Butterflies In Her Tummy

by Hivemind

Part 7

“How long will it take before it gets here?”

“I’m sure it won’t take that long. I still have to clear out the spare bedroom upstairs before we can even move anything in there.”

“Oh, d-do you need any help?”

“I can get it all, Fluttershy, don’t worry. Besides, you need to relax a little, or whatever Twilight’s book told us to do...”

“Well...alright. I’m just glad to hear that you’re planning ahead.”

“I promised I would, didn’t I?”

~~~~~

Big Macintosh scooped the pile of dusty memorabilia off his bedspread and into the nightstand drawer. Sighing with defeat, he slowly pushed the drawer back in and leaned his head against the bedside, exhausted.

“Big Mac?” spoke the voice of a certain cowpony.

Big Mac looked up from his sulking and found his beloved sister Applejack standing in his bedroom doorway, rubbing her groggy eyes.

“Hey, sis,” said Big Mac.

“What’s with all the ruckus goin’ on in here? It’s nearly midnight!”

“Ah’m just havin’ some trouble. Just somethin’ on mah’ mind is all.”

“Somethin’ on your mind?”

“Eeyup.”

“I know you were actin’ a little strange this mornin’, Big Mac, but this--”

“It’s aaalright. It’ll go away with some sleep.”

“You sure you don’t want to talk about it?” asked Applejack, raising an eyebrow. “Granny Smith and I do it all the time. It’ll make ya’ feel better!”

For a moment, Big Mac considered taking up his sister’s offer, but whatever was on his mind was meant for the business of one pony and one pony only; himself. This was something he needed to deal with personally, and hopefully, for the last time.

“Ah’m fine, AJ, but ah’ think ah’m gonna go out to the barn. Clear mah’ head and whatnot.” stated Big Mac as he got up and made his way to the bedroom door before stepping out into the hallway.

“Well...alright, if it’ll help ya’ any better I guess...”

“Night, Applejack.”

“Goodnight, Big Mac. Sweet dreams, partner!”

Big Mac made his way down the stairs and stepped out into the cool night through a back door in the kitchen. He strolled around the outside of the house in silence and walked through the wide open doors of the Apple families ages-old, big red barn.

Ah’ can’t just keep hiding from her. It’s been a looong time since we even spoke to each other... thought Big Mac as he climbed the rickety stairs up to the loft of the barn. When he got to the top, he found a nice, soft pile of unbound hay to sit on right by the open loft window. He laid down flat on his stomach and looked up at the moon through the open gap, his thoughts swimming in a sea of hopelessness among the stars.

As far as I know, she forgot about the whole thing...but ah’ don’t deserve her. Ah’ don’t deserve anypony...

~~~~~

Twilight Sparkle angrily slammed her book shut and tossed it over the bedside, drained of all energy. Hours of late night studying had brought her frustration with a certain subject up to a boil. Her eyes were bloodshot, and they stung with intense pain from reading for so long.

Still angry with herself, she looked up at her bedroom wall clock.

Midnight. Well past her usual bedtime. Spike however was fast asleep, happily snoring away without a care in the world in his plump little basket next to her bed.

“All of these books and still nothing happens!” exclaimed Twilight. “No special feelings, and no special thoughts! I did everything Rarity told me to do! Everything! But nothing just...connects like it should!”

The lavender unicorn grabbed her pillow and stuffed it over her face, groaning under the strain. It’s been over a week since she started her research on the everyday lives of dating or married couples, and her days of researching the subject of her interests has yielded no significant results. Field research faired no better. It took days just to find couples who were willing to answer her questions. Some lucky, and some not. Mr. and Mrs. Cake weren’t of much help, Lyra and Bon-Bon were out of town, and every other couple she tried asking were either not interested, creeped out, or had an excuse to find something else to do.

The sting of defeat never felt closer. Twilight looked up at the moon from her bedside window, straining her brain for answers while the sight of Luna’s glowing white orb kept her imagination running.

“I’m not gonna get the answers I need just by sitting around like this!” Twilight grunted. “There’s nothing I can do! I can’t draw a solid conclusion with what I have! Well, with what little I have anyway...”

~~~~~

Maybe ahm’ just lookin’ at it the wrong way. Ah’ was an idiot back then, and ah’ never should have been with her...she deserved better...

Big Mac shifted in place and rested his head against a nearby bale of hay, keeping his gaze locked on the lunar surface high in the sky.

But ah’ can’t stay like this for the rest of mah’ life. Ah’ need somepony special, otherwise, I’ll just be another dead stick. Ah’ don’t even care about that photo anymore. Who cares if I lost it?

The red stallion rubbed the tired from his eyes, trying his best to stay awake.

She wasn’t the one for me, but ah’ did it anyways, and after all these years, ahm’ still all alone...it just ain't fair. Ah’ know what ah’ did was wrong, but ahm’ past all that now! Ah’ need a fresh start, a better start. Ah’ need somepony...somepony special...somepony to love...

By now, Big Mac was barely able to stay conscious. Too tired to walk back to the house, the fatigued young stallion curled up against the hay bale, and before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

~~~~~

I can’t just sit at a dead end like this. There’s got to be an answer! Something simple. Should I ask Cadance? No, she’s on her honeymoon...Princess Celestia? No, no that either! She’ll just turn suspicious, then I’ll never hear the end of it! And Rarity? Cut me a break. She’s been in too many relationships to even count, and I don’t see a wedding ring on her, so that’s that....

