The Best Little Secrets Are Kept
"Ah'm just sayin', we've been sneakin' around like a couple of foals..."
Matt looked at Applejack as she made a tell-tale half-frown, scrunching up her face as she carefully chose her words. He'd been around her long enough already that he knew this meant she was building up to something important.
Most other people - or ponies - might have been evasive if he'd asked them where they saw their relationship going. Perhaps they'd have fobbed him off with a non-committal answer, or even flat out lied. But not Applejack. Not the Element of Honesty. Not the most wonderfully unaffected person - or pony - Matt had ever met. No. He'd asked her a question, and just like every other time, she was giving him a straight answer.
"...And for a couple weeks now, at that. Hidin' from Granny and mah brother, pretendin' to Apple Bloom that we're just good friends, pretendin' to Twilight that ah don't know what she done, or tried to do."
Matt knew better than to interrupt her until she'd gotten whatever it was off her chest. Plus, she was even more adorable when she was thinking hard about something.
"Now... Ah ain't implyin' there weren't a lot of fun in the process this far. So, please don't you go thinkin' I regret any of it."
She suddenly cuddled up closer to Matt, startling him as her muzzle pressed against the side of his face. He felt her smirk as she rested on his cheek, whispering breathily in his ear.
"Any of it, you hear?"
He knew full well what she was talking about.
Damn, she was something else, he thought. Even talking in private to her human coltfriend, out here in the north orchard after a hard day's applebucking, sitting together under a tree in the evening light, all the chores done, the rest of the Apple family back home at the farmhouse after a long hard day's work, nopony else for literally miles around, she still wouldn't talk directly about them sleeping together.
She didn't need to. Sure, as far as AJ was concerned, it was something between them and only them; he could have guessed that, just from her upbringing. But he felt the same way too, like he and she were just somehow on the same wavelength and had no need to discuss it. They both knew what they'd done, they both remembered every intimate detail, and now it hung in the air every time they saw each other, unspoken, but always there.
An elephant in the room. A big, sexy elephant. Wait, are there elephants here? Do they talk? That would be weird. Focus, Matt. The point was, they'd taken their relationship to another level, and then just sort of... left it there.
But that incredible night had been two weeks ago, and this was pretty much the first time they'd been free to take a walk together since then, never mind cuddling under a tree at sunset. It had been worth the wait - how could it not be, holding Applejack tightly like this, as they watched the sun and moon change places, and admired the princesses' perfect handiwork?
It had been just about the best fortnight of Matt's life, worries and questions aside. That said, he'd had a lot of worries and questions, and not without reason.
Applebuck season was the busiest time of year on the farm, and so Sweet Apple Acres needed all hooves - and hands - at work, all day, every day. They harvested apples from dawn until dusk, Applejack studying the trees and picking out the ripest fruit, she and Big Macintosh kicking the apples off the trees, Matt and Apple Bloom picking them up in baskets, Matt hoisting the baskets onto the cart, Granny Smith grading and sorting the apples back at the barn. Each of them knew their roles, and each of them worked until they physically couldn't work any more.
Matt was a hard worker, and in a world where just having hands and walking upright gave him a valuable skill, he'd quickly become a key part of their team. He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel just a little flash of pride when he found he could match the ponies for speed, when they commended him on his work, or expressed admiration at how useful he was making himself.
Granny Smith had called him a natural farmpony, which had made Applejack laugh as she reminded her grandmother that Matt wasn't technically a pony at all.
"Well, he might as well be, far as I care," Granny had said. "Reckon he's as fine a farmpony as any was born with four hooves".
"Eeyup," agreed Big Mac as he passed.
These were born farmers, and Matt knew that was as high a compliment as they could possibly pay; he was genuinely moved, and when AJ's hoof squeezed his hand while Granny turned to fuss over the stove, he knew his marefriend was similarly full of pride.
When he'd originally taken the job, one of the attractions - even before he understood why - had been the chance to spend the day with Applejack, and sure enough it was amazing seeing so much of her, she was so beautiful and so graceful and...
Focus, Matt. Focus.
