Fluttershy stared at the red stallion as he advanced toward her. His forelegs slowly pulled her in and he touched her wings tenderly, gently. His nose pressed into her neck under her jawline and he moved up, pushing his muzzle close.
She wasn't ready. She's not ready for this. It was too much. Too fast. She couldn't handle it. She pushed him away. She rejected his affection.
The small pegasus thought horrifically about what she'd done. Mac's confidence must be shattered. He must feel heartbroken right now.
Shy pulled her head out of her hooves and grimaced. She looked down at the self-inflicted bite wound on her foreleg. She blinked with a blank stare as the open wound started bleeding again, freshening the dried stream of blood that had remained.
The mare put herself erect with everything she could muster and finally stood on four hooves to take care of her animals, all the while straining her wings to keep them folded at her sides.
Macintosh sat down under a large apple tree, an older one of the orchard. He felt his eyes sting and immediately rubbed them of any moisture, feeling his pride slowly deflating.
"Woah, haven't seen this since Ah was borderin' four years old, Mackie." Aj's teasing voice chimed. "Ah thought 'real stallions didn't shed tears'?" She added, standing in front of him with an actually concerned look in her eyes.
"Ah ain't shed nothin'.." he denied, "It ain't tears if it don't leave.." he sniffed pitifully after that statement, provoking question from his three year younger sister.
"What kinda celestia forbidden death has you so worked up?" The orange mare asked, sitting down next to him with a frown.
"Ah tried ta.." he went silent. "It's nothin'. Ah had it comin'.. Ah was out ah line and it was foolish of me to expect her to return the gesture.."
"Wait.. what?" Apple Jack exclaimed. "It ain't like ya ta be flirtin with some mare. Even excludin', not to be snivelin' 'bout crashin' it."
"It ain't just some mare." He said, his deep voice breaking uncharacteristically. "Actually, she's.. one ah your friends if Ah 'member correctly." Before Aj could guess or question, he continued. "Ah shouldn't've done that.. she was probably so scared.. it must ah been terrifying.. and it happened so fast. Of course she wouldn't've expected.. She's so shy an' fragile.. How could Ah be so.. so selfish a-and forceful." He flung his head back onto the bark of the tree, causing a couple of apples to fall into his lap.
"Hey.. are we talkin' 'bout the same yellow an' pink pegasus Ah figure we're talkin' 'bout??" Aj looked frightened, hoping it wasn't true.
"Fluttershy.."
"Eyup.. that's what Ah was worried about." She responded, clapping a hoof to her face. "What happened. Tell me every detail, Mac." She said.
Big Macintosh then proceeded to start from when he made her pie, putting extra special effort into making it perfect just for her, to the scene at the boutique, and at Shy's home, with everything in between.
Aj listened carefully, quietly. When he explained what happened most recently, seeming reluctant at the .. personal details, her face drained of its orange color. "Y'all did that.. ta Fluttershy..?"
He nodded shamefully.
"Innocent, untouched, timid Fluttershy??"
"Ah get it, Ah get it, Ah shouldn't 'ave done what Ah did." He laid himself forward with his head on his forelegs. "What am Ah gonna do Aj?" He murmured, sniffling once. "What am Ah gonna do..?"
Fluttershy finished up topping off Angel's salad bowl with a satisfied sigh. She had almost forgotten about what happened when caring for her animals. Although, the first half of that time was spent with wings outspread stiffly. Now they were tender and more sensitive from the sudden sensual stimulation.
The butter colored mare sat back on the sofa with some fresh tea and sighed again, inwardly fighting her memory.
After a while, she finished her tea and decided to treat herself to some hay fries. What better way to drown your sorrows than in a fat plate of greasy goodness. So, the yellow pony grabbed her saddlebags and made sure she had enough money in her little burlap bit sack before returning it to its place in the bag. She took off on her way to Ponyville, trying her best to look happy. She decided to fly there in order to loosen up her wings and help them recover.
After arriving and ordering her meal, she sat at an outdoor table and looked over at sugarcube corner not far away. She remembered crab Soarin. Sipping from the same shake and gazing wistfully into the eyes of the other pony from across the mound of frozen goodness. Carefree. That's what she wanted.
Conveniently, the crab has returned. Soarin was sitting at a table nearby. He looked crestfallen. He was poking miserably at a daisy sandwich with his head resting in the propped up foreleg of the non-prodding hoof. The front of his dark, messy mane fell over his face as he stared blankly down at the table.
Fluttershy tensed up. She wanted so badly to go and to apologize to him. Curse her and her ever so accurate name. Luckily for her, Soarin finally looked up and saw her. His green eyes widened and he sat up straight. He thought she hadn't seen him. He pushed his hair back, licking his hoof to keep its unkempt strands in place. The stallion tapped his table a couple of times, hoping to work up the courage to move. He smiled, then rethought his approach and tried acting cool, scowling. He shook his head and rubbed each cheek with his hooves to relax his face. It didn't work, but it definitely succeeded in drawing out a quiet giggle from the yellow mare a few tables away.
Soarin looked up, his face still squished between his hooves in an awkward looking face, blinking in the realization that Fluttershy knew he was there.
He immediately stood up, bumping the table and scrambling the sandwich on it. He limped for a moment from the impact, cursing quietly to himself. He clumsily made his way over to Flutters, who waited patiently, concealing a grin.
When he made it to her table, she was standing and looking up at him. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes.
"I'm sorry." They both said at the same time. "What? But you didn't.." they both said, pausing awkwardly.
"Fluttershy.. I shouldn't have been so angry and violent at that boutique. I didn't mean to upset you.. please give me another chance..?"
Her mouth gaped. "But I was so.. mean.. why are you apologizing when I yelled at you.."
