Spears of pink-purple sunset light lanced through the forest all around her, like a titanic but thankfully ephemeral jaggle-clawed beast pressing against the trees to claim its final prey before retreating to slumber. Carefully, with the exacting precision she took to most tasks, Marble Pie kept herself in the middle of the shadow of one of the larger trees. It being winter, the trees were devoid of foliage and her hoofprints in the snow betrayed her position, but the sunlight did not bend to intrude on her refuge. Marble had dug out a small patch of bare rock, here in the lee of the tree, and lay down upon it to think.
The forest scared her like nothing else. Rather than rock, it had soil: ground-up rock with things in it, icky things that sometimes moved on their own. But here and there toward the edge there were a few patches of good, solid rock, connecting her back to the farm, and through long exposure - starting with a childhood dare from Limestone, who she noted rarely went into the forest herself - Marble was able to handle being at the edge, just a little ways to gather firewood for the stove or ingredients for soup. Not that it did not frighten her any more, but it was a dull roar, something to drown out her troubles. It scared her just enough to clear her mind and allow her to think, making it a useful refuge when her emotions overwhelmed her.
Such as now. Merely thinking of that big red stallion made her heart flutter and her thoughts muddle. It felt like butterflies in her stomach, but in a good way. Even now, with the forest and all that was wrong with it putting her heart on edge, she could feel the heat of her blush in her cheeks, and could almost swear she could pick up his scent. It was hard to describe how he smelled, other than of easy power and of hard, honest work. He reminded Marble of Maud in that way. She looked up to Maud even more than to the rest of her family. She thought for a moment that the scent might not be just her imagination, but she focused her senses through the rock, and as usual no pony was treading on rock anywhere nearby.
Big Mac allowed himself a small sigh of relief upon reaching the nearest snow, a few pony lengths from the Pies' front door. He was far too polite to say anything, but this mostly-solid plateau of rock the Pies called a "rock farm" felt wrong to his hooves that had tread mostly dirt for years. Not that snow was any less dead than rock, but at least snow was supposed to be that way, and the snow here felt like the snow back home: cold and wet.
Off to one side he saw Maud leading Pinkie, Applejack, and Limestone toward what he had been told was the recently opened gem mine. For a moment it looked like Pinkie and Limestone were herding Applejack, but he quickly put such thoughts out of his mind. They were family, and even if they weren't, Pinkie would never betray Applejack. Some bonds were thicker than blood. If they were herding his sister, he was certain it was at worst to some harmless prank.
In any case, that was not the direction to the forest. If trees were growing, then surely it would have proper, living soil, even in the dead of winter. His imagination had spontaneously suggested that maybe the trees were rock, too: fake creations set up to disguise the extent of the rock farm. While his mind dismissed such notions out of hand, verifying the reality of the trees was an excuse to get off rock and onto soil for a little while. He had of course let Granny Smith and Apple Bloom know where he was going, and promised to be back within the hour.
As he neared the forest he spied a second set of tracks. He did a quick mental census: he had just seen two Apples and the elder two Pies at the house, while four more had headed off to the gem mine. That only left Marble's whereabouts unknown, and the tracks did seem about her size. Indeed, when he poked his head around the tree the tracks lead to, there she was. He allowed himself a small but triumphant, "Eeeyup."
Marble's heart raced as she clung to the tree branch like a cat finding itself dangled above a river, her whole body shaking with fright. Nervously she looked down, and immediately saw her foolishness: she had been surrounded by snow, so of course anypony walking up on her would not be walking on rock. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, she willed her hindlegs to unwrap from around the branch, leaving her free to swing by her forelegs. Letting go immediately would have sent her tumbling onto her back, so she let the bulk of her body swing through about three-eights of a circle, where it slowed then began swinging back forward. Momentum corrected, she fully let go of the branch and dropped onto all four hooves - still trembling a bit, and not from the cold. She rounded on the pony who had dared sneak up on her, a rock-searing tirade welling up in her lungs...
...only to die on her lips when she gazed into his kind, round eyes. Anger and rage leaked out like air from a punctured balloon, leaving just enough to demand some sort of correction. She waved her hoof and managed a firm, "Mm-mm!" Marble even tried to scowl, to at least frown, but her forehead would not cooperate.
He had startled her. Her impressive leap had made that clear, though getting to watch her athletic dismount from the tree had almost made it worth scaring her...almost. He put one hoof behind his head, grinned, and backed away slightly. Big Mac knew he was big enough to sometimes loom without meaning to, which was useful in some situations but not so much here.
That said, he had been meaning to take a walk and now there was enjoyable company to walk with. He gestured deeper into the forest and awaited her response - only to immediately wonder what he would do if she said no. This certainly looked like a thinking spot...except, she was standing on that rock. Well, perhaps that was what she was used to, so it comforted her; he would just stand on the snow. With Marble right there next to him, the snow did not feel cold or uncomfortable - just a fluffy, crunchy blanket over the ground.
The possibility of going on as planned, alone into the forest, suggested itself but was immediately hammered down. Marble was here. Beauty, grace, and to hear her sisters talk a pony who knew her place in Equestria, just like Big Mac. Why would he want to leave when he could stay with her? Unless she asked him to leave, a possibility that gnawed on his heart as the moments crept by awaiting her decision.
He wanted. To go. INTO the forest?
And he wanted her to go with him?!?
A lunatic. She had fallen for an utter, complete, raving lunatic.
But she had fallen for him, there was no denying that. Her heart sang at his invitation. There could only be one possible answer.
Even if it meant going deeper into that place with icky crawling living soil well there was snow over most of it so it wouldn't be too bad but still there were THINGS in the forest most of them asleep at this time of year but that was not the POINT and...
She stomped the ground to snap herself out of it. He wanted to walk with her, they would walk. "Mm-hmm!"
