Chapter 4
Fluttershy had always been the type to get up early. Dealing with the small animals in her charge demanded that the pegasus stay on their schedual. It’d never been a problem; she actually enjoyed getting up before her animals. She’d derived joy from watching their day to day activities for as long as she’d been in the position of caring for them.
Instead of waking up early, the pegasus had slept in for several hours. Between the events of the previous day and the pleasant dreams filling her sleeping head, there was no reason for her to rise. Well... no reason other than a white rabbit who was tired of waiting for his breakfast.
After making sure her mane didn’t resemble a battlefield rather than an actual mane, Fluttershy prepared herself to go and feed her animals. She’d start with Angel; he was the least patient one of the lot by a long shot. After having fed him, the little bunny losing all interest in his owner as soon as he had his food, she moved on to feed all of the other animals she cared for.
Hedgehogs, deer, and pretty much any kind of animal you could think of. When she was done with that, she moved on to her birds; the last on her imaginary list of things to do for the day. As she finished feeding her birds, she realised with a slight shock that she’d have to think of something to do again. She couldn’t go visit Big Mac again, as much as she wanted to. He’d be busy catching up with the work he should’ve done yesterday.
Her worries quickly vanished as she noticed Rarity walking up the path to her humble home. Rarity was always good for some idle conversation, and she really knew how to keep a pony busy.
“Good morning darling,” she said as she walked up to Fluttershy. “I thought we had planned to go to the spa today. You didn’t come over, so I figured I’d come and see what’s wrong,” Rarity said, a slightly worried expression on her face.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Rarity! I had... forgotten,” Fluttershy said. It didn’t sound too honest, not even to her, yet it was the truth. She had been so caught up with Big Mac that she had completely forgotten about the weekly trip to the spa with Rarity.
“That’s quite alright, dear. I’m just glad to see that you aren't hurt,” Rarity said, any hint of worry in her voice completely disappeared as she spoke. “So, are we still going to the spa today, or did you have other plans?”
“No, I’ll come. I’ve finished feeding all my animals and I don’t really have anything else to do. Shall we go?”
“Yes, that sounds like a plan to me,” Rarity said as she turned around to walk towards Ponyville. “I thought we’d get to talk about why you suddenly needed fashion advice from me. If it were Applejack I would’ve understood, that pony really needs to learn a thing or two about fashion. But I would never have thought you’d voluntarily come asking for advice on such a thing."
“Oh, it’s kind of a long story, I’ll tell you when we get to the spa,” Fluttershy said, barely managing to hold back a sigh of relief as Rarity didn’t pursue the matter any further, for now.
“I suppose we should hurry, we’re already running late,” Rarity said, trying to get Fluttershy to get a move on without hurting her feelings. The rest of the walk continued in silence. Rarity was bursting with questions about why Fluttershy would need advice on such a matter, but Fluttershy had said she’d rather wait.
“The usual, please,” Rarity said to Lotus, one of the two ponies in charge of the spa. They had visited the spa many times before, so they never needed to say any more than those two words for Lotus and Aloe to know what they had to do.
“So... is there anything you’d like to tell me?” Rarity asked, her eyes covered by slices of cucumber. She knew Fluttershy would be reluctant to talk about whatever it was she was trying to hide, but she had more or less promised to talk to her about it, and Rarity had her mind set on finding out.
“Oh... I suppose I do owe you an explanation,” Fluttershy stammered. “The reason I wanted advice on something to wear...”
“Yes, dear?” Rarity asked, ever so anxious to know what was going on.
“It... it was for my cousin. She was going on a big date and didn’t know anypony fashionable enough to give her advice on such a thing.” Fluttershy instantly regretted lying to her friend, but she’d rather not tell the truth just yet. She still wasn’t sure about how her friends would react to the relationship she had be enjoying for the past few days.
“Your... cousin?” Rarity asked. She had never known Fluttershy had a cousin.“ Are you sure, Fluttershy? You’re not solving anything by keeping this quiet, you know.” Rarity wasn’t completely sure if Fluttershy was lying or not, but she was willing to take the risk to find out.
“No, I really do...” She stopped mid-sentence as she realised Rarity had actually lifted one of the slices of cucumber, as was starting right at her with one eye. She didn’t look happy.
“Okay, I give up. The advice was for me. I just didn’t want everypony to know what it was for...” Fluttershy said, her eyes tearing up slightly as she confessed.
