//------------------------------// // Spring - Part 3 // Story: The Seasons // by Scootareader //------------------------------// Fluttershy let out a lonely shiver. It had been... weeks, maybe, since Big Macintosh had come to her house. She'd lost track of time. Every time she saw her friends, they would ask Fluttershy if something was wrong. She would smile and tell them, “Of course not.” She couldn't tell them how she felt about Big Macintosh; they may not like it and stop being her friends if she did. Liking the brother of somepony she knew as well as she knew Applejack, it would only complicate things and drive a wedge between the two of them. These were the things she told herself as she paced the floor of her cottage yet again. Her mane was being brushed by several birds, the pegasus too preoccupied with current matters to worry about her hygiene. In the mornings and evenings, Angel and several other bunnies would provide her with some vegetables or hay that they'd managed to procure; her house was out of food, and had been for several days now. She just didn't really feel like taking care of herself or anything around her. Today, just as they'd done every day, several of the animals from the forests around Ponyville came to visit her, attempting to cheer her up. Fluttershy managed to put on her false, apathetic smile, as she'd done every time, promising them that she'd feel better tomorrow, and that they didn't need to worry about her. Satisfied as they always were, her woodland friends departed to accomplish the day's errands for themselves. Fluttershy let out a long, tired sigh. She just wanted there to be an easy way to fix this. Either she would have to confront Big Macintosh and apologize to him for giving false hope, or she would have to disappear and not have anypony worry about her ever again. She was trying to accomplish the second option, but her friends wouldn't let her, and she wouldn't want them to worry about her anyway if she did. She gazed sadly out the front window. Her perceptive eyes picked up movement on the road. Applejack was rounding the corner, presumably to talk to her. Fluttershy hadn't left her house in several days, and it seemed like everypony was just getting more and more worried about her, so Applejack's presence was no surprise. The yellow pegasus' dull green eyes tracked her stern-faced friend as she approached the door, knocking three times. Fluttershy called in a deceptively happy voice, “Come in!” once again donning her facade of an unworried and happy pony. The door opened, admitting Applejack into Fluttershy's home. The earth pony's stony expression never flickered as she said, “Fluttershy... we need t' talk.” “Oh, hello, Applejack! What do you need to talk about? It sounds serious....” “You.” Fluttershy looked with surprise at her friend, stuttering, “Wh-w-” Applejack interrupted her, nodding toward the open doorway and adding, “And him.” Big Macintosh entered through the doorway as well. “Eeyup.” Fluttershy's mind began running circles. I can't pretend nothing's wrong, he's right there! But if I panic, I worry Applejack... oh, how much did he tell her? “I, um...” “Ah know, Fluttershy.” Applejack's statement hung thickly in the air, weighing the unstable pegasus down and preventing her escape. The look of accusation that glared deep into Fluttershy's soul melted all of her resolve and caught her tongue, barring her from saying anything, so she simply stared at the earth pony for a time. Big Macintosh stepped between the two of them. “Ah told 'er 'cause Ah couldn't bear t' see ya hurtin' yerself like this. Every time Ah come up t' see ya, yer never home, but y'all seem easy enough t' find when Applejack or Rarity or Rainbow Dash needs t' find ya. Ah figured it'd be easier if Ah got AJ t' help me this time 'round.” Applejack nodded her head, still in sight of Fluttershy behind the large stallion. “We're worried about you, sugarcube. Let's all take a seat and talk this out.” Fluttershy began taking faster and faster breaths, making a self-induced panic as her heart began to beat more swiftly and her face began to sweat. I need to get out of here! She was practically screaming internally, torn between standing her ground and speeding away. Applejack noticed the change in her friend's demeanor, saying, “Ah ain't mad, Fluttershy. Ah just wanna talk about it.” It was too late, though. Fluttershy bolted, making for the window that she'd been looking through and shattering it as she came into contact. Shards of glass flew all around her, some embedding themselves in her skin and hurting her, but her eyes were shut tight and she kept flying, carrying her far, far away from the situation behind her. An hour later, Fluttershy sat on top of a tree in the Everfree Forest, just far enough within the branches to obscure her from flying creatures. She was doing her best to pick out shards of glass from her body, scolding herself for acting so rashly. Her friends were probably looking for her. She'd just proven to Applejack that something was the matter, and Big