Stomping was not usually a part of affirmation, but Big Mac heard her undeniably affirmative reply. Maybe it was to emphasize...?
Regardless, she wanted to go with him. Dread and doubt vanished, like shadows caught in a searchlight. With her by his side, nothing could possibly go wro-
Sudden movement above her attracted his eye. The snow on the tree limbs was shifting. With barely a moment to think, he grabbed her and snatched her away just before a large pile of snow fell where she had been.
He was holding her and they were so close and oh the snowfall he had saved her from that but now he was still holding her and they were nose to nose and her heart was beating a million times a minute well maybe a thousand more than one a second she was just focusing on that to distract from how close he was and his forelegs cradling her upside down in front of him like a foal or maybe a kitten in his vast strong grip would it be too silly if she purred yes it would be too silly and he was PUCKERING...!!!
She was here. This close. Her scent filled his nostrils and his mind raced with images and possibilities and worries and reassurances and...
He focused. He was holding her. He needed to make sure she was okay, He had apparently gotten her free from the snowfall, but she just kept staring at him, blushing feverishly.
Did he dare give her a kiss, to reassure? Yes - no - yes - JUST DO IT, he ordered himself. On the forehead...no, she was no mere foal, that would be condescending. On the cheek...no, no, no, his heart insisted it be on the lips. He might not have been as famous for it as his sister, but he valued honesty, and he could either risk this or be certain to kick himself later.
And so he touched his lips to hers.
Bliss.
Pure, endless bliss.
Her body felt alive like never before, as she blotted out the world and focused all her senses on him.
Sweet Celestia, in this life or any other, surely this was her reward for being a good pony. This moment, right now.
This moment, right now. All his trouble and toil, over all his years...winding up being with her like this made it all worthwhile.
Distantly he wondered if he really was related to her. But if so it was a distant relationship, far enough apart that it would violate none of the laws about this sort of thing. He knew enough genetics to know that the scientific basis for those laws - discovered long after the laws had been written: one did not need to know much biology to see the results of inbreeding - did not apply, since he and Marble were probably only about as genetically similar as any two earth ponies. More important was whether their families would accept this, but he had a suspicion they would. He hoped they would.
His lungs began to burn slightly, reminding him that he needed to breathe. Gratefully he did, getting a lungful of air tinged with her scent, and held it as if to hold a little piece of her within his chest right next to her heart.
She exhaled slowly, rapture making her feel like that one time Limestone had left some cider on the roof for a week, sneaking it up and back past their parents and Maud, and they had shared the result just to see what getting drunk was like.
Drunk, was that the right word for it? Then, she mused, pour her another cup of-
That was when the rest of the snow fell, breaking contact.
Immediately she knew what had happened: the snow pushed her out of his grip, or maybe pushed him back. It had mostly fallen on him, leaving her head free, but that was one giant snow pile in front of her and she knew about avalanche victims and how they could be trapped under sudden snowfalls with limited air so she scrambled upright and began furiously digging into the pile...
...oh. It had only been half a foot of snow. She had forgotten for a moment how big Big Mac was.
Still, it was big enough that she planted three hooves against the ground and offered a fourth for Big Mac to hook himself to and pull himself out from under the snow.
Big Mac was big and strong, but the Pies knew rocks. Marble dug through the snow to the rock beneath and latched herself just so, so that even his powerful pull could not yank her off her hooves. Instead, it pulled him free of the snow and into her; she was braced against being pulled forward but had nothing to prevent being knocked over backward. And so she tumbled with him, ending up atop his massive frame. Once they had stopped and her body was certain she was right side up, she looked down and saw Big Mac slightly dazed, so she pecked him: just the tiniest little sip from the well of infinite euphoria.
That had been unexpected, but he had survived worse bumps.
Focusing on the angelic mare above him to clear his head - and because she was very pleasant to look at - he collected his wits, then slowly backed out from under her and got to his hooves. Casing a wary glance upward, he saw no further snow in immediate danger of collapse, but decided it would be safest not to stick around.
He kept an eye on Marble as he set off into the forest, but saw her only hesitate briefly before trotting along at his side. He noticed she kept to the snow for some reason, while he sought out open soil where he could, but that was alright so long as they were side by side. Keeping to the edges of the patches was enough of a navigational exercise to occupy the part of his mind not simply enjoying the surroundings and the companionship.
So they were doing it. Walking into...that. The living forest.
The place with creatures and beasts and where ponies died okay that was more Everfree and this was a fairly tame stand of woods but still this was something she should think about before doing so why were her legs moving of their own accord and oh come on her mind had just completely lost control her heart was running her body okay that was just an excuse she knew she was going to wind up walking alongside the handsome hunk of muscle and heart and not the muscle kind of heart and it really did not matter because she was here with him and rainbows could be covering the sky and they would not be as amazing as what was right here.
Right here, next to her.
Only afterward, reflecting on the walk, did she realize he had navigated so that she did not have to step on the soil once. But for him, she could even do that next time. After all, it was thanks to her that they made it back home after getting lost; he needed her if he was to go in there again.
Slightly over an hour after they had entered the forest, Big Mac and Marble Pie finally emerged from the treeline somewhat winded, with tails twisted gently around one another and a few twigs sticking out of their manes. Sunset had given way to a half moon, which graced the quiet rock farm with serenity and barely enough light to see by, but the two ponies were visible enough, the only moving things on the landscape.
Or nearly so. Maud and Applejack were returning from the train station, where they had secured the baskets of gems in the Pies' private locker to await the train on which the Apples would depart. Maud squinted in the low light, contemplated, and finally noted, "Maybe it's just me, but I think your brother and my sister might have a mutual crush."
Applejack could not help but giggle. "Eeeyup!"