Pre-dawn light began to peek through trees as morning’s invisible sun began its ascent into the Equestrian sky. Yet to break the horizon, its rays could be seen stretching high into the air from below the curve of the land, continuing on into the eternity of the vast, purple-hued sky. This morning brought with it a frosty chill, a foresight of the winter to come. Animals around the small country slept in, keeping warm with their families tucked safely in trees and in underground passageways. Ponies local to the small town of Ponyville were just beginning to stir in their beds, stalling the inevitable departure from the warm embrace of the blankets they were wrapped in. Hot showers began to run, and a warm scent of coffee could just barely be detected on the light breeze that carried with it small wisps of chimney smoke.
Further on out from the town itself, in a humble orchard known as Sweet Apple Acres, frying pans were being heated up as eggs were collected from the various chicken coops surrounding the small homestead. Perched on a nearby fence, standing tall and proud, a rooster crowed. An ancient green mare looked in his direction, smiling with approval, before disappearing into the kitchen with a basketful of fresh, brown eggs.
In the second story of the farmhouse, an orange earth pony mare was carefully brushing out her long locks of blonde mane, before carefully tying it back with her signature red hair tie. Placing her iconic Stetson upon her head, she dutifully removed herself from her room, and bee lined to the door across the way. Knocking three times for good measure, she placed a hoof upon the doorknob and waited a moment for an answer. Hearing nothing but the gentle sound of soft snoring, she slowly opened the door and peered inside.
True to her belief, a large bulge lay under a handmade quilt of various pastel colors, rising and falling in time with the snores. Chuckling to herself, Applejack cautiously made her way towards her older brother’s bed to rouse him for the day’s work. Once she was within hoof’s reach, she noticed an irregularity to the rise and fall of the comforter. Wondering what could be causing said irregularity, she lightly folded back one corner of the blanket, heart stopping in surprise at what she found.
Lying in Big Macintosh’s bed, wrapped tightly in his hooves, was her dear friend Twilight Sparkle. This was the second time she had come to wake up her brother and found the two together, and still the discovery ground her mind to a halt. Of course Applejack knew that the two were dating, she had practically set them up! Why, if she hadn’t reassured her friend after the kiss-and-run, the happy couple may never have existed in the first place!
The orange mare had no issue with their relationship, of course. The only thing that bothered her was waking up in the morning to find this, of all things! And even at that, she wasn’t irked due to the act itself. It was simply the lack of information flowing her way that got under her skin. Then again, Twilight, Big Mac, and she were all grown ponies. They had the ability to make their own decisions, and if the couple wanted to sleep in the same bed, why should they be barred from that privilege?
No, the true source of irritation was most likely jealousy; Jealousy at the fact that she lacked a significant other with which to share a bed. Her grandmother, Granny Smith, was perfectly fine with the situation, as she had been looking for Big Macintosh to acquire himself a mare for quite some time. Applejack supposed she was expected to find a stallion soon, but her heart just wasn’t in it at the moment. As quickly as it had come, her irritation fled her mind to be taken over by another emotion.
A strong sense of pride and love welled up in her heart, pride at what the happy couple had managed to accomplish together in two months, and love for both of the ponies she was looking at. Of course, Big Macintosh had always been there for her as a filly, and Twilight, of course, was probably her best friend. Sure, her minor panic attacks could be troublesome at times, but Big Mac had significantly helped with that issue. Plus, that unicorn was getting pretty good at bucking apples.
She gently placed a hoof on her brother’s withers, and tried to shake him awake. After a moment, he stirred, lifting his head from his pillow to look at her.
“Oh, uh, good mornin’, AJ,” he mumbled, heavy eyelids drooping. “Ah didn’t sleep too late, did Ah?”
“No, Ah made sure ta wake ya fer the last big day. We got some ripe pumpkins to harvest, and Ah reckon if we get on it, we’ll be done by ‘bout noon.”
Mac’s eyes drifted around the room, before resting on the back of his marefriend’s head. “Aight, gimme a moment here and Ah’ll be down fer breakfast shortly.”
Applejack chuckled, walking out of the door as she softly called back, “See ya in a few, ya big lovebird.”
Big Macintosh snorted quietly, knowing that his sister just liked to tease him. He laid his head back on his pillow, but it was no use. Throughout his life, once he was awake, he was up. He leaned over and placed a kiss on Twilight’s cheek, causing her to stir with life and twitch slightly.
“Twilight, it’s mornin’,” he whispered, mouth close to her ear.
A muffled moan came from her muzzle as she tossed slightly between his hooves.
