While all this was going on, Scootaloo was becoming increasingly impatient; surely it couldn't be taking this long for Fluttershy and Big Macintosh to get here, not with Fluttershy's cottage so close to the orchard. She paced back and forth next to the picnic hamper, seething with frustration.
“How much longer are those two gonna take?!” she growled. “They should be here by now!”
She looked back at the hamper, silently wondering if maybe she could get away with snaffling an egg and cress sandwich or something to make up for missing her own lunch; but at that moment, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sweetie-Belle scampering towards her. Mildly disappointed at having to wait even longer before getting a bite to eat, but still annoyed with her for not getting back sooner, she glanced crossly at the white-furred unicorn filly. “About time too!” she said huffily. “What time d'you call this, Sweet...” but she was suddenly cut off as her unicorn friend hastily clamped her mouth shut.
“Keep it down, Scoot!” she hissed. “Big Mac and Fluttershy are just coming; we can't let them know they've got company!”
“Well, yeah,” retorted Scootaloo, forcefully pulling her muzzle away, “but did you seriously need to do that?!”
“Don't argue!” urged Sweetie-Belle. “Just hide behind the nearest tree you can find and keep quiet!”
“Okay, okay, I'm going,” grumbled the frustrated Pegasus, and stomped crossly over to one of the nearby trees.
Not long after, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh came into view.
“Is this it, Sweetie-Belle?” asked Fluttershy as they approached the blanket and hamper that had been left out for them.
“It sure is,” affirmed Sweetie-Belle. She pondered for a moment, trying to remember if there was anything she had missed out – or at least work out something encouraging to say to them. But nothing came to mind, so she simply said, “So, er...I'll just leave you to it then,” and zipped off to where Scootaloo was hiding, leaving the two older ponies to their own devices.
Understandably, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh's date was rather quiet at first, for neither the shy canary-yellow Pegasus mare nor the equally shy red-furred draft pony seemed confident enough to even attempt to strike up any form of conversation between them. They simply sat in silence and enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of the orchard as they ate the food the Crusaders had prepared for them.
For Big Macintosh, the few sounds that filled the groves of apple trees – the soft rustling as a gentle breeze coursed its way through their leaves, the chirping of the birds sat in their branches, the occasional flapping sound of their wings brushing against the air – seemed so new and yet so familiar to him. In all the years he had been tending to Sweet Apple Acres, he had grown accustomed to the sounds of nature; and yet, right at this moment, with Fluttershy next to him, he somehow found them so soothing, so calming, so...romantic......
His train of thought was instantly disturbed at this point as he felt something brush against his left fetlock. Looking down, he was somewhat bewildered to notice that Fluttershy had wrapped one of her front hooves around his own. The yellow-coated mare didn't appear to have noticed this, however; for some worryingly strange reason that he couldn't quite place his hoof on, she was staring up at the clouds with a longing expression in those gentle blue eyes of hers.
“Um...you okay, Fluttershy?” asked Big Macintosh softly, with a twinge of anxiety.
Fluttershy barely seemed to take any notice. “I...I'm fine, thanks,” she stammered quietly. “Why do you ask?”
“Ya just seem a bit...Ah dunno...distant is all,” Big Macintosh replied uncertainly, blushing madly as he looked back at their intertwined hooves. “Er...well......that an' you've got yo' hoof round mine.”
“Have I?!” Fluttershy recoiled hastily, a deep blush of her own spreading across her face as she suddenly realised what she had done. “Oh, I'm so sorry, Big Mac!” she blurted out. “I didn't mean to...I just...uh...that is...” but her voice quickly trailed away as her embarrassment finally got the better of her, and she buried her face in her hooves in an attempt to hide the tears of shame she could feel threatening to spill from her eyes.
Somehow, Big Macintosh couldn't help feeling rather annoyed with himself for what he had just said after seeing how badly it had affected the mare of his affections. “Aw, please don't, Fluttershy,” he pleaded, resting his hoof between her shoulders in an effort to reassure her.
Fluttershy reluctantly removed her front hooves from her face, but still hung her head in shame. “I'm sorry, Big Macintosh,” she faltered pathetically. “It's just that...I...well, there's...a certain somepony I've had a crush on ever since I was just a filly, and...well...I wasn't sure whether he would return my feelings.” She paused morosely. “I guess he doesn't – not after what I've just done.”
All of a sudden, Big Macintosh began to feel nervous again. Had Fluttershy really been seeing somepony else all this time? If so, then for how long had she been seeing him? And more importantly, why did she seem to prefer this other stallion over him? These questions played so loudly in his mind that he almost expected somepony else to call out for him to turn the volume down, and he was almost afraid to ask who she was talking about – but whoever it was, she was plainly having a hard time dealing with what he assumed to have been either rejection or a messy breakup, so he could do far worse, he decided, than to try and help her through it.
“What was he la'k?” he asked gently, trying hard to hide the fear in his voice.