...But seeing her every day was a double-edged sword. He didn't have to miss her while he was at work, he didn't have to daydream about what she might be doing, he could always look over and see her, fanning herself with her hat, smiling with quiet pride at a job well done, shaking the sweat from her mane, giving him a sultry look when nobody else was around, flexing as she charged at a tree and bucked her thighs and...
Focus!
...Yeah, all of that stuff.
But.
Seeing her so much also served to remind him that moments alone together were few and far between. Since the night of the dance, when he'd finally confessed his feelings to her, and the unforgettable next day, when they'd first kissed and then later spent their first night together, they'd hardly had ten minutes' peace before her family or their friends would interrupt them.
At the end of each day, Matt would retire to the farmhouse to wash up and have dinner with the family. The first couple of days, he'd thought he was doing the polite thing by trying to leave, mumbling about getting back to Twilight and not wanting to impose and blah blah blah, until AJ took him aside during a quiet moment. In her adorable way, blunt but tactful, she'd softly explained that hospitality was one of the most important things an earth pony, and especially a farmer, could offer a friend. For an "outsider" to be invited to dinner was also an invitation for them to cement their friendship, and by refusing he risked giving the impression he didn't value that friendship. Since then, every day, the Apples had trooped back to the farmhouse together, and Matt had washed up, put on a clean shirt, and sat down at the table to say grace and eat with the Apples; now, it was part of his routine.
The food was always delicious, once they'd straightened out some misunderstandings about what kinds of flowers humans could actually eat, and Matt was always polite and courteous. He'd been a little scared the first time, but he'd quickly caught on that the Apples weren't the kinds of ponies to stand on ceremony or fuss over using the right forks or whatever. He was grateful he didn't have to mind his table manners too much besides the obvious: showing respect to Granny, paying attention to what everyone said, trying hard not to burp or get leaves stuck in his human teeth or do anything else to embarrass Applejack.
If he felt a little like a nervous teenager sweating through dinner with his prom date's parents back on Earth, it was no great hardship, and not just because she was always there to make it all worthwhile, with her lovely green eyes and occasional private smirk whenever one of Granny's anecdotes would meander off course. Sure, AJ was a pretty big reason, but not the only one. No, there was more to it than that.
Truth be told, Matt was enjoying hanging out with the Apples like this, Applejack or not. He'd moved away from his parents back in Los Angeles a few years back to start a new life on the other side of the country. Sure enough, he'd made his own way, convincing himself he was an independent modern guy, a brash and confident New Yorker going places. He'd never realised how much he missed family life - and his parents - until these farmers had, effectively, adopted him as one of their own. They never really talked about it, but being separated from his family back on Earth, Matt was grateful to have the Apples in his life, and he got the feeling it was mutual.
All of which made it especially hard keeping a huge, earth-shattering secret from them.
One time, Apple Bloom had blurted out that Matt was "like part of the family", which made AJ choke on her water for a moment. But it was true, really; the Apples had given him a job, trusted him with their most important chores, treated him like a true Apple. If he and Applejack didn't figure their relationship out soon, it would only make it even more awkward when they eventually broke the news: AJ and her adopted human cousin, the human they'd taken in and treated like a son, were actually in love. How would they react?
Matt had gotten it into his head that he should imagine he were dating a girl from a deeply conservative Southern family back home, and so he should act accordingly around the Apples. So far, that instinct had proved correct. Granny Smith liked him, he was pretty sure of that; but Granny was also ultra-protective of Applejack, and naturally suspicious of any stallion - or human - who seemed to be getting too close. Understandable enough, he thought; while he didn't know what had happened to Applejack's parents (and AJ herself had clammed up the first and last time he'd broached the subject with her), he knew they weren't around any more, and so Granny effectively saw AJ as her daughter, somepony to be protected at all costs.
So, to that end, and because Applejack would sooner fall into a manticore pit than appear ungrateful or disrespectful to Granny Smith, they kept up this ridiculous charade. Every day, when they'd trudge back to the farmhouse, dirty and tired, Matt was always chaperoned off to one side to wash up with Big Mac while the ladies went off to change for dinner. Every night, when dinner was over and the dishes were cleaned and stowed, Matt knew without being asked that it was time for him to go home. Every night, he would say goodbye on the porch; every night, Granny Smith kept a watchful eye, and Matt would have to say goodnight to the whole clan, taking care he didn't pay Applejack an excessive amount of attention and affection compared to the others.
