Big Mac decides it's high time he went courting. Working on the Pie farm seems like a fine way to prove his worth and get to know Marble and her family. She's a pretty, demure little mare and she seems to like him. He does not foresee any major obstacles.

He did not foresee Limestone Pie.

After spending Hearth's Warming Eve with the Apples, something has changed in Marble Pie's world: up until then, she had only known the familiar ground of the rock farms community, which was so much different from the world the Apples must have come from. Something in her just screams to go and see this world (and, maybe, just maybe, also meet again a certain red stallion...), even if the rest of the community might disapprove. A story about romance, growth and overcoming anxieties.

Some might think that a pony without much to say doesn't have a lot going on in their minds. Those ponies would be wrong. In fact, it's usually the quiet ones that think the most.

Marble Pie thinks a lot. Most of the time, she thinks about rocks, and how scary everything else is.

Big MacIntosh thinks a lot. Most of the time, he thinks about apples, and how complicated everything else is.

Now, throughout the good times and the bad times of Hearth's Warming, they think about each other.

The Apple family farm is in trouble. It was once underwater, but Discord fixed that. Now it’s underwater with a horrible, evil, greedy creature: a bank. Big Mac has only one day to get the bits together. After overhearing the flower mares talk about him, he gets an idea. It’s the oldest profession in the world, so how hard could it be?

All he has to do is keep quiet while he conducts business. So long as the customers are happy, and the bits are flowing, it’s all worth it. It’s just his reputation, self-esteem, health, and dignity on the line. It’s just a roll in the hay— it doesn’t mean anything…

Right?

Featured on EQD! (7/16/14)

Edited by: Level Dasher
Cover Art by: Anonymoose