"You had every right to. I was out of line." He said, lowering his head. He waited silently for a response.
She didn't say anything. Fluttershy looked at him with teary eyes and nodded, trying not to make a scene. The yellow pegasus let her mane fall over her face.
"Oh, don't do that..." Soarin cooed. "Your eyes need to be shown off, not hidden."
She blushed beet red and brushed it out of her face.
"I feel like pie. Do you feel like pie?"
Fluttershy tensed up. Big Mac would almost certainly be at the farm. "I.. I don't think.."
Soarin narrowed his eyes. "Is it that red guy again? It is him, isn't it Shy? What did he do to you?" He questioned, noticing how uncomfortable she looked. "Did he hurt you? I swear, I'm gonna.."
"No! Soarin he didn't hurt me." She said quietly. "It's just.. hard to explain. I got nervous and asked him to leave after.."
"What? After what?"
"I.. I.. nothing, he just.. misinterpreted what I was ready for.. and.. he kind of.."
Soarin's wings flared and his eyes glowed angrily. "Did he try to-??"
"No, no not like that.." she mewled, then blinked in thought for a moment. "Was he..?" She thought aloud, no longer sure of Macintosh's intentions.
"That does it, I'm going down there and I'm gonna straighten that hillbilly out.."
Fluttershy, horrified at the idea of another fight, lurched forward and wrapped her hooves around the base of his neck, where his shoulders were. She managed to cry out, "No!" In her barely audible yell. She squeezed as tightly as she could. "Don't fight. Please. Please, Soarin. Don't do it." She whispered, her voice choking.
Soarin thought back to that pale-maned pony who told him that mares hate when stallions fight. He stared down at Fluttershy. He never wanted her to let go. "I won't, Flutters.. not if you don't want me to."
She sighed in relief, blushing as her grip loosened. She let go and stared down at her hooves.
A waiter came to the table with a plate of hay fries and set the heavy plate down expertly.
"Oh, my hay fries." She said, sitting down. "You sit too, Soarin." She proffered the empty seat across from her and smiled sheepishly.
He nodded and sat down, putting his hooves on the edge of the table. He stared at her across it with longing in his green eyes.
A familiar voice chimed behind him. "I see.. so you followed my advice!"
He turned to see Thunder Lane sitting backwards in a chair with a leg on each side. "Hey.. thanks for the tip and all but d-don't be ruining this, please!" Soarin pleaded quietly so that Shy didn't hear.
Thunder shrugged. "No problem here." He said.
Soarin nodded briefly and turned to Shy carefully. "Can you e-excuse me for a second?" He said, slowly getting up. He and Thunder Lane began to talk near the original table Soarin was sitting at.
"What should I do?" He asked, panicked. He didn't want to mess up now.
"I don't know." The other pegasus replied. "Based on what I know of Fluttershy, you need to be very.. gentle. Don't come on too strong."
"Okay, got it. What else?"
"What am I, an advice pump you can just turn on and off??"
Soarin looked at him for a moment.
"Wings. She doesn't fly very much or have much physical contact using them. They'll be extra sensitive. More than yours or mine." He added.
"Okay. Thanks." He was about to turn around when something hit him. "How do you know so much about Fluttershy?"
"Uhhm.. Iee.. we did that tornado thingy a while back..?"
"You weren't there." Soarin narrowed his eyes.
"Details, details! .. Training! We were training. There. Now get!"
Soarin nodded, still suspicious, and turned around. He plotted quietly over to Fluttershy's table and sat down. Wait.. does that mean don't touch her wings or do..? he mused, gazing at the blushing pony across from him. She glanced away nervously, pink heating up her yellow cheeks.
After a small while of eating the hay fries that Fluttershy insisted on sharing and Soarin insisted on paying for, Soarin stood up. "Let's go someplace." He said, holding out a hoof to his romantic interest, who blushed profusely in taking the hoof and standing up. "Where do you want to go?" She murmured.
"I want to treat you to that spa day you told me you wanted at Sugarcube Corner." He decided after some careful thought.
"Won't you feel uncomfortable at the spa..?" She asked quietly. "And.. and I wouldn't want to be a burden.. You already paid for the hay fries.." the butter yellow mare fretted.
Soarin shook his head, smiling. "It's worth a few bits helping you relax." He said, resting his muzzle on her forehead and taking in every last bit of the scent of her homemade wildflower shampoos.
Fluttershy blinked, adjusting her wings carefully.
Soarin looked at her wings and smiled at himself. So she enjoys this.. contact.. but why would she pretend she doesn't? Maybe she's embarrassed... he thought, musing over what to say.
"There's no need to feel embarrassed about it." He said gently as he led the way to the spa. He was sure to stay close by her side as they trotted along.
"Huh..?" She mewed, looking at him.
"Flirting is a normal thing. Along with kissing and hugging and- .. well, you know. You don't need to hide from it."
Fluttershy then stared down at the ground in front of her, letting her ears go back a little bit. "Sorry.." she mewed.
"Don't apologize.." he said quietly, brushing her ear with his muzzle. "I know that you can't help it because I'm just so sexy." He jested, "but just know that it's not anything to be ashamed of." He smiled at her, extending his wing and brushing his feathers over her neck.
Fluttershy remained silent, feeling the ticklish sensation that made the coat of hair on her neck stand on end.
They both stopped at the doors of the spa a few moments later. Fluttershy looked up at him, considering what he said. She leaned in slightly.. maybe just..
Nopenopenopenopenope! She changed her mind. I can't do that.. The yellow mare averted her gaze quickly and opened the door to the spa, provoking a small jingle of a bell.
The pale blue stallion came behind her, thinking about what she had likely been about to do. Was she really going to..? Soarin stared after her, an innocent, sensitive mare. How was this going to work?