Butter Nut returns to Ponyville after leaving for Canterlot Culinary School, to find his old school friend Applejack has grown into quite the mare. The only problem is, her growth doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon...
Butter Nut and Applejack are childhood friends, the former looks out for the latter. An unfortunate branch of the paths in their lives splits them up for years. Until much later when the paths reconvene and Butter Nut returns to Ponyville after attending Canterlot Culinary School. There he finds Applejack, who has grown from a child into a very tall and strong mare. They rekindle their friendship and look to take things a step or two further. The only thing in their way is that Applejack herself, or rather the fact that she never stopped growing. As heights increase and hearts race, everyone wants to know, will their relationship survive? Or will it be flattened into the dirt by Applejack's swelling form?
- Update schedule will consist of the first three chapters releasing over the span of a few days. After that further updates will be weekly. - Butter Nut is an OC belonging to JSK244 - Cover art is courtesy of MattytheMouse over on FA.
The school in Ponyville was rated as one of the highest amongst rural education centers. Children came out from it with the highest of aspirations and in most cases, the skills necessary to make them accomplishable. Even those that hadn’t spent the entirety of their time at the school learning to the best of their ability came out with a goal of some sort. It was a place where every child was catered for, no matter how hard a task it might become. The hardworking teaching staff were all dedicated to the cause of higher education. For two best friends, Applejack and Butter Nut, their school life had been full of all manner of ups and downs. Whilst Butter Nut, or Butter, as he was often called, seemed to have had the ups, Applejack was the one that had the down. In the physical sense at least. Over his years at school, Butter had begun to grow up as one might expect, turning into the very definition of a young man. Tall, strong looking, and growing wiser to the world outside the walls of the school every day. The tan coloured child was preparing himself for the experience of a lifetime at the Manehatten Cooking Academy. His dream of becoming a chef was within his grasp, and it was all because of the help that he had gained during his time at school.
For Applejack though, things were somewhat different. Whilst her dreams and ambitions were achievable, they were achievable more through the efforts of her family, rather than that of the school. She believed that her calling belonged on her family’s farm and that when she grew up to be big and strong like the rest of her family, she would take the same role. The only problem was that unlike the other girls in the class, who had all begun growing up, she was still the same as the day she started. Still short, still lacking in all the developed features that would make her an adult female. As such, she endured ridicule from the other females around the school, who had all begun the process. They were already much taller, curvier, and generally more grown up than Applejack, which frustrated her to no end. The near-endless torment, day in and day out, would be too much for her to take if she didn’t have Butter by her side. It was like having her own personal bodyguard. Whenever the bullies began to make their attacks on her, he was right there to jump in and see them off.
The problem was that was the past; it had been that way for the vast majority of their time at school. Now the whole thing was beginning to come to an end, their paths diverging to different circles, at least for a while. Butter was off to the big city and Applejack was to stay behind in the town where her bullies lived. She would be defenceless, especially if her hormones didn’t kick in soon and put her through some sort of rigorous growth spurt that put her at double the height of her bullies. That was just unlikely however. So Applejack found herself in a predicament that she just didn’t see the bright side of, if there even was one. She’d always told Butter that she was going to be bigger than him one day, pretty much every time he managed to successfully defend her honour. In truth, the whole thing was beginning to wear a little thin with her. She was appreciative of his support, but at the same time, it made her look weak. It gave out the impression that she needed to be looked after, that she was incapable of sticking up for herself. Yet, she couldn’t tell Butter to stop what he was doing. There was just something about having him act in her defence, her knight in chef’s clothing, which seemed to bring them closer together. Well, so she imagined from Butter’s perspective. It was quite the predicament for sure and if Applejack couldn’t find a solution within the coming days, one that benefitted both parties, things were only going to go downhill.
Presently, the pair had just finished up their final class for the day. Mixed gym class, where everyone was put through the ringer and back again. After a particularly intense session, both groups had returned to their gender respective changing rooms to get changed for home. For Butter, he had been in and out within a couple of minutes, the only problem being when some of the bigger kids hung his underpants from the shower heads. He was tall enough to reach them, but it was the fact that they turned them on just as he went to get them down that was the off-putting part. So he left the changing room with an unusually sour face, but compared to Applejack, he had it lightly. For the little orange mare, things were a little more problematic. The other females all conversed amongst themselves and when they saw little Applejack trying to worm her way into their conversations, things turned nasty. They taunted her about her height, saying how she didn’t quite reach the lofty heights that one needed to be to talk with them. Some even wondered if she was in the right class, saying how the six year olds shouldn’t even be in the classes with the teens. Applejack bit her tongue that time, but it left her in the worst mood, leaving both her and Butter in a sour mood when they met up. They put on brave faces when they finally came face to face, but they knew each other well enough to know that deep down something was wrong.
Butter was still up for being completely selfless though, and eager to get Applejack’s spirits back up. To cut straight to the punch, he turned around and crouched down, holding his arms out behind him. Applejack saw the cue, hesitating before she took a step closer. They were still within the confines of the school and both of them were going to have to pass through most of it to get their freedom. Butter remained in his pose, waiting for Applejack to hop onto his back. She’d never refused him before, even when she had been feeling the lowest of the low, so why would she start now? Reluctantly, Applejack slipped her legs through the gaps between his folded arms and leant into his back. Then he was off, racing up and down the pathway making noises like a train or race car. When there was nobody around, Applejack enjoyed it, giggling and laughing at her silly friend, even participating in the noise making. Once they entered into the crowded parts of the school, such as the corridors and the halls, Applejack fell eerily silent. Butter was having too much fun to notice it, but she seemed a little more shy when it came to being around the others. She watched their every move; she filled in the blanks when it came to what they said out of earshot. Somewhere in her mind she just knew it wasn’t a good thing. She looked like a child being carried around by one of her parents, and as far as Butter went, he was the embarrassing parent. When they were far enough from the school and all those watching eyes, Applejack signalled that she was ready to walk by herself. Butter obliged and let her down, standing beside her like he always did, looming over her.
“Nothing like a little piggyback to cheer you up after a long day, huh?” smirked Butter.
“Y-yeah, but ah wouldn’t git too comfortable w’ th’ idea. Ah’m probably gonna be bigger th’n ya pretty soon.”
“Oh yeah? You wouldn’t happen to be hiding a pair of stilts back home, would you?” joked Butter.
Applejack was visibly hurt by the comment though. Not that it was his fault; he didn’t know what she was going through. “No...Ah don’ have any o’ those…”
“Hey now, what’s the matter? You always like my snarky jokes. Are you feeling ok?”
“Hm, oh yeah, ah’m jus’ thinkin’ ‘bout thayt test we gotta do t’morrow. Ah don’ feel like ah’m ready fer it.”
Butter wiped his brow. “Oh is that all it is? Oh you need to relax a little there, AJ. You’re gonna do great. If anyone has to be worried, it’s me, I’ve got to take that test and impress that fancy cooking instructor. The key thing is to just think about something else and you’ll be fine. Don’t do that during the test though, you gotta keep focused then or else you’ll-”
Applejack zoned out, staying that way until they parted ways. She didn’t know if she’d said goodbye to Butter, or whether she’d simply walked off without him. Either way, she hadn’t been the most friendly company on the way home. She remembered reassuring Butter that he didn’t need to explain himself so much, but once he’d launched into yet another ramble, off she’d went. Lately that was becoming a big problem between the two, whenever Butter would speak to her; she sensed that he was feeling particularly awkward about it. It was a trait she’d seen many of the older pupils exhibit when she had been in the year below; usually it was from relationship potential. She didn’t think of Butter that way though, but was the reverse true about him? She reflected on it as she walked her way up towards her home, Sweet Apple Acres. They had known each other for a very long time, and in that time they had grown really quite close. But to Applejack he was like a brother, always looking out for when she needed it, she just didn’t have to like him doing it. As far as she was concerned their relationship was completely platonic, nothing more.
With that settled in her head, she made for her room, being as quiet as she possibly could to avoid having to deal with Big Mac or Granny Smith. Today had been stressful and all she wanted to do was crash into bed and sleep away the rest of the night. Even as she successfully reached her room and flopped onto her bed, she couldn’t just fall asleep. Her mind was racing. Just wondering about the future, about where she was headed after school was done in a few days. Granted, her time at the farm was all but set in stone, but would she be able to do the work? Was she just going to have to sit back whilst Big Mac recruited a bigger, stronger pony to take on what would be Applejack’s roles? What about if Butter passed his cooking exam and got into the school he had always dreamed about? Applejack was conflicted the most about that. But today had made up her mind for her. The pair of them needed some space, just a little break for the time being, just enough time for her to build her confidence up on her own. She rested her head on her pillow and scrunched her arms around the plush apple that she kept by the bed. Tomorrow was going to be even more intense than she had first thought
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Butter was sitting in the kitchen, eating his way through the most delightful chocolate cake ever. The sugary goodness filled him with happiness, or at least that’s what it usually did. This time, not even the sugary treat could remove the thoughts on his mind. Stress was the big factor that he was trying to get through, as everything he had been practising for was tomorrow and by the end of the day, he’d know if it had been worth it. He too had Applejack on the brain as well; she’d never been bothered about any test that had come before. This was completely out of character for her, especially considering how much of a hothead she could be. He also wondered about what she was going to do without him. He’d hoped that she would have kind of begun to take some of the hits herself, rather than have him jump in at the last minute to defend her honour. He wasn’t exactly annoyed per se, but he knew that it wasn’t good for her to be so reliant on him. He didn’t want to have to admit it, but if she was going to grow spiritually, then the next time something happened, he was going to have to bite his tongue and leave her to it. It was the only way. He hoped he could go through with it when the time came.
He pushed the treat away and rested his head on his hand, staring at it like something was going to burst out of it with the answer. He sighed and excused himself from the table, retreating upstairs in the same fashion as Applejack. It was going to be tough to let her deal with things, but he just had to keep telling himself that it was for the best. He slinked his way up to his room and climbed into bed, pulling the covers tight to his neck. Tomorrow was a big day for them both. Hopefully, the start of his future and the start of Applejack’s maturity. As he shut his eyes and tried to drift off, he began to recall all the knowledge he would need for tomorrow’s tests and cycled it through his head over and over until he fell asleep. His dreams were filled with pleasantry and hope. Whereas back on Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack fell asleep clutching her little apple plush. Her dreams quickly turned into a storm of anger and disappointment. She groaned and whined in her sleep as she struggled with the night terrors, all of which would last her right until she woke in the morning.
Upon waking the next morning though, Applejack had a surprise. Like most mornings, she got herself out of bed and crossed to the frame of her door. There she stood up against the frame of the door, took out a crayon and scratched a mark into it. The mark that was there originally had become a thick, darkened, shadow of whatever colour it had started as. No doubt from repeat applications of the same crayon on every day that Applejack hadn’t grown. Today was different though; as she found out the moment she marked the frame and turned around to look at it. Sure enough, there was the mark, except this time it was a whole half an inch above the one she expected. An entirely new mark in an entirely new place. Applejack was so overjoyed, she leapt off the floor and bounced around her room in excitement. She’d actually grown, not by much but it was a start. Her bouncing around upstairs had Granny Smith shouting up at her, asking her just what was going on. Applejack gave the confusing reply that she was growing, prompting both Granny and Big Mac to come racing upstairs. Of course, they expecting to see a rapidly expanding child in the room with them and what they got was a fairly normal looking one. Applejack quickly explained by pointing at the frame of the door and bouncing around some more. They simply smiled and went along with Applejack’s joy, just glad that she was finally done moping around.
Around half an hour after her discovery, Butter arrived at the Apple family homestead, ready to accompany Applejack to their final day at school together. Both still had that shared sense of unease, but looking at them as they walked with false confidence towards the school, you’d hardly be able to tell. Applejack explained her discovery to Butter and he was just as happy as she was, though he didn’t bounce around the school halls when he found out. Instead he smiled and cracked a joke or two, and told her that perhaps one of these days he was going to have to look up to her. Then the two split off for their first test, at least it was the first in Butter’s case. For Applejack it was the one and only thing she had to do at school today. Butter gave her a hug and she half-heartedly reciprocated on account of the many pairs of eyes that were watching her. They made their way to their separate classes and took a seat at their respective desks and waited for the test to begin.
Applejack’s test ended up being a lot easier than she had figured it might be. It turned out she did know everything that she was up against and Butter’s advice even helped her somewhat. Just looking at the test and keeping her mind on the special event that had happened this morning seemed to make all the questions easier. She was happy and focused, something that she hadn’t been for quite some time. In the almost silent classroom, the sound of her pencil scribbling across the page was the only distraction she was being faced with. There were no bullies around taunting her, no thoughts about the future and what it might do for her; just her and the test. For the first time in a long time, she felt accomplished, and as she scribbled down the answer to the final question, she hoped she could hold onto it.
The very same could be said for Butter. His first test was turning out to be the best he could ask for. If he didn’t get the marks necessary to pass the first half of the entry criteria into cooking school, then the whole system had to be corrupt. He too was feeling a sense of renewed optimism, like the day was going to turn out great, despite everything that was yet to come. Unlike Applejack though, who turned in her test as soon as she had finished it, Butter went back and forth over his answers, watching for any stupid mistakes he had made. He understood that even the slightest error could knock his chances at glory if he made it enough times, ergo he couldn’t afford a single one. By the end of the allotted time, he still hadn’t handed it in, but he was confident that he had checked and rechecked it. So when it was taken from him by the invigilators that patrolled the testing class, he could sit back with a smile. At least for a little while anyway; his cooking trial was up next and this was the last chance he had to make sure everything went perfect.
The school bell rang a few hours later, signalling that all testing had been completed for the day. Applejack had, against her better instincts, decided to hang back and wait for Butter to finish his cooking exam. She might not have wanted to be around in case of a bully appearance, but she was still riding the high from her slight growth in the morning and felt ready to take on the world. She’d seen off many of the strange glances she got with a fierce look of her own, which she managed to hold for all of two seconds, but it saw off the majority. At the sound of the bell, Applejack caught sight of three of her biggest problems heading her way, the three bullies that were pretty much the Lords of the Manor, in terms of bullying. Steel Beams, Brass Tax and Bulk Biceps, the trifecta of terror. Brass was the son of a wealthy merchant, a brat who always got his own way. If there was something you had that he wanted, then you gave it to him without question, lest he make your life a living hell. Steel was what one student in the school had called delightfully unhinged, right before that same student had disappeared from school altogether. He was the kind of bully that never said a single word, which somehow made him seem even more frightening. Finally, there was Bulk; not much could be said about him, other than he was unusually muscular for a colt his age and certainly not as bright as he should be. His role was essentially to hang around as the muscle of their little group, making everyone else look tougher by association. Unfortunately for Applejack, the trio laid eyes on their favourite plaything almost instantly. It looked like they had been tracking her all along.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here? Looks like one of them foals got into the big kid school!” exclaimed Brass.
“Huh huh, yeah. Is da wickle baby lost?” continued Bulk, his natural voice more than suited for his baby speak.
“Ah-Ah ain’t afraid o’ ya! Yer jus’ gonna have t’ find someone else t’ pick on!” retorted Applejack, stomping her feet in disapproval.
The bullies advanced a couple of steps closer to Applejack, their towering, hulking frames easily overshadowing Applejack. They were already around five and a half feet tall, far bigger than just about all the students, and even some of the teachers. They were practically adults by all accounts and they looked the part too. Applejack stood at just about half their height, indeed looking like a baby that had wandered into the wrong school. Even as she stood defiantly against them, she felt her newfound confidence draining away. She still wanted to be hot-headed, but at the same time her instinct was telling her to get the hell out of there. The bullies split into a triangle pattern, their larger frames blocking off most of Applejack’s escape routes, with the ones that were left, looking rather unsuccessful. She took a step back and bumped into the stomach of one of the trio, she didn’t care who. They were all bad news as far as she was concerned.
“Y’know, I think we need to reeducate this little baby on th’ rules about stepping in on our turf, what d’ya think boys?” came a voice from behind Applejack, sounding like Brass Tax.
“Yup, we do!” chorused Bulk and Steel.
“Well then, no sense in keeping her w-”
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” The unmistakeable voice of Butter Nut cut through the sentence before the bully could even finish saying it.
Applejack groaned silently. She had the situation under control, or at least, she was trying to convince herself that she did. As far as an outside perspective was concerned, it looked like she was about the get herself beaten up. No doubt Butter had seen the predicament she was in and raced to help, despite his new mantra to let her deal with it herself. He moved his way in between the trio, shielding Applejack from them with his own body. Butter was one of the few ponies at the school that wasn’t shorter than Brass, Bulk and Steel. In fact he was a little bit taller which gave him the edge in this scenario. He might have been chubbier, but as far as playground rules went, anyone taller was easily assumed to at least be stronger than those shorter. The bullies, not wanting to test things out for themselves and risk their reputation, gave a snort of derision and left. Though not before they gave Butter a look that promised another time, another place. Bullies rarely gave up without a next time already planned in mind.
“Ah didn’ need ya t’ step in. Ah had it under control,” muttered Applejack, still standing behind Butter.
“Are you sure? Seemed to me like you were going to get yourself a one way ticket to Nurse Red heart’s office.” Butter joked in his usual manor. This time though Applejack, upset and reminded of her failure to change, was not accepting of it.
“Ah’m old enough t’ fight mah own battles now! An’ ah certainly don’ need you t’ be there, motherin’ me all th’ time.”
Applejack ran off after finishing that sentence. She didn’t need to hear his response; she just needed some time to herself. Some time to think things through, to clear her head and make sure that she didn’t take out her anger at the bullies out on Butter. In an ideal world, that’s precisely what she would have gotten. A nice little place where she could sit down and take a moment to just let go of her anger and revert back to the delightful, happy child she had been earlier. Except, it wasn’t a perfect world and as such, it decided to throw at her the one imperfection she really didn’t need. Butter, in all his capacity for kindness and worry, gave chase to his friend, easily outrunning her and cutting her off.
“Applejack! I don’t understand. I was just...making good on that promise we made when we were younger.” Explained Butter.“You remember that? I promised that I’d never let anything bad happen to you, as long as I was around.”
“Well that was th’ past an’ this is now. Ah need t’ start an’ make a name fer mahself. An’ ah can’t do that if yer gonna keep jumpin’ in at th’ last second every time.”
Her acid tongued words cut Butter deep and he tried his best not to let it show. “I know, I told myself the same thing. I was going to let them go through with it, but I couldn’t...We’re best friends. That’s not how we should have to act.”
“Best friends? What kinda best friend goes an’ leaves th’ other all alone while they go t’ some fancy schmancy cookin’ school fer snooty cooks ‘n th’ like?”
“Applejack…” muttered Butter, his lower lip trembling a little. “You know it’s been my dream to get into that school, ever since we first started school together.”
“Oh yeah? Well did ya get in, huh? Did ya?”
“....I did….” Was the reluctant reply, into the awful silence her question brought.
“Well then, ah guess we’re done. Ya can go t’ yer stupid cooking class an’ ah can go on an’ do whatever else ah want t’ do. At least ah won’t have ya here t’ get in mah way all th’ time!”
Butter turned away, biting his tongue hard and walking off. He couldn’t give her a response. There was nothing he could say that wouldn’t send him bursting into tears and he couldn’t give Applejack the satisfaction of seeing him so distraught. He briefly looked back over his shoulder, watching through tear-filled eyes, as the orange blob he had once called a friend walked away in the opposite direction. They’d never fought so hard before and it was a shame that it had come to this. Butter tried to reconcile himself; his mind tried telling him that it was better that it had come to this. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about having a conversation in the future, when things would have likely been much worse. He sighed and stepped out the door at the end of the corridor, sighing a final time before letting the door swing shut behind him.
The sight of the tan horse through the swinging door was the last image Applejack saw of Butter that day. She didn’t see him on the journey home; she didn’t see him on the way into town; she didn’t see him at all. It was only once she returned home after walking the journey by herself, that she realised the extent of the damage she had done. Butter was gone. Perhaps not from her life, but he was definitely going to be gone from town in the coming days. She toyed with the idea of tracking him down and retracting all the things she had said, but in her mind it only delayed things. As long as the two of them were together, Butter would continue to uphold that silly promise and she would continue to get frustrated until she exploded like before. Perhaps even worse. No, this was how it had to be. Butter had to leave and she needed to be alone. At least for now.
Applejack and Butter didn’t speak for the remainder of their time together; no words were exchanged until the day they both graduated where they gave each other a fleeting ‘congrats’. After that they split down separate paths: Applejack spending her days on the farm, whilst Butter went to work on his dream of being a better chef. Applejack didn’t come to see him off; just as well really, seeing as how Butter didn’t wait around. He still cared for Applejack, but she didn’t want to be around him, so he gave her the space she apparently craved. As he left Ponyville behind, his heart felt heavy with a growing sadness as he felt the gap between the pair widen to a level he had yet to experience in his lifetime. Sure, everyone experienced something similar in their lifetime, but Butter just wasn’t ready for it. He couldn’t stop thinking about Applejack and what she was going through during this tough time. Or if she was even going through the same level of distress as he was. She certainly didn’t seem to be the type that would worry so much, but then, he also thought she was going to be his friend forever, and it was easy to see how that turned out. By the time he had left the town limits, he had shed a little of his emotional baggage, leaving it inside the town, no doubt to resurface once again should he return. With slightly brighter spirits, he set off down the path to what was considered Ponyville’s train station, but still sat outside the town limits.
Meanwhile, whilst Butter was buying his tickets at the train station, Applejack was sitting at home, faking her way through a late breakfast with her family. They had made her pancakes of just about every conceivable flavour and whilst she was grateful, she too had things on her mind. Most notably was the fact that she had grown a little bit over night, putting her at three and a half feet tall. Her family had been as pleased as she was at first, but then as the day progressed, she remembered what she had done to Butter. Her height had been a major cause for the fight and now that she was steadily growing at last, she regretted having the quarrel. This was the moment she wanted to share with Butter most of all; to have her slowly grow into her own, able to stand up for herself. She might even have grown to be bigger than him at long last, something that, if she managed, she would have loved to have seen his face for. Now she wasn’t going to get any of that, since they hadn’t said a single thing to each other in days. She didn’t even know when Butter was leaving for Manehattan. The last she’d heard him talk about it, he had said it was soon after they graduated. That could be anything from today to being a few days from now, but either way, it was preying on her mind. There were so many things that she wanted to apologise for. Most of them she had kept to herself, but she was going to apologise for them anyway. This separation was driving her mad. As breakfast finally came to a close, Applejack fled from the table before she could even be asked to help clear away some of the plates and pots. The door slammed behind her, leaving the rest of her family on their own, sighing at the complete lack of responsibility that Applejack showed.
Back at the train station, Butter had boarded the train bound for Manehattan, only to be told that it was going to be delayed for a few moments whilst some leaves were cleared from the train lines. Butter was patient and more than willing to wait around for them to be completed, but he still wanted to get out of there soon. He could see Ponyville in his corner of the station, his carriage poking out just enough to give him a view of the area. He could even see Sweet Apple Acres, sitting on a raised plain of land outside the town. Somewhere up there, Applejack was holed up, no doubt sitting in silence, wondering what the future held. In truth however Applejack was racing down the path from Sweet Apple Acres into town, heading for the train station to see if Butter was there. If he wasn’t, then she would wait for him to arrive and begin her apology, and if he was then she would apologise much earlier. She cursed herself for her foolish actions previously, the very same actions that had brought her to this point in time. Her little legs could only get her there so fast, but thanks to the small nature of Ponyville, she was able to pass through most places very quickly. Both Butter and Applejack heard the train whistle blowing at roughly the same time, giving them mixed feelings.
For Butter, it was the signal that the train was ready to leave within the next few seconds. His old life had been checked and left at the station, leaving him fresh and ready for his new life in the big city. Whereas Applejack was coming to realise that if Butter was at the station, then he was likely on the train that was blowing its whistle. The rush was on, she was going to be late and miss him, or she was going to be just in time. She rounded a corner and raced up the ramp and onto the station platform, just as the train pulled out. She ran alongside it, peering through the windows to see if there was any hint of Butter inside. The carriages whizzed past, only giving her passing glances, but as the second to last zipped past her, she caught sight of a white jacket, tan skin and ginger hair. Then it was gone, replaced by the last carriage and then eventually nothing. She reached the end of the train platform, standing there, watching the train pull away and leave her on her own. She’d have to visit Butter’s house, just to be sure that it was him that she had seen, but given that she had never seen anyone else of that colour scheme around town, she was ninety per cent sure. Her heart was broken, but she knew that the only one she had to blame for what had transpired was herself. So it was with a great deal of regret that she made her way back to Sweet Apple Acres, with the intention to check in on Butter’s house on the way. If he was truly gone, then he was gone for good. Manehattan was just too big a place for her to find him again; that sort of thing only happened in fairytales anyway.
****
Two years down the line and Butter was in his final year of academia. He’d learnt many a useful thing in the culinary arts over the years, mostly around baking, his special talent. His second year was focused on more pub-oriented foods, such as pies, fish and chips, and a multitude of other dishes and desserts. He’d even made a couple of friends in the process of his time at the academy. He wasn’t as close to them as he had been with Applejack, but after the first year that began to bother him a whole lot less. He still wanted to go back and meet her again at some point in the future, but for now he was content with hanging out with his new pals. Life at the academy was pretty good, all things considered. He had friends, he was doing well in his studies and for the first time in a long time, he was relatively worry-free. One would call it relatively due to the fact that here at the academy, one of the many roles he took on a at school was completely flipped on its head. Instead of being one of the bigger folks at the academy, like he had been at school, he was just average or below. His chub had yet to fade also, which left him open to some of the stronger and larger students.
He felt like he had become Applejack at times, being seen as the one who was ripe for picking on. He got it too, having his own brand of bullies at the academy, some of which were related to the teaching staff. Whilst it didn’t happen as frequently as it did to Applejack, it still happened and it hurt when it did. They criticised his work, often resorting to sabotaging it whenever they could manage it. Butter pushed through and tried to ignore them as best he could, but sometimes it would get too much for him and he’d need to stand up to them. They simply laughed at him, pushed him about a little bit and made him feel a mess. Needless to say, his attempts at making himself feel better by standing up to them were never successful. His new friends were never around to see the events taking place either, which only made him feel more and more like Applejack. He could go to them and tell them his problem, maybe convince them to help him out, but he couldn’t be sure that it wouldn’t become a recurring thing. All in all, whilst he was enjoying his time at the academy, he was also welcoming the up and coming end to his studies, leaving him open to taking on the wide world outside.
Today happened to be the day that he was going to try and get his second to last assignment completed. It wasn’t too tricky, but it was certainly worth getting a good grade in, just in case his other project fell flat. Which, in the case of cooking, was a very real possibility. Today he was tasked with creating something of his own choosing. He could do whatever he wanted and depending on the complexity and the actual way the creation turned out, it would influence his grade. So, rather than play it safe, Butter was working to try and make one of the most high risk desserts he could think of. He was going to make a soufflé, something that if he pulled it off, would certainly earn a couple of points with the teaching staff. He just had to make sure that he wasn’t too rough with the final product and that it was cooked in the oven for exactly as long as it needed to be; anything less and it would be a disaster for him. Speaking of disasters, he was also scheduled to be sharing the room with his bullies. Once again, his friends had their assessments in a room elsewhere, so he was going to need to be even more vigilant in terms of his work. Upon finding out that he was originally going to be working around those that he would rather avoid, he had protested to the teacher who would be overseeing their progress. By now though, they were growing tired of hearing Butter’s complaints about these boys that, as far as they could see, were charming and innocent. So they dismissed his claims, much to the chagrin of Butter himself.
Once everyone had made their way into the classroom, and were seated in their respective places, the teacher began the assignment. Silence fell over the class, aside from the hum of ovens and the constant clattering of utensils. Butter sat in silence though, watching those around him for a while, making sure that he was still safe from potential saboteurs. Everyone seemed to be concerned with their cooking and only that, so Butter began to work on his own creation. He gathered his ingredients and got to work, mixing them together into his respective bowl. As he mixed them together, he scanned the room again; he could account for just about everyone, but there were a few people missing. Butter couldn’t be certain that the missing persons were any kind of threat to him, but he still kept an eye on his station, just in case. The time was fast ticking away and he still hadn’t managed to get his mixture into the oven. To rectify that, he needed to gather some trays from the front of the classroom, an oversight on his part as he had been given the opportunity to get those at the beginning of the class. He placed the bowl down on the kitchen counter and skirted through the other stations to the front of the class. He periodically checked behind him to see whether or not his work was being tampered with. Each time he did so, he found his space to be completely empty, with everyone right where they should be, except for that one mystery person. They still hadn’t returned from their disappearance and Butter was beginning to wonder if they had ever been there in the first place.
He grabbed the trays from the front of the classroom, where the teacher was busy reading this month’s fashion magazine, hidden inside a cooking book. Further proof that some of the teachers at this place seemed to care less than people thought. Still, Butter was happy that his progress appeared to be going unhindered, since even the bullies were busy with their own projects, which was a rare sight from what Butter knew. He returned to his project and began to load the mixture into the trays ready for oven cooking. If he could just get this into the oven and let it cook for the required time, he would be home free and he could rest assured that this would be another successful grade for him. Another quick look around the room had him noting how the classmate who had disappeared was now back. Butter had been at his station the whole time; if there was anything that went wrong, he knew it would be his fault. Or so he hoped, as he didn’t know if he could take another failure at the hands of those bullies. He stuffed the mixture into the oven and set the timer. Now there was just a set amount of time to wait before he would be done with the assignment.
Whilst he waited for the soufflé to finish baking, he prepped the presentation tray and sat back to wait for the timer to go off. The cooking of this thing was rather important; too long in the oven and it would be rock solid, too little and it would fall apart in seconds. Timing was key and thanks to many hours of practice, he had the secret to a perfect soufflé every time. By the time most of his time had elapsed, a smug smile had crept its way across his face, something that the other classmates didn’t have. They were all worried or anxious about how their food was going to turn out. Those that he identified as his bullies were sitting and looking at him, as though they were expecting something from him, some kind of action. Butter didn’t know what their game was, but at least he could be sure that he wasn’t a part of it this time. He sat back and looked up to the ceiling, just waiting for that timer to go off.
After a few more minutes, he got his wish when the beeping of the alarm went off and he sprung into action. With his oven gloves on, he pulled down the door to the oven, removing the baking tray. His project looked like a success, at least for two seconds after he pulled it from the oven, then it collapsed into disarray. Butter couldn’t believe it, his gamble had fell through, despite everything being perfect. Had he overestimated? Had he gotten too confident? It was all overwhelming, but Butter placed his tray down and looked at the counter and utensils. Upon closer inspection of the oven dials, he found that his oven had been turned down from what it was. It explained why his soufflé had collapsed so quickly and so violently, it was undercooked! Nowhere near sturdy enough to support its own weight. His first thought was that it was sabotage, but as he had assured himself throughout the day, he had been the only one there at his station. Yes, he had left for a moment to get those trays and yes someone else hadn’t been there for the entire duration of the class but it didn’t mean sabotage. The truth was that he was going to have to accept that this was a failure and one that might possibly have been his doing. The assessment wasn’t too important; he’d been telling himself that, but it still didn’t alleviate any of the disappointment...
****
Whilst Butter was coming to terms with the low grade he was bound to receive for this assignment, over in Ponyville, Applejack was dealing with her own problems in life. Since the day she had watched Butter zoom out of her life on a train, Applejack had returned to working on the farm. Or rather, she had finally started to work on the farm, taking in details and embracing the family business. She had continued to grow up in more ways than one, now resembling something of a young woman, more than a child. In the two years since Butter had left, she had grown a further two feet and six inches, leaving her at a current height of five feet and eight inches. She was now the second tallest member of the Apple family, standing between Granny Smith and Big Macintosh. She had another ten inches to grow before she could stand as tall as Big Macintosh and she felt confident that she could achieve it. There was nothing so far that had made her believe that her growth had been slowing at any point; if anything there was evidence to show that it might continue it’s rapid progress as time passed. She wasn’t bothered though; she was quite happy to grow a little more, and each inch would help her to make her case against any future bullies she would come across.
Though height wasn’t the only thing that had happened to her in the years she had spent growing up. She had filled out all over in the way a young woman could. Instead of keeping her thin, stick, frame, common of children and some young adults, she had instead underwent some sort of metamorphosis. Her hips and breasts had filled out to give her some attractive curves, her legs had lengthened a great deal, leaving a lot of the smaller adults and children reaching barely up to her waist. In contrast, her upper body was a little more compacted than her legs, not so much that it made her look like some sort of strangely proportionate creature, but there was a definite level of squish to her frame. As a result of the compacted appearance, her rather busty chest seemed to bulge out from her body a little. Her choice in flannel shirts was a saving grace in that regard, seeming to slim her body down a little to hide her attractiveness somewhat. She wasn’t out to be ogled at; she was out to work and help her family make a profit. Her hair had grown quite long now, reaching far down her back and tied up into a bunched ponytail. She’d also taken to wearing a cowboy hat on her head, one that had belonged to her brother once upon a time. It was still a little big for her, but if things kept up the way they were, she would be able to fit it on her head perfectly in a couple of months.
Whilst Butter had moved on a little in the two years that they had been away from each other, Applejack hadn’t moved on at all. Sure, she’d made a whole bunch of new friends like Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, but she still kept Butter at the forefront of her mind. She just couldn’t shake the idea that he was out there somewhere, still disliking Applejack for her behaviour whilst they had been at school. In a way, she was grateful for it, as it was because of that guilt that she was the hard working creature that she was today. She was eager to stay on the right side of folks, working to the best of her ability to make sure that she achieved that. No lies ever passed her lips because she knew how damaging those could be to someone and she only wanted to inspire positivity, with a healthy dose of realism at times of course. She had now grounded her hot-headed urges with logical, thorough thoughts, always wary of causing another fissure, and succeeding often with greater success as she grew older. One of these days, once she had done enough work with her family, she’d take some time off to go and visit Manehattan, perhaps even with Rarity. She was always heading up there to find out the latest designs or see a show or two. It wasn’t exactly unreasonable for Applejack to be heading up there along with her, even if the two didn’t always see eye to eye.
For now, Applejack continued with her current job, that being sorting the apples from the day's harvest into the respective containers so they could be sold. Tomorrow Granny Smith would be at the stall selling their wares, and as the Apple matron grew older she needed more help. Not that she would admit it, but Big Mac and Applejack had begun sharing the burden of assisting her. There was a whole lot riding on her acting everything out perfectly though, as Applejack knew how the folks in Ponyville looked at her. They’d noticed her rapid growth and they had begun to make comments about it when they thought that she was out of earshot. The earliest she could recall one of the comments about her growth was the first time she’d went to get a new set of clothes. Her childhood clothing had been outgrown within days of her leaving school and as such, she had needed to get something new. Whilst she and her brother had been out looking for new clothes, she’d overheard some of her classmates making a comment about her. They talked about how strange it was that she had grown so much in such a short time, drawing on their own experiences to fund their comments.
Applejack hadn’t paid them much heed at the time, after all she was just glad to be a part of the growing crowd like her classmates. She had finally been getting the thing that had eluded her for so long and left her as the butt of so many jokes. But when it happened again and again whilst she was out getting clothes to fit her rapidly expanding body, it began to take its toll on her. Especially when she saw that the other youths that were making fun of her had ceased in their own growth before her. Her first thought was that she was the subject of jealous taunts, but the bigger she got, the more defensive the whispers seemed to be, almost like the youths were afraid of her. Those whispers were still haunting her to this day, this time whenever she was walking around town. She couldn’t shake them it seemed and she was forced to dwell on them day in and day out. A call from Granny Smith pulled her out of her thoughts and got her to focus on a new task. She leapt off her bed and raced downstairs to find Granny waiting in the yard. It was time for them to head to market. Applejack swallowed softly as she stepped next to Granny and began to prepare the bushels going on the cart. She seriously hoped that she could pull off a casual day working the stall, even as she noted that the shoulders of her shirt were feeling a bit tight today...
A couple of months after Butter’s spectacular failure, he received his final grade, an almighty A+ for his final assignment. Butter was thrilled for the grade as the assignment had been one of the hardest things he had ever had to do. The class had been tasked with providing a restaurant standard of quality for one of the teachers. Each of the students would be marked across all sections of service. The teacher who ordered a meal in the ‘restaurant’ would be grading the service, speed, and friendliness of the servers working the front of house. In the kitchen there was another teacher checking the cooking ability, such as the speed of the chefs and the presentation of the meals. It seemed odd to make a group of students that had applied to this academy to learn how to cook different food, get graded on elements that they hadn’t come to learn. Yet it was a fact of the business that often times you would have to fill in the shoes of others when short staffed or a new business. It didn’t matter if you could cook the finest cuisines in the land if your social skills were trash. When it had been Butter’s turn to serve, he had attacked the customer with a politeness that the others just hadn’t been able to muster, whether it was through lack of interest or lack of ability. The teacher posing as the customer had been most impressed with his warm and caring attitude and his apparent stance that nothing was too much for the customer. She even praised him on the expedient, yet safe, way that he brought the food to the table. She didn’t even mind that he dropped one of the meals and had to return to the kitchen for another, of course, not before he apologised profusely. It was obvious that he had been flustered and embarrassed but he didn’t let it affect his performance.
When it came to the cooking side of things, Butter was once again on complete form. He whipped up starters, mains and desserts without even putting one foot wrong. They were waiting out on the counter for more than a few seconds before the waiters snapped them up and took them out to the front for consumption. The assessor’s socks were metaphorically blown off as he chowed down on Butter’s food. If Butter was in the mood for giving his ego a little stroke, then he was perfectly inclined to say that it was his food alone that had netted him the high grade. With his graduation taking place a couple of days after his final grade, he was still thinking along the same lines when they handed him his certificate. His cooking was pretty much masterful, exactly what the academy wanted from him. Considering all the bullying that had gone on in his journey through the academy, he was more than pleased with the results. At the end, it showed just how much a little dedication went in relation to getting a good reward at the end of it all. The bullies, who had spent most of the time picking on their intellectual betters, had either left the academy without graduating, or got the lowest possible honours.
Now that he was a fully-fledged graduated of the Academy, he was finally getting a chance to head back to his roots. During his time in extra education, he had begun to get a little homesick; missing the time he had spent when he had been living in Ponyville. That kind of life didn’t translate well into the city life. Everything was so big and scary, and there were several hundred more folks walking around. Despite not getting much time outside of the Academy, he had gotten a little sick of city life. All the hustle and bustle was certainly much more frantic than life in a place like Ponyville. He wasn’t going to avoid the city completely and who knows? Maybe one day he’d come back for a visit or an extended stay sometime, but for now he just wanted to get back home and see how everything had changed. Or how everything had stayed the same, you never could be too sure with places like Ponyville. So he’d bid his friends a fond farewell, and made haste for Ponyville, thinking about how he was going to celebrate his return.
There were many things he could do; he could celebrate with some kind of party, though that was likely something for Pinkie Pie to orchestrate. She had been the one that was always so bubbly and interactive during their time at school, the social bunny rabbit of good times. Butter hadn’t had a chance to interact with her, or attend any of the parties that she had thrown, but he heard stories about how wonderful they had been. In fact, the more he thought about it he realized something; it might have been that the only two people that didn’t attend these parties were Applejack and himself. Namely because wherever he went, Applejack would be there with him. Thinking of her, Butter thought of another way to celebrate his return to town. He could pay her a visit; perhaps bring her a pie, an apple pie perhaps, to kind of make amends for leaving her. Given his long time away from the town, he still considered Applejack to be the same small, defenceless girl with aspirations to be something bigger. He hoped that she had finally achieved her dreams, even if it was only in a metaphorical sense. He hoped she hadn’t moved out of town or something, which would certainly put a dampener on his plan. He was confident that she’d still be there however; she was all about the family business and certainly all about family itself. If she had to leave her family alone, it would break her heart.
He arrived on the outskirts of Ponyville with his idea finally decided. He was going to be working on a nice little pie for Applejack as a ‘sorry for making you mad’ kind of thing. If she didn’t remember that he had caused her to yell at him in the school, then it would be a nice gift to break the ice between the two of them. He felt that childlike part of his personality experiencing a resurgence, sizing itself up against his adult side. If Applejack was happy to see him, then they could have so much fun together, making up for all those years that they’d spent apart and all those experiences they’d missed out on. It was a little strange really; he didn’t really care this much about any of the other people he’d known from childhood. Applejack seemed to be very special and certainly very dear to him. Did that mean something? Did he have some kind of long dormant feelings for her, feelings that he’d been completely ignorant of before? It made sense in a way, given that he was always leaping to the defence of Applejack and always there when she was feeling down. It certainly had the makings of some kind of relationship, but he’d need to see what she was like since he’d left before he even began to consider making a move on it. For now, he’d set about getting the things for his welcome back pie, and the first stop would be to secure his apples.
After settling back home and hugging his parents, Butter set out for the market. There was only one family that dealt with apples that would be perfect for him to use in his pie. That was the Apple family themselves, the owners of the only orchard in Ponyville and the purveyors of the finest apple cider this side of Canterlot. It could even be his chance to meet up with Applejack, as there was no doubt that she was the one in charge of the stall. He didn’t like to think about it, but Granny Smith had been of a ripe old age when he had been young. If she was still out and about, taking part in the family business, then she had to have been a miracle incarnate. For that reason alone, he assumed that Applejack would be the one in charge of selling, whilst Big Mac would have been the one in charge of picking the apples. It made the logical sense to him, but he figured he’d see for himself when he actually managed to locate the stall. That was proving to be a little difficult at the current time as the centre of Ponyville was much more packed than he ever recalled it being. People were milling around, queuing up at whatever stalls gained their interest or had the stock they wanted to buy. Butter almost couldn’t believe how many stalls had been set up in the time he’d been away. He almost mistook it for life back in the city. Had something big come around while he was gone to swell the population?
He pushed his way through the crowds, noticing a distinct density of the populace around one stall in particular. So much so that he couldn’t actually see through the gaps between the people to work out what was so interesting. He soldiered on, listening to a variety of different sounds, most of which appeared to be wolf whistles. There were people yelling out quantities, and being answered by an aged, southern accent. Once he got to the front of the queue he was both relieved and confused. Relieved because he had found the apple stall, which surprisingly was still being manned by Granny Smith. The confusion came from the fact that he had heard wolf whistles. All the folks that were gathered around this stall were relatively young, some even as young as Butter, which meant that their whistling was rather unusual. There was one hell of an age difference between the people in the crowd in comparison to Granny Smith, but if that was what they liked, Butter was hardly in a place to argue. The other part of his confusion came from the fact that although the stall had plenty of people, very few of them seemed to be buying anything. They were here for something else, but what that could be, Butter wasn’t sure.
“Well ah’ll be darned, do mah eyes play tricks or do ah see lil Butter Nut back in town?!” exclaimed Granny, as she caught sight of Butter pushing himself to the front of the queue.
“Hiya, Granny Smith! Yeah, it’s me, back in town for a little cooking and a visit to the old stomping grounds, y’know?” replied Butter. “Seems like you’re pretty busy here, but would it be possible for me to get a bushel of apples from you?”
“Ain’t a problem, deary. An’ seein’ as how yer actually buyin’ somethin’ unlike these dern fools ah’ll give ‘em t’ ya at a special rate.”
“Well thanks, Granny, but I-”
“Applejack! If ya ain’t too busy w’ ya fan club, ah need a bushel o’ apples over here!” Granny cut him off with a holler.
“Comin’ right up, Granny!” came Applejack’s voice.
Butter looked around to see where it had come from, the crowd around him doubling their somewhat creepy attempts at being noticed. It seemed Butter had gotten it wrong; perhaps it wasn’t Granny Smith that they were getting excited over, but could they really have been getting that way over Applejack? The cute, tiny little creature that he had went to school with? The crowd began to whoop and cheer much to the chagrin of Granny Smith as someone appeared behind her. Butter looked up, a little bit out of decency as he was actually staring directly at the chest of this person. She was tall, whoever she was, easily around ten inches taller than Butter. He estimated that the top of his head just barely rose to her orange, freckled, shoulder. Growing up had been kind to this woman; her chest blossomed outwards underneath the white apron she was wearing. Though given her size it was more like a small bedsheet, having to cover her from her neck down to her shins. She was certainly a shapely female, curves in all the right places and rippling, yet subtle, musculature along her bare arms, and assumedly everywhere else. A shadow had fallen over her face, thanks to the hat she had chosen to wear, but once she flicked it up a smidge, Butter got the biggest shock of his life so far.
“A-A-Applejack?” he stammered.
“B-Butter?!” she spluttered in response, nearly dropping the apples she had brought over. The two childhood friends stood there in shock for several seconds, before Granny Smith coughed to break the awkward pause before it could form.
“M-My...time has b-been kind t-to you, h-h-huh?”
Applejack didn’t respond; she just placed the apples on the stall and stepped back. Butter, still reeling, snapped them up and cast a fair amount of money down on the counter, slipping away from the stall hastily. Applejack was sad to see him go, but she couldn’t exactly stop him as he was swallowed up by the crowd. Even if she called out to him, it would likely pale in comparison to the crowds and all their whistles and comments. As he disappeared into the masses, the final strands of that fiery, ginger hair being obscured, Applejack turned back to the stall. Butter backed his way through the crowd, staring forwards as though he were on autopilot. He hadn’t expected what he had seen and what he had, had shocked him right to the core. Applejack had transformed from the cute skinny little friend he had known, into this amazon of a woman. As the change settled in his brain, Butter found himself exploring those feelings of relations with Applejack again. After all, she was a definite stunner now. She was practically Butter’s dream girl: tall, athletic, strong, and a fiery spirit full of compassion and care. At least, if she was still the same girl he last saw outside the school all those years ago. What kind of changes, physical aside, could she have gone through?
He was sure to keep those feelings in check for the moment though, despite how strong they might have been. He pushed his way out of the crowd, stumbling backwards and receiving an angry glare from the ponies he shoved aside. Once he got his footing again, he was surprised that he hadn’t managed to spot her earlier. Applejack’s hat was clearly visible over the tops of the heads of the people in the crowds and when she moved closer to Granny Smith to deal with a customer, the emerald green of her eyes was also visible. He wandered away from the crowds, carrying his purchase close to his chest and busying himself with looking for a place to by the ingredients for the pastry. Whilst he wandered off, Applejack continued with her work, sitting in autopilot as well. She was filling orders that were called to her without so much as another thought on the matter. Surprisingly she didn’t make any mistakes, but it wasn’t like she would be aware of it if she did.
Instead, her mind was focused on Butter and how little he had changed in the time he had been away. She recalled the day that he had left, and how eager she had been to see him and possibly make amends for how she acted. All the emotions came flooding back to her, but she did her best to stop them from being visible. If that had been the universe’s way of giving her another chance at making amends then it was one of the cruellest jokes in existence. Butter hadn’t even stayed around long; he’d taken one look at her and ran off, which was quickly becoming the story of her life. Whether she was struggling to get into doors, crushing flimsy chairs under her rear, or dealing with lust-filled folks who only had one thing on their minds it made for a terrible life. Applejack had regretted leaving on such a sour note with Butter, but no matter how annoying those elements got in her life, she had remained confident that Butter would make her happy again. Just like the old days.
Perhaps if she could get him alone, away from all this noise and nonsense, maybe sit him down to lose some of the height difference, then perhaps they could talk it over. That was, if she could find him at all. He’d disappeared into the crowd so fast that for all she knew he had left the town already. If that wasn’t the case, then she wasn’t going to find him standing here. She needed to leave the stall and get looking around town in all the nooks and crannies that Butter was likely to frequent. She snapped herself back to reality and continued to complete orders, thinking up the best way to ask for permission to leave. She could always pretend that she had some kind of illness, but Granny Smith had seen through most of those when she was a child. It wasn’t like she had become superior in that regard either as she’d grown up, so Granny was likely to see through still. She could just duck out from the stall when she wasn’t looking, but that was likely to earn her some kind of rollicking once she got back home. Which, if things did end up going well with Butter, wasn’t something she would want to bring him home to…
Whilst Applejack tried to think up a way to get out of the stall, Butter had stumbled upon the place that would give him the ingredients for the crust, Sugar Cube Corner. He’d passed by it quite a few times when he was younger, but he’d never actually been inside. It had been a peculiar building even then; decorated like a gingerbread house from some kind of fairy-tale, rather than the usual thatch and brick. Butter assumed it was to go with the fact that it was a bakery and that it had a sweet sounding name. He liked the quirky aspect on the outside, but he wondered if it was going to translate into the interior, or the staff. He walked inside and was immediately disappointed; the interior was much more bland than the outside, akin to a regular home interior. The counter at the far end of the bakery was staffed by a familiar face, or at least she looked like one, Butter couldn’t be sure. He stepped closer, taking in the decor whilst trying to calm himself down from his earlier run in with Applejack.
“Oh! A new face! Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner, I’m-” exclaimed the counter clerk.
“Pinkie Pie, right?”
“Yes! You’ve heard of me? Strange, I don’t forget a face, I can remember everyone in town and even further, but I don’t know you! Have we actually met or did you hear about me from one of your friends?”
“We, uh, we went to school together. Well, you were at school when I was; I suppose we never met because I never got invited to your parties.”
Pinkie’s hair seemed to deflate a little. “You never got to go to one of my parties? But I thought...I thought I held one for everypony…”
“Hey, it’s not a big deal. I wasn’t the only one; I’m pretty sure Applejack wasn’t invited to any of them as well.”
Pinkie gasped. “Applejack?! You’re friends with Applejack and I didn’t invite either of you to my parties? Well this just won’t stand! I’m gonna throw you and Applejack the biggest and best party that you ever saw! It’ll make up for all those parties that you didn’t get to come to at school and then some! There’ll be sweets and streamers and confetti and punch and games and-”
Butter hold up his hands to stall the flood of words. “Heh, alright if you insist, but can it wait a bit? I kind of need to pick up some ingredients for a pie crust, cook a delicious pie, rekindle a friendship, and you’re the key to most of that.”
“Oh, hehe, silly me. What did you want?”
Butter informed her about the ingredients he required and Pinkie was quick to gather them all up from the stockroom, before bringing them back to Butter. Whilst Butter fished through his pockets, juggling the apples from one arm to the other whilst he looked for the correct money, Pinkie Pie cast her mind back. She thought about the time she had been at school and how she could have missed such a colourful person. That ginger mop on top of his head would surely have made him stand out amongst the crowd. She recalled several times when they had crossed paths, but she had been so caught up in thinking about her next big party that she had only registered the face subconsciously. She even confirmed for herself that he had never been at her parties before, which hurt her somewhat. She searched deeper in her memories as she tried to fact check everything that he had said. What was that about being a friend of Applejack’s? She thought about it, checking the memories with notable sightings of Butter and sure enough, Applejack was never far behind. Pinkie Pie laughed internally as she flashed through memories of Applejack from her childhood. It almost seemed like another dimension in comparison to the stunning, tall, incredibly beautiful amazon that she was these days.
The pair had clearly been good friends; they wouldn’t have been together so much if they weren’t. If there was one thing that Applejack was good at doing, it was choosing friends; after all, she had chosen Pinkie hadn’t she? She smiled brightly and warmly as Butter handed her the correct change and bid her farewell. He didn’t know it, but the formation of that smile mainly came from all the delightful memories that she was going through. Pinkie was already very interested in Applejack; she was beautiful, funny, and a little hot-headed at times, but so was anyone given the right conditions. This mysterious friend of hers seemed to be a little more of the same: cute, gentle, and perhaps a little shy? Pinkie could get him to come out of his shell though, she was sure of that. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to get to know him a little better in the future? Who knows, if things went well and they maintained a friendship with each other as well as Pinkie, then she could have both to have fun with! There surely wasn’t a more perfect scenario than that.
Butter on the other hand, had encountered a problem upon leaving the bakery. He hadn’t expected to, but the universe could be a very cruel place sometimes. Just by mere happenstance he’d manage to run into the bullies that he’d stood up to back at school, the one’s that had resulted in Applejack arguing with him. He stopped dead when he crossed the paths of Steel Beams, Brass Tax and Bulk Biceps, with the trio instantly recognising him. It was hard not to when you came across the only person that had ever dared to stand up to you in your lifetime. It was hard to know if time had been good to this trio as that all depended on one’s definition of good. They hadn’t gotten any taller, so Butter had a slight height advantage, but they had certainly been hitting the gym more. Their muscles stood on top of other muscles, bulking them out in every conceivable direction, but also making them look a little comical. Bulk Biceps was especially well off in resembling his name, although his eyes looked a little less cruel than he recalled them.But Butter wasn’t laughing or smiling; he could see that landing him in hot water with the trio. In comparison to them, Butter looked thin in the limbs and chubby in the gut. His build had changed little unlike all of his old classmates it seemed.
“Well, well, well, look wot we got ‘ere. If t’aint Butter the Brave, ah fink ah owe ya a beatin’ don’ ah?” Began Steel Beams, his diction clearly taking a beating over the years.
Meanwhile, Applejack had managed to get away from the stall by telling Granny Smith that she had ran out of apples and needed to get some more. When she had gone to check if she was telling the truth or not, she had taken the chance to ditch the stand. She felt terrible, but she couldn’t pass up the chance to meet with Butter again and set him down for a chat. Once she set her mind to that, she completely forgot about what she had done, in favour of thinking about Butter. She rounded a corner to a street she was familiar with, where her friend Pinkie Pie lived and worked, and fortunately for her, it was where Butter was. Though from what she could see, he seemed to be in some kind of trouble. The whole scene that she was observing seemed to be a call back to the day that Applejack and Butter had argued. Except the roles were reversed; she was in Butter’s position and she could see her frightened, timid, self-reflected in modern day Butter. She wasn’t going to stand back though, much like Butter himself hadn’t then she realized. If she was going to prove herself to be sorry, then this was it, the perfect chance.
“Hey! Wut d’ya think yer doin’?!” exclaimed Applejack, striding over to the bullies, recycling the line Butter had used back in the day.
The bullies all turned to look at her as she came up behind them, grabbing one of them by the scruff of his neck. She effortlessly lifted him off the ground and let him dangle in her grip, his arms and legs flailing around as he tried to strike Applejack. The other two bullies saw that Applejack was the superior one within a second and fled before she could pick them up too. Applejack giggled to herself as the bully in her grip saw his friends leave him the moment the going got tough. He struggled a little more before Applejack tossed him aside like a used handkerchief, into a cart of hay stashed down an alleyway. Butter smiled as he watched her throw the bully about, happy that she had finally gotten to stand up for herself. He also felt seriously intimidated at just how easy she’d made it look. She might as well have been holding a baby in her grip with how casually she’d dealt with his weight and bulk. Most of all though, he felt something special stirring within him. To him he felt like it was their friendship evolving, and had he been much younger, he might have called it a childhood romance.
“Are ya ok, Butter?”
“Yeah…yeah.” Butter said quietly.“I’m great Applejack, especially now that you’re here. Listen…Applejack, I’m sorry about running away earlier, but wow, you sure have changed.”
“Ah know, ah know, ah hope ya don’t find it intimidatin’, ah mean, th’ strength an’ all…”
“Actually, I thought it was, well...quite attractive actually…” Butter blushed. “Listen, I’m uh, gonna make an apple pie, want to join me? We can catch up and discuss something – a few things maybe – that uh…”
“Ah’d love ta! An’ if it’s an oven yer needin’ ya c’n use th’ one back at th’ homestead!” Applejack replied quickly. Too quickly perhaps, as Butter looked at her and she felt the need to fidget.
Finally, Applejack gave Butter a quick hug, which he reciprocated, and then she took him back to Sweet Apple Acres. Thankfully, Granny Smith wasn’t home yet, so Applejack and Butter had plenty of time to use the oven and talk. They talked about all that had happened, how Applejack had been so close to seeing him at the station. How they had both spent time dwelling on their feelings for each other, with Butter sitting on his possible feelings of romance for her for the moment. He wasn’t stupid though; Applejack was acting shyly around him and there was definitely something she was hiding from him as well. Once the pie was done, they each took a slice and stood around near the kitchen counters to eat and talk. It was halfway through a moment of eating and very little talking, that Butter decided to break the ice again. He swallowed the pie in his mouth and cleared his throat before he spoke.
“You know, that moment back there, with the bullies, that was a moment of déjà vu, except maybe with the roles reversed, huh?”
Applejack laughed, snorting a little in the process. "Yeah! Ah guess this means ah'll be th’ one protectin’ ya from now on, huh?"
"Well, you're certainly big enough to scare them all away!" Came the quick snark, always with a fondness for his friend tucked inside. Alas it nearly fell flat like it had over two years ago.
"...y-yeah." Applejack sighed, suddenly feeling freakish once again.
"...But hey, funny twist or not, I'm glad to have you back Applejack. I didn’t realise how much I needed you in my life. And, I think...if you’re ok with it, I’d like to step up our friendship another level. Even if we have just newly renewed it, I don’t want to have another day without you.” He leant over and hugged her tightly, well as tight as he could anyway.
Applejack returned the hug as well, squeezing Butter tightly, though a little more awkwardly. She had been right after all, despite everything that had happened, and all those moments of unease; Butter had made her feel good in the end. It might have taken a few years, but this moment right here made up for all of it. She could spend all day here to just soak it in and let it all wash over her. She didn’t care who happened upon them, they were going to be exposed to their relationship at some point in the future. She knew that Butter felt the same; his lack of willing to struggle against her embrace told her of that. He was more than content to simply stay pressed into her chest. The pair of them stood there locked in the embrace of one another before Applejack whispered her response to him.
“Ah’d be glad t’ spend mah time w’ ya, Butter, an’ turn our friendship into a proper relationship…”
7'1ft: I Dream, You Dream, We All Scream in Our Dreams
It was the end of the first week that Butter and Applejack had been together, or rather, it was a few days since they’d gotten together. It just happened to fall on the end of the week, and Butter was surprised to see that his new girlfriends growth spurt was not finished. Although Applejack had been taller than he expected when they first crossed paths again, he had at least looked sort of normal against her. As normal as he could when he was more or less level with her shoulders that is. In the few days that they had been together however, Applejack had grown a further four inches, leaving Butter now shorter than her shoulders and slowly dipping toward her armpits. He said he wasn’t bothered when they were out together, though he was fully aware that people were staring at them wherever they went. He was more concerned about how Applejack was feeling at these moments. After all, she hadn’t seemed the most confident when the pair had laid eyes upon the other again. She’d seemed to be quite the opposite in fact, which defied everything Butter knew about her in the past. She had always been stubborn, full of comebacks, eager to get out and do whatever she could with people. Now that he had enough time to see her in her natural environments and how she moved about, he realised that the old her was gone. There were traces of it here and there, but for the most part, it was like he was dating an entirely new person.
Applejack, on the other hand, thought Butter hadn’t changed much at all. He was still the same fun, silly, optimistic yet snarky creature that he’d always been. He didn’t even seem to be bitter about the way they had parted either. She hadn’t brought it up with him though, for fear of bringing back bad memories for the both of them. The last thing a relationship this far into its infancy needed was someone digging up the bad things of the past. So she had resolved that if Butter wanted to speak about it at any point, then they would discuss it and put it to bed. For now, if neither wanted to talk about it, then that was how it was going to be, after all, if that was the case it clearly wasn’t as big an issue as she thought. Other than that one little niggle, the few days that they had together had been some of the best she’d had in recent years. Butter was keen to show off the skills he had learnt in Manehattan, cooking all the meals at their respective times; introducing her to dishes she hadn’t seen or tried before along the way. He clearly enjoyed the way her face lit up when she discovered a tasty dish that she otherwise might never have touched before. She often asked for seconds, which Butter was only too happy to provide, albeit she never let on that it was because the ‘average’ portion size just didn’t fill a woman of her stature.
Other than food, the pair had taken to long walks in the orchards, spending time with Applejack’s friends, and cozying up together in the Apple family homestead. Granny Smith and Big Mac had been a little bit wary of the sudden relationship between the two, remembering some of the things Applejack had said after they split up in childhood. They quickly saw that it was the result of her anger for the most part and not actually true. Butter was charming to her relatives, even spending a little time with Apple Bloom when her friends were busy. It was like playing stepfather to her, as though she was a child of Applejack’s. She wasn’t, but the essence of a familial bond was certainly present between the two. So Butter was accepted into the family with open arms, at least as a friend. If he wanted to be accepted in the other way then a little more time needed to pass. For now he was content with the special friendship the two had.
On this particular day, or rather, what was left of it, Applejack and Butter were preparing to turn in for the night. They’d had a long day exploring the fields on the outskirts of Ponyville, looking for a certain type of herbal ingredient for another of Butter’s cooking recipes. They had found more than enough, but by the time they got back to the homestead, both of them were more inclined to sleep than cook. So that’s exactly what the pair had decided on, leaving the ingredient in the kitchen and retreating upstairs to their shared room. Although they both slept in the same room, they had yet to invest in a double bed, instead being left with two singles. They pushed them close enough together to simulate the effect of a double bed, but the void in the middle did threaten to swallow them up at times; Butter more than Applejack. It was a somewhat misshapen bed, with Butter’s bed standing a little shorter than Applejacks. Even with the extra space that Applejack had, her feet still pressed up against the board at the bottom of the bed. She often woke up complaining about how her feet and legs were cold all through the night, as her large feet propped up the end of her blanket like a tent pole. Still, at least it was better than sleeping on the floor.
Given the tired state of the pair, they got dressed into their nightwear, back to back to avoid revealing too much to the other. Then they hugged for a little while and climbed into their respective beds. Butter slept on his side so he could fall asleep knowing that Applejack was before him, whilst Applejack slept on her back, the only position that allowed her to fit on the bed itself. The pair didn’t even manage a simple ‘goodnight’ as no sooner had they got themselves comfortable, did the sounds of light snoring filter into the air. Mostly those sounds were coming from Butter, but Applejack did chime in with her own unique brand of snoring now and again. That was that; they were off to another little adventure in dreamland, allowing their minds to rest and process the day’s events. Though in Applejack’s case, her ‘rest’ was about to become anything but, as her dreams were due to take a wild twist.
In her dream state, Applejack painted a picture of Ponyville, standing herself on a somewhat sketchy and skewed landscape. The main elements of Ponyville were there, restaurants, shops, even the town hall, they were all there. She looked down at the floor to see that like reality, she had grown again, another quarter of an inch if she had to guess. She shrugged and looked back towards the town hall, surprised to find that Butter was now standing there, watching and waving at her. She wasn’t in control of her dreams; she wasn’t one of those lucky people that could become self-aware and control the world around them in their heads. Still, at least this appeared to be a pleasant one, with just her and Butter hanging out together in her dreams. Something was a little off though as she walked towards Butter. His waving seemed to slow and his body language seemed to change. But if she took a step backwards, then things resumed like normal, and he was waving happily again. Applejack felt herself wanting to walk away from Butter, but something was compelling her forwards. She was forced to watch as her lover became more despondent and frustrated the closer she got.
There was something else that was wrong though; the closer she got to Butter, the more the world seemed to grow around her. It was unusual seeing things revert to how they had been when she had been a child. Though it didn’t stop there either. She watched in horror as the world around her continued to grow, far past even her diminutive childhood state. Even Butter, the one she had come to love wasn’t immune from this strange phenomenon. Slowly but surely, he reached the same height that she was in reality. There was something about seeing a creature that big and that angry that unsettled her. She was no stranger to seeing oversized creatures; she and her friends had seen more than enough in their lifetimes, though very few matched her for size currently. But this, this was something else. As she got close enough to hear Butter talking to himself, she realised that he was talking about her. He mumbled something about how Applejack had been the cause of so much difficulty in his life. He recited comments about how she was costing him an arm and leg in food, making him pay extortionate amounts of money to feed her when they lived on a darn orchard. Applejack protested that it would never get so bad; she was only seven feet tall, it was hardly like she was going to grow into some giant monster. Unfortunately for her, she was only as big as Butter’s smallest toe by this point, leaving him looking like a giant to her.
He continued on, talking about how the townsfolk hated him because his girlfriend was causing so much damage. He recited places she knew well, such as Quills and Sofas; explaining how on one visit there, she had flattened several sofas and even teased the owner. He called her a rebel, something that he needed to get some distance from before the entire town turned on him like they had Applejack. She didn’t know what to think; what was this nightmarish situation she was in? She willed herself to wake up, to get her out of this scenario and back to reality where she could hug Butter and make it all go away. She even closed her eyes and tried to imagine an entirely different scenario, hoping that she could end up in a field of fluffy bunnies instead. When she opened them, she found herself still shrinking and still being forced to listen to the booming voice of her boyfriend. He went on to talk about how Applejack, fuelled by the power that her size brought, had rampaged through the streets of Canterlot, culminating in an intense battle with the Princesses. At this point he heaved a great sigh, rubbing his temples as he recounted that they had lost, bowing to the superior strength that Applejack showed.
