//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Secret Crush // Story: Once Bitten, Twice Shy // by Locomotion //------------------------------// Locomotion glanced all around himself as he wandered through the orchard, casually taking in the sights and sounds of the late autumn weather. Where the leaves on the trees had formerly been a vivid shade of forest green, they had decayed to the same dull orange hue as the rusty old engines he sometimes saw awaiting repairs or disposal at the engine sheds where he worked, and several fallen apples lay with them on the ground near the trees that had been nurturing them since early spring, patiently waiting to be gathered. Though the red-coated unicorn colt was more of a railway enthusiast than a nature lover, he nonetheless found the scene rather picturesque and intriguing as he made his way up to the Apple family homestead. Just as he was approaching the gate, he noticed a certain yellow Earth filly nearby. “Morning, Apple Bloom,” he called. “How's it going?” Oh, hi, Loco,” said Apple Bloom cheerfully. “Ah'm okay, thanks. How 'bout you, everything okay with y'all?” “Pretty much, I guess,” replied Locomotion. “Seems there was a bit of an accident at the depot this morning, though; the Superintendent says the 5118 was derailed coming back onto shed about half an hour before I was due to start my firing turn, and since nothing else can come in or out, they're having to wait for the wrecking crew to get her back on the rails, so I've pretty much got the day off.” “That's a shame,” mused Apple Bloom. “Nah, it's okay, Apple Bloom; the Super' says I've been working pretty hard lately anyway. What have you and the others been up to then?” “Not much,” admitted Apple Bloom sheepishly. “We're pretty short of ideas fo' gettin' our Cutie Marks – again – so Ah ain't got a lot ta do mahself.” Locomotion cocked his head in confusion. “What about the apple harvest? Don't your brother and sister need your help?” “Not at the moment,” explained Apple Bloom. “Two cousins of mine have come ta visit from Mustangia; they volunteered ta help with the harvest this mornin'.” “Oh, okay,” replied Locomotion. “Fancy some lunch at Sugarcube Corner then? Sweetie-Belle said she'd be there too.” “Sure, why not?” conceded Apple Bloom. “Better than sittin' around an' waitin' fo' the others ta finish up.” “Okay, then,” smiled Locomotion as he and Apple Bloom trotted cheerfully back towards Ponyville. “How are the rest of the Apple family, by the way?” “Not bad. The harvest's a bit heavier than last year, but they seem ta be managin' okay.” But while Apple Bloom was talking, Locomotion happened to notice something out of the corner of his eye. Apple Bloom's eldest sibling, Big Macintosh, was sauntering cheerfully through the orchard with a slightly dreamy expression on his face, carrying what the young unicorn railway enthusiast could only assume was a picnic hamper. “I sure hope they are, seeing as one in particular seems to be playing truant,” he quipped, cocking his head in the red-coated stallion's direction. “What...?” began Apple Bloom; but quickly lowered her guard again when she noticed who Locomotion was referring to. “Ah, don't mind Big Mac, he's just off on another date is all.” Locomotion, caught completely unawares, stopped in his tracks and stared in disbelief. “A date, you say? I didn't know your brother was into that kind of thing.” “Actually, Loco, he an' Fluttershy 'ave been goin' out with each other for quite a while now,” chuckled Apple Bloom. “Fluttershy?!” spluttered Locomotion, assuming a somewhat comical expression he was so taken aback. “How......but...y......I......are you serious, Apple Bloom?!” The yellow farm filly gave him a deadpan look in reply. “Do Ah look la'k Ah'm tryin' ta pull yo' leg?” “But...a pony as timid as Fluttershy – dating?! How the hay do you get that to work?” “Not with anypony other than Big Mac, that's fo' sure,” joked Apple Bloom, laughing heartily as she trotted ahead of the red-coated young railway enthusiast. Locomotion followed on, still trying to come to grips with what he had just heard. Sweetie-Belle was already at Sugarcube Corner when Locomotion and Apple Bloom arrived. Before long, the three foals were sat round a table just outside the bakery enjoying their lunch; but Locomotion was still confused about Fluttershy and Big Macintosh. He nibbled delicately at his iced currant bun, deep in thought, and barely seemed to take much notice of the two fillies sat next to him. “Something on your mind, Loco?” asked Sweetie-Belle after a