As a new morning began, the sun rose over Sweet Apple Acres. A rooster crowed, calling out the time of dawn.
In the old barn, the knights slept peacefully; nothing disturbed their slumber. After a long journey to Ponyville, this was the first time they ever had a goodnight's rest.
Yorkshire took a deep breath in his sleep. His ears perked up, listening to the faint whistles of songbirds outside. His eyes cracked open. He yawned silently and smacked his lips. He raised his head and looked around. He found the others still asleep. Penarth snored while on his back with his legs bent in the air. Hiis mouth open with his tongue hanging out. Of course, that was how he always slept after an hour of going to bed.
Yorkshire chuckled. Oh Penarth, you humorous fool... He raised himself up from his pile of hay and stretched out his legs. He strapped his belt onto himself. His sword hung on one side while a saddlebag hung on the other. He approached the doors and carefully opened them. He was greeted by the bright light of the sun. The rays blinded his vision for a few moments until he could regain it. Once he did, he closed the doors behind him. His hooves felt the dew in the grass underneath. He the moisture in the air embraced him. He trotted up to a hill for a better view of the farm. His eyes glistening under the sun's light gazed upon hundreds (possibly thousands) of trees around the farm all filled with red and green apples. No wonder this place is called Sweet Apple Acres. he thought.
"Good mornin' there!" a voice said.
He jumped as his legs tensed up. In a swift motion, he sheathed his sword as he spun around. The blade let out a soft screech against the scabbard. Before he could take a swing, he paused at the last possible moment, only to find Applejack.
She took three quick steps back. Her pupils shrunk as the tip of his sword pointed right for her throat. "Hey! Watch it with that thang!" she cried.
Yorkshire took a deep breath and laid down his arms. He took a heavy breath. "I am so sorry!" he exclaimed, sheathing his sword. "It's not exactly wise to startle knight… You never know what could happen…."
Applejack relaxed once his sword was put away. "It's alright. You are a knight after all, and Ah'm aware that knights are cautious folk." She trotted over to a tree that had empty baskets sitting underneath its bountiful branches. She bucked the tree hard with her hind legs, shaking it violently. Apples fell into the baskets, piling on top of one another. "So what're ya doin' out here so early?"
"I'm usually the first to wake up in the morning." he replied. "How about you?"
She approached another tree and bucked it. More apples tumbled down into the baskets. "Just getting' a head start on mah chores." she said.
He looked around, raising a brow. "You buck all of these trees in one day…?"
She chuckled. "Of course not! Ah just knock down a number of apples for market."
"I see." He chuckled back. "I'm might as well take a stroll through the town." He trotted off, following the dirt road.
"Hey Yorkshire!" she called. "Think fast!" She kicked an apple, flying right at him.
Through instinct, Yorkshire unsheathed his sword once more in a swift turn. His eye caught the oncoming fruit at a glance and swung his sword upwards. The apple was split clean down the center. The two pieces plopped onto the grass.
"Hoooo-eeee! Amazin' reflexes there!" she cheered, standing on her hind legs and waving her front.
Yorkshire sheathed his sword and picked up the two pieces. Popping them in his mouth, he chewed them up until they were mush. He raised his head and swallowed. "Thanks for the apple! I'll see you later!"
"Buh-bye now! Don't pull out your sword to no one else now, ya hear?!"
He laughed. "Yeah yeah, I know!" He started once again to follow the dirt road. During his walk, he looked around to see the beautiful sceneries around him. Seeing all that was beautiful filled his head about the beauty of the Pegasus pony he saw. And before he made himself look like an idiot by tripping on nothing more than a measly rock. He sighed as a large smile grew under his nose.
. . .
He arrived in Ponyville, strolling down the street. He found ponies setting things up for the morning: flipping the OPEN signs on their shops' doors, pulling out carts of food and other produce out onto the street for market, and setting displays behind windows.
I wonder how busy this town gets when it comes to the morning? he thought. He looked up, seeing a blue Pegasus pony flying swiftly through the sky moving the clouds away from the town, making sure that the day would be clear without any clouds in sight. His ear perked up to a couple of giggles coming from his left. He turned seeing two mares by a bread cart looking at him with alluring eyes and grins. He smiled back. "Good morning ladies." he said passing by.
The mares gasped and sighed deeply hearing his young, gentle voice. "Such a handsome colt…" one said.
