//------------------------------// // Being Brave // Story: Post-Reception Stories // by sister_mike //------------------------------// Being Brave Fluttershy took a deep breath and stared at herself in the mirror. Today was the day. There was no more putting it off. Today was the day she walked out that door and said thank you. Today was the day she continued to be brave. She exhaled loudly and double checked that her mane was in good condition. She made sure that all of the salad she had eaten for lunch was out of her teeth. She triple checked that her new horseshoes were clean. She glanced over at Angel, who was staring at her impatiently. "You know, maybe tomorrow is a better—" Angel glared at her and shook his head vigorously. He was right. No more putting it off. Today was the day that she walked over to Sweet Apple Acres and thanked Big Mac for saving her when she fell off the cliff. It was something that had been bothering her ever since the end of the war. She felt she hadn't been gracious enough once he had pulled her out of the river. Though really, how could she have been at the time? They were under attack, they had a nation to save. And now, she felt if she put it off any longer, not only would the guilt drive her insane, but it would just be so inappropriate to bring it up further down the road. She hadn't had the time to do it during the first week after the war. She had been busy finding all of the animals, coaxing them out of their hideouts, telling them it was ok, the terrible changelings were gone. She volunteered at the hospital to help severely injured ponies who were having a hard time of coming out of the cocoons. She had just been too busy to see Big Mac that first week. The second week was the week of the community mourning ceremony. It would have been inappropriate to talk to him then, when she and the whole town were mourning those who were lost, one of which was his dear grandmother. It was just too sad of a time to give thanks. The third week was when construction had begun on repairing the town. Fluttershy herself had to fix a few major points in her cottage, some of which she still hadn't managed to finish—thankfully she didn't really need the stairs anyways, since she could fly... but it would be nice if she could fix them down the road—and her chicken coop had been completely destroyed somehow. Right now all of the chickens were sectioned off in her dining room. She also knew that during the beginning of the third week, the Apple family had provided a personal, small funeral for Granny Smith themselves, in their backyard. Big Mac and Applejack had already buried her in her favorite little garden spot, but still hadn't had the time to say good-bye properly. Fluttershy and the rest of her friends had attended, as well as some other close friends of Applejack and some family members who had traveled out. Granny Smith had been a well loved old mare. And then he needed another week to mourn and just collect his thoughts right? Big Mac and his family were busy rebuilding their farm and home. They had decided to completely start from the scratch with the house, since it had been so badly damaged, and that took a lot of work, effort and time. Fluttershy couldn't take him away from that, especially now when he was the official head of the family. But enough was enough. It had been a whole month now since Chrysalis had been defeated, since he had dove off of that cliff to rescue her. Sure, he may not have exactly dove off of the cliff, as so much fell, but it was thought that had counted. He came over to rescue her. And he succeeded. Fluttershy took a few more deep breaths and gave herself a few more internal pep-talks, and then finally headed for the door. She picked up the little envelope she had sitting neatly on the table by her front door, and slipped it into her saddlebag. "Wish me luck, Angel," she said. Angel just rolled his eyes and gestured for her to leave. One more deep breath and she was out the door. It was a beautiful, bright sunny day. Fluttershy smiled to herself as she left her cottage behind and crossed the little bridge that led up to it. The birds sang and chirped. She waved at ponies as she passed through town. Many were busy repairing their shops, some already completely fixed and selling products again. A soup stand was set up for those who still needed help for food. As she got closer and closer to Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershy's heart began to beat faster and faster. She could hear hammers and saws as she slowed and began to approach the property. There was the tinkling laughter of Apple Bloom somewhere in the distance, and the sound of a prominent Bronx accent. Applejack was off to the side bucking apples from trees that hadn't suffered from the changelings. She smiled when she saw Fluttershy and waved at her. Fluttershy waved as well. As Applejack began to approach her, Fluttershy could see Big Mac further off, hammering on a piece of the porch of the new house. Her heart began to flutter. "Hey there, Fluttershy! What brings you here?" Applejack asked cheerfully. "Oh, hi Applejack," Fluttershy said, her eyes darting between Applejack and Big Mac, her heart rate picking up. "I, just... I was just... um... in the neighbourhood and..." Big Mac stopped hammering and wiped his forehead. He turned and saw Fluttershy, and waved kindly. Fluttershy felt her cheeks grow red. Applejack looked glanced behind her towards her brother and then back to Fluttershy. Oh no. She knows. She knows why I'm here. Fluttershy had never admitted it to anypony—she had barely even admitted it to herself—that she had a bit of a crush on Big Mac. Really, what mare wouldn't? He was kind and strong, responsible and extremely friendly and helpful. And ever since he had saved her, her feelings had just escalated. Sometimes she felt they were getting out of control. "You ok, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked cautiously, breaking Fluttershy from her thoughts. "Oh, yes, um, of course," Fluttershy said. She took a deep breath and said, "I'm actually here to talk to Big McIntosh." "Oh, well that's just dandy," Applejack said, "You want him to help you rebuild your chicken coop? I remember you sayin' somethin' about it last time we saw each other. I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all! Just go on over and talk to him, he don't bite." Either Applejack hadn't seen Fluttershy's cheeks turn bright red, or she was the kindest friend in the world for not pointing it out and questioning it. Fluttershy gave Applejack a shaky smile and inhaled loudly. She then slowly turned and made her way to the house. She hoped he wouldn't notice the way she was shaking, or the way that her wings were twitching. What if the breeze on