Starry Skies over the Apple Orchard

by anotheraccount

Chapter 9

Starry Skies over the Apple Orchard

Chapter 9

"Iced tea?” asked Luna as she eyed the pitcher. “I have never quite understood this. Why would one drink tea that has gotten cold?”

“Just try it and tell me what you think,” said Big Macintosh with a knowing grin. “If you don’t like it, I’ll make you something else to drink.”

Luna looked down at the glass that she was levitating in front of her. She shrugged and took a sip. The moment the iced tea hit her tongue, her eyes opened widely. She blinked, swallowed the tea, and then took a much larger sip. In just a few moments, Luna had emptied her glass.

“More?” asked Big Macintosh as he picked up the pitcher.

“Please,” said Luna as she held her glass out for Big Macintosh. “This was not what I was expecting. The tea is stronger, and is only semi-sweet. ‘Tis very pleasing on a warm day like today.” Luna leaned back in the porch swing that she and Big Macintosh were sharing on the front porch of the farmhouse. As she looked out at the farm, she saw a pegasus’s shadow approach the porch. It grew larger, and when it was roughly pony-sized, it met up with its owner as she landed on the ground.

“Hey guys, how’s it goin’? Mind if I join you for a moment?” asked Rainbow Dash as she walked up onto the porch.

“Iced tea?” asked Big Macintosh.

“Ooh, yeah, thank you,” said Rainbow Dash. She looked over at Luna. “Have we met? You look familiar…”

Luna thought a moment before answering. “Were you in the park yesterday afternoon? Big Mac and I spent quite some time there enjoying a game with some other ponies.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. I flew by the park a few times yesterday. I’m Rainbow Dash, by the way.”

"Call me Starry Skies," said Luna.

Big Macintosh placed the pitcher of iced tea onto the table and gave Rainbow Dash a glass. “What brings you here today?”

Rainbow Dash grinned and sipped her tea. “Oh, I’m just getting a good seat for the show.”

“Show?” asked Luna. “What type of…”

“Shh!” said Dash as she quickly covered Luna’s mouth. She leaned closer to Luna and whispered, “Just watch.”

Luna nodded and looked back out at the farm. She noticed some movement behind one of the larger bushes in the yard. She started to lean forward to see what it was when she heard hoofsteps on the porch.

“Good afternoon, y’all,” said Applejack as she approached. “Oh, good...I could use some iced tea,” she said when she saw the pitcher. She sat down beside Rainbow Dash, and when she received the glass that was passed down the row, she took a large gulp.

As Applejack started to take another large gulp of tea, a pegasus flying band flew overhead and started playing an upbeat song. Immediately after the music started, a line of stallions danced out into the yard. Applejack started to cough and then sprayed the lawn with her mouthful of tea. “What the hay?”

“Oh, my,” said Luna as she leaned forward. “What is the name of this dance?”

“Most ponies call it the Can-Can dance,” said Big Macintosh as he focused on slowly pouring a glass of tea.

More and more stallions danced out of the bush, and once the last stallion emerged, the large line split up into three smaller lines to form rows in front of the porch.

Rainbow Dash shook with silent laughter, covering her mouth with a hoof. She noticed another pegasus flying towards the porch and she stopped laughing. “Uh oh,” she said as her eyes grew wide.

“Zephyr Breeze!” yelled Fluttershy as she landed on the ground near the stallions.

The stallions stopped dancing, and the music stopped as the pegasus flying band quickly retreated to a cloud on the other side of Ponyville.

Zephyr Breeze looked around, but with the other stallions moving away there was no place to hide. He looked back at the porch and gave Rainbow Dash a pleading look.

Luna watched as Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and then jumped from the porch to fly over towards Fluttershy. She couldn’t hear what was being quietly whispered, but she could see Rainbow Dash point a hoof at Zephyr Breeze and then pointed around at the other stallions. Interesting, Luna thought as she watched Fluttershy’s expression change from angry to confused.

“You!” Fluttershy said in a medium-loud voice as she pointed at Zephyr Breeze, “Go home!”

Zephyr Breeze nodded his head rapidly and then quickly flew away from the farm. After Fluttershy turned her gaze upon them, the other stallions immediately turned and ran towards the exit gate, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust.

Applejack took another glass of iced tea and went inside the farmhouse.

Luna sighed. “‘Tis a pity; we were enjoying the dance number.”

Big Macintosh coughed, and then looked over at Luna. “I, uh, need to run into town for a moment to stop by the library. Would you like to come along?”

*-*-*-*

When they left the farm, Luna and Big Macintosh were walking side by side, but with a few feet of air between them. Without realizing it, with each step that they took, they walked closer and closer to each other until they were nearly shoulder to shoulder when they arrived in Ponyville. As they walked through town, Luna took the opportunity to look around at the various shops along the road. One shop’s display caught her eye.