while. “Say what?” mumbled Locomotion, taking another small bite of the confection on his hoof. “You just seem a bit quiet today is all,” explained the white unicorn filly. “Aren't you usually the one paying more attention to your lectures about trains than your food – or anything else, come to that?” Being the impulsive young railway enthusiast that Locomotion was, he would often talk everlastingly about the histories of his favourite railway locomotives and how they worked – practically anything, in fact, which involved trains and railways, which sometimes drove his schoolmates well over the edge. Most of his friends, including the Cutie Mark Crusaders, had become so used to this that they simply took it in their stride; indeed, they could always tell whether something was bothering the red unicorn colt, for even when he wasn't talking about railways, he never seemed anything other than chatty for the most part. If he wasn't, that was when they usually needed to worry. “Well...yeah, I guess so,” mused Locomotion with a wry smile. “I'm just a bit confused about the whole business of Apple Bloom's brother dating Fluttershy. If you think about it, neither of them is exactly the sort of pony you'd think of as outgoing, however well you know them; I never wish to sound presumptuous, but I'd have thought they'd find the idea of dating a bit...I dunno...'forward',” he finished doubtfully. “That's where yo' wrong, Loco,” Apple Bloom pointed out. “Shy though he may be, he'd actually been thinkin' about a' that fo' ages. Still, if it weren't fo' me an' mah fellow Crusaders, he might still 'ave been tryin ta work up the nerve to ask her out.” Locomotion was most interested. “How so?” he asked curiously. “Well, ya know how we tried to bring him an' Miss Cheerilee together one Hearts an' Hooves Day?” “How could I forget?!” laughed Locomotion. “All that malarkey over what you didn't realise was a love poison until too late – that was just...way too rich!” Sweetie-Belle cringed slightly as she remembered the fiasco that all five had had to endure in order to break the love curse that had been brought on by their concoction. “Yeah, well...what we didn't realise was that he had been hidin' a li'l secret all that time,” explained Apple Bloom. “The firs' Ah knew of it was when Ah happened to stumble on a certain set of photos in his room...” Following the misadventure with the love poison, things quickly settled back to normal. Sweetie-Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were most relieved, especially after they found out that Cheerilee and Big Macintosh's “date” that evening had merely been a light-hearted prank; but for a long time afterwards, they became extremely wary every time they happened to be in the same place at the same time. But for some odd reason, Big Macintosh had become even more distant than usual after Hearts and Hooves Day. He barely seemed to acknowledge anypony or anything around him, not even with his trademark “Eeyup” or “Nope”, and he kept himself to himself most of the time. His demeanour appeared to have changed too; instead of his usual placid yet slightly bored expression, he now looked rather downhearted, and hung his head gloomily as he plodded about his work. Only Granny Smith seemed to know what was going on inside her grandson's head, but whenever anypony asked about it, she would pretend not to notice. A few weeks later, Applejack was in the middle of preparing dinner, and had sent Apple Bloom to let Big Macintosh know that it would soon be ready. Apple Bloom eagerly obliged, and trotted briskly upstairs. “Big Mac,” she called, knocking at the door to her brother's room, which had seemingly been left ajar, “food's up in twenty minutes.” Usually, Big Macintosh would reply with a succinct “Eeyup”; but today, the yellow farm filly's call didn't appear to have garnered any kind of response. Apple Bloom cocked her head in confusion. “Big Mac?” she called again. “Did ya hear what Ah just said?” Still no reply. “Equestria callin' Big Mac! Do ya read me?” shouted Apple Bloom, impatiently pushing the door further open. “Ah'm tryin' ta tell...” but she never finished. The moment she looked into Big Macintosh's room, her jaw hung open in disbelief as she noticed what had been distracting her brother so much. On the headboard of his bed were several drawings, newspaper cuttings and other pictures of a canary-yellow Pegasus mare with long, flowing pink mane and tail, and a plush toy pony of the exact same colour scheme sat laxly against his pillow. The red-coated draft pony himself