AppleShy: The Series

by solsticebrony888

The Dilemma

The Dilemma

For three straight weeks, the injured Applejack was limited to her bed so her leg could heal properly. It wasn’t her decision, because when it came to nursing something or somepony back to health, Fluttershy knew what to do and wouldn’t let the stubborn earth pony do a thing. The last thing the earth pony would want to be doing was nothing, but the constant meticulous care from the yellow Pegasus certainly helped her get used to it. Every meal she would usually eat through-out the day was immediately brought to her whenever she asked for it, whisked up to her before she could try and make a move. Through her constant guilt and considering herself a burden the pony that had saved her life, Applejack sometimes resisted the treatment, only to be smooth talked back into another rose-bud sandwich with hay fries on the side. Fluttershy did everything Applejack would usually do, for her, while managing to give her animals all the love and care they needed without neglecting a single creature. The Pegasus did all of the shopping, updated the apple family on her condition on a daily basis (Mostly for Big Macintosh, because the two had grown very close since the incident in Appleloosa) and still managed to do everything with grace and seemingly no stress at all.

When they had returned to Ponyville, several days after Fluttershy miraculously rescuing Applejack from the brink of disaster, they quickly saw how fast word had spread of what they had been through together. They both received quite a surprising reaction from Ponyville residents and ponies from all across Equestria alike. Most reactions, like from their friends and other ponies they knew were of amazement. Lyra had made her way to their cottage just to have them retell their story to her, and to of course make sure they were ok. With Twilight Sparkle as a friend, word had quickly reached Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who had decided to let Fluttershy take care of Philomena the phoenix as her reward for being brave in such a trying time.

Soon, they had spots in the newspapers all across Equestria celebrating the two’s companionship and miraculous story that came with it. Much to Fluttershy’s discontent, she found herself and Applejack in the spot-light once more. But like every piece of news that gets passed around Equestria, it soon gave way to newer stories and they slowly were able to return to a regular life. Due to their popularity and Applejack’s immobility they had waited to celebrate being together for 2 months until the orange pony was able to walk consistently. It was one of the rare times Fluttershy actually let her out of their home, and it was to spend a night on the town with their friends. Pinkie Pie (like anypony was surprised) begged them to throw a party, but Applejack declined because, well, she couldn’t party with two injured legs, one being in a cast.

The guilt Applejack felt from Fluttershy taking so much time to take care of her only motivated her to get back to work as soon as possible, even though Big Macintosh seemed to be a lot more motivated to make sure she couldn’t possibly hurt herself when she returned. It was when Fluttershy was away on her weekly spa trip with Rarity that Applejack took the time to find her older brother at Sweet Apple Acres to plead with him to let her return to work.

“Aj, ah still don’t think yer ready to work yet, hay- ya don’t even have yer cast off yet!”

Applejack looked at him and frowned, slightly insulted, “But it’s been three weeks, ya said ah could work now if ah could! And ah can, even despite this darn cast! Ah can’t feel a thing even when ah put some pressure on it”

,”If ya still have a cast on, ah’m sure ya can injure yerself again,” Big Macintosh tried to explain this to her, despite knowing his efforts were in vain, “Ya simply can’t buck a tree with a cast on, and ah ain’t gonna let ya try and prove me wrong,”

“Ya always underestimate me, Big Macintosh! Ah can buck a tree juss as good with one leg as can with two, just takes precision, thass all! And besides, ‘Shy’s been takin’ perfect care of me and all, ah’m sure ah healed doubly fast juss ‘cause of that!” The orange pony exclaimed, with an emphatic stomp on the ground with her hoof.

“Why don’t you play with Applebloom or somethin’? ‘cause ah’m not letting ya convince me ta let you do somethin’ ya shouldn’t be doin’. Not again…”

“Come on Big Mac! Applebloom’s probably off with her cutie mark crusaders doin’ some crazy new thang’ they thought of,”

“Aj, ah hope ya don’t think yer gonna win this argument, ah will out-stubborn you. Ya don’t even know how guilty ah felt fer letting you fight the fires in Appleloosa. That scared me, Aj, it really did,”

“Please don’t tell me yer gonna be all over-protective over me now,”

The stallion shrugged, “Better than under-protective, which was my mistake in the first place,”

Applejack sighed, “AUGH. Winter’s comin’ soon though; ya need me to help with bucking apples fer food!”

“Nope, got Caramel here for that,”

The orange pony gave in, “There’s no way ah can win this, huh?”

“Eeyup,”

Applejack squinted in confusion, “Eeyup as in ‘yes ya can’ or ‘no ya can’t?”