Carousel Boutique was having a sale on accessories. Hats, scarves, and many other items were displayed in the window. Luna looked closer and saw some dark kerchiefs in the corner of the window. She slowed down as she gazed at the window, and then stopped for a moment. Big Macintosh stopped and looked to see what had caught Luna’s eye.

“If thou wouldst wait here for a moment, we would like to see what prices have been reduced.” Luna quickly trotted into the store, and returned with her purchase before Big Mac finished nodding. Luna levitated her paper bag in the air, and then suddenly it vanished with a small popping sound.

Luna returned to Big Macintosh’s side and they continued walking down the road until they arrived at the doors to the library. Big Macintosh looked at Luna with a nervous grin. “Uh, would you mind waiting out here for a few minutes?” Big Macintosh coughed and cleared his throat. “I, uh, won’t be too long.” He smiled and quickly went into the library.

Luna stood outside of the library, and after a few minutes Big Macintosh returned with a medium-sized box balanced on his back. “All set,” he said.

*-*-*-*

The sun was starting to approach the horizon when Luna and Big Macintosh returned to the farm. When they were halfway between the farm’s entrance and the farmhouse, Big Macintosh looked over at Luna. “If you’ll go on ahead, I’ll meet you at the barn. I, uh, need to take care of something first.”

Luna nodded and continued walking towards the barn, and after a few moments was joined by Big Mac. That didn’t take very long, thought Luna. I could have waited...but mayhap he has a surprise in mind. He is no longer carrying the box from the library.

Big Macintosh looked at the sun as it began to set, and then looked back at Luna. The way the light of the sunset lighting up her smile was...alluring. “Would you like to see the farm?”

Luna smiled, knowing that something had been planned. She walked with Big Macintosh until they were out of sight of the farmhouse. Big Mac slowed to a halt, and then kneeled down onto the ground. Smiling up at Luna, he said, “If you would like...I could carry you on the tour…”

Luna pranced in place. What is that noise going “eeeee” she thought? Immediately stopping her prancing, she covered her mouth with a hoof. Oh...that was me. She cleared her throat and then quickly walked over to Big Mac to accept his offer, happy that he was honoring her request from earlier this morning.

*-*-*-*

The weather was pleasant, the temperature was only slightly chilled, and Luna was thoroughly enjoying herself as Big Macintosh carried her into the orchard. It was...magical. It was...musical? Luna blinked as she heard faint musical notes slowly get louder around them. She saw Big Macintosh look around with a puzzled expression. She then felt him shrug and take a deep breath...and then he began singing.

[Mac]
I will show you the farm;
take you orchard by orchard.
Tell me Starry, now when did
you last let your stomach guide?

I could bake you a pie;
or maybe your own dumpling.
There’s nothing quite like touring,
On a Big Macintosh ride!

An Apple Farm!
It may be rustic, but that’s it’s charm.
I’ll show you everything.
You ride; I’ll sing.
Let me show this Apple Farm to you!

[Luna]
An Apple Farm!
A big surprise out of the blue!
And right from the start,
The Crystal Heart,
Could not compare with this great tour with you!

[Luna]
Many contented sighs;
Heart...it quickly is beating!
What is this that I’m feeling,
As my mouth is smiling wide!

[Luna & (Mac)]
An Apple Farm!
(Careful you do not fall off)
Emotional awakening!
(Hey, I mean it - you’re slipping)
I’m feeling it once more,
My heart doth soar,
Whoa, hey wait a moment, I don’t have wings!

Luna safely landed on her hooves. After a quick shufflling of her hooves to get her balance, she stood up with a sheepish grin. She watched as Big Macintosh walked towards a row of trees and lifted a branch to reveal that a picnic had been set up behind the row of trees. There was a basket sitting upon a large blanket, candles, apple juice chilling in a bucket of ice, some books near the edge of the blanket, and a wind-up record player sitting next to the books. Luna’s eyes opened wide and her mouth opened for a moment. “Oh, wow,” she said quietly. She blinked twice before she smiled and walked over to the blanket. She sat down by the picnic basket, and then Big Macintosh sat down beside her.

“I thought you might enjoy an evening supper with a view of the night sky. I sometimes come here to think because it’s out of the way and has a nice view.”

Luna looked around and saw that the picnic site was in an open area on the side of a gentle slope. Apple trees on the side of the hill framed a wide view of the night sky. Hearing rustling beside her she looked back to their picnic and saw that Big Macintosh had opened the basket and was placing its contents onto the blanket in front of them. Pie, dumplings, salad, and many other tasty dishes were arranged on the blanket. Big Macintosh then lit the candles and reached over to the record player. He slowly turned the crank and then moved the needle onto the record.