Macintosh was to blame. If he hadn't told his sister everything already, the big stallion was going to spill the beans now. The quietly crying pegasus briefly considered never going back to Ponyville. Her friends would worry for a while, then they would forget about her. She'd make everypony unhappy for a just a short time, but it would go away eventually, and she'd never make them sad or disappointed ever again. Just as the thought began to sound tempting, she squelched it. She knew she needed to return to Ponyville. She couldn't live in this tree forever. Picking out one more tiny piece of glass, the pegasus picked herself up to fly to Ponyville Hospital. Fluttershy was lying in a clean white bed with small bandages covering a good portion of her body. After a small lie of an eagle flying into her window and having the glass shatter on her, the yellow pegasus had quickly been admitted and had the rest of the glass removed. She specifically requested no visitors, but asked that her five best friends be notified she was fine. Perhaps with no creatures around to distract her, she would have time to reflect on her life. She questioned her irrational fear of Big Macintosh. She'd been dreaming about him almost nonstop for the past several nights. He plagued her thoughts, her actions, her feelings. He was all-encompassing, the same thing to her as Princess Luna was to Princess Celestia, the other half of an inseparable whole. However she may try to tear away from him, fate would invariably pull the two ponies back together. She knew this because of how she felt about him. She couldn't answer why; she only knew it was. He was a symbol to her: An end to loneliness, and a beginning to happiness. She knew she would be happy. Why, then, did he cause her to panic so much? Was there something wrong with her? Or maybe him? Long ago, in Cloudsdale, Fluttershy had just fallen off a cloud and landed atop another one that had a small fog bank formed on top of it. Inside this obscurity, she silently cried as she lamented her inability to perform as desired. Some indiscriminate amount of time later, she'd heard a male pegasus flying by... one of the three that kept calling her Klutzershy. He was talking in a low voice, but they passed right next to the cloud that Fluttershy was in. He told the pegasus he was with, “I don't know how to tell her I like her. It... just kinda happened. I wanna help her, but then the other guys start making fun of her, and... I just do what they do. Even though she's wonderful, I just can't stand up for her.” The pegasus he was with, a mare, replied, “The only way you'll know is by going up and telling her. Maybe she feels the same way. You'll never know if you keep quiet all the time.” She could feel the stallion nodding thoughtfully. “I guess so, yeah. Once I tell her, though... I think the guys'll make fun of me for liking her. She's not a very good flier, but I just know she has a kind heart.” At the time, she wondered if the pegasus stallion had meant her. She'd never been told by anypony ever that she was liked or anything related. The stallions always turned away from her, maybe because she never asserted herself or talked to them or made herself noticeable in any way. She did what she was told in Cloudsdale and tried not to put her head up for fear of being cut down, to be ground into the very clouds she stood upon in the name of sportsmanship. She hated Cloudsdale, and she found most of the ponies there boring or cruel. When she fell to the ground, she never looked back... but now she did. She wondered if that pegasus had ever looked for her after she disappeared. She questioned her existence in Ponyville, wondering if that was where she was meant to be. Perhaps her soul stallion was in Cloudsdale, looking for her. Perhaps he was in Ponyville. Perhaps he'd already tried to make amends, and had as much as declared his feelings for the shy pegasus. Perhaps everything she'd been doing to avoid him was pointless, and she should simply fly to him and declare how she felt and let him decide right then and there what to do. She was hopeless. Try as she might to steel herself for the confrontation, she couldn't find the courage in herself to approach him. He would have to come to her, and she'd already snubbed him. He had no reason to look for her now; maybe she should just tell Applejack that she didn't want to talk to him. Or maybe she should just stand up and face her fears. What a pathetic notion. She would fall short and crumble, as she always did. She sighed dissatisfied with her solution... but it was her solution. She could come up with nothing better. Having rested for several hours, Fluttershy leaped off her bed and trotted out of her room to check out of the hospital, thanking the doctors as she exited and went home. Applejack was waiting when Fluttershy made it back to her cottage; Big Macintosh was absent. Her friend exclaimed over the bandages covering a good portion of her body, offering to stay and help and trying to talk to her about Big Macintosh, but abandoning the