Then the ground began to shake, with Applejack being rocked onto her backside as panicked screams began to ring through the air. Butter continued to stare down at the floor, his head sinking just a little lower so he was now looking at the smaller Applejack. The thumping grew louder for a few seconds before falling into silence, leaving just the sound of panicked residents fleeing the scene. Butter rubbed at his temples again, as a shadow fell over him and the rest of the town. Applejack looked up at him, saddened that he felt this way because of her, even if it was all sort of blown out of proportion. She wasn’t going to grow into some massive beast was she? She had been so sure that it was just a thing while she was growing up, like a wish come true, but if it didn’t stop, then it would certainly become a nightmare. Butter would struggle to look after her and then he’d, well he’d get like this, out on his own with no-one to stand by his side and comfort him. Where was she? Was she off sauntering around the other nations, looking for new ways to intimidate people? An even greater, booming, voice gave the answer to her question and it wasn’t good.
“What’s th’ matter, Sugahcube? Ah thought ya liked big, powerful women?”
Applejack craned her neck back to find herself staring up at what could easily have passed for a mirror. It was her face, so much bigger and fierce. She towered over the town; even Twilight’s castle only came up as far as her ankles. By now the town was empty, with everyone fleeing north away from the giant Applejack. The only people left were the minuscule Applejack, Butter and the massive Applejack, the only background noise coming courtesy of a howling breeze. Butter refused to look up, seemingly content to just stare at his feet and listen to the monstrous Applejack avatar mock him in public. It was all so wrong, everything about this whole scenario. Applejack wasn’t like this; she was kind, friendly, willing to help people out when they needed it. She didn't have an evil bone in her body, especially not when it came to Butter. She could never intentionally berate Butter to the point where he was experiencing some kind of alienation breakdown. It just wasn’t her, this wasn’t her, and it could never be her, could it?
“Oh that’s right; ya only like ‘em to a certain height, doncha? Suddenly ah wus too big fer ya, wasn’t ah?”
Applejack raised her foot up and hovered it over the smaller Applejack and Butter. This time Butter did look up, staring at her taking in that twisted and scorned face. The smaller Applejack shouted as loud as she could, trying to get his attention, telling him that they should run for some kind of cover. He still couldn’t hear her, heck, the only things that were likely to hear her now were the insects that roamed around. The larger Applejack brought her foot down on the pair, with li’l Applejack crying out as she did so. There was no audible crush though, no searing pain followed by a wash of nothing. She opened one eye, then the other, to see just what was going on and was surprised to see that everything had reset to how it was. The sketchy environments, the Ponyville locale, even Butter standing and waving to her off in the distance. She felt that same drive to walk forwards returning to her, pushing her along the set path, despite already knowing what was at the end. She couldn’t bear the thought of going through it all again, listening to how she had disappointed Butter and ostracised him from his friends. It was the very thing she had been fearing for a long time, made real right before her eyes.
This time though, as she stepped towards Butter, he didn’t stop waving at her, at least, not right away. He seemed happier at first, his waving only getting faster and more frantic the closer she got. The world around her was changing too, just like before but instead of her shrinking, it was the landscape. She watched as Butter seemed to shrink away before her, slowly, in quarter inches, much like she was growing today. The houses and homes began to reach lower and lower with each step, starting off standing well above her. Then, bit by bit her various body parts began to rise above them, starting at her head. Up and up she sprouted, her feet spreading wider and wider into the streets, threatening to push up against the homes and smother Butter in due time. She heard that voice from before, reciting the same comments to Butter and she could just about see his face begin to fall. It was happening all over again, except this time, she was going to play the part of giant Applejack. Her feet grew wider and longer, her toes digging into the dirt as she tried to keep them from reaching Butter, who was now staring up at her with his mouth agape.
The clouds overhead began to turn dark and grey, symbolic of a storm brewing. She could already see what was coming her way; she was going to become the beast from her previous situation. It seemed her dream was trying to tell her that no matter what she did or how she acted now, she was always going to grow into this creature. Yet, she just couldn’t bring herself to believe it, she was going to stop growing eventually, that had to be the case, she couldn’t keep growing forever, it would just be impossible. Yet, here she was, with no definite height, gradually outgrowing this dream world inch by inch. She mumbled how she was sorry under her breath, but nobody seemed to hear it; even with her immense size, it was like everyone was pre-recorded. When she moved her feet to better avoid running someone down, they simply moved to the new spot near where her foot would fall. She couldn’t escape it no matter how she tried. Even trying to walk away from the populated area resulted in the whole thing being moved forwards or backwards, like it was on a conveyor belt, to meet her. Swinging her arms about in panic, she took the tops off houses, sending them flying through the air and crashing down near some poor unfortunate home, or even into one. Some of the townspeople fled, but even they weren’t able to outrun her shadow, growing up to the heels of some before it encompassed them completely. The whole town was slowly falling under her and she didn’t even have to move; each movement, no matter how gentle was resulting in some untold misery.
Her feet alone were filling up the street now, both of them side by side was more than enough to have the entire width of the street to themselves. Applejack fought with her dream state some more to allow her to rest one foot on top of the other, freeing up space and leaving her wobbling and swaying with the breeze. She watched how, as she grew, the world seemed to jerk and distort around her, seemingly like she was breaking it. The destruction she had caused compared to her size was rather minimalistic, not what her dream had in mind. She could feel it trying to will her forwards, to make her become the monster that she was trying so hard not to be. A sudden blast of cold air whipped past her, circling around her and dragging her in many directions. Lightning crashed across the sky as she saw and felt the storm begin to take hold through the distorting clouds. The wind nipped at her feet, causing her to lose her balance, and making her tumble down towards the floor. She fell straight forwards onto the town hall, right where Butter stood. She tried to prop herself up with her arms as she fell, but they seemed restricted, like they were no longer a part of her body. She could only watch as they flailed about like noodles in a tornado, leaving her to crash against the floor.
The moment she was able to, she began to get up, checking beneath her to find Butter and see if he had finally moved. He hadn’t; he’d simply remained standing there, though for the most part he seemed alright. There was a slight distortion over the left hand side of his chest, which drew Applejack in closer. The distortion was like the static from a television, fizzling and cracking over the breast pocket of his chef jacket. Then, a ripping and tearing sound echoed through her head, the distortion fading away as it did so. In its place, was a slowly forming tear over Butter’s jacket. It wasn’t the material that was tearing, it was simply a projection of a slowly forming, black tear. The projection seemed to pulse in a familiar rhythm as Butter resumed looking sad again. Before Applejack had a moment to get upset about it though, she too felt herself being split apart. Like something was being forcefully pulled from inside her, tearing her apart on a molecular level. She survived the procedure, although physically drained for moment as a result of it. Getting back to her feet, she saw that once again, she was no longer the only Applejack around.
Now there was a ghostly apparition of Applejack, racing around the town and kicking, stomping, sitting on, and generally destroying the town that she held dear. Applejack was distraught, as there was nothing she could do, and this ghostly apparition of her was wrecking the town, destroying everything for no good reason. Even as she tried to stop the apparition, she was becoming an accomplice to the destruction. Just as the ghost’s feet crashed into the buildings and tore holes in the streets, so did hers. Giant footprints littered the streets and dwarfed some of the wreckages and it only stopped when an even bigger shadow loomed its way onto the scene. The ghostly AJ disappeared, fading away along with the rest of the town, until it was just the real Applejack and the shadow. She turned around to look at the owner of the shadow and was surprised to see Princess Luna, standing at a height that was almost ten times as big as Applejack. She looked down at Applejack, dressed in her own midnight blue robe which sparkled like the stars.
“Princess? Wut are ya doin’ here?” Applejack asked in surprise, feeling relief as a sense of control finally seemed to come over herself in the diarch’s presence.
“This is my realm, Applejack. I watch over and protect those that experience these night terrors, easing their mind of whatever problem is ailing them.” She snapped her fingers and shrunk both of them down to a much more manageable height. Luna still towered over the farmer, but only by a couple of feet instead of hundreds. “From what I can see, I wold seem you’re having a similar problem to what Celestia and I had growing up.”
“Ah am?”
Luna nodded, snapping her fingers again to transform the blank environment into the interior of Canterlot Castle, revealing both Luna and Celestia as youths. “We were both rather large at such a small age, especially in comparison to those around us.”
Luna fast forwarded the memory to the point where Celestia and Luna were a little bit more grown up, already bigger than the doorframes and constantly needing to duck under them. Luna was already as big as Applejack was currently, whilst Celestia was around four feet bigger. The pair were sitting in a shared bedroom, Luna having an arm around her sister, talking to her and appearing to be comforting. The audio to the memory allowed Applejack to hear of Celestia’s apparent worry that they were going to keep growing forever, always going to be the outcasts, even though they were royalty. Luna reassured her that as bleak as it might have looked, they would eventually stop when they reached adulthood. Celestia continued to wonder about what would happen if they didn’t though, they might even end up growing into the sun. Luna retorted with a comment about even if they did, at least they’d still have each other. Then the memory ended and Luna and Applejack were alone together once again.
“As you can see, you weren’t the only one that experienced growth spurts at a near continuous rate. Both of us were worried about what would happen to us in the end, just as you appear to be in your dreams. There’s no magic button that makes you stop - you have to accept it first, and then you can begin to build your life back up around it. That’s what we did, bouncing our worries and problems off each other until we felt better.”
“Ah think ah see wut yer gettin’ at…”
“And if I’m not mistaken,” Luna snapped her fingers to bring up a projection of Butter, swirling it around with her fingers. The smile on his face was warm and soothed the farm mare’s troubled heart. “This is the one who fills my place, following my example that is, yes?”
“Yeah, ah never thought o’ him like that, but ah guess he is.” Applejack whispers, reaching out to the projection to make it stop spinning.
“Well then, if you take a moment to talk with him, you might find that you’ll begin to feel better and begin to sleep a little easier.”
“Ah should do that, yeah. It’s better than...this”
“Applejack, you’re always going to end up facing difficulties, I won’t lie to you about that. Some of them are ones you can avoid, whilst others are a little out of your control.” Luna giggled to herself as she finished her sentence.
“Wut’s so funny?”
“Well, I just reminded myself of an example of a problem out of one’s control…” She snapped her fingers and brought up an image of Celestia, with a rear so big she was unable to sit in her throne. “This is my sister’s mind right now, currently worrying that she has a rather large butt, as you can see.”Snorting in an un-ladylike fashion, the Lunar Princess leaned in toward Applejack conspiratorially. “I’ll let you in on a secret though - it’s a harmless little prank I’m working on, as a playful revenge for the being trapped in the moon thing.”
Applejack snickered as she was explained the basis of the prank. “Heheh…aw shucks, thank ya Luna, ah’m grateful we had this chat.”
“As I said, Applejack, it is my duty. Now, I’ll leave you in peace to hopefully sweeter dreams…” replied the Princess as she began to fade away.
The next morning, Applejack awoke feeling refreshed and revitalised. At some point during the night, her panic had reached a level where it had woken Butter. She couldn’t be sure of his intentions, but if she had to take a guess, it was to calm her down. He had climbed up onto Applejack’s stomach and was laid out on her, hugging her tightly. He was flat out when she woke up, but Applejack appreciated the sentiment. She wrapped one arm around him and lay there with him, not wanting to move until he woke up of his own accord. Thanks to Luna, she felt a sense of relief and was ready to have a long talk with Butter when he woke up. She needed to get her thoughts out in the open and get some feedback, before her dreams turned into something far worse...
Tonight, was date night. A night where young lovers put on their best suits and ties, dresses, shoes and extras like jewellery and makeup, in order to further advance their romantic cause. It was a night for celebration, for amorous intent, for big gestures, and all round cute and grand romance. Some chose to take their beloveds to a showing at the local theatres, others would much rather sample the delights of an open air stage show. Even some people prefer a chilling balloon ride over the landscapes. The most common choice though, was that of the romantic dinner, where one could wine and dine in the lap of luxury and then some. For a princely sum, you and your beloved could find yourselves sitting on a luxury table, enjoying the very best in furniture. Your food served by the most charming and sophisticated waiters you could imagine. The food itself being cooked up by several award-winning chefs, each one just that little bit more talented than the other, ready to bring your wildest food desires to life. Some found it to be one of the most romantic settings that you could create with your hard earned money. Others felt suffocated by the fanciness of it all, the attitudes of each waiter notwithstanding. All in all, it was a matter of opinion, but the majority of people who claimed to enjoy it couldn’t be wrong, could they?
Someone who was hoping that they weren’t was Butter, who was gearing up for his fourth date night with Applejack. They’d been going slow and steady so far, taking time to get themselves accustomed to each other again. Things were going well however, the pair naturally gelling with each other like the old days. They often joked about how things had changed since then, what with Applejack’s increased size and how she was bigger than before, and able to stand up for herself without Butter’s help. She did have a new problem instead though, that being her rising height. It was making things a little more difficult than regular life needed to be, what with the exaggerated scale. Butter was quite content to work on those particular areas himself, buying scaled up replicas of things to make her more comfortable. He was quite happy to spend money on Applejack to make her happy, but Applejack wasn’t quite returning the favour. She felt a little strange that Butter was happy to show so much love; like he was putting all his cards on the table, when the pair hadn’t even had their first kiss yet. Truthfully, Applejack felt guilty about that. Butter had been trying, and certainly there was nothing to discredit that. Getting as close as he possibly could to her, snuggling up to her, taking her on dates. He was really trying his best to make sure that Applejack loved him, and that she knew of his own, but in reality he needn’t try so hard.
Applejack loved him, she was sure of it. She just felt that it was hard for her to make that move first. Every time she felt sufficiently loved up, or the mood called to her, Butter ruined it with some big chauvinistic or romantic gesture. He was his own worst enemy as far as taking this relationship further was concerned. She was hoping that tonight would be a little different, but then, this was Butter she was talking about. She sighed as she dressed herself for the evening, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind. Tonight was going to be the night; at the end of the whole thing she was going to have her first kiss with Butter. He didn’t know it, but she was comfortable that he was going to be able to take it like a man. The pair dressed up nicely; Butter wore his best suit, whilst Applejack begrudgingly dolled herself up. A couple of braids to her hair and a dress shirt with trousers and she was set. The only thing she needed to put on were her shoes, which she had complained about many times previously. Butter had stressed that she put them on this time though, something about the place they were going to being very particular about being fully clothed. Applejack had protested, but once she’d seen the boots that Butter had bought for her, she had no choice but to agree.
The boots were thick, black and leather, with two red apples stitched into the calves and the loops of a lasso across the toes. They even had small platforms on the heel to boost her height; with them on, she would surely crest over two inches past ten feet, much to her exasperation. Applejack surmised they were part of a rodeo outfit, but the look of them was just too good to leave behind. She put them on and showed them off for Butter, who was really quite pleased with them. Even the poses that Applejack took when she showed them off were more than just little teases. Showing off her inner thighs, hefting her chest, sticking it out, she was a wealth of femininity. With those boots, she and Butter were finally ready for their fourth date night. They made their way into the town with Butter taking the lead to show Applejack just where they were going. They passed many good places on their way, leading Applejack to wonder just where they were headed. She thought she knew every restaurant in Ponyville, not that she’d eaten at them, but she’d seen them. Butter rounded several more corners and the pair were standing before what could be considered a whole new place.
It was fancy, which was pretty much a certainty. Not just Ponyville levels of fancy though, more like Canterlot or Manehatten. The building itself was one Applejack had thought to have been abandoned long ago. If that was the case, then this place had just sprung up overnight, or even just before they had left the farm. A place like this opens up and people would have been talking and spreading rumours about it, good or bad, it would still be the hot topic for days. Applejack hadn’t heard anything from anyone about it, which cemented her belief that this was a new restaurant. Butter busied himself with greeting the doorman to prove that they were supposed to be dining there tonight. Applejack listened in; she was looking to learn anything she could about this mysterious new eatery. Butter was sparing in his terminology though, and the doorman wasn’t going to reveal anything either the way he addressed her date. So eventually, the pair of them were allowed inside, but Applejack encountered a problem.
The building that this restaurant was placed inside was an old one, certainly a couple of generations at most. The door was built for someone who was much smaller than average, certainly much smaller than Applejack. She was forced down onto her knees and made to crawl through the doorway like a dog. Not the best way to start the date, but Applejack was slowly getting used to this sort of thing happening. She was grateful that there was very little in the ways of bad weather these past few days. It minimised the amount of dirt and mess that was on the floor and it especially limited the consistency. It was just dust at the moment, but given one intense rainfall it could soon become much worse. She squeezed her way into the building, with Butter following from the rear. Given that she was too busy crawling inside; she didn’t notice the wink that Butter gave to the doorman as he walked past. Or the reply chuckle as the doorman watched where Butter’s eyes roamed.
Inside, the building had been completely renovated, a spectacular feat for something that Applejack had believed to have simply sprung up overnight. The walls were completely white, with banners and decorations of gold and silver lining them. A grand chandelier hung from the ceiling and waiters dressed in black suits were milling about between the only table in there and the back room. The questions that Applejack had before began to multiply rapidly. Why were there so many staff for one table? What was with all the grandeur? Applejack didn’t know where to look; she might have been dressed to fit in, but she certainly didn’t feel like she did. The pair of them waited for a waiter to come to meet them and lead them to where they would be sitting for the evening. Applejack didn’t see why they needed to be led to where they were going to be sat, as there was only one table and only two chairs. It didn’t exactly take a genius to work out who they were meant for. Applejack bit her tongue though, not wanting to spoil Butter’s night and the work he had put in. Butter sat himself down at the table first, whilst the waiter pulled the chair out a little further for Applejack. She slid herself into the space between the chair and the table, and sat.
Her knees pulled up higher that the table, and the chair groaned under her weight. She didn’t look the perfect picture of a date, but she could be grateful of one thing: she wasn’t wearing a dress. Had she been, then she might have been revealing something to Butter that should have been saved for long after the first kiss. Butter didn’t seem to mind too much; as long as she was happy, then he would be too. He could see that she had questions though and he smirked at her whilst the pair waited for their menus. Applejack pressed herself up against the table and looked around the room for a little longer before settling her eyes on Butter. He was up to something, whether it be another romantic gesture or something else, she didn’t know. Her mind was too busy being overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of this gesture as a whole. If Butter was behind this, then he had brought together a group of staff trained in the service business, put a variety of decorations up and made a restaurant out of an abandoned mess.
Finally, Butter couldn’t let the silence reign any longer. “I know you have questions, Applejack. I can see it in your face - you don’t know what to make of this, right?”
“Ah know yer planning somethin’ romantic, something grand, jus’ like all th’ oth’r times.” Applejack replied.
“But you did like the other times right?”
“Ah did, err, ah do. Ah’m jus’ at a loss for words t’ describe what ya are up to this time…”
“Sir? Madam? Would you care to order something now?” One of the many waiters on the staff asked.
Applejack and Butter shared a glance at one another, looking into the other’s eyes before nodding in agreement to the question. The unicorn waiter levitated a notepad and quill out from a pocket on his jacket and gestured to the pair to begin reciting their orders. Butter ordered a single starter, whilst Applejack ordered two. Hers being a blue cheese wedge salad and breadsticks, whilst Butter chose a simple soup. As far as mains were concerned, both picked the most expensive and exquisite thing they could think of. Butter chose a filet mignon and coconut shrimp on the side, flashing the waiter a wide, knowing, smile. Applejack caught the smile and the frustrated response from the waiter, but kept quiet. This was all information that she could use later when she confronted him for answers behind this. He stressed that it was no matter, that the cooks were all skilled in different styles, so if there was anything she wanted, it could be made. Applejack only needed a brief second before she placed an order for a Manehattan strip steak, along with a fully loaded jacket potato. Neither of them ordered a dessert just yet, as their current meals were fairly filling so it didn’t make for a compelling case that they would be hungry afterwards. The waiter excused himself from their tableside and retreated into the kitchen to relay their order to the chefs.
Once again, the pair were left on their own, Applejack resting her hands on the table in a more relaxed pose. Of course ‘relaxed’ was a generous term for her being hunched over somewhat, peering through her partially parted knees. Butter reassured her though by resting his hands on top of hers. The size difference was a little startling, but feeling her curl her fingers around his hand eased him a little more. They stared longingly into each other’s eyes, trying to figure what the other was thinking about. For Butter, he was thinking about Applejack and how she’d grown in such a short space of time. Since the time they had entered into a relationship she had grown nearly four feet taller, leading to her being in situations like tonight with the chair. Evolution was nowhere near taking the kinds of leaps that she was going through, meaning that everything in the world was incorrectly sized. Sure, her brother, Big Mac, had been going through a similar sort of thing whilst he was growing up and for most of his adult life. Sure, he didn’t reach the heights that Applejack had reached whilst she had been growing up and for her own adult life, but he at least somewhat understood her pain.
Butter was going to have to start thinking in terms of Applejack’s growth for the future, if they were going to continue living with one another. The Apple family homestead was beginning to get a little more crowded than he would have liked. Especially when it came to sleeping arrangements; Applejack didn’t have a bed to accommodate her, so she opted to sleep on the floor instead. It was beginning to give her a bad back and Butter often woke up in the night listening to her groaning and moaning in pain while she slept. Perhaps that could be his next grand gesture after the night was done; surprising her with a place to live in comfort more befitting her rising size. That was of course the easier part of the solution. The rest was trying to get the rest of the world to confirm to her new size. Still, he was definitely not one for giving up; he was going to make her transition as easy as possible, no matter how long it took and how big she got.
Applejack was thinking about her earlier thoughts and how this night was slowly building her confidence. Even as the starters made their way to the table, she continued to think about that first kiss. She picked pieces of her salad and breadsticks up and stuck them in her mouth, wondering if it bothered Butter as much as it did her. She’d never had a lover like him, and she’d certainly never had the courage to flat out kiss someone that she had feelings for. The only other kisses in her life had come from family when she had been growing up and they were never able to hold a candle to a romantic exchange. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind as she thought about it, picturing how it would go, how he would react, whether or not he’d take the lead. There were so many things she needed to go right about it and so many things that could just turn out so very wrong. She almost wanted to speak up, to ask him if she was ever going to get one from him. What she ended up saying was much different.
“So uh, ah wus wonderin’, what’s th’ deal w’ this place? Ah ain’t never seen a restaurant ‘round here, jus’ abandoned buildings,”
“Do you really want me to spoil the big surprise so early? We haven’t even gotten to the end of the main meal yet…”
“Ah know, but ah, well, ah jus’ can’t believe how awesome all this is. An’ ah know yer all about the grand gestures, but this feels different from what ya usually do. Ah’m jus’ desperate t’ know the story behind it. Plus, ah saw the way ya were lookin’ at that waiter jus’ now…”
Butter swirled his complimentary glass of water charmingly, smirking as he did so. “Alright, Applejack, I’ll tell you. Only because I wouldn’t want that pretty head of yours to get too full of conspiracies about me,” He laughed and snorted, then began to recount the story.
It transpired that Applejack had been right; this was an old abandoned building, completely devoid of any activity for years. Butter had come across it when he was looking for a restaurant that they could visit for their next date night. They’d done plenty of things on their other dates and Butter had plenty of ideas that could make the next one grand and superior, but a part of him felt that Applejack wanted a simple pleasure. So when he found the building, he went straight to the mayor’s office to see about getting a permit to work in there. The mayor was reluctant, given that Butter didn’t have any experience in terms of construction, but after he pleaded with her for three hours straight, she had to admire his drive. She granted him the permit for as much work as he needed, provided he paid for it out of his own money. Then she granted him a second permit to allow him to actually host the event there, for a single night and not another more. So, once he had that building, he paid a visit to every restaurant he could find in Ponyville, seeing what each of them offered in terms of quality. He knew that Applejack had lived here all her life, so the chances were she’d been to all of them at least once. As soon as he’d done his research, he realised that none of them did anything that could be considered simple. There was no special spaces for couples; the decorations were loud and in your face, as if it was like a Pinkie Party, but in restaurant form.
That was when he decided on the simple decor and staff uniforms, even the idea to make it exclusive to the pair of them on their special night. A day later, he had planned out the designs of the room, down to the smallest little detail, and given it to the best interior designer in Ponyville. With their expertise, along with the local construction crew, paid for by him as per the rules, they transformed his vision into a reality, one he hoped Applejack would have loved. At this point in the story, Applejack commented about how she was amazed that he had managed to keep it all a secret from her. Butter dismissed her with a comment about how he’d struggled not to spoil the surprise early every day that they were together. He explained how the little lies he had to keep giving to stop her from getting suspicious were beginning to pile up and he was about one more day away from spilling the beans. Not to mention the niggling guilt of doing so to the pony who held the Element of Honesty, and was his girlfriend. Applejack, recalling her own experiences with lying, sympathized and promised to let him off the hook, for a price. They both shared a laugh before Butter resumed his story telling.
Next, he had to find the best chefs in Equestria to cook their food for them. He needed a range, seeing as he had no menu planned for the evening, so they needed to know how to cook whatever came up. So he had ventured to Canterlot, looking to hire the very best, who were unfortunately far too busy to even give him the time of day. Thanks to their refusals, Butter had a brainwave about what he could do instead. He dropped by the newly renamed Manehatten Institute of Fine Cooking and Baking, the place he had trained at after leaving Ponyville, and called in some favours with friends. Just little things that he had been sitting on for a long time, which half of the friends didn’t even expect him to have been serious about. Still, they agreed to his plans and he filled them in on just what roles he wanted them to fill. All those that were skilled in cooking a particular dish, whether it was meat, fish, vegetables, whatever, there would be two chefs to each category. Those that were duplicates beyond that would be the waiting staff. By this point in the story, the main courses had arrived and both Butter and Applejack kept pausing to eat up.
Butter eventually managed to explain that there had been a slight catch in his plan. By taking the night off, his friends were losing out on a fair bit of money, some of which needed the bits to keep afloat. So Butter sweetened the deal by saying that whatever was ordered on the menu, Butter would pay for out of his own pocket. Which led to explaining the in-joke behind the waiter’s reaction to their order; everyone was being paid but those who actually cooked got a bigger tip. As they came to the end of their main courses, he confessed that although he had spent a lot of money and the result wasn’t as glamorous or as showy as the others, it was all for an ulterior motive. Just as he was about to explain it, Applejack’s stomach rumbled something fierce.
The mare flushed with shame. “S-sorry about that ah-”
“Heh, are you still hungry? I mean, you can order more if you like, it is my treat after all…” Butter snapped his fingers and the army of waiters crowded around the table, notepads and quills at the ready.
“Ah dunno...ah could jus’ wait-”
“Applejack, this is a night for you - a special night. Eat as much as you like, because as long as it’s for you, I don’t mind how much it costs. I think I made that pretty clear already didn’t I?” Butter waves a hand at their surroundings.
“If yer sure…”
“Positive.”
Applejack then began to rattle of a list of food that would almost be enough to fill a small truck. Each of the waiters had at least one page of food orders in their notepad and some had left for the kitchen already. By the time Applejack had finished dictating her order; food was leaving the kitchen and making its way to her table. Cold food, various kinds of sauces, even a whole apple pie made it over to her. Butter just sat backas she abandoned some of her manners, greedily grabbing at whatever she could reach and forcing it into her mouth. Butter watched in awe as lump, after lump, of food bulged out her throat and slide all the way down to her stomach. The gurgling continued, but it was overshadowed by the gnashing and gulping Applejack made as she ploughed through each course. The chair beneath her began to creak a little as she ate; the legs bending, whining in protest as she continued to down food and further its strain to keep her up. Butter swirled his water some more, taking a sip, unable to look anywhere else as Applejack ate. Even some of his friends began to gawk as their orders were delivered and snatched from their trays before they could even place the dish down. Her stomach began to bulge outwards from the sheer volume of mass that was being piled into it. She lost that sculpted belly she had been rocking for years, instead replacing it with a rounded gut. She blushed as Butter stared at it, entranced by its rapid growth, but she just couldn’t take a break from eating.
It was like someone had switched a lever in her brain into the ‘eat continuously’ position. Like she hadn’t eaten in days, yet she knew this not to be the case. But that didn’t account for all the growth she had undergone, which in turn meant more fuel needed to burn. Working on a farm while swelling several feet taller meant her metabolism needed greater quantities, yet she had been subsidizing on normal portions out of sheer stubbornness to change. As if fearful eating her fill would only encourage her body to sprout taller, or perhaps worry, that she would eat her family’s pantry dry. The chair began to crack under the added weight of her gut, now round and full, as if she were pregnant from her feast. A loud split rocked the air, followed by a low whine which gradually increased in pitch. Before she could even take another bite out of her meal, the chair collapsed, sending Applejack’s giant butt and added weight smashing into the floor. Applejack swung backwards, kicking her legs out as she tumbled to the floor, which sent the table flying over Butter’s head. Food went soaring in all directions, Butter remaining calm remarkably, sitting there taking another sip of his water as the waiters all ducked and dived. The whole thing looked like a scene from some kind of comedy sketch programme. Applejack lay flat on her back, chest rising and falling lazily as her body processed the food more than the panic and surprise. For a moment, her mind switched off from food mode and began to recount the story Butter had told her, about his grandest gesture of affection yet. Instead of shame she felt something else welling up inside; a furiously passionate love.
Butter got up from his chair and crossed the room to where Applejack’s head lay. She was staring up at the ceiling, but as he leant in, ready to pass some smug or witty response, Applejack pulled him towards her, raising her head to meet him. Their lips locked in a somewhat crumb-filled and different sized kiss. The love was still there though; they both felt it, their bodies becoming one in a moment of passion. They kept their eyes open, staring deep into the other’s, watching, expressing, loving. Butter dropped his glass to the floor and the waiters all nodded their heads in silent approval. Applejack moved her arms around him and hugged him close to her body, kissing him deep before pulling away. They both sighed and regained their breath fairly quickly, but Applejack was first to speak.
“Butter Nut, ah, ah love ya, Sugahcube,”
Butter practically melted at the comment. “I love you too, Applejack, and really you’ve just made this night perfect. I hoped this was how tonight was going to end…”
“Even down t’ th’ table an’ th’ food?” A rumble came from her stomach, and she turned her head to burp, loudly. Her cheeks darkened around the freckles dotting them as she looked back at him abashed.
“Well, maybe not those,” he chuckled as he pressed his lips up against hers, the pair engaging in what would soon become the second of many kisses.
Personal hygiene was of the utmost importance in the day to day lives of the folks in Ponyville and indeed just about anywhere else. In a place like Ponyville, where each and every day someone new would pass through, a first impression was vital. Hygiene was probably the biggest factor in terms of making a good first impression, especially considering how your lack of it could be seen, or smelt, from quite a way away. For the citizens, a simple bath would be all one needed to reach an acceptable standard of grooming, but when it came to special cases like Applejack, things were a little more difficult. Early on in their relationship they had been using the bathroom in the homestead. Butter had no real reservations about using it, other than the fact that he kept sliding down the tub, not being tall enough to put his feet on the end. Applejack had the opposite problem in that she had been too tall for the tub. Her feet had been hanging over the edges of the tub, dripping water onto the floor below. She still managed to get clean, even if she had to call Butter in to help get the spots she couldn’t reach. He wasn’t allowed to look though; they hadn’t quite reached that level of intimacy yet.
By the time Applejack had reached eleven feet in height, the tub was not a viable option anymore; her rear alone struggled to fit into it. Instead they had converted the bathroom into a wet room, running a hose pipe from one of the downstairs taps, up into the bathroom. Once again, Butter was brought in to hose her down, but once again, he wasn’t able to look, instead relying on Applejack’s words to guide him where he needed to spray the water. The idea was short lived though, as Granny Smith and Big Mac both complained about the water dripping through into the rooms below, causing water damage. Not to mention that damp was beginning to set in along where the water pooled up against the walls. The only option they had left was to take the same method and apply it to the outside world instead. Applejack had been against the idea and once Butter showed her the place she would be getting cleaned, she was even more against the idea. He had chosen the space behind the Apple family’s barn, no curtain or anything that might shield her from view, just a dusty yard. She vehemently denied that she was ever going to get washed in such a way, even going so far as to refrain from bathing for a few days in protest. Though that resulted in her being caught when she least expected by Butter and the powerful hose pipe. Still, she was stubborn like a mule, even after her surprise soaking; she couldn’t be swayed to try the outside shower.
So Butter resolved to find a different solution, somewhere that he and Applejack could bathe each other, without the possibility of strangers. This brings things up to the current day, where Butter hadn’t made much progress, but was gearing up for a trip outside the town limits for another search. He’d found a lake inside the city limits that he had thought to be perfect, at least until he brought Applejack down to show her. Upon doing so, he found out that the reason it seemed so perfect was because it was a popular relaxation destination when the sun was shining. Given that Applejack couldn’t control the weather when she needed to get herself clean, and she certainly didn’t want to expose herself to any onlookers she might find hiding in the foliage, it was a no-go. So Butter had went about searching for other places and during his research he had heard about another lake, one that nobody went to visit. Mostly due to the fact that it was outside of the town and that there was another popular one stuck much closer to home. So he was rather optimistic that he had finally found himself a place that he could comfortably give his girlfriend a good washing.
So off he went, ready to bring home the metaphorical bacon and finally have a location that would appease Applejack at long last. He trekked through the fields on the outskirts of Ponyville until he arrived at the denser foliage that sprung up due to the proximity of the Everfree Forest. While the forest was on the eastern side of Ponyville, it reached far and wide around the town, the thick of it remaining in the east. Butter was eased a little by this, as the last thing he wanted whilst he, or Applejack were bathing, was for a pack of timberwolves to roam on by and catch them in the buff. The idea itself was rather humorous when it was kept to the imagination, but the reality would be much direr. Applejack might have had a chance to survive and defend herself against the wolves, but Butter was as much a goner as his name would suggest. After cutting his way through some of the denser parts of the foliage, he happened upon the lake in question, one that seemed to be, at first glance, precisely what he was looking for. A large expanse, seemingly somewhat shallow, but Butter hadn’t tested the depth at the centre just yet. He sat on the bank of the lake and dipped his toes into the shallow water. The water itself seemed strange, not like the water at the previous lake. It seemed thicker, smoother, like syrup washing over his toes in waves.
A quick glance around the foliage was reassuring as well; despite there being a lack of tree coverageabove him, there seemed to be incredibly tall and thick foliage blocking access to the lake save for where he cut his way in. It was no wonder people didn’t seem to come here often, as the dense growth around the lake would be enough to put off anyone who didn’t want to find themselves lost in the Everfree. After thirty minutes of waiting, Butter was confident that they were likely to be undisturbed whether by pony or mystic animal. Now if Applejack was ok with coming to this spot to bathe whenever she needed to, then finally the pair of them could put another growth concern to rest, at least for a while. He took his feet from the water, marvelling at how the water seemed to slide slowly back into the pool, rather than simply fall back rapidly like regular water. Not paying more attention to it, Butter made his way back out of the clearing and onto the road out to Ponyville. A further twenty minutes later, he had made his way into town and up to Sweet Apple Acres. The Apple in question, that being Applejack was busy sitting out in the sun by the homestead. Her hat pulled over her eyes and her clothes revealing a great deal of skin; a must if one was after some good sun exposure.
Upon hearing the tiny footsteps of Butter, she flicked the hat upwards, and eyed her lover sprinting closer. She smirked as she watched the delightfully chubby creature running over to her, his cheeks flushed from exercise. He ran as close as he needed to, hunching over once he reached her as he tried to catch his breath. Applejack stifled a grin at his lack of fitness, at least in comparison to herself, though Butter could still see the corners of her mouth turning upwards in his mind. If he didn’t have news to tell her, then he was sure that she would put him through some sort of fitness regime right there on the spot. Not wanting to give her that opportunity he launched straight into his spiel about the lake.
“Applejack! I found a place you can use to get a bath! It’s a whole lake, easy big enough for you!”
“A lake?” Applejack frowned.“Sugahcube, ya remember how th’ last lake went doncha?”
“I do, but this one is much better. I waited around for ages and nobody came at all - even the water seems different to the water you’d find about town. It’s really kind of serene and soothing to be honest.”
“Uh huh, an’ jus’ where is this super lake, huh?”
“It’s outside of Ponyville, not by much, but it’s in this clearing, just on the edge of one of the fields!” Butter gestured toward the forest enthusiastically.
“So, ah guess ya want me t’ come w’ ya t’ see this special place an’ give it mah blessin’ huh?”
“Yup, and y’know…maybe take a bath while you’re there?”
Applejack shot him a look of pure evil. “An’ jus’ wut are ya tryin’ t’ say?”
Butter hesitated, his eyes darting around as he thought of an appropriate response. “Uhm...that I’d like to...take a bath with you?”
“Humph, ah’ll let ya consider that a save. Ah’ll git changed an’ then ah’ll come w’ ya, it jus’ better be worth it.”
Butter squeed at the prospect of Applejack being in her swimwear, but quickly covered it up with a stern look. Applejack made her way inside the homestead and up to the bedroom where her clothes were kept. Butter remained outside for the duration of the change and squeed the moment he saw her return. Her bikini was a navy blue one-piece, with a white stripe across the waist and her breasts. A white splotch was featured at the centre of the lines, with an apple emblem emblazoned onto it. Butter wasn’t focused on that though; he was watching those bare, muscular, lengthy, and shapely legs striding towards him. His cheeks flushed crimson again and his heart rate surged through the roof, though this time it wasn’t because of exercise. No, this was pure, unadulterated, arousal and excitement, and Applejack was only too aware of how she got to him like this. She strode past him, the sway of her overhead hips beckoning him to follow her out of Sweet Apple Acres. Butter willingly obliged, only taking the lead once they had managed to make it outside of town. Though Applejack still had to snap him out of his daze before he was able to lead her anywhere.
With all distractions behind him, Butter led Applejack to the clearing that contained the new lake, standing with Applejack at the edge of the water. Amazingly, the clearing had appeared to change whilst he had been away. Now the light streamed in through the canopy around the lake, creating a broken, shimmering pattern on the surface of the water. The foliage itself seemed to be a lighter shade of green than it had been earlier. It certainly had a lusher and glossy appearance, almost unnatural really when one thought about it. Even the water had seemingly undergone a transformation, turning from a slightly hazy light blue, to a deep and azure blue, something that would accompany an ocean vista or two. Considering he had already been to the location once before, Butter was feeling a sense of wonderment upon viewing it a second time. It was like it was trying to appeal to Applejack as much as possible, to have her come back again and again.
“Well? What do you think, Applejack? Good enough for you?”
Butter turned his head to look at Applejack, only to find her gone. If he had been living in a cartoon, then there might have been a cloud of dust standing right where she had been. Butter heard a splash coming from the lake itself and instead turned his attention towards the lake. There, rippling out from a point in the water, were little waves of water but no sign of the creature that had caused them. Butter checked the area behind him, just in case Applejack was planning on shoving him into the water, like many a child had tried in his youth. There was no trace of Applejack or the orange that she was most notable for. So that left him with one single option, that being to enter the water and see just where Applejack had gotten to, if she had in fact gone anywhere at all. So he stripped down to his boxers and clumsily strode into the water, disturbing the almost crystalline surface of the water further as he began his search. He half expected to trip over Applejack as she sat on the bottom of the lake, or to have her creep up on him.
Unbeknownst to him, Applejack was indeed closer than she appeared, lurking in the very deepest part of the lake, that being the centre. The azure blue of the water kept her hidden, the darkness hiding her bright, orange, body. She surfaced now and again, using the ripples above her to tell where Butter was and whether or not it was safe for her to rise for a breath. She was waiting for Butter to reach the centre, to enter her domain and receive his just rewards. She rose up and took a breath, ducking under the water just as soon as Butter whirled around to catch a glimpse of whatever was stalking him. The sound of his panicked gasps amused Applejack, so much so that she let loose a couple of bubbles, giving away her hiding spot. Noticing the bubbles, Butter swam over to them, expecting to find what he was looking for, instead finding disappointment.
Applejack wasn’t ready to reveal herself just yet though; she needed to mess with her little lover boy a little more, to make her reveal all that much sweeter. She rose upwards in the water, not going high enough to break the surface, but enough to send water rushing up and outwards. On the way down, she sent secondary waves of water moving under the water’s surface. These ones weren’t noticeable by sight alone, but should they come into contact with Butter, then he was sure to feel like something was swimming around his ankles. If anything, having it coupled with the waves coming from above as well, was bound to increase Butter’s paranoia tenfold. She kept it up for a couple more minutes before she swam closer to Butter, readying herself for her reveal.
Butter was treading water directly above her, completely unaware of what she was up to. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when she surfaced, a true terror of the deep, ready to put him through his paces. Carefully, she rose again, making as little movement on the surface of the water as she could. She didn’t want to give away her position just yet, especially with Butter so close to her. She arched her back so that her chest was primed below him, instead of her head, and then she kicked to surge upwards. Like a mermaid rising out of the depths, slicking her hair back and pulling Butter up into her chest. Butter ‘eeped’ and yelped as he was swallowed up in freckled, orange cleavage. Applejack moaned softly to complete her little charade, before sinking into the water and letting a flushed Butter paddle up and out of her chest. Applejack sunk into the water enough that her eyes and nose were above water level. Butter floated near the top of her nose, once he’d combatted the waves of her sinking that is. He had a slightly relieved and goofy expression on his face, while under the water, Applejack was grinning.
The pair decided to have a little fun, one that didn’t involve spending a lot of time stalking him underwater. The little game they played was one that was mostly childish in nature; it was simply splashing each other. Butter’s splashing didn’t really make a patch upon Applejack’s splashes. His slaps against the water merely sent little tiny jets of water crashing against Applejack’s chest. It was like being in a bathtub with a baby; sure there were slaps by the second, but it just couldn’t displace the required water to make a big mess. Applejack on the other hand, could displace enough water to put a mini tsunami to shame. Her hands jabbing into the water and sending waves half as big as Butter crashing over him, washing him further away from Applejack. She giggled as she watched him helplessly trail away; trying in vain to swim against the current she was putting against him. After a short while, Butter gave up, instead allowing himself to be pushed along with the waves. He eventually washed up against the shoreline and lay there on his back, gently rocking back and forth, staring up at the blue sky.
Applejack wasn’t going to simply allow him to rest that easy though. She waded over to him, sending him rocking on some bigger waves as her wider body shoved more water his way. Once she was close enough to Butter, she put her arms onto her hips and stared down at him, tutting loudly. Butter opened an eye and looked up to see what was blocking out his sunlight. He wasn’t surprised to see Applejack standing there, looking at him disapprovingly. Oh how quickly he moved when Applejack swung her fist into the water, mere inches from his head. He gulped down a bit of water as he was overcome by the rushing water, spray shooting up into air, wetting Applejack as well. The bigger of the two playfully stepped back, chuckling as she watched Butter squirm. Something else was at work with Butter though, an idea was forming in his head, spurred on by that sudden fist move Applejack did.
“Hey, Applejack! I bet you can’t do a bomb in the lake!”
“Wut? Are ya trying t’ clear this thing out? There ain’t a tap around here t’ fill it back up, y’know!”
“Pssh, what’s the matter? Scared? I never took you for the kind of person to be a big ol’ chicken!”
Applejack shot Butter a death glare before crossing to the water’s edge and walked out of it. It seemed that Butter’s words had struck a chord with Applejack, possibly to the extent that he had offended his larger companion. She strode away from the lake, disappearing out of the clearing. The dense foliage proved no match for the giantess as she easily snapped and plowed through it all. Butter pushed back from the shore, swimming to the deeper centre of the lake and treading water there, looking worried in the direction she’d gone. Had he offended her? There’d been stronger names passed between the two on their bad days, but sometimes feelings could be a fickle thing. He swam a little inland before pausing as he noticed ripples spreading in the water. Nothing extraordinary about that, of course, until one noticed that the epicentre of the ripples wasn’t Butter himself. No, there was something else at play here, something big, racing towards him. A sudden flash of orange through the bushes told him all he needed to know. Butter frantically tried to swim backwards to avoid what he assumed was going to be quite the splash.
Another jostling of the leaves and a loud, booming, cry of ‘yeehaw!’ heralded Applejack bursting through the bushes from a completely different spot to where she had left. Butter’s jaw dropped open at the sight of a giant orange cannonball coming towards him. Applejack had tucked her legs tight to her chest and her arms had wrapped around them to keep them tight. A round, growing shadow engulfed Butter as Applejack came crashing down upon him. Butter was forced under the water and right down to the bed of the lake, crushed underneath Applejack’s rear end. The air was forced from his lungs, taking the shape of little bubbles that rushed up to the surface of the water. There were a bunch of larger bubbles that came up from higher up in the lake, coming from Applejack no doubt. A garbled sound of pain accompanied both sets of bubbles; Butter’s coming from being flattened and Applejack’s coming from the bruising of her backside.
Butter felt the cheeks of her backside swelling over his sides, their weight proving difficult to move when combined with the watery environment. He struggled and wriggled, growing more and more frantic as he used up the oxygen contained within his body. He felt a little movement from above as Applejack’s head movedaround in the water. She was looking frantically around to see where Butter had gone, but could not see his body near the surface anywhere on the lake. Butter jerked his body rapidly, trying to get her attention. Applejack’s worry was cut short as she felt the strange sensations under her rear. Butter was exhausted now, his oxygen used up, the edges of his vision going dark. Of all the ways to go, this wasn’t one of the best, but the inclusion of Applejack’s rear certainly made it a little more pleasant. Just as his vision completely clouded up, he felt that immense weight above him lift up, still lacking the energy to do anything about it though. He lay there at the base of the lake until a pair of hands clamped around his waist.
He was pulled out of the lake and held up in the fresh air of nature once more. He gasped greedily and rapidly, his chest rising and falling in quick succession as he filled his lungs again and again. Gradually, his vision began to fill with colour again, and his other senses began to return to normality. Their return came back like being slammed into a brick wall for Butter though; each second a new scent, feel, flavour or sound came to pass over him. Applejack watched on as her little lover writhed in her grip, feeling immensely worried for him. Her instincts were telling her to flee the lake at once, with Butter in tow and take him to the nearest hospital. He seemed to be recovering for the most part, but uncertainty still gnawed at her. This was her fault; she could have just walked away and had Butter follow her. Sure, she could say that Butter was partially to blame for this mess, thanks to that chicken comment he made, but she was still the one that had crushed the life out of him. Butter spluttered and coughed up some water before he sat up straight in Applejack’s grip.
“Ugh...that...that was close…” He choked out.
“Butter, ah...ah, don’ know wut t’ say t’ ya. This wus all mah fault, ah should’ve jus’ walked off like ah planned t’ do. Ah dunno how ah could be so stupid…” Applejack began to babble.
Butter looked up at that face, that wet, sad looking face and smiled a dopey smile. “Hey, you might have crushed the life out of me, but with the way you hit the bottom, I doubt you got let off the hook.”
Applejack smiled in relief. If he could tease her after all, then he must be okay. “Well, mah butt does feel a little sore, but does ah bruise really match up t’ wut ya went through?”
“Well, perhaps not exactly the same, but hey, I’m here, you’re here, we’ll just call this mutually painful, eh?”
“An’ ah think we’re both agreed that there’ll be no more bombing durin’ bath time, right?”
Butter laughed, wincing as he bent backwards, sending a searing pain through his spine. “Haha...ow...ooh…yeah. Say, if you’re feeling clean enough for now, why don’t we head back? I think I could do with a lie down…”
Applejack nodded and walked her way out of the lake and into the foliage, not once letting go of Butter even as she scooped down and collected his clothes. Something was up with his back it seemed, so it was unfair for her to make him walk all the way back in his condition. She exited the foliage and was now in the fields, Butter pressed closer to her chest than he had been when she started walking. He wasn’t complaining as the sensations of burying his face into her bosom seemed to dull the sensations of pain in his back somewhat. Applejack wasn’t complaining either; she was happy that he had found something that made him feel better, and the least she could do was let him enjoy himself after his recent experience. They got some disapproving looks from the other people out and about, but Applejack didn’t care and Butter was too absorbed in something much more important. Together the two of them walked to the homestead, disappearing inside so Applejack could spend the evening playing nurse with him. Something else that Butter wasn’t exactly opposed to…
Apple Bucking Season, one of the most trying times of the year for the Apple family. Days and days of hard labour to ensure that they had enough of a bumper crop to continue to sell their wares to the patrons of Ponyville. In light of recent developments, it had fallen to Applejack alone to take on the task. Still growing bigger and bigger by the day, Applejack had reached the looming heights of around 12 feet tall, leaving her to make quite the impression on the surrounding public. Those that had spent enough time around her to see her grow through the years were less surprised by the transformation she was slowly undergoing. For those that were a little more safety conscious, or were suffering from some kind of height inadequacy, it was becoming quite the problem. Even back when she had been a healthy 6’10, folks had been whispering about her being too big for her, even then quite sizeable, boots. Applejack had been mostly keeping to herself and her friends since that day, occupying herself with her little flame, Butter Nut, when home. They had been going through the ups and downs together, working through each problem bit by bit and offering support to one another.
Since their last little adventure, the pair had gotten themselves a somewhat makeshift home on the orchard itself. It was nothing one could reasonably call homely but it suited Applejack’s needs for the current time being. Besides, the Apple family had only been too happy to raise another barn-like structure for the pair to live; they even crafted a whole new song out of it just for the occasion. Both Butter and Applejack had spruced it up with a few extra bits and pieces here and there to make living there easier on the both of them. Butter had ordered in a specifically sized sofa from Sofas and Quills, so that Applejack didn’t have to sit on the floor. Likewise, Applejack had turned half of the lower living quarters into a makeshift bedroom. An over-the-top mattress had been stuffed with hay and straw, which while not totally comfortable, provide the two with the sleep they needed. Though, Butter was guilty of not using the mattress to sleep on and instead using his oversized girlfriend in the process. Many times had Applejack woken up on a cold night to find her lover nowhere to be found on the mattress below, instead cozied up right underneath her gratuitous bosom for warmth. She hadn’t the heart to call him out on it yet, and couldn’t argue that even in his sleep, he appeared to be gentlemanly and careful with her boundaries.
Of course, when the time came for Applejack to set out and harvest the apples all on her lonesome, Butter seemed surprisingly scarce. He had offered to assist her over a week ago with her chores, and only the events of the lake a few days prior had held that promise off. Yet his injuries had passed and still he had not shown up in the orchard. On this particular morning, she had made a point of trying to stay awake as long as she possibly could the night before, so that she could make sure he would be around to help in the morning. Her body had other ideas though and just as she was certain that Butter was asleep, she too passed out. Later that morning she awoke, already late for the beginning of the apple bucking and once again with Butter nowhere to be seen. Had she not been so late, she might have considered spending a little time to try and locate the rascally devil; alas this was not the case. She hopped into her now rather small overalls and raced out into the orchard. She had hoped that by some sort of miracle Butter had gotten up early to surprise her by being at the orchard before her. The closer she got to her predetermined starting point though, the less likely it became, until eventually she realised she was once again on her own.
Feeling that there was no time like the present, Applejack settled down to work. Her pockets were all she needed to get the job done, at least on a row by row basis. It was the picking them up off the trees that was the part she didn’t really like. Back in the days when she was a fair bit smaller than her current size, somewhere around the six foot region, she used to bring the apples down with ease. A simple kick of her steel toed boots and they would come raining down from on high. Her recent growth spurts left her unable to do things the same way; Now she had to pick them off one by one, bending down to really dig into the tree. She oftentimes considered kicking the trees and then working herself extra hard in a short span of time to increase the back pain. Use it as an excuse to not do the work and innocently proclaim that Butter should be around somewhere. It passed the time to daydream about sitting back and watching Butter break a sweat for once, instead of wandering around or doing whatever it was he did. The first row of apples sat neatly in her pockets, the crop proving to be a little less than the usual average, but nothing to be worried about. Striding over to the next row of trees, she carefully deposited the apples into a tub left out for her before she began to work again. This time the trees were a little more fully grown, some of which stood taller than she was, whilst the others were roughly around head height. If there was one thing she didn’t like about this job, more than anything at all, it was these trees.
Having to fight her way through branches and leaves was just no fun at all. She couldn’t count the amount of times she had ended up with cuts and grazes from the sharp parts of the branches. The old saying of what didn’t kill her only made her stronger came to mind and in a way it was somewhat true. Each time she managed to get herself some kind of minuscule injury, she found that next time it hurt less. By now, she was a regular machine when it came to avoiding damage from her efforts. Still didn’t make it any less annoying for her though. The leaves gathered in her hat, meaning that when she lifted her head back to get a better look at the tree itself, she was showered with them. The leaves got stuck in places that they really shouldn’t, most notably down the front of her overalls. The feel of those waxy things rubbing up against her flesh was more uncomfortable than the straw bed. She couldn’t very well take her clothes off in the middle of the orchard to get rid of them. No matter how tempting the option seemed to be, she had to remain professional and focus on the job at hand. The universe would likely place Granny Smith or Big Mac, or even, she hated to even contemplate it, but even Apple Bloom could be around. The CMC clubhouse was only a short walk away, at least as far as Applejack was concerned. The last thing she wanted was to traumatise her little sister and her other relatives.
Moving down the trees, Applejack’s mind began to wander to other things, trying in vain to take her mind off the job and the unpleasantness at hand. She contemplated her future, especially where Butter was concerned. Right now, everything was peachy. The pair were hopelessly smitten with one another, their time as childhood friends cementing their relationship into something great. The problem as far as Applejack was concerned was that of herself, or rather her condition. Since they had reunited and taken their friendship to the next level, she had nearly doubled in height and if current trends were anything to go by, she would reach double in a couple of days. While it appeared to be fairly quiet and steady for the most part, it meant that each day she and Butter grew further and further apart. Her lover didn’t seem to mind, but she had no doubt that there was a niggle in the back of his mind that pertained to just how this relationship would work in the future. What if she never stopped? She’d have to leave town and live in some sort of valley, completely isolated from the outside world. Despite her concerns, and she had quite a few, she had never really sat down to ask Butter what he felt on the whole situation. Then again, it wasn’t like Applejack to openly admit something was troubling her, at least not off her own back. She may have embodied the Element of Honesty, but she was good at skipping over things when they weren’t directly asked of her. She continued with her work, finishing up the second row and moving onto the third. Given the hundreds of rows that the orchard contained, Applejack was certain that this was going to be an all-day kind of job, even at her size. If only Butter would show himself…
Whilst Applejack was working away at the crop of apples in the orchard, Butter was rather content at the fact that he had managed to make it through another apple bucking day without lifting a finger. Not that he wanted to avoid working, oh no. His skill set was simply meant for cooking, and as such he had been looking for a solid job down in town for the past few weeks. Unfortunately many of the locales and opportunities were already gone to townsfolk and family. In communities such as Ponyville there was little need to outsource help; being in Manehatten for two years had placed Butter decidedly out of the running. He had promised to help Applejack, assuming rightly that he would have more free time than most with paying jobs might. But then had come the eventful bathing at the hidden lake, and afterwards he had found the idea of working long hours outdoors beyond himself, seeing Applejack come in every night exhausted and sweaty.
He had good reason to do so this time though. Applejack had been working so hard lately, despite her size making certain things tougher. So Butter had instead decided that when she came home, tired and more than a little cranky at his not being there, he was going to treat her like a Queen. From the moment she came in and sat herself down, he would be all over her, waiting hand and foot. She might start ranting at him at first, about how he always disappeared when the hard work started, but once he acted, she’d soon calm down. At least, that’s what he hoped. This wasn’t exactly the first time that he had decided to take the day off and leave her to the work, so admittedly, he didn’t really have a good handle on what she might be feeling when she got home. The slight unpredictability had become something of a trend as of late, as though she had something on her mind. Butter had been planning to ask just what was bugging her, if anything, but true to his somewhat red-blooded nature, he kept finding himself at a loss for words whenever he gazed upon her.
Tonight would be different though; tonight he was all hers. If she wanted to talk then they were going to talk, if she wanted to let him massage her into sensual oblivion then that was what he was going to do. For now though, he was going to sit and rest on the couch, which was a little bit of a challenge in its own right. The couch itself was taller than he was, with the seat alone almost taller than him. Out of loving kindness, Applejack had requested a small footstool to go with the sofa. That way, Butter could climb up onto the sofa and snuggle with Applejack, or simply utilise the couch whenever he needed it. He’d never tell Applejack but sometimes he preferred sleeping on the couch with her, rather than the bed. Granted, he was usually using Applejack as the bed, but for some reason the couch was still better. The possible reasons why he felt that way were numerous, ranging from little things like the fact that it wasn’t filled with straw. Or the fact that Applejack almost didn’t fit on the couch when she sprawled out, leaving her slightly curved upwards. For Applejack it likely meant there would be a spinal problem or two in her future, but for Butter it meant that her bosom rested on him. Almost like a blanket of flesh to cover his upper body. For now, Butter decided that it couldn’t do him any harm to take a little cat nap on the couch; at least he’d be refreshed for Applejack returning. He spread himself across the middle of the three cushions and waited for sleep to take him, a smile on his face as he thought about the night to come…
A couple of hours later in the orchard, Applejack had earned herself a break. The majority of the work was done, well, half of it. The North and East fields had been totally cleared and Big Mac was already working to store the buckets of apples into the barn. Applejack had worked up a rather intense sweat from the constant bending, whacking branches, lifting and dropping. Her family had brought her out plenty of water so she could hydrate herself for the last half of the walk. The first few bottles of water had been splashed against her forehead, as opposed to going into her mouth. Most of the water had splashed right off her face and soaked through the front of her overalls, leaving a comical heart shaped water print. Applejack wasn’t bothered about it, after all she was already soaked from sweat, so a little more moisture on her body was nothing. Besides it helped to move some of those leaves to a little more comfortable position, down by her hips or resting against her stomach. Still unaware about the surprise that Butter had planned for her, she set about working on the final half of the orchard. She downed the remaining vessels of water and stomped off over to the South field, where the trees were still a little in the youthful stages of growth. It was after all a fairly new growth settlement for the family.
As she began to work on picking the ripened apples, sorting them out from the ones that could stand to be left a few more days, she recounted an old memory. Once upon a time, she had tried to take on the entire orchard during a previous apple bucking season, despite her brother’s protests. She had made a good effort, trying to get all the apples finished before the sleep deprivation got to her. In the end, it had been somewhat of a learning experience for her, mostly about compromise and it being ok to have help with things. She recalled it to memory because of how strange it was to be doing the same thing again, except this time without any of the negatives of the last time. She had finished nearly three quarters of the orchard without so much as a hint of tiredness. Sure there were other problems that had flared up due to her size and how it conflicted with the environment, but she at least ‘felt’ better than the last time. Her brother wasn’t really complaining either; he was more much more pleased to be working with the task of putting the apples into the barn, as opposed to helping out with the bucking. There was less chance of him getting a leg injury, which given previous seasons, was only too common. Even Apple Bloom would likely be pleased at the fact her sister was taking over the main part of the season, as she could spend more time with her friends, doing what they do best.
Lost in her thoughts, Applejack stormed through the South field in record time, piling them up and leaving them for Big Mac. That only left one field, the West field, the biggest field that the family had in their possession. Wiping her brow, flicking the moisture off onto the orchard ground and some of the trees, she set course for her final challenge for the day. The field itself was just outside their home, and if Applejack had any thoughts about where Butter might be hiding from her, or the work, it was likely to be this one. It seemed to go on for ages and ages, disappearing into the horizon. Sort of; the apples trees kind of blocked out the horizon so it was hard to tell just whether or not the field itself met with it. Still, this was the field that was home to the oldest and the most bountiful of all the trees in the orchard. The sheer amount of trees and their over productivity could save the Apple family’s business for an entire harsh winter, just on their own. Granny Smith often liked to tell stories of how such things had happened in the past, or go off on tangents about how the trees had been there since before she was young. Though nobody could really confirm or deny her stories, so they resorted to humouring her for the most part.
Applejack liked to believe it was true though, as did the rest of the family. So, as she began to work on these particular trees, she took the most care and effort she could. Rather than taking on the rough approach to the branches and leaves that had plagued her at other trees, she simply brushed them aside. Only the rustling of the leaves and the gentle groan of branches could be heard, a complete contrast to her earlier work. There was no snapping, no disgruntled groans, and no leaf showers, just plenty of care. Her hands cupped each apple and gently twisted and teased it away from the branch, no sudden movements, like disarming some sort of trap. Even back when she was a little smaller, Applejack had been the one to do this kind of thing. Apple Bloom was too small and youthful to really take the careful approach, instead always wanted to try some crazy scheme. Her brother was the kind that didn’t really know his own strength, or at least, was good at ignoring it. Even if you told him to be gentle or careful, he’d still break something, just because he was that strong. Applejack was the only one left, other than Granny, who had the necessary touch for the job, and when given the choice between a pensioner and a young, spritely, individual, well, it was a no brainer. This was where the most time was going to be taken and Applejack knew, that darkness would be setting in eventually, but she continued on, undeterred.
Several hours later, Butter awoke from his nap, noting how it had turned from a simple nap to something more akin to regular sleep. Applejack wasn’t back yet and the sky outside had gotten dark; the barn lacked a clock so he wasn’t sure of the exact time, but he was sure it was late. On the plus side, he was feeling more relaxed and raring to go, which was good for Applejack, as she was going to be on the receiving end of his treatment. He rubbed his palms together as he waited there for her to return home, ready to leap into action and make the entire day so much better. Just as he got done thinking about her, the door to the barn slid open. A large, shadowy figure stood at the door, stepping into the barn and closing the door behind them. The sheer size of the shadowed figure alone was enough to let Butter know that it was Applejack. He could see the top of her head and the hat she wore poking over the back of the sofa. If ever he was still in doubt though, the sudden groans from her confirmed it. Even when it was a low, guttural grunt, it still had that thick country accent to it.
Applejack crossed to the end of the couch, standing at the end with her back to Butter. She didn’t say anything and Butter wasn’t entirely sure about her body language either. She seemed to be moving her arms and legs in some way, and he heard the shuffling of clothes, but other than that, he was still in the dark. He heard a soft ‘flump’, and the clattering of what could be the buttons on her overalls, followed by a long yawn. Just as he opened his mouth though, ready to spring up off the couch and announce his plan, Applejack flopped over the arm of the sofa. Butter ‘eeped!’ as Applejack’s back came crashing down on top of him, crushing him into the cushions. The smaller creature felt the extent of her hard work almost instantly; Applejack’s bare and sweat covered back was covering the majority of his body. At first he felt icky and gross, being lathered up in her body moisture as she slid her way up the sofa to get herself into a more comfortable spot. But once her butt reached him, suddenly the feelings started to melt away. Applejack didn’t even seem to notice that Butter was stuck underneath her as she wriggled herself into her most comfortable position. In truth she was smothering Butter against her panties, which given the vast size of her butt, he was either going to get pushed between the cushions or stuck between the cheeks of her ass. Butter wasn’t complaining about the latter position; in fact, he wasn’t complaining about much these days when faced with her size, and the difference to his.
Due to the sudden drop of her body against him, whilst he had been somewhat open mouthed, it meant that he was now, whether he liked it or not, chewing the fat of her butt. Albeit there was a mass of white cotton between his mouth and her actual skin, but he didn’t care. He could still breathe through his nose and in a way this was kind of like his original plan. Whilst, he might have planned to give her a neck/back/foot massage whilst she rested, this was some kind of massage, with his mouth acting in place of his hands. Sure, the bitter taste of sweat was a little off-putting, but if it meant that he was helping Applejack take a load off after a hard day, he was all for it. In a way, it was all so very...pleasing to him. He was restricted, sure, unable to move most of his body, and yet, it wasn’t unpleasant. The heat from Applejack’s body kept him warm, like he was snuggling with his own personal radiator. The soft sounds of her breathing washing over him like the calmest waves of the ocean. The constant rising and falling of her body as she slowly drifted off to a well-deserved sleep. It was serene; like her entire frame was just oozing the stress of the day away, Butter massaging the rest away.
As the first signs of Applejack completely drifting off to sleep began to come into play, Butter began to try and turn his arms around so the palms of his hands were facing upwards. While he was content to simply lay there with mouth full of Applejack’s clothed ass, he could feel his hands clawing up, desperately trying to lay a hand on it. Applejack grunted in her sleep, lifting her butt up briefly, giving Butter the perfect opportunity to turn his fingers right side up. As she smothered him again, his hands clawed at her butt, digging into the cotton covering. His left hand struck gold, coming up against one of the weakest parts of her panties, where a hole had already developed. His fingers pressed into the gap and quivered as they brushed up against bare skin. That delightfully plump, orange, freckled apple rump got a serious prodding from his little fingers. In his mind, Butter could imagine just what it looked like; all shiny from the moisture, each cheek of her butt, bigger than his own head. So plump and tender, mouldable and sculpted by his fingers, like putty in his grasp. That was a thought that was going to be sticking with Butter for a long time; at the very least the rest of the night. So deep was he in his fantasies, he failed to hear Applejack’s sleep ramblings.
“Mmm, ah know ya have been hidin’ from th’ work. This is mah way of…” She wiggled her butt in her sleep, which got a muffled reply of stallion delight from her smothered love. “...of gettin’ ya back fer all that work ah had t’ do mahself.”
One of the biggest problems a growing woman could ever face was the complete lack of clothing that fit her. Applejack was fast beginning to learn that the hard way. The clothes she had been wearing when she met Butter again were fitted to cope with her exaggerated height, except that was back when she was a simple 6’10. Now she was almost double that, and nowhere near able to fit into those clothes anymore. Butter had kept them to one side though, not ready to throw them out in case Applejack suddenly experienced some sort of dramatic shrinking. Applejack told him time and time again that it was unlikely she was ever going to shrink back to normal, but Butter just wasn’t having any of it. He hid them somewhere inside the Apple family homestead, which Applejack had all but exiled herself from. The only other option left open to her was to keep visiting her friend, Rarity, who would provide her with clothes as she needed it. During the early heights, around the latter half of seven feet and the early stages of eight feet, the visits became very frequent. So much so that Applejack had begun to eat her way through some of her family’s savings, just to give Rarity some compensation for the amount of fabric she was using.