She’s too cute, the large stallion thought to himself. Ain’t nothin’ better than spendin’ a night with her.
“C’mon, Twi. Granny’s got breakfast made.”
At the word “breakfast,” Twilight’s left eyelid creaked open and she glanced lazily at her stallion. Slowly rolling over to face him, she began to trail kisses up his chest until she reached his muzzle, sleepily embracing him in a deep kiss. After a moment, she broke the kiss and laid her head on his wide, barrel-shaped chest.
“That sounds good,” she breathed, tracing a hoof in small circles on his coat. Then, looking back up at him, “I love you.”
Big Mac smiled, kissing her forehead. “Ah love you too.”
A moment of shared silence passed before the lavender unicorn made a move towards the edge of the bed. “Well, if your Granny has breakfast on the table, we certainly don’t want to keep her waiting.”
“Eenope,” Big Macintosh replied, rolling out of the opposite side. After Twilight quickly made the bed with a burst of magic, the two migrated downstairs, Mac leading the way. They emerged into a kitchen full of flavorful scents, where the Apple family matriarch could be seen finishing up the last batch up eggs. Five plates were on the table, healthy portions of scrambled eggs and pancakes topped with apples adorning each.
“Twilight!” exclaimed Applebloom, in her young southern drawl. “Ah didn’t know you was here!”
“Neither did yer sister,” Mac answered, as Twilight smiled at the yellow filly.
Granny Smith made a few tsk sounds as she sat down at her place, looking at Applejack and Applebloom in turn. “Y’all ain’t never got no clue what goes on ‘round here, do ye?” she said, in a joking manner. “Both of ye got ta learn how ta see in yer sleep!”
All the ponies in the room started at the elder mare, lost for words as hers hung in the air. After a few moments of silence, Applejack slowly lowered her fork and dug in to her breakfast, with everypony soon following suit.
“So, did y’all sleep well last night?” Applejack asked her brother, in part addressing her guest.
“Eeyup,” replied Big Mac. “How ‘bout yerself?”
“Mhm,” she mumbled through a mouthful of pancakes. “Ah had to, we got ourselves quite a day today. And when we’re done, we can relax all we want.”
“Can’t say Ah ain’t lookin’ forward to it,” Big Mac commented, placing another forkful of pancakes into his mouth.
“Can I help out in any way?” Twilight asked, hopefully.
Applejack looked up at the ceiling, rubbing her chin while pondering the unicorn’s question. Eventually she shrugged, saying, “Ah don’t see any reason why ya can’t help out. Shoot, ya’ve gotten pretty good at applebuckin’.”
Twilight just barely caught an expression not unlike pride cross her coltfriend’s face, before it turned into a plain smile.
“Ah’m lookin’ forward ta havin’ ya out in the orchard, Twilight,” he said, giving her a wink.
Twilight felt her lavender cheeks tinge red, trying to hide her shyness behind a mouthful of pancake and egg.
“Thanks, y’all,” she said.
Suddenly, silverware could be heard clattering against a plate, and when the unicorn looked up, she saw Applejack staring at her in shock.
“What?” she asked, confused. “Is it something I said?”
Mac let loose a small chuckle as his sister nodded her head.
“Ya said ‘y’all’,” she said. “I ain’t never heard one of our friends say ‘y’all’.”
If Twilight had been blushing before, she definitely was now. “Oh, um, well, I ah…” she trailed off, unsure of what to say. Fortunately, her coltfriend decided that now would be a good time to jump in and assist her.
“Well, AJ, two months with us’ll do that to ya,” he said, laughing.
“I guess so,” she replied, lost in thought. “It’s just, it’s nice. Hearin’ one of mah best friends talk like Ah do, it’s nice.” After a few more seconds of looking at her plate, she finished off her eggs and rose to take the dish to the sink.
“Well, I’m glad, AJ. I didn’t think about it, really, but I’m glad it makes you happy. I have always liked, um, y’alls accent.”
Applejack chuckled again, turning to her friend and placing a hoof around her shoulder. “Ah think I could get used to that, Twi.”
The two shared a laugh as the whole family finished up breakfast. Once all the dishes were put up, Applejack, Big Mac, and Twilight stepped out into the cool, morning air.
“Sure is a good day fer pickin’,” Mac said, feeling his muscles loosen as he stretched. Applejack was following his lead, audible pops resounding around the front porch.
“Yep,” she said. “And it’s the last one, too. Ah always love a good hard day of work, but boy howdy, do Ah love when it’s time to take a break.”