topic when she saw Fluttershy wincing. With a look of consternation on her face, the orange earth pony asked if there was anything else the yellow pegasus needed. A simple shake of the head was all that was needed to send her home to Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy slumped, her mask once again crumbling as she let her depression show. She really was hopeless right now. That night, Fluttershy dreamed. She was speeding through the air, letting the wind pull at her mane. She felt the exhilaration of the open sky, the world small beneath her as she flew between and directly into clouds, shaking their wetness out of her mane while an enormous grin split her face. Suddenly, the pegasus she remembered sped past her, knocking her off-balance and sending her plummeting to the earth. He called back, “Sorry, Klutzershy!” as he let out a cacophony of stupid guffaws. His friends surrounded him, their mockery wrapping her in a cocoon and causing her to fall faster. She heard all of the fillies and colts she remembered from flight school. They sang a chorus of horrible and hurtful insults. “Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!” “Hey, hey gals, it's the divebomb queen!” “Why don't you just give up and go home? You're never going to get the hang of it.” Tendrils of dark sadness began comforting the flagging pegasus, telling her that it was okay to feel bad for herself, that she should just admit her shortcomings and let them do what they may. She welcomed the darkness, letting it drag her down as she forgot herself and melted away. In the distance, she heard a boom. And just like that, the darkness dissipated. The ponies making fun of her suddenly looked toward the source of the sound, then they vaporized as well. She looked in the direction of the sound in wonder. What thing could be so incredible as to save her, even in her dreams? A large red earth pony stallion was barreling towards the falling pegasus. Fluttershy flapped her wings, slowing her fall as she glided in his direction. Big Macintosh vaulted into the air, his body outstretched as he intercepted the pegasus and caught her on his back, landing safely on the ground and stabilizing as he looked back at her and smiled. Fluttershy smiled back. He'd just saved her from... something. Big Macintosh spoke. “Ah'll never leave ya alone. As long as Ah draw breath, mah job will be to protect you and keep you happy. Never forget that, Fluttershy.” He pulled her into an embrace. The pegasus awoke suddenly. She didn't want to be alone. Not anymore. She'd made a mistake, and she was about to pay for it. She had to go, now. Fluttershy flapped her wings, knocking her bedside window open and bolting out into the night. She flew over Ponyville to the opposite end, where Sweet Apple Acres lay. There she sped above the apple orchard, the trees dark shapes as she made a beeline for the place where she would find Big Macintosh. The pegasus landed at the clearing where she'd first fallen for the large stallion. The trees had all been bucked, their precious fruit harvested and turned into whatever it was the Apple family would need to synthesize for their customers. It was here Fluttershy waited. Several minutes later, she heard the crack of underbrush from the direction of the farmhouse. Big Macintosh wandered in, immediately noticing Fluttershy in the dim light of Luna's moon. He stared incredulously for a moment, then said, “Ah had a dream... that Ah saved you. Ah saw you bein' attacked, and Ah banished mah fears. Ah saved you, Fluttershy....” The big stallion fell silent as he stared at the beautiful mare before him. Fluttershy, for her part, smiled happily. She didn't run, she didn't faint, and she didn't look scared. She silently rose from where she sat upon the grass and trotted over to him. Big Macintosh blinked his eyes in surprise. “Fluttershy... why are you here? Is there somethin' wrong?” Fluttershy's happiness never wavered. “No.” Everything is perfect. The yellow pegasus leaned forward, pulling the red stallion into an embrace as she breathed a sigh of happy relief. Silence wrapped the two ponies laying next to each other in the apple orchard. They gazed toward the horizon as the sun peeked out, its fingers stretching across the land and reaching the still-sleeping Equestria, infusing it with light and excitement at the prospect of the coming day. Big Macintosh looked down at Fluttershy, who had a beam of sunlight splayed across her face. The timid mare wrinkled her nose for a moment, then began building up a large sneeze with a loud “Aaahhhh...” then let it out as delicately as possible with a soft “choo.” The earth pony took a deep breath. “Fluttershy....” The pegasus looked up attentively at the speaker. “Do you feel alone? Ye're a pegasus... do ya want another pegasus? So the two of you c'n fly together? All Ah'll do is keep you on the ground.” Without hesitation, Fluttershy had her answer. “Wherever you are is where I want to be.” The sun rose on a new day in Equestria. There to watch it begin together were two ponies.