Rarity had often refused to accept the money that Applejack gave her, citing that their friendship was the reason she was doing her work, not for money. Applejack, being as stubborn as she was, persisted at trying to get her to take it. Often she would flat out refuse to leave the boutique in the first place, not wanting to parade around in an outfit that she didn’t feel morally comfortable in. Growing a little tired of the constant bickering over money and fabrics, Rarity eventually decided to try something new. On the next visit, she accepted the money as soon as it was offered, this time before any work was completed. After that, she started the work using a new type of material, one that would stretch and stretch up to a certain limit. Her goal was to make an outfit that Applejack would be able to wear for a long time, thus giving her a break and sometime between their next visit. The outfit was successfully completed and she happily sent Applejack on her merry way. The two didn’t see much of each other after that, with Rarity’s wonder clothing proving to be just what Applejack needed. Things got back to a semblance of normalcy, at least, until Applejack hit thirteen feet in height.
On that day, Butter awoke to find Applejack already up and dressed, busying herself with tidying the barn. He wasn’t totally sure, but there was something off about her, something about what she was wearing. He rubbed his eyes, his blurred vision settling a little more, before his eyes were drawn to her backside; that delicious, wide, orange backside. Another rub of his eyes and he saw exactly what was off about the whole scene. The clothing that Rarity had made for Applejack was doing its job, as it was supposed to, except it clearly wasn’t supposed to be dealing with a body like this. Her shirt had stretched far enough that lines had begun to develop around the chest and back, each coming with small splits. Giving someone a nice view of all the orange that lay underneath. While her shirt looked bad, it was the trousers that were taking the brunt of the troubles. The material was stretched so thin, trying to fit around her voluptuous hips, thighs and butt that one could actually see through it. The entire upper half of her legs looked like she wasn’t even wearing anything at all. This was bound to get some odd looks from strangers, especially considering how the trousers magically reformed halfway down her leg.
Yet, Applejack didn’t seem bothered. She was cleaning as though she was still fully clothed and ready to face the day, as per usual. She cleaned around the sofa, having already worked around the bed and the door whilst Butter was asleep. Somehow he hadn’t managed to be woken while she swept around him, but that was a matter for another time, right now he needed to find out what was up with Applejack. He rolled out of bed and stood up, grabbing his day clothes from a nearby hay bale. He slipped his way inside them as she walked his way across the floor towards Applejack, taking it nice and slow so that he was dressed by the time he reached her. Applejack noticed that he had approached her, giving him a sly smile, before returning to the cleaning. Not even a hello or good morning; something was definitely up with her. He reached up and tapped her on her visible rear, causing her to jump and turn to face him, which did nothing good for her straining attire.
“Applejack? Is something the matter? I mean, it’s not like you to be this into cleaning, or to not greet me in the mornings…”
“Everything’s fine, ah’m fine, an’ ya didn’t greet me when ya woke up, so why should ah?” Applejack said defensively, tumbling over her words. The hasty words and shifty eyes were a clean sign to him.
“Okay…what about your clothes? Haven’t you got anything else to put on? Those trousers alone look ridiculous!”
Applejack looked down and quickly back up, face growing hot at what she knew Butter could see. “Mah trousers are jus’ fine, Sugahcube. Ain’t like it’s mah last pair is it now? Aheh...heh…”
“Applejack….”
“Okay okay, fine! These ‘r mah last pair an’ ah can’t face th’ walk across town t’ git t’ Rarity an’ git some new ones made!” She confessed.
“See? Wasn’t that easier than just sitting here cleaning all day? Not that I mind the time to appreciate you.” Butter teased, crossing his arms and watching her cheeks grow red.
“No. Th’ cleanin’ was keepin’ mah mind of th’ problem an’ you jus’ gone and brought it back up again.” Applejack sniffled some.
Now Butter felt bad. He lowered his arms and rubbed the back of his head. “Oh, well, how’s about you sit there and try not to think about it some more, while I go into town and get Rarity to come back up here?”
Applejack didn’t respond with words; she sat herself down on the sofa, with Butter making himself scarce. He’d just got the door almost closed, when he heard a loud tearing coming from within the barn. He quickly shut the door to avoid listening to the stream of curses that was bound to follow such an incident. Then he made his way into town, opting to take the long road, rather than the direct route. No doubt it was going to take Applejack a while to cool off. Upon his arrival into Ponyville, he casually strolled through the town, chatting with as many people as he could to make his journey even longer. He knew that Rarity spent most of her days in her boutique, and if she wasn’t there, then she was off in Manehatten attending some fashion show. He was aware of the fashion schedule though, and he knew that their next big show was months away. So, unless the world needed saving once again, then Rarity should be at her boutique. He arrived at her corner of town and rang the bell outside her door. There was a short pause between the doorbell ringing and the door being answered, but sure enough, a white head and purple maned beauty arrived.
“Hello? Oh, Butter! What can I help you with, dear?”
“Morning Miss Rarity, I need you to come with me to Sweet Apple Acres, right away.”
“Whatever for, dear?”
“Applejack’s in the middle of a...uh...wardrobe malfunction, a pretty serious one.” Butter felt it was an understatement, to put it such a way. A more in-depth description however would be crass, not to mention unwanted by either friend, to be passed to the other.
“Oh? Has the stitching in her clothing given out at last?” Rarity sighed at his reply nod.“No matter - I’ll be right with her as soon as I finish up here. Run along, darling.”
Then she shut the door in Butter’s face, leaving him standing on the doorstep like a bottle of milk. He didn’t even have a time for when she was supposed to show up, or if she was even going to show up today at all. Then again, that was Rarity down to a tee. Always willing to help out and things in a selfless manner, but getting her to agree to a set time or place could always be somewhat difficult. Still, he’d done as he promised and Rarity was going to show up sometime in the future. He figured that before he went back to meet with Applejack and see how long it took Rarity to actually show up, he’d visit a few more spots around town. If anything, it would make the time it took between him delivering the message and Rarity’s arrival, seem a lot less. A most beneficial solution, given how steamed Applejack had appeared when he left her.
Around an hour later, Butter returned to Sweet Apple Acres, to find no trace of Rarity. Applejack was still seated on the sofa as she had been when he left. He delivered the message, and cozied up next to her to wait for the arrival of the fashionista. Butter pressed himself against her wide, orange hips, the transparency of the fabric making him feel like there was nothing between them. He ran his hands down her legs and smiled as Applejack groaned a little above him. She wouldn’t like to admit it, but Butter had her figured out as far as unusual erogenous zones went, thanks to all the massages he’d begun to offer her. He began to rub in circles, pressing up against her thigh and towards her inner leg, pulling back before he went too far. Applejack winced and squeezed her legs tighter together, trapping Butter’s fingers for a second before releasing them again. Butter grinned as his other hand reached behind her and began to lightly tap at her backside, like each cheek was a bongo drum. He played a little rhythm, enticing a soft moan from Applejack before the fun was brought to a sudden stop.
“Ahem!”
Butter’s head swivelled around to see Rarity standing in front of the sofa, arms folded and feet tapping against the floor. Neither Applejack nor Butter could tell just how long that she had been standing there, or indeed when she arrived. Neither had heard the door to the barn open and close and yet here she was, standing there like the picture of impatience. Butter quickly pulled his hands away from Applejack, giving Rarity a sheepish grin as he scooted further towards the other side of the couch. He whistled nonchalantly and placed his hands onto his stomach, twiddling his thumbs like nothing had happened. Applejack jumped up from the couch and apologised to Rarity, but the fashionista simply waved it away.
“Darling, at least now I know what antics have caused this wardrobe malfunction.” The couple blushed.“Now, which articles are you having a problem with, dear?”
“Aheh, well, this shirt has a tear all across th’ back, an’ th’ buttons don’t fasten no more. Th’ trousers, well, ya c’n see th’ problem there. They disappear up here an’ then reappear down there. Mah shoes don’t fit no more - mah toes have all bu’ busted the front and th’ sides have split from jus’ wearin’ them day t’ day.”
“And the bra and panties I made for you? Are they still functional?”
Applejack turned a bright shade of red, crossing her legs some as the fact really registered. Butter, wisely, turned his head quickly from where he’d been looking before they noticed. “Ah haven’t been able t’ wear them fer a couple o’ weeks now…”
“Applejack, this simply will not do! If I had known that there were so many things wrong, I would have insisted that you come to me, instead of the other way around!”
“It’s not like you asked for more information…” Butter grumbled to himself.
“Ah dunno, Rarity. Ah can’t go out lookin’ like this. Ah’ll give Granny a heart attack if she sees me!”
“Applejack, I insist. There is no way, I can let you continue to walk around underdressed. I will not allow it, especially not for a good friend!” She stamped a foot down with finality.
“Couldn’t ya jus’ bring yer stuff here? An’ make it up while yer here an’ then jus’ take it back once it’s all done?”
“You mean...use this barn?” Rarity looked aghast at the idea. “Oh no no no no, that will not do. My boutique is where I keep my muse, my inspiration. It’s how I create such works of art! If I were to bring it here, well...I’m not sure what I’d create…”
Applejack rolled her eyes in eerie sync with Butter behind her, both well used to the diva antics of the mare. “Well, ah’m sorry Rarity, but ah ain’t goin’ out like this. Ah don’ wan’ people starin’ at me like some sorta rodeo event.”
Rarity wasn’t one for sitting and arguing over something with someone as stubborn as Applejack. Instead, things were going to have to be taken into her own hands; her own, magical, hands. As Applejack turned to sit back down, Rarity summoned up her magic, taking hold of Applejack’s tail and tugging it in the direction of the door. Applejack whinnied in shock as her tail was tugged, finding herself being dragged forcefully towards the door. Rarity took the lead, opening the door and keeping herself focused on Applejack, to keep that magical grip on her tail strong and able to pull the larger mare. Butter followed from behind, not being able to stop himself from laughing as Applejack got mad at her friend. She cussed more times than was necessary, but still Butter couldn’t help but laugh. Matters were only made more funny when Rarity began to chastise Applejack for using such coarse language when in the town. She cited that it wasn’t the kind of language that most adults should hear, let alone the children.
They soon reached the boutique and Applejack’s protests finally began to die down. Rarity entered first, whilst Butter made the mistake of trying to enter at the same time as Applejack. She was forced down onto her hands and knees and made to crawl through the doorway, right alongside Butter. Understandably, the pair got stuck; Butter suddenly finding himself on his side, wedged between the door frame and Applejack’s hips. Rarity didn’t help matters as she telekinetically pulled on Applejack’s forearms to get her further inside. Butter squealed as he was dragged through the door, the plush fat of Applejack’s hips threatening to absorb him otherwise. He could already feel that he was beginning to lose some feeling in his extremities, his vision completely full of her rear thanks to the sheer fabric of her attire. Applejack grunted and the door frame heaved as she forced herself in, Butter forcibly taken with. A final jolt of magic and Butter popped free like a greased up peanut, wrapping himself over a display mannequin that met his stumbling body nearby. Applejack tumbled forwards into the room, coming to a stop in a sitting position at its centre.
“See? That wasn’t so bad now was it, Darling? Now, let’s get you sized up. Oh, actually, try these boots on.” She pulled out a large pair of cowboy boots from behind the mannequin Butter was currently dazed upon. “I made these during our last visit- I got the measurements a little off though - made them too big, of all things. They might be useful now though!”
Applejack took the boots and tried them on. She slipped her toes in first, her feet slowly filling up the space inside. The neck of the boot seemed wide enough to fit her feet, but it began to strain a little as her meaty calves got involved. Her toes pressed against the bottom, sliding forwards down the gradually narrowing passage. The edges of the boot crept up against her, the leather brushing on her hardened skin. Her littlest toe bunched up against the next one along as they pressed against the end cap. Her foot was flat inside by now, the leather bulging outwards a little, but otherwise it had contained her foot. She put her other foot into the remaining boot and sure enough, it was the same. She stood up, taking care not to crash through the roof, standing in the section elevated over her workspace to avoid just that. As she rested on each foot in turn and walked a couple of steps, she seemed confident that these would be a fit, if only temporarily. Lifting both feet up and pulling on the laces to tighten them, a loud cracking was heard. Fractures tore along the leather of the boots and split it apart, revealing her feet within. Her toes burst through the ends of the boots, wiggling about in the free air. The soles shot off from beneath her feet as the tears came full circle. One sole flew straight towards Butter, giving him a whack on the head, just as he was beginning to come around from his earlier incident. Once her feet had torn through each boot, leaving her clutching the laces to what now looked like a very expensive pair of spats, Applejack blushed profusely.
“You know, Applejack, if you didn’t like them, all you had to do was say so.” Rarity deadpanned, both ignoring the groan of the incapacitated stallion.“Never mind - let me take your new measurements and I’ll get to sewing.”
Rarity took the tape measure to Applejack, as her client sat back down and tore the remains of her boots off her feet. Rarity started down at Applejacks feet, measuring across the top, then the width across her toes, and finally a measurement down each sole. She held up the tape measure once she was done, remarking how Applejack had risen to around a size twenty five on one foot and a size twenty five and a half on the other. Applejack blushed again, but Rarity explained that she would need to place an order in, so that she could make her something that would fit. Applejack understood of course; she didn’t want to wreck yet another pair just because she ‘had’ to wear something on her feet. Next up were the leg measurements, which Rarity needed the aid of a stepladder for. Stepping to the top, she managed to just reach the top of Applejack’s legs, getting a few shaky measurements before returning to her sewing machine.
The first creation Rarity came back with, after the debacle with the boots, were a pair of trousers, almost identical to the ones Applejack was wearing now. She’d even crafted a new pair of panties to go with them. Applejack slipped out from the ripped and ruined trousers, switching them for the new pants and undergarment. She put her legs through the holes and pulled them up around her waist. For a moment they seemed both to be a perfect fit, before a loud tearing filled the air and a split spread across the cheeks of her bum. Flesh filled out from inside the gap, pushing its way out into the sunlight. Rarity sighed and took back the trousers, deciding that they needed to be let out some more before Applejack could wear them. It wasn’t common for her to make a mistake, especially considering this was her best skill. Then again, Applejack wasn’t exactly what one would consider a normal customer. Those kinds of customers usually wanted their outfits let out once a year or two, not once every three days. Rarity wasn’t going to be beat though; she returned with a bigger pair of panties and trousers that snugly hugged Applejack’s wide hips and overly curvaceous buttocks. While not likely to hold for long, if Butter had been aware enough to watch, he certainly would have appreciated her choice.
Next up was a shirt and a bra, the latter of which would prove the most troublesome. The amount of wire that it would take to fit around the frame for a chest like Applejack’s was astronomical and that was provided she got it right first time. A few hours after taking the measurements, she was sure she had got something that Applejack should be able to wear. She handed it off and Applejack did her best to slip it on. Meanwhile, Butter finally came around, waking up with a pounding headache and a severely sore face. He rubbed his head as he stared at what appeared to be the sole of a boot, just sitting on the ground. He removed himself from the mannequin he had been spooning with and made his way over to Applejack and Rarity. He was about to pass comment on how great Rarity was making his girlfriend look, but stopped himself when he saw Applejack’s chest vibrating. Or rather, her bra was the one doing the vibrating. Flesh spilled out of the sides, all over the bra, acting like a spring that was too far depressed. The hook at the front of the material couldn’t take any more and pinged off, striking Butter square in the forehead, sending him off to la la land for the third time.
Applejack and Rarity both stifled a giggle as the latter checked to make sure he was okay. Once they were certain he was, they both burst out laughing. As far as comical moments went, that was one of the finest and Butter likely didn’t even realise it. The pair continued to howl like a pair of wolves, right up until Rarity returned with the next bra. This one had bigger and deeper cups, so that it could take all of Applejack’s chest without springing back out. The clips tied together with little problem and the straps didn’t cut into her shoulders; as far as Applejack was concerned, this one was a keeper. Upon hearing that she was satisfied, Rarity stitched up a couple more until her underwire supply ran dry, leaving Applejack with a total of five new bras.
Now there was only one more thing left in terms of general clothing. A shirt, something that given how the bra had performed, had the potential to be ten times more deadly. If any part of it felt like it was too strained, then those buttons could come pinging off in all directions. So Rarity worked her magic, working on the shirt, getting it to the size that the tape measure said should fit, then taking it to Applejack. Instead of letting her try it on and rip it like she had all the others, Rarity instead held it against her. Checking it over with her eyes alone, she was soon satisfied and allowed Applejack to wear it. The shirt fit snugly, a little tight in places, but Rarity assured her that it wasn’t worth worrying about. Now that she was finally dressed, Applejack could finally rest easy, though Rarity had one final surprise up her sleeve.
Disappearing out the back for a moment, Rarity rummaged around for what she was after. A replica of Applejack’s hat, meant for a head much bigger than the average pony. Up until now, Applejack had been wearing the one she had when she was smaller. At her current height it looked more like the type of hat that one might give to a monkey that was performing in a circus. It was cute, but it wasn’t the kind of thing you’d be wanting on your head when you were out in public, or trying to sell apples. She returned to the shop floor with the hat and Applejack’s eyes lit up. She snatched up the hat and placed it on her head, removing the other and tucking it into her trouser pocket. She thanked Rarity for the thoughtful present and went to leave, bending down to collect the unconscious Butter along the way. As she bent down, the shirt pulled tight under her arms and around her waist. By the time she was fully bent, the main body of the shirt came away from the arms, leaving her with two circles of fabric on her arms and a somewhat tougher looking shirt.
“Oh, Applejack. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to make this hard for me…” Rarity just sighed.
Applejack apologised and returned the shirt in pieces, allowing the master seamstress enough time to fix it and make a few little adjustments. Once she was done, Applejack was left with a now much baggier shirt than before, one that wasn’t tight in any location. Just to be sure though, Applejack was forced to do a couple of bends and squats, just to test the outfit to its maximum. No more breakages, thankfully, and she was finally able to bid farewell to Rarity. The fashionista didn’t admit it, but as she watched Applejack crawl out of the doorway, Butter slung over her shoulder, she was very grateful that they were done. Now she could take a couple of hours to relax and rest up from the ordeal, before she got back on with her own work...
When it came to family, Applejack was well versed on the ins and outs of hers, just like other folks would be with theirs. There wasn’t a single thing that happened to her family that she didn’t know about. Whether it was the many new hips that Granny had needed over the years, or the seventeen times that Big Mac had put his back out through sheer hard work. But when it came to Apple Bloom, that was where Applejack seemed to falter somewhat. Her sister spent so much time out of the house and getting into all manner of activities that she just couldn’t keep track. Sure there were occasions where their paths crossed and she had been allowed insight into what she got up to. Nine times out of ten, it wasn’t good news and Applejack found herself teaching Apple Bloom an important lesson or two about life. She had always found herself silently vowing to keep better tabs on the girl in the future and each time she had found herself failing to keep her word on it. Things had been made even more difficult by Applejack’s recent condition, meaning that she spent more time with Butter than anyone else on the farm. She occasionally got a glimpse of Big Mac or Granny when she was helping out with her chores, namely orchard work, but rarely ever Apple Bloom. Their conflicting lifestyles currently took their toll on the pair and soon it was almost a year before they’d had any sort of deep interaction.
Applejack endured quite a shock when she did see Apple Bloom next though. The youth had begun sprouting up like a weed, almost double the height she had been when Applejack had last seen her. She even stood taller than Butter at six feet and two inches tall, which didn’t bother him as his girlfriend currently held the ‘taller than’ record. Applejack had been taken aback though; whilst she was able to hold a conversation with her sister and have a joke and a laugh with her, something bit at her mind. A little niggle in the back of her brain that cried out to her that she was witnessing the very same thing that happened to her in her youth. Such rapid growth, and in such a short space of time, worried Applejack to no end. She had Butter to help her deal with her condition and help her through her troubles too. Yes, Apple Bloom had her friends, but if her assumptions were correct and she was going to end up like Applejack, would her friends stick by her? It was thoughts like this that kept Applejack awake at night and it wasn’t long before Butter was sticking his nose in to find out more.
The pair were sitting in bed together, Butter taking his usual spot of lying on top of Applejack’s stomach, his head wedged softly into her bosom. He was moments away from dropping off to sleep when he felt something thumping against his back. The sounds coming from inside her chest, which Butter soon recognised as the surprisingly rapid beat of her heart. He tilted his head back, peering through her cleavage, expecting to see Applejack flat out asleep. Instead he found her staring off into the distance, her eyes wide, just looking off at the wall. It wasn’t the first time either; the past few nights he’d noticed the same thing. No attempts to pass it off as something else, just her staring into nothing. If ever Butter needed a sign to know whether or not Applejack was troubled, this was it. He rolled onto his front and carefully crawled his way up her body, until he was blocking her view somewhat. He waved his arms around and until she stopped staring at the wall and instead focused on him. Her brow furrowed in confusion, as though he’d pulled her out from some elaborate daydream. Sensing that he might be in for some kind of story, Butter slid his way down her chest, so that he rested on the top of her breasts. He put his arms under his chin and crossed his legs, adopting a listening pose.
“What’d ya want? Ah thought yer’d be asleep by now.” Applejack whispered unnecessarily.
“Well, I was almost asleep, but I looked up and saw you staring off into the distance.” Butter replied in concern. “is something wrong?”
Applejack sighed. “Ya can read me like a book, can’t ya? D’ya remember when ah got t’ see Apple Bloom recently?”
“Yeah? The pair of you really seemed to enjoy it, considering your conflicting schedules. Why? Is that what’s bugging you?”
“Well, did ya notice how much bigger she is? Ah mean, she’s taller th’n you, does thayt remind ya of anyone?”
Butter pondered the question for a moment before he finally understood. “Oh. You think that what’s happening to you is starting again, but with Apple Bloom this time, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, would it make you feel better if I kept an eye on her? Hang out with her and her friends for a while, just to see if she really is?”
Applejack brushed her fingers across Butter’s head, ruffling his ginger locks into a mess. “Are ya sure? Ah mean, ya know she can be a handful, right?”
“Pffft, you know I can handle her. I mean, I’ve got the original handful of Apple right here.” Butter teased.
Applejack shrugged. “Alright, don’t say ah didn’t warn ya.”
She pet Butter on the head, eliciting a wag of his tail and a chuckle from herself, and stuck him back in his original sleeping position; lifting him up by the arms like a doll and laying him out across her stomach. She smoothed her chest down to give the most pillow possible, before she adjusted herself. Shimmying and wriggling down the bed, her feet hanging off the edges, but otherwise comfortable. She smirked as she pictured multiple scenarios involving Butter and the CMC, the girls taking him for a ride and putting him through his paces. She knew Butter could handle it though; like he said, he’d been dealing with her for long enough, but what was her sister to add to that? She rested her hand on Butter’s stomach as she drifted off to sleep. Her heart rate began to fall, and the final thing she felt was Butter’s own heart rate beginning to rise.
The next morning, Applejack left Butter to go about her chores, pointing Apple Bloom in his direction when they crossed paths. That meant that Butter opened his eyes that morning, to find himself face to face with a large, grinning yellow preteen. Through his somewhat hazy vision, the mishmash of colours frightened him into sitting bolt upright, his forehead colliding with Apple Bloom. Both of them recoiled with shared pain, each one trying their best not to curse, at least not out loud. When the pain subsided, Butter looked up to find Apple Bloom standing at the side of his bed this time, having learnt from her mistake. Rubbing his temple, Butter got out of bed and stood up to mimic her. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t match up to her height, even less so than usual. Apple Bloom now stood at six feet and four inches, a whole two inches in less than a week. It was relieving and terrifying to see that Applejack’s worry wasn’t totally unfounded. Apple Bloom on the other hand seemed delighted that she was even taller than Butter as before he’d even gotten close to her, she was already sizing him up with her hands. Placing a flat palm level with her neck and then raising it and lowering it until he stood close enough for the accurate reading.
“Well, are ya ready, short stuff?” Apple Bloom bellowed, sending Butter’s tired mind into shock.
“Ready? For wha- Don’t call me short, didn’t your sister teach you respect for your elders?”
“Aw relax there, Butter. Ah didn’ mean anythin’ by it, ah jus’ wanted t’ have some fun w’ ya. That’s all.”
“Alright, alright. Just, not so loud. I’m still getting used to these early mornings your sister has me up at.” He stifles a yawn to punctuate his point.
“Alright, well, firs’ things firs’, ah gotta show ya t’ the other CMC. Then ya can come w’ us t’ try an’ get our cutie marks.”
Butter shrugged. “Sure, always nice to make some new friends.”
Apple Bloom took him by the hand and lead him outside into the orchard. Applejack stifled a chuckle as she walked back with a bushel of apples in her hands. Seeing Butter getting led along by someone much younger than him was humorous, but she hoped it wouldn’t last. So did Butter for that matter; the constant shaking of his arm as Apple Bloom bounded her way through the orchard wasn’t doing wonders for him. His feet were struggling to keep up with Apple Bloom’s larger strides, and he constantly stumbled and stubbed his toes on the roots of the trees. His prayers were answered when Apple Bloom led him to the clearing in which their clubhouse was situated. There didn’t appear to be anyone else in the area around the clubhouse besides Apple Bloom and himself. So he assumed that if they were anywhere, they were inside the clubhouse and waiting for them. Apple Bloom let go of his hand, climbing the ladder up to the treehouse like a big, gangly spider, never losing a foot to error. Butter on the other hand was somewhat less graceful. Considering all his time spent climbing all over Applejack’s body during their time together, he was doing at good job at hiding it. It took him almost twice as long to climb the treehouse ladder, losing his footing several times along the way. Odd that an unstable surface was much easier for him than a ladder, but he chalked it up to practice.
When he finally reached the top, Apple Bloom was inside standing with her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle stood out the most, her white coloured body contrasting heavily with Scootaloo’s burnt orange and Apple Bloom’s yellow. Her hair was the most fancy out of the three though. Rolled into curls of pink and lilac, it was a style that must have taken hours, or minutes by a consummate professional. Not surprising for the younger sister of Rarity, who likely fussed over her whenever she stayed over. Scootaloo essentially had a brushed forward quiff, a style that Butter had seen before, though he was drawing a blank as to where. Sweetie Belle gave off the impression that of the trio, she was the most ‘girly’, as she had opted to wear a white shirt, tied with a pink bow, complete with purple skirt and socks up to the knees. Apple Bloom was much like her sister, in the sense that she had opted for a flannel shirt with the arms cut short and a pair of three quarter shorts, topped with long, wide, leather boots. Finally, Scootaloo had opted for something along the same lines as Butter; nothing more than a simple t-shirt, a pair of jeans and some trainers. Again, a style that Butter had seen before, but it was so common that it was hard to pin it down to one particular pony. The height variances were as severe as one might expect. Scootaloo stood at a proud four feet exactly, whilst Sweetie Belle stood two inches taller, and naturally both were dwarfed by Apple Bloom’s six feet and four inches.
Around the clubhouse were a few things, which defined it as ‘theirs’. There was a little podium sitting at the back, no doubt where they had their deliberations over what was going to be their next adventure. To the left and right were models and childish doodles of past creations, though in the case of the models, it seemed someone in the club had a thing for Rainbow Dash. Posters, memorabilia and other craft creations of Rainbow Dash’s achievements were kept to this one particular corner of the clubhouse. Crayons, glue, even glitter, littered the floor; thankfully the glue stayed firmly in its pot. Butter wasn’t ready to lose his trainers to the terrors of a glue soaked floor just yet. Two windows either side of the building made up for the lack of actual lighting, by providing the natural sort instead. All in all, it was a quaint little building, the perfect retreat for three little girls with a sense of adventure.
“So, Butter Nut, ah’d like ya t’ meet the oth’r CMC, this here is Sweetie Belle,” her hand rested on the aforementioned mare’s head. “An’ this here is Scootaloo.”
Both the girls waved back, sharing Apple Bloom’s positivity. “If you’d like to take a seat, we were uh, just about to begin our daily meeting.” Sweetie Belle explained meekly. Her cheeks looked a little pink, probably from having her friends hand on her head so easily from their size difference.
Butter nodded and sat himself down where he stood, pushing the door closed to avoid a draft, a nearby pillow serving as a cushion. The CMC moved away from the door and took their own places for the meeting. Apple Bloom stood at the podium, making it look comically small in comparison, whilst Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sat before her. The meeting began and Butter listened intently to each and everything they said. There was talk of Apple Bloom’s size, Sweetie Belle asking if she had been at Zecora’s potion closet again. Apple Bloom denied it, saying that you only needed to look at her sister to know that this was just Apple family genetics. Butter made a note of this in his mind as it was certainly worth telling to Applejack. There was talk of another branch of the CMC somewhere in Manehatten, and how they were getting along well with recruiting new members. Finally, they came to the itinerary for the next couple of days. Today was going to be spent trying to get a spelunking cutie mark, which Butter raised a question about them being a little young to do that sort of thing. He was met with a group chorus that boiled down to ‘yes, yes we are’.
Once the meeting was over, the CMC and Butter left the clubhouse with haste, heading over to the caves that dot the southwest hills outside of Ponyville. There were plenty of small spaces to crawl into and if one was trying to get some kind of cave exploring mark, this was a place to do it. The girls all got geared up with harness and hard hats with lamps attached, readying for cave diving. Butter had vehemently opted out of the activity, on the grounds that he was the only other pony here. If he went down with them and something happened, there was no-one out there to help them. After that explanation it was widely agreed that he was making the right choice. Scootaloo led the charge into what looked to be an impossibly tight cave, diving into it and scrambling into the darkness. Tied behind her was Sweetie Belle, who took some nudging, but thanks to Apple Bloom giving her a gentle nudge into the hole, followed Scootaloo. Then it was time for Apple Bloom to have her turn. She prepped herself at the entrance and slid her head forwards into the darkness. Her headlamp caught the rears of both Sweetie and Scootaloo, only the smallest shred of the latter visible past Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom managed to get around halfway into the cave before she struck a problem. Her body was wider and taller than her friends, which meant that she was scraping up against the sides of the cave something fierce. The problem however, was the fact that her hips refused to move past the entrance; in layman's terms, she was stuck.
The rope connecting the three of them pulled tight, preventing her friends to venture any deeper. They called out to her, asking what was wrong and Apple Bloom reluctantly informed them of the truth. They called back asking if she was sure and she called back to Butter to make absolutely sure that she was stuck. He gave her legs a push, even going so far as to push her thighs once or twice. He refused to try any further than that, no matter how much they told him to try other places. He insisted that she was just going to have to face facts that she wasn’t going to get any further in and that this idea would have to be abandoned. Apple Bloom agreed and retreated in time with her friends, popping her hips back out of the hole and bringing the whole team back out into the light. She apologised for her role in the failure and together they returned to the clubhouse. Apple Bloom remained strangely quiet for the time it took to return to the clubhouse, only speaking when spoken to. Suffice to say, none of them got their spelunking cutie marks that day.
Once they were back at the clubhouse, Butter bid the CMC farewell and returned to Applejack. He thought about what he’d seen and he couldn’t help but get the odd flashback about how Applejack was the same. When she had first realised that there were certain things that she wasn’t able to do anymore, she had been upset, angry even, and hadn’t spoken to him for a few days. Thankfully, Butter had reminded her that there were other things that her size allowed them to do, which had perked her back up. Problem was, Butter couldn’t tell those same things to Apple Bloom because most were wildly inappropriate for the ears of a child. The other problem was that he didn’t have the time and resources to dedicate himself to taking care of both Applejack and Apple Bloom, so he was going to need a workaround. He opened the door to the barn and slipped inside, greeting Applejack who was sprawled out on the couch, awaiting his return.
“So, how’d it go? Did ya manage t’ see wut was goin’ on?” She asked.
“Well, as much as you don’t want to hear it, so far it looks like the same thing that happened to you. She even used you as an example when her friends were questioning her about it.” Butter saw the way her face fell and reluctantly added, “I’ll need a few more days to see for certain, but I think she’s taking it as well as you did.”
“That well, huh?”
“Yeah, and she’s younger - she’s going to miss out on a lot of things if this keeps up the way we both think it will.” Butter paused to climb onto the couch and settled on Applejack’s stomach. “It isn’t fair for her, but we shouldn’t assume the worst just yet. After all, most of your relatives are tall naturally, so this could just be her time to spurt up.”
“S’pose so…ah jus’ hope yer right about it not bein’ a repeat.”
“Only one way to find out.” Butter replied, settling in for a little nap to rest.
Two days later, Butter awoke to the sight of Apple Bloom once again. This time, the distance was a little more stark. Apple Bloom’s shoulder reached the top of his head, which he estimated put her at around seven feet exactly. An almost incredible increase over two days of six inches. There was no way she was growing in her sleep, like one would expect. It had to be a gradual thing, adding more to her frame throughout the day, bit by bit until it was big enough to notice. He asked her how long she’d been that size, hoping that there hadn’t been a noticeable spurt in the last day, hoping that all this growth was done on day one. Sadly, Apple Bloom gave him the answer he feared; it had been three inches on day one and three the next day. She didn’t seem bothered about it though, and the events of their last encounter had obviously been erased from her mind and replaced with a ‘new day’ mentality. Once again, the pair ventured to the clubhouse and sat through another meeting before knowing what they were going to be doing today.
They were going to be playing hide and seek, to try and secure both hiding and seeking cutie marks. They were going to take it in turns, with two people hiding and one person seeking. First that would be Apple Bloom and she would be seeking Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Once again, Butter was choosing to opt out, this time looking for any subtle growth done by Apple Bloom during the course of their task. Applejack was going to be extra worried once he brought this growth spurt to her attention. If she didn’t stop soon, they would have no choice but to assume that she was going to be repeating Applejack’s process. He watched with intense scrutiny as Apple Bloom easily found both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in record time. The same could be said when Apple Bloom went to hide; her abnormally large frame had her sticking out of just about every hiding spot she chose. Sweetie and Scootaloo tried to soften the blow a little by deliberately looking in the wrong places, but they could only do it so long before she began to get wise.
Each time they rotated the teams, Apple Bloom always seemed to be getting the short end of the stick, contrary to her immense size. Butter could see it in her eyes that she knew that she didn’t quite fit in. She was still a child at heart, but her body was almost in proportion with an adult and it meant she couldn’t enjoy the childish things. She had grown up too fast and Butter couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. He had hoped to come up with a workaround to help her deal with her problem, but right now he was the first responder and it was up to him to set up the proper care for her. The question was, how did he ensure that Apple Bloom would be looked after while he was busy with Applejack? He made a mental note of her close friends, and how they tried their best to make her feel involved, despite the glaring problem. They kept it up for the majority of the day before they noticed their lack of cutie marks and abandoned their pursuit.
On the way back to the clubhouse, Butter wrapped himself up deep in his thoughts. This time, Apple Bloom hadn’t been upset or felt that she had ruined the task for the others. If she was, then she was doing a darn good job of masking it. As far as he could tell, she was just as happy and excited as her friends, and the way she pranced about and played as they walked seemed evident of that. He bid them farewell at the clubhouse and took a moment to watch them head inside. As he expected, Apple Bloom knocked her head against the frame of the door and then again on the roof inside. Another growth spurt from her and they might just end up looking for a new place to meet. He’d need to consult with Applejack about possible contingencies should their fears be realised, but as he walked back, he focused on thinking long term.
It was almost a week before he was met with the sight of Apple Bloom looming over him again. He didn’t need her to speak to know that she had grown again; he’d dropped below the shoulder and was level with her upper arm. Despite not needing to, he decided to ask Apple Bloom for the growth span of this latest spurt. The explanation he received however, was far more than he was expecting. Given that he was expecting some kind of one inch per day, given the week between meetings, he was surprised to see that the seven inches she had grown happened in one night. That left six days that she hadn’t done any kind of growing at all, which for Butter was all he needed. He practically leapt out of his bed and hugged her in delight. Apple Bloom embraced him for the hug, but she wasn’t entirely clear as to why she was being hugged so intensely by her sister’s boyfriend. Not to mention it was strange hugging a stallion older than her, yet so much smaller.
As far as a reason went, Butter was simply relieved to finally hear that there was a long gap between the current time and her most recent spurt. With just over five days between them, Butter was confident that this was enough evidence to prove that this wasn’t a repeat of Applejack. But still, he told Apple Bloom to run on along to the clubhouse and send her friends back to him. Apple Bloom was confused, but she complied, eager to get everything out of the way so she could start another day of cutie mark collecting. Butter waited in the barn for ten minutes before he was greeted by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. The pair wore the same confused expression that Apple Bloom had when she had left. Still, they had arrived and now he could get down to business. He invited them to take a seat on the couch, helping them up before moving up to sit with them. The pair were taken aback by the size of the couch, but Butter could think of no better place to discuss his concerns with the pair.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I brought you here girls.” They nodded in agreement.“It’s about Apple Bloom. You and I are aware that she’s been growing a lot faster than say, yourselves or anyone else around.” Sweetie Belle opens her mouth and Butter interrupts before she can speak. “Applejack excluded.”
The pair nodded.
“Up until today I was worried that it might a repeat of her sister, or rather, Applejack was. Right now I’m firmly in the belief that it’s just her being an Apple – the whole family is pretty tall.”
“Like Big Macintosh!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
“Or Babs – remember how tall she was last time she visited?” Scootaloo looked over to her friend, who nodded in agreement.
“Exactly – it might just be good genetics that’s all.” Butter sighed. “But if it isn’t…well, the reason Applejack deals with it so well is because I’m here to reassure her that everything is alright. Now, it’s hard enough to deal with someone that might never stop growing, so I can’t keep splitting myself between her and Apple Bloom. That’s where you two come in. I need the pair of you to be there for her - to do the reassuring for me if it’s really happening. Try and steer her away from ideas that will disappoint her due to her size. Keep her positive, and lift her spirits when she’s down, because she will have those moments, believe me. Even if she doesn’t grow another inch it can be hard being so tall without a good friend, or two.”
“Sure, we can do that!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
“Yeah! Besides, she might not feel so bad once we grow to catch her up, right?” Scootaloo added, crossing her arms and nodding.
Butter ruffled their hair and smiled. “Sure thing, Scootaloo, whatever you say.”
With the talk finished the pair scampered off, shouting something about being Cutie Mark Crusaders forever. For a moment, as the two pushed the giant doors wider apart, Butter could have sworn they looked off. As if they didn’t fill his vision the way his mind had expected. Perhaps taller than he could remember? But that was a silly thought; Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo weren’t growing like Applejack, and now likely Apple Bloom, was. It was hard to tell the heights of normal ponies after dealing with taller mares, that was all. A distant greeting from the CMC announced Applejack before she entered into the barn, filling his sight with her orange legs as he’d been staring down where the girls had just been. She took a seat next to Butter and helped him into her lap, nuzzling him softly atop his head. Butter settled in and enjoyed the warmth. He preferred to deal with this big Apple, more than the smaller big Apple; there was far less energy involved for a start. He chuckled at his own joke, prompting Applejack to look down and give him a quizzical look.
“Do ah need t’ ask?”
“Nah, you don’t need to worry about anything for the time being. I took care of everything. Apple Bloom should be happy at seven feet and seven inches and I’m totally ready to focus solely on you.”
“Ah knew ah could count on ya!” She hugged and squeezed Butter tightly.
Following her recent concerns with Apple Bloom and how she appeared to be growing up far too fast, Applejack had resorted to consulting with others on how she was going to live with Butter. They hadn’t really discussed it at length, just taking the punches as they came and dealing with them. But seeing just how fast Apple Bloom had grown made her wonder about her own growth. So far it had been pretty consistent; something around a quarter of an inch a day, but that wasn’t to say that it could suddenly change. For all she knew, she could suddenly grow to be twenty feet tall before the end of the week and that wouldn’t be good. What if it happened at a time when Butter was close? Like when they spent their nights close together; a sudden growth spurt could crush him. Or if it was even bigger than twenty feet, then she could lose him on her body and she wouldn’t even realise. He could end up hanging on her hair or even worse, ending up stuck inside her mouth. Truly that was one of the worst things that could come from a sudden growth spurt. She shivered as the possibility of killing Butter crossed over her mind, quickly dismissing it.
She needed someone to talk to, someone who could understand her plight. The problem there was that she exceeded the average height that most ponies reached by quite some distance. Butter was considered a little bit over average at six feet tall, while Big Macintosh was well above average at six feet and six inches. Apple Bloom bucked that trend given her current size, but was still in a realm like the others that Applejack could no longer live in. Still, the point was that nobody around town or the local area could help her. Well, they could listen to her plight but as far as suggesting solutions based on their own experiences, that much was dead in the water. Though, she did recall one set of people that would be able to help her. The Royal Sisters over in Canterlot were hardly average by anyone’s standards. If her memory served correctly, she had seen the heights of the sisters somewhere before. Celestia was somewhere around eleven and a half feet tall, whilst her sister stood around nine feet and seven inches. Celestia was closest to Applejack in terms of height, if still smaller, but the pair were likely the best chance she had.
She needed a way to meet them though, and given their status, that was going to be harder than expected. Applejack had met both of them on several occasions, usually when the fate of the world was at stake. Not exactly prime time for getting to have an in-depth talk about relationship woes and the like. She wasn’t one for trying to take over the world or presenting a great threat to Canterlot or Equestria either. So that idea was completely out of the window. The only other option she had was to secure a meeting through Twilight. Princess to Princess was bound to yield some kind of good results. Applejack just wasn’t sure how she might put the question across though. Twilight would be more than willing to help a friend, but also very inquisitive over why she wanted this. After all, what would she need to talk to Celestia about that she couldn’t with her own friends? In the end, Applejack decided that she had to try nevertheless, and be firm on keeping it confidential.
Butter was out in the town at the moment, so if they crossed paths she could easily shrug it off as coincidence. The less he knew about it the better, just in case things didn’t go as she planned them. She left the barn and ventured into town, working and reworking her idea with each step. When she made it into town she rushed through it, not stopping to correct any errant stares or discuss pleasantries with her friends. She was a mare on a mission and although she might pay for ignoring everyone, this was a time of utmost urgency. Twilight’s castle loomed on the horizon, as big and sparkly as it always had been; one would think it had been designed to appeal to young children. Applejack wasn’t here to critique the decor though; her barn was hardly a castle on its own, which didn’t give her much right in that regard. She marched inside, Twilight’s open door policy proving to be most useful once again, and strode straight for the map room. If Twilight was going to be anywhere, it would be in there, watching for friendship troubles across Equestria and beyond.
Applejack barged in and found she was right. Twilight was sitting in her throne, book and a small sandwich on one armrest, watching for anything that required friendly intervention. Applejack rested her hands down on the map across from her and leant in close, her shadow encompassing most of the mini-Equestria on the table. Had it been representative of the world as it was outside the castle, then several settlements outside of Manehatten would be no more and a third of Equestria would be in darkness. At first, Twilight pulled an annoyed expression, ready to cast out the intruder and give her a stern talking to. However, upon seeing it was Applejack, her expression softened somewhat, if still keeping a little of the frustration. Applejack took a moment to compose herself, taking her hands off the map and slotting herself awkwardly into her throne. When the castle had formed she had been her expected lifetime height of six feet and ten inches. Obviously, not even the mysterious magic had built it with her growth in mind, so the term sitting wasn’t really appropriate for how she looked. Her legs were too long to fit under the table, so she had to lay them out on the throne next to her. This meant her body was turned in the direction of that, rather than facing Twilight. Her butt was too big to fit into the tiny seated section of the throne and so rested more on each armrest while one entire cheek hung over the edge. She bent her neck somewhat painfully to look at Twilight before speaking. The whole farce was ridiculous, but Twilight was concerned about what had her so friend looking so worried.
“Twilight, ah, ah wanted t’ ask ya a favour…”
“Well, I’m always open to hearing them - wouldn’t you rather stand though? That doesn’t look really comfortable…”
Recognising it as more of an instruction than a request, Applejack stood up. “Ah yeah. Listen, as wus wonderin’ if ya could set me up a meeting with th’ Princesses? Sometime soon?”
“The Princesses? You know you are talking to one right now - maybe I could help?”
“Hmmm, nah. Ah don’ mean t’ offend ya, Twi, it’s jus’ th’ Princesses have a little more experience in what ah need t’ ask about…”
“Well, if it’s bothering you that much, we could go and see them right now? I know they held a Summit yesterday, but from what I’ve seen, they usually don’t have much to do on the days after.”
“T’day? An’ when ya say we, d’ya mean yer’d be in th’ room with me while ah speak t’ them?”
“Well, I don’t have t-”
“Thanks, Twi. I’d like t’ keep it between me ‘n them if ya don’ mind.” Applejack quickly interjected. Twilight blinked at the strange behavior from her largest friend.
“O-Of course, Applejack! I just want you to remember that even if you don’t get the answers you want, I’m always here if you need to talk it over with somepony else.”
“R-right. Thanks, Twi.”
“Well, if you’re ready, I’ll send us there now, shall I?”
Applejack nodded and Twilight cast the spell. There was a blinding flash of purple light and before they knew it, the pair were standing just outside the gates of Canterlot Castle. The guards at the castle did their job the moment that they arrived. They pulled their weapons at the sight of Applejack, but when they saw that Twilight was involved, they lowered them slightly. Suspicion rightly hung in the air, as they tried to figure out why a giantess and a Princess were travelling together. Twilight explained the situation away, telling the guards that she was here with a friend to bring a problem to the attention of the Princesses. The guards gave the pair a rundown of the time they could expect to have with the Royals and they learnt that Twilight had been right. They were given an allotted time of around seven hours, give or take, depending on whether or not any severe problems reared their ugly heads along the way. That time limit didn’t apply to Twilight of course; she was able to sit in on any matters that came into being, and in fact it was often requested. So off the two went, Applejack having to duck under some of the doorways that had been built for use by the Princesses and nothing more. They weaved their way through the corridors with Applejack gaining quite the variety of looks from the staff. The cleaners looked on in disgust as Applejack left muddy shoeprints all over their nice and clean floors. The guards gave her stern looks that said ‘don’t try anything while we’re around.’ The other staff such as servers and attendants all held the same confused look, expecting there to be news coming that a fifth Princess had been located. Eventually, the pair reached the throne room, where, true to her word, Twilight remained outside, leaving Applejack alone in an empty throne room.
She walked over to the empty thrones and stood before them, expecting the Princesses to simply poof into the room, like Twilight was prone to doing. Instead they entered through two side doors, one to the left and one to the right of the thrones, the sisters sitting on the throne closest to the door they arrived through. Applejack did the polite thing and bowed when they entered, but the Princesses were quick to dismiss such a formal gesture for someone such as Applejack. As far as they were concerned, Applejack was a close and personal friend of theirs; after all she and her friends had done for Equestria, bowing seemed a little unnecessary too. Applejack stood in front of them, nervously wringing her hands and stuttering as she tried to find a way to start. Celestia leant forwards to try and see if Applejack was indeed saying something or whether or not she was simply babbling with sounds. Luna showed genuine concern for Applejack, racking her brain for a way to make things a little easier for her to speak. After a few minutes of incoherent nonsense, Applejack drew in a deep breath and found her first words.
“Ah was wonderin’, if ya don’ mind me askin’...how ya deal w’ bein’ uh, bigger than uhm, everyone around here…”
The sisters exchanged a look. “That’s not an uncommon question, Applejack, but one that I feel has a little more to it than you’re letting on…” Celestia encouraged.
Applejack drew in another long breath. “Hooo boy. Look ah, well ah’m lookin’ fer some advice...an ah figured that seein’ as yer th’ only other people around here that’re tall like me, maybe ya could help…”
“Your statements are most intriguing, Applejack. What is it that you believe we can assist you with?” Luna exchanged another look with Celestia. Unlike her sister, she had a faint idea of where this might be leading.
“Well, ah wus hopin’ yer could help me t’ deal w’ havin’ a boyfriend that’s smaller…” Applejack pulled her hat down over her eyes, her cheeks flushing red as the comment passed her lips.
The Princesses blinked, looked at each other, then at Applejack, and then back at each other again for another round. Applejack lowered her head, pulling the hat further down so she couldn’t see the Princesses at all. This had been a terrible idea. What was she thinking? Asking the Royal Sisters for advice on boyfriends? They were used to giving much more practical advice to their subjects; reassuring them during times of crisis, helping them out when things seemed grim, that sort of thing. But dating? It was far too personal a question to ask. The secret lives of Royals was likely not something they were eager to discuss, in fact they were probably going to chastise her even asking. She listened for any sounds of talking, for any keywords that might help her to understand just what the Princesses were thinking. A soft cough not far from her made her break from her thoughts. She raised her hat a little to find that both the Princesses had gotten to their feet and were standing in front of her.
“Applejack, in light of your…somewhat personal...question, we have decided to answer it individually, so as to allow you the best chance of getting an appropriate answer. Do not worry - each conversation will be between you and whoever you choose, not a soul more.” Luna began.“So, would you prefer to speak to myself or my sister first?” Celestia finished..
“Uh...ah’d like t’ talk t’ yerself first, Princess Luna. If’n that’s fine w’th ya.”
“Very well. Come with me.”
Luna bid her sister farewell for the moment and lead Applejack out of the throne room, down several corridors. All the way, Applejack felt that awkwardness increasing. Primarily because of the height difference between the two. Luna looked very much like a child in comparison to Applejack; looking more like a mother and daughter walking together instead of what it really was. Thankfully, the deeper they went into the castle, the less people there seemed to be milling about. Less eyes to witness the strange sight that Applejack was a part of. As Luna let her into one of the many rooms of the castle, she couldn’t help but feel that perhaps she had made a mistake in not bringing Butter along with her. After all, this was all about him and he could do with learning about what to be careful of around her and such. Still, she was here now and if Butter wanted to come for advice, he was going to need to make an appointment himself. Luna took her seat in the room, a grand high-backed affair, sitting before a marble fireplace. There was another similar chair by the fireplace, which Applejack struggled into, until Luna stepped in with magic and made a bigger chair for her.
The room on a whole was rather cosy. A couple of tables and chairs were placed in the northwest and northeast corners of the room respectively. Large windows decorated the east and west walls, leaving the south wall windowless. In place of a window, there was a grand painting above the fireplace. It depicted Canterlot in days gone by, far too many for Applejack to count. The city itself was nearly half of its current size, with pieces of the castle still being constructed. To add to the cosy factor, Luna lit the fire with her magic, casting a warm and orange glow into the room, hardly noticeable on Applejack. Now that they were both settled in, Luna leant forwards and stared at Applejack, her mind deciding where best to begin. Applejack glanced around the room, just to be sure that they were alone together and upon seeing they were, began to relax a little more. The combination of the fire and the close proximity to the Princess, along with their apparent acceptance of her problem, made her relax a lot. She stretched a little in her seat, waiting patiently for Luna to speak.
“Now, if I am correct, it is relationship advice you seek, correct?” Luna asked again.
“Yeah, ah need some help w’ mah friend Butter. Ah uh…ah worry that ah might be too much fer him.”
“This ‘Butter’ you speak of, he is the one I saw in your dream correct? Has he expressed any kind of uncertainty about you? Does he spend a lot of time with you, or does he try and keep his distance?”
“Uh no. Actually, he’s kinda th’ opposite. He’s always tryin’ t’ get closer t’ me. Ah’m just unsure about lettin’ him. Ah mean he’s barely th’ height of mah thighs now, an’ ah can’t always be lookin’ down t’ see where he is.”
“Hm... have there been any incidents in the past that might give you reason to worry?”
Applejack tapped her finger against her chin. “Well, there was th’ time when ah came home from mah chores an’ ah sat on him - didn’t know he wus there until th’ mornin’ really. He didn’t seem t’ mind, but then ah know he’s always had a thing fer mah rear. There wus even that time when he ‘n ah went t’ Rarity’s an’ he got himself wedged between th’ door an’ mah hips.”
Luna’s eyes widened at Applejack’s stark admissions, blushing a little at the candidness of it all. “Were there any injuries?”
“There weren’t, well, he said there weren’t...d’ya think that he might’ve been lyin’?”
“I don’t want to make you worry, or think Butter is being unfaithful to you but...hmm. Perhaps I could visit him during the night, in his dreams, and observe how they go? There’s no way he could hide his true intentions or feelings in his own dreams.” She paused and hesitated. “You understand that I would not offer this service lightly, yes? I prefer to curate the dreams of my subjects and only invade when I see them in great distress. This is a one of a kind thing, understood?”
Applejack nodded. “Ah do, an ah thank ya fer doin’ it fer me.”
“Very well. I shall retire early and locate this ‘Butter Nut’. I assume he’ll be spending this night with you?”
“Yeah, ah’m certain o’ that.” Applejack stated with a strong nod.
Then Luna upped and disappeared, teleporting herself out of the room, leaving Applejack all alone by the fire. Not for long though. No sooner had Luna left the room, did her sister enter through the door. There was a brief pause between the two, but sure enough, Celestia was in the room and ready to discuss things with Applejack. She walked to the seat that Luna had been using, and after making it a little bigger to suit her, took her place upon it. Applejack was feeling much more relaxed now that a possible solution had been worked out for her fears. She was actively looking forwards to discussing some of the more practical ideas with Celestia, the one who was closest to Applejack in height. Plus, unlike Luna, she had spent the best part of one thousand years walking amongst her subjects; she was bound to have some tips to proper interaction.
“So, Applejack, what were you hoping to discuss? Or were you serious about your earlier question?” Celestia smiled invitingly.
“Well, ah might not have said it how ah wanted t’ say it. What ah meant t’ say was that ah wus hopin’ ya could tell me some o’ th’ best ways t’ interact w’ folks who’re smaller than yerself. Ah’m havin’ a little trouble, what w’ the low doorways an’ th’ not fittin’ where ya used t’, y’know?”
“So you were serious about your earlier question, I see. Well, as far as dealing with standing out is concerned, you will eventually develop a ‘sense’ about you. It’ll help you to gauge just how high and wide something is - help you to avoid all those embarrassing moments.
“Ah yeah, ah’ve had a lot o’ them in th’ past. Butter seems t’ like it when ah get into them though, he’s an odd one fer sure.”
Celestia giggled suddenly, the princess waving off Applejack’s concerned look. “Eheheh, do not tell my sister this, but when she arrived back in Equestria, there was a small joke I played on her. I had the doorways in the castle lowered a little, just enough that she would need to duck to pass them. It was only a temporary thing of course, but oh! You should have seen her face – she was so embarrassed!” She sighed. “I think it went far in breaking some of the tension between us over the terrible events a thousand years ago. She eventually saw the funny side too, though truth be told, I’m sure she’s plotting some kind of revenge against me.”
Applejack laughed, recalling Luna’s own admission some time ago; imagining Celestia’s overblown dream rump brightened the mood considerably. “Heh, ah’m sure that ain’t th’ case. Though ah have t’ admit, ah didn’t see you two as th’ type t’ be playin’ pranks on each oth’r.”
Celestia waved her hand at Applejack’s comments. “Oh, we have to pass the time on these slow days somehow.”
“Ah guess.”
“Now, I realise this doesn’t help you immediately, but it’s important to make sure you spend time with the locals. Keep your image fresh in their minds, so they know you’re about and can prepare.”
“Prepare fer what?”
Here, the mood turned toward the serious again. “For you, Applejack. If you’re to remain living in Ponyville, and they want to keep your attention and business at your growing size, then they should attempt to accommodate you. Even if it’s building an outside section just for you - they’ll have to want to try and suit you. Something that can only happen provided you don’t hide yourself away.”
“Huh, ah never really thought about it like that. Ah jus’ assumed that th’ bigger ah got, the more ah should hide away y’know? T’ avoid people getting scared and running off. Ah mean, ah don’ wan’ t’ be th’ one who makes Ponyville a ghost town…”
Celestia smirked. “Oh Applejack, there are worse things than you out there that are capable of doing that to Ponyville. Besides, your friends aren’t just going to up and abandon you are they? As long as that’s the case, there’ll always be somepony there.”
Applejack smiled back. “Yeah, ah guess yer right. Thank ya, Princess. Yer’ve given me a lot t’ think about.”
“Always happy to help, Applejack. Would you like me to lead you back to Twilight?”
“How did ya kn-”
“We spoke for a little while during your chat with Luna - do not worry, she knows nothing of our business here.”
“Oh, then yeah, ah’d like that lead, if ya don’t mind.”
Celestia smiled and lead Applejack back through the corridors with a certain swiftness. One would think she had the blueprint to the entire castle stored within her head, with the ability to recall it at will. She took Applejack all the way back to the throne room, where Twilight was chatting away with Luna. Whatever business they were discussing was soon dropped the moment Applejack strode into the room. Luna and Celestia walked off to one side to discuss something, Applejack wasn’t too concerned with what it could be. Instead, she approached Twilight, explaining that her business was concluded and that she was ready to go back home. Twilight kept to her word and did as she was asked, keeping the questions to a minimum. She knew Applejack wasn’t the type for disclosing personal information as easily as that, but she made it clear that if she ever wanted to speak about it, then she was here to listen. When they arrived back at Twilight’s castle, Applejack thanked her and bid her farewell.
Applejack strode through town with a somewhat renewed sense of confidence, at least for the time being. She still found her eyes ducking down to the floor to make sure that there was nobody getting underfoot. The words of the Princesses were still fresh in her mind and she couldn’t wait to hear what Luna found in Butter’s brain. He could be a little hard to read sometimes, always putting on a brave face to avoid getting other people down. It was as tiresome as it was adorable. She couldn’t fault his effort, but she still felt like it was something he could forget about when it came to just the two of them. That was a conversation for another time though, as for now she’d simply wait and see what news Luna had to offer her. As she came up on the barn, she dismissed the thoughts from her mind, storing them away for a later date. All she wanted now was to simply settle down and relax. She entered into the barn and settled down on the couch. Butter had returned home long before her and was already settled in. Upon her arrival, he snuggled up to her side, placing an arm over her thighs. The two of them began to discuss the days they’d had and all through the conversation, Applejack held a smile on her face, her efforts today leaving her reassured. For Butter, all felt right in the world seeing her smile so freely. It made both of them feel like everything was going to be just fine.
Applejack needed to visit her tailor much more frequently as the days went on. It was hardly the most beneficial of ways to spend her day, but she knew it was a necessity. Rarity was more than welcoming of her presence, even though it meant a lot of hard work and other orders pushed back. It was quite the fortunate set up really and neither Applejack, nor Butter, knew what they would do if it were to change. Applejack would likely resort to locking herself back up in the barn some more. As much as Applejack enjoyed having her own personal tailor, she hated how reliant she was becoming on others. It was totally against her character, which painted her as a strong and independent woman. She wasn’t against a little help now and again, but when it seeped its way into every little thing, it quickly grew annoying.
Twilight could have offered some assistance if she wasn’t so busy, but any solution would only ever be temporary. Chemical or magical, whatever the solution, it would need repeat applications to be considered successful and that was a worse life in her opinion. Besides, Butter would likely have a strong opinion against her undergoing such a procedure, as he considered her to be perfect in every way. That was just another example of her life being ruled by others; in this sense it was more of the perils of a relationship. Still, she tried to maintain a degree of independence, even if it was becoming more and more difficult to do so. She could still get around town without too much difficulty and people weren’t exactly fleeing at the sight of her, so she still had the odd moment of small mercies.
On this particular day, in the present, Applejack awoke just like any other. Her back ached from the terrible position she had slept in, and bits of straw were jabbing and sticking to her; again like any other morning. Butter clearly had the better sleeping arrangements, as he got to sleep on her instead of the straw-filled bedding. He even got the blanket, as it was more of a hand towel in comparison to Applejack. Thankfully, the barn was well insulated; a surprising quality for a barn to have, but a necessity for one made to live in for her. Still, she was grateful to get into her clothes and warm herself up a little more. She shimmied herself to the edge of the bed and twisted her chest to one side. Butter was rudely awakened as he rolled off her and flopped into a patch of straw. Applejack gave him a morning pat and rose out of bed. She’d folded her clean pair of clothes up and left them on the couch. She used to put them on the bed, back when it hadn’t degraded to its current condition. After coming to the conclusion that there was nothing worse than clothing covered in straw however, she’d begun leaving it on the couch.
She crossed the barn to the couch and reached down to pick up her clothes off the couch. She put her flannel down on the back of the couch and unfurled her jeans. Say what you like about Rarity and her passion for the high class, but she could certainly craft clothes of the common pony just as well. She lifted a leg and shoved it into the respective hole, feeling the material squash up against her legs. It seemed a little tighter than she recalled, but given her seemingly never-ending growth, that was to be expected. She slid her other leg into the remaining hole and pulled the garment upwards. She managed to get the waistband as high as her thighs before she began to struggle. Flesh began to roll up and over the top of the jeans, making them dig into her skin. An appreciate whistle from a watching Butter didn’t help matters either, as she fought back against the jeans. It was like trying to dress up a pig; so much huffing and panting, wriggling and writhing, squealing and grunting. A regular sized person would have simply removed the jeans, having deemed them too small and gone to fetch something else. As it was, Applejack only had two outfits made for everyday wear and tear anymore, so she really needed them to fit. The thought of wearing her dirty clothes was not a notion that she wanted to entertain at all.
Gradually, she pulled the jeans higher, sliding them just a little bit further up her thigh. Alas, that was where she called it quits. Any further and she would either have torn them asunder, or lose feeling in her legs. Neither of which was a very attractive option. She slipped out of them, fighting the same fight that she had when trying to get them on. At least in this one the fight was easier, instead of getting harder the longer it went on. Once they were off, she kicked them behind her, sending them sailing over to the bed to smother Butter. She didn’t care where they landed, even as they made contact with Butter and he whimpered as a result. She hoped that she could at least salvage the shirt so she didn’t have to go completely naked. Her arms fit snugly into the sleeves of the shirt and she successfully managed to do up some of the buttons. Once again, she experienced some of difficulty, this time when she got to the buttons over her breasts. She struggled to pull them close enough to one another so that she could fasten them. Each button closer to the centre of the shirt, the more resistance she was met with. The fabric even began to creak ominously between her shoulder blades.
This time she was successful though, and her hard work actually paid off as she was, for all intents and purposes, wearing it. She did however, need to take short, sharp, lungful of air, as a big breath could ruin the shirt. Applejack spun around on the spot to show Butter her crowning glory. Even managing to time it right, so that he poked his head out from under her jeans, just as she turned. There was no applause though, as Applejack momentarily forgot the most important rule when dealing with tight clothing; always use slight movements. There was no telling just how fickle a tight garment was going to be whilst it was being worn. Some could take a great deal of punishment, whilst others could only take the smallest amount. In the case of Applejack’s shirt, it was a sudden onset of jazz hands that were the cause. The shirt caved to the might of her chest, with the buttons popping off and flying in all directions. Some of the more stressed buttons were fired through the walls of the barn, like little plastic bullets, leaving tiny streams of light in their wake. Applejack’s face fell, as she could only watch as her shirt was torn to shreds. She was allowed a small moment of mirth when one of the buttons hurtled towards Butter and smacked him square in the forehead. He flopped back into the pile of denim, muttering something about the multiple Applejack’s swarming around his head. Applejack rushed to his side, sitting him up and checking to see if a visit to the doctor was on the cards.
After a few questions and a lot of moving her fingers in front of his face, it was decided that he was fine. He’d have a slight bump on his forehead for a day or two, but other than that he’d be the same old Butter. Applejack was glad, partly because she was in no state to be rushing him down to Ponyville General with the bare minimum of clothes on. The Mayor had already cautioned her a few times on the grounds of indecent exposure, thanks to previous clothing malfunctions. The last thing she wanted was to be spending the night in lockup by her lonesome. With extra emphasis on the lonesome part; no doubt the cell would have to be specially constructed just for her, and thus likely outside and away from everyone. Still, Butter was moderately fine, so now she just had to figure out what she was going to do about the clothing situation. It seemed like she was going to have to wear her slightly bigger, but unclean outfit to go and request more clothes from Rarity. The main reason why such a thing didn’t please her was because of the activities she had done in that outfit. Lots of hard labour in the middle of an especially hot week, which resulted in a great deal of sweating from her. Not exactly the most pleasant of things to get back into, but if that’s what it took then she would soldier on. She walked to where the outfit lay; by the door, exactly where she had discarded it the night before.
The smell hit her instantly, with days of labouring and sweating rushing up to greet her. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and bent down to pick up her dirty shirt. The odour grew more pungent the closer she got to the pile and once she had hold of the shirt, her eyes shuttered in reflex to avoid watering up. There was no way that she was going to be wearing this outfit again, not even for a second. She would much rather go semi-naked and in tattered rags than go and stink to the high heavens. She only possessed one other outfit however: an ill-fitting bikini. It had been designed to last, given that it wasn’t very often that Applejack or Butter went swimming. So the decision to make it a little looser fitting, so that she could grow into it, was made. Applejack toyed with the idea in her mind; perhaps the Mayor would be more understanding of that? It wasn’t exactly like she was walking around nude, or even in a bra and panties, the last pair of which she had outgrown as recently as a few days ago. It was a swimming costume, and as far as they knew, she was heading for a swim. That reassurance settled her mind, with the premise that she would opt for the bikini today, and only then for meeting Rarity. Once she had new clothes, they’d be going straight onto her body. No messing around; it’d be goodbye to the revealing bikini and hello to normality. She could just send Butter, but given that she would need a new set of measurements, it was easier to go on her own. She could bring Butter along as well though so that way she wouldn’t have to endure the stares on her own.