He'd spent too long giving AJ a slightly too intimate "best friends" goodbye cuddle one night, and to save face, he'd had to hug a thoroughly startled Big Mac with equal feigned enthusiasm, as Granny watched on in confusion.
"That's, uh, how humans... express... real friendship to one another", Applejack had said, somewhat unconvincingly.
"...Uh-huh", came the unconvinced reply.
For a Southern girl, Matt thought, AJ would make a pretty terrible poker player. But Granny had said nothing, and when Matt lined up rather reluctantly to give her the same inappropriately close embrace, she'd instead held him off with a polite raised hoof and a sly smile.
"He's a nice young feller," he'd heard Granny say to Applejack, as he walked off down the path away from the farm. He didn't hear a reply, but he could picture AJ's blushing face.
And so Matt would head back home, alone. Twilight Sparkle had gotten used to him coming home late, and Spike no longer bothered to make any food for him to find cold and uneaten on the kitchen counter. Although Twilight knew he loved Applejack, she didn't know the ins and outs -
- phrasing! -
- of their relationship, and moreover she didn't ask. That suited Matt just fine.
One of the reasons the past couple of weeks had been so weird was that things were still largely unresolved between Twilight and himself. When he first arrived in Equestria, Princess Celestia had billeted him with Twilight at the library, and he'd let Twilight treat him as a case study in return for room and board. He liked her a lot - she was cute, and smart, and sweet, and also kind of a massive dork. In short, she reminded him a lot of... well, himself, but also of female friends he'd had back on Earth; he could totally imagine her Earth counterpart as part absent-minded science geek, part avid gamer. Her support had been invaluable in the first terrifying weeks as he adapted to life on a new planet, adjusted to the loss of everyone he'd ever known; she'd been a constant source of reassurance, a fixed point letting him know he had a place in this strange new world. Not counting that one time she locked him out for telling her parents they were dating.
They'd settled into a pleasant routine as housemates, giving each other their space, teasing each other, sharing laughs, sharing cocoa, looking out for one another, just generally being comfortable around each other. As the weeks went by, he'd started to feel more and more at home, and Twilight was a big part of that. Matt had never had a sister, but he'd imagine it was probably something like this. He'd often reflected on how appropriate it was Celestia had assigned him to live under Twilight's supervision, as she was just the sort of girl he'd like to have as a good friend.
A good friend and nothing more, which was apparently where he and Twilight saw things rather, well, differently.
Things had come to a head after he revealed he had fallen for Applejack. First, she'd tried to kiss him, blurted out that she had feelings for him, taken rejection poorly, found solace in the hooves of none other than Big Mac, run away from Matt to Canterlot to "get over him", singularly failed to do so, and then finally - and this was a secret Matt was pretty sure he would take to the grave - she'd made him kiss her before she came back to Ponyville.
At which point she'd apparently decided, rather abruptly, that was that, and since then, she'd paid no further romantic attention to him. They'd taken their relationship to a weird and slightly icky place, and then just sort of... left it there.
Yeah, there was a lot of that going around, Matt thought to himself.
Things had calmed down a little since then, and although Matt was pretty sure they'd never discuss it in the open again, he got the sense that Twilight was really, really trying to repair their relationship as friends, to put things back to where they'd been before. He was up for that, if she was. If anypony could turn back time like that, surely it was Twilight Sparkle.
Matt thought back to the previous evening.
"Twilight?", he asked, as he unlocked the library door. She'd given him a key after he'd come home early one day and caught her and Big Mac hastily trying to cover their tracks. As part of their efforts to clear the air without actually clearing the air, they'd tacitly agreed not to bring anyone over without letting the other know first, so they could arrange to conveniently be elsewhere. Twilight had said she wanted Matt to feel like a housemate, not a guest, and it had genuinely moved him.
("This is your home now, and I need to respect that," she'd said. "You were good enough to take me and my friends in when we were stranded in your world. I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't let you make a home for yourself here in this world." Bless her, he thought, she really was trying.)
