Change is Constant, Growth is Optional

by Nova Force

Campfire Date

On the eve of Braeburn’s departure, the Apple family gathered around a small campfire. Even though the evening was supposed to celebrate Braeburn’s help around the farm, the pony of the hour failed to engage fully; his thoughts dwelt elsewhere. Every now and again he would check over his shoulder as if he were expecting a visitor to arrive.

Everypony sat on logs that circled around the fire. Big McIntosh sat with Granny, who was rubbing his newly restored back. Braeburn was alone on his own log. Apple Bloom was supposed to be sitting with her big sister, but she sat closer to the fire so that she could roast her marshmallow on a stick. Applejack knew it would be awhile before she saw Braeburn again, so she couldn’t resist bringing up one of her favorite topics.

“Cousin, I just have to ask,” Applejack bit her lower lip and sheepishly looked side-to-side. “How’s Bloomberg?”

In a neutral tone, Braeburn said, “The same as I told you yesterday. He’s fine.”

Something about the word “fine” screamed to Applejack that her favorite tree was anything but. She pressed her question. “I know, but you’re sure that he gets enough sunlight? I didn’t see where y’all decided to plant him.”

The colt shook his head. I’ve never seen Applejack to get so attached to something like this before. “Believe it or not, we set up Bloomberg right in the center of the town. Originally sheriff Silverstar wanted to settle him in our apple orchard, but guess who had an issue with that.”

“Thunderhooves?” The mere thought of the buffalo chief laying a hoof on Blooming sent chills down her spine.

Braeburn nodded. “The one and only! After all we’ve been through making the right balance between our orchard and their stampeding ground, the chief gets weird if we add anything to the orchard. But no need to worry. Bloomberg is safely set up where everypony can enjoy him.”

“Sweet sarsaparilla, that makes happier than a pig in mud!” Applejack swiped the sweat of her forehead. “I’m glad y’all didn’t have another landownership conflict with the buffalo.”

“Yeah, me too,” the colt said, peeking once again over his shoulder for any visitors. This time that he did, however, Apple Bloom took notice.

“Y’know what they say,” Applejack took a deep breath, summoned her inner-Pinkie Pie, and sang. “You gotta shaaare! You gotta caaare!”

Although it was just a couple of verses, Granny immediately plugged her ears. “Great Celestia, stop! That’s the kind of ditty that’ll be stuck in my head for days!”

Big McIntosh nodded in agreement. “Eeyup.”

Braeburn said nothing, but he frowned. He seriously considered turning in early for the night if this kept up much longer. Darlin’, where are you?

Their protest baffled Applejack. “Aw c’mon you sticks in the mud. It’s actually a pretty little tune, and the message is terrific. What’s not to like?”

Before everypony unleashed a flood of scornful denunciations, a quiet voice beat them to the punch. “Um, excuse me.”
Everypony turned to where the voice came from, but Braeburn especially jerked his head upon recognizing the soft voice.

An unassuming Pegasus stood before them staring at her hoof. She was lightly scraping the dirt. The sight of her boosted Braeburn’s deflated spirit. “Fluttershy! You made it!”

“I’m sorry if I’m late.” She stepped into the campfire circle and faced Applejack. “You know, I tried singing that song to Angel once because he refused to share his carrots with Harry the bear.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? And?”

“They both took the carrots and threw them at me.”

That answer was just enough to validate Applejack. “See? That song does bring folks together.”

Braebrun eagerly scooted over and made room on his log for Fluttershy. “Right here, darlin’. Come on down and sit by me.” He patted the space he made available to her. Apple Bloom quietly rotated her marshmallow as she spotted the sudden spike in her cousin’s energy.

Right away Fluttershy’s emotions plunged into a tizzy. Being in the presence of your special somepony meant being cursed with a hyper-awareness of every small move that you made. This especially doubles for when you happen to sit next to that same pony.

The thumping in Fluttershy’s heart grew with every advance she made toward her seat. Once she sat down she immediately felt awkward. Seeing that she was the only non-Apple family member, she couldn’t help but feel like a fish out of water.

No, he invited me. This is what he wanted.

Apple Bloom finally sat back down next to Applejack once her marshmallow obtained its golden coating. She paid close attention to Fluttershy’s body language as she took her seat by Braeburn. If she didn’t know any better, she could have sworn Fluttershy’s eyes were stealing glances at him. Apple Bloom blew on her marshmallow to cool it down. After taking the first bite from it, she took the conversation floor. “So Fluttershy, Braeburn told us that you rescued him from a manticore.”

