Eeyup - Chapter 7

"Oh, hey Fluttershy," said Big Mac as he spun around. "How are you tonight?"

"I'm quite well, thank you." Fluttershy smiled and felt comforted just like the night they spent together under the starry skies. "And yourself?"

"I'm pretty good. I'm glad you came over," Big Mac said. Fluttershy blushed excitingly. "I was starting to feel kind of lonely here, even with Applejack."

Fluttershy had felt nervous beyond belief just less than a minute ago, but her words were so fluent, even she believed them. "Well, it's a beautiful night, and Twilight has a lovely observatory upstairs. I was thinking maybe… if you wanted to… we could go look at the stars together?" Did… did I just come up with that?

Big Mac tried to hide a grin, but was unsuccessful. "That sounds mighty fine with me."

The two ponies walked upward, away from Pinkie Pie's enthusiastic yelling, Rarity's rambling, and the ruckus caused by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Soon they reached the observatory. Walls of books surrounded them while above them a giant hole remained. Below this hole was a respectively sized telescope, too heavy for most ponies to move. However, Big Mac moved it with ease into the corner, allowing space for the two of them to sit. Big Mac returned to the clearing in the middle of the vast room to find Fluttershy lying down, staring upward. He panicked for a brief moment. Do I lay down next to her? Do I sit? What if I'm too close to her? A soft voice broke his thought process.

"You can lay down here… if you want to of course…" Fluttershy said anxiously.

"…Eeyup." Big Mac laid down and both ponies felt their hearts skip a beat as they took in the indigo sky. The stars shone clearly and Big Mac recognized a few patterns from his nights working on the farm.

Just as they did at Pinkie's party, they laid together in silence, but after a while, Fluttershy broke it. "Oh, I just love this time of the year. Summer brings clear skies and happy critters." Fluttershy smiled in delight.

Big Mac joined in her smiling. "Me too. The heat makes work more rewarding at the end of the day. Plus, it's great knowing harvest season is just around the corner."

"I love the harvest season! You really do grow the best apples, Macky." Fluttershy stopped short. Macky?! What am I saying? She had gotten comfortable and let the nickname slip, but Big Mac didn't seem to even miss a beat. She couldn't see his face, but his smile grew ten fold and a warm sensation filled his torso.

"Thanks, Fluttershy. It's good to get feedback," he chuckled.

Fluttershy blushed. Perhaps he didn't notice… thank goodness. "So… you like working on the farm, I assume?"

"I love it," Big Mac replied "I mean, I never really had a choice… after my Ma and Pa died, I kind of had to hold the fort, you know?" Big Mac took a short pause. He had never talked about this with anyone. Now that he thought about it, he never talked about much with anyone. "Granny wanted me to stay in school, but she just couldn't handle it all without my parents. The farm, the house, Applebloom was still just a foal, and Applejack was barely a filly. I eventually convinced her to let me take up some of the responsibilities. The second I did that, I got this right here." Big Mac pointed towards his green apple cutie mark.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Big Mac," said Fluttershy. "I never really wanted to ask about you and Applejack's parents… but I always kind of knew…"

"It's fine," Big Mac said with a grin. "I miss my parents, but I think everything worked out pretty well."

The two ponies stared into the night sky, as it grew even darker, with a pause of silence between them and then looked at each other simultaneously. Their eyes locked and they both smiled comfortingly.

"Everything worked out pretty well," Big Mac repeated.

It seemed like the rest of the night was spent looking into each other's eyes instead of looking at the stars, but neither minded. Neither broke the stare. Neither wanted to.