Matt peered around the door, and called out to Twilight again. There was no reply, and the library was dark, but the door to Twilight's study was ajar and light flickered from within. He listened out for a moment to make sure she wasn't, um, entertaining, but all he could hear was the scratching of a quill pen and Spike's loud, rhythmic snoring.
He knocked on her study door, not wanting to startle her. (One time, he'd walked in on her mid-essay, and she'd been so engrossed in whatever she was writing, she'd completely ignored him. She'd only noticed he was there when she'd magically floated her quill over to the inkwell and nearly poked him in the eye; when she saw him standing there, the resulting shriek had made them both jump, and caused a rather grumpy Spike to fall out of bed.)
"Hey, Twilight. Just wanted to let you know I'm home," he said quietly, as he stuck his head around the door. Twilight looked up and smiled.
"You look exhausted, Matt. They're working you pretty hard," she said.
"It's... different, for sure", he grinned, "but I'm turning out to be a pretty good farmpony. I'd never have guessed I'd enjoy farm work, and I ache like you wouldn't believe, but there's a lot to be said for working out in the open with the Apples all day."
"I'm sure," smirked Twilight. "And how is AJ, anyway?"
"She's fine," said Matt, ignoring the undertone. "You know how tough applebuck season is - she said you helped out last year?"
"They work so hard on the farm," she said, thoughtfully. "Applejack used to have a real problem with asking for help, but she's much better now. It won't be so bad this year, with Big Mac fit and healthy again -"
(Twilight apparently didn't hear Matt chortle quietly under his breath.)
"- and Apple Bloom helping out more... and you, of course. I can tell you're working just as hard - you've lost a lot of weight."
"Thanks... I guess?", said Matt with a smile.
"Not that you were fat before!", she stammered, a little too quickly. "Although of course my observations of other humans back in your version of Manehattan were very limited. But it's done you good, I think."
"Twilight..." said Matt, with a slight warning tone.
"No, no, I don't mean it like that," she said, rolling her eyes, as if the events in Canterlot had never happened, as if the very notion of her being attracted to Matt was ridiculous. "I mean, from a physiological point of view. Humans seem to benefit from the kind of environment Ponyville provides - fresh air, no pollution, walking everywhere, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables - and with you working on the farm too, I think it's good for you. It's good for everypony. It's one of the reasons I stayed here after moving from Canterlot - that, and my friends," she said.
She looked at Matt with a smile as she said that last part. "I'm glad you're my friend, Matt," said Twilight, quietly.
Matt leaned down and gave her a hug; she didn't resist. "What's this for?", she asked.
"I'm glad you're my friend too, Twilight Sparkle," he said, as they broke the hug. She gave him an adorable, beaming smile, and he smiled back.
Twilight quickly shook her head, as though coming out of a trance, and turned back to her parchment. "I really should get this finished," she said. She was trying her best to pretend she didn't want to go back to her research, to bury herself in the seven or eight books she'd piled around her, but Matt understood her well enough by now not to be offended.
"Of course," he said. "I'd best be getting to bed, anyway. I'm glad I got to see you first." (She smiled again.) "If I'm already gone in the morning when you wake up, have a good day, and tell Spike I said hi," he said.
"Will do," said Twilight, already riffling the pages of a particularly heavy book with her magic. "Goodnight, Matt."
It's funny, thought Matt, as he closed the door behind him and headed down to his room, but ever since we kissed, it's as if she never had feelings for me at all. He smiled to himself. Perhaps things really were getting back to normal - or whatever counted as "normal" in this crazy magic talking-horse world. If only all his relationships could be worked out that easily.
If his nightly routine was becoming comfortable again, his mornings were anything but. He'd wake up early - far earlier than he'd ever have considered sane back in New York - pull on his clothes, and pad out into the dark library. Twilight was an early riser herself, but even she'd invariably be asleep at this hour, so he tried to be as quiet as possible as he fixed himself a glass of water; he'd brush his teeth, head outside just as Princess Celestia was raising the sun, and walk down the road to Sweet Apple Acres.
