//------------------------------//
// A Couple's Secrets 
// Story: A Couple's Secrets 
// by Crowquill Symphony 
//------------------------------//


A couple’s secrets

Big Mac stared silently at the door, his face set in his normal stoic expression. He needed to knock on the door, to enter and gain his relief, to ease his heart and mind. He needed this. He twirled the strand of wheat in his mouth, the only outward sign of his nervousness. He glanced over his shoulder briefly, making sure nopony was watching before turning back to the house.
It was a one-story place on the outskirts of Ponyville, slightly run down and beaten up, with the lawn overgrown and the stone path up to the door cracked and dirty. Compared to every other house in Ponyville, the place was ominous and uninviting, in some ways a mirror of its main occupant. Reluctantly he raised his hoof and knocked on the door. The house began to creak, and Mac could hear somepony running through its halls. The door swung open and light poured out into the evening air. 
The unicorn who answered the door was dressed in a Ponyville guard uniform, with her helmet floating in an aura of yellow energy. She stared coldly at the red farm pony, her eyes narrowed and suspicious. Before either of them could say anything, an orange earth pony with a scraggly brown mane popped his head into the hall. “Ah, buck, I forgot you were coming over Mac! Hijo de la perra, nearly forgot the whole damn thing. Gimmie ten seconds…”
The unicorn shook her head and sighed as she went out and the orange pony ducked back into a room, and Mac continued to stand stoically, still glancing over his shoulder every few seconds. “Hijo de puta, I seriously bucked up.” Mac ignored the crude language the pony used and the Coltifornian accent, writing it off as an expense for getting what he needed. The pony charged back to the door, a tied off plastic bag held in his teeth. 
Mac reached into the bag of bits he kept in his yoke, giving the pony several coins before taking the bag. “Thanks Crowquill.” Mac said as he trotted off. Crowquill shook his head.
“Buck, just call me Crow. You enjoy that, a’ight? I won’t be able to get you any more for a while.” He waved to the departing farm pony before shutting the door and darkening the streets once more. Mac jogged away, a slight grin on his face, unaware of the rainbow mare passing by overhead. 


	“So you’re saying I shouldn’t just ask? Seriously, why should I sneak around?” Rainbow groaned as she spoke with Rarity, not understanding the sophisticated ponies thinking. The two sat across from one another at a small café, Rainbow downing the appetizer she was served and Rarity pecking away at her first plate of a small pastry. 
“Rainbow, darling, a couple should not keep such secrets from one another! It’s simply not good for their relationship!” She took another tiny nibble from her pastry as Dash wolfed down another chunk of food. “I realize that there will always be small things, but the way he sneaks out in the middle of the night, without even telling you? There’s something suspicious going on, and you need to figure out what it is.” 
Dash scoffed at the unicorn. “No offense Rarity, but what do you actually know about being married?”
“Well, what do you know?”
“I’ve been married for a year now!” Rainbow slammed down a glass of apple juice and ordered another small roll.  “Seriously, all this sneaking around isn’t my style. Besides, there’s no way it can be that bad.”
Rarity gasped in a large exaggerated motion. “Darling, what if he’s secretly doing, well,” she leaned in and dropped her voice to a whisper, “drugs?” 
Dash stared at Rarity for a moment, her eyes wide as she tried to comprehend the suggestion. Then she burst out laughing. It was a loud, energetic laugh, the kind of laugh that would make Pinkie proud and drew the gaze of everypony nearby. As she wound down she managed to get a few words in between her gasping. “Heh heh, Mac? Doing Drugs? That’s just crazy Rarity. Seriously, that’s just hilarious.” She let out a deep sigh. “Seriously, there’s no way that’s it.” 
“Hmf! Well, if you won’t even consider my suggestion, then maybe you shouldn’t have asked for my help!” Rarity said as she stood up and trotted away. Dash chuckled for a bit longer, at least until she realized she was going to have to pay for the meal. She groaned when the bill finally came, and when she left only had a few bits left of the sum she had brought. 
“So much for getting myself something nice,” she said, sighing as she flew back to Sweet Apple Acres. 


	Sitting in his shed out back of the barn, Big Mac couldn’t help but stare at his treasure. He had finished all of his work, dealt with every issue on the farm, and finally had a moment to himself. He slowly began to open the plastic bag, savoring the anticipation. When it finally opened he reached inside and delicately removed the contents. 
They were a set of records, except they were smaller and silver with small plastic cases with various dark and edgy pictures and strange symbols on them. None of them looked friendly or peaceful, and as he set them to play on the “CD player” he had bought from his usual guy, loud, energetic music poured out. He let himself drift away into the music, taking in the energy. 
There was nothing quite like Horse Music. In a land without any magic, they had endured hardships that would break any normal pony. More than that, they had adapted and built a society of machines and electricity, of gears and “computers”. There music was harsher, more energetic. Rock. Metal. Alternative. Horses did things much differently from ponies. 
This was his guilty pleasure, his break from reality. He leaned back and listened, and after playing through each of the discs several times, he began to sing. The lyrics were different from any music played in Equestria, though the language was the same. He lost track of time in the shed, lost his euphoria. 
He didn’t even notice that Rainbow Dash had walked in until he had finished a song particularly heavy on profanity. He could only stare at his beloved wife as the music continued in the background. 
Dash held a small bag in her teeth, and after a moment of silence she trotted over to the CD player and set down her bag. She turned to Mac, ignorant to his blushing but well aware of his discomfort at the situation. “Horse music?” she asked, completely at ease in the situation. 
“Eeyup.” Mac responded.
“Ever heard of Method of a Decrease?” 
His ears perked up. “Yer a fan?” he asked.
Dash smiled coyly and opened the bag with her wings. She reached in and pulled out several CDs that he recognized but hadn’t been able to get his hooves on. She leaned in, her muzzle inches away from his. “You wanna grab some hard cider and relax out here? Blast some music and cool off?” 
At any given moment in Equestria, there are millions of happy stallions and colts. At that particular moment, Mac was happier than all of them together. He spent that night with his wife, lying happily drunk while listening to loud music. The next morning they would both deal with the inevitable hangover from three cases of hard apple cider, but for the time being he was happier than anypony in the history of Equestria.
It was a damn good night.