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The meeting2,290 words
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The meeting

Big Macintosh stared up to the sky. His back hurt and his hooves were sore. Exhaustion was the one feeling he'd use to describe how he felt at that moment. For several days the stallion had applebucked non-stop.

Never had there been so many apple trees. Bucking all of them was tiring. Many thought that being so strong as Big Mac, it ought to be a piece of pie, but it's actually quite the opposite.

Always did he have to think about how much power he'd have to buck with. If too light, all the apples wouldnt fall down, and if too hard he'd perhaps break the tree. The latter had infact happened sometimes. A bit too often, if you ask Applejack.

Finally his sister had allowed him to have a break.

The stallion had in a slow pace trotted to the outskirts of Sweet apple acres, where he'd always go when having a break. It was long ago he last visited that place, and had not been able to visit it as much as he wished to. The place was on the border to Everfree forest.

It was his beloved place. And only his.

Happiness filled him when he saw the many animals whose face brightened upon seeing him.

Harmony ringed in his ears when he heard the mild noise of the river, chirps from birds and animals.

Always at this loved place of his, his body would always feel light as a feather.

It was a weird but welcomed feeling.

---

Fluttershy was feeding a baby bunny outside in her garden when one of her blue humming birds came back from a flight. The bird looked somewhat excited, and was humming playfully in a familiar tone.

This brought the attention of all the animals around to the bird. And as concealed as Fluttershy could, she lifted her ear softly and listened to the humming of the bird intensly.

All kinds of animal eyes looked at Fluttershy expectantly after the message, and so was Angel.

Fluttershy kept holding the bottle of milk between her mouth, still feeding the baby with lowered head, hoping that her friends wouldnt notice how her eyes glistened with joy. Still, in eager silence, the animals stared at her, waiting for an answer.

The pegasus stopped feeding the bunny, seeing it was full and placed the bottle by a table that was right beside her. Still with her lowered head, she shut her eyes and allowed herself to nod.

The many animals gave out happy shouts and rushed into the Everfree forest.

By now it was only Angel, Fluttershy, and the half-sleeping baby bunny left.

Fluttershy raised her head softly, hearing her heart pound in her chest and her face heated up, giving her cheeks a small tint of pink. "O-oh my, he's back Angel! What should I do, what should I do?" She panicked silently, holding her hoof for her mouth.

Angel facepalmed and pointed to the forest.

"I can't do that. Last time he almost caught me... Last time... That was so long ago." A smile formed on her face "I can't believe he's back."

Angel gave her a look, making Fluttershy gulp.

"O-of course I'd like to go. But what happens if he sees me?" Fluttershy's already blushing face blushed deeper at the mere thought of it.

The white bunny rolled its eyes and started walking into the Everfree forest. Fluttershy stared after the bunny as he walked, she was slightly surprised and raised one of her hoof hesitantly. She almost started walking, but stopped her hoof from taking a step forward, having it hang just above the ground.

Just before Fluttershy would lose sight of Angel, the bunny turned around and ogled at her.

The pink maned pony sighed before her hoof finally met the ground. And it did, over and over again.

Fluttershy's heart beats were beating loud in her ears, the wind in her mane when she galloped to the waiting Angel.

Finally. After so long, she'd see him again.

---

Fluttershy quietly sneaked up to the tree that she usually hided from. There were branches and stones everywhere, but it was easy for her to avoid them. From the tree you could see the side of him, but he was quite far away.

Carefully she peeked out. And she felt herself blush immediately.

She didn't know how many times she had watched him take care of the animals, but it was always as amazing to watch. To see how his gentle big hooves would make their magic, and to see how he'd sometimes encourage them with his warm voice, all while having that wonderful smile plastered on his face. It looked all so natural for him. The sun glittering in his green eyes, and that ungroomed tufty mane that still looked great without him trying. Things like that would always make her day more exciting.

Fluttershy was so surprised the first time she saw him, that that big and muscular stallion was almost as good with animals as she was. It was simply... adorable.

Of course her animals had also noticed this and had become drawn to him. Even Angel, who usually had a hard time with strangers.

Angel gave a wondering look at Fluttershy while pointing at Big macintosh, which snapped her out from her thoughts. The mare quickly shook her head. "No, i can't," she whispered, almost inaudible.

Angel nodded and skipped over to Macintosh.

Fluttershy sighed. There she was, standing in the shadows while he was there, only a few metres away, in the bright sunlight.

Suddenly one of the animals stood in the way for her. Fluttershy bit her lip as she leaned more to the side. It felt risky to do so as the stone she was standing on was slippery. But atleast she wanted to see his eyes.

She leaned a little bit more, feeling her hooves shake as she strained them. "J-just a tiny bit left and i'll b-" She encouraged herself quietly but was quickly cut off from herself screaming.

Big Macintosh and the other animals quickly turned their attention to the yellow pegasus who rolled down the small hill, down to the river, landing with her head down in the water and with her flank up in the air for some seconds.

The earthpony reacted quickly and galloped forward fast, making his way through the animals. "Holy hay- Are ya alright?" He looked down at her, worried.

Fluttershy sniffed and got up on her hooves, face lowered in embarassement. Her mane was dirty, wet, and even had branches sticking out from them. Tears burned in the corners of her eyes and her head pounded from the fall. The thought of that she had had her flank swaying in the air made her want to bury a hole, go into it, and never come out again. She started crying.

This was not the way she wanted to present herself for him.

It felt silly how she had thought about how she'd greet him for several days, and this was his first impression of her in the end. Clumsy.