A gentle, soothing sound met Luna’s ears. The piano music resonated with Luna, and had an almost magical feeling to it. “This music is lovely,” Luna said as she looked at Big Macintosh. “What is it called?”

“This is Neightoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’,” Big Macintosh said as she reached for one of the books and placed it in front of Luna. “I asked Twilight for some suggestions for an evening picnic and she recommended this song.” Big Mac flipped the pages of the book until he found the page he was looking for. “She said that Neightoven wrote this as he was enjoying an evening under the stars. It’s a pretty nice song and…” Big Mac noticed a drop of water had fallen onto the page of the book. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was still clear, then looked over at Luna. “Oh! Starry, are you ok? I haven’t said anything wrong have I?” A small wet trail on her cheek reflected the candle light.

Luna wiped her cheek and sniffed. “Nay, you have done nothing wrong.” She leaned over and against Big Macintosh. “We are happy,” she said and sniffed. Luna felt Big Macintosh lift his front leg and move it behind her, but then it kept alternating between starting to move towards her and then quickly moving away. Luna lit her horn and pulled Big Macintosh’s front leg down and across her back to complete the hug. She looked up and saw a surprised expression fading from Big Macintosh’s face. “Tell us more.”

Big Macintosh nodded and told Luna about the various artwork, music, and stories that were inspired by the evening or night. The books that he borrowed from Twilight had many examples for the two of them to look at, and they only stopped when Big Macintosh’s stomach loudly growled.

Luna carefully placed a bookmark into the book, closed it, and set it on top of the others near the record player. She then looked at the meal before them, and then her eyes lingered upon the large salad bowl. Grinning, she pushed their individual salad plates to the side and pulled the large salad bowl closer to them. She lit her horn and summoned her purchase from earlier that afternoon. With a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she looked at Big Macintosh. “Big Mac,” she said, “would you like to try on one of these?” She opened the bag and pulled out two sleep masks that were used for covering eyes at night.

Big Macintosh looked at the eye masks and scratched the side of his face for a moment until his eyes suddenly opened widely. He looked around, then looked back at the eye masks, and then grinned and nodded.

As they ate their dinner blindfolded, there may have been a couple times that their lips touched. Or perhaps a bit more than a couple times.

*-*-*-*

When they finished eating, Luna removed her eye mask, and then gently removed Big Macintosh’s. Big Macintosh reached over to the pile of books and pulled one over that they had not yet looked at. “Before we head back, I have one more thing that I think you might like. He showed Luna a storybook. When he saw her puzzled look, he explained what it contained. “These are stories inspired by the constellations. Some of these are ancient stories, and some are recent; many are from the times in between. Would you like to take turns reading some?”

Luna and Big Macintosh spent the next hour reading from the book and pointing out the related constellations. As Luna was finishing a long story, she heard a light snore coming from beside her. She looked over and saw that Big Macintosh had fallen asleep. Luna covered her mouth and quietly chuckled. Maybe I’ll just read one more story, and then wake him up so we can pack up and return to the farmhouse. She continued reading, and then rubbed her side. Stomach...so full... She put her head down upon the book. My eyes are a little dry...I’ll just close them for a quick moment and then finish reading this story…

Comments

[ROBCakeran53]

Screw the cliche, I'm gonna say it.

Holy shit it updated!

[CaioCoia]

Finally another great chapter, welcome back. XD

[wildredlifer]

Nice and Fluffy just the way I like these stories.

[Grailm]

Another update after so long and just great like always. Well, I'll just be over hearing waiting for the next one...for like a year.

[MoonlightEclipsed]

Dawwwwe, I now got my daily dose of fluffinezs

[fmriver]

This is such a nice story! I usually don't focus on shipping fics like this one but I'm glad to have taken the chance to read it.

[Wikey-Spikey]

Luna pranced in place. What is that noise going “eeeee” she thought? Immediately stopping her prancing, she covered her mouth with a hoof. Oh...that was me.

Luna, Sweetie... don't ever stop being so adorable.

[WeepingAngel2020]

Cant wait to see who wakes up first, or if he wakes up with Luna instead

[Yodasoda]

Hey man! Remember me I bumped into you at bronycon and you told me to read your work. I read the whole thing in one night! You should totally keep it up!!! I would love to see where this story goes!!!

[Yodasoda]

9763103
Awesome! I always love talking with a creator of there stories how often do you usually update?

[Yodasoda]

9763176
That's awesome I cannot wait it always makes my day when a writer puts out anther chapter in there story!

[Amos Anon]

Welp. I'm all caught up. Definitely putting this one on my 'following' list.