Coming home that day, Marble talked with her husband and he happily agreed with the idea that they'd spend some time together, somewhere on the coast, which was one of Marble's favorite places in the world.
She was very confident that everything would work out.
"Mommy is going to want to know everything you're going to do this weekend when I get back, okay?" Marble said, as she put the mane brush in her daughter's small suitcase.
"We're going to have a lot of fun, right, Aunt Pinkie?"
"You got it right, the only rule in my house is that everyone have fun 'til they pass out... In a good way!" Pinkie announced happily, making Rocky vibrate with enthusiasm.
"Surprise!" Caramel exclaimed, entering the living room with a gift box.
"Hi honey, I was just waiting for you for us to travel!" Marble said with a smile. "But what about this box?"
"Rocky's gift arrived earlier, I had to get it!" He explained.
"A gift for me?" Rocky asked, her eyes bright with joy.
"Because you got good grades, it's more than deserved sweetie. Come and see!"
Marble smiled and looked affectionately at the scene, until her smile slowly faded when she saw that her husband had given their daughter a pet pig.
The earth pony again became stressed by the fact that her husband also didn't communicate about the pet pig, but there was nothing she could do, since Rocky had already become attached to it.
"... I can't believe what I'm seeing!" She said. "Pinkie, you're going to take Rocky and the pig so I can be happy with my husband on the beach, right?" She asked, a little apprehensive if her sister had changed her mind.
"What a pig is for someone who has a giant crocodile, right?" Pinkie joked. "Rocky dear, let's go!" She called for her niece, while picking up her luggage for her weekend.
"Yay, is Buttercup there?" She asked, with her pig on her back.
"Yes, you two will be roommates!"
"That'll be really cool, but auntie, I've been thinking, can I call my friends to have a sleepover there with us?" Rocky asked with pleading eyes.
"Rocky, don't abuse your aunt's hospitality too much, sweetheart!" Marble said, while stroking her head.
"No, it's okay, she can!" Pinkie assured her, which immediately made Rocky regain her enthusiasm and joy. "Buttercup has a little trouble making friends, around other people who aren't her family, she's as shy as you were. Who knows it helps?"
"So I guess it's alright!" Marble smiled and shrugged.
Meanwhile, Bright Mac started putting his plan into action. That day, as soon as he woke up, he went straight to the kitchen and started preparing all of Chee Chee's favorite foods.
He stirred a small pot of stew with a small wooden spoon and took some for his younger sister to taste.
"Is it good? Be honest, everything has to be perfect. She just deserves the best!"
"... A little salt is missing!" Apple Belle replied, just after she turned around, took the jar of salt from the table and handed it to her brother.
"Thank you little sister!" He thanked her, while mixing a small amount of salt in the pot.
"Is nothing!" She replied with a smile, thinking about the goodies her brother would give her in exchange for helping him.
"It looks like things are in full swing here!" Big Mac said as he entered the kitchen and saw his son looking like a galloping master chef.
"Yeah, I'm so confident. But what about you?" Bright Mac asked, pointing the spoon at him. "Did you meet someone special?"
"Take it easy Romeo, I'm a little rusty!" He clarified.
"Well, If you're having difficulty, you can try the blind date!" Apple Belle suggested, which left him confused.
"Excuse me?"
"Blind date is when a pony that has a hard time finding the special somepony, communicates virtually with anonymous ponies chosen randomly by the post office itself and after a few days of conversation, they have a date to see if their relationship works out, if not, you can try again!" The eldest son explained.
"Hey, I was going to say that!" Apple Belle complained, punching him lightly in the leg.
"My bad!" He said between soft laughs.
Big Mac thought it was a great idea, "Blind date" was perfect for shy ponies like him. His eyes shone with hope, until he remembered that he didn't know how to use the computer.
"It's good for those who know how to use computers!" He murmured with his head down.
"It's okay dad, I'll teach you!" The little filly offered, which made him smile. "I mean, right after helping my brother!"
"Alright honey, I'm in no hurry!" Big Mac assured his daughter.
Time skip...
Bright Mac went to Sugarcube Corner to pick up Chee Chee, but before entering, he communicated with his younger sister to see if everything was in order there.
"Lovebird 1 for Green Apple, is everything ready? Change!"
Apple Belle straightened the last balloon ornament and picked up the walk-talk.
"Positive Lovebird 1, cleared to bring Lovebird 2 here!" She answered.
"Well, you can go home and get your cookies!" He said, before turning off the communication device.