Taking in a few precious more moments of the morning sunrise playing off the fading leaves of the orchard, the three ponies stood close together, enjoying one another’s company. Once several seconds had passed, Mac broke the calm by stepping forward.
“Welp, no time like tha present to get tha pickin’ done. C’mon, y’all.”
The three ponies walked side by side out into the farmland, soaking up the warmth of the rising sun to fight off brisk chill of the air. The walk out to the pumpkin patch was longer than any other in Sweet Apple Acres, as it was planted beyond all the apple trees. Twilight could feel her tired muscles beginning to awaken from their slumber as she worked to keep pace with Big Macintosh, whose long legs carried him forward faster than most mares of Ponyville. After several minutes of dead conversation and their warm up stroll, the group finally arrived at their destination.
The Apple family pumpkin patch is not a secret to those who live in Ponyville, as their crop is used every year on Nightmare Night. However, few ponies have ever seen the elusive field, as it lies so far off the beaten path. Those who have seen it cannot describe it and those who have yet to lay eyes on it will never know its full glory.
Twilight looked out on the large patch, taking in the perfect condition of what she saw. Pumpkins all the same size, spaced out at just the right intervals, and gleaming with a beautiful, ghostly, orange glow peered back at her. Easily twice the size of the Apples’ farmhouse, the patch was nothing short of a farmer’s paradise.
“What’s a matter, Twi? Opalescence got yer tongue?” Applejack joked, looking at her bewildered unicorn friend.
Twilight closed her gaping mouth and shook her head a few times. “I—I never knew just how perfect this place was! I mean, I had heard from Rainbow, but to see it? It’s, well, unreal, Applejack.”
True to her earth pony way, the female farmer tipped her hat and crossed her legs. “Eeyup, we get that a lot. She’s pretty, ain’t she, Mac?”
“Eeyup,” said Big Macintosh, though it was clear he wasn’t referring to the pumpkin patch.
“Well,” came the lecture-like tone of Twilight, “like you said earlier, Mac, these pumpkins won’t pick themselves. Let’s get started!”
The trio began working right away, cutting the pumpkin stems and loading it into one of two carts that had been brought out to the field the day before. Despite the cool temperature, Twilight began sweating quickly, foam forming a slick layer on the outside of her lavender coat. They continued on like this for several hours, both Applejack and Twilight cutting pumpkin stems while Big Mac piled them on his back to be loaded into the carts.
***
After what seemed like ages, the carts were finally full, and they could take their first break.
“Well, we only got ‘bout a third of tha patch left to go,” Mac said, sweeping his eyes over the field.
Applejack was leaning against a cart, letting the sweat drip down her neck as a breeze cooled her off. “Say, Twi, why haven’t ya used any magic yet? Remember when ya helped me out with that harvest last year, and ya picked all them apples just like that?”
Laying on her side from exhaustion, Twilight only managed to look up at her friend with her eyes. “Yeah, well, Winter Wrap Up kind of changed all of that thinking.”
“Whatta’ya mean?” the orange mare inquired.
“Well, it’s like this. I tried to use magic during that festival, but that’s just not how things are done. It’s an old tradition started by earth ponies, and after I learned just how wrong it was to use magic, I’m really hesitant to do something like that again. I mean, I’ve been holding my own in applebucking, and I always like doing things the way they were meant to be done.”
The two Apples shared a look, before busting out laughing.
“What? What’s so funny?” Twilight asked as she sat up, exasperated.
Once he recovered from the side-splitting bout of laughter, Big Macintosh wiped his eyes with a hoof, and moved over to his marefriend’s side. “Twilight, hon,” he said, still chuckling, “the only reason AJ yelled at ya in Wrap Up is ‘cause that’s a time-honored tradition ‘a Ponyville. Out here in tha orchard, though?” he gestured to the surroundings. “If it helps ya get tha job done, Ah don’t see any reason why ya can’t use yer magic.”
“Plus, we ain’t quite as old fashioned as some of our kin might be,” Applejack chimed in. “Now, some ‘a them ponies may be inclined ta toss ya off their land fer usin’ magic. Shoot, some of ‘em may throw ya off just ‘cause yer a unicorn.”
The lavender mare drew back into her coltfriend’s side, eyes going wide at her friend’s statement. “Some of your family has problems with unicorns?” she asked. “I thought that was settled long ago when Equestria was founded!”
“Fer most of tha earth ponies, it was,” Mac said. “But some of our folks are more, um, old fashioned. They hold to old traditions a bit tighter than most.”