"Much cuter than the other ones." the other whispered, giggling.
Yorkshire strolled further through town until he stumbled upon a large shop called the Carousel Boutique. "This place seems intriguing." His curiosity lured him into the shop. Stepping in, the doorbell above jiggled and rang. Inside his eyes gazed upon beautifully designed dresses, suits, coats, etc. "Oh my goodness…!" he exclaimed. "Who makes all of this stuff?"
"That would be I." an upbeat voice replied.
He looked around but saw no one. He raised a brow. "Anypony here?"
A curtain pulled away revealing a unicorn pony with a curled purple mane and tail.
"Nopony else but I, Rarity!" she announced dramatically with her eyes closed. She opened them and saw one of the knights from yesterday. "Oh, it's you! The one who tripped!"
He hung his head low and sighed. "Yeah, that was me… Thanks for reminding me of that embarrassment…"
"Don't take it so hard, dear." she said, patting his shoulder. "Everypony has their accidents. Is there anything I can do for a young knight like you Mister uh…"
"Yorkshire." he said. "I'm Yorkshire."
"Mr. Yorkshire then." she said smiling. "My name is Rarity. You can either call me Rarity, or Miss Rarity or just Miss."
"I looked outside of your shop and I thought it would be nice to have a look inside. And when I came in, I was amazed at all of these grand outfits." he replied.
"Oh, why thank you! I designed all of these myself." she said showing him the rest of her creations.
"I could tell. A fine maiden like you could create wonders of art like this."
She blushed and covered her cheeks. "Oh my… such words coming from a young colt like you. Do you flirt with all the ladies like this?"
He laughed. "Nah, I just like to be nice."
Taking a few deep breaths, her blush faded. "Well with vocabulary like that, you'll have girls begging to you to be their coltfriend."
"Well it's like that almost all the time with me and the other knights." he explained. "I get more girls liking me than the others surprisingly, but strangely none of them really interest me."
"Oh really? But yesterday, there was something in your eyes. It looked like that you saw something that was very gracious to you."
His cheeks turned red as his muzzle scrunched.
"Aha!" she smirked. "You did see somepony that interested you!"
"Well… yes…" he replied, nodding slowly. "It was such innocent beauty that drove my eyes to gaze upon. Her deep ocean blue eyes glistening like a sapphire on a dragon's breast, her yellow coat bright as the sun on a peaceful spring day, and her mane…" His blush grew darker. "her long, flowing mane of pink…" He hugged himself, shuttering. "If only I were to see that Pegasus again. My heart longs for her!"
Rarity listened to his description carefully. Blue eyes? A yellow coat? Pink flowing mane? A Pegasus? It sounded an awful lot like…
"Fluttershy!" she exclaimed.
"Excuse me?"
"That girl you saw was Fluttershy! She's a friend of mine!" she replied. "Oh, this is so romantic! The brave, young knight courting the shy maiden..."
"Shy?"
"Yes. Fluttershy is a very shy pony. She is always so quiet. The poor thing is scared of almost everything, even her own shadow."
"Even if she is all you describe her to be, I must see her again. Please Rarity!" he begged, getting down on his hind knees. "Please tell me where I can find her!"
She looked down at the pleading knight and smiled. "I would love to help you." she said. "You can find Fluttershy at a cottage outside of town near the forest. But let me warn you about something."
He gulped. "Is it bad…?"
"Oh no! I just want to warn about how you talk to her. With words you speak well with, she could never open her mouth and make a sound. She'll get confused and start to panic. So keep it simple. And don't be so dramatic, alright?"
He stood on his feet and nodded. "Thank you so much Rarity! I am grateful for your assistance! Wish me luck!"
Rarity sighed happily as he galloped out of the boutque. "Young love…" she said. She sniffed the air and shuddered followed by a scrunched up muzzle. "Ugh… brave and young is one thing, but hygienic is another… He sure could use a breath mint."
. . .
At the library, Twilight and Spike packed up to go out. She strapped two bags around her: one on each side. "Okay," she started. "we're going to get some ingredients for this experiment I'm working on. Spike, you got the list?"
He lifted up a rolled sheet of parchment. "Got it!" he replied.
"Great. Let's go!"
"Which ingredient should we get first?" Spike asked, following Twilight out.
"Well let's try getting the-" She was cut off by a pony swiftly galloping past her. "What the-?!" She looked to see the speeding pony was the young knight.