No matter how early he set out, he'd never once arrived before the Apples were already up and about. He'd tiptoe up the path to the farmhouse, but he needn't have worried about waking anyone; the door would swing open, and he'd be greeted by Big Mac with a stoic nod and a half-smile, or by Apple Bloom's hyperactive bouncing, or - if he was lucky, and nobody was watching - by Applejack, with a kiss.
He liked those days the best.
They'd all sit down to breakfast, chatting and laughing and planning out the day's schedule. If it was one of those lucky days, he'd sit next to AJ, and they'd be close enough sometimes that her foreleg would brush against his hand as they reached for the butter or a pancake - sometimes they wouldn't even brush, but they'd be so close he could feel the fur of her coat, and she could feel the hairs on his arms, and both of them would shiver inwardly and smile to themselves. Or they'd bump a foot against a hoof under the table, and catch each other's eye, and it would be all they could do to stop themselves from kissing.
Like dinner, breakfast at Sweet Apple Acres was fun, and Matt enjoyed seeing the Apples trading jokes and anecdotes, the kind of good-natured teasing and banter he'd enjoyed with his Dad back on Earth; and all of the Apples did their best to make him feel included. Sometimes Matt would just watch Applejack laughing, either a cute little Southern chuckle, or throwing her head back and really laughing, and his heart would beat so hard he'd swear it was about to leap clean out of his chest. I'm so lucky to be with her, he'd think to himself.
Those days were really good days.
Still, Matt worried. That morning, all through his first shift, hoisting barrel after barrel of apples onto the cart, he'd been turning a thought over in his mind; it nagged at him, refusing to leave him alone, and every time he locked eyes with his beloved, that thought only pushed itself further to the top.
I'm so lucky to be with her... except I'm never with her.
Up until he accidentally became a landing mat for six talking alien ponies, amazing things simply didn't happen to Matthew Williams. Good things, for sure - he was happy enough with his life before he knew what he was missing - but amazing things, no.
The Californian in him was able to accept he now lived in a fantastical, magical cartoon universe where the laws of physics as he'd learned them were now more like guidelines. The New Yorker in him couldn't accept that after all of this had happened, a beautiful girl was in love with him. Him. Matthew Williams. Good old Matt. Nice guy. Keen gamer. Not sure what he wants to do with his life. Never actually seen him with a girlfriend (or boyfriend, I don't know the guy all that well).
Now, his brain was second-guessing him. You don't deserve her. She can't possibly be interested in you. You're completely ordinary and she's amazing, and it's only a matter of time before she finds you out. In fact, she's probably already found you out. Look at her, she's beautiful, she's smart, she's tough, she's a freaking superhero, and you're... well, you.
Stupid brain.
Try as he might to push those thoughts away - and, sure, that got easier to do every time they hugged, every time they'd sneak behind a barn or around a corner and steal a kiss, every time he thought back to the night they'd spent together, the kisses and touches and closeness and rolling and sweating and... and everything - he still kept coming back, unwillingly, to that nagging question.
Where is this going?
No matter how much he felt they were on the same wavelength, that he and AJ almost knew what the other was thinking without even asking, this was the one subject that never came up, and it was driving Matt crazy.
So, he'd finally come right out and asked her.
When the shift was done, when AJ had - for the first time - headed out with him after dinner, telling Granny all her chores were done and she wanted to see her friends in Ponyville, and she'd have Matt walk her over - he'd asked her. Stopped her as they walked down the path through the orchards and out to Ponyville, taken her to the roadside, sat down by a big, shady apple tree, and... asked her.
He'd laid out his fears. He hadn't meant to do that, to dump all of this on her, especially not when they were actually alone together for the first time in days, but once he'd started to open up, once he'd broken down the barrier and started talking about their relationship, it had all just sort of poured out.
He'd stumbled his way through confessing his worries - about Applejack not being as committed to the relationship as he was, or rather, that she was more afraid to go public about it all than he was, because, after all, she'd got a lot more to lose. He'd remembered what Princess Celestia said to him when he'd told the Princess about their relationship, when she'd asked him if he'd fully considered how huge a risk Applejack was taking just being with him. The worries they both shared about telling anypony they were together - not just about commitment, but about the bigotry they might face, she a much-loved and widely-admired pony (and a superhero at that), he a weird otherworldly two-legged thing.