“Alright, Butter, time t’ go t’ Rarity an’ git some new gear. Git yerself dressed an’ ready t’ go, ah’m not gonna wait around.” Applejack ordered, already turning to find her swimsuit.
Butter stood up and gave Applejack a mock salute, before scurrying off to get ready. No less than ten minutes later the pair were dressed and ready to go. Applejack in her blue, apple-speckled bikini, and Butter in his chef’s jacket and brown trousers. She would have preferred that he was wearing his swimming shorts or something akin to her outfit, if only to build credit to the illusion she was hoping for. But she wasn’t about to force him, and besides it felt too close to lying for her tastes. Butter left the barn first, followed by Applejack a minute later, taking the time to have a final think about any alternatives. When she couldn’t think of any, she threw caution to the wind and left her rustic sanctuary. The pair strode confidently through to the centre of Ponyville. The stares and comments began almost instantly, with Applejack already being subjected to comments about her ill-fitting outfit. As they passed the Town Hall, the feelings of unease began to increase. The Mayor resided at the Town Hall, and all it took was one look outside her window and Applejack would likely end up locked up. But then they passed by without harassment, and they both gave a sigh of relief. Applejack was grateful when she reached the Carousel Boutique without incident. Now she could finally get herself a new outfit and get things back to normal. Butter, as usual in moments like this, took it upon himself to knock for her. He raised his hand to do, but paused as something near the handle caught his eye.
“What’s th’ matter?” Applejack asked, seeing him stop.
Pulling the note off, Butter read through it first before looking up nervously. “Uhm, well, you might want to read this…” He said, holding it up for her to take. While the writing was small for her large eyes, her vision was still good enough to make out the refined, looping handwriting of Rarity.
To Whom It May Concern,
As you may or may not be aware, it is the Canterlot Fashion Week all this week. As such, I will be spending the entire duration of the week in Canterlot, in the company of Princess Celestia herself. I apologise in advance for any inconveniences that this may cause. Normal service will be resumed the moment that I return to town.
Rarity
Applejack froze, the note falling out of her grasp and into the breeze. A bit of quick thinking from Butter saved Rarity’s note from being lost, as he snatched it out of the air. While he stuck the note back to the door, Applejack tried to come to terms with what it all meant for her. With no tailor, she was essentially without clothes for an entire week. That was not an option she had considered before and she didn’t like it one bit. She had been hoping to avoid walking back through town in nothing more than her bikini. Even as she stood outside Rarity’s boutique, she could feel the eyes of everyone in town on her back. Things were going to need a dramatic rethink if she was going to continue walking around town. She couldn’t spend all week, strutting around like some swimming champion who was having a hard time accepting retirement. For now, she needed to get back to the barn so she could find something else to wear. Though what that was going to be, was a complete mystery. There was nothing coming to her mind, nothing useful at least. She occasionally thought about using the cushions of her couch as her equivalent of the ‘urchin potato sack’. She was quick to dismiss it each and every time it arose, though each time it seemed just a little more viable. Butter escorted her back through the town whilst she continued to think. Her latest idea involved using the straw from her bed to cover herself up. As much as she hated the feel of loose straw against her body, it was a solution. Even if it didn’t seem to be that much of a step up from the bikini.
She didn’t even realise that they had returned to the barn, she was so deep in thought. While Butter returned to bed, the hour too early for his liking, Applejack sat herself down on the couch and resumed thinking. There was only a limited amount of things she could use. Aside from stripping planks out of the walls to make a box, she was essentially out of materials. She spared a glance to Butter, fast asleep almost within seconds of returning to bed. That was when she received a spark of inspiration. Butter had the answer all along, or rather, he was sleeping on the answer. She had considered using the straw from the bedding, but she hadn’t thought to use the bed linens themselves. It seemed like such a simple idea. The linens were already big and baggy due to all the straw they held; surely she could do something with it. There was only one way she was going to find out and that was to put it into practice.
She made her way over to Butter and pulled the linens out from underneath him. Another rude awakening for her unfortunate lover, but this was a state of emergency, even if he didn’t share the sentiment. Butter rolled onto the excess straw without even opening his eyes. He even started chewing on bits of straw in the process, mumbling about needing more ketchup. Applejack set to work on the outfit, wrapping it around herself. Her first use for it looked like something one might wear upon getting out of the bath. It started from being tied around her waist, but once she remembered her chest, she soon raised it higher. Now, while it still looked like something from a recent bathing session, it also resembled a short dress. The problem was that tied up as it was, it left her lower body completely bare. That, combined with the lack of underwear, meant that if she was to sit down, she might end up showing more than she intended. So she would need something else that covered her lower body. There had to be a style that could accomplish that. She tilted the linen a little and wrapped it around one shoulder, tucking it into her front. This gave the bottom more length, and came to cover a suitable amount of her flesh. Provided she could find some kind of clasp, this might be the outfit she was looking for: a toga. It ran down most of her legs, stopping at her knees in a v-pattern. It left one shoulder bare but covered her chest well, leaving the top of her cleavage exposed but at her height would hardly matter. It seemed almost regal in a way. Like what one of the Princesses might wear, or had worn in the far past. The toga didn’t give her the same level of manoeuvrability as her usual outfit, but it would suffice for walking. She’d just have to remember not to take on any laborious jobs for the time being. Big Macintosh could handle things himself; the stoic stallion had been slacking off since she’d begun to grow anyway.
She’d debut the outfit the next day, after the town had a little time to relax from her bikini display. All she needed was for her to find a clasp and it would be perfect. Unlike the rest of her outfits, she knew exactly what to use right away. There was an old belt she owned that was no good to her anymore; she’d broken it early on in her growth. She kept it around for a little memento of her old height, but the buckle would make a fine clasp. She located it with ease and threaded the material through the buckle. Securing it with a knot, she now had her new outfit sorted. Moving over to the bed again, she gave Butter a nudge to see what he thought about it. He simply gave her a half-hearted thumbs up before rolling over again and returning to sleep. It seemed he was determined to get his usual amount of sleep, disruptions be damned. No doubt he would be in for a shock when he woke up later when he saw her looking so regal. Applejack pondered how others might see her in this outfit. Some might refer to her in the sense of a Goddess, and it wasn’t hard to see why. Someone as big as her, taller than the Princesses, wearing something akin to the legends of old? Perhaps, if she had been born with some kind of magical ability, then she’d be more inclined to think of herself along the Goddess route herself. At the end of the day she was just glad that she had something she could actually go and visit Rarity in. It was a load off her mind, regardless of its less than stellar origins. With nothing else in mind for the day, she set off to tell Big Mac the news and then settled in for some time at home. That, and when Butter awoke, he was certain to find something for them to do together.
The next day came around fairly quickly; she wasn’t even sure she had slept. It felt like she had blinked and all of a sudden it was the next day. There was a definite difference in the scenery though, most notably the fact that Butter was knelt at her feet. It was a rather peculiar sight to be sure, but she soon felt his reason for being down there. He was kissing her toes; assumedly he was still thinking she was asleep, no doubt playing out a little fantasy of his. She sat there and allowed him to continue a little more, enjoying the alien sensation somewhat. She’d never really had much experience of this kind, but she couldn’t deny that it was a little exhilarating to say the least. Eventually, she gave Butter a little heads up, giving a yawn and stretch to show that she was awake. He quickly sat up, his cheeks blushing profusely as he tried his best to look casual. A sly smile showed him that he’d failed, but that there were no negative feelings from the mare. It was perhaps a closely guarded secret of his, or perhaps he was just taken in by the Applejack’s new outfit. She didn’t care really; he wasn’t hurting anyone, so she was fine with it. Even as Butter began to try and explain himself, she held up a hand to silence him. Perhaps that played into his fantasy or something, because he shut himself up rather quickly.
“Mornin’, Sugahcube.” Applejack greeted. “Fancy seeing you up s’ early.”
“Morning Applejack. Yeah, I uh, just wanted to admire your new outfit some.” Butter turned his head slightly as she snickered. “What? You look stunning…where did you say you got it again?”
“Ya really don’t ‘member?It’s th’ bed linen – maybe y’d recognize it if’n ya slept on it ‘stead of me. Don’ worry, ah’ll put it all back once ah git some more clothes.” Applejack stretched, which got an amusing noise from Butter. “Speakin’ o’ which, ah need t’ head into town t’ see whut time Rarity wus gettin’ back.”
“It was at the end of the week.” Butter reminded her.
“Ah know, but ah wus meanin’ whut time, not th’ date.”
“I don’t think that was on the note…”
“Well, it won’t hurt t’ check, right?”
“Are you sure? You seemed a little distant yesterday after you read the note.”
She had, but today she felt oddly energized. “Nah, it’s all fine. C’mon, let’s git movin’.”
“Alright, Go…! I mean, Applejack!”
Applejack smirked and got to her feet, leaving the barn first this time. Butter followed after, keeping pace quite well against Applejack’s longer stride. This time when she walked into town, she was still talked about, but this time in a more positive light. Comments were made about how much of an improvement the outfit was over her previous choice, with some even commenting that they’d want one for themselves. Instead of receiving glares and evil stares, she received smiles and pleasantries. The walk over to Rarity’s was a much more calming occasion now, which Applejack was entirely pleased about. She could even stroll past the Town Hall and wave at the people in the windows, hard at work. She couldn’t help but wonder what Rarity would make of this outfit she had crafted herself. Perhaps, she would be inspired to create her own range of items along the same sort of line. Applejack couldn’t help but find it a little funny to have a load of people all dressed like Goddesses or citizens of the ancient past. When they reached the boutique once again, Applejack read the note, checking for a possible date. After a few moments passed, Applejack gave the note back to Butter, who put it back up on the door. Acting like they had gotten the information they required, Applejack led Butter back through town, this time much slower and with a few stops
She wanted to make sure that as much of the populace got to see her as possible. She was feeling a well of confidence; somewhat unusual for her these days, but she was happy to ride it for as long as possible. Plus, it was rather fun to make Butter get a little jealous of all the attention she was getting now and again. She did notice that he blushed a few times, when some of the citizens bowed in response to her presence. It was no different than they would if they were in the presence of a Princess, but Applejack enjoyed the attention all the same. Well, enjoyed was perhaps too strong of a word. Her size was still presenting a little bit of a problem in terms of the confidence thing on a whole. Still, after having Butter put on his little show of affection, and the way the town seemed so positive and welcoming of her and her new outfit, it did make her feel better. If this was going to be how things were going to be for the rest of the week, then she was more than happy to wait for Rarity to get back. She wouldn’t even mind if she overstayed a little...
Movie nights were always something Butter loved, ever since he was young. He would often times disappear on the weekends after school into the local cinema and not be seen until classes resumed. Even Applejack had been drawn into his small passion back then; many fond moments of the two friends in darkened theaters, sharing drinks and popcorn, were still fresh in her mind. Since entering into a serious relationship with Applejack though, he hadn’t really wanted to go as often as he used to. He wouldn’t admit it to Applejack, but she was the reason why he had been spending more time at the barn, rather than down at the local screening house. She was already insecure enough about her size and the recent growth up to sixteen feet tall hadn’t helped matters one bit. Since her clothing earlierhad provento be on their last legs, or unwearable altogether, she had taken to walking around in the nude while at home. Rarity also had apologized upon returning, as while she was more than willing, her rolls of cloth had all been used while attending Fashion Week. It would take a few more days for the latest shipment to arrive, especially since the amount had been increased to attend to her friend’s ever-growing need. So Applejack never went outside of the barn and strict instructions had been given to folks that if they wanted to enter, they had to knock first. That gave her enough warning to get ready in her slowly disintegrating clothes, and greet whoever wanted to get in. She gave Butter a secret knock though, which told her that it was him and not some stranger, so there was no real reason to get changed. Truthfully, she was a little uncomfortable about being around Butter whilst nude, after all, it wasn’t like they were both doing it. Butter had offered to strip and join her in the comfort of nudity, but Applejack had turned him down each time. This in turn left Butter feeling uncomfortable himself, just not for the same reasons.
Enough was enough though; to Butter, Applejack was the most stunning creature on the planet, nay,the universe. It was time she realised that even though she was steadily outgrowing the town, maybe even the country, she could never outgrow him and his love. Nor would she be confined to the barn any longer. It was time to start building up that confidence, just like he had done when they were younger. The first step was reigniting one of his passions and that was going to the screening house for whatever the latest blockbuster was at the moment. She could refuse if she wanted to, but she was going out to see something even if he had to drag her himself. Or perhaps get Twilight’s help, considering the size difference. The day was already halfway through as Butter strolled down the path towards the barn to meet with Applejack. If ever there was a time to be going, now would be one of the prime times. People would be settling down to eat their lunch, whether at home or at a restaurant, The point being the amount of folks out on the streets would be at a minimum; perfect for taking your self-conscious girlfriend out and about. The only other time was a little later on at night, where the darkness would be able to hide their presence. Naturally, he wanted to go to the earlier one so that she didn’t have anything to hide behind; it was just the two of them showing the rest of the world that she had nothing to worry about.
As he arrived at the barn, he knocked on it in his unique way, paused for a few seconds, then slid the door open and walked inside. Applejack lay sprawled out on the sofa like she did recently, peeking her head up as Butter walked in. Her legs hung lazily over the end of the sofa, almost touching the floor. Given a couple more days and it was certain that they would. It took a great deal of Butter’s internal strength to not cup one of her feet in his hands and give her a little massage while he informed her of his plan. It was something that he often got too wrapped up in, and if he started now, he’d surely reveal his plan much later in the day instead. So he steeled himself and walked around to the front of the couch, where Applejack lay in all her orange glory. The sofa was beginning to curve in the middle, where her oversized butt had sat for most of the day lately. He looked up towards her face, knowing that she would be looking down at him. Not that he could be certain; her face was obscured by her breasts, so the only thing he could really see was her beautiful wheat blonde hair.
“Howdy hun.” Her voice came from above, letting him know she indeed saw him.
“Hey Applejack. I think I have something fun we should do.” Butter began.
Applejack sat up, giving him an eyeful that left him briefly speechless. She stared down at Butter while absentmindedly tucking some hair back behind her ear. “What’d ya have in mind?”
“Well, I haven’t been to the movies lately, and I was thinking you and I could today. Right now in fact.” He smiled. “It’ll just be like old times, what do you think?”
Immediately Applejack’s expression turned down and she shuffled in her seat. “A-Ah dunno, Sugahcube. Ah’ve not been feeling good lately. A-Ah think it’s best if ah jus’ stay here…”
“You’ve been here for days.” He argued, reaching out to put a hand on her knee. He had to reach just above his head to do so, which unfortunately reminded her of just how big she’d grown. Seeing her react negatively, he pulled back and instead let some of his hopefulness shine through. “I don’t mind spending time in the barn with you, but I think we could both afford a nice time out. With clothes on and everything.” Seeing her bite her lip, he clasped his hands together and prayed. “Please?”
Applejack sighed, caving finally. “Alright, alright Sugahcube, let me git mah clothes on an’ we can go. Ah swear though, th’ firs’ sign o’ trouble an’ ah am gone.”
Butter nodded knowingly and rested against the sofa, giving her a little privacy whilst she changed, though whatever peeked over the top of the sofa was fair game. He could lose himself in those perfect emerald eyes and freckled face for hours, and that smile? To die for. A smile from Applejack could turn around even the worst day for Butter; it just made him feel at ease with everything. On the other side, Applejack did her best to slip into her jean shorts and checkered shirt.Her last pair of work clothes were certainly reaching their end. Shoes had also become something of a difficult choice for Applejack these days, as the only pair she had were those that fit her when she was 12 feet tall. Now they were somewhat of a tight squeeze, so much so that she decided to go barefoot most days. Usually it meant that Butter had a job to do when she got back with helping her get clean again. For social occasions such as this though, barefoot meant she would end up getting asked to leave a lot of places, mostly restaurants. Still, not wanting to ruin Butter’s night before it began she chose to wear her boots, and suffer through the fact that her toes were all but crushed against the inside. She stepped over to the barn door and waited for Butter to catch up, smirking as he jogged on over. She opened the door and stepped out with Butter, ready to see what the evening had in store for them.
The trek into town went smoothly; nobody was around and Applejack seemed to be calming down nicely from earlier worries. Even Ponyville itself seemed oddly quiet. Butter had at least expected there to be some people sitting outside at the restaurants, or one or two people passing through the streets doing some shopping. Applejack figured that Butter had simply just paid off a few people to make sure that there was as little traffic around as there possibly could be. She didn’t question Butter on the situation, instead finding it sweet that he would do such a thing for her, not knowing that he had no part in it whatsoever. The two arrived at the cinema and encountered the first problem of the day: Applejack was too big to fit into the place at standing height. The doorframe came up as far as her stomach, leaving her with the embarrassing option of needing to duck down onto her hands and knees and crawl inside. Butter looked up at her pleadingly, hoping that she would take advantage of the lack of people and allow herself to look a little silly, in aid of the greater good.
A quick glance over her shoulder at the empty streets and Applejack begrudgingly got down on her hands and knees. Butter followed behind her, resisting several urges the position he was in invoked while watching. Once inside Butter took the lead, walking up to the ticket desk and asking what things were due to begin showing in the next few minutes. The clerk, wearing an expression that told Butter he would rather have been elsewhere, casually pointed to a poster for ‘Blazing Saddles’. His eyes did light up when Butter asked for two seats though, casting a suspicious glance at the hunched Applejack. Butter looked back at Applejack and sighed, repeating his request and stating that he’d brought his own. The clerk looked ready to ask him what he meant by ‘brought his own’, but decided he wasn’t being paid enough for such questions. Butter handed over the relevant bits, at a significant mark up from what they would usually be, and received two tickets for his troubles. He led Applejack to the side of the desk, down to a tunnel where each of the screens would leave off from. Butter handed over the tickets and the pair ventured into the tunnel towards their relevant screen.
They had been put in screen five, the biggest room that the complex offered, no doubt the clerk’s idea of a joke. Butter held the door open as wide as it could possibly go, to give Applejack the best chance of getting inside. For the most part she was successful; there were one or two times that Butter had to abandon door duty and instead offer himself up to squeeze Applejack’s rump through. He could feel the blush burning through her body, even from as low down as he was. With a soft ‘pop’, she passed into the theatre, pressing up against a wall to allow Butter entrance. Once again Butter took the lead, using the tickets to find the seats they had bought. It turned out the clerk had given them seats that were right in the middle of the rest, the ones famous for their leg room. Someone was clearly trying to hint that someone out of Applejack and Butter needed the extra space, and it wasn’t hard to see who. He allowed Applejack to take her seat first, unsurprisingly finding it hard to keep herself confined to one seat. The armrest between the two creaked as her butt flowed over it, her weight causing it to cry out in agony. Even with her placed in the middle she still was threatening to take up the two seats besides theirs as well, so wide were her hips, a wisecrack Butter thought but wisely kept to himself. She placed her legs over the seats in front and leant back on the two she was occupying. Once she settled, Butter climbed up onto her lap and sat himself down atop her body.
Applejack placed a palm over Butter and pressed him into her stomach, to which Butter nuzzled into her fingers with his head. The lights were already dimmed, but the pair knew that the other was smiling at their respective actions. The trailers for other things that were going to show started playing on the screen, illuminating the room. Applejack and Butter were treated to a series of informative pieces about upcoming screenings, including one that was most interesting. It was called ‘Hutopia’, a film that was certainly one for the youths, if the crazy looking characters and frantic comedy was anything to go by. Butter seemed interested though; Applejack could feel his little heart beating faster in his chest as he got excited by it. The reverse could be said for Butter; he felt Applejack’s belly expand and contract rapidly, along with an increase in heart rate, when the trailer for ‘Down on the Farm’ came on. Trust her to get excited over something that seemed to accurately reflect her own life. Butter chuckled softly at that, getting a gentle press of her palm in reply. The two sat quietly as the rest of the trailers cycled past and the main feature began. Applejack wriggled in her seats a little bit, trying to work into a position where she was more comfy. They responded by creaking loudly before the armrest split off under her weight, dropping her fully onto the two chairs. The sudden drop of more than a foot startled the couple, until the new groans of the actual seat cushion began to fill the air, along with the two side armrests. Looking over to the sides, he couldn’t see for sure but knew that her expansive sides were indeed overflowing even those, just like he’d thought earlier. Applejack’s body grew a little hotter, telling him that she was blushing in confirmation. Again, wisely, he kept shut and simply tried to watch the movie.
The feature got five minutes in before their experience was interrupted.
“Hey! Down in front!”
Butter looked up at Applejack, who remained entirely focused on the feature and not the jerk behind her trying to get her attention.
“Hey, what are you deaf? I can’t see the screen, move it!”
The grinding of Applejack’s teeth was very evident to Butter; he could almost hear it over the loud feature. She was trying so hard not to respond and Butter applauded her for it. She just needed to be reassured that what she was doing was the right thing. He placed his palm on top of her hand and rubbed it back and forth. It was all he could see to do to have her calm down; he could try some of the more private matters, but this was neither the time nor the place. The grinding lessened a little bit thanks to Butter’s intervention, but she was still very much dwelling in anger. Thankfully, the second jibe was the last for a long time. The only problem was that it didn’t last the entire length. By the time the film was around halfway completed, the person behind them found a new way to annoy them. They began throwing popcorn from their bucket onto Applejack’s hat, as though she were the basket in a very unusual game of basketball. The popcorn pitter-pattered against the rim of her hat, some of it collecting and the rest falling off. Applejack could feel each piece bouncing on her head, giving her the impression that it was raining indoors. Butter only began to clue on the occurrence once some pieces started to fall down from overflow onto him. He looked up, concern on his face, but he couldn’t read her expression from this angle.
When one piece finally flicked her ear, Applejack had enough. She could take the jibes, but the constant tapping on her head with the darn popcorn was more than she could take. It was like torture. Lifting Butter up and placing him to her left, Applejack rose to her feet, the seats creaking back into their correct places as she stood. The armrest fell into Butter’s lap, courtesy of the crack of Applejack’s butt once she turned to face her attacker. The one who had been pestering her all night was notably still and quiet, awed by the sheer size that Applejack stood at. Even Applejack felt a little bit shocked at what she saw. Instead of some big, dumb jock-like character, what she found was a fairly weak looking individual; very overweight, and a blemished complexion around thick bottle glasses. He made Applejack look even more like the picture of health just by being in her presence, with her toned muscular stomach in comparison to his low hanging pudgy one being just one of many improvements Applejack had. She was about to launch into a tirade about why he was wrong for doing what he was doing and how she had taken enough flak from people these days. How she was just the same as everyone else and was doing her best to deal with a world that wasn’t made for her. Yet, she just couldn’t; this wasn’t the right person to take that out on. He was just the wrong person at the right time. Instead, she dropped to her knees and crawled back out, popping the doors off their hinges on her way out. Butter stared after her for a time, stunned by her sudden departure. He finally stood to chase after her, but paused in the walkway after only one row.He turned toward the jerk who had caused all of this, and marched over to him with the broken armrest in hand. The fat idiot watched, eyes wide; even if Butter wasn’t the most physically fit specimen, he was still tall enough and angry enough to be intimidating. However, instead of violence, he grabs ahold of the other ponies drink and popcorn, before dumping it all over the jerk’s head. Once both were empty, he chucked the armrest into his lap and raced out after Applejack, hoping that she hadn’t gotten too far. He found her sitting just outside the screening house, on a bench that was already bending inwards under her weight. To his relief she wasn’t crying, but there were audible sniffles.
Butter walked over, and since she was taking up the whole bench, placed a hand on her thigh and leaned in. “Hey AJ, you okay?” He asks softly.
“Sugahcube…ah, well, ah jus’…don’ think ah belong here anymore.” She says morosely.“Ah wus better in tha barn - ain’t no-one t’ yell at me in there.”
“You’re not really letting that guy get to you, are you? I doubt he even has two braincells to rub together after seeing what he looks like. Besides, everyone’s just taking a little time to adjust.” Butter flinches a moment later, as he can see her face turn sour and bitter.
“Oh yeah? An’ what happens when they don’ adjust? D’ ya expect me t’ go through life on mah own, jus’ pretendin’ that ah don’ get funny looks wherever ah go?” She scoffs.
Butter scoffs back. “Alone? Who said anything about that? You’ve got me and believe me - I’m not going anywhere Applejack. Even if we were to wake up tomorrow and you were wearing the barn as a hat, I’d still be by your side. Or, perhaps I’d be under your foot or butt…er, you get my meaning.” He blushes, but it gets a little giggle from the big mare. “Look, if you want to leave and go to the barn for a bit to cool off, I’m fine with that. I have a few things I need to finish up here anyway.”
Applejack smiled and pulled Butter into a crushing hug. His words meant so much to her; they didn’t take away the pain and heal it like some magical plaster, but they certainly eased the storm that was raging inside her head. The feeling was somewhat mutual with Butter as well. He could support her all he liked, but ultimately, it would be her decision whether or not she decided to stick around or whether she chose to find somewhere a little more suited to her unique situation. He only hoped that by constantly being by her side would be enough to have her stay around. The hug ended and Applejack stood up, letting Butter down before she did so.
“Thank ya, Sugahcube.” She said softly, walking off past him.
“Hey, Applejack?” She pauses, turning to look back.“I really enjoyed this date.” Butter smirked as he caught sight of the blush on her cheeks as she nervously walked her way back towards the barn. Once she was out of sight, Butter walked in the complete opposite direction, heading deeper into town.
*****
Six hours later, Butter returned to the barn, surprised to find Applejack still dressed in her usual clothes, as opposed to being nude. When Butter got up a little closer though, it was clear to see why she had opted to stay clothed this time. After the strain put on it today, it had finally begun to at last wear out. Tears had appeared in both the seat of the jeans and along her thighs, leaving flecks of orange and red littered amongst the blue. Her shirt had torn all along the left side, giving those that viewed it from such a location a glimpse of her breast from the side. She didn’t seem to be too bothered about it; the exhaustion had likely left her uncaring, as she even seemed to be idly poking and pulling at the holes, making them bigger. He wondered if she was planning to wear them until they fell to pieces.
Butter was here to fix whatever negative feelings that she might be having though, not enjoy himself. Walking over, he climbed onto the couch and gently tugged on her hand, not speaking up even as she turned to him curiously. Coaxing her to stand and follow, he kept a hand on whatever body part was closest at the time andguided her out into the nighttime air. Applejack was quick to try and cover herself up with her other free arm, but upon seeing that Butter was leading her deeper into the orchard, relaxed a little, already knowing that there wouldn’t be anyone out here to see her.
Butter took her deep into the North field, where the trees and distance from town would completely shield her from public sight. Completely in the dark, she found it difficult to know whether or not to be excited or unsure about what was to come. Butter’s first idea of the day hadn’t exactly been a win-win for her, but she had faith that this would be better. They passed into the open field at the back of the orchard and Applejack nearly wept at what she saw. Butter’s ‘errands’ for the day hadn’t been the typical sort of thing she had expected, which had been evident the moment he showed up from the lack of groceries. Instead he had arranged something much better. Sitting alongside the orchard, in front of a large projection screen, were all of her friends. Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Each one was seated on a large blanket, alongside a multitude of different foods and drinks. Rarity had brought a familiar couch, Twilight a book, and Rainbow Dash had brought herself, with Pinkie bringing the food and Fluttershy bringing their pets. There was another large mat leading off the back of the first that had been left empty. It didn’t take a genius to work out that this one was meant for Applejack and Butter. The two took their seats on the mat, and for a moment entertained themselves with Winona who had bounded over immediately to lick at Butter’s face, prompting a fit of giggles from the girls. Once she was nestled on a corner of the mat, Butter signaled Twilight, who smiled and lit her horn. A simple bit of magic and the screen before them was illuminated with the very same projection they had been treated to back at the screening hall. Applejack inhaled sharply, eyes wide in wonder.
“How did ya…”
“I have my ways.” Butter replied slyly, a smug smile on his face. Looking back and up at her, it shifted into a warm one that had her heart pounding.“You just watch this, completely distraction free and, if I might add, in some of the best company you’ll ever have.”
Applejack pulled Butter into her chest, hugging him at a level that would crush anyone else if not prepared. He wasn’t opposed to her actions, but he did squirm and writhe to let her know that he wanted to be turned around. Applejack, getting the hint, turned him around, holding him aloft in her grip like a teddy bear. Nestled snuggly into her bosom, Butter listened for the beat of her heart again, this time finding it to be even more frantic than before. She was surging with emotions: happiness, sadness, excitement and surprise. Butter couldn’t tell which was the one she was actually feeling, but he hoped that it was only good things. In truth he couldn’t be more right. Whilst Applejack had been seriously contemplating finding herself somewhere new to live, Butter had just given her reason enough to hang about. He’d reminded her that she had dear friends here, who would be there for her no matter. He’d also shown just how far he was willing to go to stay with her too. She hadn’t really thought about how her condition might affect him, even if there had certainly been instances in the past that had been a cause for concern. Yet, Butter was always ready to simply brush them off and continue on as normal. Even when she had spent the night lounging on top of him without her knowledge, he had treated it as more of a treat than anything that could have been tragic. Which perhaps wasn’t as altruistic as some of his other actions, but still.
Clearly Butter was more ready for her situation than she was. He had plans for her that would ease it for her and the residents together. Making this little private screening was evidence of that. If she couldn’t fit inside, or quietly enjoy a public screening, then he was going to bring it to her. Together they were a team that was capable of overcoming every problem her condition threw at them. Whether it was through little things like this private screening, or through getting positive reinforcement from her friends and close acquaintances. They were in it for the long haul, and, as they settled down to watch the screening that had been so rudely interrupted earlier, that was what counted the most. She gave Butter a little pat on the head and lowered her arms a little, allowing him to rest in her lap, his back resting against her muscular stomach. She turned her attention to the screen and began to watch, smirking as she felt several tiny kisses against her stomach. Perhaps she could think of something she could do for him, once the film was over and they were back home in return.
Occasionally, in his downtime, Butter would find himself thinking back to the days he had been spending back in Manehattan. About the life he left behind to come back to Ponyville, back to Applejack, which he considered to be one of the best decisions in his life. Still, he often imagined just how different his whole life might have been, had he not came back at all. The Academy had been running a post-graduate scheme after he had chosen to come back to Ponyville. Due to his excellent grades and the like, he had been put forward for a place in their graduate program, which he had turned down in order to get into the situation he was currently in. Some of his friends had gone into the scheme and they had come out of it to great success. Not all of them, but the vast majority had been able to make it big in the big city, getting their names up in lights and whatnot. Alas he hadn’t seen it for himself, but he did hear the odd story here and there. He even kept in touch with his old friends, again only some of which managed to find the time to write back to him. A lot of the letters he didn’t bother to read, particularly because they seemed to be bragging more than anything.
Butter wasn’t jealous, not by a long shot, but he didn’t take to being reminded of a life he could have had over and over. He wouldn’t trade anything for a life without Applejack, but there was still that doubt biting at his mind. What he did read in the open letters did sound very alluring, and he often found himself invited to them now and again. He wanted to go, to compare and contrast, but his life was ruled by Applejack, and she very rarely left him in a position to go out and socialise. He also hadn’t considered suggesting to Applejack that she should come with him; it didn’t seem like her scene, especially after the tale of how she got her cutie mark. Manehattan was very much a place for those with a luxury lifestyle, full of tall buildings and locales meant for the arts. Even the street food was fairly high class; certainly not the sort of thing you might find for sale on the streets of Ponyville or somewhere just as small. He knew she had returned there on previous occasions, but each time he heard the stories, he just assumed that she would be more than likely to say no. If she did go with him though, then it might make things a little better for him. He could enjoy time with her, see the city, and in at least one way, show his own success in finding the mare of his life. He just needed the opportunity to present the trip in a way that would be appealing to her, that was all.
When another letter arrived, stamped as being from the desk of one of Butter’s most successful associates, he had his chance. He waited for Applejack to get home from a little stroll meant to clear her head, given some recent developments, and set his plan into motion. It wasn’t a glamorous plan, but it had helped him sway Applejack for a few things in the past, so it could work again. As Applejack flopped down on the couch, Butter cozied up with her, pressing himself into her side. Applejack appreciated the warm feelings she got from him, as it lifted her spirits, except she wasn’t stupid. She recognised a pattern forming when one showed itself. She cleared her throat as Butter began to massage her a little, signifying to him that she was aware he was trying something. At that point, Butter realised he had been busted and decided to come clean. He explained that he had received a letter from one of his associates in Manehattan, offering him and one other a place at a cooking show. The show would be starring the associate as the lead role in the whole thing. In the letter, it was mentioned how the associate was inviting a great deal of their nearest and dearest people who had got them to where they were today.
Butter seemed a little apprehensive in his attempts to explain the story to Applejack, and she couldn’t see why. Perhaps it was something to do with meeting his old cooking classmates again? She didn’t press him though; if he was nervous enough about it, he would soon confide in her eventually. Once he was done stumbling through the rest of his speech, he waited patiently for Applejack to respond. She took her time to think it over, making him sweat things out a little. It wasn’t the best idea as far as his nerves went, but Applejack always delighted in teasing Butter a little more. She eventually agreed to go with him to Manehattan for the event, which seemed to calm him a little. Internally, Applejack couldn’t be certain if she was making the right choice, but it would all be revealed in due time. For Butter, he was just glad that she had agreed to it for now, now at least he would have something to wow his classmates with.
Over the next few days, Applejack and Butter spent time preparing for the trip, gathering up their train tickets and plotting accommodations, should the event run over. By the time a few days had passed, the pair had just about everything they could need to ensure that their trip went smoothly. Applejack had even discussed a ‘backup plan’ in case the event got too much for the pair of them to handle. It seemed like everything was in order; all they needed was for it to all go according to plan. The train journey was something they would both be interested in seeing go well. Neither had really been on any kind of transport since their relations began. Applejack saw herself as the kind who was more than likely to break the transport. Whilst Butter was confident that it could handle her, he too had his doubts. He didn’t want to upset her, but he knew that train carriages did have certain limits. There was a weight limit for one, and if they exceeded that, then they’d need to get a specialist carriage. Most likely something from a freight train. The other limit he had in mind was a height and space limit. Train carriages were only a couple of feet above the average height. Applejack stood way about that and even crouched she’d still be blocking the aisles or doors. Still, they could just wait and see for themselves. Might turn out to be a whole lot of worry for nothing.
On the day of the train journey to Manehattan, Applejack and Butter gathered their belongings and left for the station. They had secured one of the earlier trains to Manehattan, along with a lot of business employees. From street food vendors, to those that worked in the tall buildings, there was quite the mix. When Applejack and Butter rocked up, everyone took a step closer to the edge of the platform. Clearly they wanted to get the best seats before Applejack tried to get onboard as well. The pair paid little attention to them, as there was still plenty of room on the other trains, if they didn’t get this one. Applejack stood off to the side of the platform, not wanting to have to hunch under the station roof. Butter sat on the closest bench to her, so she didn’t feel like an outcast. He’d noticed her rising apprehension towards places and things that wouldn’t normally accommodate her. Ever since the incident at the screening house, it seemed. In a way, Butter hoped that seeing the Big City and how spacious it was might alleviate some of that fear.
There was a whistling coming from further down the tracks, signalling the oncoming train. The passengers all bunched themselves up, as close to the safety line as possible. Applejack hunched over and ducked under the station roof, joining Butter at the back of the crowd. As the train pulled into the station, Butter led Applejack towards the back of the train, keeping her feelings in mind. Very few people were gathered there and by the time the train stopped, Butter and Applejack were the only ones waiting at the back carriage. The conductors opened the door for them and Applejack allowed Butter to go first. After he was safely inside, she got down on her hands and knees, twisting her body to the left and slid herself into the carriage. It was a rather awkward process, as once she had half of her body in, she was taking up the majority of the space. Butter had to slip into the cargo hold to allow her more space, whilst the conductor climbed up onto the chairs. With some more twisting and writhing, she managed to get all but a small part of her legs inside. A final bending of the legs and she was completely in, albeit squeezed in like a sardine and a tin of its kin. The conductor squeezed past her rear, having let Butter out of the cargo hold and collecting the tickets. Once she had made it past the wall of flesh, he signalled to the others that his carriage was ready.
Another loud whistle from the train and it was time to go. Butter climbed onto Applejack and settled down to watch the scenery fly by. It was quite the beautiful landscape between Ponyville and Manehattan, and he looked forwards to sharing it with someone. The only problem was, the train didn’t seem to be moving. He could hear it huffing and puffing, but they were hardly moving, if indeed at all. There was another whistle, before a piercing screech. It was like the metallic version of nails down the chalkboard. The pair covered their ears at the sound, but at least the train was moving at long last, even if it was at a snail’s pace. The screeching began to worry the pair that their ears were going to bleed. There were loud complaints from the adjoining carriage, and no doubt from the rest as well. When sparks began to fly outside of the window of Butter and Applejack’s carriage, the prior of the two covered his mouth to hide his reaction. They were too heavy for the basic transport carriage. The wheels likely weren’t turning as they should, creating friction and dragging itself along the tracks. He didn’t say anything to Applejack, but no doubt, she had worked it out for herself. There was simply too much caboose for this caboose.
The train soon slowed down and came to a stop, or at least their carriage did. There was still the huffing and puffing of the train, growing fainter by the second, but they weren’t moving. The door opened and in stepped a conductor, gesturing to them to remove themselves from the carriage. The pair shared a sigh as Butter got himself down from his perch. Once he was outside, Applejack resumed her wriggling to get outside. She really didn’t want to have to do this again. It can’t have been good for her body to be bending and twisting this way and that. Once she was outside, she saw that the rest of the train had abandoned their little carriage. The train and the rest of its passengers were on their way to Manehattan, whilst Applejack and Butter were still stranded at Ponyville. The conductors apologised profusely at the fact that the train hadn’t been able to cope with their uniqueness. Butter wasn’t too bothered; he announced that there was a backup on the way, before walking quickly over to the main office for a quick chat. Their stranded carriage was moved out of the station and the pair were left waiting once more.
There was no talking during their second time waiting, as neither really wanted to talk about it. When the second train arrived, Applejack stormed off. Well, she stooped her way to the end of the station as she caught sight of the their transport. It was an industrial freight train, just as Butter had assumed they would need and had planned accordingly for. Attached to the back of it was a flatbed carriage, which was to be theirs. There was no way that she was going to be ferried around on that thing like she was some kind of commodity. Or some kind of circus animal for people to gawk at. She was just like everyone else, just a little bigger is all. Butter chased after her as the train arrived, urging them to wait for their return. He knew Applejack wasn’t going to like such an open way of travel, but he just had to remind her it was only temporary. When he caught up to her, he threw himself at her feet to get her to stop. Thankfully she stopped before her foot came down fully, and Butter only suffered lack of air for a moment.
“Butter?! Whut th’ heck are ya-”
“Applejack,” Butter wheezed, getting to his feet. “Look, I know you don’t like the idea of riding on something like this – ”
“Yer darn right ah don’! Jus’ whut d’ya take me fer?!” She glowered, crossing her arms far above and bending over enough to still display her disapproval.
“I know, I know! But it’s just for a short journey, that’s it! Besides, if it bothers you so much, just think about where they’ll be stopping. You’ll be away from the crowd and not many ponies will be around to…gawk.”
Applejack’s expression softened a little. There was that intense care that Butter gave off. It was not unlike her own stubbornness, the difference being that most folks like care more than stubborn. She thought it over in her head. She had promised him that she’d go, though there was no promise about going by freight. She umm’d and ahhh’d, but finally came to a conclusion.
“Alright, ah guess ah c’n suck it up fer this time.” She lifted a finger sternly, cutting him off before he celebrate.“Ah ain’t doin’ it again though. So ya better get all yer stuff in Manehattan done on this visit, okay?”
Butter nodded, and together, the pair returned to the station where the train was still waiting. Securing themselves under the straps that would usually be reserved for crates, the train left the station. The journey was certainly colder than one would expect, with winds rushing past them at a pace. Butter shivered within seconds of the train leaving the station. Applejack tried her best to cover him with her hand, protecting him from the harsh elements, while the other held onto her signature stetson. Butter smiled at her as she kept the wind off of him. At the very least, both of them got to see the scenery on the way there. Butter recalled how much it had flourished since the day he left Ponyville for Manehattan, all those years ago. Now he got to share the experience with Applejack, something he would have enjoyed the first time around. Even Applejack was enjoying the experience, despite her reservations about the travel method. Some of the folks out and about in the countryside couldn’t believe their eyes when the train rolled past them. Not sure whether they thought it was some statue of decoration or whether it was the real thing.
Eventually, the pair arrived at their destination, albeit, not on the main line or station. They ended up in one of the more industrious parts of the city, where one would expect a freight train to go. Once they pulled into the yard, the straps were released and they were allowed back down off the carriage. They bid farewell to the train’s driver, with Butter taking point to get them back to the city. Before they had even left the depot however, Applejack caused a spot of bother. Keeping her eyes on the ground, she failed to notice the signal bar and ran headfirst into it. Arms lifting up in reflex to nurse her forehead, her elbows bashed against the rest of the pole, knocking it over. Applejack shook her head, noticing Butter still moving quickly into the city, and absentmindedly hurried to catch up. Behind her, a couple of rail workers called out to her to fix her mess. But she didn’t want to lose track of her boyfriend; Manehatten was a large city even to one as large as she, and a country girl like herself could get lost without a guide. As she caught him up and the workers fell further and further behind, Applejack couldn’t shake the idea that it was going to come back and bite her in the behind.
Once beyond the industrial section, they made it into the central city with haste and ease. Just like Applejack had expected, the city was teeming with people. The sidewalks were actually packed with people, and once Butter and Applejack stepped into the masses, they proved disrupting to the flow. People cursed their very presence as they had to walk around the pair whilst they got their bearings. It didn’t seem to bother Butter much, who grumbled and replied back to the worst sorts, but it was certainly weighing heavily on Applejack’s mind. She stepped off the pavement and onto the road whilst Butter pondered how to solve this predicament. It didn’t appease some people, but at least she didn’t feel quite so in the way. At least, not until Butter suggested they cross the road to take another shortcut of his. Before he could explain to Applejack about a few rules that cities had that Ponyville didn’t, she was already off. By the time he called out to her, she was halfway across the road. It wasn’t sensible of her to stop in the middle of the road, but she didn’t realise the lack of space that carts and such had on city roads.
When someone as big as Applejack stepped on the road, there was very little room to manoeuvre. They could move a little to one side and run over her foot, or simply crash into her calves. One particular cab driver wasn’t one to risk her hopping into other traffic, nursing a ran over foot. He crashed straight into her calf, trying his best to slow down, but only achieving enough to not hurt her. She still stumbled and hobbled on one foot, making it to the other side of the thoroughfare. Alas that wasn’t exactly the end of everything. The road became backed up with carts and vehicles of all kinds, horns and shouting filling the air. The crowds thinned out a little as people rushed into the road to make sure that nobody was seriously injured. Butter joined them, keeping an eye out for anyone who needed his help. He’d stop and assist those that needed it but his main concern was getting to Applejack and getting her away from this mess. He was definitely going to have to sit her down and give her a lecture on the things one could do in a city. Especially on how jaywalking was not one of those things. He cursed the fact that he didn’t do it on the journey here, but then he couldn’t be sure she’d have heard him.
He took Applejack by hand and led her down an alley, where the pair waited for the coast to clear. The alley was actually the shortcut Butter was meaning for them to take, so they could actually get to the event that was responsible for the whole journey. Right now though he was using it to keep Applejack out of the way of the local law enforcement. If they caught Applejack as the one who was responsible, then she’d end up in prison. Or worse, excluded from the city completely. Butter kept watch on the opening to the alley closest to him, while Applejack watched over the other. Fitting was a struggle for the big mare; thanks to her and the alleys dimesions she had to stand with one wall to her back, and her feet nearly touched both sides. Not much was happening on Butter’s side of the alley, but on her side, a lone stranger had wandered into view. He seemed to be looking to get through, so Applejack tried to shuffle her feet out of the way. But when he finally caught sight of her, oddly taking a moment to see the giant orange cowgirl, he stopped and whistled. It was undeniably rude sounding, followed by likewise words aimed up at her.
“Heya, doll, can’t say I’ve seen many like you about. I’d say you could fetch a pretty penny to a local circus.” He said in a thick Manehattan accent. Lifting a hand up, he swept it across the air, envisioning a sign.“‘The Amazing...Twenty Foot Woman!’ Ya – how’s that sound to ya?”
Butter, drawn by his voice, steps through Applejack’s legs to stand defensively in front of her. “Who the heck are you?” He demanded bluntly.
“Oh that’s cute - away with ya, kid. I’m talking business with this thing here.”
Both offended ponies bristle. “Thing?! Kid?! I’ll have you know that- ” Butter started forward, but was stopped as Applejack lifted a foot and gently blocked him. Looking up, he saw her face and quickly stepped aside.
“Ah c’n handle this guy, Butter…”
“Heh, nice going doll. Now, what do you say to my offer, huh?” The oblivious thug tried a charming smile.
“Well, as delightful as yer offer is, ah’m afraid ah jus’ can’t sell mysel’ for any ol’ hooligan numbskull like ya are.” Applejack states bluntly, face stormy as she reaches down and picks the thug up. The grown stallion squealed like a pig as he suddenly realized just how outclassed he was. “So ah guess ah’ll be putting you an’ yer proposal in th’ trash, understand?”
The swindler managed a long, drawn out ‘yes’ as Applejack dropped him into the nearest dumpster, dusting her hands once done. The noise attracted the attention of the folks on the street however, who turned to see the giant creature that they were looking for. All it took was one cry of ‘there they are!’, for the pair to once again be on the run from the locals and this time, they weren’t going to be so lucky. They exited the alley into the start of Manehattan’s Financial District, a place with a heavy presence from the law. As there were already people out looking for the pair, it wasn’t long before the officers found themselves involved. Within seconds of them appearing into the mass of skyscrapers, they were set upon. Two local officers came racing down either side of the pavement.
“Hold it right there, Miss!” Officer McGuffin cried. “You too, Sir!”
“You’re wanted in relation to-” Officer Open Cuffs began, before being interrupted by another pony rushing up.
“Officers! There’s a guy down this alley - says the orange one beat him up! They’re taking him to the hospital as we speak!”
“Thank you, citizen, we’ll handle things from here.” Officer Open Cuffs continued. “Do you have anything to say for yourself, Miss?”
Above, Applejack was struggling to hear the words of the officers, or indeed the random citizen. To an outsider they might have seemed confident, almost proud in a way. But when they looked up at Applejack, that confidence began to fade away. Their words seemed to come out as nothing more than a squeak or a whimper. It was really quite annoying, given that she was terrible at lip reading. If she was going to have any kind of hope at listening, she was going to need to be closer to the source. So she set about doing exactly that. She bent down, lowering her upper body with such speed that the whistleblower fled the scene for fear that she was about to sit down. Her rear swelled outwards as she bent, bumping another unfortunate post that wobbled dangerously. The closer she got, the clearer the conversation became. She heard Butter explain how she was called Applejack and that this was all a misunderstanding. She heard the officer’s reply, but lost focus as a new issue began to form, from her shirt of all things.
The unfortunate fabric had tightened too far from her last fitting for extreme shifts in her posture to survive. Walking, sitting, even bending a little would have been fine. But bending over double as she needed to be, to see and hear the little ponies beneath her, pushed too far. Her buttons groaned and popped off one by one, flying off and spilling her out into the open. A soft ‘fhwoomp’ announced her coming bare to the outside world. The officers, upon hearing the noise, ceased their conversation with Butter and turned their attention skywards. There they both came face to face with Applejack’s blushing one, and her two orange peaks. Butter, having a good idea what they might be looking at, groaned and buried his head in his hands without looking back. The reactions of the officers really showed off the age difference between the pair.
“Indecent exposure! Indecent exposure to an officer of the law! Take her to the cells and lock her up, lest this crime spree be allowed to continue!” Open Cuffs cried, voice nearly cracking as he flushed down to his neck.
While neitherof the officers possessed the necessary strength to move the pair, they still got them moving. With the state that Applejack was in, they’d have escorted themselves to a hole in the ground, if it got rid of the prying eyes. Applejack tried in vain to get her shirt fastened up; she fumbled and messed with her shirt, all the way to her cell in the prison at the centre of the city. She finally got a button or two back into place, but by this point it didn’t really matter due to the pair now being locked up. Surprisingly the surroundings were rather quaint, like an old-fashioned sheriff’s office, but with a modern twist. Their cell was at the back of the office, a desk and chair stuck a few feet in front. It was also the largest, for obvious reasons, leaving Applejack snugly in the middle of it with Butter squeezed in around her. Officers milled past them going to other places or looking for files in particular. To their credit as professionals only the two arresting officers paid them much attention. But one officer did pause while passing early on the first day.. He just stared at Applejack through the bars, as if examining her for something. Eventually, he too left them alone as the days passed.
On the arrival of the third day, Butter and Applejack had long since missed the event they had been in the city to attend. However, during their time in the slammer, they had begun to see the funny side of things. On the outside it might have seemed like a coping method to deal with the stress of being locked up. However, it was actually more that they felt this whole thing had been set up for failure right from the start. From the moment they boarded that first train they should have taken the whole experience with a couple of pinches of salt. They recalled how the very second they had arrived in Manehattan, they had stumbled, slipped, tripped and flailed their way around the city. Even their arrest had all the elements of a comedy caper. How likely was it that her shirt would burst open while they were talking to the officers? Almost none, and yet it happened. So the couple took it all in high spirits, taking the comfort of being together and laughing at their blunders. They spent so long laughing, that they failed to notice a familiar voice coming from outside the station.
“You’re going to tell me right this second why you have a national hero and her boyfriend locked up!”
“Um, your Highness, they have a long list of crimes - jaywalking, assault, indecent exposure, criminal damage and even murder…”
The other voice spluttered. “Murder?! Of who?!”
“Well, he’s actually just in the hospital - a couple of broken bones, but it could have been worse.” Spoke up another voice.
“Yes, well, we don’t charge people for crimes on account of what could have been, do we? No, we don’t.” The first voice lectured, slowly growing louder as it approached.“As for these other crimes - If you two haven’t noticed, but she’s a giantess. Not only that but Ponyville is a much, much smaller and rural town than a city like Manehatten. She’s going to break things and have trouble adjusting! That’s why it’s our job to make things easy for her, not lock her up! Murder?! Honestly!”
By now, Applejack and Butter’s mirth had died down enough to let them focus on what was going on outside. The voice was familiar, incredibly familiar to Applejack at least. She heard the sound of shoes stomping their way up to the cell door. They turned a corner and there charged Applejack’s most regal of friends, Princess Twilight Sparkle. She stormed up to the lockup, despite protests from the officers she had been verbally blasting, and unlocked the cell. She didn’t need a key; her magic was enough and the officers themselves were surprised that she actually managed to open the lock. Most were protected against unicorn magic. But with all the books Twilight had read, it wasn’t totally beyond her capabilities as an alicorn. The officers watched on in awe, already rattled from Twilight’s rant and not wanting to incur a second one. They allowed her to break out the two detainees in silence, wondering how they were going to explain it to their superior officers.
Twilight ushered them out of the cell and closed the door behind her, giving the stinkeye at the officers once her friends were free. They didn’t hang about to ask questions or for her to sign the relevant release forms; they just hurried out of the way and allowed the giantess to pass. Twilight took the lead and led her friends out of the prison, parting the onlooking police and others like the tide with her presence and still fuming expression. Butter and Applejack took a moment to stretch and relish the outside air once more. Three whole days in the prison was a little more than they bargained for. Sure they had found the funny side of things later on in the stint, but they’d rather they didn’t get locked up again. Though, they could always get Twilight to break them out again it seemed, not that either was one for taking advantage of friends. After a few minutes of getting things back to normal, Twilight apologised and took them through the city. She was very careful about making the people of the city aware of Applejack and making the giantess a little more clued up on life in the city.
Twilight took them to what appeared to be a little pub on the edge of the city’s largest food street. Amidst all the expensive restaurants and food outlets, sat this one quaint little place. Though neither Applejack or Butter got to see the inside; Twilight asked them to wait a moment whilst she popped inside to chat with the staff. Around forty minutes later, Twilight returned to meet them, levitating five plastic trays of fish and chips alongside. She handed three portions to Applejack, and split the remaining two between herself and Butter. She pointed out the three plastic forks that she had jammed into the meals so that they weren’t accidentally swallowed. Then, she resumed her walking, eating her meal while keeping the pair in tow.
“You did pay for these, right?” Butter queried.
“Yup! What? Did you think I used my elevated status to just go in and demand them? I may be a Princess, but I don’t demand free food from anypony.”
“He didn’ mean nothing by it, Twi, ah’m sure,” Applejack butted in as an attempt to rescue Butter from his comment. A small ‘whap’ with her tail nearly upset Butter’s plate from his hands, and forced him to stumble several steps, but got the reprimand across.
“Relax, Applejack - I know what he meant. No harm done Butter. Now, if you’d turn your attention this way, I think you’ll find we’ve arrived at the perfect eating location for this kind of food.”
Applejack and Butter turned their attention to the harbour they had suddenly walked into. A truly glorious location; the sun reflected brightly off the azure waves crashing against the stone docks, shimmering over the surface in hues of orange and yellow. Tiny droplets twinkled as the spray from the waves rose up into the air. In the distance, boats could be seen traversing the water, going on their own endeavours, whether it be fishing or commerce. Twilight was right; nothing was more fitting than fish and chips by the seaside. The trio took a seat at the edge of the harbour, where the waves crashed the least and the fewest boats were present. There they began to eat and recount the events that had brought them to Twilight’s attention and for that matter, how Twilight even found out. The Princess explained that one of the officers who had been watching them, noticed Applejack and recognised her. He had then sent a message out to Princesses Celestia and Luna, who in turn passed it on to Twilight.
Applejack and Butter had a good idea about who was responsible for that message; no doubt it was the officer that had been staring at them the day they were arrested. They recounted their whole story to Twilight, who got a little giggle out of it and even managed to tease them some herself. She explained how even though they were enjoying themselves now, and that everything had worked out to some extent, there was still one thing they hadn’t done. They still had the train journey back to go through, no doubt on the same train that had brought them in. The same train at the railroad that Applejack had made a little mishap at. No doubt the rail workers were still a little angry; perhaps they’d even make her fix the mess at last. The trio shared a look amongst each other before they burst out laughing. As they polished off their meals and the two best friends continued chatting away, Butter reclined on the other side of Applejack’s thighs. While he might have set out on meeting an old friend of his, and certainly had wanted to impress his large love with sights of the city, this trip had not been bad. He’d still spent time with her all throughout, and she was smiling happily while talking with a friend of hers. The meal Twilight had provided was excellent, a wonderful staple of Manehatten, and the view was breathtaking as the day came to a close. Looking up at Applejack, he smiles and leans up against her, getting a hand to come down and rub over his body. Yes, this was a great end to their trip.
Ponyville was no stranger when it came to bizarre laws and rules coming into place. Most of which were just old nonsense from back in the day when things were a little less structured and the Everfree Forest was a little less confined. There were a multitude of laws, ranging from the amount of pet timberwolves one could own, to the amount of magical energy that one could expend in a single day. By modern standards they were completely ridiculous and went without being enforced. However, that didn’t mean that there weren’t occasions were the past came flying back into the modern times to deliver a swift kick up the backside to the residents. For example: The Everfree Forest was considered to be off limits to Ponyville’s modern residents, as per a drive in attempts to increase overall safety in the past. That didn’t stop people from venturing into it now and again, but they went in knowing the risks and were comfortable waiving that particular right. However, due to the fact that it was off limits for a long time before the first daredevil or thrill seeker decided to enter the forest, a lot of the information about it had been lost to the flow of time. Meaning that unless someone went back in and attempted to recreate the information, nobody had any idea how to deal with the things contained within.
As far as recreations of the information went, most of the scholars who were capable of such things only managed to get a little ways into the forest. So information on timberwolves and other smaller, less harmful, creatures was brought back to light. It was a little reassuring to the folks at the time, but it was still a long way from being as safe as it was back in the day. That was why, when one set of scholars, a group of botanists, brought back some of the local flora, chaos ran rampant in the town. Whilst the flora was documented within the town, the scholars had brought back one of the most volatile plants around, to be known in the future as Poison Joke. At the time, it became a particularly prominent feature around the town particularly with the non-magic users. Pretty soon though, they all began to suffer strange effects as a result of using the popular flower. Symptoms ranging from suffering from a sudden cold, changes in vocal ranges, swollen body parts and even forced lack of grooming. This left a burden on the town of completely astronomical proportions as the majority of citizens, having always been earth and pegasi ponies, were now afflicted, stunting their ability to work various jobs.
So the burden was unfortunately shifted to the magic users in the town, as they were the only ones capable of removing the flower without coming into contact with it. They were also able to use that same telekinesis to take on the jobs that the workers were unable to accomplish through one way or another. As nobody could find the required formula to alleviate the symptoms that the majority of the town were suffering from, the workloads continued to rise. That was when the Mayor at the time instigated the now defunct law about the amount of magical energy spent in a day. The jobs were divided into categories, based on the amount of energy it took to complete them. A rough estimate to be sure, but it was enough to make things a little easier on the poor folk who were taking on such tasks. Of course, there were complaints from the afflicted citizens, who claimed that the use of magic to complete the tasks was against the foundations of Ponyville. It was a fair point toward the traditional folks, but it was overruled by the Mayor, who was quoted as saying ‘I can’t govern with tentacle hands’ in rebuttal.
For days, the affliction continued with no end in sight. Then one of the youthful botany scholars took it upon herself to research further into the poison joke and how one could reverse the effects. The lead scholar would have preferred her to refrain from meddling in the affairs of the town, assuring her that the effects would be temporary. She refuted his reasoning on the grounds that without the original documentation on the poison joke, or the other things that grew in the forest, one could never be so certain. So off she went; taking a couple of the town’s magic users to help her move samples, she began to research deeper into the plant. She found through careful research how some local fauna seemed to negate or remain unmarked by the flowers pollen. So off she went, looking for the required plants, delving deep into the forest, going further than anyone had ever been before. They returned to town a day or two later, having gathered the required materials. She then cordoned off a kitchen for herself, and set about slicing, dicing and cooking all the materials into what some would consider to be a potion.
A few days later, the entire town was cured and that seemed to be the end of that, or at least it should have been. During the time the scholar had been making her discoveries, she had begun to feel something stirring within herself. A yearning for knowledge of the Everfree, to tame the wild forest through knowledge and understanding. Whilst her scholarly friends were urging her to return to Canterlot and share what she had discovered with the local academics, she wanted to walk a different path. Whilst her associates tried to make her recognised as the first zebra scholar to make such massive advancements in Everfree studies, she opted to continue with her research. She disappeared into the forest, against the wishes of the people in town and the other scholars, intent on cataloguing it all. The folks were sad to see her go, but not as sad as they were when they realised she’d taken her discovery and her notes with her, leaving them back at square one.
As the years went by, the law that came into force during that time was left as still being part of the enforced collection. It was nobody’s fault of course; it just got buried in the amount of other laws out there. Now, in the present day another law was being implemented under the watchful eye of Mayor Mare. It was to combat the amount of exotic pets that people were keeping in their homes, some of which came from the Everfree itself. Of course there were rigorous screening processes, to make sure that each of the pets were suitable. Even Zecora, the zebra who lived in the Everfree, was only happy to put her immense knowledge of the Everfree to use during these processes. The law covered things both mythical and very real, and detailed at length the act of registration that was required for these things to be kept in Ponyville. From timberwolves to giants, the list was long and vast, so much so that it extended to Applejack and Butter, despite the fact that neither of them were considered pets. Under the rules, it stipulated than any creature of a height far above that of the average, around ten feet, would be considered to be a giant or giantess. If they were to live within the town, then they were required to register and outline expressly where they would be staying and who they would be staying with.
Neither of them heard about the law until it actually came into force and the pair were paid a personal visit by Mayor Mare herself. She revealed to them all the information about the new law, somewhat offensively titled the ‘Monster Registration Act XX16’. Butter and Applejack seemed a little skeptical at first, but once the Mayor outlined the fact that they could be booted out of the town for failing to comply, they quickly changed their tune. It was made clear that they would have to take each part of the registration one step at a time and that meant splitting them up. They were given a deadline of a couple of hours time for Applejack to get down to the Town Hall for the first part of the process. Butter would remain at home until she returned and sent him down to cover his half of the process, along with anything that Applejack couldn’t fill out herself. The Mayor bid them farewell, passing a final reminder about the timeframe they had as she left. Which left Butter and Applejack trying to ponder all the things that they could possibly be asked for. They gathered up things that could be used to identify themselves, along with certifications of Butter’s extended academic progress. Once they had everything that they needed, Applejack followed in the Mayor’s footsteps, leaving Butter on his own.
She wondered what awaited her at the Town Hall; what sort of questions and whatever else was needed for this process? She was certainly surprised to find that for this particular set of events, the Town Hall had received an addition. It was more in the form of a tent, but an addition nonetheless. No doubt this was to eliminate the space element for some of the bigger folks, like Applejack and whatever other big things people might want to keep as pets. She looked around to for any sign of the Mayor, before she opted to just stroll right up to the tent. There was no evidence of the Mayor anywhere, at least not to Applejack’s eyes. So, rather than stride up to the front door and give people the shock of their lives when they opened it to meet her, she walked up to the tent instead. The closer she got to the large, green, propped up sheet, the smaller it seemed to be, though it still looked big enough to fit her. An attendant from inside the tent popped out, drawn by her rather heavy footfalls, and rushed over to greet her.
“Excuse me, Miss! Could I get your name, nickname or title, please?” The attendant asked.
“Uhm, ah’m Applejack, wut’s this about?”
“Oh! This is just so we can issue you with a ticket for the registration process! I assume that’s why you’re here, yes? A big gal like yourself doesn’t just wander around here by accident - unless you do, hm… So where’s your partner or owner?”
“Mah pardner,” Applejack ground out with some force, “is at home. Ah wus told by th’ Mayor t’ come down by mahsel’ first…”
“Oh! The Mayor asked you to come down personally? Well that must mean you’re the one she’s waiting for! Please, forgive my assumption and follow me, I’ll take you straight to her!”
Applejack shrugged and did as was requested of her, following the attendant into the tent and keeping herself ducked to avoid knocking any supports out of place. Inside the tent, there were monsters and their owners from all walks of life, multitudes of ponies with their ‘pets’. Some of the people Applejack hadn’t even seen before, which either meant she was rather unobservant in that regard, or they were moving in to exploit the rule for themselves. None of them seemed to be meeting with the Mayor though, just more attendants, which made Applejack all the more curious as to why she was being singled out. The attendant led her through the tent, skirting around some of the characters that took up more space than they were allowed. All the way through into the back of the tent, where some sort of small cabin was set up to house the Mayor. Hardly the same level of comfort that the Mayor would have in her office, but it’d do. No doubt she set up this place on account of the possibility that some monsters might end up destroying something of value in the Mayor’s proper office. Once Applejack was inside the office, the attendant bid her farewell and resumed her duties, whatever they were beyond handing out tickets.
“Oh, Applejack? I hadn’t expected to see you so soon. There’s still a great deal of time left before your deadline expires.” Mayor Mare exclaimed.
“Ah know, but ah would rather git it all done now, so ah have th’ rest of th’ day t’ enjoy.” Applejack replied.
“Ah, understandable. So, before we begin, I’d like to offer you the chance to put forth any questions that you might have, about this process or just in general.”
“Well, ah wus wonderin’ why yer seein’ me separate from th’ others. Yer assistant there thought ah wus jus’ one o’ th’ regular folk, an’ when ah mentioned ya, she changed her tune.”
“Oh, of course! I should have elaborated that previously - you’re dealing with me because you are a resident of this town, who happens to fall under this new law. You’re not some common beast without a great deal in the way of intelligence. You just happen to be a member of the town that falls under the new criteria. As such I’ve opted to give you a modified version of the registration, which is only administered through me.”
“Uh huh, well, ah’m glad yer actually treatin’ me like one o’ yer own. Ah wouldn’t like t’ be thought o’ as some sort o’ pet. It just ain’t right fer me.”
“Of course, Applejack.” The Mayor nods, quickly organising a few papers she pulled from a pile before setting them before the two.“Now if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to get things started. We have a lot to discuss and there’s still other important business I have to attend afterwards, so the sooner we get this done, the better, yes?”
Applejack nodded and sat carefully on the ground in front of the desk. Mayor Mare turned the papers around so that Applejack could read it, not that it made much difference. The sheer size difference between her and someone of average size really didn’t help in terms of reading regular sized paper. She could see the paper just fine, it’s just she couldn’t read whatever was written on it. The Mayor soon realised just what the problem was and instead opted to read it aloud, to combat the reading element. Applejack was grateful for her consideration; at the very least it would speed things up a little more. Then she was free to get back to her regular life, to get back to Butter and spend the rest of her day in peace. Mayor Mare sorted through the papers until she was satisfied that they were all present and correct, then she began her questions.