“Calm down now, dear. There’s no need for that.”
“I... I needed your advice for.... a date,” Fluttershy whispered, her voice so soft Rarity had to strain her ears to make out what she was saying.
“A date?!" Rarity shrieked, completely disregarding any notion of Fluttershy being uncomfortable. Darling, you have to tell me absolutely everything! Who were you going on a date with? How did it go? Oh, do tell!”
“It... I was... me and... Big Mac..”
Rarity realised she had let herself go somewhat, and quickly regained her calm. “I’m sorry dear, I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that. That wasn’t ladylike behaviour. Oh, but do carry on!”
“That’s okay, Rarity. I can understand why you’re so curious,” Fluttershy said, regaining her ability to speak in full sentences. “Me and Big Mac were going to visit the lake that evening, and I really didn’t want to mess up the date, that’s why I asked you for advice.”
“You and Big Mac. Well, I can’t say I’m very surprised. You two were practically made for each other!” Rarity mused. She seemed happier with the development than Fluttershy had been.
Was it really that obvious? Are we really such a great couple? Did the others share Rarity’s thoughts on us? Had they all been waiting for this to happen?
Meanwhile, Rarity found herself feverishly hoping Fluttershy wouldn’t see right through her blatant lies. Luckily, Fluttershy seemed too concerned with her own thoughts to pay any attention to what Rarity was doing.
“So... how was it?” Rarity asked, making no effort to hide her curiosity.
“Uhm... how was... what?”
“Why, the date, of course! How did it go? How was he? What happened?” Rarity fired one question after another at the poor yellow pegasus. Fluttershy didn’t want to answer any of them, but she had agreed to this, and Rarity wasn’t one to give up easily. Especially when it concerned relationships.
“Oh... it was... fun,” Fluttershy replied. It had been much more than just fun; it had been the night of her dreams. “Big Mac brought me a necklace,” she added, hoping that she could lead the conversation away from the actual date itself.
“A necklace, you say? Where is it? Why aren’t you wearing it now?” Rarity asked. There really didn’t seem to be an end to the questions the unicorn was asking.
“I... uh... I broke it.”
“I... see,” Rarity said, a disappointed expression on her face.
The rest of their time at the spa passed in silence. Rarity still had several questions burning in her mind, but she knew better. Fluttershy wasn’t comfortable talking about it, and she wasn’t going to force her friend to say any more than she had already done.
The sun was already starting to set as the two friends exited the spa. Fluttershy could have gone past Sweet Apple Acres to see Big Mac, but she figured he’d be busy anyway. With nothing to do in Ponyville, she set out for her home.
“Angel, were are you?” Angel had disappeared once again. Fluttershy wasn’t particularly worried; he had run off before, and he always came back when he got hungry. “Come on, Angel. I have food!” She called, hoping that her favourite little bunny had worked up enough of an appetite to respond to her.
No response; he just hadn’t gone hungry yet. Maybe she’d try again in an hour or so; Angel had grown much too good at hiding for her to have a chance at finding him.
An hour and a half later, there was still no sign of Angel, and Fluttershy was getting worried. Angel had never stayed out this long before; his stomach always got the best of him.
Another half an hour later, Fluttershy was officially panicking. The sun was almost completely gone, and Angel still hadn’t shown up. Could he have run off into the forest? He never had before, but was the only explanation she could think of for Angel still not responding to her calls.
Her worries getting the best of her, she went to get help. Not really thinking about what she was doing, Fluttershy ran for straight for the first pony should could think of: Big Mac. In hindsight, it had been a stupid thing to do. Big Mac had been working all day, trying to catch up with the work he had skipped to be with her the day before. But she wasn’t thinking, she was panicking.
Fluttershy arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, completely out of breath. She had galloped all the way there, not stopping for anything or anypony. It had taken her twenty minutes to get there, and she was exhausted, but that didn’t matter. Her pet was out in the night, probably hurt and alone. He needed her.
“Eeyup!” said Big Mac, a stern, determined look on his face. Fluttershy had just asked him to help her find Angel, and he couldn’t just leave her to find the bunny by herself.
Less than half an hour later, they were both in the forest, looking for Fluttershy’s pet. She was calling his name, while he was checking under every rock, behind every tree, and in any possible hiding place.
Another hour went by, and still no sign of Angel. Fluttershy was growing more desperate by the minute. Angel had been missing for well over four hours now, longer than ever.