“Were any of those ponies there when I first came to Ponyville? Your entire family seemed so nice!”
“Naw, they don’t hardly ever visit us,” Applejack said. “We only see ‘em when we’re out their way. Most of ‘em are real homebodies, and bein’ off ‘a their land makes ‘em all freaky and whatnot.”
Twilight stared at her hooves for a moment, shuffling them around in the grass of the orchard. She looked up at Big Mac, who gave her an affectionate nuzzle.
“What would they think of us?” the unicorn asked, to nopony in particular.
“Ah wouldn’t worry about that, Twi,” Macintosh said.
“Well, not now, anyways…” Applejack trailed off, making a face that reminded Twilight all too much of a certain Draconequus’ spell.
“What was that?” asked Twilight, narrowing her eyes at her orange friend.
“What was what? I don’t know what yer talkin’ about.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Applejack. You only make that face when you’re lying, or there’s more to the story.”
During this time, Big Macintosh had discreetly pulled away from his marefriend by a few inches, looking in the opposite direction to hide his obvious blush.
“Mac?” asked the suddenly anxious unicorn. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothin’.” he deadpanned.
“You Apples are so bad at lying. Applejack, you’re the Element of Honesty, and Big Macintosh…well; I just know when you’re lying. Because I’m your marefriend. And marefriends always know when their coltfriends are lying.”
A moment of silence passed between the three, with Twilight looking expectantly between the two. After a moment, Applejack finally decided to speak up.
“Well, like Ah said, you wouldn’t have to worry ‘bout what our extended family thought until later.”
“How much later?”
“Um, well…”
“Spit it out!”
“Like, unless you were gonna become Twilight Apple.”
Twilight took in a deep breath and held it. The world seemed to stop around her, and it almost appeared as if time slowed. She cautiously glanced up at her horn to assure herself that she didn’t accidentally use one of Starswirl’s spells, and was relieved, for once, to find her horn lying dormant. She glanced back down at Applejack, and then to her coltfriend, whose face was now a shade of red so deep, Twilight may have thought that he had accidentally cut himself.
“But that’s later. Not now. So don’t worry,” Applejack stuttered.
Telling Twilight Sparkle not to worry was like trying to tell Rarity not to make dresses. Telling Twilight Sparkle not to worry was like telling Rainbow Dash not to fly. Heck, telling Twilight Sparkle not to worry was like telling Pinkie Pie not to laugh. If the possibility for chaos existed, and a certain lavender unicorn was aware of it, then she would worry. Even if the idea completely freaked her out and changed her entire way of thinking, she would worry. In fact, adding in the freak out would cause this particular mare to worry more.
And worrying she was, as she began to take long, deep breaths as her eyes remained wide open in shock.
“Twi, Ah apologize fer mah sister’s big mouth. She wasn’t assumin’ anythin’—“
“—Oh, shut it, Mac! I ain’t never seen ya like this, not even when ya had them crushes! Ya never know what’ll happen, an’ if it does, y’all are gonna have ta deal with it!”
“I—um, that is, it’s okay, Applejack,” Twilight breathed. Though she was speaking, her eyes were still as wide as dinner plates. “I know you were just talking about the possibilities. And she’s right, Mac.”
Now it was his turn to be shocked, as he looked at his lavender love with bewilderment. “Right about what, Twi?”
“Right about the possibility. I mean, we are dating. And taking it from Cadance and my big brother, any two ponies that are dating do have the possibility to get married. Now, I’m not saying we will, I mean, I know that isn’t even a thought yet—and it probably shouldn’t be—but if it does come to pass, AJ is right. We will have to look at that.”
Twilight was able to calm herself down through logic and reasoning. It’s how she survived all those exams at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and it’s how she got through any other minor crisis in her life. Or at least tried to.
“But like Ah said, that’s a long ways off. Probably. Maybe.” Applejack finished.
Big Macintosh and Twilight simply stared at Applejack, both displaying looks of shock and confusion. Silence endured for a moment longer before the large stallion finally got his racing heart back to a normal pace.
“Welp, we better haul these pumpkins in an’ finish tha harvest. We got us a well-deserved break as soon as we’re done. C’mon y’all.” He quickly rose to his feet and strapped himself into a cart’s harness, and began hauling away before Twilight and Applejack had even risen to their hooves.
“Well, he sure was in a hurry,” Twilight said.
“Gee, Ah wonder why,” Applejack replied sarcastically. After strapping herself into the second cart, she followed her brother, and the three ponies went about their last chores before the winter break.
It was going to be an interesting one, beginning with a visit to a local fashionista.