It felt ironic that she was often called graceful. What does that matter if your legs became shaky as soon as you're close to Big Macintosh.

The apple pony stared at the crying mare infront of him, unsure what to do. "Ah reckon... yer' not okay?" Never had the stallion felt so helpless.

Fluttershy raised her hoof to wipe her tears, but then she stomped the hoof to the ground as hard as she could, which was shockingly strong. She even caused some animals to watch in awe and shake in terror. "Okay? OKAY? Of course I'm not okay!" Her voice was raising, ever so uncharacteristically, making the very confused and nervous Big Macintosh back. "DUH, if YOU wouldn't have shown u-" The pegasus had raised her head violently to glare at him while speaking, but she quickly lost her words.

Those green concerned eyes were even more handsome up close. Breathetakingly... nice.

Big Macintosh also became stunned, when two big cyan eyes stared right into his own. The beautiful eyes softened. And there was a moment of silence. Even the animals remained quiet.

Big Macintosh cleared his throat, making Fluttershy flinch. "Ah... Ah'm very sorry fer whatever ah did-"

The pink maned pony blushed furiously, hiding behind her mane, "Oh no. I don't know what happened to me. Oh, dear. I-i-i-i'm so sorry" She squeaked.

" 'ts okay. Ah understand" As a part of the apple family, his poker face wasnt exactly the best.

Fluttershy was surprised that he said so, but couldn't exactly believe his statement. "You ...do?"

Big Macintosh frowned. "Nah. Not really," he admitted.

The yellow pony blinked her eyes, expression puzzled. But in the end she giggled, blushing softly.

The stallion couldnt help but chuckle along either, yet he was still quite confused. This feeling was mutual. "Fluttershy, was it?" He guessed, remembering that that was the name other pony's had called her.

Fluttershy nodded. "B-big Macintosh... right?"

"Eeyup. A pleasure makin' yer acquaintance." He reached out his hoof. Fluttershy stared nervously at it before reaching hers out also. They both were smiling, ever so softly, and shook the others hoof gently.

"Yes... N-nice to meet you too," whispered Fluttershy. She dared herself to peek out from her mane slightly and against her will pulled back her hoof. "You're... You're very good with animals, Big Macintosh."

The stallion fumbled with his hooves bashfully. "Aw, shucks...Ya saw? Well ah really like them animals"

Fluttershy visibly beamed "I do too! My special talent's actually taking care of animals. See?" She then adjusted her position for him, so that he could see her cutie mark. She added a small wiggle to her hips to show him. This all happened in quite the haste for the shy pony. In all honesty she couldnt think right, she still couldnt believe that she was talking to him.

Fluttershy's face quickly flushed bright red when realizing her actions. Rapidly she hid behind her mane once again, minimizing herself to a small ball of pale yellow fur and pink hair.

Did I just wiggle my hip and brag? How could i be so assertive? He probably thinks im all too bold.

Big Macintosh couldn't force back a blush he either. "That's a nice... cutie mark," he mumbled as encouraging as he could, not wanting her to shy away again. He compelled himself to take his gaze of her flank.

What in tarnation are ya doin' Big Mac? Yer a gentle colt. A gentle colt.

Fluttershy's blush turned deeper. "Thank you," she squealed. She was still curled up, and was sending a pleading look for help to Angel. But of course the bunny wanted her to manage it for herself, and pretended to be unaware of her look.

"Mmh..." replied Big Macintosh again. He stared up at the sky, unsure what to do, and was taken by surprise when he saw how late it actually was. The sky was starting to turn orange. "Ah mus' excuse mahself, Fluttershy. But ah hafta go."

The pegasus panicked, and was fast out of her curled position. "No please! Don't go, " she told, sad and disappointed at herself. She had been with him so long now, and it felt like she hadnt made any progress at all.

Big Mac was surprised, once again, by how desperate the mare in front of him seemed to be. He furrowed his brows and looked at her, slightly concerned. "Ah'm sorry. But ah shoulda been back fer sum moments ago"

Fluttershy bit her lip, but then gave in and lowered her head. "Oh. I'm very sorry for holding you back then."

The stallions mind was racing, he hated to see her spirits low. He was brainstorming with himself for witty things to say, and then carefully picked out some words that had been in the back of his mind all the time, but never had the courage to speak them."W-would ya like to meet up tomorrow?"

Fluttershy raised her head, unsure if she had heard right. "Huh?"

Big Macintosh pawed a hoof to the ground gently and looked away when he realized he had to repeat the question. At that moment he was really happy that his coat color was red. "Would ya like to meet up tomorrow here? Ya know... Like a picnic. Or somethin' " He swallowed nervously and turned to look at the dumbfounded pegasus to await an answer.

5 slow seconds went, and no response. The only thing he got was an utterly surprised expression from Fluttershy. A gaping small mouth, wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Nnnope?AhSee,forgetThatAhEverAskedSumthin'. Okay, thanks, bye!" Big Mac spoke quickly, feeling himself drowning in outright embarrassment. He turned to gallop away.

Fluttershy started reacting, although very late. The pegasus turned to the deepest shade of crimson possible for a pony without getting diizzy, and her eyes glittered with inexplicable joy."Yes, i'd love to!" She shouted with all her might after the running stallion.

Upon hearing her voice shouting after him, his hooves dug into the ground when braking and he turned around, doubting his ears. "Did ya just say yes?" he asked perplexed.

From the distance between them he could merely see her nod.

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