“Eeyup as in no ya can’t,”

“Horsefeathers!” She said with another stomp on the ground, “Ah’ll be back Big Macintosh, and when ah do, ah’ll have no cast and be better than ah ever was,”

“Ah sure hope so, Aj, but ah’m sure ya need to go before Fluttershy figures out ya’ve been gone,” He said with a hearty chuckle, looking behind the mare.

“She’s behind me, ain't she?”

“Eeyup,”

Applejack turned around with an embarrassed smile on her face, seeing the Pegasus trotting up the hill towards them.

“Applejack! What did I tell you about going places when I’m not here!” She said jokingly, but felt the need to know that they knew that she was, “I’m joking…b-but please tell me next time, especially before I go to the spa”

“Ah’m sorry darlin, ah-ah just really miss workin’ at th’ farm, and ah especially don’t like knowin’ how much a burden ah’m to you, not matter how many times ya say ah ain’t” The orange pony said, tilting her hat with hoof to block out the lowering sun, causing herself to almost lose her balance.

“Applejack, it’s not like I don’t like doing it, or I feel obligated or anything…I-I actually like taking care of you, and being by you all day, knowing you’re getting healthier,”

They greeted each other with a hug, being courteous to the stallion near them.

“Howdy, Fluttershy! Eethanks again fer takin’ so much care of ma’ sis for me, no matter how stubborn she may be ‘bout it,” Big Macintosh pitched in with his regular slow and deep voice.

Fluttershy smiled at him, “It’s no problem at all, I’m always just thankful she’s ok,” she then turned her head towards Applejack, “Now we should go home so you can rest!...that is if you want too…”

The orange pony giggled, “Alright ‘Shy. Ah guess ah gotta go Big Mac. Juss please, next time, don’t get me so gung ho ‘bout doin’ somethin’ if yer just gonna change yer mind, ya hear?”

Big Macintosh just nodded, thusly returned to his work at the farm. Soon the two mares were on their way back to their cottage near Everfree forest. Applejack now was walking quite easily with her cast on; in contrast to her first few days with it on. It only took her a week to get used to it once the pain from putting pressure on it subsided. Noticing the impressive improvement of the orange pony’s ability to walk, Fluttershy pointed it out.

“Wow, Applejack you sure look like you’ve gotten used to um, walking in that huge cast…you’re so strong!” The shy Pegasus complimented with a smile.

“T’ain’t nothin’ once ah got the handle on it!” Applejack said confidently, looking back on her injured leg.

“I’m so proud of you! I doubt even Rainbow Dash could handle an injury like this so well”

The orange pony thought for a second, “Well, firstly, she don’t have the most caring Pegasus in all of Equestria taking care of her,” Applejack said with a loving glance to her mare, “And she’d just fly everywhere, she wouldn’t even have gotten injured anyhow ‘cause she has wings,”

Fluttershy smiled, “Well if she was an earth pony ah’m sure she couldn’t have done it,”

Despite herself, Applejack shook her head, “Ah don’t know ‘Shy…Rainbow Dash is awfully strong even though she has her head in the clouds all day long,”

“True...” Fluttershy responded, but quickly realized something she had meant to ask Applejack, “Oh! Um! At the spa, Rarity and I were talking and she said she um, needs me to watch Sweetie Belle for the night, is that um, ok?”

Applejack nodded without needing to think, “Of course it is darlin! Sweetie Belle’s a nice filly, ah’m sure she won’t cause no problems, and maybe she’d be with Applebloom! Ah haven’t seen ma little sis in so long…” It was already near the evening and the sun was soon to set, Applejack knew it wouldn’t be too hard just to let one little pony to sleep for a night.

“I would think so! All three of those fillies are so cute!” Fluttershy said with a smile, reminiscing on past times when she had cared for the three, “They weren’t too much of a bother when I’ve taken care of them, we just gotta be careful about them going into the Everfree forest again,”

“Ah reckon that’s ‘cause you are best with taking care of any animal or anypony,” Applejack complimented, but eased on into a slightly different subject with a wishful sigh, “Ah really like them young’uns . Specially them two that play with Applebloom, her makin’ some friends like that is something ah coulda only wished for when ah was her age,” Applejack stated with a grin on her face, “Ah could only hope fer us ta have a foal of our own like one of them 3 someday,”

That sentence caught Fluttershy off-guard. A foal of our own…. She thought wishfully.The topic of them baring a foal together was something both liked and disliked thinking about. Whenever she had thought about them baring a filly or a colt together, the obvious problem of them both being mares always disheartened the shy Pegasus. Their relationship was way beyond just testing their feelings for each other and had been for a long while. It’s to the point where whenever she thinks about her future, Applejack is always by her side, with her in everything she could imagine herself doing in the future. It was one of the Pegasus’s dreams to raise a family with the earth pony and knowing that they can’t bare a foal of their own breaks her heart. That was why Fluttershy felt confused at how nonchalantly Applejack talked about the two of them baring foal of their own, almost as if she didn’t see the same dilemma that plagued Fluttershy’s thoughts.