He'd looked down at the ground as he finally voiced it - his biggest fear, his greatest worry, down at the bottom of it all, the fear that he wasn't good enough for her.
And when he'd finished, when he'd poured what felt like two weeks' worth of jumbled feelings and fears and questions out in front of her, everything was silent.
Matt looks up at Applejack, knowing he's gone too far.
Her first reaction is to look shocked; she stares at him, huge green eyes flickering. "Are ya... Are you thinkin' about... y'know..."
"...About how I can't imagine life without you?"
More visible shock.
"...Ah was gonna say, were you thinkin' about breakin' up with me?"
Matt almost trips over his tongue in his rush to correct her. "No! No, no! AJ, that was the last thing... I'd never... No. No, Applejack. I love you."
She blushes, hard.
"Wait," he stammers. "Were you... does that mean you..."
Applejack smiles, and places a hoof on his lips. "No, ah ain't lookin' to break up with you neither, sugar cube. No way. No how."
The relief is palpable for both of them. They look at each other for a moment, the uncertainty slowly replaced by embarrassment at how ridiculous they've been. Then, spontaneously, they both burst out laughing. Applejack's doing that full-on thing she does, holding her sides, roaring with laughter; Matt would be gazing at her in adoration, except he's doing it too, and AJ has never really seen him do that before. It's cute. He's cute.
As they calm down, and wipe the tears of mirth and release from their eyes, they share a look.
He loves her so much.
She loves him so much.
Without warning, they fly into an embrace, grabbing each other as tightly as they can.
Birds sing in the branches of the apple trees, as late afternoon becomes early evening. A breeze ripples through the north orchard, making the leaves rustle.
Applejack and Matt do not notice.
Matt and Applejack lie together under the apple tree as the sun hangs low in the sky. Her hat lies discarded several feet away, along with Matt's boots. She's resting her head on him, listening to his heartbeat calming down; he's absent-mindedly running his fingers through her coat, playing with a little fluff of fur on her chest. She's never had a coltfriend with fingers before, and she's not at all averse to the experience.
They've resumed their conversation from earlier, albeit both of them now in a rather more... relaxed state of mind than before.
And this is where we came in.
"Ah feel like a filly again, creepin' out an' hidin' from Granny Smith to meet a handsome stallion."
"Handsome stallion?", laughs Matt. "I could get used to that."
"Quiet, you," laughs Applejack. "Listen to what ah'm tellin' you."
"Yes, ma'am," says Matt with a smile.
AJ rolls her eyes in good-natured mock irritation. "Tell me, are all humans this annoyin'? Or is it just a stallion thing?"
Matt mimes zipping his lips closed, which brings a further smile.
"See, here's the thing. Ah like you. Ah really like you. Shoot, ah love you. But this... Ah want this, all the time. Ah want us to be together. To be a couple."
Matt mimes unzipping his lips, and then kisses Applejack. They close their eyes. They both let out a contented sound at the same time; half sigh, half whinny, all blissful. Neither of them is quite sure, but it's possible they have never been this happy in their lives.
"That's all I want too, AJ," says Matt, finally breaking the kiss. "Every day I wake up without you and it hurts. Every day, I see you at work, and I want to just rush over and hold you, but I can't. Every night, I want to kiss you goodnight, but I can't. And it's not me whining about it, it's just... I know it could work. I know we can do this."
"Ah know," says Applejack, looking up at her human. "And ah know there's gonna come a day where we got to tell somepony... everypony, ah guess. An' it hurts me too, right so. But it hurts me sneakin' around, Matt. Ah don't care for lyin', ah think you know that much already. Lyin' to Granny Smith, it feels wrong. Now, ah ain't outright told her a lie about you an' me, because she ain't asked about it. But if'n she came out an' asked me, ah don't believe ah could look her in the eye and say no, we ain't together, there ain't nothin' goin' on between us... Ah can't do that. Not just 'cos of mah whole Element of Honesty deal. That's big enough, for sure. But Granny Smith is family, and in the Apple family, we've always made it a point of pride to always be honest an' up-front with each other. We look out for one another, an' that means we don't keep secrets."