was laid out on the bed, staring longingly at the pictures and occasionally running a fond hoof through the mane of his plushie; but no sooner had his youngest sister broken off than he abruptly swung his head in her direction and protectively held the plushie close to his chest, his face seeming to turn redder than ever with shock and embarrassment. “Oh...uh, Apple Bloom!” he stuttered. “Er...Ah din' see ya there!” This confused Apple Bloom even more. She had never known her older brother to become so startled so easily. “What the hay's goin' on in here?” she exclaimed. “What's with all them photos an' such?” “Well.....what's with y'all intrudin' on mah private life?!” objected Big Macintosh defensively. “Well, someone had to find out sooner or later,” retorted Apple Bloom. “Y'all 'ave been actin' mighty strange lately, Big Mac; ya don't seem to wanna talk to us, ya keep makin' out la'k yo' real tired, an' now yo' stuck in yo' room starin' at some pictures you've pasted onto yo' bed. What is all this?” Big Macintosh gulped. “Nothin',” he stammered. “It's, uh......it's just a collection o' family mementos is all.” He chuckled nervously, like an amateur stand-up comedian who had only just realised that one of his gags didn't seem to work on his audience. Apple Bloom didn't seem too convinced, though. “Family mementos, huh?” she remarked suspiciously, arching an eyebrow as she scrutinised the pictures. “Well, if they really are 'family mementos', then why are they on the headboard o' yo' bed? An' why are they all of Fluttershy?” “Um...well...Ah...that is...” Big Macintosh desperately tried to think of an excuse, but nothing came to him. In the end, he was forced to accept defeat; “Alright, Apple Bloom,” he conceded, “Ah'll tell ya – but only if ya promise not ta tell A.J. or Granny Smith or anypony else, ya hear?” “Why not?” “Do ya promise, or don't ya?” Apple Bloom considered this. Whatever Big Macintosh was about to reveal to her was obviously a sensitive topic, but then again, she could probably do far worse than break her promise if it was bugging him so much. Still, she thought to herself, her brother probably had his reasons for being so secretive. “Okay then, Big Mac,” she said at last, tracing a cross on her chest with one hoof. “Well, Ah din' wanna reveal anything fo' fear of what Applejack might think,” confided Big Macintosh uneasily, “but...well, Ah've actually been harbourin' a crush on Fluttershy for some time.” Apple Bloom goggled in disbelief. In all the time she had known Big Macintosh, the last thing she or anypony else would have thought of him was that he might have a secret love life, let alone with somepony as close to his own personality as Fluttershy – and yet, here he was, encased in a veritable love shrine, admitting to a crush that he had been hiding for goodness knew how long. She opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was breathless croaking as she struggled to find the right words. “Y'all an'......Fluttershy?!” she finally spluttered. Big Macintosh looked down at his front hooves with embarrassment. “Eeyup,” he murmured gloomily. “Ah'd been meanin' to ask her if she wanted to be mah special somepony, but...well, after that mishap with me an' Miss Cheerilee...” He was too upset to say another word, but the look of shame on his face spoke volumes to little Apple Bloom. A powerful wave of guilt washed over the yellow farm filly as she suddenly realised where she and her fellow Crusaders had gone wrong. They had been doing this more for the sake of their teacher than anything else; they thought it unfortunate that Cheerilee didn't yet have a coltfriend of her own, and Big Macintosh, whom she had only ever seen as a friend, seemed like a perfect choice of stallion. But now that Apple Bloom had seen all the pictures of Fluttershy, the idea of Big Macintosh being with Cheerilee no longer seemed to make sense. If anything, it just made her heart bleed to know that by trying to hook them up, she and Sweetie-Belle and Scootaloo had potentially ruined his chances of being with the one he truly wanted to be with. “Oh, Big Mac,” she stammered, “Ah'm so sorry...if Ah'd only known that...Ah might've...” “Not yo' fault,” said Big Macintosh solemnly, pulling himself together. “Ah shouldn't have been so secretive about it all. If Ah hadn't, Ah wouldn't be in this mess.” “How long has this been goin' on then?” “Since before you were even born,” said Big Macintosh, and closed his eyes as he remembered how he and Fluttershy had first met, back when his parents were still alive...