“Excellent, so, formalities out of the way first. Your name is Applejack and you live on Sweet Apple Acres, in your family’s barn. Correct?”
“Sure is, though ah would like t’ be movin’ out sometime soon, but ya know, space is kinda an issue.” The larger mare shrugs.
“Of course, of course,” Mayor Mare mumbles, scribbling her answer down in her notes. “Do you hereby vow to give several days warning, should you choose to rampage through our streets? The use of these seven days will be done to reinforce certain structures and commence a proper evacuation of all willing citizens before you arrive. Is this acceptable?”
Caught off guard, Applejack is left speechless for a moment at the insult to her character. “Rampage? Ah thought ya said ah wusn’t some kinda dumb monster! Ah have it hard enough tryin’ t’ get around th’ place as it is without knocking stuff over. Ah ain’t about t’ go wrecking other ponies’ houses or nuthin’!”
The Mayor held up a hand. “Now, now, don’t be offended Applejack, please. I simply have to ask the questions as they’re written down on this sheet. Had you been a bit smaller -”
“Had ah bin a bit smaller, ah wouldn’t be here talkin’ w’ ya about this new law now, would ah?” Applejack deadpanned.
“Right, of course, it wasn’t my intention to cause offence. Would you still like me to continue with the reading? Or would you prefer to try and fill these out yourself?”
Applejack responded in the affirmative and the questions continued like normal. A lot of them were fairly simple. They talked about things such as at what point in Applejack’s life did she take on this monstrous form and what her job was before that. She was a little offended that the questions actively referred to her appearance as that of a monster, but then this was derived from a questionnaire about that precise factor. Some of the more difficult questions were based around whether or not Applejack had any responsibilities in the town that she had to abandon on account of her true nature. Applejack mentioned that her only responsibilities in the town were that of helping Princess Twilight as and when she required it, hanging out with her friends and helping with the orchard. At this point, the Mayor paused and got up from her desk, writing down a multitude of names down on a separate piece of paper. She then explained that she’d need to gather statements from each and every one of her friends or family that Applejack had mentioned. Applejack didn’t see why this couldn’t be done later, but the Mayor was halfway out the door by that point.
With no instructions she remained seated for the Mayor to return, passing the time by reflecting on just what she thought of the process so far. It was simple, that much was obvious, but it was clear that the Mayor hadn’t really put much thought into the wording of the questions. They still sounded like they were meant for the creatures in the adjacent room, which Applejack assumed correctly. While the personal touch did help, the fact she had to answer them at all was offensive. If they continued to strike a nerve in the way that they were, Applejack was going to need to turn in that rampage warning by the end of it. She wondered what Butter’s line of questioning was going to be about; no doubt he would be made responsible for her actions. He was basically doing that anyway, what with always paying for her meals, paying for repairs, paying a little something for clothes, helping townsfolk accept her, easing her troubles with every advancement in size, etc.
Thinking of how much he had to spend on her made her think of just how much she’d become dependent on him. The Apple family had never been one for luxuries and extravagance, which helped since they had never held enough money to truly spend on it. Maintaining the fields and buildings took up the majority of their expenses. But once Applejack had started to grow there had been worry that she might strain them beyond the breaking point. Thankfully Butter had stepped up, and so far was keeping them afloat, but it didn’t settle well with her. That wasn’t her way; she paid back her debts, even if she couldnot claim to have much money to repay him by. Mostly it was in small things, like letting him enjoy more private and special moments with her, or cheering him up after coming home from work. It did get her thinking though about just what Butter did for a living. She had always assumed cooking, but she didn’t know where it was he even worked.
She pondered that for the next few hours before the Mayor returned, bringing with her a stack of extra papers. No doubt these were the written statements from her friends and family, all of which hopefully had good things to say about her. By this moment in time, Applejack had begun to cramp up something fierce; her body was aching as she remained cooped up in the cabin like a captive animal. The Mayor dropped the excess of papers down on the desk, catching errant papers as they fluttered away and began to read and sign them.She didn’t say a word to Applejack, acting like she hadn’t even seen her to begin with. So Applejack coughed falsely, aiming to get attention and draw attention to the giant elephant in the room. The Mayor paused her scribbling and tilted her head the tiniest of margins upwards to see what had made the noise. Upon being reminded that Applejack was still sat in the room with her, she cleared her throat and began to speak.
“Ah yes, Applejack. I think your section of the questioning is complete. If there’s anything else I need, I’m sure I can get it from Butter Nut. You’re welcome to leave now.”
Applejack thought about replying with something smart, irritated at having apparently still wasted her day over this. Instead she just bowed her head and slipped out of the cabin. She remained hunched over as she passed through the much quieter tent, before getting out into the afternoon sunlight. She wasted no time at all in stretching up to her full height. The sounds of her joints and bones cracking into place filled the air as she did so, startling some of the passersby. She was glad to be out of there though, if not a little disappointed that her waiting around was essentially pointless. Still, all she had to do was send Butter along and he could complete his bit and they were home free. Sort of anyway; they were bound by that new law, but it was unlikely that it was going to affect them that much. The Mayor would have mentioned that to her if it was going to be the case, wouldn’t she? Applejack pondered that question all the way back to the barn, before greeting Butter and sending him on his way. She watched him go for a moment, mind pondering earlier thoughts, then slipped inside the barn and flopped down on the couch for a nap.
Butter wasn’t entirely sure of what to expect from the meeting, just like Applejack had been. The only difference was that he had hoped to ask her for information, so he knew what he was getting into. Applejack didn’t really seem to want to discuss it with him though, so he figured it was best left for the time being. If she didn’t say anything, then it was likely he had nothing to fear, or she had been told not to tell him what to expect. Either way he, like Applejack, just wanted to get the whole thing over and done with so they could relax. Unlike Applejack, he didn’t bother himself by dwelling on it, instead hurrying his pace to get down to the Town Hall to take care of things. Butter met with the same attendant as well, and this time she didn’t mistake him for anyone else, as the Mayor had thankfully given her a photo. He let her run her spiel, punctuating it with responses of his own, before she led him through to the Mayor’s temporary office.
Upon his arrival at the office, the Mayor looked up from her final bit of paperwork and greeted him warmly, completely different to how professional she had been with Applejack. “Butter Nut, a pleasure to meet you again! Shall we simply dive right in and get things started? Applejack certainly wanted to get back quickly.”
“Well, I certainly would like to just get this over with, no offense. I get the feeling you might have a lot more troublesome cases out there to handle.” Butter answers, looking back briefly at a growl from the other side of the door.
“Very well. I can assume that seeing as how the first questions are about your place of residence, that it’ll be the same place as Applejack?”
Butter nods. “Mhm, first the homestead, then the barn, maybe somewhere else later, but we’ll get to that when it happens.”
“Good, good. Now, I need to make you aware of something - it’s nothing serious, just the role you’ll be undertaking. According to the law you’ll be known as a Minion, though you’re free to call yourself whatever you like.” Mayor Mare explained.
“A Minion? Seriously? Just what do I have to do as part of this role?”
Mayor Mare clears her throat. “The pony and/or creature designated as Minion is required in all interactions between Monster and State. Their duties entail, and are not limited to, providing the government of their designated homestead details, including changes, of any and all movement, intentions, rampages, food and beverage consumption, malicious threatening, jeering taunts, ludicrous demands, intent to destroy and/or build property, worship of said Monster..."
Butter holds up his hands. “Alright, I get it. I basically have to keep you updated on any and all plans we have right? Do I have to pay for damages as well?”
“I’m glad you asked, as that leads us nicely into the next part of the registration. What is your occupation, and how do you intend to pay for all of this?”
Butter, surprising the mare, frowns. “I…Miss Mayor, if it’s alright with you, could you promise me something? I’d rather not have Applejack know what it is I do. I haven’t told her, and honestly, don’t have any desire to if I can help it.”
The Mayor raises an eyebrow and lowers her pen. “Is that so? I hope it’s nothing illegal.”
“Oh no, nothing like that!” He pauses, taking a deep breath before going on. “Applejack knows I went to cooking school in Manehatten, but that doesn’t really pay the kind of bills and fees that…well, she’s a growing mare, Mayor. I’m actually a monster hunter of sorts. Out in the Everfree Forest that is, not here in town. It’s not so much hunting even as it is retrieving certain items of interest for ponies that want them. Ponies will sometimes ask for certain things that can only be found in the Everfree, I go in, get them, and they pay me. Even the Princesses have asked me for a few things here and there, mostly alchemical ingredients, but they always pay well. I realise it’s not that stable, but I am hoping to put my cooking skills to use and open a pub perhaps. For now my income is more than enough.”
Mayor Mare, having listened with wide eyes, nodded after Butter finished. “I can see why you wouldn’t want Applejack to know about this. Goodness, I certainly never expected something like this! Dangerous antics in the Everfree Forest and plans to open a business? I’d say that was walking an extremely thin line.”
“It will be taxing if I manage to do it all.” Butter admits. “But if it helps Applejack? If I can make things easier for her – for both of us? It’s worth it ma’am.”
The questions continued after that, forcing Butter to spill details about his early life, the antics that he and Applejack had experienced before now and their immediate future plans. Once all that was over and done, Butter signed the form, as per his new role dictated and bid the Mayor farewell. As he left, it seemed like he was the final one of the day, as when he walked through the tent, it was being dismantled. As he traveled home he ran through points of the meeting, finding annoyance in at least one matter. How he was to be referred to being Applejack’s Minion; as far as he was concerned it wasn’t the greatest name choice. Sure, he didn’t want to be referred to as her owner, but there had to be a middle ground somewhere. Something that said he helped her but wouldn’t sound so wicked, or denote him as some kind of lackey either. The idea hit him as he walked along the dirt path back to Sweet Apple Acres. He could be her Handler; it wasn’t too strong of a term, but it implied that he had a certain level of say in the things she did and the consequences she felt. Ideally he’d prefer to just be her boyfriend, or one day husband. But if he had to have an official title, Handler was okay. Besides, it had another connotation, one that implied a little more ‘hands on’ approach toward him and Applejack. He smirked to himself; if she’d been around to hear him say something like that, she’d probably groan and slap him. He revelled in the moment though, holding that thought until he got back to the barn. He walked in and closed the door behind him. There was a moment of silence, followed by a loud groan...
Butter and Applejack continued to live their life in quite the blissful state, with no effects from the passed act interfering in their days. There was still a constant change in their life though; Applejack’s height was still showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. After growing two feet in what seemed to be such a fast week, things were rapidly getting out of control for the pair. The barn was beginning to become a tight fit for them. With each passing day, the space inside the barn grew less and less. The sofa was beginning to prove uncomfortable for Applejack no matter what position she chose to sit in. Her back was taller than the back of the sofa, leaving her spine bent in awkward positions whenever she leant back. Her legs had begun to reach her chest while sitting down, like an adult in a child’s seat. It wasn’t a flattering look and Butter couldn’t help but notice that it was starting to affect her moods once again. Whilst Butter’s efforts for more creature comforts and better entertainment had uplifted them for a time, the slowly dwindling barn around her was taking them back the other way.He was always ready and eager to do what he could to improve her spirits, but one pony could only do so much, and he was running out of ideas.
The size difference was beginning to become a little problematic too. At only six feet in height, Butter was only coming up to her shins, her knees at best. Walking with her around the orchard or simply bringing her out on dates was beginning to become harder and harder. They were still able to have moments of romance and joy; special booths at restaurants, their own private screenings, the private lake to swim in where nobody wanted to bother them. Those moments were great, but it was the fact that when Applejack walked through the town, ponies avoided them, that soured the experience. Some of the time they turned and walked away, other times they gave the large mare a wide berth.With all of the effort Butter and Applejack’s friends had put into calming and assuring the townsfolk that she was still the honest, hardworking mare that grew up in Ponyville, it was still depressing to see so many still treat her differently. It was a constant cycle of fear and distrust, often brought about when Applejack would appear after some time away, bigger and more intimidating. Then there were times when the giantess of the two accidentally caught a building with the side of her massive feet, knocking an entire section into rubble. Or crushed an entire cart with a misstep, destroying produce and valuables along with the transport. Ponies were understandably angry at her for things like that, but when Applejack told them that she couldn’t help it, that they were really just accidents, they found it hard to believe her.
The only pony to defend her during this was Butter, who did so for two reason. The first, and most obvious, was that he loved and knew Applejack so well that it was never in doubt to be an accident. The second though was more interesting, as it involved a story she often told him after such accidents, involving her large feet. It was one that fascinated Butter each time she brought it up and he could listen to it for hours, over and over.
The premise of the story was that shortly after Applejack and Butter first parted, and Applejack began to finally grow up, it was her feet that were one of the first things to come in. She’d never really thought about it much before, but the possibility of misshapen and uneven growth was a common thing for people to experience as time went on. With her feet growing in first, it left her with what many had described as ‘clown feet’ in comparison to her still much smaller frame. There were times when she had been walking through the orchard, helping out her brother and granny, when the ends of her shoes would simply split apart, leaving five, meaty toes poking out the ends.It got to a point where she even had a cupboard almost overflowing with shoes that had broken from excessive wear and tear. Each pair only tended to last ranging from days to a whole month. She blamed her working on the farm as the cause of her troubles, seeing how the other kids spent most of their time indoors with their friends, playing board games or drawing. None of them were being worked as hard as she was, since her playtime was basically an exercise routine. Granny tried to lift her spirits every so often by telling her that having big feet would help her out later, when she was old enough to do a little more work on the farm. She said that by the time she was of age, she’d have fantastic balance, be able to swim like fish and would have no problems in getting her an athletic partner like herself. Which made her feel better for a little while, at least until she heard the whispers from her peers. Then came the weirder comments.
Once she’d begun to grow upwards, her feet still retaining their somewhat clown like appearance, she started to attract the mature crowd.These were the ponies that had a certain interest in mare that stood up from the average. Whether it was those that had excessive magical abilities that might be perfect for a role in some sort of theatre performance, those that had incredible athletic prowess, or simply those that were above average in build. Naturally, Applejack fell into the last of these characters and often found herself being approached for work in businesses that seemed shady at best. They claimed that her height and shoe size were perfect for special productions held on some of the most well-known stages in Canterlot, Manehatten, everywhere one could think of. They talked of unique clientele; there were many that would appreciate the apparent ‘gift’ that she had been bestowed with. Applejack turned them down at every chance she got, often seeking out her brother to make sure that they didn’t pay her return visits. After such happenings, Applejack went through a phase of covering up her feet as best she could, cramming her feet into smaller shoes in the hopes that it might stunt her growth somewhat. Her feet were relentless though, and tore through everything she could throw at them. Eventually it got to a point where she simply couldn’t deal with it anymore, and choose to just let them grow wild. By the time she had reached her ‘final’ height of 6’10”, she was well into the male range of shoes. She was a 16 ½ EM (Equestrian Male), leaving her with feet that, while perhaps fitting for such a tall mare, were almost impossible to shop for.
It was the start of her deciding to finally go around certain places barefoot. At first it started out as simply her bedroom, then it graduated to all over the family home. Next thing she knew she was out in the orchard, getting them caked in mud and tracking it all over the house, much to Granny Smith’s disappointment. She loved it though; the feeling of freedom, the lack of numbers that made her feel freakish, the ability to flex and stretch her toes without confines. It was heaven, and as far as she was concerned she had no size; a perfect size zero. Now though in the future her feet were once again kicking up a storm. At the unending pace her growth seemed, they were going to soon be too big to even fit in the centre of town, and she didn’t know what she was going to do then. But there was a silver lining to this; Butter seemed to be crazy about her feet. Whether it was just the sheer size of them, or whether he was one of those people she’d heard about in her youth, the ones with a ‘unique appreciation’ for what she had, she couldn’t say. What she did know though was that she only had to express the slightest bit of discomfort with her feet and Butter’s first response would be to ask if she required a foot rub. She was humbled by his willingness to please her, but that didn’t also stop her from teasing him for it. Applejack often joked around with him, calling out the size difference between the two. Oftentimes she would make a smart mouthed comment whilst pressing a foot against him, easily covering him, or stretch out with them coming close to wherever it was he was resting.
Butter tried to not let her actions outwardly affect him, but it was a losing battle. It was her way of pushing his buttons and boy howdy, did it ever work. From the day they had met and decided to try out this whole relationship thing, her feet had been something that Butter had been quick to keep an eye on. He’d taken on pretty much every duty when it came to maintaining her feet in some way. He was the one that had done all the measuring when she needed some new boots. He was extra thorough, taking repeated measurements of her sole, each toe, the curve of her heel, the back of her heel and the diameter of the ball of her foot. Then off he had gone, coming back with receipts from many different places, each one shipping in a different size up of the same shoes, just in case they got bigger. When it came to washing herself, Applejack had mentioned that it was sometimes difficult to effectively clean them, so what did Butter do? He offered to clean that particular area for her. All she had to do was rest her large feet on the shore of her bathing lake, an he would scrub them clean with tender love and care. It was almost a shame that every time she immediately dirtied them again through the walk home, but even that would not last long. Butter would always give them a second, more private wash once home.
The best part of the whole thing was that it never got weird between the two of them. They could sit and engage in this kind of activity all night long, just teasing and rubbing or massaging, and if at any point somewhat said or did something uncomfortable, it was nipped in the bud. There were exceptions of course. Applejack had at first been adverse to Butter using his mouth, teeth or tongue on her feet, claiming she found it a little strange. After a short discussion about why he did it and in case she wanted one, an apology from Butter, Applejack resorted to letting him carry on. Now when he engaged in that kind of activity, she zoned out a little and relaxed herself, thus allowing him a little indulgence and her the relative comfort she deserved. Likewise, Butter keyed her into precautions and warnings about what to do and not to, with her ever advancing size causing sometimes even the smallest motion to be risky. Once in place, he found that he too could easily slip into a wonderful moment of happiness while tending to his love’s feet.
The two had a mutual understanding of each other in regards to feet, and it wasn’t just Applejack that received the treatment from Butter. It worked the other way around as well. Around the time her growth spurts began to affect her moods and Applejack opted to stay inside more often, Butter had been left to run a lot of the errands. When it came to feeding someone as big Applejack, you needed a lot of food and when grocery day came, Butter usually needed the Apple family cart to handle the load. Not being as fit as Big Mac or other, less chubby stallions, left him exhausted once home. The first time this had happened, Applejack could see that he was getting stressed at the prospect of doing this day in and day out, so she decided to use his own trick against him. Even at 6’ 10” she had been big enough, and strong enough, to lift him easily, making the task now effortless. Next, she took him over to the couch where she held him in her hands like a life-size doll. Then, while being as careful as she could, she twirled him around so that her mouth was lined up with both of his feet. At the smaller scales she made do with working on one foot at a time, but once she rose to higher scales though she could work both at once. Hearing the little groans and sighs that came from him as she worked his feet expertly with her tongue was delightful. She even managed to get teasing comments in whilst she did it, which only made him love her actions even more.
Back in the present; this evening Butter had taken his seat on the sofa and was watching their private projection screen. Applejack, coming in after hanging some laundry, took the other cushion next to him. A depressed sigh filled the air, as it oft did lately, as she flopped onto the couch without caring to watch her weight. Butter was caught unawares as her titanic rump dropped down onto the cushion, spilling over onto his own and spreading out almost to his shoulders. The resulting downward force that Applejack exerted upon the couch sent a wave of air and material rushing up from beneath him. The smaller stallion was sent shooting into the air, over even Applejack’s head, and began free-falling down in her direction. Too stunned to even scream, he merely flailed his arms and hoped to land somewhere soft. Ideally on his girlfriend, or lesser so the couch again. As he fell past the brim of her hat he saw his final destination and tucked himself into a ball. He executed a perfect cannonball, straight into the depths of Applejack’s cleavage, who yelped at the sudden intrusion. Inside of the darkness, Butter was delighted at being wedged between the two warm walls of flesh. He was not left undisturbed for long; two thick digits began probing against his body, the longest curling him and dragging him back to the light.
Applejack pulled Butter out from her cleavage with expert handling, an embarrassed flush on her face. “Mind tellin’ me why ya were divin’ in a no-fly zone?” She grumbled dangerously.
Butter however wasn’t worried. “Hey, I was just watching my show, when suddenly there was a meteor shower. Two great big ass-teroids came crashing down, and whoop we have lift-off!” He snickered as her face grew even more red.
However her face quickly grew stern, even while her cheeks remained rosy red. “Uh huh, real funny. Well, seein’ as ah ain’t in th’ bes’ mood t’day, ah can only sentence ya t’ one thing.”
Butter rubbed his hands together. “How can I help?” He asked eagerly.
Applejack placed him onto her belly and extended her legs, giving him a view of her current pair of boots. The brown leather was tattered and worn; the original dark brown had been sun bleached into a much brighter variant, even going white in some places. The closed toe of one boot had split open at the seams, leaving five toes of varying size wiggling back at Butter. His own fingers clenched and unclenched by his sides as he watched, making little grabbing motions as he fought with himself not to dive at them. Applejack placed her other boot on top of the first, running the heel back against her toes, bending them back until they caught on the second boot. Then came one of the most perfect sounds that Applejack could make, at least in Butter’s opinion. The gentle ‘shhhf’ of her foot as it scraped against the inside of her boot, dragging the material along with it. Her endless orange foot receded out of the tight confines, inch by inch, the ending never seeming to come. Every time she took them off the reveal went on for just a little bit longer, her constant growth seeing to it that the show never got old. Finally, once one foot was free, she kicked away the boot, splaying out her toes with a content sigh. Butter made an eager noise of agreement.
He hopped about from foot to foot, waiting for Applejack to give him the signal that she was ready. Her foot was out in the open and it was getting colder by the second, without Butter’s loving touch to warm it back up. He turned his attention to the other boot, confused as he caught sight of her bare foot dropping to the floor, instead of adopting the usual position. Then he heard it, that seductress of a sound, the ‘shfff’ of her foot as it scraped the insole of her boot. His head followed it as she swung it left and then right, then back again for a repeat. Each time, the boot inched higher and higher, like her foot was growing right before him. Butter was transfixed, his eyes following every motion, shuddering when the sound called out again. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, his body tingling as the sound got longer and longer, as though time was slowing around him. Then the end of her boot flopped over, half on, half off. Dangling from her toes by the tiniest of margins.
“Well, ah won’t make it too easy on ya. If ya pull mah li’l boot off, ah’ll letcha get a head start…”
There it was! It wasn’t like her to directly say yes to Butter in these scenarios, but as far as starting guns went, this one was already smoking. Butter hopped across Applejack’s abs like stepping stones, slid down her upper leg, over her knees and onto the tip of her boot, pulling it off with the help of gravity. The boot flopped to the floor with a soft thunk, and his work was rewarded with another flex of toes, this time right before his sight. First task completed, he rushed over to the foot that had been freed first, sliding along his knees until he connected with her ankle. Arms outstretched, he began to massage his hands into the top of her foot. He could feel the blood pumping under her feet, the soft feel of her veins just below the surface. It was exhilarating to think that he was so close to something that many would take for granted. If there was one thing about this whole relationship that wowed him every time, it was the sense of scale he got from engaging in activities like this. Feeling her body react to his every touch on this level was incredible. From the slightest twitch of her toes as his hands brushed over them, to the change from warm to cold as he began to work on a different part of her foot, it was all so unbelievable. Even the scents her body gave off were greater and more notable. Such as the warm musk of having worn boots all day her toes exuded, tinged with the bitter salt of her sweat.
His hands brushed over a trail of freckles that he hadn’t noticed before. It wasn’t uncommon; exposure to sunlight was inevitable with going barefoot and with her feet that was the most common occurrence. He gave them a playful scratch, knowing full well that they had formed on a part of her foot that Applejack found to be immensely ticklish. He peered up and back as he ran his nails across her skin, smirking as he saw the edges of her mouth turn up into a smile. He ran his hands up her foot, sliding them in-between her toes. Secretly, he enjoyed this part the most. Whilst massaging and caressing her feet did have their advantages, there was one thing that completed the whole experience for him; made it one hundred percent perfect. That was the scents that he could experience whilst he was down here.That musky odor he noted before, fresh from hours of standing and walking. It set the scene in his mind perfectly; just one whiff and he was set into foot mode until he’d accomplished the task. He could still be charming and funny in such a mode, but there was definitely something big on his mind as well.
He dug his hands between her toes, spreading them apart with his strength to rub the parts that most just didn’t reach. Oftentimes they were put off by how the areas between the toes seemed to harbour the highest concentration of scents and ticklish flesh. But as Applejack’s natural body scent was never above levels indicative of light perfume, the first of those was in no way a problem. The second was hardly a problem either; Butter utilised his hands, two at a time, and scrabbled at the slight webbing at the base between each toe. Applejack snapped her toes open and shut like pincers, squeezing his hands tight, lifting him slightly from the tug off his perch. He closed his eyes and kept his mouth shut, but he could still hear the stifled giggles as she struggled to keep it together and her foot aloft. Keeping one hand on the sensitive flesh, his other reached out and began to massage the tips of the toes. Then her dared to stand and reach behind them, massaging the ball of her foot.A soft groan of approval came from Applejack, until finally she lowered her foot to the floor and lifted the other. He zipped across the floor to it, finding it already propped and waiting for him
“Ah normally don’t play with th’ ‘small timers’, but then, when ya have feet like mine, ah guess tha’s all there is, right Sugahcube?”
Butter practically melted into a puddle there and then. He had recently mentioned to her that when they played like this, throwing in a few contextual size quips was something he felt would liven things up. In truth, it did more than just that. Butter became all flustered, losing the cool he had built up on the other foot, his mind going blank as he struggled to think of what to do. Her toes wiggled lazily in front of him, just casually teasing him without the use of words. Taunting him. Which meant it was time for him to bring out the big guns, which was in a way playing dirty. He smacked his tongue off his lips a few times and returned to his knees, parting Applejack’s biggest toe and the next one along. He selflessly placed his head between those toes, opened his mouth, took a deep lungful of her delectable scent and lunged forwards. His mouth clamped against the sensitive flesh, his arms sliding inwards to help keep her toes spread. His tongue lashed against her, burning in delight as new flavours reached parts of his mouth they’d never reached before. A veritable party of apple scents and tastes washed over his palette. Ranging from bitter, to sweet and even to salty, his mouth was on fire in the most pleasant way possible.
He could feel how she tensed up, his arms fighting back with the last of his strength, trying to give him the edge he needed. His teeth clamped down on her, his jaw sliding side to side as her ground his teeth against her, sending ripples of pleasure throughout her larger body. She writhed under his iron grip, unable to slip away from him, or employ countermeasures like scrunching up her toes to loosen his access. Applejack’s stoic face cracked, creases forming on her brow and around her mouth as she began to cave. Butter continued his assault down below, relentlessly swallowing down saliva tinged with the most heavenly taste he could imagine. Then the alarm rang out; a cry told him it was all over, and that he had won and brought Applejack back around to the pleasant side of things. A laugh so shrill yet hearty echoed around him. Like the bells of the heavenly afterlife, each time she paused to breathe, it was only to begin again. It was music to his ears. He sat back, wiped the drool from his chin and nuzzled his upper body against her foot whilst she continued to laugh above him. In return she gave him a little squeeze with her toes, her signal to him that she was grateful for what he did.
Still, that didn’t mean she wasn’t up for a little revenge, Butter had hardly been playing fair so far after all. She tipped her foot forwards, sending Butter toppling onto his back. She kept her toes straight, ‘walking’ them over Butter. Her biggest toe ran up his arm, rubbing and lightly scraping her nail across it. The next one along rubbed against his hips as he lay pinned by the five, digit damsels. The middles toe ran across his chest with all the dexterity and oddly enough, charm, of female who knew what she could get and knew how to get it. It teased him in all the right places, skipping around the area south of his stomach, already knowing what awaited her there. The next toe replicated what its sister did on the other side, same for the littlest toe. All in all it was an assault that Butter couldn’t help but admire. It made his stomach flutter and his knees weak. This was all so new to him, but he knew that Applejack had something up her sleeve. Once the toes had completed their walkover, the middle toe positioned itself right against the top of Butter’s head, messing with his ginger mop. Gradually, Applejack lowered her foot down on him, in the same way that one might peel a sticker or a plaster, but in reverse. His face was smothered under her toe, his head cradled by another one either side. The gradual pushing down on his chest as the ball of her foot lightly squeezed it. He wheezed in response, but his breathing soon normalised. He shuddered as the arch of her foot came down right along his midriff, his hips moving upwards of their own volition. Finally, his legs came under her heel, which she took great pleasure in rolling across his own feet as she settled in.
“Mmm, oh what’re ya watchin’ on here anyhow? Bridal Fury? An’ it’s a two hour runtime? Guess ya won’t mind sittin’ tight fer th’ time it takes me t’ watch this, would ya?”
No answer, but she swore a very quiet whimper of delight came from below as his body squirmed under her sole. She smirked.
“That’s wut ah thought.” Applejack replied, keeping her other foot close by, just in case, as she settled in to watch.
Butter awoke that morning snuggled into Applejack’s bosom, his feet just reaching to her ripped stomach. Today was a special day, a day he’d been hoping for some time now. Time that had flown by for Butter almost as if in a wonderful daydream. Every instance of adventure that the two had experienced since beginning their life together cycled through his mind. Even now, they were still turning corners onto new and interesting chapters of their lives. Applejack was beginning to warm up to the idea of being bigger, especially whenever Butter chimed in with a little mantra for her. That ‘the bigger she got, the more there was for him to love’. Since he’d given her that little thing to focus on, her moods had improved considerably. No longer did she see her growth spurts as something to be feared, instead they were something she could embrace. Butter had helped her here and there by continuing to have fun with her, despite the size difference between the two. At nineteen feet and ten inches tall, Applejack towered over Butter, quite literally. There were castle walls out there that were smaller than Applejack’s current height. With her immense size they were currently in the market for finding a new place to stay. Applejack’s body just about spanned the entire floor space and her head was bumping off the roof beams. They were likely good for a few more days, perhaps a week at most, but the pressure was on to find somewhere to keep them warm at night.
That was at the back of Butter’s mind for now though; he wanted to focus on making today the most special day he could manage. He carefully slid off Applejack’s stomach and landed in the pile of straw and hay he had prepared late the previous night. He paused as he knelt there, giving Applejack five seconds to wake up or continue to sleep. Thankfully for him, she chose the latter, snoring loudly and rolling over onto her side. Butter spent a moment regretting the loss of opportunity, but soldiered on knowing it was for the greater good. He crossed to the door of the barn and slid it open just enough for him to squeeze out, then once he was outside, he slid it shut again. The first stop of his little escapade was the Apple Family home, where Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and Big Mac all resided. He stepped through the back door, which led into the kitchen and was pleasantly pleased with what he saw. Granny Smith was busy in the kitchen, cooking up breakfast for the others. Butter waltzed on over and made himself obvious to her. He opted against the typical tapping on the shoulder as he had no idea how great a shock it might be and for someone of her advanced age, a shock wasn’t always the best thing. So he just sauntered right up to the counter next to her, edging into her peripheral vision so she was introduced to him that way instead.
“What yer after, sonny?” Granny asked, not taking her eyes away from the pan on the stove before her.
Butter whispered his response into Granny’s ear, cupping his hands around his mouth to avoid anyone else hearing. Granny Smith nearly fainted after hearing what Butter had to say, forcing him to act quickly. With one arm held around her waist and the other firmly gripping the pan on the stove, Butter held her there until she recovered from his news. He knew she had when she leapt to her feet and rushed over to the cabinets, throwing down pile after pile of food, all uncooked, onto the central table. Butter had never seen her move so fast; it was like she was possessed by some kind of demon or at the very least a poltergeist. Leaving the pan to simmer on the stove for a little, he turned around and continued with his spiel.
“So, does that mean you’ll do it?”
“Sonny, a wild pack o’ timberwolves couldn’t keep me away! Jus’ come on back in half an hour, an’ ah’ll have th’ first lot ready for ya!”
Butter nodded and left her to it. He understood that Granny Smith was somewhat of an expert in her field and he knew that one should never bother an expert at work. Now that he had half an hour to kill and about an hour before Applejack woke up and realised he was missing, he decided to wander into town and check on one other thing. The walk to and from town would take up the most of his spare time, but it was worth it to make sure that the orders he had placed in the town had been fulfilled. He popped into the local jewellers and was led to the back room, where the crate he had ordered rested. He was allowed to peer inside to check the contents, but for now he opted to keep the whole thing here, whilst he ensured that everything else was in order. Once he was done with the jewellers, he nipped through the streets and ducked into Rarity’s Boutique. Unsurprisingly, she was sitting at her sewing machine, working away on a roll of white fabric. Butter stood in the doorway, the bell having rung already, but when Rarity was in the zone, there were very few things that could snap her out of it. He coughed into his hands loudly, repeatedly in a short passage of time, until he saw Rarity’s ears twitch over the noise of the sewing machine. Her head swivelled round to look at the door; her glasses slid part way down the bridge of her nose as she looked over them at Butter.
“Hm? Oh! Butter Nut, darling, whatever brings you here at this hour?”
“Well, I was hoping you might be close to done with my order. You know, the one from about a week ago? I know it was pretty short notice, considering the size of it all, but today is…” Butter was cut off by Rarity gasping.
“Oh, it’s today that you need it? Oh dear of course – now it makes sense. Well, I did finish most of the work already darling. I’ll have to adjust a few of the measurements, since you updated the sizes I have. But yes, it should be ready, if you need it today.”
Trust Rarity to remember such important details about her friends. Butter smiled, but shook his head. “I don’t need it right away Miss Rarity. I’ve still got one more thing to do, but do you think you could finish the last few bits before I get back? I shouldn’t be more than an hour or so.”
“Not to worry, darling. I’ll finish this stitch and I’ll get right on it. Good luck to you - I’ll hopefully hear from you soon, hm?”
“You bet! Thanks again!”
With that Butter was out of the door and back in the cold morning air of Ponyville. He had around eight minutes left before his half an hour was up and his business, for the most part, had been taken care of. Now he just had to return to the special lady in his life and get the wheels of his plan in motion. A spring in his step, he strode through the streets with gusto, a smile as wide as a mile across his face. The butterflies in his stomach were in just about the same happy mood as he was, each one doing their best to improve his mood further. By the time he'd reached the dirt path leading to Sweet Apple Acres, he was practically skipping his way down the path. The sight of his looming home in the distance and the contents within were soon to be treated to a most wonderful surprise. He took a detour into the Apple family home, where Granny Smith had laid out a pancake buffet. There was every conceivable flavour piled up on multiple plates all nestled on the tray. She was still working on the rest of the food that Butter had requested, so he took the tray and slid his way over the barn. Carefully, he slid the door open with a foot, closed it once in, and stood heroically as if home from a daring quest of old.
“Rise and shine, big girl! “
Applejack groaned and stretched, limbs brushing against each far wall. Her feet easily laid flat against one wall, until she rolled to face him and curled inward some. “Sugahcube? What’re ya doin’ over there?”
“Oh, just whipping up a little surprise for my favourite girl in the world. How does some of Granny Smith's pancakes sound to you?”
Applejack bolted upright, her nose flared as she inhaled the sweet aroma of those pancakes. “Blueberry…Strawberry…Cinnamon Apple…even Granny’s Secret Zap Flaps?! Hoowhee!”
The ground trembled as Applejack leapt out of bed, landing on her feet like a gymnast, her current undressed state causing parts of her to also quake. Butter watched in awe as her thunderous footsteps took her toward him rapidly, her body climbing in his vision. The force of her careless stomps made him almost bounce in place, and the towering stack of pancakes wobbled precariously in his grip. If that wasn’t enough, then when she finally stood atop him she bent over and took great whiffs of the scents coming from the platter. Butter swore he felt his hair being pulled up by the force of her nostrils, and that the topmost pancake slid just that little bit from its mooring to nearly fall off. Not wanting to leave the fate of her breakfast to chance, he carefully set the tray down before her, almost like an offering, and snagged the topmost for himself. He placed it on a smaller plate that had been beneath the platter, along with some utensils, and sat down cross-legged for breakfast. Applejack likewise sat down, her careless flop causing Butter to bounce over an inch in the air from the force. Unlike him however she sat with her legs out, ensnaring him between them, the door, and her body. It made for quite the sight, yet spoke of the air of casualness that had built up between them. It wouldn’t have been long ago that the thought of baring herself to him, at a meal no less, was outrageous. Now she happily bared all just to get down to her meal. That his eyes never left her wasn’t just a coincidence, nor was the small boost in confidence she felt from his adoration of her form.
Butter slowly nibbled on his simple meal of a buttermilk pancake, sprinkled with powdered sugar over a thick layer of syrup. Applejack dug into her own with gusto; not bothering to pace or adhere to etiquette in favor of stuffing her face, she simply scooped up several of the pancakes and tossed them down. It was a little off-putting to watch Applejack eat sometimes. Her manners had never been strong, raised as a country girl with practicality over fanciness. As she outgrew most utensils and kitchenware, the giant mare had simply taking to taking giant fistfuls of her meal and scarfing it barehanded. Syrup drizzled from between her fingers as she simply plucked up pile after pile of pancakes, greedily stuffing her mouth before trying to swallow. The thick mush struggled with her, slowly rolling down her throat in a noticeable bulge that Butter watched in fascination. She quickly wiped out the platter he’d brought, but he slipped away and quickly returned with another big helping from Granny, who was now resting in a chair, her task complete.
Butter took one more trip out as she began devouring this one as well, returning with a giant container of fresh milk for them to share. Her mouth still full of food, Applejack finally got around to asking Butter what the occasion was.
“Now, ya don’ have t’ tell me what ya game is, but ah know that ah never git Granny’s special pancakes unless there’s some kind o’ occasion. So, do ah get t’ know wut’s so special ‘bout t’day?”
Butter just smiled, finishing his pancake and washing it down with a gulp of milk. “In a little bit AJ. Before that though, I have to go do a few things. You mind waiting a bit until I get back?”
Applejack swallowed multiple times, forcing the mass of mush down her throat. Swigging the container of milk, she burped loud enough to rattle the rafters and patted her stomach. “Sure - Ah reckon it’ll take me a few minutes t’ finish digestin’ all o’ this anyway. You run along an’ do whatcha gotta do.”
Butter was gone in a matter of seconds, shutting the door behind him before she could blink. This was it, the moment he had been waiting so very long for. All his weeks and months of planning, making sure each of the details was worked out as far as they could go; it was all for this one special moment. All he needed to complete it was for Applejack to give him the correct answer when he revealed his hard work to her. He raced back into Ponyville, heading for the jeweller first and letting them know that he was going to need his crate out front as soon as possible. Then it was over to Rarity’s to check on the condition of his order, which he found out was seconds away from completion. He looped around from there to stop off at Sugarcube Corner for a brief chat with Pinkie about the cake recipe he had cooked up for her and then finally a little stopover at Twilight’s to make sure that everyone was aware of the set up. Everyone that was, apart from Applejack, who was still in the barn, sitting and wondering what her little stallion had cooked up this time.
All the people he needed from Ponyville had been checked, double checked, and triple checked by now. He returned to the jeweller to find him holding the crate in his hands, which Butter took from him with gusto. The clerk wished him good luck as he set off, though Butter didn’t respond to him. His mind was too preoccupied with the fervent hope that all of this went smoothly. This could all go so very wrong; just one word from Applejack and everything he’d done would be for nothing. As he lugged the crate back to the barn, he hesitated. His hand mere inches away from the door, his fingers trembling as he willed himself to make the move. This was it. Crunch time. No going back, only going forwards. Time t-
“Are ya coming in or not?” Applejack asked, having opened the door when she noticed the shadow under the door. Since he left she’d also taken to putting her clothes on, thinking he intended to take her out for something. Her face twisted into one of confusion as she looked at Butter and the strange box he was carrying.
“Ah, well…I-I was hoping to maybe do this inside…” He trailed off as he heard footsteps coming up from behind. Turning, he saw the rest of the local Apple family had gathered and were watching him with baited breath. Apple Bloom especially was bouncing excitedly, nudging her now smaller big brother who himself smiled. Granny Smith, decked in her best dress and shawl, looked up with pride toward her granddaughter, who only grew more confused by the appearance of her family. Butter slumped and looked amusedly resigned. “Guess not then, oh well.”
He put the box on the ground, opening the lid and hefting out a large, gold, ring. It weighed quite a bit, even with the master craft work the jeweller had put into it. He dropped to one knee and did his best to hold up the ring for Applejack to see. It shone with a near blinding intensity as the overhead sun caught it. Applejack’s bottom lip quivered as she slowly began to realise what Butter was trying to do. Her hat slid a little ways down her forehead, covering her eyes somewhat but not obscuring her view. A hush fell over the gathered ponies.
“Applejack, I…we’ve known each other for years now, ever since we were kids. But it wasn’t long ago that we both realized we cared for each other more than that.” Butter took a deep breath. “Neither of us wanted to rush things, and we’ve been through a lot of…interesting times. Which has only made me realize I love you more and more with every day. S-So I thought, why wait any longer? Will…um…will you marry me?”
The giant mare didn’t respond right away. Her hands lifted up, wringing themselves in an uncharacteristic display of nerves. Apple Bloom in the back was quietly chanting ‘yes, yes, yes!’ to herself, and Granny Smith’s smile made her look ten years younger. Big Mac however, and soon the rest of the gathered observers, noted that she had yet to reply.
Butter licked his lips as the moment dragged on. “Applejack?”
“A-Ah dunno, Sugahcube. We’re...not exactly yer average couple. Marriage is great an’ all, but ah don’t think we can be like them. Ah mean look at me! If ya were hopin’ t’ git some kids outta it, ah hate t’ tell ya but ah can’t see it happenin’. An’ where are we gonna live? Ah can hardly fit in th’ barn these days - are we jus’ supposed t’ roam th’ land? Ah jus’...ah don’ think marriage is th’ right thing for us, Sugahcube.” Applejack replied worriedly.
But Butter wasn’t going to be turned down as easily as that, at least not without trying first. “Applejack, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than I have been with you. Yes, things haven’t exactly been easy between us - each day had the potential to be something new, something challenging - but we’ve always seen them off haven’t we? I don’t know how many times I need to say it, but I love you, and like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”
Applejack still looked uncertain. “Ah jus’... marriage is such a strong word…” There was a loud huff from behind the proposing stallion, though nobody knew who made it.
“Then let’s not call it that!” Butter thought for a moment. “We’re…well we’re already a couple, so how about we just say we’re becoming…partners! Mates? No, partners is better. Mutually exclusive, life-long, partners.”
As the Apple family exchanged looks of resigned amusement, Applejack mulled over his words. “What yer suggestin’...ah...alright Butter Nut…ah’ll...Ah accept yer offer!”
She reached down and plucked the ring from Butter’s grip, trying to stick it on her finger. The ring didn’t seem to fit though; she could force it about halfway down the correct finger and then it became rather hard to push it any further. Her face fell as she struggled with it, trying in vain to get it to fit. Butter wasn’t exactly much help; he was frozen on the spot, a look of pure glee stuck to his face over his work-around victory. His eyes shimmered with an excess of moisture, his brain still processing that Applejack had actually said yes. Once that was complete, his normal functions returned and he was able to help her out with the ring.
“Uh, Applejack? I did sorta plan for you to say yes, but I didn’t expect for you to want to wear any jewelry, so…” He blushed. “Before I tell you, do you mind if we still have a ceremony? It won’t be anything big – just close friends and family, not even in town, promise.”
“Ah guess?” Her eyes narrow in suspicion.“Wait, did ya let them know before ya even came t’ me?!”
Butter rubbed the back of his head. “Ahem, yeah. I ‘kinda’ got carried away with the planning before I even asked you if you’d say yes. It’s…actually all ready to go, today. Like, in about a few hours. I even sent out letters…”
Applejack sighed, but smiled in wry amusement. It would seem her little stallion had his heart set on this. “Well, ah guess ah have no choice but t’ agree then, huh? What are we callin’ it though? Not a marriage ceremony but a…?”
“Beats me, maybe Pinkie will think of something. Now, you just go back inside and keep that ring safe until the ceremony. Rarity will be along shortly with the outfit I asked for - I’m sure you’ll love it. I’ve gotta run and finish up what I couldn’t do this morning. See you in a few hours!”
Then he was off, zooming down the path away from Sweet Apple Acres and into town once more. Leaving Applejack with the ring, her family, and a wellspring of happiness she scarcely wanted to acknowledge. Despite her uncertainties, Applejack felt like she had made the right decision. Saying no would have destroyed Butter, that much was clear, and when the world got her down, she needed Butter to help her through it. Getting closer to him in this way was only going to improve the solidarity that they had, and at the sizes she was approaching, she needed that more than ever. Pocketing the ring, she crouched down as Apple Bloom rushed forward to congratulate her, Big Mac walking up as well. Only Granny Smith remained in her spot and shook her head.
“An’ ah thought my son were a darn wool-headed mule with mah daughter-in-law…”
****
True to his word, a few minutes later Rarity knocked on the door of the barn, carrying the neatest bundles of white cloth one could ever see. Applejack opened the door and ushered her inside, closing it again once she was inside. Rarity placed the bundle of clothes onto the sofa, before turning to face Applejack. Standing at just over five and a half feet meant that Rarity was a fair bit smaller than Butter. So when faced with Applejack, she had to admit, it was a little unnerving. When they had first met, the difference had certainly been somewhat intimidating, but nowhere near to this scale. She could often ignore the towering mare’s height if she was sitting, or not quite in her line of sight. But standing before her, with the farmer standing tall, reinforced what she had already intellectually known from working with the measurements she’d been given. That her friend was an entire world of scales bigger than the seamstress, and indeed, the rest of Ponyville. Especially once you considered her advanced, healthy and strong build from years on the farm.
But being ever the professional, and also a dear friend, Rarity carefully tucked those worries away and focused on the here and now. “Now then, Applejack, if you’d kindly undress. Let us see if we can have you slip into something more appropriate for the occasion, shall we?”
Despite visiting her many times in the past for new clothes, Applejack still felt that there was a little something between the pair when it came to seeing Applejack in the nude. Rarity herself was quite the model figure; curves in all the right places, a well groomed tail and hair, and a completely unblemished complexion made her one of the most beautiful mares in Ponyville. Her bosom and butt were the kind of things one might see on the front of fashion magazines, and her hips were so shapely one could swear they were crafted by the Princesses themselves. The one thing she didn’t have was musculature though; there was little to no tone to her body or limbs. An accurate description that Applejack had heard in the past was that she sort of resembled a marshmallow. Soft, white, fluffy and pudgy. A lot of squish, but not much else. Whereas the farmer had all of this but also the muscles, toned from years of hard work on the farm from dawn to dusk. Even before she’d grown it had been like comparing a redwood to a willow; one thick and towering, the other thin and curved. Certainly both had been blessed with amazing genetics, but it was clear who had the favor of whomever guided such things.
Applejack even recalled a time when she had visited Rarity to get one of her shirts let out to deal with her advancing bosom, and Rarity had accidentally let slip just how much she longed for the same kind of body. Applejack had stupidly suggested some kind of workout regimen, but Rarity had shot that down with a death glare and a comment about how she had very little spare time. Thankfully such jealously had never festered, but there were times that it made their interactions strange. Not awkward or uncomfortable, but still not average for friends, or customer and owner.
Applejack dropped the overalls, button-up shirt and sandals she’d put on before while stepping out of the pile they left. Following the smaller mare’s instructions she spread her legs some and held her arms out to the side. There was a pause, before Rarity levitated the clothes out of their bundled state and unfurled them to make it easier to wear. Looking closer, Applejack’s outfit revealed itself to her, and it was far from the traditional design favoured by most brides to-be. The bodice resembled the shirts she was fond of wearing, except that the front had been stitched together so she couldn’t wear it openly. Her stomach was still on show though, which she expected nothing less if Butter had a hand in things. The top of her chest was on show as well, the smattering of freckles easily visible to those that could look her straight on. Though aside from being something of a revealing top half, it was the lower half that impressed her the most. Knowing that Applejack was somewhat adverse to ‘poofy’ outfits and especially dresses, Rarity had factored it into her design to create something more appropriate. Essentially it was a pleated skirt stitched onto a pair of leggings; the former reached down to her knees while the latter reached her ankles. It would allow her to appear more feminine, less ‘uncouth’ as Rarity might put it, but also retain her dignity from those who might glance up. Altogether the outfit resembled more a high-end cowgirl’s attire, perhaps for a fancy hoe-down, more than a wedding, yet retained the white purity that a bride deserved.
Applejack was beginning to take a shine to this outfit, her worries melting away like ice on a hot summer’s day. There was just one thing left to show and Rarity seemed a little iffy about doing so. Once she’d managed to fit the ‘dress’ onto Applejack and saw how snugly it fit her curves, there was no stopping her from breaking out the shoes. In truth when Butter had handed her the outfit’s design, she hadn’t taken to it well, even asking if it was possible to completely redo it. Butter had stuck to his guns though and insisted that she follow the plan exactly as he had outlined it. So, resigned to it, Rarity had crafted the cowgirl attire, which of course required equally glamorous cowboy boots. An imprinted snake pattern ran along the side, over the heel and then back down the other side. An oversized ruby had been mounted onto the leg sections of the boot, one for each side. The most notable detail though was how much space there was at the front, something Butter had specifically asked for the most. Like sandals there was no leather covering where her toes should be, leaving them free to breathe, unlike the rest of her foot. They fit incredibly well too, roomier than anything she had tried on so far, possibly in her entire life.
Finally ready for her big day, or whatever she was calling it, Applejack did a careful twirl to show it off. She was a stunning creature, inducing a whole new level of adorable jealousy in Rarity. Now completely ready, Rarity had instructions to lead her to where the ceremony was taking place, ideally with her blindfolded to avoid spoiling the surprise. Naturally, Rarity skipped over that idea as having someone as big as Applejack stumbling around blindfolded was hardly the safe option. Instead she just led her out of the barn and into the area past the North field where Butter, and her family and friends, waited for her. A red carpet had been laid for her leading through the trees. At the foot of it was a young apple tree sapling, which Rarity explained to be the ‘bouquet’ on this occasion. A sweet notion to be sure, and Rarity even had a few ribbons adorning it for the occasion. Granny took over from Rarity at the base of the carpet and began to lead her grandchild down the aisle. Standing at the other end, all suited and booted was Butter, looking the smartest she had ever seen him. In front of him was none other than Princess Twilight, the only princess available on short notice to officiate for them. To Applejack, it was perhaps the most touching thing her friend had ever done for her.
Applejack strode down the aisle, the ring Butter had asked her to hold onto clutched tightly in her hands along with the apple tree. Sitting on whatever spare chairs were available was the rest of her Ponyville family. Her other four friends had gathered near the front, and surprisingly, even Rainbow Dash had gotten all dolled up for the occasion. There was no doubt that a lot of kicking and screaming had taken place to get her to look like that, but Applejack was grateful she had stuck with it. On the other side from her friends, there were another three chairs, one for Apple Bloom, who had brought the rest of the CMC along, one for Big Mac and another for Granny once her duties were filled. The rest of the location had been decorated with bits of ribbon and streamers, and what appeared to be confetti, no doubt a late addition by Pinkie Pie. On a wide buffet table sat various home baked goods, both from the bouncy baker and her family, with a small cake that had a top adornment that made her chuckle. Two cute, cartoonish pony figurines were nuzzling one another, and like their real world counterparts, the tiny Applejack was almost big enough to fit on the top layer by herself, with tinier Butter on his hind legs to reach her muzzle. Butter really had put a lot of thought into all this and if Applejack was quite honest with herself, it made her very emotional. Her eyes welled up as she strode next to him, casting a shadow on Twilight and the space behind her.
“Everyone, you find yourselves gathered here today to witness the …” Twilight began, only for Butter to cough and lean in to quickly speak with her. “What? But…so you’re not getting-?”
“We are! Sorta.” Butter quickly interrupted before anyone else got the wrong idea. Casting a furtive glance up at Applejack, he said, “Applejack is a little…iffy…on calling it a uh, marriage. This is more of a…partnership?”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
In the crowd, Granny Smith’s surprisingly good hearing picked up the hushed words, and she shook her head again.
“I know, but…” Leaning in further, Butter lowered his voice more to a whisper. “Look, can we just skip the formalities and get the vows done? I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
“But I read all sixty-five volumes of Marriages: The Ins and Outs of the Big Day!” Twilight pouted, earning a chuckle from the crowd at her exclamation. Up above, Applejack’s cheeks flushed red and she began to fidget, which was hardly unnoticeable.“Oh, very well. Applejack? Butter said you have the ring?”
The bride nodded, slipping it into her fingers and dropping it down for Butter to pick up. Which he did, being careful not to stretch too much and risk tearing his suit.
“Butter, if you’ll repeat after me…” Twilight cleared her throat. “I give you this ring…”
“I give you this ring.”
“As a symbol…”
“As a symbol.”
“Of the bond we share….”
“Of the bond we share.”
“And how I hope that no matter what may come our way that we remain like this ring, completely unbroken.”
“And how I hope that no matter what may come our way that we remain like this ring, completely unbroken.”
“Like it’ll last a week.” Came a rough sounding voice from the crowd, a bit too loud for many’s taste. “Ow! Geeze Rarity…”
“Hush! Not a word from you missy, or it’s the spa again tomorrow!”
A wave of laughter passed through the crowd, dispelling the mood the bad joke had caused in the couple. Twilight smiled and looked between the bride and groom. “Now, if you’ll place the ring on Applejack, you can kiss your new wife.”
Butter blushed as he hefted the ring up and placed it onto the fourth smallest toe on Applejack’s left foot. Applejack smirked; that was just like Butter. What had seemed like a careful and considerate fashion choice, was also another way of indulging in their mutual enjoyment. Though for the kiss he went a much more traditional route. Resting his palms on her knee, he stood on his tip-toes and puckered up his lips for her. Applejack took a step back before she crouched, bending over and wrapping her hands around his body. Puckering her lips, she sucked in a rush of air and pulled Butter into their embrace, making that traditional kissing sound as the crowd cheered. Butter sighed heavily as he found himself stuck against the two massive, firm walls, almost missing it once they were gone. Finally the pair were together forever and just like any wedding, traditional or not, the party was what came next.
Going well into the night, their reception was a full on affair. Pinkie Pie had done a wonderful job as always, and the cake was especially a smash hit when the couple shared the first bites. Everyone came up to them and congratulated their joining, although every time the word marriage was used, Applejack tried to correct them, only succeeding in confusing. As the hours grew late, they all began to disperse, until only Pinkie Pie and the happy duo remained in the clearing. The party pony busied with cleaning up after another round of congratulations and unseen glances to the married couple. Applejack, knowing her friend would not care for help this time, turned to return home. However a hand on her exposed toes made her halt and look down. There was one final surprise that Butter had yet to reveal, and now was the perfect opportunity. Leading her further beyond the ceremony grounds, he passed into the part of the field that held a few of the younger saplings, just like the one she held aloft still as a bouquet. Waiting a moment for her to plant it alongside its kin, Butter revealed to her his final gift: A home for them both, nestled in the young field nearby.
In secret, and with the help of Applejack’s extended family and Twilight Sparkle herself, Butter had put together a house that would suit them for the future. With a perfectly timed magical reveal, their new abode lit up like a late night celebration in Equestria. Though it appeared mountainous in size, it was all for show. Butter had gotten her family to make the base house; just a simple affair, much like the one that the Apple family themselves lived in but with more modern appliances. Once it had been built, Butter had consulted with Twilight, informing her that their current home was soon to be outgrown and this new home needed to last. After a quick consultation with the other Princesses, it had been agreed that a size altering spell would be cast on this new build, as well as a perception spell to make it less conspicuous. The end result was a house that could house Applejack as long as she remained less than forty feet tall, and to those on the outside, would only appear to be that of a regular home. It even had extra amenities for Butter so that he could get around the place just as easily as Applejack, no matter how far the size difference stretched.
To say that Applejack was taken aback by the whole thing was an understatement. She was overjoyed, and completely at a loss for restraint and totally at the mercy of her emotions. Everything that she had kept pent up inside her all day gushed out of her in a storm of epic proportions. She cried, she laughed, she screamed, she picked up Butter and squeezed him in her death grip. It was perfect; a little home away from home and a proper one at that. No more tiny couches, no more straw bedding, no more banging her head on the roof, or having to duck under doorways. She looked down at Butter as she held him there in her arms, cradling him after her hug. Another kiss smothered his face before she pulled back and let him collapse into the exposed top of her cleavage.
“Sugahcube...ah...ah just don’ know whut t’ say…”
“You don’t have to say anything, dear.” Butter said, his heart hammering as loudly as Applejack’s. Both felt elated at what the term of endearment really meant now to the both of them. “But, if it’s not too much trouble, do you think you could carry me through the archway instead of the other way around? I’m not sure I’d be up for the honeymoon if I tried.”
“Hun, ah don’ think yer leavin’ my arms fer a while.” Applejack replied with a big grin. Tail wagging in tandem with his, the big mare kicked the door open and stepped inside, letting the entrance to their new home swing shut slowly behind her. Home, Sweet Home.
Whilst Applejack and Butter had begun enjoying their married lives together, Princess Luna had been making good on her original promise to Applejack at long last. Since their meeting nearly a year ago, Luna had been keeping tabs on Butter’s dreams to see if she could uncover anything that he could be hiding in everyday life. He had unknowingly been watched by Luna on several occasions, across a variety of insightful and sometimes disturbing dreams. While she had never met Butter before personally, based on his dreams alone she was certainly interested to meet him. After learning of their marriage, she decided it was past time to deliver her news to Applejack. She chose to do so on the two days she loved most to go out and visitthe public. Those being the eve and day of Nightmare Night; a celebration of all things that go bump in the night and originally, Luna herself. Well, Luna’s alter ego, Nightmare Moon.
Despite the negative origin, Luna still enjoyed the celebrations of Nightmare Night. She had always cared for children, and joining in on the festivities made them delighted to see her. Ponyville especially was a favorite location to enjoy the holiday, as the locals knew her well, and one colt especially was dear to her heart. Young Pipsqueak was becoming a constant companion for whenever she ventured out among the public of the quaint town. That these days coincided so well with her plan to speak with the giant farmer merely made her schedule that much easier and enjoyable.
Meanwhile in Ponyville, Applejack and Butter were helping the town get ready for the big night’s celebrations. Or rather, Applejack was helping to decorate the town with a variety of spooky and creepy things like cobwebs and skeletons. Butter was instead the self-appointed foreman of the work area; he instructed Applejack and the others where they were they needed to be and what they were supposed to be using. Seemingly he didn’t get the memo about the whole effort being one for the community with everyone pitching in, and the only real overseer being Twilight Sparkle. So chosen for her excellent abilities in the field of list making and organisation during their Winter Wrap-Up operations. Thankfully for Butter, Twilight was off ensuring that the Everfree was completely off limits, so he was able to conduct his business without repercussions. Upon their arrival into the town for their decorating duty, they had immediately been assigned to the rebuilt library. Or rather the recently regrown library, aided by magic from its previous owner. Nopony had wanted it to remain lost, especially since it’s downfall had come from the most wicked, evil villain to terrorize Equestria in recent years. So although Twilight and her friends now had a castle bequeathed to them by the Tree of Harmony, her old abode had been ‘resurrected’ and made once more into a local landmark.
As far as decorating it went, Applejack was the one who was taking on the brunt of that responsibility. Her advanced size mean that she stood just under halfway of the total height of the library, which was fifty feet. With her arms above her head she managed to make it an extra six feet higher and standing on the tips of her toes made up for roughly another foot of height. All in all, she could place decorations around thirty feet up the fifty foot tall tree, which considering the remaining twenty feet was mostly leaves and tree canopy, did the job splendidly. Smaller helpers worked on the lower half of the tree to prevent Applejack from bending down all the time and doing her back in.The rest of the town was coming along nicely as well; Town Hall in particular had been decorated with blackened stickers to make the windows look smashed up and the doors and walls full of cracks and splits.
Down at Sugar Cube Corner, Applejack’s good friend Pinkie Pie had been hard at work creating a range of confectionary that were appropriate for the holiday. Cakes decorated with blood red icing and edible bats sticking out the top, as though they were feasting upon the confection. Other designs included the ever popular pumpkin design; a cake dyed orange during the mixing stage, combined with a multitude of sugary icings on top. Orange to blend with the dye and a deep black variety to make the facial features that were commonly carved into the vegetables themselves. Really though Pinkie was just happy for another little holiday that she could get involved in. It certainly saved her on the effort of creating her own holiday and the extra effort of going about educating and inviting everyone to it. Though it was no secret that Nightmare Night was one of her favourites; all those people in costumes, more sweets than one should ever eat in an entire lifetime and as much fun and games that you could fit into the wee hours of the night and next morning.
Butter, happy with the progress his little group had made so far, decided to take a break. A little snack was in order in fact, to refuel him after all the hard work he had done so far in the day. One of Pinkie’s holiday cupcakes would suffice, so off he went, ducking out from the group without drawing too much attention and waltzed off to see what Pinkie had for him. Perhaps if she had treats to spare he’d bring them back with him for the others as well. Upon arriving at the bakery, Butter was surprised to find the shop floor was empty. There were trays upon trays of baked goods littered across the counter, each one surrounded by a wavy air denoting the freshness of their appearance. Clearly they hadn’t been out of the oven long, but still, where was the one behind the creations? Assuming it was Pinkie, then it was very rare for her to be so careless with her foods, especially treats as delicious as cupcakes. He could just snag them for a box of treats, if so inclined that is, without even paying. Approaching the counter, his hand still dug into his pocket fiddling for his wallet. He was sure he had enough to pay for an easy baker’s dozen, especially as Pinkie sold them usually at a bulk discount.
By the time he placed the money down, he found it odd that still nobody had appeared. Even the bell at the door hadn’t alerted anyone and his heavy footsteps weren’t doing the trick either. Well, there was no sense hanging about, after all he had a team to manage and the longer he spent in here, the less time he was out there bossing them about. He cast down some bits onto the counter, counting them again out loud so he could make sure he had the right amount, not including what he hoped would be the bulk discount. He took a dozen from a tray and carefully put them inside a box he retrieved from under the counter. Chomping happily on a spare in his mouth, he paused before closing the box when he spied a different cupcake nearby. Decorated with an apple slice on top, it was the only one with such a topping and instantly reminded him of a certain special mare. It too went into the box, replacing a bat-themed one with white and red icing that he put in its former place. Now happy with his order, he turned to leave when he heard a noise, like the dropping of a spoon against the floor. He turned back to see-
“Boo!” Pinkie yelled, leaping up from her hiding place behind the counter, practically leaping into Butter’s face. She had not been there a second ago!
Butter squealed like a little girl, his box flying up into the air as he flailed and fell back onto his rump. The cupcake he had been chewing on fell out of his mouth, getting smacked by one of his hands on the way down and flying up into the waiting hand of Pinkie Pie. She giggled and snorted as she watched Butter clutch at his heart, panting heavily as he tried to steady his nerves. To Pinkie, her scare tactics had been harmless fun; Butter felt as though his heart was about to stop. He could feel it pounding in his chest, threatening to tear it open and launch its way out into the open air. His face switched between emotions like he had some kind of disorder. Going from rage to calm to anxious to anger again before coming to a rest around calm and confused. It was far from his normal expression, but in light of the shock he had received, it seemed somewhat fair. Butter couldn’t fathom where Pinkie Pie had been hiding all this time, sure she popped up from behind the counter, but unless she could conjure up her own pocket dimensions and hide in them, then her hair was going to give her away. But that was the trick with Pinkie Pie: Nonsense made perfect sense for her.
Butter and Pinkie had a relatively close relationship, as far as friendships went. They shared similar loves, such as baking and a certain farmer, and the close proximity with Applejack they had allowed them to get to know one another during many parties and social outings. Pinkie also helped Butter at times with gathering much needed supplies for his growing wife’s stomach, having always more than enough from wherever she retrieved it all. But what was really special in some ways was how eager Pinkie Pie had been to get to know him, at least once she realized he was a pony she’d failed to befriend years ago. When he returned to Ponyville from his schooling in Manehatten, she quickly became a constant buddy while in town, and her perky, energetic and wild personality often left Butter smiling happily by the end of the day. But if he was honest with himself, it had also left him feeling a bit tense when close to her, at least when alone.
Pinkie had a body much like his own, providing a different dynamic than what he enjoyed in Applejack. Whilst Applejack was rippling with muscles and had a noticeably beefy appearance because of it, Pinkie Pie had a thickness of a different kind. Her body was bouncy, bubbly and delightfully chubby on account of her insatiable sweet tooth. She was like a petite, chubby, stick of bubble-gum, with a tail and hair that didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘control’. They both curled and frizzed and poofed in all directions to make her bubble-gum body look like it was coated with candy floss. In a way, her sweet tooth was somewhat reasonable, given how sweet-like one could liken her appearance. Most of all though, despite her thick, curvaceous fame, Butter really enjoyed her eyes. Those glistening, sky blue pupils, shimmering with a sense of childlike wonder. It was amazing that she could keep it up, even in the darkest of times. Though, there was only one thing that could top those eyes, and that was those breasts of Pinkie’s. They were far larger than Applejack’s, the excess in size governed by the excessive amount of fat contained within her pink frame. He honestly thought for a moment that she was going to give herself two black eyes as she sprung up to surprise him. As her body was coming down, her chest was still rising, those lumps of flesh hidden behind her apron. If Butter hadn’t been preoccupied with squealing like a little girl, he might of told her to watch out instead.