the way over had messed up her mane? Or if one of her new shoes had gotten scuffed? Now I'm just thinking like Rarity, Fluttershy thought, Though she does have good reason to worry, in these types of scenarios. Big Mac had gone back to hammering in pieces of the new porch. Fluttershy quietly approached him. He didn't hear her come up. She cleared her throat quietly, and was surprised when he stopped and turned around. Usually nopony every heard her when she tried to get their attention, at least not on the first try! She felt herself go still. Her heart seemed to stop and her brain seemed to cease working. Her mouth opened, but all that came out was a barely audible squeak. "Hi Fluttershy," Big Mac said, after a few seconds of awkward silence. "H-Hi," Fluttershy stuttered, "Big McIntosh." "What brings you to the farm today?" he asked kindly. This was it. This was the part she had been putting off for so long. All of the small talk leading up to the thanks she had been working on was ruined. He had just jumped right to the climax. Be brave, said the voice in her head. She had changed the voice in her head to Twilight's voice, since it unnerved her still that it was Discord in the end who had saved them. It had all been a joke to him. "I-I-I," Fluttershy said, stuttering terribly. She stopped, closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. "I came by to say thank you." Big Mac blinked, a look of slight confusion on his face. "For what?" he asked after a moment. "For saving me from the river, the day I fell off of the bridge. When my wing was broken," Fluttershy said quietly. She tried her hardest to keep eye contact with him. He had told her not to be so shy and she was trying her hardest. If another shy pony said you were shy, you were shy. "Oh," he said, laughing slightly, "There's no need to thank me, Fluttershy. But you're welcome." "Oh, but I do want to thank you. It's just... it's just been on my mind a lot lately, and I just really felt like I needed to thank you properly. You saved my life," Fluttershy said, "Without you, I probably would have drowned. I'm not a very strong swimmer." Big Mac just stared at her. It was making her feel uncomfortable and she broke eye contact. The hardest part was coming up. She was about to do something she had never done before. She wasn't sure why she had decided to tackle a huge chunk of bravery all at once, but now that she was here, she was going to go through with it. "A-Anyways," she said, as she reached into her saddle bag and pulled out the envelope, "I wanted to t-thank you by inviting you t-to a play. It's in the next town over, and despite everything that happened in Equestria, they're still putting it on. I guess they're doing it to move things back to normal. They put on a play every year, and it always has to do something about nature and the environment, and it's one of the things I look forward to for most of the year. It's set outdoors, and there are tables and they provide appetizers and d-drinks. I-I have a ticket here, i-if you're interested." Big Mac didn't say anything. He looked down at the envelope and then back at Fluttershy. Had she spoken too fast? She knew she had sped up rapidly after saying she was inviting him somewhere. She had just essentially asked him out and now she felt like she was completely exposed, like he could look inside her, see her feelings for him. Like she was raw and open. It was the most terrifying feeling in the world, possibly worse than the changelings. Why isn't he saying anything? He doesn't want to go. He's not interested. He just doesn't know how to put me down politely. I can't believe this. Big Mac opened his mouth to say something, when Applejack called him from afar. He looked over Fluttershy's shoulder and Fluttershy turned as well. She could see Applejack in the distance, talking to a yellow unicorn with a red mane. Applejack was gesturing for Big Mac to come over. Fluttershy turned back to Big Mac. He had a slight frown on his face, his gaze still over at his sister. "Y-you know what, I'll just leave this here for you and you can think about it later," Fluttershy said quickly, her heart beating. She willed herself not to cry in front of him. He had rejected her. "I-It's for two nights for now, so, you know, just... just t-think about it and I-I-I-I'll see you there maybe." She dropped the envelope, jumped into the air and began to fly away before he could respond. Her voice had cracked and she had begun to cry in front of him. And she cried all the way home. Two days later, Fluttershy was getting ready to head out to the play. She tried not to think about whether or not Big Mac would show up. It was an event that she had enjoyed by herself for the past couple of years and there was no reason that she couldn't enjoy it alone this time. She braided her long mane and then twisted it up on her head. She pinned a flower in it and tried to smile at herself in the mirror. She had gone to the spa earlier with Rarity, and her coat was shiny and clean, and she donned her new shoes again. She wrapped a small, pretty pink cape around her shoulders and left her cottage early for the play. She liked to browse the shops in the nearby town while they were still open (provided that any were repaired enough to be open at the time). Usually she walked to the town, which took an hour, but today she flew. Having her wing broken reminded her just how much her wings were a part of her body, and she started to feel guilty that she didn't use them often enough. Nowadays she tried to fly more often. As the sun began to set, she made her way to the makeshift little theatre that the town had set up. As the usher began to show her to her table, she stopped in her tracks and her heart rate picked up. Sitting at her table, a bouquet of flowers place on top, was a red stallion. Big Mac stood from the table as he saw Fluttershy approaching. He wasn't dressed fancy, but his mane was combed back and he didn't have his yoke on. Fluttershy thought she saw his cheeks redden as she got closer, but it was hard to tell. "Y-you came," Fluttershy stuttered. "Eeeyup," he responded. "Y-you wanted to come to the play with me?" she asked, still in disbelief. "Eeeyup," he said. "You... you weren't rejecting me?" "Nope," he said, "I'm sorry for not respondin' to you right away. Applejack had some sudden business come up and needed my attention. I went by your cottage earlier today to see if you wanted to walk over together, but you had already left." "You came over? To... to pick me up?" Fluttershy asked, as she sat at the table. "Isn't that what you do on a date?" he asked. Fluttershy felt her cheeks, if not her whole body, turn bright red. She smiled at Big Mac, a big, genuine smile, not her usual shy one. "Eeeyup," she said.