Twilight growled into her pillow under the sheer amounts of frustration and stress she was putting herself under. There was just no easy way to solve the confusing, teeth-grinding puzzle that was the mystery of love between two ponies. She had exhausted every possible theory, and yet she was still without a conclusion. Is that even possible? Exhausting every theory you have, even the illogical ones? It didn’t even matter anymore. Books were of no use, and magical experimentation was far too dangerous to try out.

There was nowhere else to turn. For one of the few times in her life, the studious unicorn would have no choice but to slap a big, red X on the project and call the whole thing a massive--

“Wait a minute...” Twilight whispered to herself, feeling the onset of a sudden eureka. “Big...red...ohmygosh!” Twilight gasped, pulling her head out of the pillow with wide eyes.

That’s it! That’s why nothing ever works! I’m not looking at this from the wrong way! I’m looking at this from the wrong perspective! I need to be where they’re at! I need to see it for myself!

I need to feel what they feel; see what they see; do what they do!

I need a coltfriend!

“Twilight Sparkle, you are a genius!” Twilight squeaked. “And I know just who I need...”

~~~~~

The beautiful pegasus of your nightly dreams snoozed quietly next to you in bed. You looked upon her gorgeous face with a soothing warmness building in your heart. Even while she slept, you saw that she was even more beautiful than you ever imagined; a pegasus unlike any other. Why didn’t you notice this before? You couldn’t help but blame your job, but what really got you thinking was what sort of ordeals your happy canary pegasus went through while you were away each day. There are a countless number of animals that live at your cottage home, like the tall and the small, the quick and fierce, the sick and needy, and the poor and the homeless, and having to keep up with them and care for them all each day was a chore that not even the boldest of ponies would undertake.

You worry about her everyday when you’re away, and she worries about you as well. Only at the end of the day when you come home do you get to see her smiling face again, except for Saturday, when Nurse Redheart allows you to leave the hospital early.

You could hear Fluttershy mumble in her sleep. It was beyond adorable. You felt extremely lucky for having her as your wife, but there was still something that bothered you; something that you couldn’t seem to figure out just yet.

What did Nurse Redheart mean by Fluttershy having a ‘history’? Those were words of ill omen if you’ve ever heard them. Fluttershy is the most kind and caring pegasus in all of Equestria! There was no way she could be hiding terrible secrets from you! You both made a promise long ago to each other to never do anything that could possibly harm your marriage.

Fluttershy halted her mumbling and rolled over next to you, wrapping one of her forelegs around your neck to pull herself closer to you. You smiled a hearty smile, pushing away all negative thought when you felt your darling mare snuggle up to your neck. There was no way in Equestria Fluttershy could be hiding something from you. She was much too kind to do such a thing, especially to the one she loved.

That was it. You doubted Nurse Redhearts warning with every feeling in your body. No such history could ever exist. How could you have believed such nonsense?

Suddenly, you opened your mouth and let out a great yawn. It was getting late, very late, and you had to get up early tomorrow to fill a bulk order of medication at the hospital. You were the breadwinner in the family after all. Somepony has to keep Fluttershy in the life she’s accustomed to, right? Feeling slightly more relaxed now, you plant a kiss on Fluttershy’s forehead before nodding off to sleep with your hooves in hers.

Comments

[Hivemind]

My most sincere of apologies for going with the "long wait, short chapter" thing here. Writing has been increasingly difficult lately, and trying to put thought to word document is harder than it looks.

[IonBWG]

Big Mac wants Fluttershy or somepony but did something bad.
Twilight want a relationship.

Guess who get together?

Just a theory.

[BronyTran]

inb4 TwiMac

[Zimprus Nalune]

Wow, I totally forgot I had this favorited. Can you say "overdue for an update"?

But it's k, because we got a WONDERFUL update. Glad to see this fic isn't dead!

Keep on writin'!

[Scorpias111]

GRRAAAAAHH suspense is KILLING MEEEEE I love it in all its great storytelling but hate it in it's marvelous storytelling....can't wait to hear that history. Watch out Big Mac, there's poison in this apple...

[Flutter616]

I request anotha!

[Hivemind]

My apologies to all of you for making you wait for so long. My time is being occupied by your typical IRL problems, as well as the next chapter of Diary of a Foalsitter which I have yet to finish, but once it is, I will get back to working on this story,

-Hivemind

[HMB]

I wub this!

[nothing to see here]

Really good story so far. Can't wait to see what happens next

[KibaWR]

Something tells me that there'll be a nice load of TwiMac at the end of this^^ This'll be interesting^^

[The Fields of Ice]

MAKES RARITY OUT TO BE A WHORE!!!??? XDDDD
i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6909348096/h3DE5A5CB/

[The Fields of Ice]

So Twilight, you've decided to go out with Big Mac just to prove a point and test a theory for science, despite the fact that you have no feelings for him what so ever?...
Spike come here a second...
images.wikia.com/mlp/images/f/f7/FANMADE_SpikeSlappingTwilight.gif
NOOOO!!!!!!
No, I'm sorry. What I'm trying to say is...