"Sorry!" he shouted.
"He should really watch where he's going." Spike said.
"It looked like he was in a big hurry for something. But no matter, I'm sure it's none of our-"
"Twilight!" a hyper voice shouted.
She and Spike looked seeing Pinkie Pie hopping excitedly towards them with Rainbow Dash hovering above.
"Hey Pinkie, what's going on?" Spike asked.
"Rainbow Dash and I are following that guy!" Pinkie Pie replied with a big grin. "We think he might be up to something!" She slipped in between them and whispered. "Maybe a secret mission…!"
"It did look like he was in some sort of hurry." Twilight said. "But I don't think it's important for us to find out."
"Come on, Twilight." Spike said, tapping her shoulder. "Aren't you at least a bit curious what he might be doing?"
She sighed and nodded. "Why must curiosity always get to me...?" she asked herself. "Alright, we'll come along for the ride."
"Yay!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping higher. "This is going to be so much fun! Rainbow Dash! Go see where he went!"
"Got it!" Rainbow Dash replied. She flew up high in the sky. She stopped at above eight hundred feet and scoped the perimeter. She spotted the knight galloping down a trail in the woods. She dived down back to the others. "Found him! He's on the forest trail now!"
"Let's get going!" Pinkie Pie yelled. "Rainbow Dash, you go get Rarity and Applejack if they're not busy and catch up with us!"
She nodded and flew off.
Pinkie Pie hopped off with Twilight and Spike following behind.
. . .
The two ponies trailed through the forest trying to follow the knight. They made sure to keep their distance.
"Hey Pinkie?" Spike asked, keeping steady on Twilight's back. "What gave you the idea of following him?"
She laughed. "When he ran past me, he had this huge smile on his face like this!" she replied, showing them a big smile with all of her teeth showing. "He must've been very happy about something!"
"I never expected knights to be very happy about anything."
"Don't be silly, Spike! Anyone can be happy!"
They heard hoof beats gallop from behind and grew louder. Applejack caught up with them.
"Applejack! You came!" Spike said smiling.
"Ah never miss a round up with you gals!" Applejack said. "Rainbow Dash told me that ya'll are followin' Yorkshire, am Ah right?"
"Yorkshire?" Twilight asked.
"The one we're all followin'." she replied.
"Oh, so that's his name!" Pinkie Pie said. "Sounds cute!"
"He left the barn a couple of hours ago to wander around town." Applejack explained.
Pinkie Pie went to a complete halt, the others crashing into her. She bolted up and shushed them. "There he is!" she whispered, pulling them behind a thin tree.
They all glanced over seeing Yorkshire stopping at the cottage. "This place is smaller than I thought." they heard him say. He heard soft humming and singing echoing from the cottage. They looked to Yorkshire and saw him sigh deeply. "Such a beautiful voice…" they listened. He walked closer.
"Uh… girls, why is he goin' to Fluttershy's cottage?" Applejack asked.
They heard wings flapping from above. They looked up and saw Rainbow Dash and Rarity approaching below.
"Oh! Goodie goodie! You two are here!" Pinkie Pie squealed.
"Where did he go?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"He's heading to Fluttershy's place." Twilight answered.
"Huh… why would he go there?"
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Because he's in love, that's why."
They all looked to Rarity with opened jaws and widened yes. "IN LOVE?!" they exclaimed.
"Yes. He came into my boutique earlier today and described a beautiful girl he saw when he and the guys were coming into town." she explained. "When he told me, I just knew that he was talking about Fluttershy. So I told him where he could find her and gave him some advice so that he doesn't make her more shy than ever." She let out a grinning sigh. "Love is a beautiful thing, isn't it?"
"Wow…" Rainbow Dash said, still trying to take it all in. "A guy in love with the most timid pony in Ponyville…? Seriously… wow…"
Pinkie Pie giggled. "This should be good! Come on! Let's take a closer look!" She snuck behind trees and pounced into bushes, humming the Mission Impossible theme. The others simply walked behind.
Yorkshire followed the beautiful singing. He found the pink haired, yellow coated Pegasus pony tending to small animals. He watched her sing softly to the birds who were singing along. Her voice traveled through his ears, and he sighed more deeply.