“What’s wrong darlin’?” Applejack said, getting a little closer to the Pegasus for comfort even without having a clue of why the Pegasus was suddenly disheartened.

Fluttershy looked down, “I, Um…”

The earth pony just looked at her expectantly, knowing that she sometimes needed a second before she could admit something.

“Well, I” Fluttershy sighed, knowing it wasn’t the best time to bring it up with her, “…can we just talk about it later, we’re nearly at Rarity’s boutique, and I just don’t know if it’s the best time…”

“Sure thang darlin,” Applejack said in a comforting tone.

Before they could even knock on the door, Rarity popped up, quickly rushing her younger sister out of the door.

“Thanks Fluttershy! You don’t even know how s-stressed I am!” Rarity exclaimed, rushing her hooves through her mane for emphasis, and upon realizing what she had done, quickly fixed it, “Hi Applejack! W-Wait Applejack?!” Seeing the earth pony surprised Rarity and got her to calm down just to speak to her, “Applejack! Darling! I haven’t seen you since our night on the town! It’s good to see you walking so well now!” Rarity said with a big smile, as Sweetie Belle walked over to Fluttershy’s side.

“That sure was a wonderful time, ah tell ya and W-Well, ma legs are sure doin’ better, ah have a tiny scar on ma right leg from the burn, still! Ah thought it would’ve gone away by now, guess not,”

Rarity peered over at Applejack’s leg, along with Fluttershy, “My oh my, I could make something for you to cover that, but I’m just sooooooo horribly busy as you could imagine!”

“Ah wouldn’t wanna cover it! Ah kinda hope it stays,” Applejack glanced over at Fluttershy with a smile, “It always remind me about how Fluttershy saved my life, and how lucky ah am ta have her in ma life,” The orange pony said with a proud smile, making the Pegasus blush.

After gazing at Applejack’s cast, Sweetie Belle jumped up with a spastic squeak in her voice, “Whoa! The big ponies wouldn’t tell me what happened! Will you two tell me!? Please?!”

Both Applejack and Fluttershy looked towards Rarity to get her permission to tell the little filly all about it.
Rarity frowned, Sweetie Belle smiling with all her might, her own visual way of begging for her sister to say yes.

“Well, um. OH…! Go ahead; just keep out some of the… bad details so it doesn’t scare her ok? I have to go, Photo Finish should be here within minutes, and I’m guessing you two don’t want to see her! Ever since the accident, whenever I’ve seen her, she always asks about you two!”

Applejack gulped, “Yer sure right ‘bout that, Rarity! Good luck with whatever yer doin’!” The three ponies started out quickly to avoid ZE PHOTGRAPHER, the young filly looking up at them expectantly.

“So what happened! What happened! Nopony would ever tell me about it ‘cause I’m a ‘Little Pony’! Was it that bad? Huh?” Sweetie Belle blurted, in the middle of the two mares as they started their walk to their home.

o for the millionth time (Or so how it felt to Applejack), the earth pony started the story that she loved to tell. But this time, Fluttershy was lost in thought the whole time. She knew Sweetie Belle was a nosy filly, how she would get the time to talk to Applejack about her worries without the filly getting in her way was going to be a tough task. Though she knew it could wait until the next day, Fluttershy didn’t want to wait.

Comments

[oblivion2k]

Aw, I have a feeling a couple sad chapters are coming up soon
Hopefully Lyra and Bon-Bon can help Fluttershy and Applejack with their problem.

[solsticebrony888]

19081 I wouldn't say sad :D Just wait and see, I'll post another chapter tonight If I feel it's ready :)

[PleaseRemoveMe]

I like all of your AppleShy stories :)

[solsticebrony888]

19110 Thank you very much :D

[dastrdlyW]

I love this story. ^-^

[Banksyt]

you've got a great way of bringing in dilemma's... and i sense some real deepness about this one. Keep up the good work!
Oh and i'm happy you decided to warm up lyra's disposition!

[solsticebrony888]

19207 I think ill keep Applejacks and lyras rivalry more casual, Lyra can learn from her mistakes in Appleshy 4 hehe. What is a story without some sort of a dilemma? Hehe

[TwilitLightning]

Y'know, when it said "the dilemma", and then said how close Big Mac and FlutterShy had got, i was half expecting Big Mac to ask 'Shy out. but no, he didn't.
"nope."

... and sorry for commenting on quite a few of the more recent parts, I just have something to say about all of them! one of the best fanfics i have read so far, and has the most parts, too! keep it up!