“Jeez, Pinkie! What were you trying to do? Put me in the hospital?” Butter wheezed.
“Hehe, no, of course not! Just a little holiday spook for you to get you into the spirit of the season, silly!”
“Well I’m certainly feeling my spirit…anyway, how long were you down there? Have you been hiding down there all day?”
“Pffft, don’t be silly! How would I make these delicious little treats…” She held up the cupcake that Butter had been chewing on, and took a bite out of an undisturbed part. “If I was sitting down here all day?”
“Well, the Cakes could be doing the cooking and you’d just be hiding, waiting to spook customers.”
“Nope! Though speaking of little treats, how’s the town looking? I haven’t been out to check due to alllllll this baking, but I bet it’s looking super-duper scary!”
“It looks great – better then last year I suspect. We’ll have things up in no time, even with the occasional problem I have to deal with.”
Pinkie tilted her head and her mouth narrowed into a confused expression. “Problems? Is Twilight having trouble keeping everyone focused? Because I know this song all about focusing, I used it all the time when I was little, it’s really easy to remember to! Did you want to hear it? Because it goes just -”
Butter shoved a hand against Pinkie’s mouth in an effort to shut her up. Whilst it did take off some of the more audible noise from her speech, she didn’t stop talking. She just talked to his hand instead, blowing warm, moist air against his palm, which made him pull his hand away a few seconds later to wring his hand of spit. Pinkie continued to talk away though, no longer on the topic of focusing and instead recounting the one time she had accidentally brought zombies to life during a Nightmare Night celebration. Butter wasn’t sure whether or not to believe that the story was true, seeing as how it was Pinkie Pie and she was renowned for having moments of apparent delusion in terms of her stories. Still, they were entertaining if nothing else. Eventually, her story concluded and although it had ended along the lines of the creation of a so-called Zombie Nation somewhere that Butter didn’t believe to exist, she was for all intents and purposes, finished talking.
“Uh...well. To answer your question, if you even still remember it, is that Twilight isn’t the one that’s having the problems. In fact, I daresay it’s due to my intervention that we aren’t having a problem at all.” He puffed up in pride.
Pinkie Pie laughed and snorted again. “Hahaha! Oh that’s a good one! You know Applejack tells me all about you when we see each other right? Last I heard, you weren’t organising, so much as you were trying to skive off from the work. Howzat?”
Butter blushed. “W-Well, maybe it’s a little bit of truth, j-just a little though!” Looking around, he tried to take his cupcakes and go, but found that the box had fallen to the floor and the cupcakes had spilled out. “Er, can I get another box of cupcakes Pinkie? I should be getting back, but you scared me out of my purchase it seems.”
Pinkie simply giggled again and took a bite out of the cupcake she was holding, chewing it slowly whilst staring at Butter. Thanks to the icing, her lips looked to be smeared with blood, and her unblinking stare merely aided the illusion. “Sure! For a price~”
Whilst Butter waited for Pinkie to stop with the creepy shenanigans, Princess Luna was preparing herself to venture into Ponyville by way of teleportation. Not wanting to announce her presence in the town to the masses just yet, she instead opted to try a little more refined teleportation method. Not commonly known by even the arcane adept, the most basic part of the spell required the user to be able to astral locate everybody in the land. No matter how far away they may be, or how much they were trying not to be found. Finding them in the astral plain allowed the spell-weaver to accurately teleport to within three feet of the target. Some of the more powerful casters could refine this method down a little further, allowing them to be aware of obstacles that surrounded the target. As far as magical refinement, it certainly didn’t come much higher than that of the Princesses; Luna was able to see that Applejack was helping out at the library, the obstacle itself highlighted to her. She was also able to see some of the other people helping out with the decorations. Thinking up a workaround, Luna quickly came to a solution and cast the spell to bring her to Applejack.
The moment she cast the spell, the white walls of the castle fell apart, melting along with everything else around her. The thrones, the carpets, doors, chandeliers and sconces, all of which melted away before her. She was left standing on a darkened abyss, with the colours from the room she was just in, swirling around her feet. Swatches of colour fell away and were replaced with other varieties that were relevant to her location of arrival. Unsurprisingly, a lot of it was orange, some was brown, and others were green, with small swatches of the rainbow thrown in to represent the townsfolk. In a reverse of what happened when she left, the colours began to slide back up before her, moulding themselves to the location. The green swelled into a wall before, finer details such as depth and outlines giving it that distinctly leafy look. Her feet hung over the ground, her upper body bending against her will as the orange under her rear began to solidify into a part of Applejack’s right shoulder. A back length ponytail obscures her from the eyes of the public, and the leaves and branches covering her hanging legs provided extra all around cover. Applejack was a little shocked to find that her shoulder was now occupied by one of the Princesses, but did not let out a sound. Mostly due to the surprise of realization; Even at her own towering height, Luna was indeed small enough to rest upon her shoulder much like a cat!
Placing an arm around the back of her seat’s head, Luna bent forward to smile at the giant farmer. “Fair morning to you Applejack. I hope I am not interrupting anything important, but I believe my assessment of your new spouse has waited long enough. Do you have a moment?”
Applejack paused and turned to look around; the crowd that had been there working on the lower levels were now departing. They’d done a good job of the work, though someone had cheekily painted a smiling face onto Applejack’s bare heel. Still, the takeaway point was that the crowd had pretty much left, including Butter who was nowhere to be seen. No doubt going off to find someone else to bother and boss about for a while. So she was free to talk with Luna without the need for worry of being a public spectacle. That is, more of one than being a giantess caused. A princess perched atop her shoulder would draw even more stares. She continued to work on her decorations whilst speaking quietly, still loud enough for Luna to hear given her close proximity.
“Ah’d completely forgotten about all that, if I’m honest princess. Ah mean, ah’ve jus’ been so busy lately an’ things have been crazy.” Blushing faintly, she added, “Plus, we kinda…tied th’ knot, already.”
“You have my congratulations for that as well. We – that is my sister and I – both wish we could have attended the ceremony, but alas. Still, late news is perhaps better than no news in this instance. Do you still wish to know?”
“Ah guess. Is it good news? Or should ah prepare mahself fer a sit-down with mah little man?”
“Fear not dear Applejack – I come with nothing but good news.” The giant mare sighs as Luna pauses in thought. “Perhaps the only ‘bad’ news – and I state this with question – is that perhaps he cares for you too much at times. He enjoys you on all levels, but seems especially delighted to have you as such a gargantuan mare in his life. Of course, whether or not that’s bad news is up to your interpretation.”
“He’s not worried about anythin’? At all?”
“If he is, then he’s an expert at suppressing his feelings, even in his dreams. All I saw in his mind was you. You sitting on a pedestal. You being large and in charge. You letting him massage your every inch. There was even a rather strange moment where he was being smothered between two nude versions of yourself.”Applejack blushed. “Though, it did become somewhat odder when one of them seemed to change.”
“Whatcha mean ‘change’? Did they show up anywhere else?”
“The dream was vague even to my sight, but it was only once that it occurred. It was certainly interesting to see such a small Butter being sandwiched between two fleshy walls of orange and pink. Very…healthy figures they both were too. My compliments.”
“Pink? Huh, ah’m gonna have t’ have a word o’ two with him an’ someone else about that…” Applejack mumbled.
“Of course, but are you happy with these results? Do you feel a little more at ease now that you know Butter has an undying love for you?”
Pushing aside the small question in her mind, Applejack smiled and nodded her head at her guest. “Ah think so, yeah! Ah’m still gonna need t’ have a little chat w’ him, just t’ be sure, but thank you Princess Luna. Ah’m glad ya did this for me.”
“But of course, Applejack. What kind of Princess would I be if I didn’t care for my subjects?”
“Uh, a bad one?”
Luna laughed grandly. “Very good, Applejack. Now, I really must return to Canterlot. I have a few things to get finished before Nightmare Night begins. I trust you’ll be joining in the festivities as well?”
“Mhm! Ah’ll be here w’ Butter, an’ thanks again, Princess.”
“Like I said before, you’re welcome Applejack, and it’s simply Luna among friends.” Then with a snap of her fingers, she was gone, disappearing in a flash of magic and sparkles.
That left Applejack on her own for a few minutes; enough time for her to process what she’d been told. In reality, it couldn’t have come at a better time for Applejack, what with the marriage still being fresh in her mind. Now that they were, for all intents and purposes, a happily married couple, she needed to know that he was as happy as she was. It also helped to ease her mind as she continued to grow upwards, knowing that he held her in such high regard no matter how big she got. She had no reason to doubt that Luna was anything but truthful, so it seemed Butter was what some would consider the perfect lover. A lover who was on his way over to pick her up from the library and take her home to change for the night ahead. When she spotted the package of cupcakes he had to offer her, her smile grew even wider.
****
Later that day, once their snack was consumed and the last hours of daylight enjoyed, Applejack and Butter retreated back to their homestead to get ready. Butter had the perfect costume picked out already for himself, which would be twinned as a couples costume with Applejack’s. He had opted for a giant gorilla suit from a classic film picture, one he had enjoyed as a child. There were downsides to his choice of costume though, one being a lack of communicative ability. The mask was designed to make it so that regular speech was muffled into an animalistic grunt of sorts, enough to replicate the famous grunts by the onscreen character. But he thought it worthwhile to suffer through, as the piece de resistance would be Applejack’s costume. Her suit was something crafted by the master seamstress that was Rarity in as little as three days, and all without Applejack growing suspicious. Before they had left for town that morning Butter had left Applejack’s costume out for her to find when they returned. He even put a little note out for her, one that was at a size she could read. The nearly dozen or so quills spent to do so was worth it, as the look on her face had made him giggle. So he’d left her to go upstairs and change while he worked on swapping into his own costume. As a final tease he left the final piece of her outfit downstairs so that she was going to have to come downstairs and show it off to him before she could complete her outfit.
Almost on cue, Applejack made her way downstairs, giving Gorilla Butter a look at his monstrous wife. Rarity had outdone herself on the outfit, turning the apple bucking beauty into a gargantuan lizard. Thick, green scales glistened with a waterless moist appearance, courtesy of the material it was made from. Two rows of jagged fabric teeth stuck out from the snout of the outfit, the snout itself obscuring Applejack’s face from view. Like Butter’s outfit it was meant to allow her to see, but it wasn’t designed to let her speak well to those outside the suit. Also like Butter she could manage nothing more than a couple of angry sounding grunts per sentence. A lengthy tail trailed behind her as she stood at the base of the stairs, with purple spines running up its length and up her back. The only part that was missing were the shoes, which Butter had made sure were down by the door. He at least wanted to get a good look at Applejack’s chunky digits before they left that night. Though he wasn’t going to be spending the night running after her whilst they were walking around the town, oh no. There was one thing he had left for preparations and it was the other part of the reason why he had made her shoes the last part of her outfit
As she bent down and took her seat on the stairs to put her giant lizard feet on, Butter scampered up the stairs. When he was level with her shoulders, he then launched himself off the step and at Applejack, his arms outstretched in true primate fashion. He climbed his way up to her shoulder, sitting on the opposite shoulder to where Luna had been earlier on. He pointed towards the door and gave Applejack a playful slap on the side of the head. Applejack tried to turn her head to look at him and see just what he was doing, but the costume prevented her from doing so. Butter gave another slap and Applejack strode towards the door, assuming that this was Butter’s rather crude way of telling her to get a move on. She spoke something to him as they made their way outside, but as it only came in grunts Butter had no idea what she said. He gave her a final slap, this time on the shoulder and shouted something akin to “yeehaw!” Miraculously that did make it through his mask, and Applejack snorted so loud it actually shook Butter through the fabric. Then they were off into town, looking like the strangest couple around, though probably not the strangest thing they’d see tonight.
Once they were on the edge of town, a few eagle-eyed and slightly giddy residents saw the pair approaching. Someone of sound mind and body might have looked upon the pair and thought for a moment about whether or not there was a giantess and her lover in the area surrounding the town. Had they thought that far then they would have known the answer was yes and that this was likely them. However this was not one such creature; they had been at the special brew that was common at these festivities and right now, the first thing that came to their mind was that screening of ‘Monster Mayhem’ they had seen just the other day. Their reactions to the grunts of the pair, combined with their first-hand knowledge of giant beasties, were dramatic to say the least. A loud, shrill shriek and movement deeper into town yelling about whatever they could think of to make their message sound scary and dramatic. Though rather than cause chaos, the people in town were rather interested to see the beasts in question. Applejack and Butter were only too happy to show themselves, hoping that the folks there would be more reasonable.
They weren’t.
Applejack’s stomping feet caused the biggest stress as she came into town with speed, the extra width of the outfit feet making her brush against things. Foliage bent out of the way and trees rustled as she passed on by. Even the odd resident was knocked over by the sheer amount of air that she displaced with each step. At first it seemed like she was still going to be able to make it into town without much problem, but that was simply a fallacy. It didn’t take into account just how populated the centre of town actually was, with it being the hub for the majority of the action. Applejack stumbled into town and within seconds she was creating a mess. Her oversized stompers were knocking over tubs of water used in some of the games. The vibrations of her weight against the floor shook down some of the more flimsy stalls and even some of the building decoration. Streamers wrapped themselves around her shins and tail, causing her to stumble and pull down the support beams that they were attached to. On one occasion, she even managed to pull the entire front of a house down from getting herself caught up in the streamers. Her pleas for help and calm amongst the townsfolk only served up further disarray as she was nothing but grunts and roars to their ears. The townsfolk couldn’t take her wild behaviour and turned tail on her, struggling to think of a place that might be safe from someone as big as Applejack. She could cover so much ground with her feet alone, that if she eventually fell over, she was going to take a great deal of land with her as well. Possibly a fair chunk of the populace as well.
Applejack was getting panicked now; the townsfolk were racing around all over and she didn’t know where she was supposed to be stepping. Every time she went to put her feet down there was someone directly under it. This meant she jerked it up into the air and went to place it down somewhere else, only to find the same again. The constant turning and swinging over her leg as she struggled to find a place to set it down did her more bad than good. She was beginning to get dizzy, so much so that Butter was struggling to hold onto her shoulder. Her tail swung out from behind her, crashing into buildings and demolishing them from the sturdy material of her outfit. Pieces of wood and shards of glass soared through the air, over the heads of the townsfolk who ducked and dove out of the way to avoid it. Some of those that had a little more sense chose to run outwards and away from Applejack, even if it meant they had to run towards the outskirts of town. For those that were closer and lacked some common sense, they figured that hiding directly underneath Applejack was the best idea. Their thinking being that she was more likely to step outwards than she was to step inside, but given her increasing state of dizziness, she wasn’t likely to play by those rules.
When she did manage to get herself some steady footing, she roared out a sigh and kept her gaze steadily on the ground below. Butter placed hand against her masked cheek as she muttered some things to herself, which attracted the attention of the crowd still around her. A wave of realisation spread over the masses, one by one coming together to talk amongst themselves.They saw her momentary lapse in destruction as their chance to see off the beast once and for all. Time and time again they had suffered as someone bigger and better than them had demonstrated such power over them. Well now they had gone too far; to intrude on a day of celebration like this was just wrong. The crowds formed around Applejack’s feet, keeping a couple of feet away in case she suddenly lurched in any direction. It was time for Ponyville to fight back!
Butter, seeing the hostile motions of the crowd, felt a protective surge of energy within himself. He knew that Applejack could not see them doing this; she feared every day that someone would eventually try to treat her like a monster. If she was chased out of town, even from an honest series of mistakes, it could break every bit of confidence they had worked for. What’s more, he felt guilt because perhaps her costume, chosen and commissioned by him, was the root cause of all the fumbles of the night so far. With shocking suddenness Butter leapt! So brazen was his action, from so high up, that both Applejack and the crowd let out twin cries of shock. Yet the thick material of his gorilla suit absorbed the worst of the landing, and rolled the rest off before standing up between his wife and the masses. Grimacing under the mask, Butter pounded his chest similar to his likeness, showing his willingness to defend.
Just when it seemed like either the town was going to band together and fight off the monster, or Butter was to fight them, Princess Luna made a surprise appearance. Teleporting into the midst of the standoff, she looked around with a smile before looking again in confusion at the ruined decorations and buildings. Applejack and Butter stopped in their tracks, Applejack in particular grunting furiously as she tried to inform Luna that she wasn’t doing this on purpose and how everything was happening because of a misunderstanding. Butter chipped in too, but for the most part it didn’t seem like anything was getting through to the Princess, or the townsfolk. For their part, the townsfolk began to clamor about all that had occurred by the pair. Glancing between the two parties, Luna burst out laughing at the whole scenario, for reasons that Butter and Applejack weren’t totally sure about. The townsfolk were equally as confused as Butter and Applejack, pausing in their calls for the giantess and her gorilla grunt to leave in favour of listening to the booming laugh. The Princess did eventually calm down, her laugh dying down to a chuckle before she calmed completely. With a wave of her wrist, the faces of the townsfolk fell into a dull stupor, their feelings relaxed to brainless levels as the crowd dissipated. They returned to their homes, leaving Applejack, Butter and Luna as the only people still in the town square. After that, Luna snapped her fingers again and worked a little spell on Butter and Applejack, particularly the hoods of their outfits. She changed it so that when they spoke, then their speech would no longer be so muffled and easy to mistake for animal grunts.
“There, isn’t that better than such brutish grunts?” Luna asked.
“Much better, thank ya, Princess.” Applejack breathed out in relief.
“Well, I think it was going well there really,” Butter lied. He ignored the throb of his legs from his jump. “Though what was so funny?”
Luna smiled and chuckled a little to herself. “Twas this prank of yours. As a fair lover of pranks – to which my dear sister can attest to – I must admit this is one of the better I have seen.Coming down on Nightmare Night, dressed as two well-known beasts of fantasy horror?” She chuckled again. “Could I ask you two to come back with me to the castle, at least at the end of the night?”
“Uh, ah think we’re gonna have t’ head home actually. Th’ townsfolk don’ really seem t’ want t’ have us around here, or at least they seemed that way before ya showed up…”
“Oh you needn’t worry about that Applejack - I shall take care of that. Now what do you say? Want to give my sister a little scare on this night of frights?”
“Ah’m n-”
“Sure.” Butter lifted a thick gorilla thumb in agreement, a loud groan ignored by him and the princess from overhead.
“Excellent! Now, I’ll fix this little problem you’ve got yourselves into and then I’ll come find you once it’s done. I can’t wait to see Celestia’s face!”
There was just enough time for Applejack to frown at Butter from behind her big, green, snout before Luna disappeared and the world began to reverse around the pair. The buildings that had suffered damage during Applejack’s escapades were rebuilt. Splintered wood was fixed back into full beams again, which in turn were turned back into the supports of the homes and shops. Glass twinkled in minuscule pieces before it was reassembled into a sturdy window once more. The footsteps that Applejack had made whilst she was stomping around in a panic were inflated with earth once more. Like an imprint on a balloon, it filled out and erased the tracks that Applejack had made. Even the townsfolk returned from their homes in reverse, re-enacting the panic that they had showed when Applejack was messing things up, reverting all the way back to the state of calm they had been in before Applejack and Butter arrived. The two marveled at this fantastic display of alicorn power, knowing that few got to see it in such widespread use. When the first resident noticed them this time though, Luna’s magic worked its charm and the pair were able to explain that they weren’t monsters. There was no panic this time, no sense of danger; Applejack and Butter had a good time with the townsfolk, right up until Luna showed up again and took them over to Canterlot.
Bidding them to wait after explaining the plan, Luna went inside the castle and brought her sister into the throne room, pointing out the window at something. Celestia wasn’t impressed at being woken up so early before she had to raise the sun, but she humoured her sister on the grounds that she seemed genuinely terrified. Upon being brought the window Luna distracted Celestia by getting her to focus out in the distance, further away than her surprise actually was. Then, she gestured to the couple to begin, making sure that their speech was replaced by loud and terrifying roars. She even cast a hallucinatory field around Butter so that he appeared to be the same size as Applejack, so they could duke it out believably. As Luna expected, Celestia was terrified to see a giant lizard and a giant gorilla fighting each other outside their castle. It was a side that few people had ever witnessed; panic and confusion gripped the solar monarch as she tried to process two imaginary monsters fighting in reality in front of her home. Words began to babble from her lips over what to do, until the panic began to climb too high for it to be safe. Once she reached this point, Luna promptly spelled her sister asleep and levitated her back to her room. Another spell upon her dreamscape tied the bow on her wondrous Nightmare Night prank, leaving Celestia to fear a giant cake monster joining the trio and leaving a viable culprit for the hallucinations. Laughing, Luna rejoined the couple outside, who had stopped once they saw the sisters leave the window to wait. She thanked them both, undid the illusion on Butter, and transported them all back to Ponyville to continue with the festivities. As they split off to enjoy a more peaceful time, Luna smiled as she heard the bright and youthful voice of her dear companion Pipsqueak approach. Vowing to invite the couple next year to yet another prank on her sister, she bent low and hugged the young lad before venturing with him to plunder the town for candy and tribute. All in all, Applejack and Butter had quite the eventful night, and they looked forward to the next one. Butter was already scheming his wife’s next costume, which would no doubt prove even more eventful than the last.
When the weather was miserable outside and it forced people to stay indoors, there was one thing they could count on for some entertainment. The good old fashioned board game, the staple of familial entertainment over the years. Whether it be some fantasy role playing game on a fictional, two dimensional landscape, or a murder mystery in the same two dimensional world. A good time was sure to be had by all members of the gaming party, whether they were eight or eighty years old. Of course, age wasn’t the only number that certain people had to be aware of, but this was no number featured on the game box. For Applejack and Butter, that extra number was preparing itself to scupper their evening plans as they settled down to play a game or two to pass the time.
In truth, playing a board game tonight wasn’t just because the weather outside was frightful. There was an air of uncertainty growing between the two, one that was even outgrowing Applejack, which said a lot on its own. The news Princess Luna had given her some time ago had comforted her for many days until she began to wonder. What did that dream of two bodies surrounding Butter mean? Why did one turn pink, as if changing into another person?Did Butter have thoughts about another woman in his life, perhaps someone he spent time with often besides herself? Whilst dreams weren’t exactly the most concrete grounds to pursue someone for the possibility of cheating, Applejack was still worried. She was still growing bigger by the day and without someone there to keep an eye on her and help her through the rough times, she wouldn’t know how to cope. Naturally, her family would be there for her, and so would her friends, but she just wouldn’t have the same level of closeness that she did with Butter. She could tell him things that she wouldn’t dream of telling her friends, on account of just how personal they were. So she planned to use this game night to ask him just what was up and whether she needed to be worried.
Butter had set up on the table in the kitchen for the night of games, and their first round was to be a test of the mind: Chess. Whilst it wouldn’t have been everyone’s choice for first on their board game list, especially Applejack, Butter felt that the night should get more fun as it progressed. That meant sticking all the dull and boring games at the beginning and leaving all the fantastic, fun games until the end. She took her place at the kitchen table and waited for Butter to join her. The game board itself was bigger than most traditional chess boards, along with bigger pieces to help Applejack keep an eye on the action. In fact, all the games they were going to be playing had been sized up a little more than usual, in fairness to Applejack. Though you could not scale them up fully; As time passed it would become a task of balancing their size with Butter’s own, since he would need the most help to move pieces around as Applejack’s size swelled larger. Not to mention expensive if they did not resort to magic to craft such things. Thankfully the magic of their household handled it for now, but time would change that.
Eventually, Butter climbed to the tabletop, sitting himself down with the black section of game pieces. The rules had been explained previously, so after a friendly smile between the pair Applejack took her first move. There wasn’t much she could do on her first move, so she did what most did and moved a pawn two spaces forwards. Butter repeated her move, leaving the board looking the same on both sides. Hardly gripping stuff, and it showed in the next three moves, as Applejack appeared to move her first row of pawns forwards. Butter was the only one to show a little variation. Moving his pawns up in a wave pattern, he kept up a wall of defense while keeping his backline pieces stationary.Applejack saw some of his scheme when, after taking one, Butter moved his knight and took her bishop. By now the board was beginning to look a little cramped and despite the enlarged pieces, Applejack’s oversized fingers still caused problems. When she went to move a piece, she found herself knocking over several others. This then delayed the game whilst she picked those up and restored them to their usual positions. There were also a few debates when this happened to Butter’s pieces as he often accused her of putting them back in the wrong place. The more pieces got added to the board, the more frequently Applejack seemed to be knocking them about.
It was proving troublesome for the pair as, for a game that could take a long time under normal circumstances, it was looking that this one would go for an eternity. Once the first half-hour was up, both Applejack and Butter were a little frustrated and bored of chess. As such they chose to abandon the game in favour of setting up something new. Whilst Butter went about trying to do just that, Applejack prepared her first set of questions for Butter in the silence that followed. Just mulling them over repeatedly, carefully arranging her thoughts and making sure of what to say. She watched as Butter set up their next game; the classic time waster that was Monopoly. Applejack couldn’t remember a time when she had actually managed to complete one game to the end. They’d always resulted in arguments over who had the most small businesses and whether someone was cheating or not. Feuds could easily break out over it, so naturally Applejack and Butter were going to be taking things a little less seriously to be safe. Once the game was all set up, the pieces arranged and the dice prepared, things were ready to begin. It was then that Applejack spoke up with her concerns.
“Butter, before we begin, can ah ask ya somethin'? It’s kind o’ important…”
Putting down the shoe piece he'd selected, Butter looked up at Applejack. “Hm? Sure, what’s on your mind?”
“Ya wouldn’ happen t’ have feelings fer a friend o’ mine, would ya?”
Butter looked baffled. “No? Did one of your friends say something?”
“Well, no, but ah heard that ya were visiting Pinkie Pie lots, well at least that wus wut it sounded like. Ah jus’ wan’ t’ be sure about whether or not it wus true.” Applejack had thought for some time over who the pink woman could have been. She knew that several Ponyville residents had pink fur much like her friend, but Butter was rarely anywhere else but by her side. The only pony therefore that was pink and often close enough to have built a relationship with her little man was Pinkie Pie.
If any of her friends were a cause for concern then reluctantly Applejack had to concede it would be the party mare. While usually very innocent, Pinkie's actions often placed her physically against anyone she was spending time with. Whether hugging, holding hands, bumping playfully or tackling them with enthusiasm she had many ways of keeping in contact with someone. Plus, another point the farmer was wary over was all of her friends were very pretty or beautiful, with Pinkie Pie being the most outgoing with it. She sometimes wore clothing that hid nothing of her robust figure and even less could be found in her wardrobe that didn't draw the eyes. There were even times she had shown among her friends that clothing could indeed be optional for things like slumber parties and relaxing in her room. Her bright and cheerful personality further drew others in, and she had gained many admirers because of it.
“Pinkie Pie? Well, I mean yes I visit her a couple times a week. She helps me find suppliers actually for all of our food. We’re definitely friends too – anybody who’s a friend of yours is a friend of mine! But we’re not…I mean that’s all we are, friends!” Butter explained. “I don’t know who you heard it from, but I’m not seeing anyone behind your back.”
Applejack breathed a sigh of relief, following up with a smile at Butter to assure him. Assuming Butter was being honest, then things weren’t as bad as she thought. Perhaps she could forgive him for having one silly dream, which Princess Luna herself had told her was not a reoccurring one. Still she held suspicions; even if Butter was in the clear for now, she would most likely keep an eye on Pinkie Pie in the future for anything hinky. Even if everything was just friendly and typical of her friend, there were times that boundaries didn’t seem to exist for that girl. For Butter’s part, he took a moment before he smiled back at her, but it seemed that he hadn’t thought about her actions too much. Not that she could see into his mind, but she hoped that was the case. He was likely more interested in trying to beat her at this particular game, and her talk had held them up. The problem was, she didn’t need to play the game to know that this one was going to be a bust as well. All the little pieces that represented the players and the businesses they owned, along with the many cards, were simply a recipe for disaster. She would much rather play something that was much more appropriate for someone of her size.
When she was younger and growing up, in both height and age, she used to wrestle with her brother. At first he was the one who had been getting the upper hand and winning each round they played, aside from the times that Applejack was allowed to win. When she developed a little more in the way of musculature, then things changed and the tables were turned. Now, Applejack was capable of twisting her brother into submission in a matter of minutes. Though, once her height got more excessive, she was a little more careful around her brother when they did wrestle. Eventually they put a stop to it when she towered over him, as she was worried that she might cause more damage than fun. Whilst Butter was waiting to play the game, she was thinking about how they could be doing something similar. She didn’t have to worry too much about Butter being damaged; he seemed to be a little more resilient than most. If the stuff in the past was anything to go by, then being flattened under her body some more wouldn’t be that harrowing for him either.
“Hey Butter, instead o’ playin’ these silly games, how’s about we do somethin’ a little more fun?”
“Fun? What’s wrong with this?” Applejack placed her big hand down by the board, her thicks digits and palm able to engulf Butter’s entire torso by now. Her thumb was easily bigger than most of the pieces even with them scaled up. Considering she’d struggled with chess pieces close to half his size it was a strong argument. “Oh, fair point. Well what’s on your mind?”
“Well, how’s about a li’l bit o’ wrestlin’ t’ start, followed by a couple o’ other special games o’ mah choice?”
Butter looked up at his giant wife. “Wrestling?” She nodded, eagerly, and he hoped he wouldn’t regret this. “Alright, but only if we can come back to this if it’s – if we’re not having fun.”
“Sure, ah tell ya wut, ah’ll even leave th’ game set up, so we c’n jus’ come back t’ it if ya ain’t satisfied. Sound good?”
Butter nodded and removed himself from the table, whilst Applejack just scooted her chair back and waited for him. Once they were gathered at the side of the table, Butter led the way to their wrestling ring for the evening. Well, it wasn’t much of a ring; it was essentially the floor in the living room. Enough floor space for Applejack to lie down and roll around and more than enough space to accommodate Butter as well. Applejack stripped down to her underwear, to make her movements a little easier, whilst Butter followed suit and stripped to his boxers after admiring his better half. It wasn’t exactly the most glamorous of settings for wrestling, but it would suffice. Butter stood at one end of the room as she pushed a few pieces of furniture out of the way. Then, instead of standing or sitting, Applejack laid down on her front and beckoned him towards her in a taunt.
“Well c’mon Butter, ah’m ready. Or are ya chicken?”
Bouncing a little on his feet, Butter looked at the mountain of mare in front of him with trepidation. He didn’t know how he could possibly win this wrestling match, but he was going to give it a damn good go. Plus, he wasn’t against being able to play with her body like this too. He charged ahead and leapt at her shoulder, a grunt escaping as he scaled her body and rolled onto her back. He hopped down her spine and her shoulders, gripping at the flesh as he went. He tried to remember the rules of wrestling and how one could be considered being pressured into submission. The only move he recalled however was one where the legs were pulled up and the arms were pressed to the floor to prevent movement. Accomplishing such a thing was going to be nigh on impossible at his size, but there had to be some way to accomplish it. He bounced onto her backside and paused for a moment whilst he tried to find his footing. Both to admire and be careful; The wobbly, round yet firm rump made it hard to keep a steady footing on. A pleasant sigh from Applejack told him that she was enjoying things for now, not acting, but he hurried on once he could.
Applejack was keeping a secret from Butter, one she wasn’t going to reveal to him anytime soon. She knew he wasn’t going to be able to put her in any sort of submissive wrestling pose, that much would be obvious to anyone. While she was grateful for not having to play any of those other silly board games, she was ecstatic to be receiving a free massage. Rarity would never be able to know about it, otherwise she’d be getting dragged down to the spa on an almost regular basis. She certainly didn’t need that, not when she had her own small masseuse, one she didn’t have to shell out tonnes of money for. To keep up the illusion that this was something Butter could win, she had a few tricks planned. Whenever it seemed like he was trying to move a part of her body, she would help him subtly. If ever the opportunity presented itself, she would also ‘escape’ his hold, perhaps conveniently giving him a welcome embrace with various parts of her. There’d be an element of overreaction to it, but if it made Butter continue with his unwitting massage, then what did it matter?
A small tug on her leg told her Butter was trying to lift it. Looking back over her shoulder, she responded by gradually lifting it, giving it just enough weight to drag the poor stallion’s work out. When he finally had her bent at the knee, she realized he was trying to push it down by her rump. Feeling mischievous, she let him grunt and struggle until slowly lifting her leg up further, which sent Butter’s unsteady stance atop her thigh up into the air, literally. His little legs kicked aimlessly for a second, before his weight pulled her the rest of the way, pinning him gently between heel and cheek. The effort was punctuated by a little groan as she pretended to struggle against him. Some of it was genuine, as the stretching of her muscles proved to be most enjoyable. She could imagine the look on Butter’s face as her leg moved under what would have seemed like pressure from him. Perhaps it wasn’t totally honest of her, it could even give him delusions of his strength, but at the moment it was doing no harm to anyone. Even if he did complain, it would soon be erased once she claimed he had won. She had every intention of losing the match, regardless of what shape Butter put her in. She was just happy to be playing something a little more physical and entertaining, as opposed to the alternatives. As her foot pressed against her rear, she felt Butter’s tiny grip release and she stopped where she was.
Butter moved to her other leg and repeated the act, this time hopping at the right moments when Applejack, unknown to him, helped him along. When both legs were resting against her backside, and Applejack was groaning in enjoyment, he stalled over what to do next. Just the task of moving both tree-trunk legs had taken a lot out of him, and to complete the pin he would have to somehow capture her arms. He pondered for so long that Applejack wondered if he was stuck admiring her two large feet, which wiggled in his view to test that. It caught Butter’s attention, to be sure, but he turned hastily and she face forward before he caught her watchful eye. The next thing she felt was him moving up her spine, prompting her to lie still. The smaller stallion began tugging on her shoulders, which took her some time to interpret. Then she had to figure how to accomplish this without cottoning him on to her ruse, as it needed to stay limp but also move. Thankfully Butter helped her some by halting, sliding off of her body, and then digging under her armpit some to try and forcibly lift her by the upper arm. The sensation made her giggle, her legs kicking in the air idly in a moment of failed acting in delight. The ticklish feel of his fingers so close to her armpit almost ruined everything, but she regained her composure before he moved back and caught her, slowly lifting her arm alongside his actions. With his vision blocked she was able to place her arm behind her back, in a comfortable position, and then Butter climbed back atop her. A stifled sigh escaped the farmer as a knot she didn’t know of loosened while Butter tugged her fingers closer to her feet. Once she was in the position that he recalled, he leapt into the palm of her hand, hands griping the bottom of her wide heels. It was his way of enacting the pose out as one would in a real wrestling match, just on a more miniature scale. It took Applejack a few moments to cotton on, but once she did, she let him know that he had won.
“Alright, alright! Ya win! Ah give in!” She said with a laugh. The entire match had gone on for several minutes without her moving or acting once, and that was just fine with her. She could feel Butter’s delight at his victory as he leaped up and down in celebration, which further massaged her back.
“Yes! Yes!” He squeaked.
Applejack smiled and twisted her body to pick him up, the startling physical act making him yelp and flush. Carrying him around as she sat up, she placed the stallion on her lap. “So, wut shall we play next, huh?”
“Well, we could go back to the Mono-”
“Or, we could play somethin’ else like…ah dunno, hide and seek?”
“Aren’t you a little…not little? That doesn’t seem fair.”
“So? Ya worried ya won’t be good at it?” Applejack taunted.
“Pssh, I could hide from you easily! You want to play hide and seek? Lets play hide and seek!”
So that was settled; their third and unfortunately final game would be hide and seek. A favourite of children all over the world, it was usually played outside. However, with a little tweak of their environment, it could easily be made to work indoors just as well. This came from everything in the room being magically sized up, thanks to the charm upon the homestead favoring Applejack’s scale. So instead of having the vastness of the outside world to hide in, Butter was going to make do with the domestic jungle. Applejack would be seeking, naturally, and if Butter could go an entire half hour without being captured, then he would win. That meant they’d go back to board games as he had won both games. If Butter got caught, then that would make the overall standings a draw. Applejack came up with a solution to that, insisting that if she won, then as she was the most recent winner, she got to choose what happened next. Butter agreed, still high on his victory and assuming he could easily grab a second. So the stakes were set, and all that was left was to actually start the game.
Applejack closed her eyes, placing her palms over her face as an extra attempt to block out the surrounding world. She began to count down from fifty, which gave Butter his time to hide in the large house. He knew that whichever direction he went, he would have to commit to, as it would likely take far too long to swap midway through.There was a couch to the left of him, and if he could get far enough under it, he would have enough time to plan his next move. He set off at a sprint with Applejack reaching the number forty in her countdown. His heart beat in his mouth from the moment he started sprinting, already feeling tense at the situation. Like the cat and mouse this was a hunt, and he was the lucky, tiny, prey of the big, southern, predator. As she reached the thirties and kept going, Butter got on his knees and crawled under the couch.
As he moved between the dust bunnies and one smelly left sock, he hushed his breathing and laid as still as possible. There was just enough room for him underneath the furnitureto lay comfortably, and turning he could see Applejack’s bare feet wiggle and bounce as her countdown began to end. Once she reached fifty she was off, dropping to her knees instantly as she scoured the floor for any signs of Butter. Fortune proved to be in his favor for now as she turned toward her right, away from the couch and instead toward the television.Applejack began checking behind it and inside of the small cabinet underneath. She suspected he would take one of the more obvious hiding spots, since although not too small he was far from fit to have run far, not at least beyond the living room’s confines in the time she’d given him. When the coast was clear of stallions, she sat back on her haunches and thought over her next search. Seeing her pause, Butter meanwhile decided he needed to better hide himself. Scooting over to the lost sock, his nose caught a whiff of the repugnant smell of a long ago work day still evident in its dusty fibers. Even his appreciation of feet did not welcome such company, but as Applejack turned and thumped her arms back down to crawl he knew that time was short.
The second most likely spot to the farmer was under the couch. She turned and moved over to it and flopped down, intentionally letting her weight settle hard. Hide and seek was part mind after all; you had to both find the hidden as well as jar them from their spots with scare tactics. Before even looking she took a deep breath and puffed out a loud breath, blowing several dust bunnies out the other side and making her own nose get tickled in the blowback. Turning her head, she eyed the underside and saw nothing of Butter, the only remaining occupant an errant sock. A few more sweeps around revealed nothing further, but she was certain she was circling closer by the minute. Underneath the clumped up sock, Butter sat still and unmoving, just barely hidden by it at this angle. When Applejack moved on once again in her search, he realized he would have to move too, since once she had eliminated the most obvious spots, she would recheck old ones and perhaps up the ante by moving furniture. The question was just where.
With Applejack’s heavy footsteps filling the air there were not many avenues of escape. There was the side table next to the couch, whose underside was taller than the couch by a fair margin and easy to crawl over to. Then there was the television stand, across the open ground and blocked by Applejack for now. Both were viable locations for distance and time, but not so much for hiding. The next, and only remaining piece of furniture therefore was the small cubbyhole-slash-table by the front door. It was mainly used to drop the mail on and to store Applejack’s work boots, to reduce tracking in mud and the like. Butter also used it, the size easily able to hold his own shoes in addition to hers, and because they both preferred to walk around the house in socks or barefoot. He could hide behind her shoes in the shadows and avoid being seen better.
So that settled it; With a sock having veiled him from Applejack so far, Butter was confident the answer lay in the feet. While Applejack moved over to peer into the kitchen in her investigation, Butter crawled back out from under the couch and hurried over. Her work boots were clear of most of the muck gathered in the fields, allowing him to climb and push past them without dirtying himself. The thick and heavy leather was a difficult obstacle to clamber over, but as he settled into the nook between heels, his chest puffed up with pride. He had managed yet again to avoid her gaze. Victory was all but assured in his mind now.
If only that had actually been the case. Applejack, hearing his pattering feet run over the floor, had turned her head and spied the little stallion at last. Defeat, it seemed, was going to be his sole outcome instead. But she did not swoop down on him immediately. A predatory grin covered her muzzle as she pondered on how to toy with him before finally closing in for the kill. Even without seeing her expression or gaze, Butter felt as if something had dumped a bucket of ice water over him, sapping the pride he had felt upon hiding. His nerves were suddenly shot, his heart pounding in his ears, but he still tried to calm himself and focus. Getting antsy while hiding was always how you lost to the real pros when playing this game. Every child on the playground knew this, and although certainly not a little colt anymore, he wasn’t so far from his years there that he had forgotten that all important lesson.
Butter wasn’t going to let that happen; he was going to make all the right moves and beat Applejack. He was going to get the chance to play Monopoly and she was going to lose at that too! He sighed in relief as Applejack began to search the couch again, muttering something about how he must have hidden himself up high as cushions were tugged. The minutes ticked by slowly, counting down to the half-hour deadline. Applejack continued to stomp around the living room and first floor, her footsteps slapping hard against the polished wood. At one point she even moved to the little cubbyhole Butter was in and kneeled down to peer inside. The stallion sweated it out, her muzzle only a few feet from him, the gusts of her breathing blowing around his mane as she peered intently into the dark. The little noises and hums of curiosity she kept making were agonizing to his heart as it thundered in his chest, but eventually she moved on again, hollering his name and taunting him to come out.
Finally they were down to the last five minutes of play. Applejack had an almost permanent grin on her face now from all the teasing she had been laying onto him. Stomping around, calling his name, taunting and teasing him with funny names and promises of what she would do once she found him. Butter’s face had long since stained itself red all throughout and he was almost tempted to give in, if only to see if she was telling the truth about some of it. The giant mare’s own heart was pounding in joy at having played this game. Gone were the fears and anxiety that had begun their foray into a game night together. The earlier wrestling had soothed her physical sores and now hunting Butter had given her a more emotional release. Even the sky outdoors had cleared enough for sunlight to shine through, and walking over to the front door, a final attack came to her.
“Well Butter, if ya won’t come out, ah guess ah’ll jes go out myself!” She declared loudly, making a spectacle of it as her eyes watched the table next to her. Predictably there was a squeak; Butter, realizing what she had meant, knew that his hiding spot was about to be compromised. He looked to either side but it was no use. If he fled now she would catch him before the last minutes were up, and if he stayed she would find him all the same. Applejack sat her thick rump down right across from the cubby and turned to present her feet at him. The sight momentarily distracted Butter, still steaming from the earlier taunts she had used to try and draw him out. It was all the opening she needed, and Applejack struck! Reaching out, her hand ‘accidentally’ knocked one boot over as it grabbed the other, flopping it atop Butter. As he tried to push it off, her hands moved and grippe both boots firmly, sandwiching him between the leather of both and hiding him from her sight for a bit longer. She pulled them out, careful to not snicker or let her face betray the act despite her horrible lying skills. Then, she released the lower boot to flop onto the floor between her legs, which in turn caused her to released Butter a few seconds later as her fingers grabbed ahold of it, and then slipped off of him on the other side. Butter finally yelped as he fell the few feet into the hole and onto the padded insole, his nose assaulted by the sweat and musky scent around him. Applejack’s large shoe size even for a giantess allowed him plenty of wriggle room, and knowing the jig was likely up he simply tried to climb out before a foot came down and squashed him between it and the boot.
Suddenly he could hear something; Applejack finally couldn’t take it and laughed aloud. Her deep belly laugh boomed out in the air as she clutched at her stomach and grabbed ahold of his temporary home. Lifting it, and him up, the victorious mare smirked and simply whispered ‘gotcha’ at his crestfallen face. She made no effort to extract him, wanting to make sure he stayed right where she had him until he admitted it himself.
“Well Applejack, I guess you won after all.” He finally conceded. “So what’ll it be?” Butter sighed, dejected at the thought of not being able to play his board games again.
Pondering the question, Applejack realized that she was more than willing to try and tackle the boardgames again. “Well ah’m still in th’ mood t’ play, so how’s about we finish that game o’ Monkeyparty or whutever…”
“Monopoly,” Butter corrected her, heart lifted by her pity. “You really mean it?”
“Sure do! Might even be fun, but ah say we put a bet to it. Spice it up a bit…” Applejack confirmed, thoughts moving on as she carried him to the kitchen table once more. All of that stomping had tired out her soles, and she was sure she could claim even more victories with the right wagers. One thing was for certain: The day might have started off sour, but the end would be sweet and enjoyable for the couple.
There were times when some people wouldn’t want to be caught outside. Often these times resulted in something unfortunate happening to someone when least expected. A sudden downpour being fairly common, but also the least hazardous. It held the power to ruin an outfit, or night of fun, but otherwise was not a true disaster. Those were things like thunderstorms, lightning flashing across the sky and scorching the ground. Or when hail suddenly began to strike roofs and scrambling travelers alike. The wind during such events was also a problem, since in sufficient force it could blow folks and objects around, leading to injuries.
On their own, these things were little more than a distraction, but together? They could be a force to be reckoned with. Thankfully such extreme conditions were not sanctioned by the weather factory as it could, in certain places, prove to be a rather fatal occurrence. That didn’t stop the conditions arising for those three things to happen together however. It was thanks to the Everfree Forest that surrounded one side of Ponyville that the intense weather front came to be. Weather scientists had been trying for many years to try and figure out just what was going on in the forest that could cause it. Though, without sending in a team for research, they were never going to get any kind of real result. It was incredibly tough to find people to go into the forest without some kind of magical protection. The only people capable of doing such a thing were the Princesses and even they were a little reserved about putting folks into danger. Sending the Princesses was completely out of the question as well, what with them being public figureheads. So the research went on without any real conclusions and people were forced to suffer the onslaught.
There had only been three storms of that calibre in the entire history of Ponyville, but each time brought with it the same kind of trouble. In fact they were about due for another of the storms, but when Butter had left the homestead earlier in the day, things had looked fine. The sun had been shining and the birds were singing. There wasn’t even a breeze, it was just simply quiet and peaceful. He had left Applejack on her own so as to fulfill a small favor for a friend and get some time to think by himself. Oddly enough, the two things went hand in hand regarding the subject. Pinkie Pie needed something from him down at Sugarcube Corner, and she was the mare that was on his mind lately.
Having talked to Applejack about certain beliefs and rumors over a month ago, Butter tried to put the subject away along with the games they had played. But the question had lingered, until Applejack had grown suspicious again of her friend and little stallion. It didn’t help that Butter also was starting to see that perhaps the rumor wasn’t unfounded. Not that there was ever going to be a good reason for him to leave his wife for some other mare; Applejack was perfect in his eyes, no matter the size.
But Pinkie Pie was another matter entirely. Having always been open, friendly and affectionate it took Butter incredibly long to pick up on just how much more she was, to him alone. How her eyes always followed him, or the way she teased and tried to stay in contact with him more than even her best friends. Then there was the fact that she was always inviting him, alone, to Sugarcube Corner for things. Simple tasks like helping her carry supplies from one locale to another, or helping her prepare sweets and treats for a party she had coming up. Always with endless talks about how was your day, what was his favorite food, did Applejack do this or that for you? Perhaps in hindsight the in-depth questions should have tipped him off.
It had taken a bit of convincing for him to be allowed to come over this time. Applejack had felt especially protective of him today, looming over the stallion, blocking the door until he confirmed that nothing untoward was going to happen. She then implied that she would be out looking for him if he was gone too long. Butter had tried to treat it as a joke, smiling and hugging her goodbye, but the lack of humor in her tone suggested it was a serious promise. So he came up on Sugarcube Cornor without the usual gusto, moving to the counter without a word as he pondered the situation. Pinkie Pie wasn’t standing there like usual, and neither were the Cakes. He found out why as he reached it though, when suddenly he was presented with the party mare’s wide, curvaceous backside. Just under the top of it kneeling down, he was transfixed as the yellow shorts swayed back and forth. She was humming a nameless tune, pushing things around in a cupboard to make room, casually busying herself while just so happening to give him a show. As far as ‘not falling for her advances’ was going, this was decidedly a big step back. But, he reasoned, since Applejack wasn’t here and he still had blood in his veins, he could at least admire what any stallion besides him would.
Pinkie soon sensed that someone was standing at the counter, waiting to be served. She finished up with the cupboards and popped up to greet them in her usual bubbly demeanour, only to quickly abandon it in favour of a much more intense and flirty kind of greeting upon noticing that it was Butter who had come knocking. Butter found it hard to resist her usual brand of charm and friendliness, but he assured himself that he was going to get through this. He sighed and explained what he was there for; A friend had contacted him a while back hoping for assistance in finding a rare ingredient. Since his suppliers were having difficulty in obtaining it, he’d sent a letter to Butter since he was known to live close-by to where it was found: The Everfree Forest. As it just so happened, Pinkie Pie had obtained some of the last of it for the next few months just earlier in the week, just after he got the letter in fact, and had invited him over to come pick it up today once she learned of his dilemma. She seemed unfazed at the oddly timed coincidences, but then again she didn’t seem to be focused much on his words either. Her head was tilted just so that Butter assumed she was thinking other thoughts, and simply was waiting for him to finish before she went with her own ideas.
When Butter finished his story, Pinkie did reply in her own way. Inviting him to stay and help around the bakery, but also saying that she’d get the ingredient right away even as she bounced off to the basement. Butter politely declined her offer, tucking the package under one arm, and the eager mare seemed to deflate slightly. Then she nodded, saying that she knew Applejack was waiting at home for him. With a few more cryptic words and hints she bid him farewell, a last hug crushing his ribs until he finally slipped free and ran. But as he opened the bakery door, he found it doing so on its own as a powerful gust of wind blew into the shop. Pinkie Pie squeaked in surprise as she hastily grabbed at things flying up into the air and Butter, taking the brunt of it, nearly fell flat on his back. Looking outside he could see that the sky was dark and gloomy, the weather having turned dramatically for the worst in the short time he’d been inside the shop. Rain began to fall in an approaching curtain, until it was hissing and splashing over the front step, blowing sideways whenever the gale winds kicked up again.
Butter truly did not want to walk out into such a horrendous storm. He knew well enough that this must have been caused by the Everfree and that storms like this were better weathered indoors than out. But Applejack was waiting, and he needed to get back. So despite the cry of Pinkie Pie to wait he stepped outside, and made it only a few feet before the storm decided that was enough. A hail stone as big as his thumb struck the same appendage, causing him to yell out in shock, and he dropped his package onto the ground. More of the frozen chunks of water began to fall amongst the rain, all of them pelting him fiercely like a thousand stinging ants. By the time he could gather his wits to retrieve his package, it had already become soaked and damaged enough to ruin the fragile container inside. Dismayed, he did not react to Pinkie’s cries for him to come inside, so she took matters into her own hands. Butter didn’t protest as she dragged him back, in fact he was a little relieved to be warm again. She pushed him over to the counter, making him sit in a conveniently placed chair, and then went to close the door.
Drenched to the bone and dripping it all over the floor, Butter knew he had to get out of his clothes soon before he came down with something. Looking at the mare, she was also soaked yet still her mane remained vibrantly bouncy, if a little stamped down. A small part of him niggled against asking, but still he opened his mouth to make the request. “Hey Pinkie Pie? Do you have any towels I could use? I need to get out of my clothes and dry off before I get sick.”
Pinkie Pie didn’t turn around, but her body did shiver a bit and she bounced in place for a moment. “A towel? Oh, sure I can get one from the linen closet. Why don’t you head upstairs and use the bathroom? Can’t have you catching a cold while I get one, can we, Nutty?”
“Uh…no, I guess not. Where’s the bathroom again?”
Pinkie swung around and bounced over to him, a devious smile on her lips and innocence in her eyes. Grabbing ahold of his shoulders, she said, “Go up the stairs, take a left, then a right, then spin at the end of the hall and tadaa! You’ll be right there.”
Baffled, but shoved off by her, Butter started climbing as she giggled and went off somewhere else. He wasn’t sure where, since he thought she would need to go upstairs as well, but she vanished when he turned his sight away from her for a second. Shrugging it off as just another thing she did, he followed her instructions and climbed the stairs. Pinkie Pie was never one for a straight answer, a straight anything really. She was always doings things in an almost magical manner that would baffle the unenlightened to the strange mares quirks. To her friends, it was better left as just something that occurred. Before recent events Butter had liked that aspect of her; hanging out with the excitable party thrower was never a dull moment. Now however, with questions of affection and illicit intentions lingering all around, he wondered if her strange magic would drive him mad.
As he walked the halls upstairs, Butter followed Pinkie’s instructions, eventually ending on a dead end with no doors. Confused, he nevertheless spun at the end of the hall, and sure enough he found himself standing in front of a door. When he spun back to face the end of the hall, it was gone, and when he spun again, there it was. Head already starting to ache, he stepped inside and discarded the oddity along with his clothes. The loss of soggy weight was a relief to him, a bit of water wrung out from his tail as well. Folding them as best he could in the sink to drain, he looked around for anything to begin drying off with. Sadly there were no towels, in fact there was a strange absence of any kind of absorbent material that he could use. Pinkie Pie was also taking longer than he expected; it had taken him at most two minutes to arrive and she still wasn’t here yet with a towel. A nagging thought began to poke at him, but he dismissed it.
When Pinkie did eventually show up it wasn’t in the capacity that he was expecting, and there wasn’t a towel in sight. In fact, there wasn’t a shred of material left on Pinkie’s body, for she was completely naked. Butter took in the entire sight of her bouncing front before squealing and turning away. Not so much in disgust or horror, but rather shock. This was even before he realized he too was naked before her, and then a terrible blush overcame most of his body. Pinkie’s giggle chased him into the bathtub, where he crouched and tried to hide himself by pulling on the shower curtains to veil his body. But they were merely opaque, not solid, and he watched as the nude mare’s silhouette walk over and tried to peek around the edges. He responded by tugging more on the curtains, cocooning himself in them, and she laughed as finally his tugging started dragging the whole thing down on top of him. As he rubbed his bruised noggin from the pole clonking it, Pinkie took the time to inspect his outline and obscured anatomy. A pleased ‘mmm’ or two were murmured, making Butter’s blush grow hotter as he looked up and saw her naked glory again close-up.
“P-Pinkie! What in Equestria are you doing?!” Butter cried, closing his eyes. “Why are you naked? Where’s the towel? W-What…”
“I’m getting one, silly Nutty!”
“That doesn’t explain anything!”
“I got wet too silly – of course I have to change out of my clothes too. And the linen closet is empty, so that means I have to get them from the upstairs linen closet. But I figured I’d check here, in the bathroom, first.”Turning, Pinkie bent over and opened the small cabinet doors under the sink. Butter dared to peek one eye open to see what she was doing, and shut them a second later when he saw her bare profile once again up close. “Mmm, nope! Guess I’ll have to check the closet after all.” Agonizing seconds for the stallion passed as he heard Pinkie walk out of the bathroom, though curiously she seemed to stop very soon afterwards. This time, when he dared peek, it was to the sight of Pinkie Pie standing across the hall in front of an open door. A door that, much like the bathroom, had not previously been there to his knowledge. His gaze did not shy away this time from staring, but although Pinkie’s bouncing rump was in almost full display to him, he was more baffled over the logic of this house. How could Sugarcube Corner have such illogical logic as well? Butter closed his eyes before she turned back and brought with her a single towel.
“Whoopsie, looks like there’s only one in the whole house that’s dry. Isn’t that strange?”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Butter sighed, feeling a certain kind of dread settle on his back. Tugging on the shower curtain, he said, “I guess I’ll just stick with this for now, can you just…cover yourself please? I’d like to open my eyes sometime and get my clothes drying.”
“Aww, what’s the matter Butty Nutty? It’s not like you haven’t seen a naked mare before, right? Oooh, or have you and Applejack never…you know? Oh wow, should I invite her over? We could have a sleepover!” Pinkie gasped. “We could even do a little body exploration when she’s here! Just you, me and her all getting close and personal and naked and wouldn’t that just be great I bet if we invite the rest of the girls over and a few cute stallions they like too-”
“NO!” Butter squeaked, eyes flying open to stare at her. Too late, he realized she was leaning over the bathtub, chest mashed between her arms and dangerously close to his face. Instead of closing them, he kept his eyes firmly locked on her bright and eager ones. “N-No, no uh, let’s not…do any of that. I’d rather not have AJ show up at all really, especially not…in this weather. T-This is far, farfrom appropriate and I think we need to just carry on now. Could you please cover yourself, and step back so I can get up, please?”
“Okie Dokie! Sure you don’t want to stare a little more?”
“Pinkie.” Butter not quite moaned.
Giggling and snorting, the conniving mare stepped back and finally did as asked. Wrapping the towel around her curvaceous form, it barely hid anything of concern for the stallion. The towel reached as far as her upper thighs on the bottom, while the top struggled to be tied off around her bountiful chest high enough to be decent. In some ways it was far worse than remaining bare, and was incredibly distracting to Butter. The longer he stayed near her, he was finding it more and more impossible to stay true to his intentions. Suddenly all of Applejack’s concerns were beginning to seem valid, despite his core not wavering once in his love of the farmer. Pinkie herself was relishing every moment this opportunity granted. It spoke well of her hopes to enjoy this alone time with him, blessed earlier by a bout of Pinkie Sense as well. The weather outside was frightful, and she now had company that was so delightful. She would milk this for all that she could.
Blowing the trapped stallion a kiss, she finally bounced out of the room to let him leave as well. Once again Butter had to consider his choice of staying at the bakery until the storm passed. The weather could chill, soak, possibly even batter him about. The alternative was the possibility of Applejack discovering all of this and growing scorned. Before he left the bathroom he checked again for anything decent to cover himself, but true to her words there was nothing. He wandered out to the landing, curtain crinkling and dragging as he walked, forcing him to waddle down the stairs. Pinkie Pie was once again missing from his sight; there was no telling if the mare was here, there, or elsewhere in the building. The wind was still howling and shook the walls, a stark reminder of what he would face if he didn't stay. Making his way over to the counter once more, he yelped as Pinkie appeared from behind it like a pink jack-in-the-box, her towel holding strong thankfully. In her hand was a pack of cards, and when she flung aside her towel there were suddenly clothes on her once more. Butter tried to find the towel to use himself, but it was gone.
Pinkie took the stallion by the shoulders and guided him over to a carpeted corner of the floor. Her surprising strength shoved him down to his knees, bundling up the curtain over his lap and tearing it in some places. As he hurriedly tried to fix his cover, she plopped herself down across from him with a coy smile and began shuffling the deck. Her eyes never rose higher than his chest, admiring all she could see of her companion.
“Ok! So, seeing as how we’re going to be here for a while, I thought we could play a game! And talk!”
Butter nodded wearily. "Sure, I'm just glad you finally have some clothes on again."
Pinkie finished shuffling the cards and dealt out two to each of them, before laying the deck down in the middle of the pair. She then dealt out three different cards and lined them up one next to the other. Butter knew the game was poker, albeit a seemingly sped up version of the popular gambling pastime. Whilst they looked over their cards, Pinkie put down another card to the line of three, leaving just one more to be drawn before the round could be ended. Butter stared at his cards, then up at Pinkie to observe any tells she might have. Finding that out though, was going to be trickier than your average poker player. Most of them decided to hide their true expressions behind a stony expression. Not Pinkie though, she was giggling to herself and looking at her cards, replacing that stony expression with one of pure joy. Butter wasn’t sure if she actually understood the rules of the game, or if this was one of the most ingenious poker faces he’d ever seen.
“Sooo, whatcha been doing with yourself?” Pinkie asked.
“Uhm, mostly just spending time with Applejack. Helping her with the last harvest, playing board games, going on err, walks. Day to day stuff, you know?”
“Boring!" She rolled her eyes. "Didn’t you do anything interesting? Like, make a cake! Or-or, go on an adventure! Isn’t that better? Maybe we should hang out more - I’ll show you what a fun time really is!”
Butter wasn't sure anymore what definition she was using for fun. "Every day's an adventure with Applejack. I mean, it's not every day your wife is, what, four times as big as you right? We have all sorts of fun..."
“I guess! Mark my words though - if I ever get to be as big as AJ is, you won’t be playing boring old board games and sitting around being all stuffy and boring. We’d be out roaming the lands and pulling all sorts of pranks!”
Butter pressed his cards to his chest and gave a tight smile. "That sounds unbelievable for sure. Applejack would be more than happy to have fun as a friend too, big or not. Maybe we could plan something later on in fact, the three of us together.” Pinkie's reply smile was just as open and excited as always, leaving Butter feeling that his point had failed to land. "Want to deal the final card now?"
Pinkie picked up another card and placed it next to the other four, making a total of five cards now. In order of the draw, there was the ace of spades, the seven of clubs, the king of hearts, the king of clubs, and the three of diamonds. Butter and Pinkie laid their cards out on the floor, looking to see who the winner of this one was. Butter had the remaining two kings, whilst Pinkie had what was essentially junk. She pulled all three sets of cards back into the deck and shuffled them again, dealing out another set to each person. Really, they were going to be playing this game for quite a while, over and over, considering how few players there were. Ideally a few more of them would need to be involved. Applejack would surely enjoy a couple of rounds of poker, but Butter still didn’t want her to show up here and see this whole thing unfolding. The round progressed as normal, with Pinkie laying down the three cards and then drawing two more. On the draw of the fifth card, Pinkie and Butter laid down their cards once again, and once more Butter won it. This time however, Pinkie didn’t collect the cards up and shuffle the deck before dealing again. Instead, she slipped her arms out of the blue dress she was wearing and lifted it up over her head, casting it aside. Underneath was a straining purple, white polka-dotted bra, practically bursting at the seams. After casting the dress aside, she dealt out the next hand, leaving Butter to stare agog.
“P-Pinkie!? What are you doing, why did you...?”
“Huh, didn't I tell you? We're playing strip poker silly! I lost two hands so I lost a big piece of clothing." Her smile turned sly again, eyes smouldering. "Maybe you'll get lucky and keeping winning hands, which means I'll have to take more and more pieces off. I wonder how far I'll go before it's your turn~"
“Somehow, I don't think I'm winning no matter which way this goes." Butter mumbled, looking at the lone piece of 'clothing' he had on.
“Heehee! So, Nutty, what’s it like living with Applejack, huh? I bet it’s real cosy at night. Are you a fan of snuggling? Can you even do that with Applejack? I mean she is pretty big now, can you get your arms around her? I'm an excellent cuddler, did you know? Want me to show you?”
Pinkie slid her way around the deck of cards to Butter’s side, leaning into him and pressing her chest against his shoulders. Her arms latched themselves around him, even as Butter tried to slip away from her, but she was like glue. She clung to him, purring like a cat as he tried to get away from her, but she stayed as his side as they scooted an entire circle around the deck and returned to their starting positions. Pinkie drew the remaining cards from the deck and placed them down against the floor, before placing the cards in her hand down as well. Before Butter could put his own cards down, Pinkie already screeched about how she had lost again. She jumped up and wiggled her way out of the yellow shorts that Butter had been introduced to when he first walked in. The panties Pinkie were wearing had become barely visible, her thick rump stretching them wide and thin to leave untold inches of pink rump bare. They offered protection from prying eyes, but thanks to the plush nature of Pinkie’s flesh they constantly flashed in and out of visibility. When the display was done, she plopped back down beside him and latched on with an affectionate nuzzle of his sweat-strained cheek.
“See Butty Nutty? Nice and soft, really cushioned! Isn't this nice?" Butter's entire face was lit up, and he uttered a noise in reply that was illegible. "Hm? What's wrong, you're not getting embarrassed are you?”
“H-H-Hardly, ahaha! You uh, you have to try really hard to embarrass me anymore! I mean, Applejack-" Butter, trying to bolster his confidence and control, cut himself off with a squeak as Pinkie's face suddenly filled his vision.
“Oh really?” Pinkie inquired, leaning into Butter some more, quickly reverting him to a less confident state.
Butter was really struggling now, finding it hard to cope with all the signs Pinkie was giving off. She clearly wanted him all to herself, or she wanted him and Applejack, it was hard to tell which applied. He couldn’t give in, but yet at the same time he didn't seem to have the energy to tell her no. If he was going to get out of this he would have to hurry home soon. The time for his safe return had passed minutes ago, meaning Applejack was going to hurry out into the storm to find him. Which meant she was going to come here. Which meant she was going to see Pinkie in her scantily clad state, and she was going to make the worst assumption possible. In a way, he kind of hoped that the weather might put her off going to search for him by herself, but then she wasn’t exactly the average person. The wind probably wouldn’t able to lift her in its current state, so that wouldn’t be a problem. The heavy rain would be like standing under a shower at her size, the hail barely worse than a sting, and although lightning was a concern the thunder certainly wasn't. As he looked out the window, Pinkie squeezed him in closer, hugging him tightly to her bosom.
“Can you do this with Applejack? Is she soft and squishy like me, huh?” She murmured.
Butter tried to wrestle himself free. “Sh-she’s uh…not this p-plu-plush, no. And th-the best I could do is hug h-her shin, or ankle, or t-toe…”
“Hee! Toe hugs? You like her feet that much huh?”
“What? Who said I liked feet?” Butter gasped, the blush deepening on his cheeks.