“Well...he's an Earth pony, about seven hooves tall, who works on an apple orchard,” explained Fluttershy. “He has a red coat, an orange mane and tail, and gentle green eyes. He's not a very...um...talkative sort of pony, but he's very strong, very good at harvesting apples...I actually met him many years ago, after I fell all the way to the ground from my home in Cloudsdale. He had gotten himself lost, so I helped him find his way back home, and when we got there, his grandmother treated me to the best meal I'd ever had. I was so sorry to have to say goodbye to him when my mama came to take me home; he's the kindest, gentlest, most handsome pony I've ever met, and I'd give anything to be with him.”
Big Macintosh blinked, and his mouth hung wide open in bewilderment. Fluttershy's description of the pony she had been fawning over was exactly the same as his own, and the tale she had just told him sounded exactly like the time when he and the canary-yellow mare had first met. That was when it struck him – the pony whom Fluttershy had been referring to had been him all along!
“Y-y-you would?” he stuttered.
Fluttershy nodded sadly in reply. Yet another tear trickled down her cheek, which she attempted to hide by shifting her mane to obscure her face in that shy manner he had always found so cute. Gladdened by her indirect admission of her feelings towards him, but nonetheless dismayed at how ashamed she was at doing so, Big Macintosh smiled kindly upon the shy Pegasus mare.
“Well...Ah'm kinda glad ya told me, Fluttershy,” he said coyly, “'cause there's somepony out there that Ah've got mah eye on, but can't work up the nerve to tell – an' it certainly ain't Cheerilee either.”
Fluttershy cringed. Could this be a sign of rejection? “Who is it then?” she asked, not even daring to look at him.
“Well...she's not very...outgoin', but she's so good with animals it's untrue, an' she's real cute, 'specially when she has her mane hangin' over her face la'k that,” explained Big Macintosh. “Firs' time Ah met her was back in mah childhood, when Ah got mahself lost in the woods north o' Sweet Apple Acres – matter o' fact, if it weren't fo' her understandin' of animals, Ah'd never 'ave found mah way home. Ah was real sorry to have ta say goodbye when her ma came to take her back,” he went on with a wistful smile, “but Ah never forgot her, an' Ah was real glad when she moved down 'ere ta Ponyville to look after a' the local critters.”
Fluttershy was confused. “But I thought I was the animal caretaker here,” she began. “I don't remember...wait, what does this other pony look like?”
“What else? There's only enough room in Ponyville fo' one such pony, an' none of 'em 'ave ever represented an Element o' Harmony la'k Applejack or any o' her best friends.”
Only then did Fluttershy realise just what Big Macintosh was trying to say. She placed a hoof against her mouth, stifling a gasp. “Y...you mean...”
“Eeyup – that Ah do, Fluttershy,” affirmed Big Macintosh. He then leaned towards the canary-yellow mare and nuzzled fondly against the side of her head.
Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat as Big Macintosh's cheek came into contact with hers. She was no real stranger to the odd nuzzle from her friends, but this one felt a lot different somehow. It sent an ominous shiver down her spine, and she could feel her face begin to heat up – but what really surprised her was that it all felt strangely pleasant. Blissfully unaware that they were being watched, she draped a gentle arm over the red-coated stallion's muscular shoulders and nuzzled him back affectionately. At this point, words were no longer needed, for the soft touch of one's fur against the other told them all they needed to know; he was in love with her, and despite his previous – and wholly unintentional – dalliance with a certain other mare, Fluttershy loved him back.
From behind their tree, Sweetie-Belle and Scootaloo watched the heart-warming scene play out at the top of the hill. Scootaloo could only roll her eyes at how sappy the two older ponies were acting; but Sweetie-Belle sighed deeply as she took in the sight of them showing their affections to each other, her head resting between her front hooves.
“Fluttershy,” whispered Big Macintosh, still nuzzling his beloved, “Ah wanna thank y'all fo' takin' me out on this, er...date – an' fo' savin' Apple Bloom earlier.”
In response, Fluttershy pulled back and smiled softly. “That's okay, Big Mac,” she replied. “You're very welcome.” She paused for a few moments as if she was mulling something over – and then, in her usual shy tone, she added, “Um......can I call you Mackie?”
“Mackie?” repeated Big Macintosh, a look of mirth on his face. “Usin' pet names now, are we?”
“Well...if you're okay with it, that is.”
Big Macintosh chuckled. “'Course Ah'm okay with it – but only if Ah'm allowed to call ya Sugarcube ever' so often.” Then his face took on a hopeful expression; “So...you wanna be mah marefriend?”
In response, Fluttershy leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on the side of her lover's nose, causing a light shiver to course its way down his spine. As she pulled back, Big Macintosh noticed that a light blush had crept into her cheeks, and she was smiling warmly as she stared into his eyes. “Does that answer your question?” she asked fondly.
Big Macintosh returned the smile in kind. It was rather goofy by comparison, but she could still sense the warmth in his voice as he uttered the one word she needed to know – “Eeyup.”