She squirmed as all eyes narrowed on her. “All I did was show up.”

Applejack removed her hat and started scratching her mane. “I remember that fellah. He seemed awfully scary at first, but you knew how to reach him.” She turned to Braeburn. “You better thank your lucky stars this girl came by when she did, otherwise you woulda been mangled up real bad.”

The colt had no trouble accepting that as truth. “You can say that again! My life started to flash before my eyes before this one here showed up.” He gave Fluttershy a single pat on the back, though with a bit too much force. Even though her upper body lurched forward, a dopey smile sprang from her face. It quickly faded away, but not before Apple Bloom caught it.

Braeburn continued, “We don’t get any manticores out in Appleloosa. Everypony back home will flip out when they hear about it.”

Granny Smith coughed. “For as long as I can remember, manticores keep to themselves in the Everfree forest. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw Manny at my front door.”

“I told him that he needed to apologize,” Fluttershy said.

Granny threw her hooves up. “And that he did! I swear child, whatever moves you pulled on him worked like a charm. He cleaned up the barn and replanted my garden. If I didn’t think he’d terrify the livestock, I’d have asked him to stay longer.”

With no major gaffes in the conversation so far, Fluttershy felt a little more at ease. “Manny’s really nice once you get to know him. All you need is to show a little kindness.”

In the corner of her eye, she could see Braeburn shuffle in his seat next to her. She guessed he what was thinking. I bet he wishes that he had handled that encounter better.

In a bold move, she decided to fan his flames just a bit. “Kindness goes a lot farther than a shovel does,” she said elbowing Braeburn.

“Eh? What’s that supposed to mean?” Applejack said.

Braeburn pushed his hat forward to hide his face as much as he could. “I might have accidentally thrown a shovel at Manny’s head.”

Apple Bloom nearly choked on the last bite of her marshmallow. “Sweet Apple Acres, Braeburn! You threw a shovel at a manticore?”

His hat now completely covered his face. He muffled through it. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Despite her years, even Granny was shocked. “Dear me! You certainly left that tidbit of information out when you told us your version of the story.”

Big McIntosh agreed. “Eeyup!”

Braeburn lifted his hat back up on top of his head. Embarrassment ruled over his face. “Yeah, uh, I figured it didn’t matter one way or the other.”

Fearing her little tease might have gone too far, Fluttershy backpedaled. She put her hoof on Braeburn’s shoulder. “No, I can appreciate where you’re coming from. You made a split-second decision in a high risk situation. Not everypony knows how to handle wild beasts like manticores.”

The two yellow ponies looked into each other’s eyes. Each time they had done so, Fluttershy sensed a growing unspoken connection to Braeburn. In this moment, she envisioned them galloping together through a meadow openly celebrating their love. Every part of her body told her that he was having the same vision, but there was no way to be sure.

The night proceeded forward without much discomfort. Stories of life in Appleloosa and Ponyville were swapped by each party member. After a healthy go-round of talking, some ponies turned in for the night. Granny Smith went first, giving Braeburn a warm hug before she left. Big McIntosh left next since he had an early morning ahead of him. He and Braeburn didn’t hug; they shared a bro-hoof.

Apple Bloom and Applejack stayed out a little longer, but at that point Apple Bloom saw the writing on the wall: Fluttershy and Braeburn had it bad for each other. She would have bet the farm on this hunch the moment she saw Braeburn try to put his hoof around Fluttershy when he yawned and stretched out his hooves. As if that little stunt didn’t already confirm it, Apple Bloom saw a mild wave a disappointment wash over Fluttershy when Braeburn, for whatever reason, failed to follow through. He must have the jitters, she thought to herself. I need to get these two alone.

Applejack, however, didn’t pick up on any of this. Instead, she marched right up to her cousin and focused on one issue.

“Alrighty, so, when you get back to Appleloosa tomorrow, will you promise me that you’ll say hi to Bloomberg for me?”

“Yes, I promise,” he said flatly.

“You won’t forget?”

“No, honestly, I won’t”

“Will you make sure and give him a hug for me too?”

“I wi- what?”

Before Applejack could overpower Braeburn with her logic, Apple Bloom pounced on this moment to inject herself into the conversation. She wedged between the two and gave Braeburn a secret wink. “Y’know sis, I’m tired. I would love it if you could read me a bedtime story.”