“You did, silly! Just then! When your face goes that red and you stumble over yourself like you are, it’s pretty obvious!”
Butter opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the door crashing open again. A rumble of thunder and flash of lightning illuminated a large orange leg, standing outside the door barefoot in the mud. Butter tried to turn and look towards the door, but found himself turning into Pinkie’s flesh more, which didn’t really bode well for him. Pinkie leapt up, catching his chin on the front of her bra and tugging his head up with her. He flopped backwards, effectively being given an uppercut by a pair of breasts, giving him an upside down view of the door. Pinkie bounced on over, her bottom jiggling and swaying freely as she made her way to the door. Despite no doubt knowing what had interrupted her time with Butter, she still called out to identify it.
“Hello! Can I help you?”
“Ya c’n start by tellin’ me where mah man is, Pinkie Pie." Came the high up, southern twang growl. A rumble of thunder and more lightning punctuated it all.
“Oh, hiya Applejack! Wow you're really soaked too! Oooh, are you running through the mud barefoot? That must feel nice."
"Pinkie."
"Hm? Oh, you mean Butter? He’s in here with me! Come on in and I’ll help ya dry off! Oooh! We can play some more special poker together! I’m sure you’d like that Applejack!”
The larger mare gritted her teeth, rain dripping over her flared teeth as she heard Butter’s name being used in conjunction with Pinkie’s home and place of work. She sighed and crouched down, eyeing up the door and how it didn’t seem to be big enough to fit someone of her proportions. Her head alone was wider and nearly taller than the doorway alone, to say nothing of her lower extremities. Pinkie pulled at her arm all the same and as Applejack began to be pressed up against the front of the bakery, it looked like she was about to take the whole thing down. Then, somehow, by the miracle of Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie, Applejack managed to still squeeze inside. Compressing a twenty-five foot tall mare into a normal sized room, all without destroying the front wall of the bakery nor the doorframe itself. As Applejack adjusted to being inside however, the effects began to grow notable as to just why this was not a good idea. Beyond dripping water and mud over every surface, the giantess was forced to remain on her hand and knees even as her back bent the roof in a shower of dust and timber. The floor groaned under her immense weight, bowing around her knees, while her limbs bumped and crashed into objects as she shifted slightly in place. Her feet squashed overtop of the door, effectively locking the three occupants in. Butter found his vision completely overtaken by his love as chest, head and mane all fell overtop of him, her grunts of discomfort blasting him with her breath as Pinkie Pie giggled and skipped back to his side.
Surprise became overtaken by terror though as Applejack remembered the reason for her coming here. Looking down, angry eyes narrowed further under the wet brim of her hat, taking in his appearance. The lack of clothing, a barely useful shower curtain it appeared as all that he wore for decency. Pinkie Pie in her underwear and nothing else. If Butter wasn't dressed so strangely, she would have already erupted at the possible adultery at work here. As it was, he was on thin ice, and Pinkie even more so.
“Hey Applejack! Want me to dry those clothes off by the ovens for you?” Pinkie asked.
“Ah’m not plannin’ on stayin’ Pi-” Before she could actually finish, Pinkie zipped her way over to Applejack and just about tore the clothes off her back in a pink whirlwind. Both Applejack and Butter blushed as the house groaned anew as she flopped down closer to the floor to try and cover herself. Pinkie moved off to the kitchen dragging the giant pile of wet clothes. Then Butter realized something.
“Wait, are my clothes by the ovens as well? When did you do tha-”
“Want some soup, Nutty? Applejack?”
“Soup? When did you make soup? We’ve been sitting here playing strip po-” Butter froze at the sounds of nails scraping over wood behind him. A heavy snort blasted his back as he realized what he almost said. “Strip po...po...I've got nothing. Soup sounds nice Pinkie Pie.”
Whilst Pinkie disappeared with her arms full of clothes and possibly about to come back with some kind of soup. Butter made Applejack the focus of his attention; there was a lot he needed to explain and it needed to be said in the best way possible. There was no chance of a slip up this time, as one wrong word and any number of things could happen to him, the primary thing being the immediate termination of their relationship. Turning around, he looked up and stared back at the angry, suspicious eyes watching him. This was it, the do or die moment, time to set the record straight.
“Look, Applejack." He began. "The storm hit us before I could leave. I was wet, Pinkie offered to dry my clothes, and I went upstairs alone to the bathroom. Then she walked in...and I covered myself...t-the curtain fell on me and there were no towels except the one she had to use..." Applejack's teeth were starting to grit together, but Butter held on. "I tried to keep things decent, and thought we were playing just a normal game of cards. It...nothing about all of this is normal I know, but I swear. I swear Applejack nothing was initiated by me, and I only had plans of staying here until the storm passed so I could get back to you safely. Even if I had to run back in nothing but a curtain."
Applejack’s teeth remained gritted, grinding across each other as she listened to Butter explain himself. It wasn’t exactly going well so far, though Butter remained positive that he could pull it off. After all, he wasn’t in the wrong here at all, that was Pinkie, and she was the one acting like they were up to no good. It was essentially a one-sided relationship, but she was trying her hardest to get him to participate in it with her. So to calm her down he decided to cheat a little. Standing up, he walked closer until her muzzle was just off to the side of his. He reached up, hands holding her chin, and pressed his forehead against it in an odd hug. It wasn't exactly the best plan to put her at ease, but he hoped it would help get his point across. What he got was a brief upturn of her lips as the stress left her, his gesture taken for what it was as a show of his love.
“You know I love you, Applejack. There’s never been anyone else, and right now there’s nothing I want more than to be with you. Preferably on the couch together, watching something to pass the time while the storm rages. I mean it.”
Sighing, Applejack finally tilted her head to rub her muzzle against his own. “Butter, ah wan’-”
“Alright guys, it’s time to paaar-tay! We’re gonna get wild and blow the night away! Whoo!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, suddenly popping up between them. Still sans anything over her undergarments, she gave Butter a spine creaking hug and hugged one side of Applejack’s arm.
Butter looked up at Applejack, concerned his efforts had just been blown. But all his wife did in return was smile resignedly; the look on her face was familiar to anyone who knew the pink party mare. Even if she still had words she wanted to say, her head was back on straight and for now, she could handle Pinkie Pie. It still didn’t stop her from yelping though as a hand playfully slapped her rear, prompting a blush from the couple. For now they would stay together in this and face what Pinkie brought to bear together. If all of this really was a one-sided ploy from her dear friend, then it would take more than even her two hands to handle what was dished out. As the night played out in the cramped front room of the bakery, this would prove to be true, but always Applejack would still prevail. It helped that she filled over two-thirds of the room, but nevertheless the challenge was now brought. Butter and Applejack weren’t certain for sure just what she intended for them, but at least it would be taken on together.
All the while, the storm continued to rumble and howl outside. A portent, perhaps, to the future ahead…
Winter had arrived in Ponyville with a vengeance, blanketing the landscape in a mass of white. In comparison to previous years it had come about rather suddenly, much earlier than it had been anticipated to come. A breakdown in communications at the Weather Factory and an apparent malfunction with the artificial keeper of the calendar had been the cause. Those in charge of the factory had apologised, but it didn’t really help matters. Once the winter scenario had been activated, then it had to simply run its course, lest they mess up future seasons as well. Nobody wanted to lose a summer as well, or spring, after all. So the majority of folks on the ground were trying their best to deal with the situation, with as little complaint as possible.
Those that lived in Ponyville and owned a pair of wings had been called back to Cloudsdale to assist with the weather mess up. That meant that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had left Ponyville for the foreseeable future, along with every other pegasi. The town was going to be missing something without the pegasi, on par with a sudden disappearance of birds really. No sounds of wings flapping and conversations going on over your head, it was quite the travesty. Still the town wasn’t totally dead just because the pegasi had all left to return to Cloudsdale, in fact they more than made up for their absence. Each day, the strongest and most able of the townsfolk got up and began to clear away the snowfall after the previous night. It seemed like a bit of a menial and pointless task, considering that each day they would be repeating the same thing over and over again. Still, the fact that it would be constantly aiding the frailer and weaker members of the town to get about helped remove themselves from the house. Some of the more forward thinking individuals set up barricades and signs to highlight the areas of town that were hazardous. In these weather conditions the hazards were like patches of ice that could trip up those who weren’t watching their steps, or the larger growths of icicles hanging over many heads that could suddenly fall.
In fact, the townsfolk did more for themselves than their elected officials did for them. The Town Hall remained open to any residents who wanted to complain or perhaps ask for supplies. Their response from the Mayor was that they always had to fill in the required paperwork and each time, the amount of paperwork changed constantly. One year it had been a single sheet for a complaint of supply form, now it was like a mountain of papers that one needed to fill out. Even a complaint about the amount of paperwork that needed to be filled out would need to be thoroughly detailed in that very same amount of paperwork. It was a ridiculous system, but the Mayor insisted that it was the only way that she had for processing all their complaints/requests. It was no wonder that before Twilight had arrived in town, these people would have been late preparing for the spring. If it took this much paperwork to sort out a simple complaint, then getting spring supplies and activities planned out must have been a complete nightmare. Still, if one were to look at the silver lining of the whole thing, then they might consider that without the system, the townsfolk wouldn’t go to the lengths they do anyway.
The local eateries used up some of their excess stock to cook up some extra portions of their wares. They then distributed it amongst the homes that held people who weren’t exactly able to leave their homes in this weather. They had delivered to Granny Smith once upon a time, but Applejack and Big Mac had set them right. Though Granny Smith secretly set up a secret trade route for them, as even though she was capable of sending Big Mac or Applejack in her stead, she couldn’t trust them. The first few times she’d sent them out for seven freshly baked pastries, Applejack had come back with six and Big Mac with three. Questioning had revealed that neither knew what had happened to the others, whilst subtly brushing crumbs from their faces. Applejack spilled the beans much later on, unable to keep the lie going, but Granny let her off the hook. Instead setting up the secret trade route and still sending them to let them think she didn’t mind, when in reality she was just getting it from a different source.
What food wasn’t given out to the less fortunate was then put towards the annual feast as part of Hearth’s Warming. Those that didn’t want to head out to Canterlot for the usual performance, stayed behind and put on a feast for those others that chose to stay. It lasted all day, from morning to night, even managing to draw in folks from some of the surrounding cities like Canterlot or Manehattan. Held inside the town hall in the function room, it consisted of three, long, tables. One across the centre and two against the east and the west walls. In the northern part of the room was the stage, rarely used for the regular kind of function, but the occasional wedding and performance did take place there. On this occasion there was a small, less glamorous performance of the origin of Hearth’s Warming, as performed by the children of Ponyville school. All in all, it was a kind of dinner theatre, a time to be together with the folks that were around and simply celebrate that. One of the many joyous treats that the folks in Equestria got to celebrate each and every winter.
However, there was one thing that they liked even more than Hearth’s Warming, something beloved by children both young and old. That was the good, old fashioned, snowball fight. Once the hazards and paths had been cleared, there was a surplus of snow piled up against the pathways. As soon as the children were awake, they would make their little forts outside their homes and then prowl the streets looking for unsuspecting people, or other kids, to pelt with snow. Nine times out of ten, the one on the prowl would quickly become the one being pelted as they wandered into enemy territory. The others kids, not wanting to be the first casualty of a snow war, would all hide in their forts and wait for that one kid who was looking for some action. It might have taken an hour or two before the first kid gave in, but once the first one did, a few more were sure to follow. As an adult, trying to dodge their way through No Man’s Land was metaphorical suicide. Even a quick jaunt down to the shops to buy yourself something that you forgot to get earlier could result in you coming back, covered in more snow than a mountaintop. It was better to stay inside, but for the adults that loved a little bit of fun now and again, it was far too tempting not to get involved.
It was a chance to relive their inner children, take them away from the slog of day to day life and just enjoy themselves for once. Of course, the kids were always the victors, no matter how many adults joined the fray. The kids could get into places the adults could only dream of reaching, and they knew how to build far more successful tunnels than the adults. They could make a tunnel that would span the entire length of the town, dipping into each and every allied fort along the way. Some were even adept enough to keep them supported enough to stand upon, making them the perfect weapons of stealth in their play war against the adults. Far too many had felt the icy chill of a child’s justice as they popped out of a tunnel behind you and slammed a ball of snow and ice down your back. Too many times had the adults appeared to be about to take a fort for themselves, only to find that the children had tunnelled their way through to another fort for a flanking attack. It didn’t matter though as long as everyone was playing nicely; everyone was having fun, regardless of winning or losing.
That was in town though; if one was willing to walk all the way to Sweet Apple Acres and head into the orchard, they’d find a pair that weren’t really in the mood for fun times. Although they could both really do with something to take their minds of the situation at hand. Things were reaching a fever pitch between Applejack and Butter Nut, the cause of which was more than obvious. Pinkie Pie’s interest was creating a wedge between them that widened by the day, notably after the night of the storm some time back. Despite having believed Butter that his actions had not been as deplorable as first seen, Applejack was still suspicious. Her own doubts and worries about their relationship were making it hard for her to believe her love. That Pinkie Pie was a normal sized mare, that Butter had obviously dreamed of her at least one, that they both spent time with one another away from her, no matter how neutral and professional those moments were. There was simply no slaying the jealously growing in her heart over it all, despite the heartfelt and earnest actions Butter had been putting forth to prove his love of her. It had led to more than a few fights, and more tension even after resolving them.
It was a battle that didn’t seem to give any kind of options for progress. Truth be told, neither of them knew for definite what they should be doing to help the other see what they were going through. What this whole situation was doing to them and how it was affecting them and those around them. It wasn’t hard to see that Applejack was jealous, she wore it on her face in the subtle way she watched Butter’s line of sight. The moment it deviated from her she was on it, looking to see what he was looking at. She hadn’t caught him staring at another mare yet, but it might only be a matter of time before something like that happened. Butter was constantly watching out himself, both for Pinkie Pie and anything else that could affect the crumbling balance. All it would take was another poor joke or tease from the pink mare and Applejack could explode. Or one unaware townsfolk or friend to make the wrong off-hand comment.
On this particular morning, they had been spending a little time apart from one another at home. Butter was watching something in the living room, while Applejack was preparing herself a snack in the kitchen. Both were brought together again once they heard a knocking at the door. It was uncommon for them to have any visitors, since the walk was far from the beaten path many ponies made. When Applejack opened the door, what they found was a shocking surprise.
“Heya Applejack!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing on her toes and sending snow flying. “Can Butter come out for a super fun snowball fight?!”
Applejack didn’t answer immediately. She looked down at Butter who had come up to her foot and gave him a Look. “Ah dunno…d’ya wan’ t’ go an’ get all cold ‘n wet?”
“Can Applejack come?” Butter promptly asked, not even hesitating. Pinkie Pie’s bouncing slowed, but she did not look disappointed.
“Oooh, heavy artillery. Heehee, the kids might say it’s cheating but you know what I say? All’s fair in love and war~ Come on AJ, Nutty!” She bounced off after that, leaving long lopping footprints in the snow they could follow.
Applejack closed the door and they went to retrieve their winter garb. Once properly clothed for the cold they left and tried following Pinkie Pie’s trail back toward town. The tracks seemed to stop in the return direction about halfway through the orchard and neither Butter, nor Applejack, could see another set of tracks leading off. It was like she had just disappeared into thin air. Applejack took the lead, her giant gait clearing the path and allowing her to look around better. For all she knew Pinkie Pie was hiding or leaping through the trees, waiting for them to pass before appearing again. It was highly ridiculous, but that was Pinkie. You couldn’t imagine sane options for her, and with her hackles raised over her friends actions it was better safe than sorry. The entire situation felt more than once like a trap already to her.
Whilst Applejack searched high, Butter took to searching low for anything amiss. Unfortunately the giant farmer’s walk was hiding anything that could be found. Her footprints erased any that may have been before her in their own immense outline. As for the sides of the path, her weight upon every footfall caused snow to shake and fall from the trees, plopping down on top of the rest below and shaking the few bushes dotting the seasonally unkempt orchard. It made trying to find Pinkie before she could pounce almost impossible, even if her colors and vibrancy stood out. As time went on he grew frustrated, the cold biting into him through his clothes. He finally decided to just focus on getting to town, which was when she finally struck. Something sprang out of the trees and crashed into him, sending him tumbling off the path and onto the ground. When his vision finally stopped spinning and could refocus, Butter found Pinkie Pie straddling him. A scarf wrapped around her face barely hid the face splitting grin behind it. Her breath was rapid, forming little clouds between them as she leaned her head down and got so close he could feel them blow over his muzzle. Butter’s heart was rapidly pounding in his chest as she got comfortable on top of him. He could feel her legs wrap around his own, trapping him in the snow mound they had fallen into.
“Hey Butter…” Pinke Pie mumbled, her voice muffled by the scarf.
“H-Hey…”
“Didja-Eep!” Pinkie squealed as she was lifted up into the air.
Pinkie had been so up in Butter’s face that he hadn’t even registered that Applejack had been watching the pair. It was only as Pinkie was lifted up that he saw the massive, orange hand behind Pinkie, attached to the angry looking Applejack. Butter sat up, a word on his lips, before Applejack sent him a look and shook her head once. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad. Pinkie Pie giggled as she was lifted by Applejack, crying out ‘whee!’ and kicking at the air like a child on a ride. She didn’t look at all worried about her predicament or for having been caught on another mares stallion. Applejack held her for a moment longer, debating what to do with her friend. Eventually she set her back down, but not before kicking a tree and sending its load down onto the pink mare. To cool off perhaps literally, but all it did was make her form a snow angel to dig herself out. Once back on her feet she sidled up next to Butter, who was then pushed by Applejack to walk in front of her. The trio resumed their walk, with the looming, miffed wife keeping things straight.
Eventually they made it into town, where Applejack and Butter were given a space to defend, a space chosen by Pinkie no less. Applejack was given a fort to defend by the library, whilst Butter was given one to defend down the street. Pinkie Pie explained the rules, of which there were surprisingly many. Things like snowball ordinance limits, pony-to-fort ratios, state of emergencies, and with the addition of Applejack, rules regarding weapons of mass snow destruction. It all made Applejack and Butter’s heads spin, but the general gist was to repel intruders and keep their forts secure. Pinkie then told them about the tunnels; In case of the fort falling they could, or at least Butter could, take the tunnel to reach each other. What she left out however was the fact that his tunnel had been sabotaged earlier that morning by her. The one passage leading toward Applejack was no longer there, and the one leading toward the library’s direction now would lead to Pinkie Pie’s own fortress. She promised the tunnels were safe, that they were now off limits from attacking ponies after the Great Raid of Marketplace. Then she disappeared, leaving Applejack and Butter to fend for themselves against a small army of children and adults.
The first few attacks on Butter’s base were easy and he repelled them without problem. Whether it was because the children were beginning to rethink their strategy, or whether it was due to Butter’s cockiness, he began to falter. The children seemed to be popping up all over the place, like zombies rising from shallow graves. Just when he thought he’d taken out one of them, two more sprung up in their place. He swore he was fighting off against more than just the children who were living in the town, it was ridiculous. He kept the majority at bay, but his single snowball assault was beginning to prove ineffective and tiring. There was only so many snowballs he could throw before his arms began to feel like they were made of jelly. The children didn’t relent though; they continued onwards, pelting his fort with their own brand of snowy justice, youth and numbers keeping their stamina up. Butter soon slipped up and he allowed through the first of what would soon be many children up against the walls of his fort. He could hear their gloved fingers scraping away at the walls. They would be through within a matter of seconds and after that, well, it was a fate that wasn’t worth thinking about.
Before abandoning his post, Butter spared a glance toward Applejack. She was sitting on one of the roots of the library, visible even from afar, looking bored as she occasionally tossed a giant snowball. Nobody wanted to attack her, leaving her a safe haven for Butter to reach for. The first gloved hand punched through the fort, startling him, and grabbed at him before turning to dig the hole open even more. Bits of the fort began crumbling down, striking the diggers but not dissuading them in the least. Butter took one last glorious stand, slamming his body against the wall to send it tumbling down. As the children squealed and shouted his name, he dove into the safety of the tunnels and began crawling. His breath was chilly inside his mouth as he crawled under his attackers. The sound of their little boots shuffling above were unnerving, leaving him to wonder how they weren’t falling down on him. Whoever had built these tunnels must have really known what they were doing; perhaps some magic had gone into holding them together to avoid the need for supports.
As the sounds of those children clamouring at the walls of his fort began to die down, he felt a sudden chill shoot up his backside. He tried to look backwards, craning his neck against the confines of the tunnel to look from whence he had come. His fort must have perished, the walls collapsing inwards and flooding the tunnel entrance. He was safe, for now. He turned back to face the front and found himself facing another blockade, though this was one was only temporary. The way the tunnel was supposed to go had been blocked off by another snowfall, but some clever chap had dug a workaround. Butter followed it, not that he had any other choice of course. He just wanted to get out of the cold tunnel and press himself up against Applejack for warmth. It was at least one benefit to having a wife as big as he did, in the winter she could be his own personal, portable, radiator. The thought of snuggling up with her was his fuel to advance through the tunnel. He could see the light now, breaking through from the exit into the world above ground. He rose through it, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on his face, the light of the day shining all around him. He opened his eyes, once they had adjusted, to find himself face to face with…
Pinkie Pie.
Butter didn’t even have time to open his mouth and shout before Pinkie pushed him against the wall. Leaning in close, recreating the scene in the orchard as she pressed against him, pinning his limbs. Once again Butter was worried about his fate with Applejack, yet took some heart. He couldn’t be far from her still, so even if Pinkie tried something new, he could probably keep her off until she arrived. Whether or not he’d pay a price for this too was still to be seen. His irate wife held his fate in her hands, as would she her friends should she come upon this sight again so soon. As she stared into his eyes, she continued to pelt attackers with snow, not even looking at them. It was in a way, quite impressive, like she had some kind of sixth sense about her. She stroked one of her gloved hands across Butter’s face, snowballs hurtling out from the fort at a blistering pace.
“Y’know, I didn’t get to say what I had to say back there…” She whispered, the fall of snow slowing just a little.
“Y-Yeah?”
“Yeah! I was going to say that I had a great time back at Sugar Cube Corner. Didja enjoy our little date then too?”
“Date? That wasn’t a…date, Pinkie Pie, you know that. You just helped me out, and we – Applejack, you, me – all played a few games. That’s all that was.”
“Heehee, aww don’t be so modest! That was a great night between us. Having Applejack there too just made things even more fun, my little Nutty~” Butter gulped as she nuzzled him. “I can’t wait to do it again!”
Meanwhile, Applejack was growing tired of this snowball fight. No one had dared to attack her post due to her immense size, and anyone close to her was typically wiped out by a single giant snowball. She had taken to simply watching Butter’s fort all this time, so when she saw it go down she had taken to waiting. Waiting for him to either emerge from the hundreds of small hands digging through the snow, or even from the small tunnel right between her two feet. So imagine her surprise when, as the minutes passed, the fort remained empty of little bakers as much as the tunnel was. She stood and started surveying the battlefield, trying to find a familiar mop of orange hair among all the white, going so far as to try and glimpse the out of bounds sections. She’d heard nothing about being a cheater from the kids, so it was safe to assume that he had found some way of escape that was well within the rules.
Applejack finally found the answer when she spied Pinkie Pie’s fort. The familiar mop of curly pink was bouncing above the rampart as snowballs flied rapidly over the side. But it was evident she wasn’t paying attention; one out of every ten snowball hit their mark while most flew wildly in covering fire. As she began stomping across the field, she swore she spotted a mop of ginger among all that pink, and the giantess saw red as thoughts connected.
When she heard the word ‘Nutty’ mentioned, Applejack knew that Butter was over there with Pinkie. She didn’t know how he had managed to get over there, or what his reasons were and frankly, she didn’t care. Pinkie Pie had just gotten her third strike in all of this, so although she had plenty of questions for Butter alone, she was her next target right now. As she approached she bent down and packed a snowball bigger than anything she’d made so far. Lifting it up, she threw it so it skimmed over the top of the fort, blowing the upper wall away and taking Pinkie Pie for a ride. As the pink menace squealed and was buried up to her boots in snow, Applejack stormed into the fort, blasting it apart with her legs and towering over Butter. The stallion stared up, wide eyed and shocked.
“Alright, ah’ve had enough!” She yelled, grabbing Butter up and tossing him onto a shoulder like a bag of grain. Pinkie Pie made a series of muffled sounds, but all she could do was wiggle her boots comically.
“Applejack! Y-You’ve got it all wrong! Let me explain!” Butter tried to say.
“Hmph! Don’t ya worry, ah wus gonna let ya do all th’ explainin’ back home, don’ you worry!” She growled, putting her anger to good use in silencing her husband.
Butter gulped, but went limp in Applejack’s hold, hoping she didn’t do anything worse. His chat with Pinkie had gone as well as he’d hoped, which was sadly not at all. Although she didn’t get much in before Applejack’s intervention, it was clear she had the goal of courting him set in her mind. She hadn’t listened to a single protest, claiming he was simply playing hard to get. As far as she was concerned he already had been trying things with her, things she considered flirting, whilst others might consider being friendly. Before Applejack had assaulted the fort and freed him, he’d made the internal resolve to tell Applejack that, although he didn’t support it, there was someone definitely contending for his affection. It wouldn’t be what she wanted to hear, but he would assure her that it was Applejack he loved. He wasn’t about to go galloping off with some sweet siren, although that did remind him of some oddities. Some words and mentions the pink mare had made in passing. It was almost like she was willing to share Butter, or perhaps share Applejack? Butter sighed again, wishing that things had not become even more complicated in his life. He only hoped time would bear the truth and answers, not heartbreak and disaster…
29'8ft: All work and no play makes Butter a frisky horse
Something had begun to prey on Butter’s mind, something that had been slowly growing over the years. Something much like his growing wife, in fact you could say the two were interconnected. It was a matter that he had addressed back when the signs had first showed themselves, as now it seemed almost impossible. The problem he’d been grappling with was that of a carnal nature. Butter Nut and Applejack knew that the chance of having children between them was a big fat zero. Of course, they deep down wanted to have one, but neither could be sure that they wouldn’t take on Applejack’s unique traits. It was hard enough trying to live with a steadily growing wife, the last thing that they needed was having a rapidly growing toddler on their hands. The second part of the conundrum was that of how they would even go about engaging in such bedroom activities. When they had married, Applejack had been around nineteen feet in height. Just over three times as tall as Butter, which had made their time as newlyweds strange. Although they had gone to bed together, and subsequent weeks and months following it had included Butter wooing her for personal time, the actual activities had not been what one envisioned between husband and wife. How could it really, when his efforts would likely feel like someone jabbing a needle into a haystack? It wasn’t that Butter lacked confidence; the stallion had good reason to be proud of himself, but his wife was a mare unlike no other.
Had Applejack stayed at the size of 6’ 10” like when they had met up again, then he could have taken her to amazing new heights in the bedroom. The only problem was that she hadn’t remained the same size and now he was struggling to bring it up to her. He’d almost brought it to her attention back when he had given her that first foot massage. It had taken most of his strength to keep himself from showing just how truly aroused he was, though somewhere in the back of his mind he felt that Applejack knew exactly how he felt. But if he had given the game away, Applejack was hiding her thoughts on it, perhaps to throw him off.
The lack of intimacy beyond foreplay and more outlying fun, combined with her refusal of going further to relieve his tension, wasn’t helping matters either. He was beginning to get a little pent up despite his own, personal, efforts and it wasn’t making his mind any clearer. It was getting to the point where every time he saw Applejack, he felt a rush of arousal come over him, and it was only getting stronger by the day. Combined with Pinkie Pie’s advancements he knew this was only going to be a disaster; despite his morals and integrity his own body was becoming a ticking time bomb that could end everything. He didn’t want to get to the point where his desires overtook him and acted upon them mindlessly.
Speaking of his fellow baker, there was also the whole Pinkie Pie issue, especially now that Applejack knew for certain there was a contender for his love. He’d made it clear that he wasn’t going to end up with her; his love for the farmer was as real and as solid as diamond. He didn’t know how much more he could show this, although he did think perhaps consummating their relationship would do so. It could show Butter was all for her; he could never give Pinkie his body in that way. But telling Pinkie to back off was like telling a brick wall to fall down. Her own voluptuous body was making his own feel like it would explode after all the times she’d flaunted it against him. He was beginning to feel his brain call for him to ‘settle’, to simply find someone and relieve all this pent up arousal onto them. Despite his objections, his own body was telling him to go and find Pinkie Pie to utilise her for these ends, but his resolution wasn’t completely broken. There was still enough fight in him to confront Applejack on this once and for all.
Having taken a walk to think this all through, Butter turned back and strode through town to get home. His arousal left him jittery and twitchy as he walked, wanting to avoid awkward situations. He was self-conscious about popping a boner at any moment, and kept looking down to make sure his trousers were not tenting at all. After the harrowing trek he finally made it to the path up toward Sweet Apple Acres, and hastily turned onto the dirt road to the homestead. The only things out on the trail were trees and birds and neither of them were going to judge him. He quickly returned to hiding it again though once the constant rubbing of his trousers and underwear began to get him more aroused than his simple thoughts. He stopped once or twice, hopping in place, looking silly but trying hard to keep the blood flow elsewhere until the right moment. He wanted to talk to Applejack as her husband, not some horny stallion looking for a good quickie.
Butter Nut arrived safely back home and hurried inside. Listening for any sound of Applejack, he heard a faint creak of the floorboards upstairs and mentally mapped where it was coming from. The changing dimensions of the house sometimes made this tricky, as even though the floor plans never changed, what was once space for the bathroom could instead just be for the linen closet a month later. He really had to thank Twilight Sparkle again for this wonder of magic, but first came AJ. Deciding she had to be in the bedroom, an apt place in theme with his intentions, Butter hurried to the stairs and began climbing. A small series of normal sized steps were built under the railing on one side for him to use, as by now he would otherwise have to climb step by step like a mountain climber. The entire house in fact had facilities like this, meant to lengthen and adjust to keep with Butter’s needs while the rest expanded along with Applejack. In a few more feet it might even look as if a mouse lived here with the farmer. When he reached the bedroom he opened his special door and slipped inside. As he hoped he found Applejack, sprawled out on the bed, sighing a bit as her giant feet swayed side-to-side on the edge before him. The sight hammered at his brain and heart as his nether pulsed with need. He climbed the small ladder on one leg of the four-poster bed, seeing that she was garbed but had her hair undone and hat resting on one of the ends of the headrest. The sight further drove Butter wild, not even her melancholic expression disturbing her angelic beauty. As he walked over and climbed onto her thigh, she finally noticed he was there and sat up some.
“Butter? Wut are ya doin’ back? Ah thought ya were out fer a walk?”
“Y-Yeah.” Butter stuttered. “But um, I was thinking about something. For about a year now honestly, and…I…it’s kinda hard to say…”
Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Is this about Pinkie Pie?”
“No! Not at all! I just...” Butter paused and exhaled loudly. “Dammit Applejack, I love you. I really, really do.”
“Well ah love ya too, Sugahcube, but wut’s all th’ fuss about?”
“I’m g-getting to that. I love you…so much…but Applejack, that’s not…” Butter paused again. He had to think like a husband, not a horny stallion, he reminded himself. “All of this drama with Pinkie Pie, and us being married…I know it’s stressful, for both of us. And I know that you know that I truly love you, and that Pinkie Pie won’t ever take that place in my heart. Right?”
“Uh huh…”
“But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re…I’m…you…are very stressed. Uncertain, maybe even a bit…jealous?”
“Butter, ah swear if ya don’t-“ Applejack began, face heating up as her fists gripped the bed.
Butter pushed on. “Ever since our wedding – no matter what you sometimes call it – I’ve wanted to. By Celestia, you have no idea how much you drive me wild sometimes. I’ve know you since we were both just children growing up together. I’ve seen you at your best and worst, at your smallest and most certainly I’ll see you at all your largest. You’re the mare of my dreams, both before and after this whole growing thing started. And I…I don’t know if this is completely true…but maybe I saved myself from…sex…because I always knew I wanted it to be you.”
“Butter…”
“I’ve waited though because you were never ready. Even after all the fun, the…relief, we sometimes give each other. Even after marrying and…I know how you feel about children and I worry too. And knowing how you felt, it just didn’t feel right to really push for…sex. So I’ve been waiting, but now Pinkie Pie is…is happening more. You’re still growing so much too and pretty soon even if I wanted to you’ll be way too big for me to just…I just want to. I want to give you something that truly shows you how much you mean to me over Pinkie. I want to feel you in that way, just once, just before you outgrow ‘me’ completely and I lose it as an…a-a gesture of my love for you.”
The blush on Applejack’s cheeks had deepened so much that one could swear she was bleeding internally. “O-oh...well...if we did...yer’d be mah first too….an’ ah do wanna experience it sometime in mah life…”
“All I’m asking for is just the chance to try it. Please?”
“...O-okay...yeah...w’ can try.”
Butter turned and peppered her stomach with kisses, hugging and rubbing over the bare stomach flesh. When he realized what he was doing, he pulled back and looked up at her face. He was smiling so vividly that one could easily mistake him for a child in a sweet shop. It was almost too good to be real. The size and scale was all wrong and yet here he was, about to make love with the woman of his dreams. It was enough to make him feel like his dick was about to tear its way out of his trousers, but he waited to see what Applejack would do first. Or was she expecting him to take the lead? The look on her face said that it was the latter. Her avoidance of his gaze, that trembling lip; it was the most insecure that he’d seen her in some time.
“How about we start slow? N-No reason to dive in – let’s set the mood and work on just taking our clothes off?” Butter suggested.
Applejack nodded and reached down gently to pick him up from her lap. With a hand bigger than his torso she grabbed ahold and settled back further against the headboard. She propped up a few pillows, always holding him carefully, her thumb being held by his tinier fingers. Once in a comfortable position she opened her palm and let him rest atop of it, legs dangling over her wrist as she made sure he was secure. She had not noticed it clearly before but at her current scale, just shy of thirty feet tall, he was like a large doll. Her own strength made the act of holding him aloft trivial, as if he wasn’t even there. It was nothing like when she first began to grow, when although able to lift him easily, it was more from the long hours of work and labor that had made the task simple. Now he might as well have been a feather, for all that he was far from a lightweight stallion given his chubby frame, to her he was. Suddenly she was struck with a need to examine him, almost forgetting the whole reason behind it all. They were about to learn the most intimate side of each other; a little time spent exploring Butter’s tiny body would surely be okay for foreplay right?
Butter didn’t understand what she was planning, but he waited for her to move first. If she wanted him to sit there without moving even as some kind of strange foreplay he was fine. He was taking the moment to soak in her facial features, marveling at things he’d almost forgotten. How the dimples in her cheeks seemed permanent from all the time she spent smiling. How although she had three primary, large, freckles on each side, there were countless smaller ones barely hidden around them and along the bridge of her muzzle. Her eyes, green as apples some might say, but really he saw how they shimmered like the clearest emeralds. How one bang of her golden wheat hair always tried to fall over her eyes if she didn’t tuck it up under her hat, making her adorable without it. Butter’s face was flush even before Applejack lifted a finger and began her own observations. He shuddered as it traced his upper body, stopping to nuzzle a cheek before moving on.
The feel of her fingernail as it brushed past his hair, feeling like he was being pressed up against smooth, perfect glass. Her finger traced its way to his chest, the point of her nail flicking over his nipples. Whilst Butter wasn’t particularly sensitive around that area, he gasped all the same. The feeling of something so big and fine, almost to a point, pressing and flicking over something so fragile was exhilarating. He held his breath as she prodded her fingertip against his stomach.
“Looks like someone’s been at mah cookie jar…” Applejack murmured, a weird inflection in her words suggesting she was trying to sound sexy.
Butter looked up at her with confusion a moment, long enough that she noticed. She gave him a strong prod in the stomach to retaliate, muttering lower under her breath with a small blush on her cheeks. His breath was knocked out for a moment, but she rubbed the spot until he was calm again and gave a thumbs up. Only then did Applejack continue with her digit examination. When she realized his waist was next she hovered over it, a moment of doubt eating at her. Seeing her hesitation, Butter took ahold of her finger, looking encouragingly at the giant mare. She shook him off and moved lower, curling around his hips before finally honing in on his lap and thighs. Her fingertip pressed down, feeling immediately the soft expanse of his legs, and the throbbing heat of something else. As she traced the outline of what was no doubt Butter’s penis, he let out a shuddering sound between moan and sigh.
To tell the complete truth, Applejack had been curious about what Butter could bring to the table in terms of love making. Living on a farm with the notorious Big Mac, she had always had questions. Especially due to one of their early sleeping situations, which had both Applejack and Big Mac sharing a bed whilst Applejack’s room was being renovated. Neither of them were so inclined to try and be romantic with each other, after all they were brother and sister. Nature was an unusual mistress though and biology was even more unforgiving as well. Upon waking up on the mornings, Applejack usually found that a rather large appendage of Big Mac’s was pressed against her back. She never spoke of it to anyone; for starters, she couldn’t be sure that people wouldn’t make it more dramatic than it was. Some people would have had a problem with the pair of them sharing a bed together, even if nothing happened between them. Those people would likely have had a heart attack when they found out that Applejack was waking up to Big Mac’s morning wood pressed against her back each day. Though, even worse would have been Granny finding out, since she probably would have castrated the poor fellow. So Applejack had kept quiet to protect her brother from the harsh opinions of those on the outside. The curiosity was still there though; feeling such a long, thick, meaty shaft pressed up against her back each day would do that.
It was a mix of her growing hormones as she got older and the fact that she’d never heard of one being so big. Even during her life lessons that she received at school talked of male genitalia like the biggest out there was around eight inches at full erection. From what she had felt on those mornings before she had quickly made her way out of bed, Big Mac was at least two inches longer and around six inches thick, and that was when they were both much younger. In regards to Butter he had always seemed to be happy to get nude around her, though a part of her had always denied him. Even when sleeping together, platonically, they often wore pajamas and other sleep attire to preserve decency. She hadn’t wanted to be let down; sex wasn’t and isn’t going to be the be all and end all of their relationship. She still had that thought about if he’d measure up or not however. It was a little unfair really, but she couldn’t help herself. There was just something so alluring about it all, so unique. In a way it was kind of like the relationship she and Butter had. For Butter she was the unique thing; there were no other females of her size and shape and Butter knew it. For her, Butter didn’t really have anything unique about him. Sure he was so very happy and loving, and she could never do wrong by him, but that wasn’t exactly unique. Several friends and acquaintances had partners like that as far as she knew.
Applejack bit her lip and continued to trace the lump of Butter’s shaft under her fingertip. So far he was showing up to be fairly average in that respect. Even as it thickened and grew under her touch, it wasn’t really matching up to that imprint on her mind, left by her brother. Still, Butter didn’t seem to appear all that embarrassed about his size so far, so perhaps he had something to hide? Her finger had traced far enough down his thigh that she had reached her rough estimate of her brother’s size, but this was where Butter’s uniqueness was beginning to show. His shaft, now threatening to burst through his trousers, still had quite the ways to go, almost down to his knees. Applejack bit her lips, that niggle about Big Mac being completely obliterated, with Butter taking up its place. He was the new standard for her and she was free to experiment with it as much as she possibly could. Meanwhile, Butter was trying to read her face for any indication as to why she was stopping her actions, leaving him so riled up. He’d seen her eyes go wide, when she hadn’t even reached the tip yet.
Butter had always been somewhat conscious of his size; even when young he had been aware of being different compared to others. Textbooks were the biggest clue, stating that the average measurement was less than his by far. He’d always carefully avoided communal showers unless alone or covered up well, fearing that someone might see it and give him a nickname. Bullies also would have targeted him more, jealously and inferiority often being the motivation for their actions. It was only after reuniting with Applejack that he had felt comfortable with what he was sporting, even then guessing that perhaps she would be one of the few girls that he could even consider for such activities. His attempts at getting nude or frisky with her, often in moments meant to calm her down, had also been chances he had taken to try and show her what he had to offer. She had always shot him down, but at least now he was finally getting to reveal all of himself to her.
He unbuttoned the top of his trousers and shifted himself a little further up her palm so she could feel the rest of him. It might be a little egotistical of him to get her to feel more, but at this point, he wasn’t bothered. She was driving him wild and he wasn’t about to allow there to be a lapse in the moment.
Applejack was reeling from Butter’s subtle reveal, constantly being further shocked as Butter slid his way up her palm. It was clear what he was trying to do, but Applejack was just taken aback by what she could feel. There must have been twelve inches there at the very least, and just surface area was something all by itself. On the one hand, there was enough here to do something with at her size, but on the other she began to wonder if Butter’s caring nature extended this far into things. He obviously wanted to introduce her to his not-so-little friend, but was it just to get some kind of ego boost from it all? He’d even unbuttoned his trousers, moving faster than she was, and he knew it. Applejack was going to need to move to catch up, but what could she do? With only one free hand it was kind of difficult to strip sexually, especially whilst keeping watch on Butter to make sure she didn’t lose him. It seemed she was simply going to have to leave it up to Butter to take charge and get the ball rolling further. She blushed and gave Butter a little tap against the head of his dick, watching him writhe and shudder under her grip. She felt warmth spreading out from under her fingertip, so she raised it to inspect it.
Butter grimaced sheepishly as she did so, revealing the streak of moisture swelling out from the head of his dick. Of course, he knew it to be simple pre, released as Applejack’s teasing brought him to a new level of arousal. He wasn’t sure how she might react, since this was the first time for both of them to actually enjoy the act. Butter leapt up to his feet before Applejack had time to form any lasting opinions and began to slide his trousers off. In his mind, the sooner he removed the article of clothing in question, the sooner Applejack would no longer be able to form an opinion about it. The visible pink flesh revealing itself to her was distracting enough, watching that thickness swell out. Butter felt like he was some kind of adult performer, like he should be getting paid for the privilege. Though it was worth feeling so silly to see Applejack’s expression. With every inch of his shaft that he revealed to her, her mouth fell open wider, and so did her eyes. It inspired him with confidence and made him feel a little bolder about the actions he was taking.
Applejack hovered her finger close by, ready to touch Butter’s shaft the moment it was fully revealed. She felt so much trepidation about it, given that it was already leaking pre-cum, there seemed to be a distinct possibility that it would go off the moment flesh touched flesh. It wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing; it could possibly be humorous, knowing how sensitive Butter was and how her size played into it. Up to six inches of his humongous shaft had been revealed by now and he was slowly revealing more. Her finger trembled, eager to touch what was already on show. The thickness begged for her touch, so much so that had Applejack been the same size as Butter, then there was no way she would be able to get both of her hands around it. The thought was so enticing, to feel his throbbing length in her fingers, straining her grip as she tried to touch her fingers together. Butter was fairly quiet on the situation so far, but she didn’t mind. She was solely fixated on his shaft and its unbelievable length, her mind even began to wonder about what kind of balls he was sporting. For a length like his, they had to be of a decent size, heavy and strong enough to force his seed up his member with gust. Finally, eleven inches in and Butter paused, he raised a finger to her, gesturing to her to come closer.
Applejack obliged, bringing her snout as close to him as possible. She watched as Butter blushed deeper than she had ever thought possible, letting his trousers fall down the rest of the way. For following Butter’s gestures, Applejack was rewarded with a sudden smack to the underside of her mouth as Butter’s dick sprang forth from its fabric prison. It softly pressed up to tap against her nose, allowing her to breathe in a whiff of Butter’s pheromones. She wrinkled her nose at first, as the bitter scent, mixed with an alluring sweet aroma filled her nostrils. Such an odd mix of flavours, but to her it was nothing other than attractive. She allowed herself to groan as Butter’s shaft collided with her skin, vibrating her muzzle against him. Butter groaned in turn and once again, Applejack felt that familiar warmth drooling from his tip. So far he hadn’t exploded, but she had an idea in mind to get him to do so; a little payback for his cheeky move a moment ago. She slid her snout up and back, dragging it along Butter’s shaft as she did so, causing him to shiver and shake as she passed. As she moved her jaw out the way, she giggled as she watched him stroke his length, clearly aroused to an unbearable level by now. With a little prod, she got his attention and made him stop what he was doing, his turgid shaft bobbing furiously in response. This far back, she could indeed see the impressive pair of balls fueling his arousal as well, the sight just as memorable as his length.
She smacked her lips and leant down to Butter, pressing them up against his length. Butter sighed in delight as the warm, encompassing maw of Applejack’s passed over his tool. He couldn’t even think of the words to describe how good it felt as his mind was practically mush. He could feel the saliva on the other side of her lips drooling over his tip, every so often mixing his own juices into it. Applejack seemed to be pleased with the taste as there were multiple times when she groaned in surprised delight. Butter felt like his legs could give out at any moment, his body felt so light. He grabbed ahold of Applejack’s mouth and retorted to her actions by thrusting as best he could into her. Applejack smiled at his movements as she felt his tiny hips slamming against her lips. He wasn’t exactly going to choke her anytime soon, but she playfully tried to make her throat sound like she was struggling to contain him. Appealing to his ego at the very least; it did seem to have him thrusting harder into her mouth. She moved her tongue to her lips and pressed it up against them from the inside, providing a soft wall for Butter to thrust against. When he did touch it, she flicked her tongue up and down, which caused him to cry out and pause for a moment. A jet of his pre-seed splattered messily onto her tongue, sending a wild, spicy flavour into the mix.
Applejack sneakily snuck her hand behind Butter and cupped it around him, pushing him up against her lips. She then tilted her head upwards, like she was about to try and swallow him. She even parted her lips a little give the illusion of such a thing. Butter panicked internally, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop his thrusts. He was building to a conclusion now and whether or not Applejack was ready for it, it was going to be a spectacle. He gritted his teeth as he continued to climb that ladder to what could be one of the best orgasms of his youthful life. His body began to tense, with his speed increasing rapidly thanks to the aid of gravity. Applejack sucked in her cheeks to increase the pressure upon Butter, to make her mouth feel less spacious and tighter around him. The response was almost instantaneous; Butter moaned loudly and paused again, whilst Applejack flicked her tongue against his member. Butter could hardly take anymore treatment of that kind, he was leaking that spicy pre frequently, and his baseball sized balls were already pulling close to his body.
He grunted and groaned as Applejack held him close to her mouth. He tried to pull back and tried to get out of her mouth before she was exposed to a taste of his seed proper. She continued to hold him there as he fell over the edge into the orgasmic bliss. His balls tensed up painfully tight and he squealed in delight, seed exploding up his shaft and into Applejack’s mouth. She smirked at his squeal, but it quickly faded once she got the first blast off his seed. Her fingers fell away from his back as he blasted her with wave after wave of viscous seed, writhing and squirming into her mouth. Applejack ‘mmm’d and sighed as she tasted him, relishing the oddly bitter sweetness of it all. For such a small creature, Butter could certainly pack a load, that was for certain. Exhaustion quickly set in as Butter fell backwards after another couple of spurts, falling off Applejack’s face and into her waiting palms. A couple more shots splattered against her snout, one of which fired high to hit her square between the eyes. The rest simply drooled over him as he crashed into her palms. Hey lay there, throbbing away as he felt the rest of his seed pooling onto his stomach, staring up at Applejack.
Clearly they had both had an exciting time; Butter was a little more obvious, but Applejack couldnot hide the rush she had felt. If it weren’t for the thin film of sweat that covered her body, it would have appeared that Butter hadn’t even had an effect upon her. She was panting a little, but that was more from the constant moving about than it was from actual arousal. That said, it was clear she wasn’t about to let him stop there. Her finger was already stroking at him again, sending him into convulsions due to the increased sensitivity of his post orgasm shaft. Sadly, Butter wasn’t playing ball, or rather, his dick wasn’t. It remained soft and impressively long, not wanting to get hard again so soon. Applejack’s face fell, which Butter noticed right away. He wasn’t about to deny his lover a little extra fun and he wasn’t quite ready to end their session yet either. He rose to his feet, shafting swinging between his legs, and carefully slid off of her palms and onto the bed. Making his way down her body, while Applejack was curious as to what he had planned and sought to be a little more inspiring for him.
As he worked his way past her stomach, Applejack pulled her shirt above her head. This being one of the days that she had opted to go without her specially made bra, meant that her large breasts flopped into view. Butter heard them slap against her bare skin and turned to look at them. The sight of those massive globes and the wide, pink nipples that adorned them was enough to get the blood pumping again. He wasn’t about to experience a sudden difficulty in walking, but he was coming up on the target that was sure to get him hard again no problem. Whilst Applejack played with her breasts and added her own sexual noises to the situation to get Butter aroused once more, the small male himself settled down at her feet. If it was possible for various body parts to be considered ‘holy grails’, then that was what her feet were to Butter. Just being in their awesome presence was enough to get Butter stiffer than a board. It was troublesome when he was out and about, but he didn’t care; her feet were glorious and the more he could enjoy them the better.
He clambered atop her ankle and splayed against the top of her enormous foot, kissing and rubbing his face over it. The light coating of sweat didn’t bother him one bit, the scent of it only making things that little bit more erotic for him. That bitter, leathery scent clawed at his senses like a wild animal, twisting and contorting its way into the deepest recesses of his brain. It was like a drug for him, forcing him to lap at her feet. Applejack chuckled as Butter’s ticklish tongue ravaged her foot, getting flashbacks to one of their earliest sessions with his fetish. The way Butter worked her foot was with care and lust all at the same time. With one hand he carefully caressed and massaged her damp foot, whilst his tongue dug and lapped at her furiously. It was like being worked over by two different creatures, both of which just happened to be stuck in the same body. Butter’s shaft scraped across her foot as he lightly thrust against her, his full hardness returning in seconds. Applejack was pleased to see she could have this kind of effect on him, as most males would likely need a couple of hours or so to get back into the mood. As his arousal and care began to rise, Butter crawled up Applejack’s foot to her toes.
This was where he could make himself most useful, at least as far as utilising his body went. Licking and rubbing were fine, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t really give much in the way of feeling, especially given the size difference. Prodding her to lower her foot some, Butter flopped over her toes and positioned his shaft between the middle and right hand toes. He shuddered as he felt her squeeze it tightly, curling the other toes in anticipation. Butter inhaled deeply, drinking in that blended scent as he began to hump once more. Though he stopped almost as quick as he started once he realised that he was staring at the wall, instead of staring at something much more attractive. To remedy the situation, he waved up to Applejack to get her attention once more. She peered down, hands halting over her fondling, as he turned himself around and slid himself over and down between the toes he had just been humping. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable of states to be in, as Butter needed all the upper body strength he could muster, but not for long. Applejack, having caught on to his plan, moved her other foot to rest under where she could feel his own dangling. Carefully propping him up, legs bent at an odd but not uncomfortable angle. The top three inches of his shaft poked out from between her toes as he made sure he was in the best possible position. His arms rested on a toe each, which Applejack wiggled for him to make sure he wasn’t about to fall at the slightest movement. Once he was settled in again, he began swinging his lower body back and forth, essentially humping her. Applejack giggled at all the effort he was putting into his affection, before resuming with her own.
As if the sight, smell and closeness of her feet weren’t enough, Butter could now see Applejack’s topless fondling. Despite seeing her breasts before, Butter felt that this time was the most special, considering how Applejack was actually making an effort to show them off. At least that was how it looked to him; it was in reality a much different case for Applejack. She had no idea what she was doing, or how to make it seem appealing to him. He wasn’t giving her any real signs as to whether her efforts were a hit or a miss, so she was simply working with what felt right. She squeezed her breasts in her hands, flesh spilling out from the gaps between her fingers. Whilst she’d sometimes cursed her oversized chest, they did seem to be a point of attraction to Butter. Whilst she squeezed one, she tensed and teased the nipple of her other breast. She gasped at the sudden introduction of the pained pleasure, not something she thought she would enjoy. Butter seemed to be a fan of how much she liked it as well. He paused his humping just to watch her fondle herself. When Applejack could stop scrunching her eyes from the sensations, she got a glimpse of Butter in his paused state. A sparkling bead of pre-cum drooling down his shaft, wedging itself between itself and her toes. She scrunched them to spread it up his shaft and across her toe, relishing that warmth.
She squeezed his shaft tightly, eliciting a gasp from Butter as he scrambled to try and spread her toes. She wasn’t ready to do that just yet though; she wanted him to build up a little pressure before he came this time. Plus, she was putting on a show here and she didn’t feel like it was getting the required attention. With Butter now focused on her chest, whilst his fingers still foolishly tried to get her toes to part and give him some relief. Applejack resumed her fondling, pressing her breasts close to her chest and massaging them with the flat of her hands. She moaned and groaned as she caught her nipples in the grooves between her fingers, nudging at the nubs repeatedly. It was quite the sight to behold, watching all that flesh seeming to pool up into a much smaller size. It was even more of a sight to see them grow back to their original state the moment that she let them go. Butter couldn’t love it any more if he tried. The act of watching her chest expand and plump up followed a process that was already dear to him. Seeing it on Applejack was just the icing on the cake. He imagined himself stuck between her breasts as they filled out, feeling the warm, taut, flesh swallowing him up. Filling his senses with Applejack’s own unique smell and flavour, leaving it to dance across his brain. He even felt a sharp sensation through his dick as, thanks to the pressure from Applejack’s toes, he experienced a rather quick, dry, orgasm. Nowhere near as strong as what he would have if she wasn’t squeezing him so tightly, but enough to have him flail his limbs. He thrashed at her toes, trying to get himself any kind of relief, until the pain subsided.
Applejack took this as a sign that he was really enjoying her actions and proceeded to try something that seemed a little more risqué. She hefted one of her large breasts up to her mouth and extended her tongue to it. She lapped at it, tasting herself for the first time, and like Butter, she found it to be a rather interesting flavour. Also like Butter she noticed the distinct presence of apples and began wondering if there was more to her name than she thought, or if her diet was to blame. She moved her tongue over to the nipple and began to put her fantastic tongue into overtime. Utilising the same technique that she had used whilst giving Butter his oral session, she sent a chill running up her spine. Now she could see why Butter had come as fast as he had; she was really good at this. Her tongue flitted back and forth, all the while her eyes were watching Butter. He was thrashing around like a cow that had been spooked, a look of pained pleasure plastered all over his face. As Applejack began to suckle her nipple like a needy baby, she thought about releasing her grip on Butter. Frustration wasn’t good for either of them and in this instance especially, it could prove ruinous. She pulled her head back, gasping loudly to make it look like she was relaxing. She let her breast slap back down against her and widened her toes.
Butter grunted and cried out as soon as even a nanometre of space was made. He experienced yet another orgasm, this one a proper one, which resulted in him showering her foot with his seed. The pressure that Applejack had applied had backed him up quite considerably. The dry orgasm she had forced out of him had resulted in his loads doubling up, which meant more than enough mess to shoot. He dug his fingers into her toes as he tried to keep his wits about him, knowing that he was still hanging from her toes almost on his own as her supporting foot jerked out of place in surprise. His seed splattered against the top of her foot and the toes, but Applejack didn’t mind. She was just happy to see him enjoying himself and if volume was anything to go by, Butter was having the time of his life. Once he was done, Butter weakly flopped over and down against her foot, into a puddle of his own mess. His cock refused to deflate though, his environment seeing to it that the night wasn’t going to end just yet. There was still yet one place that Butter wanted to get comfy with, but it was perhaps one of the most daunting yet, considering Applejack hadn’t taken her trousers off just yet. Perhaps if he gave her some signs, then she might indulge him. He’d take care of that once he could feel the rest of his body again.
Applejack was surprised to see that Butter’s shaft hadn’t returned to its softened state by now, but in a way she was somewhat grateful. All this time she had been about trying to get Butter off and to have him enjoy himself, even if it all seemed a little awkward. Yet there was one thing she hadn’t banked upon, that being how turned on this had gotten her. During Butter’s second proper orgasm, she had felt an itch stirring in her nethers. She had simply wanted to reach down and scratch it herself, but at the same time she didn’t want to appear like that before Butter. She was happier to remain as this subtle, dominant kind of person, who simply allowed Butter to work at his own pace. She would only intrude when she felt it absolutely necessary, or it looked like Butter was struggling to keep pace a little. In this instance, she was going to give Butter the option and if he decided that he wanted to follow it up, then that would be all on him. At the moment, it looked like he was ready to call it quits, despite his rather sizeable erection for the third time today. Still it was worth a shot.
She pressed her foot down around him to stop him from escaping her whilst she got undressed. Pulling him through the legs of her jeans, holding him tight to her rear as she cast the jeans aside. Lucky for Butter, she had chosen to forgo all underwear today it seemed. There was no trace of her panties, leaving her nethers completely unprotected against any move Butter could pull. This was exactly what she wanted Butter to do in this case. She pulled her foot inwards and dropped him between her legs. She then stretched out her legs, leaving him trapped between her muscular thighs, with the grand prize on show before him. Applejack wasn’t sure how he would react to her placing him before her nethers without even the slightest hint of what she wanted him to do. She didn’t want to have to get involved in his efforts, but if he really wasn’t getting it, then it was a case of desperate times and their appropriate measures.
Butter was quite content as it happened; Applejack had given him exactly what he wanted and he was more than happy to utilise it. Sure exhaustion was beginning to set in and his entire body ached from the fun they’d been experiencing, but he wasn’t about to leave Applejack unsatisfied. He stood, admiring Applejack’s lower reaches and the heat that they gave out. It was like standing in front of a sauna, the air washing over him with a sense of dampness. There was that delightful, honeyed scent wafting towards him as Applejack relaxed her body in preparation for Butter’s intrusion. It was driving him wild, gnawing at his senses like a rabid dog. His cock alone was throbbing with his increased heartbeat and without a word from either, he dove forwards. Applejack gasped at the sudden introduction, whilst Butter groaned lowly as he rubbed himself up against her nethers. To be so dwarfed by something that was usually so small, made him feel fantastic. Everything was increased by a factor of ten: the scents, the sights, the arousal, it was all so great.
Even though his dick didn’t size up in any shape or form, it still brought him immense pleasure to hear Applejack moan as he thrust into her. Had she not been moaning, then the rhythmic pulsing of her flesh would have been more than enough to please him. He made an effort to rub every inch of his shaft up against Applejack’s sensitive flesh. He was certainly trying not to be put off by the cavernous space before him and how his usually enormous member was now simply a drop in the ocean. If he wanted to give her the feeling of fullness that he was likely to give someone of a much smaller stature, he would have to use his entire body. This wasn’t exactly an appealing thought, at least, not without some sort of safety and quick escape to the outside. He’d felt how the inner walls gripped and pulled at his shaft, and if that was how it acted on his dick, then it was worrying to think how it’d act on him.
That didn’t stop him from trying to beef up each action his shaft made by grabbing at whatever he could with his arms. So far in the experience, he hadn’t really managed to make any waves and it was getting to him. No matter how hard he seemed to work, or how hard he squeezed and pulled at her flesh, he didn't seem to get the right reactions. That was until he came across the ‘magic button’, or as most others seemed to know it as, the clitoris. For most, it was the pleasure centre for this kind of thing. Stimulating it just a little could send a female into spasms and when Butter’s hand brushed against it by accident, it was certainly what he got. Applejack’s entire body wriggled and rippled as she squealed like a hog, well, at least a more attractive sounding hog. Butter chuckled to himself as he listened to her and began to search for that magic button once more. He found it nestled in a patch of flesh directly in front him and he planted his muzzle onto it, kissing and licking it fondly.
With each thrust, he gently nibbled on her clit, causing Applejack to bounce up and down on the bed. Butter was struggling to keep his pace as each time he was bounced with her, he ended up tugging on her some more, which caused it to happen all over again. Flood of her juices splashed over Butter, leaving him smelling even more like bitter apples. He had to blink it out of his eyes every now and again, occasionally gulping it down and losing his breath. The spiciness of her fluids biting at his throat and taking his breath away, sending him into a coughing fit. While it didn’t last long, it happened frequently enough that Butter needed a brief break every now and then. Applejack was none the wiser as she was just dealing with wave after wave of erotic explosions. Like Butter had twice, she was experiencing the feeling that things were about to come to a close. There was a spring pushing down inside her stomach and she was powerless to stop it. Each time Butter groped her, she felt it growing tighter and tighter, so very close to unwinding inside. Butter gave a final thrust and tug and that spring in her stomach practically snapped apart.
Applejack squealed again, though she didn’t bounce this time, instead she tensed up completely. Butter felt her inner walls clamp around his shaft, causing him to explode for the third time this evening. His spurts were still as plentiful as they had been earlier in the night, but they paled in comparison to what came next. Whilst Butter was clamped there thanks to Applejack’s nethers, she unleashed what could only be described as a torrent of fluids over him. It was like being forced to stand under a waterfall, though one with a thick, spicy air to it. It was so powerful that he was forced backwards and sent tumbling onto his back whilst it rained down upon him. After a few seconds of release, Applejack began to quiver and shake, sending the remaining fluids out in a wide berth. Butter was surprised, but not completely so. It made sense that Applejack was as pent up as he was and he was just glad that he’d finally gotten her to release herself from some of that stress.
The pair were on the verge of passing out after all that. Butter lay there in a patch of Applejack’s fluids, whilst the giantess herself lay back on the bed, gasping heavily. There was still a little fight left in Butter though; he had spent so long waiting for this moment and now that he had it, he wasn’t going to waste it. He crawled his way over to her foot and scaled his way up her ankle and up to her toes. In order to get things moving this time, he was going to need a little more help than before. He attacked her toes with much more gusto than previously, which included a lot of licking and nibbling. Biting might have been the wider used word to describe Butter’s actions though. He bit all the way up and down her toes, leading to the space in between her toes. He experienced no real problems in terms of resistance from Applejack, until he reached the flesh surrounding her middle toe. He bit down hard on it and an ear piercing screech was his reward.
Applejack’s foot swung upwards, causing Butter to be forcibly ejected from her toes. Her eyes went wide as she watched Butter sail up into the air, heading straight for the ceiling. She wasn’t going to be able to catch him as he rose higher and higher, especially not when it was considered how tired she had become. Instead, she decided to grab him on the way down, in a way that would take the least amount of energy possible. It was a little daring to be sure, but Butter was bound to prefer it to being caught in her solid palm. She sat up and folded her arms under her ample bosom. She made minor adjustments to her position as she stared up at Butter, trying to figure out just where she needed to be to catch him. Forced to stay in a final position due to Butter’s rapid descent, she made her chest as pillow-like as possible and then waited. Butter zipped past her eye line and before she could look for him, she felt a small indentation on her left breast, followed by something sliding down into her cleavage. With that, she flopped back onto the bed and sighed.
Butter, stunned from the sudden flight and landing, squirming inside of her cleavage helplessly. “Applejack?” When there was no response, he tried to right himself but instead slipped deeper due to all the lubrication coating his form. As wonderful as it was to be enveloped like this by her breasts, he knew he could not escape without her assistance. “Applejack? Hello?”
The response came in the form of a long, chest rattling snore as the exhaustion finally took hold of Applejack and sent her off to sleep. Butter was feeling the same, but the walls of flesh bearing down on him were keeping him awake for the moment. He had no doubt that he was going to pass out whether they were there or not, but he was happy to enjoy it while it lasts. He writhed and ground himself against the breast flesh, not really feeling any arousal from it, but enjoying it all the same. With a few minutes of casual humping, Butter finally succumbed to his exhaustion and after a job well done, passed out. The pair of them slept together in the warm embrace of the other, satisfied from the night of eroticism the pair had experienced. When morning came for them whenever it did, the duo would once again explore each other with a passion unlike even the night before. It was not so much a step forward in their relationship, they realized, but a new direction to enhance it by. Something that only they would share and have, no matter the world outside and all its troubles.
Life in Applejack and Butter’s homestead was proving to be rather blissful for the pair, despite outside interference from Pinkie. They woke up together in the mornings, enjoyed breakfast together, showered or bathed together, and then spent the day however they wanted to. Sometimes, with their newly discovered enjoyments of the bedroom, they would explore the household and other private locations in that same vein. Sometimes they would take a lazy day and spend the day curled up on the sofa together, Butter usually offering to massage her in some way to pass the time. This method of spending their time was one of the more frequent behaviours that the pair engaged in, spurred on from that one night they had spent together back when Applejack had been a measly nineteen feet. These days, when Applejack required a massage, it came in the form of a neck or back massage, rather than something like her feet.
The first reason was the increased worry Applejack held for Butter’s safety. As the size difference reached over five times Butter’s height, simply walking and sitting with one another was becoming a worry if not aware. As such she had advised he begin skirting around the edges of the room more instead of through the main thoroughfare she used, as well as to sit more on arm rests and tables than the chairs in any room. Knowing also how much he loved tending to her feet at any given opportunity, she had revoked her approval of his massages, doling them out only once she was certain she knew where he was. The second cause was that, over the past few weeks she had begun to complain more of aches in her neck and back. She bent over often now while tending the fields, and having to crane her neck down and over her chest to view most ponies caused it to lock up whenever she went to sleep.