Meanwhile, Chee Chee was sweeping the messy floor of confetti, while his co-worker and best friend dragoness Fiamma took care of the cashier.
"Hey Bright Mac!" Fiamma said, when she saw him entering the store.
Upon hearing his name, the young mare immediately raised her head and smiled.
"Hi Fi, Chee Chee, I really wanted to talk to you!" He said, trying to act naturally, but he couldn't hide a little of his nervousness.
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" She asked, continuing to sweep the confetti.
"Well, it'll be better if you see it. Will you come with me?" He asked, extending his hoof towards her.
"Look, I'd love to go, but I don't think I can, I'm working now ..."
"You can go if you take your 15-minute break!" Fiamma said, interrupting her.
"Are you sure you won't be overwhelmed working alone here in the store?" Chee Chee asked.
"Relax, I'll be fine, go ahead, I know how curious you are!" The young dragoness assured her.
"Okay then, let's go Mac!" She said.
"Wait, you'll have to put this here first!" He said, taking a blindfold out of the bag.
"Uhhhh, I'm not very confident about that!" Chee Chee said, remembering that bad best seller that she read once.
"Trust me, when did I get you in trouble?" He asked and received a wry look from her. "Just put the blindfold on ok?"
"OK!" She said between soft laughs and put the blindfold in front of her eyes.
It took a while to guide her "blind" to the right place, but he did it.
"I just call to say I love you" She hummed a blind singer's song, which made him laugh.
"We arrived!" He exclaimed.
"Finally!" She said relieved.
He untied the tie and the blindfold fell from her eyes.
Chee Chee was speechless at what she saw.
She thought all the heart shaped balloons and the picnic with all her favorite foods were beautiful, but what really enchanted her was that he did everything in the place that brought the sweetest memories of their childhood.
"The intertwined apple and pear trees where we played when we were little!" She murmured sweetly.
"Yeah, remember when we played chasing each other around them and we did it until we were dizzy?" He said.
"How could I forget?" She replied, walking over to the tree.
"These trees are so important to my family. My grandparents planted them when they got married, my parents got married under it and mark we the names on it as a symbol of eternal love!"
She smiled and was touched to see the initials of love on the trees' trunks, which was "BM + SB", "AJ + RD" and "AB + S".
"I could admire them forever!" She said, while smoothly running her hull in the initials.
"I also wanted to share with the trees the best moments of my life, like now!" He said, which left her confused.
"What does that mean?" Chee Chee asked raising an eyebrow.
Bright Mac didn't answer, just looked at her lovingly in her green eyes, brought one of his paws up to her face and stroked her cheek.
Despite knowing what was going on and wanting to get out of that situation as quickly as possible, for some reason, Chee Chee remained standing, totally lost in his charming and mesmerizing eyes.
"I kept this feeling stuck in my heart for too long, but even if it costs our friendship, I can't hide it anymore. You just makes me so happy and enchants me with this unique way of being. Deep down I've always known since the day we met, but now I'm completely sure that the great love of my life is you and it has always been you. I love you and I'll love you all my life!"
The young mare's heart pounded strong against her chest, stronger than she wanted. She was so confused, her head and heart were completely divided and she didn't know which one she should be guided by.
After the words that touched her soul like nothing before, Chee Chee realized that their faces started to come closer and closer, she had no idea if it was she who was leaning towards him, or he was leaning towards her.
Finally their lips touched and kissed lovingly, forgetting the whole world around them. Her eyes widened when she realized what she was doing and quickly pushed him away from herself with the hooves.
"Why did you do that?" She feigned outrage, drying her lips.
"Please don't treat me like that my love ..." He pleaded with sad eyes.
"No, stop it I'm not your love, Bright Mac I love you, but ... Not like that!" She lied, as a way of driving him away. "We're cousins, this shouldn't happen!"
"We don't know if our families are really related, besides that, it shouldn't be a problem if we love each other!" He retorted, almost bursting into tears.
"I-I don't love you romantically, okay? Good relationships are based on sincerity and I'm being 100% sincere!" She said decidedly.
"Your mouth tells me one thing, but your eyes tell me another. If that's so, how did you kiss me back when I kissed you?"
Lying like that hurt her, but there was no other way, she was completely against incest and, ironically, she was practicing for responding to his feelings.
"... It was just an impulse, I'm sorry. You're my best friend in this world and I love you, but if my friendship is not enough for you... We shouldn't be anything else!" She said in a trembling voice, before running with tears in her eyes and leaving Bright Mac with his heart broken into a million pieces.