Okay Yorkshire… you can do this. He tried his best to keep himself calm. Small drops of sweat ran down his eyebrows. Remember what Rarity said. Keep it simple. He quietly approached. As he walked closer to her from behind, he felt his heart beating faster. He opened his mouth slightly, his bottom lip quivering. "E-excuse me…?"
"Hello there, can I help you with anyth-" She turned to see that it was the knight who saw her in the crowd. Her eyes widened with complete surprise and gasped quietly with her face turning red.
Oh my gosh! It's him! she thought. What should I do? What should I say?! Her heart was beating fast, staring into his bright green eyes.
He gave her a little smile, blushing and brushing his leg. "Hello… Fluttershy…"
She let out a quiet squeak, nibbling her bottom lip. He knows my name! Without warning, she collapsed to the grass right before his feet.
"Fluttershy…?" he asked, tapping his hoof against her side. He then gulped and broke out sweating. "Uh-oh…" His breathing grew fast, almost hyperventilating. "Oh jeez, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?!" he exclaimed.
The girls and Spike watched him freak out from a close distance behind a tree. Spike couldn't help but quietly snicker.
"Spike!" Twilight snapped. "This isn't funny! Poor guy…"
"Ha, you have to admit, that's pretty funny….!" he said, snickering more.
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Honestly Spike, laughin' at a guy who's tryin' to speak to a gal but ends up seein' her faint right in front of his hooves? Should we help him?"
"Goodness no!" Rarity replied desperately. "He must figure this out himself!"
Pinkie Pie looked back. "Hey! Look what he's doing!"
They all witnessed Yorkshire quickly picking up a bucket by the river and scooped up water. He brought it over to the Fluttershy who was still unconscious.
Applejack glared, gritting her teeth. "Don't you dare, boy… Don't you dare…"
Yorkshire dipped his hoof in the bucket and sprinkled a little water on Fluttershy's face.
Fluttershy felt drops of water fall on her face. She was finally waking up, opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry at first, but was clearing up.
"Fluttershy... are you alright?" he asked, brushing his hoof against the grass.
She looked up, seeing the young knight again. Her eyes widened and blushed again. She was gasping more.
"Oh, please don't faint again!" he begged.
"I-I-I'm sorry…." she whispered, her cheeks turning a darker red. She took a few deep breaths. "I didn't expect to see you here…" She cracked a smile.
"I have one of your friends to thank." He said, smiling back. He looked at the cottage. "You have a lovely place."
"Thank you. I really enjoy living here with the animals."
"You're an animal lover?"
"Oh, very much. I take very good care of them. I guess it's my job, really."
"I'm sure you do a very splendid job. I love animals too."
"Really? I would never expect that from a knight."
"I suppose ponies don't expect a knight to do a lot of other things besides fighting and looking good." He replied, scratching the back of his head and looking away.
Fluttershy bit her lip and smiled. Yorkshire looked back and snickered. Their awkward silence was broken by their small laughter.
She giggled for another moment before taking a breath. "Um… would you like to uh… have some tea with me…? I mean, if you're not too busy." she asked, nervously rubbing her front leg with the other.
He blushed as well and smiled. He took a bow. "It would be a pleasure to have tea with you." he replied.
She sighed heavily with relief. "Please tell me your name, Mr. Knight." she said. "I would like to know yours since you know mine."
He cleared his throat. "My name is Yorkshire."
She smiled. "Please come this way." she said, walking inside.
The girls and Spike who were still hiding behind trees and bushes watched Yorkshire follow Fluttershy inside, the door closing after.
"Well Ah'll be!" Applejack said, smiling big. "It looks like things are gonna work out after all!"
"Who knew Fluttershy actually had it in her!" Rainbow Dash said.
"She can be full of surprises." Twilight implied.
"Let's just hope she doesn't faint again." Spike said.
"I'm sure she'll do just fine, dear." Rarity said. "This will be the beginning step of the courtship. I hope Yorkshire takes it slowly and not too fast. I don't think Fluttershy can get into a relationship that quickly."
"Should we do something to help them?" Twilight asked.
"If any of the two ask for any tips or advice, give it to them." Rarity replied. "This kind of stuff takes time and patience. If things go well, we'll be seeing Fluttershy in a beautiful wedding dress."
Spike laughed. "And Fluttershy's gonna faint just when the wedding starts."
They all giggled. They strolled back to Ponyville together, leaving the Yorkshire and Fluttershy to spend some time together without being spied on.