"You have the same eyes, the same smile, even the same laugh. You two would be so much alike. If only..."

No one is a stranger to secrets. Some of us become quite intimate with them, spend years watching over them, even build our whole lives around them. Big Mac is no stranger to the agony of maintaining a years-long facade, and Apple Bloom is not unfamiliar with his silence. But there comes a time when curiosity grows too great, and the pain too deep. Just one question...

Cover art by the stupendous, incomparable and otherwise splendiferous Arby Works.

Big Macintosh journeys to the 140th Annual Equestria Agriculture Convention held this year in Stalliongrad, a city nicknamed "Citadel of the Earth Ponies." During the course of the convention, he will learn more about himself then he ever thought possible.

Update 11/19/2012: Story on hiatus while I work on other projects and consider revamping this story. My apologies.

Click the <♪♬♪> links for musical accompaniment!

Octavia Philharmonica was one of the most skilled classically-trained cellists of her generation. She could book entire concert halls chock full of mares and stallions from across the land to hear the somber anthems of her instrument of choice: the cello.

After the complete disaster that was the 1000th Annual Grand Galloping Gala, she found herself banned from doing that which was her life's only calling. Alone and with nopony to turn to, she finds unexpected companionship in the current patron of the Apple Family, a certain red stallion by the name of Big Macintosh.

Mad props to Scootareader for having the patience to pre-read this as I wrote it as well. In my previous fics, I had never used pre-readers. Yeah, I know. Nooooot smart.

Vectors used in the cover art were created by Scrimpeh and Esipode. Background by BronyB34r.

Rarity feels like she's in a dream. In only a few months, she meets Fancy Pants, and his over-adoring wife Fleur, designs a wedding dress for one of the most exclusive weddings ever, and, best of all, falls in love. However, her dream is about to be shattered. Walking home to the boutique, going to the Library, out to buy some carrots, she catches fleeting glimpses of a mysterious pony figure wherever she goes. If that is bad enough, in the middle of the night she'll get pleading phone calls from an anxious mare, offering warnings and asking for help. She tries to shake it off, but Twilight knows what's up. Something sinister is revolving around Rarity. But who's causing it?

Thanks to LandUnderWave for the idea: http://www.fimfiction.net/user/LandUnderWave