Matt understands. She just can't bring herself to lie, not even by omission; and while she wouldn't be so blunt as to deliberately hurt Granny's feelings, or his, for that matter, it wasn't in her nature to sugar-coat an answer. Truth be told - no pun intended - it was one of the many, many things about Applejack that he found irresistible.
"Fact of the matter is, Matt... Ah've said on a number of occasions now that you an' me foolin' around, behind everypony's back, makes me feel like a teenage filly sneakin' about. But ah was never like that as a teenage filly. Ah never betrayed Granny's trust before. Ah don't want to betray it now."
Matt looks at her for a moment, and then kisses her gently on the forehead. "Wow, AJ," he smiles.
"What?", she replies, with a quizzical look.
Matt chuckles. "Every time I think you can't make me love you more than I already do, you keep finding new ways to surprise me."
"You can be real corny when you're all loved-up, ya know that?", she smirks, but she doesn't pull away.
"If we're going to do this," he says, with a new-found determination in his voice, "we're going to do this right. I agree we can't keep sneaking around, and... honestly? I think we don't need to sneak around. I think Granny Smith, and your brother and sister... well, maybe not your brother, but Granny and Apple Bloom... I think they'd approve. I really do."
They lie there in silence for a while, contemplating the idea. Matt idly scratches Applejack behind her ear as she rests her head on his shoulder; Applejack idly strokes Matt's chest with her hoof.
Suddenly, Applejack sits up. Matt knows that look. She's made a decision.
"So. There's another whole day of applebuckin' tomorrow, but on Sunday, you can come over for lunch, and we'll tell everypony there an' then. You, an' me, together. We'll sit together, and we'll hold hooves - hands - whatever - we'll sit together and just tell 'em all. Granny, Big Mac, Apple Bloom... Matt an' I are in love, and we're dating. An' I think it's gonna be just fine. Ah think everything is gonna be just fine."
Matt smiles, and stands up to hug his marefriend. He holds her near, just enjoying being this close to her again.
"Sunday it is, then," he smiles. But then he pauses.
"But AJ...", he says, thoughtfully... "How can we tell them we're dating, when we haven't actually ever been on a date?"
Applejack opens her mouth to reply, then closes it again. She looks at Matt, quizzically.
"Huh. Ah guess you're right." She looks around, at the tree, at the flattened grass from where they were rolling around earlier. "Ah suppose this doesn't really count... not as a proper date. Romantic-like." She smirks.
"Well, we ought to rectify that situation," says Matt. He realises how stuffy he sounds. "Sorry, I mean..."
Applejack chuckles, and then fixes him with a look he's never seen before. She's adopted a really odd expression, eyebrows raised, muzzle posed with her lips out, like she's posing for a photograph or something.
"Why, Matthew," she says, and Matt almost falls over in surprise. Her voice is completely different. She sounds almost like Rarity, carefully enunciating her words, affecting a Mid-Atlantic accent like some sort of society débutante. "Your elaborate way of speaking is not so elaborate as you may think."
"Whu... wha... Huh?" Matt is lost.
Applejack roars with laughter again, and picks up her hat. "Ah spent a while livin' as a city pony over in Manehattan. Ya didn't know that, did ya?" She's still laughing as she straightens her hat back on her head. "Ah lived the high society life. Turns out, it weren't for me. But just 'cos ah don't put on those frou frou airs an' graces, it don't mean ah can't pass for a snooty city type."
Matt is too stunned to answer.
"But you sure are right about the whole date thing. How can we have a date, without tellin' people we're havin' a date, when we ain't had a date yet, an' so on..." she chuckles, before slipping back into her high society accent again. "It's a paradox."
Matt has finally picked his jaw up off the floor, and his brain is ready to make words.
"Ah... I mean, I... AJ... and... You... buh..."
Well, sort of.
"Applejack", he tries again. "I can't even imagine you as a city pony. You're so much better than that."
"That's kinda what I figured too," she smiles, and all is forgotten. "But ah suppose, before we tell anypony we're datin', we need to start, well, datin'. Ah don't intend on tellin' Granny about our... clandestine liaisons."
Matt is staring again.
"That's fancy talk for foolin' around in secret," she winks.
