//------------------------------// // Interlude: Going Batty? // Story: Apples in the Moonlight: Crackshipping Applejack and Luna // by bahatumay //------------------------------// Later that evening, Macintosh chuckled quietly to himself as he passed Applejack still working on his way back to the farmhouse. Farm chores had to be done, no matter what; she'd left this morning with Luna, so she'd be working later tonight to get everything done. Still, he wouldn't be a complete tree stump about it. He would most likely bring her a snack or something later before he went to bed. And then he stopped. Sitting on the porch was the bat pony mare from before. She rocked back and forth on the rocking chair, wings spread wide for balance, an exuberant smile on her face as she played with her new toy. Mac couldn't help but chuckle, and she jumped in surprise at the sound, tipping the rocking chair over backwards; but she flapped her wings and managed to keep herself upright, even if the chair didn't. She landed and gave him a coy smile. Mac paused as he noticed that she was wearing a black ribbon in her mane and intricately formed metal bracelets on her hooves; and for some reason, he got the distinct impression that she hadn't actually been scared by his sudden appearance. Still, he wasn't about to just let this opportunity go. He bowed apologetically, and she 'forgave' him with an affectionate cheek nuzzle. Soon, the two were walking through the woods, silently. No words needed to be said; they were content merely enjoying each other's company. The night grew darker, the stars grew brighter, and their steps slowed. Soon, they were laying down on the grass, looking up at the stars. Mac yawned, though he tried to suppress it. And then he realized that he was resting his head on her shoulder, and had been doing so for some time. He jerked upright. “Sorry,” he said quietly. She smiled demurely, completely unoffended. In fact, she seemed almost to be blushing. “You have really soft fur,” Mac continued. She shrugged; but she was definitely blushing now, even through her dark fur. “Do you do something special to it?” he asked. She shrugged. Mac chuckled. “Maybe it's just a bat pony thing?” he suggested playfully. “Noctrali.” Mac looked up. It was the first time he had ever heard her speak. She had a lovely voice. His ears were soon blessed with a second sentence. “We are noctrali. And my name is Nova.” Mac stared. Sure, this made perfect sense with her star cutie mark; but he had bigger things to worry about. “You talk,” finally came out. A smile played at her lips. “So do you,” she pointed out. Mac subconsciously licked his lips. “You should do that more often,” he said, half suggesting, half requesting. Nova shuffled her hooves slightly. “We'll see,” she said demurely. “But if you're going to be my lover, you should use my species' real name.” There was a pause as both suddenly realized what they'd just done. Did I just ask him out? Did she just ask me out? She looked up. “So are we…?” she started. “Ah think so,” Mac said. Nova smiled. “Good,” she said, and she lay her head down on his shoulder. Mac flushed bright red; but then he hesitantly rested his head against the top of hers and then, in a moment of daring, rested a foreleg over her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. She stretched slightly and he could almost swear she was purring in delight. His breathing eventually slowed in time with hers, and soon, he was fast asleep, this time with her full approval. * * * Mac woke up, alone, in the middle of the orchard. He frowned, but cracked a small smile as he realized he had a purple blanket over him, emblazoned with decorations of moons and stars. That was surprisingly touching. He folded it up neatly and placed it on his back before turning back towards the farmhouse. With a quick glance at the sky, he judged the time and realized with a start that he'd have to hurry to make it to town on time. He increased his pace to a trot and hurried on his way. He soon arrived at the barn, and slowly dragged the ajar doors open all the way with a screech of metal on wood. “Mac? That you?” Applejack asked. She was back behind the stacks of barrels, making sure that all the stock was rotated for proper freshness and selecting only the best of the best apples. “Eeyup.” She chuckled as she closed the top of another barrel. “Have a good night last night?” she teased. “Saw you had a visitor.” “Eeyup,” Mac said, a bit more quietly this time, and with just a tinge of blush on his cheeks. “I'll tease you more about that later,” Applejack said, grunting as she loaded the barrel up and pushed it up to the top of the stack. “Right now you've got some apples to be selling.” “Eeyup,” Mac agreed as he hitched himself to the wagon. With a few movements of his powerful muscles, he budged the cart forward, and then strode forward. Once he had broken it loose, it became easier, and he pulled it along easily. The cart bumped along behind him as he briskly approached the town. He was ready for anything. * * * Setting up the apple stand was almost second nature by now. It wasn't long before Macintosh stood proudly behind his family's wares. Now, Macintosh was not completely ignorant of his situation. He knew he was a large stallion in a town where stallions were not particularly plentiful, and as such, more often than not he would receive playful attention from the mares around him. Yet today, something seemed especially off. Mares giggled and gestured at him a lot more than usual. Even fillies giggled, and the colts' looks were more confusion than jealousy. One even stopped short and squinted with his head tilted before he was pulled forward by his friends. Strange. This pattern continued until two twin ponies walked up. Aloe and Lotus, the spa ponies, approached, giggling madly behind their hooves. He raised an eyebrow, but for some reason, that just set them off even further. Finally, one managed to speak. “That is quite the look for you, Mr. Macintosh,” Aloe giggled. Mac cocked his head. “It is always nice to see a stallion in touch with his more… feminine side,” Lotus added with a giggle of her own. Mac cocked his head. “Oh, you know…” Aloe gestured to her mane. Mac frowned. He squinted, but didn't see anything in her mane. Oh. His mane. He glanced over and caught the eye of a pony who was selling pots and pans. He grabbed one from off the table and lifted it like a mirror so he could see himself. His jaw dropped. Nova's ribbon was woven into his mane, which had been curled and topped off with a dainty little bob at the end. “Nova!” * * * Inside Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie's ears pricked up at the sound