's it."
"Believe me... I understand." Fluttershy giggled aside. "Except for maybe the 'farm' part."
"Heheheh... dun sell yerself so short, Lil' Missy!" Applejack smiled at her. "When I first bumped into you, I thought you was a silly scaredy cat."
"Oh, but I am."
"Naw... I dun see that one bit." Applejack shook her head. "I think yer a sincere... honest mare with a lot to say, and I'm glad I got to lend you an ear if even for a little bit."
"Why... th-thank you..." Fluttershy's feathertips fluttered upon hearing that. "And I think you're warm and kind and thoughtful. It... it makes it easy to say things to you... and I-I find it hard to speak to most ponies." Fluttershy sighed, looking aside with a melancholic expression. "I wish most ponies were like you..."
"Or... perhaps... like you?"
Fluttershy gulped, brushed her bangs aside, and nodded meekly. "Mmmm-hmmm."
Applejack glanced across the barn. Ponies were dancing again, but Big Mac stood silent and still beside the plow. Quiet as a rock.
"Y'know..." Applejack tongued the inside of her muzzle. She smiled to herself. "I think I just might happen to know a pony you could easily talk to... besides me, of course."
Fluttershy looked up. "Oh...?"