The next day was a little less arduous; most of the densest orchards were cleared now, and only a few outlying copses were left to harvest from this season's crop. Matt and Applejack continued sharing secret looks and glances and giggles, but now they both felt better than ever about where this was all going.
Still, Matt's mind was churning unhelpfully, as Sunday approached with each passing hour. He knew he had to do something special for Applejack, for their first real date. They couldn't count the hoedown - which had ended in AJ vomiting everywhere and then passing out drunk - or their first night together, which had basically been several glasses of wine on Twilight's sofa before jumping into bed together.
Huh, Matt had thought to himself. Considering how magical their love felt, he was a little embarrassed at his and Applejack's track record so far when it came to romance.
He was still thinking about what to do, and what they were going to say on Sunday, when dinner was over. While Granny was getting into a long, rambling story about onions, and Apple Bloom was listening politely while Big Mac cleared away the dishes, AJ unexpectedly got up from the table.
"Shoot," she'd exclaimed; "guess ah plum forgot about it. Granny, Big Mac, Apple Bloom..."
Matt's pupils dilated. Was she about to make their announcement ahead of time?
"...ah just remembered, ah have to go over to Ponyville again. Ah mended Twilight's book satchel for her, and ah was plannin' on givin' it back to her tomorrow, only ah just realised she's goin' off to the Crystal Empire tomorrow and so she'll want it tonight, ready for the journey."
Applejack paused, and glanced around the table. Matt tried to look neutral; he had no idea what she was talking about, and wasn't sure how he was supposed to react.
"Ah guess if we head on over now, Matt could walk me there. If'n you don't mind, that is, Matt. Ah wouldn't want to be a bother."
This look, he could read. "No, that's fine," he ad-libbed. "It's good to have the company." He was sure he saw Granny Smith raise an eyebrow, but when he looked over, she was the picture of innocence.
"Huh... wha? Oh, sure, you an' Matt head on over there now. You look after mah Applejack, young colt, ya hear?"
"Yes, ma'am", said Matt, as politely as he could manage.
"That's a good boy," said Granny, and went back to telling Apple Bloom about the time she rode the ferry to Fillydelphia.
As Applejack heads out of the door, she slips her hoof through Matt's arm. He looks at her. She smirks. She's up to something.
The minute they're out of view of the farmhouse, AJ pulls on Matt's arm and swings him round, off the path to Ponyville, over towards the north orchard.
"Applejack, what..." he starts to ask, but she just gives him a knowing smile, and puts her hoof to his lips.
They've been walking - trotting, really, as Applejack has been picking up a steady pace - for nearly ten minutes now, and the sun is starting to go down. AJ hasn't said a word, and Matt is just following her.
Finally, they round a barren stand of aged apple trees, and Matt sees an old barn, paint all worn away, wood made pale by exposure to endless rain and sun. By the looks of it, nopony has used this barn for years. Obviously, Applejack wants to show him something out here. What's she hiding?, he thinks. Whatever it is, she's pretty excited to show him.
As they draw closer, Matt sees there's a light flickering inside the barn. He looks at Applejack, who now has a big Pinkie Pie-style goofy grin on her face, like she can barely keep it together much longer.
"What's this, AJ?", he finally asks.
She gives him a look he can't quite place, followed by a little chuckle to herself as she swings the old barn door open.
"Ah thought it was about time we had our first date, Matthew Williams. Now, would y'all do me the honor of accompanyin' me for a romantic picnic in the barn?"
Speechless, he watches her turn and walk into the empty barn. He sees a table in the corner - or it might just be a cider crate with a tablecloth, it's hard to tell. There are plates of food; salads, apple fritters, apple turnovers. There are candles. He has no idea how Applejack found the time to do this. He doesn't even want to begin thinking about how an Earth pony managed to light several candles.
He snaps back to the present to see AJ has turned her head to look at him.
"...Well?", she asks, eyebrow raised. "Are ya comin', human, or not?"
He doesn't need to be asked twice.
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If anyone's wondering why Big Mac was tagged as a featured character in this story when he's barely appeared so far, it's because he takes on quite a central role later on. So, all you Big Mac fans, hold tight. And non-Big Mac fans, um, sorry?