Fluttershy was just about to break out in tears when she saw a very familiar, white, fluffy bunny in the middle of a clearing in the distance. She had found him. Angel was lying on his side, shivering. It was cold, and he wasn’t used to sleeping outside.
“Angel, wake up. What are you doing all the way out here? Oh, I was so worried! Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked him, knowing full well that she wouldn’t get an answer to half of those questions.
Angel woke up, drowsy at first. He livened up quickly as he recognised his owner, though.
...Something was wrong. Angel wasn’t getting up.
Fluttershy came closer to take a look. Angel pointed to his paw, which was bent in an awkward way. He was hurt, but it didn’t look too bad. Fluttershy would have him fixed up and ready to hop around again in no-time. She just needed to get him home.
Another hour later, Fluttershy, Big Mac and Angel were safely back at her place. Angel’s paw had been bandaged carefully, and Big Mac was just about to leave.
“...Thank you, Big Mac. I don’t think I could’ve found him without your help,” Fluttershy said, even though Big Mac hadn’t been the one to find her pet rabbit.
Big Mac just looked at her. He looked tired, exhausted, even. But he also seemed grateful for something. She didn’t bother to ask him about what. She had found her bunny, and Big Mac needed his sleep.
“I’m... I’m sorry to have kept you from going to sleep... again,” Fluttershy said, all the while making eye contact. “Goodnight, Big Mac. Thanks again for helping me, you were fantastic.”
Big Mac turned around, ready to go to sleep. He was probably just exhausted from a hard day’s work, it was already past midnight, after all.
A few minutes later, Fluttershy went to bed. Angel had been found, and cared for. Big Mac had seemed happy for her, even if he was completely drained.
Working for Sweet Apple Acres must be a lot harder than it seems, Fluttershy thought to herself. I hope he isn’t upset with me for bothering him at this time of night...
Her worries quickly faded as she noticed the necklace on her night stand. Big Mac wouldn’t be mad at her. He knew she had been desperate, right?
With her worries for the day taken care of, Fluttershy closed her eyes. It had been yet another eventful day. As of late, all of her days seemed to be busy.
“Goodnight, Angel. And goodnight, Big Mac,” she mumbled to herself, as she slowly drifted off to sleep once more.
Author’s Note: Massive thanks to Redeverose on DeviantArt for allowing me to use his artwork as cover art for my story, you’re a champ, buddy!
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Rarity seems to be hiding something. I must figure out what that something is. But to do that, I must read on! but before that happens, you must write on!
503822 Agreed. So old chap, go and make the next chapter! Drink some vodka! Godspeed and goodluck.
Okay so when Rarity showed up it kinda made me laugh because I am following your story and another story called Green which if anypony here has been reading it you know why I laughed but all in all I am really enjoying this story and I can't wait for the next chapter!!!
Well done
Another cute chapter but I sense storm clouds brewing. Oh man...
Oh no... something bad is going to happen...
Just letting the people reading this know that chapter five is going to take a while. I've tried my luck at submitting the story to Equestria Daily and, as expected, it got rejected. The pre-reader who had looked at my story said there had been too many errors (little ones, mind you) and I'd much rather sort those out before I continue writing (This also means that there's going to be more time between chapters in the future, as I'll be paying more attention to pre-reading it myself, and finding other people to pre-read it).
I'd also like to ask my readers (you guys) to tell me about any errors you find in my writing. Simply saying "There were some mistakes" isn't helping me; I'd prefer if you just copy-pasted the sentence I botched up into a comment, and pointed out exactly what's wrong. Sometimes I'm just not aware that I'm doing something wrong, and if nobody tells me that i messed something up I'll just keep doing that.
“Oh, it’s kind of a long story. I’ll tell you when we get to the spa.” is that "." supposed to be a comma?
516438
Sure is, thank you for pointing that out to me. This is exactly the kind of mistake I meant with my previous comment.
516788 no problem I saw others in the earlier chapters that I will go point out but amazing story none the less
516963
I think we'd be far better off if i sent you the Gdoc files and you made your edits in there. We wouldn't want to flood the comment section with these, would we? PM me your email (if you agree, that is) and i'll share all four chapters. (haven't started on chapter 5 yet, did not feel like writing)
Great story. Need. Moooooooore. NOW!
+
FOREEEEEEEEEVEEERRRRRRRRRR
So far it is
, and the preveiw hints at 
. I'm still a little confused. Please get the next chapter out soon.