of the bell over the door ringing. She turned around, wiping her hooves off on her apron. She brightened as she saw Macintosh. Her smile turned confused as he neared; he wasn’t so much walking as stomping, and he certainly looked perturbed about something. “Hey, Big Mac,” she said. “You ok?” “Nope.” “What's up?” In response, he raised a hoof and pointed at his mane. Pinkie’s eyes slowly followed his hoof up, and her eyes widened. She gigglesnorted and hid her mouth behind a hoof. “That's a good look for you!” Mac stomped. It wasn't funny! “It's a little bit funny,” Pinkie protested. Mac shook his head. “Fine,” Pinkie sighed. “So how’d you do your new do?” Mac snorted. “Nova,” he growled. Pinkie tapped her hooves together, thinking quickly. “Oh, I think I get it. Your girlfriend played a prank on you, and now you’re here because you want to get back at her?” “Eeyup.” Mac nodded firmly. There weren’t many ponies that could understand his silence, so he was certainly glad that Pinkie could. Having her on his side was always an advantage, and he really wanted an advantage right now. He wasn't even going to question how Pinkie knew her name when he himself had just found out last night. Pinkie tapped her chin. “Now that you mention it, I recently came into possession of a very interesting book…” Her smile turned devious. “What kind of prank did you have in mind?” * * * Nova frowned as she walked past yet another window. She lifted her sunglasses and peeked inside, but just like the last few times she’d checked, Macintosh wasn’t there. Strange. He should be here. She hadn’t seen him in the orchard. Or maybe he had been. No, he would have come out if he’d seen her. Her ears swiveled from side to side. Something was up, but she wasn't sure what. She looked up as she heard tapping on the window. There was Macintosh, waving at her to get her attention. Nova grinned. In his bedroom? Oh, how cheeky! She flew up and pushed the window open with a hoof. Macintosh took a step back, and Nova smirked as she stepped inside. “Nova! I’ve got a surprise for you.” Nova smiled and perched on the windowsill, kneading her hooves like a cat. She did like surprises. Most surprises, anyway. Her ears dipped slightly as she realized that Macintosh was all alone in the room. No surprises were visible. Unless… “It’s in the barn,” Mac explained, pointing the way. Nova’s ears perked up. Much better. Last time she’d been there, there had been cider. Mac headed for the door, but paused to look over his shoulder. “Race you there?” he offered. Nova smirked and spread her wings. She stood up and let herself tip over backwards out the window, only to catch herself easily and begin gliding towards the barn. She looked back long enough to wink at him, and then she flew off. She quickly found the barn door. Her eyes brightened as she saw a drawing of her cutie mark taped to the outside. Clearly, this was where he meant to bring her. She looked back and saw Macintosh, running to catch up but still so far behind. She giggled and pushed her way inside… And was promptly met with a banana cream pie to the face. She stood there, stock still, as frosting slowly trickled down her cheeks and fell off onto the ground under its own weight. Macintosh caught up, panting from his quick run. He looked over at her and grinned. Gotcha. She turned and stared at him, her expression frozen still expressing mild surprise. For a horrifying moment, Macintosh wondered if he had gone too far. What if he had scared her off? And then a smile slowly spread across her face, and she met his eyes as she slowly dragged her tongue across the front of her teeth. And that was when Macintosh realized that it had not driven her away at all. Oh, no. Instead, his little prank had had quite the opposite effect. No sooner had he processed this than Nova tackled him into a hub. But it was not just a hug; she rubbed her face everywhere she could reach, rubbing the frosting into his fur. Macintosh couldn’t help but chuckle as he made a half-hearted attempt to hold her off. That was an appropriate response to a prank, he supposed. She slowed down, and frowned. She batted at one of his hooves and stuck out her lower lip. Apparently, she wanted to actually wrestle. Now, Macintosh was not ignorant of his situation. He was a big stallion, and had voluntarily recused himself from some of the more physical activities at Apple Family Reunions for fear of hurting others. But if she really wanted to play, then maybe he’d- Mac yipped. She’d bitten him! Lightly, of course; but it had definitely been a bite there on the inside of his hind leg. And her little fangs were sharp! She looked back up at him and smirked. Now convinced that Nova wanted to play a little bit rough, Macintosh flipped her and held her down with his own body weight. At least, he tried to; but Nova squirmed out of his grasp. Macintosh gasped as she somehow reversed his hold and squeezed out. The next thing he knew, he was still on the ground, but she was on her hooves in front of him. She gave him a little head nod, and then nudged him gently with a forehoof. Now convinced that she wanted to play rough, and also that he wasn’t going to hurt her, Mac grinned and stood up as well. He reared up and threw a fake kick or two, and Nova’s mouth split in a wide grin as she lifted up and returned the gesture. And then she bopped him lightly on the head with a wing and took off running. Macintosh grinned and chased after her. Now in the daylight with no opportunity for shadow travel, it was just her and her natural abilities. She was quick, and oftentimes Macintosh would catch up, only to have her dart around. Sometimes he'd actually bump into her, but she gave just as good as she took, and Macintosh was knocked back on his hooves more than once. She may have been little, but she packed plenty of power in her little frame. Eventually, she slowed to a stop. She looked down at both of their bodies, their fur now covered in frosting. She jerked her head back towards the barn. Want to go get cleaned up? Macintosh nodded and turned towards where he knew the stream laid, gesturing with a head nod that she should follow. He couldn’t keep a smile off his face. He hadn’t had that much fun in a long time; most ponies had foregone trying to wrestle him after he’d hit his second growth spurt. And then she leaned in and licked the frosting off of his cheek. Macintosh blushed bright red. Oh. So that’s what she’d meant. Nova turned around and flicked her tail in his face, and then slowly sauntered back into the barn, her tail swishing, clearly expecting him to follow. Macintosh stared for a few seconds before cantering after her. And all in all, it was a good day.