Butterflies and Apple Pies

by Adrian Brony

Part 3

"Failure. Failure! You're a failure!"

Fluttershy yelled to herself, staring fiercely at her forelegs. She drew heavy, vicious breaths. The pegasus threw the front door to her cottage open. Her walls were crawling with small animals, who all snapped to the smashing door. Fluttershy's wings dropped limp as she raised her head, an intense death glare striking every creature in the room. A stampede of little paws echoed as the animals scrambled out of the cottage. She shook as she tried to shut the door gently, turning her head to see the pink towel from the night before.

"So sure, huh? So convinced! Of course you could do this!"

Her hoof pressed hard into the floor, "Then what happened? You failed again! That's what happened!"

Fluttershy smashed the wicker hamper with her hoof, leaving splinters all over the floor. "You always do this! Every single time!"

She spun around, sweeping carefully placed baubles off a counter with her front leg. She stared at the curtains, the sight of them tied up like Applejack's tail seemed to mock her. She flew up and yanked the curtains off the windows, throwing them straight down each time. Her vision tunneled, seeing the mess she made of the place.

Her teeth gritted, her head was pounding and her eyes were clenched tight. Fluttershy let out a brutal yell, stomping off to a corner of the room. A sheet hung over a tall object. She grabbed the sheet and ripped it from the furniture. A wood framed body mirror provided Fluttershy her target. She gazed into the mirror, soaking in every detail of the figure that gazed back. "Pathetic."

Fluttershy's face hardened, a flame eating away at the back of her eyes. She glared into the eyes of her mirror twin. Minutes passed as fluttershy unleashed the true force of her "stare" upon herself. She felt a soft pressure rubbing against her leg. The injured ferret stared up at her, trying to limp away at the stare he got in return. Her legs grew weak, her throbbing headache became a cold light headed sensation, and her eyes softened. Fluttershy fell to the floor, heaving sobs reverberating throughout the cabin. She buried her face under her front leg, the ferret curling up against it. She peeked under her leg, the small creature looking back at her. She uncrossed her legs, letting him curl up against her chest. Fluttershy reached over and pulled what remained of the sheet over her and the small creature.

The morning light poured in through Fluttershy's window, warming the sheet that covered fluttershy and her little friend. The mare stirred, stiff and sore from sleeping on the floor instead of her cozy bed. She checked down by her belly to see her patient curled up against her. A placid smile stretched across her face. She pulled the sheet off from her head, smile dampened a bit.

Her cottage was still trashed from her meltdown the night before. things knocked off counters, curtain rods yanked from their spot. The usual pristine sound of small animals coming and going was replaced by a stale silence. Fluttershy stood, shaky from one of her legs being asleep. She suppressed her tears, forcing the memories of last night into a haze at the back of her mind with all of the other incidents. Fluttershy lifted the dead-sleeping ferret and tucked it back into his little room, making a warm sigh as she drew the little curtain over the front. "I should clean up."
She opened the front door to let the fresh air in, Standing in the breeze, she stared outside to the wondrously sunny morning. The world, however, felt uninviting to her. Apathetic to her happiness, directly hostile to her ambition. Fluttershy nervously turned away from the door and quietly began cleaning up her mess.

Applejack pondered over her saddlebag. Her bed was covered in articles of affection, surrounding her empty bags. Flowers, some sweets from Pinkie Pie, multiple drafts of the same sappy love note, simple pieces of jewelry fashioned from bits of old farm tools and rope courtesy of Applebloom. She carefully examined each piece, deciding which to take with her. "Maybe second note, gear necklace, and the poseys? Nah. Fifth note, the candied rose petals, and the orchids? Ahh, why am I having s'much trouble with these darn things?"

Applebloom giddily peeked around the corner, whispering to Macintosh, "Do you think Fluttershy'll like any of my pieces?"

Macintosh patted his sister's head, "Eeeyup."

"I was so excited for big sis,” she chirped, “I just had to do somethin'."

He gave a proud look to Applebloom "But for now...”

He ruffled the back of Applebloom’s mane affectionately.

Applejack frantically packaged and repackaged her bags, groaning each time she unpacked it. The mare jumped at the touch of Big Macintosh's hoof on her shoulder. She looked at him, who simply smiled and shook his head. Applejack also saw her little sister excitedly peeking around the door frame, giving her a friendly wink. Applejack smiled back at Macintosh, grabbed five of the candied rose petals, and tucked them under her hat.

Applebloom squealed quietly as her big sister walked past her, giving Applebloom a warm glance. Macintosh Placed a hoof around the little filly as they both watched Applejack open the front door. Granny Smith sat in her rocking chair on the front porch, peacefully enjoying the bright spring day. She watched her granddaughter close the screen door behind her, "I'm proud that you can do this in the open these days."

Applejack smiled at her grandmother with misty eyes, "No small thanks to you for that."

She gave her grandmother a warm hug before setting off for Fluttershy's cottage. Granny smith's face dampened with tears of joy, witnessing first hand the fruits of her activism all those years ago.

The rugged earth pony stood atop a small hill overlooking Fluttershy in her garden, watching her beloved sit amongst her flowers with animal friends. Fluttershy looked up to the hill, Applejack diving behind a tree just in time to avoid detection, "How to go about this?"