A look of bewilderment struck Applejack’s face. “Say what? A bedtime story? Aren’t you kind of old for that now?”

“I know, but I think it’d be fun for old time sake.” Apple Bloom plopped on the ground and clapped her front hooves together. “Pleeease?”

Applejack shrugged. “I suppose it would be fun to mosey down memory lane.”

Apple Bloom stood up and whipped around to give Braeburn a good-bye hug. “You’re welcome,” she whispered in his ear.

He didn’t reply, but Apple Bloom knew he was grateful by the extra squeeze he gave in his hug. When he let go of her, she shot another wink at Fluttershy who flushed red in the face.

Applejack said goodnight to Braeburn too, but not after a few more blathering words about Bloomberg. “If you think he’s homesick, tell him that he’s welcome to come and visit me any time he wants.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him that.” Braeburn marveled at the lengths he went to humor his cousin.

When Applejack and Apple Bloom finally left, Fluttershy and Braeburn were alone at the campfire.

Braeburn turned to say something to her, but he froze. Fluttershy was standing next to the dying fire. Her mane gracefully draped over half of her face like a pink waterfall. Her lone teal-colored eye struck him with its sweet innocence. He imagined himself diving straight into it and basking in the ocean of her elegance. Even the way she had tucked her wings at her sides was irresistible.

It did not take long for her to catch him staring. “So, um, what should we do now?”

Braeburn tipped his hat back. “Anything, we’ve got all night.”

Having never been in a relationship before, Fluttershy had no clue how to interpret his answer. “Oh, um, well, uh, let’s see.”

He giggled. “How ‘bout we just sit and talk?”

“That sounds lovely.” Right, I know how to sit and talk. I’ve been doing that all night!

The two went and sat on one of the logs. Braeburn started talking as he took his seat. “Fluttershy, in the limited time that we’ve spent together this week, I want you to know that I had a lot of fun.”

Fluttershy smiled at him. “I did too. Baking the cucumber cake was my favorite.”

“I’m serious when I tell you nopony back home is gonna believe that story about the manticore.”

“Sure they will. Honesty runs well in your family.”

He chuckled. “That it does, sugercube. That it does.” He allowed himself a moment not to say anything and just behold her. “I would love to spend more time with you.”

“Me too. I’m sad to see you go.” Out of nowhere, Fluttershy discovered a lump forming in her throat. She didn’t realize until know how much she was going to miss him.

There was a pause. Braeburn then blurted out, “Well then, don’t.”

“What?” She heard him, but there was so much contained in those few words.

“Come back to Appleloosa with me.” A rising excitement flowed from his voice.

All at once an infinite number of voices in Fluttershy’s head shrieked the pros and cons of each option. One predominant voice against going came in form of Angel Bunny. His fierce possessiveness of her raged on about why she should stay. Harry the bear and the other woodland creatures formed in her mind’s eye. Each of them dropped to their knees and held up their paws praying for her to stay. No other pony in Ponyville knew how to communicate with them the way she did.

Still, in the core of her heart, Fluttershy knew she wanted to be with her special somepony.

“Alright…” She began. “Let’s go.”

“You serious?” He couldn’t believe his ears.

Fluttershy flapped her wings. “Yes, let’s do it!”

The Appleloosan colt leapt from the log and threw his hat into the air. “Yee-haw!”

When the hat landed back on his head, Braeburn grabbed Fluttershy by the hoof and together they galloped to the Ponyville train station. An adventure like this couldn’t wait until morning.

Comments

[JoeChacho]

hmm interesting i liked the campfire conversation between BB and AJ though i am quite skeptical about Fluttershy's decision to go with him. But its exciting and i really cant wait till the next chapter keep it up
(really trying not to be that guy but 1st :))

[Nova Force]

2211456 Thanks for reading! Who know what's going to go down in Appleloosa? Oh, wait, I do

[Swift15]

I thought the last two chapters had some good content, but the relationship overall seems way too rushed. And Fluttershy didn't even bother to tell her friends or her animals when she left with Braeburn, which is completely unlike her. Overall, the story had a few good parts, but it had a lot wrong with it.

5/10 is the score I give. I don't mean to be rude, but I just wanted to give input.

[Swift15]

Oh wait, whoops, one last chapter.

[Deathclaw2014]

He and Braeburn didn’t hug; they shared a bro-hoof.

JUST CALL IT A HOOF BUMP!!