//------------------------------// // The Stangest // Story: The Strangest Thing // by Xenonic //------------------------------// Mac stood in the center of Ponyville with his apple stand. Today was market day, the sky was clear, and business was good. It seemed, for once, that Lady Luck was in his favor. However, even though it was a perfect day and the weather was just right and business was good, Mac still couldn't shake the feeling of something annoying him. Something about Fluttershy's visit yesterday had bothered him. Well, it wasn't Fluttershy that was annoying, it was something about Fluttershy, and it wasn't something about Fluttershy that was annoying, it was the fact that he couldn't pinpoint what was annoying him in the first place. Phew. He mulled over yesterday's event's. At first, Mac had been embarrassed. Extremely so. Only Applejack and Granny Smith had known about his old doll in the first place, and neither of them knew that he'd replaced her with Twilight's. Twilight hadn't exactly come looking, so Mac had felt no need to return Smarty Pants, and it had been a win-win situation for both parties without them realizing it. Until yesterday, the red stallion frowned. Why, oh why could he not have just concentrated on writing that Celestia-damned letter? He'd just had to try and find his doll. He had, in the process, completely forgotten that Fluttershy had been coming over and that they were going for a picnic. Sigh. He paused to sell his neighbor Carrot Top some apples. For all the rivalry between the Apples and Carrot Top, (well, mainly Granny Smith and Applejack versus Carrot Top, who seemed so far oblivious to such tensions) she was a nice mare. She always stopped to say hello, always bought from him on market day and often they would have short but pleasant conversations about the weather and such. Often he'd wondered what would happen if she became a friend like Fluttershy. Mac pictured his friend again, pictured her turning around to face him with a smile on her face and a flower in her mouth. She looked ever so pretty. Especially when the light caught her flank like that... *snap* Mac's thoughts snapped in two like a...a snappable thing, he didn't know. Again with the flank? he thought, What has gotten into me lately? I can't seem to stop thinking about Fluttershy, that damned whatever-it-is... And then it came to him. It wasn't something about Fluttershy that was the problem, like a single aspect of her personality, but it was everything about Fluttershy. Everything about her, whether she lay dormant in his mind, on the edge of his thoughts, or he thought about her directly, it...didn't bother him, no, but... "Ahem?" Mac looked down to see Carrot Top still waiting patiently for her change. He rubbed the back of his head with a hoof and apologized as he gave her the correct change. Why was he in such a tizz over this? Fluttershy was his friend, end of. Nothing more, nothing less. Yeah. He didn't know why, but inwardly and without thinking he sighed. Mac looked around, and seeing that the market was mainly empty, he began to daydream about the first time the two had met. Mac hastily ran down the path, the apple stand following in his wake. He had woken up late this morning, for his very first day selling apples down the market, of all days, and if he didn't set up soon, he'd miss the lunchtime rush. He thought about nothing but getting to the town on time as he thundered on, the scenery passing by in a blur. Fluttershy walked slowly through the orchard quietly, nosing along a family of ducks. She'd somehow missed them off her list before last week's storm, and Applejack had found them a week later, huddling in a hollow at the base of a tree on the south field. The yellow Pegasus had quickly found them and they were almost home. "Alright now, we're almost home. We've just got to cross the path and carry on a little bit more." They reached the edge of the trees and continued walking onto the path. Halfway, one of the ducklings fell over a rock and was left flailing helplessly on the ground. "Oh my!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she quickly helped it back up with a nudge. The duck quacked and waved one of its wings about. "You've hurt your wing?...What, earlier, too? Why didn't you say! You could have traveled on my back and then you'd...never mind." Fluttershy sat down and gestured lightly for the duck to climb on her back, then got up and continued walking at a sloth-like pace. She didn't mind. The safety of her animals was paramount. Suddenly, just as she reached the other side of the road, Fluttershy heard thundering hooves coming from her right. She looked to see a large red stallion jetting his way down the road, head down, obviously not seeing the ducklings behind her. "Um, excuse me..." He didn't hear her. "Eh, pardon me but -" He didn't notice her - and he was approaching at tremendous speed. Fluttershy took deep breath. "STOP!" Mac drew to a halt sharply, and the momentum from his running traveled through the apple cart and hit him on the rump. He fell over, flat on his face. He gave a low moan and his head began to throb, until he heard somepony giggling. Raising his head from the ground, he saw a yellow Pegasus mare crouching down in front of him. She seemed to be examining him for anything that might have been hurt. "Oh my," she said quietly in a tone that would melt even the strongest stallion's heart, "that was quite a fall! I-I'm sorry if I scared you b-but um, Applejack told me that these ducks got lost during last week's storm and I needed to bring them back home. Y-you're not hurt, are you?" Mac noticed that her voice got stronger when she talked about the animals behind her. Maybe it was her special talent? The mare helped him back on his feet, and all of a sudden he completely forgot about the market, or the fact he was late, as he caught sight of her face for the first time. Though pink mane hid half of her face, and she tilted her head away, he could still see her large blue eyes that reflected the sun like mirrors. She seemed slightly spindly and her wings looked awkwardly large for her body. Hadn't Applejack mentioned a new mare in town just a month earlier? Wasn't it...Fluttershy? "Um, would y'all happen to be Fluttershy?" He spoke softly, as though not to scare her. Fluttershy looked up timidly. "Uh, yes..." She pawed the ground. When she'd been checking this strange red stallion for bruises and talking about her animals, she hadn't been shy at all - he might have been hurt - but now she realized how large he was, and how strong he looked, she was scared stiff. "Ah'm Big Macintosh, though all mah friends call me Mac...Ah'm Applejack's brother." Again, he spoke softly. Her name certainly suited her, he thought. She had an air of innocence about her that not even Apple Bloom could live up to. Fluttershy could recall Applejack mentioning a brother of hers a couple of times, though perhaps she had expected him to be...more colt-ish? Certainly not so polite. And he'd looked to have been in quite a rush, so she wondered that he had not apologized and run on straight away. "Pleased to meet you..." the yellow Pegasus looked up to meet Mac's gaze. A comfortable wave of hush flooded in then, and the birds chirped and the sun shone and all the while the two smiled timidly. Mac lay in bed, confused and thoughtful. Normally, he'd be asleep by now, but that certain somepony could not leave his mind long enough to let him sleep. He'd seen her everywhere - her yellow coat in Applejack's mane, her blue eyes in the sky, everywhere. And, somehow, he felt different, like something inside of him had changed. The apple pony was of simple mind and little words, choosing to carefully phrase his words instead of being impulsive. Some ponies found it irritating, Applejack being one of them, but others such as Fluttershy did not mind. He felt no obligation to say what his mind was thinking - Celestia knew he'd seen it go wrong so many times before - but, right now, there was an out-of-place surge, a huge wave of words fighting to be spoken inside of him. Mac felt stranded. Never before had he felt so pressured in the presence of nopony but his conscience, never before had he been burdened with such a confusion of emotions, never before had Mac felt so damn strange about a single pony. About Fluttershy. That one mare that had to...to... He sighed, rolled over and tried to sleep. Fluttershy would see him in just two days, and by then, he hoped he'd figure something out.