She closed her eyes and contemplated the subject for a moment, eventually reopening them, rising to her feet. The mare walked back into the open, once again overlooking her beloved. She carefully set her hat at the base of the tree, taking care not to spill the small bag of candies. She whipped her head to the side, catching her ponytail in her mouth and pulling the scarlet band out of the end, her tow hair loosely unraveling into it's natural frizzy state. She pinched the tip of her tail with her back hooves and removed the band from it as well. Applejack placed the bands inside her hat and gave her mane a light shake, loosening the remainder of stuck mane.

Fluttershy eventually looked back up the hill, her face freezing at the sight of Applejack. Slowly, she rose to her feet, stuck to the ground she stood on. Applejack took a deep breath, and made her way down the hill, nervously rehearsing what to say in her mind. Splash splish splash.
Applejack looked down. The cool, clear stream flowed up to her calves, embracing every step she took toward Fluttershy. The cold bite of the water comforted her heart and refreshed her mind, a look of confidence conquering her face. Fluttershy's ears folded back, eyes darting around. The small animals near her backed off, distancing themselves to nearby foliage. Applejack strode up face to face with the pegasus, lightly stamping her front foot when she stopped, an action Fluttershy involuntarily mirrored. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't avoid Applejack's eyes for long, eventually surrendering to her gaze. The earth pony's mane was filled with stray hairs and split ends. The breeze cascaded down to the couples skin, coursing along their undercoat as if they were both shaven and bare to the world. Fluttershy felt her eyes grow heavy with tears, closing them to hold them back, "I lo- I... I can't."

Her tail went limp as she began to step away. The warm rough texture of Applejack's fur stopped her, sliding her head along the pegasus's neck. Fluttershy moved closer, pressing her front to Applejack, sliding her head closer to the earth pony's ear, feeling the tickle of her frizzed mane. "I, I..."

Applejack broke the embrace, compelling Fluttershy to look her in the eyes once more. Her pink mane was ruffled, caught up in her face. She shivered a bit at Applejack's wet fur wiping across her forehead, sweeping her mane clear. The water evaporated from her forehead, coolness seeping into her mind. The words hanging on her tongue no longer seemed like an admission. They resonated as an established fact through her head, losing their power against her will. Fluttershy rest her forehead against Applejack's, a low giggle developing in her lungs. She chortled, "I love you Applejack."

Applejack, nuzzled the side of Fluttershy's head, "I love you t-"

Fluttershy's wings flared out and pumped once, pushing her into Applejack, wrapping their front legs around each other before falling over to the ground. The pegasus playfully smiled at her lover, a faint blush warming her cheeks while she bashfully loosened her grip. Applejack's mouth stretched into a wry smirk. She grabbed Fluttershy in a bear hug and rolled her around, switching their positions. The two burst out into laughter, holding onto each other as they lied in the soft grass.

Fluttershy felt at her coat, wet and disheveled from Applejack's legs. She grinned sheepishly at Applejack, considering what to do. The earth pony leaned in to nuzzle at Fluttershy, who instead planted a soft peck on Applejack's cheek. The two stared at each other, waiting for one to crack. Applejack blushed and looked away giggling, triggering another volley of pecks from Fluttershy. The earth pony squirmed about laughing before making a decisive move. She swung her head around to intercept Fluttershy's next peck. When their lips met, Fluttershy startled, her limbs froze while a pressure burned in her chest, heart pounding even faster than before. She briefly pulled back, processing just what she had been doing. She fondly soaked in the image of Applejack laying next to her in suspense, etching it into her memory, before returning back to the kiss giggling once again. "You know, I just got a really silly idea, Applejack."

The orange mare smirked curiously.

The couple sat at a table in front of Sugarcube Corner, eating the candied rose petals and watching busy passers by. Twilight was chatting with Rarity in front of a fruit cart, while Dash practiced her basic exercises above the vibrant bustle of the market. Fluttershy found herself holding the last petal, staring at it intently. She took a deep breath, held half of it with her lips, and looked to Applejack. The earth pony smirked, "You sure ya wanna do it this way?"

Fluttershy pondered for a moment before gently nodding her head. Applejack and Fluttershy winked toward Pinkie Pie, who winked back knowingly as she swept up around the front of the bakery. Applejack turned to face Fluttershy and smiled, "Well, here goes nothin'."

Comments

[Traveler7]

Nice little story, this. I liked it. Bit short, but overall good, and a cute ending.

[Kagitaar]

Very nicely done. I don't believe I've seen a story yet where the couple had known each other so long that friendship became love without them realizing it. It was a quite refreshing change from the many love at first sight stories.

[NightsGlory]

I thourougjly enjoyed this story. The length was a happy medium, and it was well written. Good job!

[Adrian Brony]

17486
thanks for the complements! don't forget to rate though if you liked it. the more ratings this gets, the better visibility.

and yeah, I prefer stories that are around 5-15k words long. not too long that I fear losing hours to it, but long enough to get a decently filled out story.

[Adrian Brony]

424436

did I do a bad thing there?

[Frizzy]

424621 No, it's just gonna be the most awkward conversation in Applebloom's life.

[Adrian Brony]

426340 I imagined it as a sort of situation where macintosh thought it was gonna be more difficult than it really was. I mean, I imagined it that way after applebloom's later response.

[Smirkythread]

Not the best story ever, but it makes for a feel good read anyways and that's all that matters.

Very sweet

[Screw]

Now this is just cute. Nice job.