So Butter had planned a little surprise for her and he put it into action late one day, when Applejack was somewhat more relaxed. He had crawled up the back of the sofa, and had positioned himself behind her head, ready to strike at the right moment. His cue came in the form of a long stretch, coupled with the pained grunt and a rush to press her hand against her shoulder, the source of the pain. When she removed her hand again, after trying to soothe the ache herself, Butter leapt in and took over. Applejack yelped as she felt Butter’s body land near her shoulder, but upon hearing a soft whisper in her ear, she quickly realised that he was responsible. She had intended to ask him just what he thought he was doing by surprising her like that, but she soon found out. Using his body to the best of his ability, Butter used his weight to try and quell the aching pain in her shoulder. At first it just seemed like he was going out of his way to make Applejack feel some sort of discomfort, but gradually she began to feel a soothing warmth spreading across her upper body. By the time his impromptu massage treatment was over, Applejack’s aches were completely gone. Shortly after that, Applejack had revoked the lack of massaging to the point where upper body massages were on the cards, but things like foot massages and other kinds were still off the cards without asking first.
It seemed more likely every day however that Applejack would keep Butter on a leash, at least for her feet or legs, or anything lower than her chest for massages. As she had now grown to thirty feet tall, the house had reacted around her. The magical charm upon its rooms caused them to grow and shrink in accordance with who was in closest proximity to the room. There was a minimum base height that the rooms could go down to and unfortunately for Butter, it was still four feet taller than he was. So even if he wanted to, he couldn’t just waltz into the kitchen and make himself something nice to eat as the stove was too big. On the chance that both Applejack and Butter were placed within the same room at the same time, then the charm made a compromise. It made the room grow to a size where Applejack was essentially head height with the ceiling when she was stood up. The furniture and essentials in the room would all grow to reflect that and for the most part, she didn’t need mind. Even when it came to messing with the smaller things such as the old fashioned needle and thread. She could simply bring Butter in and have him help her out.
So as far as home life went, Applejack and Butter had it quite well. They had their own little world that catered to whatever their tastes but there was one thing that was about to rear its ugly head to the pair. On the day in question, Applejack and Butter were in the kitchen, the latter standing on the table, towelling himself off from the morning shower with AJ. The pair hadn’t really bothered to get dressed, Applejack herself opting to drip dry on the way downstairs, carrying Butter in tow. The order of the day was a delightful breakfast, comprising of wheat pancakes. Stacks and stacks of the things, with a variety of juices and fruits to put on them. Well, at least for Applejack; Butter was much more inclined to have a single pancake cooked by his wife, as the sheer size of them was enough to feed a family of six. He didn’t even have much to add to it, only a drop or two of syrup and butter on the closest corner. If the day proved to be a lazy one as expected he might even heat it up and enjoy a lunch and dinner of the same variety.
Butter sat back on the table, watching the naked chef get to work, admiring those swaying hips and that voluptuous rear end. The flipping of her pancakes had her rear jiggling in a most pleasant way, the mass of fat bouncing up and down in sequences with the soft ‘spat’ of the pancake as it hit the pan. Her tail occasionally flicking up and to the side as she did a more tricky maneuver. Butter sighed as he leaned back; he could watch a sight like that for days. There was no angle that he could look at her and not be impressed by what he would see. A top down angle gave him the view of those curves and how they bulged outwards from the main body, her butt, breasts and hips making his mouth water at just the thought alone. A low angle would give him a delightful ‘up skirt’ view, well, if Applejack decided to wear such a thing that is. If he got close enough to ground, then he could even use that angle to get a glimpse of those thick, meaty toes and top of her feet. Given his lack of time around them during the day, it was this thought that made him feel aroused, something he felt not needed at the breakfast table. As Applejack began to plate up the first round of pancakes, Butter filled his mind with thoughts that would calm him down. The results were slow at first, but by the time Applejack turned and brought the food to the table, he was safe.
Dropping the plate down in front of Butter, she took one from the top of the stack and placed it onto the mat, upon which Butter had chosen to seat himself. The rest of the pancakes went to Applejack and she wasted no time at all in wolfing them down. Butter casually nibbled at his, not wanting to overstuff himself too quickly. Besides, it was much more entertaining to watch Applejack eat. When it came to mealtimes, it was like she was possessed by a wild animal, an animal that hadn’t been given any kind of food in months. She picked up two full pancakes, shoving them into her mouth and tore through them with her powerful jaws. She immediately paid the price however as she tried to masticate her way through it all. The thickness of her mouthful fought back, blocking most of her movements, refusing to be easily destroyed. The dry nature of the two slabs also dried out her mouth, leaving her to glower at the plate as she had no room to consume milk or water to relieve the issue. Butter chuckled to himself; he didn’t even need to comment on this little hiccup, and risk provoking some form of response. After all, butter was known to be a fine condiment to pancakes.
Then she tried to swallow, the noise produced like a young bird being fed. Butter wasn’t ashamed to admit that he somewhat liked this part. The sight of her cheeks and throat bulging, food trailing down into her stomach. The squelch of saliva and mashed food, ending its journey with a soft groaning and gurgle of her stomach. Her stubborn feasting refusing to give way to the obscene amount, putting her size to work. Gradually, the food swelling her cheeks decreased, leaving her looking more like herself and less like a chipmunk. By this point, Butter felt those feelings from earlier resurfacing within him, giving other parts of his body a rise. There was something about the power that she exerted, coupled with her size in comparison to him that was just so impressive. Even her most tame and gentle actions filled him with a sense of awe and in cases like this, even unsure arousal. Thankfully, Applejack finished her mouthful before the feelings overwhelmed him and he was left feeling embarrassed.
That wasn’t it for Applejack though; she ploughed through the rest of the pancakes with the same vigour as the first set, pausing only to quench her throat once between bites. The rest of the pancakes were no match for Applejack’s apparent appetite. Without a word, she rose from the chair and crossed to the fridge, taking out just about everything that could be eaten without cooking. This, surprisingly, was pretty much the entire contents of the fridge. Things like cheese, milk, bread, salads, sandwiches and just about any other savoury foods. She brought them to the table and laid them out close to her seat, swallowing Butter up in a sea of bowls and plastic bags. She set about unwrapping everything first, discarding the wrappings and eyeing up the meal before her. There was more than enough here to feed a small family, perhaps even a dinner party of twelve people. Butter certainly wouldn’t want to be the one tasked with eating it all that was for sure. Applejack’s stomach groaned and rumbled hungrily as she began stuffing her face with the contents of the fridge. For Butter, that sense of wonderment returned quickly and he promptly crossed his legs to avoid it becoming obvious. Though it was unlikely that Applejack was focusing on him over the food.
She resumed making noises like a hungry animal, ravaging things like the leafy salad or the sandwiches with a repetitive ‘nomf’ and ‘rrraw’ followed by the occasional ‘gulp’ and ‘splrch’. Each sound had Butter shivering a little more each time, it was just so incredible. Something so mundane, that everyone and everything in the world did in their own unique ways. He tried to think of something else, something less impressive, but his mind did begin to wander again. This time, about other things that would conjure up this feeling. Things like listening to her thunderous footsteps as she walked around the homestead going from A to B. The heavy slap of her bare sole against the wooden flooring around the home. The scraping sound that her hips made when she caught them against the side of the door, followed by the little yip of surprise when she finally pulled herself free. Butter bit his lip as his daydreams continued, resting himself against the salad bowl, the coolness helping to keep him calm and proper. Meanwhile, Applejack continued to power through her ridiculously large breakfast.
After eating everything left in the homestead, Applejack sat back in her chair, her somewhat distended stomach pressing up against the rim of the table. She gave a hearty belch at the conclusion of her meal, leaving Butter looking on in awe. His jaw was wide open, dropping a little further as Applejack gave the most unladylike belch that one could ever. Louder than an air horn and longer than it had any right to be, but what made his jaw practically fall off was Applejack’s comments afterwards. She patted her stomach, only for it to growl in response, signalling that she was still hungry. Applejack’s words reflected it, confirming that the sounds were indeed the sounds of hunger. Butter’s eyes darted up from her stomach to her mouth and face, then back down to her stomach and back up again. He couldn’t believe it. He knew she was big, but this was ridiculous. She’d never been so hungry before, but in just the space of one day, it seemed like her appetite had magnified one hundred times over. Butter was going to have to do a shop for new foodstuffs, enough to refill the fridge back to the quantity that it had been previously. This meant he was going to have to get at least three weeks’ worth of food in the space of one trip. He could already hear his poor wallet crying out in agony as his hard earned bits were forcibly removed from it.
Applejack however wasn’t bothered about that; she was more concerned about whether or not she was going to get more food. She rose from the chair at the table and made for the front door. Though, realising that nudity wouldn’t go down well with the residents in Ponyville, she made a detour upstairs to gather some clothes. Then she returned to the hallway and bid Butter a fond farewell and stepped outside into the fresh morning air. She towered over the trees in the orchard, stepping through the gaps between them, shaking down unripe apples and leaves down onto the grass. Had they been a little more in season, Applejack probably would have just grabbed them and stuffed them into her face for sustenance. Still, Ponyville had plenty of options open to her in terms of food. The one she was thinking of visiting was the newest restaurant to come to the town, a place called Hayburger. Part of a bigger chain and franchise, it had finally arrived in Ponyville. She hadn’t spent much time in town as of late, but she knew today was the day it was going to open.
What she didn’t know was that the restaurant was having an ‘all you can eat’ burger buffet for the grand opening. They hadn’t banked on hungry Applejack making her way into town and coming their way. In fairness to her, it hadn’t exactly been on her agenda once she had woken up that morning. Still, the paths of both were about to cross in a most spectacular fashion. Applejack thumped her way into town, sending people fleeing to the furthest corners of the road in her hurry. She stood outside the restaurant, not able to get inside, but that was no problem. Once the waiters were done cowering inside, one unlucky member of the staff was forced outside to greet her and potentially take her order. Seeing the numerous signs and posters, Applejack bellowed down to him that she was here for the buffet and his worst fears were realised. Applejack smirked as he retreated inside to relay the information to the chefs and the other waiters. She took her seat right where she sat and waited for her food to come to her.
She licked her lips in anticipation, and before long, a large silver platter made its way out of the door and over to her. Clearly, the waiters were expecting that Applejack would take the meal like a lady and simply put one after the other into her mouth and to be fair, they were somewhat right. She took her time to unwrap each and every burger, putting them back down on the tray once she was done. One lone waiter remained with the tray, just in case she wanted to request something else. Once the final burger had been unwrapped and placed back on the tray, Applejack picked the tray up in one hand. Being careful not to lose a single burger on the journey upwards, she held them steady before her waiting mouth. A final lick of the lips before she opened her mouth wide, strands of saliva hung from her greedy maw as she tipped the burgers into it. One by one they tumbled into her mouth, bouncing across her tongue and sliding down her throat unobstructed. Sometimes even passing down her throat two at a time, occasionally one or two more. She gulped them down until the tray was empty, letting it clatter into her lap, swallowed up in a mass of stomach and thigh fat and muscle.
She uttered a single ‘more’ and the waiter left immediately to collect the next lot. Applejack resumed waiting, thinking to herself more about how full she was going to be feeling after this was all over. She might not even need to need to eat for the next couple of days if the bulge of her stomach was anything to go by. She half expected to receive a comment from those that were brave enough to approach her about how she should be congratulated on her sudden pregnancy. Applejack snorted at the thought; how was she supposed to have a child at this size? Anyone who could even entertain such a notion clearly needed their head examined. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the arrival of trays two and three, piled high with even more burgers. Once again, she adopted the same method as before, peeling and disposing of the wrappers, tossing them over her shoulder and placing the burgers back down. The waiter nervously watched her, glancing back and forth between the kitchen and Applejack’s stomach. He hoped that one would give out before the other, and in an ideal situation it would be Applejack’s stomach before the kitchen. He watched as Applejack picked up both trays, one in the flat of each hand and resumed tipping them into her waiting mouth.
Like the first lot, the second and third groups disappeared in mere seconds, with Applejack’s stomach rumbling pleasantly. She stared down at the waiter as she dropped the two trays into her lap and he was quick to work out what she wanted. It didn’t even take a genius to figure it out. She wanted more burgers, and what would ultimately prove to be the last burgers in the entire kitchen. Applejack was really putting this burger joint through its paces; in a way they should be somewhat grateful for her consumership. At least now they knew not to put on such an event again in the future, at least not around Applejack, or Ponyville for that matter. This could be considered a public service announcement for Hayburger and any other places that were planning on implementing a similar promotion. The fourth tray was out in a longer time than the other three, most likely due to some sort of infighting between the chefs and the waiters and possibly the manager, over whether or not they should even be serving this giantess. Common sense clearly won in the end though, as the tray made its way out to her, much to Applejack’s delight.
Meanwhile, Butter had made good on his decision to go out and get the shopping to refill the fridge after Applejack’s binge. His arms and fingers were carrying bags and bags of various foodstuffs, all of which was going to be rationed to avoid such an expensive spend. He had left the homestead with a wallet that was practically pulling his trousers down with the weight of the bits inside, and now it felt like it was so light that it could simply blow away on a breeze. He strolled through town, visibly struggling to carry it all, but he soldiered on. At one point when he was trying to adjust the bags on his arms, he wandered straight into a mountain of burger wrappers, piled neatly in front of him. He clattered into it, thrashing his arms and his shopping around, likely losing a little bit in the process, before he crashed into his wife’s titanic rump. It wasn’t hard to guess what he crashed into; the thick fabric and familiar give was know to Butter even when blinded by a ketchup-stained piece of paper. Freeing himself from it, he sidled his way around to the front to find a few things.
The first thing was that all the staff at the supposedly, newly opened, Hayburger establishment. He had been looking forward to coming here with Applejack to sample some of their wares. While not the healthiest or even best cooked burgers, Butter had several fond memories of the establishment. Namely in the midst of cooking school in Manehattan, with many a long night spent in the lobby of one eating and studying. Looking past the staff, he saw a sign being nailed to the door. He crossed to the back of the crowd of staff and looked at the sign, reading everything placed upon it. It read:
Dear Residents of Ponyville,
The staff of Hayburger regrets to inform you that we will be closing up shop and ceasing trade in this area. This is due to a lack of stock and the vast costs and detriment to our total profits should we restock. Unfortunately, our grand opening all you can eat burger buffet did not take into account the giantess that has taken up residence here. We are sorry to leave after such a brief opening stint, and we ask you to address any and all complaints to your local giantess.
Thank you,
The Management.
Once the sign was placed on the door, the staff departed for their new horizons, whatever they may be. Slowly, Butter turned to look at the person behind all the misery for this innocent restaurant, that being Applejack. She simply sat back, resting her palms flat on the floor and shrugged her shoulders. Butter frowned and rested his hands on his hips. Applejack simply shrugged again and smirked, finally feeling that contention that she had been hoping for. Her stomach finally felt full, which in its own right was an achievement given her immense size. Instead of grumbling, her stomach purred, giving a satisfied gurgle as it began to get to work on the masses of food within.
“Y’know, if you’d come with me, you could have been eating a new warm meal at home, instead of out here.” Butter remarked.
Applejack looked at him quizzically, seemingly confused by his comments. “Ah could, but given how much ah ate here, would ya really want t’ lose yet anoth’r fridge full o’ food? Could yer wallet take it?”
“Well it surely has to cost less than putting an entire restaurant out of business doesn’t it?”
“Ah don’t see a bill anywhere around here, do ya?”
Butter tapped a finger to his chin, before gathering up his shopping once more. Applejack was gracious enough to pick up some as well. “Good point…come on, let’s get home before they come back and try to give us one.”
Applejack smirked and got to her feet, walking off ahead of Butter. “Ah tell ya wat ah could eat though - a nice, big, bowl o’ cereal!”
Butter shook his head, some things never change it seems. Perhaps he’d tell her about the mess in the kitchen after she had left, and the room had adjusted to Butter’s size, sending bowls clattering and smashing to the floor. As the pair walked back home, Butter thought to himself about what he was going to be doing for lunch, if this was how she went about having her meals now. There were plenty more restaurants out there, some belonging to a few cooking rivals of his that he wouldn’t mind seeing go the journey...
The ritual of getting one’s hair cut was one that most wanted to put off, but always realised that they needed to get done. People would fight for days, weeks, sometimes even a month or two before finally agreeing to get one. That mentality was universal; it even went as far as reaching stubborn, giant creatures like Applejack. It had been a long while since Applejack had last had her hair cut and it was starting to become a problem. He hair was getting in her eyes, in her mouth, and it was even messing with Butter Nut. Now that she was over thirty-two feet in height, Applejack’s hairs alone were 1/8than inch in thickness, meaning that if enough of them were shed during the night or during the day, then they could cause trouble. Ponies had begun to trip and tangle in them if not aware of strands. Sometimes on a windy day errant bundles of them might collect into wispy tumbleweeds, an amusing if annoying sight. The leaves and branches around Sweet Apple Acres looked to be strung up with golden tinsel, like numerous Hearths Warming trees. After one too many complaints by the public at large, it had been decided for her that she would get a haircut. Even if she considered it unneeded, or not the time for one. Even Butter Nut was on the side of the public, as he too had been on the receiving end of her hair troubles at home.
Late one night, when the pair had been feeling particularly amorous, Butter had suggested they play a little game. A game of roleplay hide and seek in which he hid around the home, with everything sized up to meet Applejack’s standards, no compromised scaling. This made him seem around one foot tall; big enough to be seen, but certainly easy enough to keep himself hidden as well. The game had progressed for hours, with Applejack pretending to be on the trail of some prominent orchard pest, taking to the role quite well. She made Butter shiver with her descriptions of what she was going to do to him when she finally got her hands on him. Had she been talking about a real pest then there might have been simple talk of squishing or crushing, but for Butter she made it more appropriate to him. Instead there was talk of grinding, smooshing, kissing, and even one mention of ‘going to town on’, which almost made Butter give up. Neither of them were creatures of surrender though and Butter was especially determined to keep hiding. There was a lot on the line for him. The terms of the game had been that if Butter won, then he would have been allowed to pick one thing that he got to do with Applejack and she couldn’t refuse him. Likewise, if she won, then she was allowed to pick one thing that Butter loved to do, whether it be to her or something else, and stop him from doing it for a week.
So the stakes were high and Butter was seconds away from clinching his way to victory. There was one hiding place he had that Applejack couldn’t hope to find in several years of looking at it. Granted it was somewhat of a cheat in terms of where it was, but all Butter had been thinking about was winning the game. He’d spotted the cupboard that held his hiding place and had scampered across the floor only to be clotheslined by a couple of stray hairs that had attached themselves together. The line of hooked hairs spread from the coffee table and the side of the sofa and had been pulled tight by the constant breeze exerted by Applejack’s large feet as she stomped about. Butter unfortunately threw the game, as Applejack found him soon after, quickly declaring herself the winner. Butter called for a redo, but the judge (Applejack) had ruled against him, citing that he had no evidence to prove a do-over was necessary. So when the people of town had called for Applejack to get a haircut, he was right there with them, standing up for a game he lost. That and the fact that she had taken away the right to the television in the house from him.
So, after much nagging from a disgruntled Butter, Applejack reluctantly gave in to the pressure and decreed that she would have her hair cut. That left Butter having won the battle, but not quite the war, as now he was presented with how he was going to actually cut it. He was one man and Applejack was a being with one heck of a lot of hair. It would take him over a day, if not longer, to cut her hair into a shape that was pleasing to his wife. So he did what he felt was right in this situation: he went out into town and applied for ponies to come meet him at an undisclosed location for a little hair cutting session. He made it clear that Applejack would be the only one who would actually be having her hair cut and if anyone was looking to get one for themselves, they should try the barbers. He returned home later that night, confident that he had done enough to ensure that Applejack would have a decent crew to work with.
When the day came, Butter wasn’t surprised to find that the majority of those that had shown up were males. A few females, but the most were totally hot blooded males. Butter should have seen it coming from a mile away. The chance to meet a giant female, one who had trouble finding clothes to fit? Yeah, this had trouble written all over it. Still, even if they were there for somewhat nefarious reasons, by showing up they had agreed to work for him. So, he set about handing them a pair of hedge clippers, and giving each a crash course in ropes and pulleys for some of the trickier parts. To aide in enabling the haircut, Mayor Mare had even allowed the use of Town Hall as scaffolding to reach Applejacks’ impressive height. Better than her charging the couple with public littering at least. Once everyone had the required knowledge to make good on their promise to work, Butter requested that Applejack stay completely still for the duration of the work. She was allowed to move the workers around should any of them attempt to try their luck with her however. Once she outlined a few of them, it would be up to Butter to deal with them in a manner befitting both Applejack and himself, and then kicking them off the project altogether.
Now, despite Applejack’s size in comparison to her workforce, the first part of the process was actually easier than first thought. The length of her ponytail hung down to below her waist even when she was stood up, so in her sitting state it bunched up against the ground. So her team went to work with the clippers, lopping off great wads of hair at a time. Those that were finding it hard to chip in carted away the excess hair, piling it up by Applejacks’ side, where the wind couldn’t blow. Butter meanwhile had already begun on phase two: moulding and sculpting the hair that she couldn’t tie into a ponytail. Ordinarily he would have trouble finding a decent spot to get to work, but thanks to the second story balcony and a safety harness he and a few others could reach just. Applejack wasn’t too impressed with it, since she still had to bend her head some to aide them, but she suffered through like a champ and sent Butter constant looks that spoke of her expectations. All the while making sure that the few safety straps placed directly on her were still in place and that any ponies climbing up were secure.
Once adequate work was placed on her head, the second target was Applejack’s tail. While it wasn’t as unkempt as her hair, there were still some problems that had arisen from the length. Dragging over the ground, it most recently had begun to catch on and carry away numerous carts. Sometimes with their drivers still in the seat, hollering and sputtering through the thick strands of dusty hair. Ponies were also being swept off their feet by it, and gusts of winds caused when it wagged blew unsecured objects away without warning. Although Applejack’s hair was the leading cause for the loose strands cropping up around town, the true felon in need of trimming was her tail. As it was much lower and thus in range of affecting regular ponies, it had to be trimmed the most so as to give the biggest reprieve. Applejack and Butter had debated fiercely for hours on just how to go about this. While she was fine with a shorter style than typical of her hairdo, never had it crossed her mind that her tail would have to be tampered with. She firmly refused to let it be cut back nearly to the rump, but simply ‘taking a little off the tip’ would not cut it. In the end neither won; the final result would leave her tail at just above her knees in height, which was over twice the height of most ponies. Plenty to bundle into her customary ponytail band, but not lead to batting townsfolk in the face.
Back in the present, Butter and his team had already removed a fair chunk of Applejack’s tail, working in tandem with each other. So much in fact that the clean-up crew were beginning to have a problem with the volume. They were unable to gather it in ample time to prevent more than a few strands from blowing off. Countless bags had been used already to store it all for disposal, but with the addition of the tail is was starting to outpace their efforts. To remedy this they called up to the higher hairdressers. Those working on her head and shoulder ceased their work for a time, which thankfully succeeded before all parties resumed their tasks.
Eventually, her tail was cut back into a much shorter version. Butter carefully worked on neatening up the ends before having another mare assist him with placing the hairband back into place. Applejack didn’t look at it; the upper team had already begun to work on her head in the meantime. They split off, two ponies working on the ponytail. Another two worked on the fringe and sides of her head. All in all leaving Applejack in quite the precarious situation. With all the hairs that were falling down and snagging on places like her nose and lips, it fell to a few team members to brush them away. The only problem being that the brushing was causing her to be tickled, and in the case of her nose, it made her feel like a sneeze was welling up. She did her best to hold it in, but she and the team knew it was never going to hold. Right when she thought she had saw it off, it came right back at her, trying to catch her off guard. Thankfully, Applejack was able to nip it in the bud each time it resurfaced, keeping things to a minimum on the head movement front.
Sooner than they thought, Applejack’s haircut was completed and once everyone had climbed off her body, she began to look for a way to see herself. Butter had already planned ahead for that and had borrowed Spike from Twilight for a simple task. Leaning inside the open window on the bottom floor of Town Hall, he gave a sharp whistle for the cue. All of the windows on the side facing Applejack suddenly swung open, angling themselves just so that their freshly washed and polished glass flashed in the sunlight. The result was that of a multi-faceted mirror for Applejack to view herself by. It still required her to lean in some to see the finer details, but not only did Spike get a nice tip for this, but it also further enamored Mayor Mare to them. After all, a well-cleaned office was a well-run one. Upon seeing herself, Applejack went through an array of emotions. First her face contorted into anger at seeing just how much of her original hair they had cut off, leaving her with a short, pixie cut kind of look. Second, it turned to contemplation as she thought about how much more it freed up her face and seemed to increase her beauty. Finally it arrived at happiness/acceptance, knowing that if Butter had been happy to stop the work there, then she was happy to wear it as well. There were cheers in the small crowd below once Applejack was visibly happy. Even Butter couldn’t resist giving himself a pat on the back at a job well done.
With her new haircut, Applejack was certainly getting a lot of attention from the males on the team. Some of the less composed members of the team were content with just wolf whistling at her, which as much as it annoyed Butter and Applejack, wasn’t the kind of behaviour he would kick them for. The rest were a little more hands on, resting up against her legs and hips, prodding her rear. Applejack swatted them away, whilst Butter pulled and shoved the rest, though the bulkier looking folks he left to Applejack. There was no way he was starting a fight that he couldn’t finish. With the majority of the team kicked off for their devious behaviour at the end, Applejack and Butter bid the others farewell. That wasn’t to say that this was the end of their problems; those that were still infatuated with Applejack’s new hairstyle followed suit. She was quite aware that they were there, but she was focused on Butter and making their way back to their love nest.
Butter wasn’t faring much better however. He wasn’t used to Applejack getting this kind of attention, outside of himself. He didn’t consider himself to be the jealous type, but the constant jeers and comments she was receiving on account of the haircut was bringing it out in him. He clenched and unclenched his fingers as he walked alongside Applejack, mere moments away from requesting that she turn around and stomp the whole crew into the dust. He knew Applejack would never agree to such a thing, but the thought of her doing it did give him some solace. The rabble behind him grew so bad that he was beginning to fantasise about the peace and quiet that would come with Applejack answering his request. Oh how he couldn’t wait to get home and just relax with his now even sexier looking wife. They might even redo their game again, with Butter finally winning at last. He wanted that victory almost as much as he wanted the group behind him to shut their traps and go home. So consider him surprised when Applejack made a suggestion as to where they should head.
“Actually, Butter, if ya don’ mind, ah wouldn’t mind goin’ out t’ get somethin’ t’ eat.”
Butter started up at her in bafflement. “What? I thought we were going home?”
“Well, w’ can do that if ya like, but ah would really like t’ get somethin’ t’ eat in town.”
The crowd behind them cheered at the prospect that they were going to get to spend more time following Applejack and Butter like dogs with a bone. Some even hollared out suggestions to where they, that is they and Applejack, could go, without Butter. As Butter Nut turned to glare at the latest idiot, secretly, Applejack was enjoying the attention. She got a lot of attention from Butter, sure enough, but this was something completely new. She’d never had a mob of people rushing around her; trying to get her attention, calling out to her and falling over themselves to get her attention. It was refreshing. She was so used to people avoiding her step, or taking the long way around to get out of her way. Even people being downright rude to her when they encountered her. She was ready to milk it for as long as she had it and while this was her opinion now, she wasn’t sure if it would last. She wasn’t like Rarity; she didn’t thrive off attention from folks every day and every night. The last thing she needed was to lead them back to her home so they could hang around and wait for her every day. Butter clearly didn’t think as far ahead as she had, but once they sat down to eat and the crowds disappeared, then he’d see her plan unfold.
So further into town they went, going to the only place they could think of with an outside eating section big enough. Butter grumbled to himself as he went inside to tell the kitchen to prepare to cook like it had never cooked before, and let the waiters know they would be dining outside. After he explained just who the staff would be dealing with, they treated it almost like a VIP had arrived. They brought out long, velvet ropes and placed them around the pair, shoving the crowd as far back as they possibly could. It was certainly a boost to Applejack’s ego to see them tending to her like this. First people were clawing at her over her haircut and now she was being treated like a film star. Butter wasn’t as impressed as Applejack, but he certainly welcomed the peace and distance between them and the voyeurs. He joined his wife at the table, not that she could really sit at it given her size, but it was the thought that counted. A waiter brought them something to drink whilst they read the menu, though for Applejack he just left several bottles for her. They laughed and joked after placing their respective orders, all the while Applejack making slight glances behind her at the crowd. As time wore on, it began to wane, with each member of the crowd slowly disappearing once Applejack refused them attention. By the time their food actually arrived, the crowd was a shadow of its former self. Leaving Butter and Applejack practically alone and finally able to chat about the day.
“As much as I love the new style that you’re rocking, I have to say, this day has been frustrating.” Butter grumbled, poking a fork into his salad and waving the leafage around in the air. “Getting all those ponies together, climbing up and down to manage them all, making sure everything turned out right. Especially the work itself. But then they all turned into a bunch of mindless nits, nipping at your heels like-“
“Mah mah mah, are ya gettin’ jealous there, Sugahcube?” Applejack teased, grinning widely.
He harrumphed. “…Maybe a little. You’re my wife, and very special to me. I just wanted to enjoy your new look in peace, y’know? Seeing all of those other stallions vying for your attention…well…you might be a big mare. But that doesn’t mean I have to just, let it happen! I certainly didn’t care for all those glances you kept giving them now and again. You were acting like how Miss Rarity gets sometimes in fact.”
“Oh Sugahcube, ya really know how t’ make it hard on yerself, doncha? Ah wasn’t doin’ any o’ this fer them.” She looked over her shoulder to see that the crowd had totally dissipated. “Ah wus doin’ it because ah didn’t want t’ lead ‘em back t’ where we lived. Ah mean, could ya imagine our lives w’ a screamin’ mob outside? Ah don’ think ah could take it.”
“You mean, it was all for show?”
“O’course! Ah’m jus’ as eager t’ get home as yerself,” She leant in close. “An’ between you ‘n me? Ah’m really excited t’ see jus’ what ya mean, when ya say ya wanted t’ enjoy mah new look…”
Applejack winked at Butter and sat back up straight, tucking into the next course of her dinner, which had arrived during their conversation. Butter felt something twinge inside his mind. Applejack had never winked at him like that before, nor had she hinted at something like that last sentence. It was a like a light was flicked inside his mind, sending him into overdrive. Tonight was the night for something and all things considered, he felt like he deserved whatever it was. He stood up from the table, sending his food tumbling to the floor. He loudly announced, to the smiling and giggling Applejack, that they had to leave right this minute, informing the restaurant that he would be down in the morning to pay the bill. The waiters considered arguing with him, but when the customer you had beef with, also had a giant and equally excited wife, one could be forgiven for backing down. Besides they were actually good regulars, so Butter was considered trustworthy. The pair of them went racing across town, Applejack’s thumping footsteps no doubt shaking up some of the residents. They carefully navigated their way through the orchard and back to their home. There they let themselves in and Applejack sauntered across the living room, giving her hair a little swish this way and that with a hand.
Butter watched on in open mouthed awe, even as Applejack dropped the sheet she had been wearing on her back since the work had begun. She let it tumble to the floor as she stepped away from the door. The harness was next to fall off her body, clattering as it bounced over her wide hips and kicked away the next second. Butter was drawn along the trail of her clothes like a moth to a flame, a delicious, apple-scented flame. The top and bra was next to go, draped ever so carefully across the arm of their sofa. Butter stood at the end of the sofa, as he heard her flop down into the cushions. The tell-tale ‘sch-Whumpf!’ of her rear colliding with those feather filled seats, followed by a heavenly sigh of relief. Butter remained at the edge of the sofa, looking up at the next part of her ensemble. One giant pair of boots hovered above him, those orange toes wiggling at the tips. He braced himself as Applejack rested one foot on top of the other and carefully dragged her shoe off with the help of her other foot. Butter groaned and quivered as that blissful ‘shhhhf’ of her shoe swayed its way through his head. Even as her boots clattered all around him, he was getting chills from that one sound. How had he not known that Applejack could be this much of a tease? As the final boot fell, her legs rose high into the air, her wiggling telling all about her removal of her shorts. As she flung them away with reckless abandon, a bell rung in his head. Up there on that sofa was a giant, naked farm girl, and if he was going to miss out on that, he would need his head examined. A low, sultry voice then came from the sofa.
“Mmm, ah heard that there was a Sugahcube aroun’ here, lookin’ t’ show me somethin’...”
Butter felt like he was about to bleed away all his blood through his nose. He had to get up there and he needed to be up there yesterday. He scrambled up the side of the sofa that was closest to him, reaching the summit in record time. His rested for breath against Applejack’s left foot, staring out across the Valley of Applejack bared before him. Those long, strong, legs, curving along the sides, bulked up by muscle at the back. Her tender thighs, deceptively strong yet thick with fat. A little twitch from her was all it would take to reveal such complex musculature behind that disguise. Those wide, curvaceous hips, hanging over the edge of the sofa, almost rippling in the gentle breeze from an open window. The curve was so very fine, working its way higher, gradually, and ever so gradually curving inward to meet with her stomach. The way her hips and thighs seemed to melt together in a sea of orange, the occasional muscle bulge looking like a wave on that sea. Her toned, flat stomach, outlined with a six pack, almost a badge of honour to prove to Butter just how strong she was. He admired the way her sides seemed to fold inwards at intervals, giving her curves on top of curves. Like this woman needed to be anymore curvy. His eyes rose higher until he was presented with her breasts, thick, round, and oh-so very tight. Not a single ounce of fat was wasted on these things; sure they were big, but they clung to her chest with an iron grip. Now sagging, but with all the jiggle they could muster. Her pink nipples sat atop each peak, a summit that Butter would happily aspire to climb. Then atop all of that was her face. That perfect, freckled face, smiling at him from afar. Her mysteriously retrieved hat was tipped slightly over her forehead due to the armrest and somehow she had got her hands on an oversized piece of wheat to chew on as well. Some people might have asked questions; Butter simply groaned and fanned himself rapidly. This here was the complete farm girl package, and Butter had it all to himself.
“Are ya gonna sit there an’ gawk or are yer gonna start an’ show me what ya meant by ‘enjoy’, Sugahcube?”
Butter delivered on his words. Tonight was a night that she would certainly not forget for quite some time…
Some people say certain things in life were death and some form of taxation. Aside from being a somewhat morbid and depressing outlook on their lives, it wasn’t entirely true. There was a third thing that was a certainty, perhaps not for everybody, but if you lived in Ponyville then it certainly was. This extra certainty was Pinkie Pie’s incredible ability to always know who was about to celebrate their birthday, even if the most interaction she had with them was a simple hello. Of course, the more she interacted with them, the more likely it was that she would be able to correctly guess the correct date. For those who were about to experience a birthday, Pinkie Pie never let them know that she was planning a party, at least not overtly. Instead, she’d leave hints all over the place, little clues that one could easily overlook, but if viewed together, they’d give the game away. Luckily for Pinkie Pie, nobody really had the time or the forethought to examine the clues so intensely. So her parties were always a surprise, even to the guests. She worked tirelessly behind the scenes to research and locate the immediate and distant family of whoever was experiencing the birthday.
It was a heck of a lot of effort for one person, but nothing brought her a greater sense of joy than to see the look of happiness on a person’s face. There were probably much easier ways of getting people to feel like that, but Pinkie didn’t do things in half measures. She was the living embodiment of the phrase, ‘go big or go home’, if it wasn’t a huge, possibly costly, investment, then it just wasn’t worth it. As much as she loved putting on birthday bashes for folks who had little or no connection to her, there was one thing she loved more. That was putting on the same kind of thing but for her friends. Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, they had all been exposed to one of Pinkie’s surprise parties at one time or another. Lately though, Pinkie had noticed that Applejack in particular had been keeping out of the way when it came to her birthdays. The previous two times, Pinkie had gone to visit Applejack and put her plan into motion, only for Butter to have told her that she was recovering in bed due to some mystery illness. Each time, Pinkie had offered to come inside and play nurse along with Butter, but he had refused her entry. Naturally, Pinkie had been suspicious of Butter, particularly because she had it on good authority that Butter would have enjoyed seeing her in a nurse’s outfit.
So as this was the third year and things had been a little rocky between Applejack, Pinkie and Butter, she decided on a grand gesture. There would be no huge celebration like usual, she was simply going to make a cake for her, that was it. Well had Pinkie not been herself then it might have ended there, but as such, she wasn’t a regular old baker. She resolved to make a cake that was fitting of someone of Applejack’s immense size, by making the cake as big as she was. It was a tall order, one that no regular oven could fill, or indeed any oven at all. She was going to need a lot of thought to pull through on this, but she was confident she had the ability to make it work. Even if it meant that she was going to bake a section of the cake in every kitchen oven in Equestria. Now all she needed to do was find out just how tall Applejack had gotten by now and for that, she was going to need to pay Butter and Applejack a visit. So off she went, skipping her way through town, assuming that the pair would be at home, rather than out and about.
Over and Applejack and Butter’s homestead, the pair were very aware that Applejack’s birthday was coming up and that no doubt Pinkie was on the prowl. In a way they had came to some kind of impasse with regards to the Pinkie problems that had plagued them in the past. After their little love-making session a few months back, Applejack felt assured that Butter wasn’t sneaking off behind her back. The raw passion that he had given her during that one night of frantic love-making couldn’t have come from someone who didn’t truly love her. She was still wary of Pinkie, but it was more along the lines of keeping her in check and making sure she didn’t cross some kind of line. That counted for her as well, as it was no secret that Pinkie wasn’t exactly picky about the gender of her partners when she got down to it. So Applejack was as much a target for Pinkie’s excessive flirtations and attempts at romance. This time they were going to be a little more inviting with Pinkie, play along with her actions and ministrations as it had to be easier than avoiding her. The previous two birthdays, Butter had been complaining of how exhausted he was after trying to see Pinkie off at the door. So they were simply sitting at home, snuggled up on the couch and enjoying each other’s company, waiting for the inevitable.
As if by the magic of coincidence, there came a knocking at the door, a frantic, peppy, kind of knocking, reminiscent of Pinkie Pie. Butter sighed and Applejack helped him down to the floor, giving him a smile. It was all well and good her smiling, she wasn’t the one that had to get the first experience of gale force Pinkie Pie at the door. He begrudgingly strode through the halls until he came to the door. He took a moment to allow the inside section of the door to adjust to his height. No doubt, Pinkie’s side of the door was already tweaked to match her size, or at least he hoped it was. It was certainly going to be awkward to find that the outside of the door was scaled to Applejack, making him look almost herculean. Or if the magic worked differently to how he thought it did, then Pinkie might be greeted by a gigantic Butter, when it reality he was still the same six foot he had always been. He couldn’t be sure, he wasn’t entirely sure about the specifications of the spell upon the homestead, he was just grateful that it was there. Once the door was sized correctly, he pulled it open to greet the surprise guest at the door, even if it wasn’t all that surprising.
“Heya, Nutty!” yelled Pinkie, upon seeing him. “Is AJ home? I hope she isn’t sick again, that would really ruin things!”
“Hey, Pinkie. No, Applejack isn’t sick this time, would you care to come in?”
“I sure as sugar would love to come in! I don’t think I’ve ever been in here before, I mean, I’ve stood here a couple of times, but never gotten inside. What’s it like in there? Is there a secret room under the floor? Like a hidden basement where you keep all your stuff? We don’t have one at Sugar Cube Corner, but if I had my way, there’d be a secret cellar that’d have all the candy ever inside!”
“Well, tangent aside, you can come in if you’re done with your plans for the future. Or you can keep talking about them, I’m going back to Applejack, regardless.”
“Okey dokey lokey!” She followed Butter as he began to trace his steps back to Applejack, continuing to chatter. “Woah! This place is huge! How do you live in here? Have you got some sort of mouse hole system for getting around? Or have you got a bunch of levers and pulleys to make lifts to get around everywhere? Or does Applejack just do it for you? Eh? Bet you have the best seat around if Applejack carries you about, right?”
Butter didn’t respond, which was just as well because if experience was anything to go by, he was likely to get cut off before he could answer. As he expected, Pinkie soon launched into another line of questioning, this time asking him where he slept and where the bedrooms were located, along with a weird set of questions about what the bathroom situation. Thankfully, by the time she got onto the bathroom situation, he had returned to Applejack and she had plucked him up into the air. He took his place at her side and snuggled in, leaving Pinkie on her own at the foot of the couch. She giggled as she watched Butter get airlifted up into the air, she thought about playfully begging for Applejack do the same to her, but she was here for on business, she needed to be serious. At least some sort of serious, her own brand of seriousness. She whipped out a tape measure and smacked her fist down off Applejack’s right foot to get her to lift it up. Applejack leant over to see just what Pinkie was getting at and after seeing her beating up her toes, she lifted her foot to put a stop to it. Pinkie slipped the bottom of the tape under her sole and gestured for her to place her foot back down. Applejack obliged, but she was still none the wiser about what she was going for.
Next she held the rest of the tape measure between her teeth and jumped up onto Applejack’s foot, scaling up her leg. She gradually unwound the tape as she climbed, already seeming like she would run out of tape by the time she reached the top of her calf. She didn’t thought and she was able to continue her climb, reaching her knee incredibly fast. Naturally, she knew that her measurements weren’t going to be totally correct at the moment, given that Applejack was sitting down. She’d address that matter when it became more of a problem though, for now she needed to get to the top of Mt Applejack. She scampered across Applejack’s thighs, bouncing in her step like she was on a massive trampoline. Butter watched her like a hawk, as he assumed Applejack was as well, just in case she strayed off the beaten path and tried something risky. Coming up on Applejack’s belly, Pinkie waited for there to be any kind of objections from the pair. When none came to her, she dug her fingers in tightly to Applejack’s stomach and resumed her climb. She struggled a little but thanks to Applejack’s ticklish response to Pinkie’s hands upon her stomach, but it only made her grip tighter.
She scaled her way up Applejack, disappearing under her shirt and coming up through her cleavage, rather than going around the two oversized peaks. Applejack squirmed as she failed to stop Pinkie traversing that particular route. She caught Butter’s attention when she made Applejack react that way, but once he saw her messy hair approaching her collarbone, he quelled himself. Pinkie was clearly up to something, but it wasn’t anything he needed to be wary of, at least not at this stage. Pinkie crawled all the way up to Applejack’s shoulder and took a moment to breath to herself. It was quite the height to scale, Butter must do himself an injury every time he tried to do something for Applejack. Massages especially must have been one such occasion, all that running up and down and trying his hardest to get refresh the parts that others won’t reach. Pinkie thought about what she’d be like if she were the same size as Applejack, she’d probably spend her time laughing. She was incredibly ticklish, even more so than Applejack was. A tiny Butter, scampering up and down her body and digging his little fingers into the smallest, most sensitive areas of her body would have her in a fit of giggles. Perhaps one day, but for now she had a job to do and to do it she needed something from Applejack.
“Hey, AJ! Think ya can stand up for me? I need a little more of an accurate measurement and I can’t do that if you’re sitting down!” cried Pinkie into Applejack’s gargantuan ear.
“Alright, alright, ah don’ need ya t’ yell so loud, Pinkie, hold on,”
Pinkie didn’t heed Applejack’s advice to hold on and tumbled backwards of her shoulder, saved by clutching onto the tape measure and hoisting herself back up. Like some kind of intrepid adventurer, she climbed her way back up to her shoulder, remarking at the changed view. Quite a bit higher than last time, giving the surrounding air a much more deadly feel, especially after her near traumatic experience. Pinkie grabbed hold of a chunk of Applejack’s neck flesh and pulled her way high enough to take hold of her hair. This new haircut of hers, whilst looking absolutely stunning and left Applejack looking even more impossibly attractive, left a lot to be desired in the climbing department. Still, she managed to reach it eventually, even if she did cause Applejack a little discomfort. The end was in sight now, the crown of Applejack’s head, a golden meadow of her pixie cut hair. She raced towards it, then realising that it wouldn’t be an accurate measurement, so she diverted towards Applejack’s forehead. Once there, she held up the tape and get her final measurement of 411.6 inches, a record for cakes and tape measures everywhere.
Making a mental note in her head and already converting it to the amounts of ingredients required to make a cake of that size, she let go of the tape. It drifted down to the ground, spiralling round and round as she leapt down after it. Expertly twisting and turning through the air and preparing herself for a soft landing. Applejack raised an eyebrow as she watched a pink blur fly past her line of vision, looking down to see where it was headed. Her eyes had barely settled on the lower angle before she felt something plop down into her breasts. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Pinkie had used her breasts as a fall pillow to ease her fall. She looked down and gave Applejack a serious face, whilst Pinkie gave her a cheeky grin in response. She wiggled herself in deeper and lounged back into it like she was in a rubber ring at the pool. All that was missing was a drink in her hand and a pair of sunglasses over her eyes as well.
“Are ya done now, Pinkie?”
“Sure am! Got the measurements I needed and now I can get things moving!”
“Well, speakin’ o’ things that c’n get movin’, ah would really appreciate it, if ya could make a move yersel’. Butter an’ ah have some things t’ get done t’day.”
“Ooooh, ‘things’, eh? Sure, Applejack, I’ll head back to town and leave you to your ‘things’!” replied Pinkie, knowingly.
Pinkie sprung up and dug into Applejack’s cleavage like a mole, coming out on the underside of her breasts. She climbed down her stomach, slipping into her shorts to keep gripping at her flesh, rather than the tough to grip fabric. Applejack blushed and squirmed as Pinkie wormed her way across her thighs, her fluffy tail brushing against some of the more sensitive and ticklish areas on the way. Butter cocked his head to look around Applejack to see what she was squirming about, but Pinkie was soon sliding down her thighs to her feet. Leaving Butter to shrug his shoulders and returned to keeping Applejack’s seat warm for her return. Finally at the lowest reaches of Applejack’s body, Pinkie curled up on her foot. She clutched tightly at her ankle with one hand and with the other pointed out towards the door.
“Onwards, steed!” exclaimed Pinkie.
Applejack did as she was told, not wanting to give Pinkie a platform to extend her stay and essentially walked her over to the door. She opened the door and swung her foot back, kicking it forwards and sending Pinkie sailing through the air. Not very high, but certainly far enough that made her feel like she was flying. She even squealed a joyous ‘whooo’ as soared through the air, coming in and landing a couple of feet away from the front door. She turned around and waved back to Applejack, shouting ‘goodbye’. She received a wave back and smile from Applejack, who was happy to be getting back to Butter and happy that she hadn’t done Pinkie an injury. She watched the peppy, party person leave her premises, skipping off happily to herself, ready to begin whatever plan she had in mind. Applejack closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief, before she returned herself to Butter.
“Next time, we’re goin’ w’ th’ sickness thing again, ah c’n see whut ya mean when ya say it’s tirin’. Not t’ mention invasive…”
Butter cocked his head again at her comment and shrugged his shoulders, before resuming cuddling up to Applejack and forgetting about it.
****
A few hours later, back in town, Pinkie had begun to make a start on the cake. She did not have a long time to get this whole thing baked, at the very most she had until that afternoon and if things didn’t go well, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. She had enlisted the help of one Twilight Sparkle to help with the heavy lifting, as the bowls she would mixing these ingredients in, weren’t exactly conventional. She had an entire area out the back of Sugarcube Corner ready for her cooking and mixing of this enormous cake. She hadn’t asked for permission to set up a giant clay oven in the exact shape of the cake she was making. Nor did she have permission for the oversized kitchen equipment, but if Twilight was willing to help out, she could overrule any decisions. Especially those made by the local government, giving Pinkie a kind of diplomatic immunity in some respects. She mixed up the first few batches with ease, finding no real difficulty at all in progressing. She could mix up a batch of ingredients in a few minutes and Twilight could send it out to the big bowl out back fast enough that she only ever needed two bowls.
Pinkie didn’t know it yet, but a crowd was developing out at the back of the bakery, folks had been attracted to the sight of the giant bowl and oven. After all, it wasn’t exactly the sort of thing that you find in the town on any kind of normal day. They were eager to see just what was going to be created in this oven and more importantly, who required such a large cake. The residents had their ideas and to be fair, most of them were right, given that it was more than enough for one person. In fact it was more than enough for a hundred people, and that was without the possibility that it would be decorated with all things sweet and sickly. Occasionally, one or two would let curiosity get the better of them and upon seeing Twilight helping out with the creation they would bombard her with questions. She always replied the same though, how she knew about as much as the people themselves did. It was a disappointing response at first, but upon repeated hearings, it grew their tension instead. As more and more people approached the spectacle, the rumours and their absurdity, sure as the mix in the bowl did as well.
They ranged from the truly bizarre to the somewhat reasonable. One made a comment about how it could be for a race of giants, of which, Applejack was a member of, and that this was to be presented to her as a peace offering. A few people championed that story, making slight variations to the origins of the giants. Some said they came from far-off lands and weren’t as civilised as the people of Ponyville and Canterlot. Others said they had come from outer space, beings from another planet, aliens as it were. Some of the more rebellious people said that the cake mix, oven and bowl were part of a forbidden spell that the Princesses were going to use to keep the place safe from future evils. It was backed up by several users of magic, though even some of them seemed a little dubious in nature. Someone had a reasonable thought along that same line of thought about how it was some sort of reverse-fertiliser totem. Designed to put an end to the Everfree Forest once and for all and instead make it a place where all could visit and feel safe.
The real reason all this was happening was inside their rumours, chopped up and peppered across them all. It was just a case that nobody had bothered to think things through a little and put all the different sections together. By now, the bowl of cake mix was beginning to look a little full and Twilight had informed Pinkie of this news. The pink baker was delighted and handed Twilight a final batch of the mixture, this time joining her for the deposit. Along the way, she picked up a stepladder and carried it with her out into the rear of Sugar Cube Corner. Whilst Twilight dumped the small amount of mixture into the larger batch, Pinkie set up the ladder against the side of the oven and clambered up it. She reached the top and pulled the plug out the top of the oddly shaped oven, setting it down to the side and leaning over the side of the oven.
“Alright, Twi! Bring ‘er up!”
The crowd watched with bated breath, as Twilight summoned her magic and lifted the bigger bowl up to the top of the oven. She strained once or twice, causing the crowd to gasp at the prospect that the bowl would be dropped and that they would be showered with cake mix. Twilight elevated the bowl to Pinkie’s height and relied on her to help for further movement.The way the oven worked was that, instead of opening the front and placing in a tray of things to be heated, this oven kept the equipment to a minimum. Completely sealed, aside from the plug at the top, which Pinkie had already opened, it allowed things to cook at a much faster temperature. There was no need to constantly open the oven up to try and see if it was cooked enough yet, so the temperature was constant. Of course, that didn’t give people the best idea of how Pinkie was going to get the completed cake out of the oven, but she always had a plan. She yelled down to Twilight, guiding her closer and closer to hole in the top, before finally telling her to stop. Then she gave the call to pour, instructing Twilight to specifically tip the bowl in the direction that she was looking. Anywhere else and she would end up wasting some of the precious concoction and Pinkie really didn’t want to be mixing up more.
She watched intently, peering into the hole to see whether or not the mix was rising up above the limit. There was nothing worse than an overflow of mixture; all that excess just ruined the amount of pressure inside, essentially putting the cake on a course for burning. Naturally, being the expert baker that she was, Pinkie had crafted the exact amount of mixture for this particular cake and once the bowl was empty, she plugged it up again. Then she was back down the ladder to set the cooking aspect in motion. Considering the size of the oven, the dials to set the temperature and other settings were incredibly small. Every option fit onto a tiny little panel that was situated at the front of the oven. She flicked a few dials here and there and the oven began to hum as it began to cook the mixture inside. Now all she needed to was sit back and wait for the allotted time to pass and she could wow the crowd with a record-breaking cake.
Meanwhile, Applejack and Butter were finding that their day of birthday relaxation was turning out to be quite difficult. They found themselves constantly drawn to whatever it was that Pinkie was trying to do. If she hadn’t measured Applejack up for something, then they probably would have chalked it up to Pinkie being Pinkie. As it was, she was clearly doing something that directly affected Applejack, perhaps some kind of clothing range? Every time they got settled, they found themselves thinking of something else that it could be and each one was worse than the other. Eventually, it got to the point where they abandoned their attempts at relaxation and made for the door. Applejack carried Butter as they exited the homestead, seeing as how she wanted to get there quick. Butter didn’t object, he was always looking for a reason to spend a little more time cosied up to specific spots on her body. This time was much more special than usual, despite it being her cleavage once more. As she jogged her way through to Ponyville, Butter was bounced pleasantly around, the expectant feeling of sickness being outdone by arousal.
Surprisingly, nobody felt the quakes as Applejack drew closer, either they were too transfixed on the oven, or they were used to it. Pinkie Pie was ready to unveil the creation to her public and decorate it. During the cooking time, she’d nipped back inside to pick up a hammer and chisel, which might have seemed odd, but she had her reasons. She turned the oven off and pressed the chisel to the corner of the oven, readying the hammer. The crowd fell silent as they tried to figure out what her game was and whether or not they should be moving back. Before they could react, she swung the hammer down against the chisel, tapping it softly. Despite the soft tap, a large crack appeared and began to snake its way up the oven. Smaller cracks splintered off, reaching around the entirety of the oven, turning into a three-dimensional rendition of some crazy paving. Pinkie tapped once more upon the top of the chisel and the whole over crumbled into bits. All that was left was an enormous, perfectly baked, multi-layered cake, in sore need of some icing and other decoration.
Utilising Twilight’s help again, Pinkie Pie layered on the orange icing that she had prepared earlier before making the cake mix. Some of the gaps had to be filled with different coloured icing, but Pinkie was sure Applejack wouldn’t mind. They unfurled it down from the top of the cake, rolling it down the sides of the cake until it had been covered in the icing. Now it came to Pinkie’s favourite part, using sheets of icing was one thing, but piping the liquid stuff was even better. In order to get such an experience, she had needed to clear out just about every piece of liquid icing that the bakery stocked. Together with Twilight and a multitude of piping bags, she added several pounds of yellow, liquid, icing to the cake, spits and spots to accentuate the brightness. On the top three layers, she iced the words ‘happy’, ‘birthday’ and ‘Applejack!’ Once that was done, she hopped her way down to the floor, just in time to feel a rumbling in the ground as Applejack and Butter arrived on the scene. They’d been attracted by the crowds of people, big enough to contain just about everyone in the town.
“Happy birthday, Applejack!” yelled Pinkie, looking up at her friend.
“So this is whut ya were plannin’ huh, Pinkie? Ah appreciate it, but ah honestly expected somethin’ even bigger. Ah mean, yer not exactly one fer subtle…” Butter smiled along with Applejack as she spoke.
“Oh just you wait, Applejack! Next year it’ll be even bigger and better and not just a cake! You won’t have seen anything like it before!”
“Oh mah, well ah guess ah c’n look forward t’ seein’ jus’ whut ya have in mind. So, wus this whut ya needed t’ measure me for?”
“Sure it was! A cake as big as Applejack, which was the plan! Now, dig in everyone!”
Pinkie bounded up the cake, diving into a large pile of icing and slurping it up. Applejack stepped in and stuck her finger into the top of the cake, deciding to eat from there, rather than lower down. Butter hopped out of her cleavage and sat up the top of the cake with her, eating with her and watching to make sure she didn’t eat him. Those that were below her were mindful of her feet as they too clambered up onto the cake for a piece. Pinkie watched Applejack chow down on her creation, thankful that she had been happy to accept it. She watched how the crowd took to the cake like locusts, eating anything and everything they could get their hands on. Sure it was unorthodox as far as parties went, but the fact that it made everyone happy, Butter and Applejack especially, it was a success to her. She was already planning next year’s party, another cake that’s even bigger, but perhaps this time she’d find a way to make the host a little bigger too. Wouldn’t that be something? The biggest party host ever to host the biggest parties around! It was a stretch of course, and incredibly unlikely, but hey, a goal was a goal and always good to have. She flopped down into some icing and daydreamed about the future parties she was going to come to host…
It was rare that anyone from outside of Ponyville came to town with the intentions of settling down and residing there. Sure, there were visitors around the town, each one expressing how much they loved the town and the people within. Some stayed for days if not weeks, long enough often in fact for the oddities to become the norm. None of them went further than that though; there was no rushing to settle down and raise a traditional and almost rustic family. Instead, the residency fluctuated on account of the folks that were already there. Most children grew up and looked for places to live close by. Given that Ponyville was considered rural and out of the way, the only places one could find that were local, were within the town itself. This meant that families lived next door to families, generations next to generations; it was all really rather cosy in a way. Sure, there was the odd exception to the rule, like Twilight Sparkle arriving in Ponyville and ending up staying there, Pinkie Pie’s move from her familyrock farm to Sugar Cube Corner. There were many exceptions to the homegrown appearance of Ponyville, but at its heart it was a place of community passed down through the ages.
They weren’t like some of the rural places, where one would turn up on their turf and they’d spend the next half an hour chasing you out. They were warm, friendly, welcoming, almost like they wanted you to stay there with them forever. Even if one was there on something that was strictly business, the attitude never changed. It was as if the residents saw each new person as someone who was going to end up in their town regardless of how long it took. Which for one particular person, was a little reassuring. Shrinky Dinks was her name, and somewhat of a misnomer if there ever was one. One might think that with a name like that she was all about shrinking things, what with her access to magic and such. That couldn’t have been further from the truth, as she actually had no control over her magic. Sure, there had been occasions when something had grown or shrunk due to her presence, but she wasn’t trying to make that sort of thing happen. Truth was, it could happen at any time, whether or not she was awake or asleep. It wasn’t exactly something that she enjoyed, and neither did those that happened to get involved with her.
She made a point to tell anyone that she needed to spend an extended period of time around that she had this affliction. Which wasn’t entirely easy when she stuttered and stumbled over her words due to a great deal of nerves and anxiety. By the time she managed to tell them of the problem, most people had zoned out, or forgotten what it was she was trying to explain in the first place. They soon got the idea though when some kind of magical mishap happened in Shrinky’s immediate vicinity. Those that were still happy to hang around with her might have said that her interests came around as a result of her nerves with others. She was quite adept at creating potions that functioned as a deterrent to insects. As such, she spent a lot of her time on her own, mixing up new batches for different kinds of bugs and pests. It was why she had arrived in Ponyville on this day, as she was there to meet with a local farmer to supply them with these pesticides. She hadn’t heard much about the farmers in question, the so-called Apple family. She just knew that they were apparently one of the most successful suppliers of apples in the country. That was it, but it was enough to get her to set up a meeting with them.
So here she was, standing in the middle of Ponyville, wondering just when the Apple family was going to send their representative to meet her. By her reckoning, the rep was already late as they were supposed to already be in talks by now. She took a seat at a local cafe and hoped that they showed up soon; she didn’t want to be responsible for another magical mishap whilst she waited. There were so many people around, she could hit any of them with an uncontrollable burst of magic and the results would be anything from catastrophic to silly. She briefly considered speeding things up by asking someone just where the Apple family’s orchard was, but knowing her luck, she’d set off to find it and the representative would enter town. So she opted for the best option: stay put, entertain herself at the café, and wait for the rep to show up.
****
As it turned out, there was a problem down on Sweet Apple Acres that was preventing the chosen representative from meeting with Shrinky Dinks. An illness had spread amongst the family, with Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith all falling for it. The only folks on the farm that hadn’t managed to contract the mystery illness were Applejack and Butter, due to their removed location. The actual representative was Granny Smith, but now that she was bedridden, she had sent a message to the pair asking for their help. Butter wasn’t exactly pleased to be taking one of his days off to go down and conduct yet more business, but wherever Applejack went, he had to go with her, considering the rules still in effect from the Monster Registration Act. Especially considering he was only going around to just stand around and not really take part in any actual business. Applejack was the one that’d be taking care of all that.
Still, maybe he’d get lucky and Applejack would be done within a few minutes. Then they could find something else to do, like perhaps a nice picnic outside. Anything was better than talking to some business representative in a stuffy shirt and tie, being bored by sales talk. He dressed himself up in his best outfit, a modification of his usual chef jacket, which allowed for the colour black and a bowtie. Applejack didn’t really have anything of a similar sort, so she had to make do with her usual set of clothes. If anything it made her role of being a farm representative look a little better. Which Applejack was a fine specimen of, fitting well to the role of farmers daughter quite aptly. The pair were dressed and ready to go, and in proper fashion they were going to end up being fashionably late. They were supposed to meet the client in town almost twenty minutes before they were completely ready. So naturally they hurried off into town for the meeting, Applejack carrying Butter to save time as was becoming the routine. Butter himself appreciated it, since with her custom hat there was ample shade to rest in atop her shoulder.
****
Meanwhile, back in town at Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie was getting ready to head out to the market. She was looking to find herself a certain ingredient for one of her little culinary experiments. A new range of cupcakes that were designed to change flavours halfway through the consumption process; it would be a revolutionary creation if she managed to pull off the recipe. Her first batch was modelled after two of her favourite ponies, so who else but Butter and Applejack? The cupcake would be apple flavoured to begin with, before melting in the mouth with a smooth, creamy and nutty finish. If they proved successful, she had hopes to expand the selection to that of her other friends. She had ideas of a light, lilac perfumed cupcake, which switched to a bubblegum flavour, to simulate Twilight and Pinkie. Another one would be like your average blueberry muffin, before it switched to a lemon sensation, which came courtesy of Fluttershy and Rainbow. Then finally, she’d thought about using Applejack again, and combining it with a marshmallow to make a truly unique cupcake, courtesy of Rarity. Or perhaps from marshmallow to something with a hint of spice, to signify Spike.
The Cakes, the husband and wife team that owned Sugar Cube Corner, didn’t know about her little experiment but Pinkie was certain they would come to love it. All she needed now was to get the bonding ingredient that would keep the two flavours together and release their flavours in the sequence that she wanted it to. Ordinarily, it was something that would be featured only in Saddle Arabia, but a local trader had recently received a delivery of it to his stall. He’d even taken the time to refine some of it into the powder that she needed it to be, thus saving her a great deal of time. Now all she needed was to get to the stall in time before it closed up for the day. It wasn’t exactly that big of a problem, but the fact that it wouldn’t open again until after the weekend was over certainly hampered her plans. So it was of the utmost importance that she got to it today and not a moment too late.
Perhaps she’d run into Butter along the way and they could go for a meal together, assuming that Applejack wasn’t with him. No matter how much she tried to express her care and delight for spending time with both halves of the couple, there still seemed to be a rising tension between the two mares. She had even taken to spending more time with Applejack alone if she could help it, but thanks to the law and her friends own tendencies it was hard and very rare for such an occurrence. Sometimes she even snuck into their house, to surprise them with a visit and maybe play some fun games or watch a movie. That didn’t work out very well, but for the life of her, Pinkie couldn’t really work out why. She was just being her usual super friendly self, getting up close and personal with everyone she loved. Perhaps she would figure it out someday, but for now she had other more pressing matters. Like making her new edibles, with a side of prowling for Butter Nut. She grabbed a jacket from the cupboard and stepped outside. It was a glorious day outside; the sun was shining in the sky and ponies were milling about in the streets. She skipped off towards the centre of town, humming a little tune to herself.
****
In the centre of town, Applejack and Butter were trying their best to locate the representative in amongst all these ponies. They’d been told to look for someone of a light green colour, dressed in a red blazer, with a white shirt underneath. Her legs would be covered partially covered by a pair of thigh length shorts, and anything from sandals to regular shoes would be on her feet. The problem was there were quite a few ponies who matched at least part of this description, which often led to Butter insulting someone. Mostly due to the name he was calling them; they’d been informed their client was called Shrinky Dinks. Something about that name seemed to strike a chord with the people of Ponyville, as they looked at Butter with discontent. Almost as though they were going to launch into a tirade about how he had gotten the wrong person, or how they didn’t look anything like someone of that name. That last one was certainly popular with the males who had done some working out to get that ‘ripped’ look. Those that gave him that look, instead of responding politely and calmly, soon backed down. They only needed look at the giantess that was Applejack, before they realised they were barking up the wrong tree.
Butter found it humorous, but he wasn’t exactly getting anywhere fast and neither was Applejack. That was most concerning given that she was the one in the best position to see their client. She had the eagle eye view, so to speak. Alas, the afternoon hustle and bustle just made it too difficult to pin down one particular pony in amongst the crowd. One minute she saw someone who fit the description and the next they’d walked behind a stall and disappear. Not to mention the fact that she was just about rooted to the spot, not able to move lest she bring her foot down on some poor civilian. They weren’t about to give up though; Granny was counting on them to do their best and secure this deal, keeping the farm’s interests at heart. Goodness knows what would happen if they returned back to the farm with a raw deal or empty hands. Applejack shuffled herself forwards, kicking up dust around those below, trying her best not to connect with any of the people in the market. Her plan was simple. She’d move to the outskirts of the market and call out the name herself, instructing their rep to approach her. It really should have been their first port of call upon entering the market, but hindsight was a glorious thing.
****
Little did she know, Shrinky Dinks was already quite aware of Applejack’s presence in the market. It was hard not to be. She was sitting there, sipping away at a little cup of tea, marvelling at the sight of this giant creature trying to cross the market without error. She’d never seen someone of such size living amongst regular sized ponies, come to think about it she’d never heard of anyone of such a size even existing. It was a fine sight to see whilst she was waiting, but it was when she started to call out her name, that was when things took a strange turn. The giantess explained that they were the ones that she was here to see, later explaining that by ‘we’ she meant herself and this ‘Butter’ character. It didn’t make much sense, especially when Shrinky had been informed that her client was supposed to be an old woman. She mulled it over in her head, thinking about whether or not the words were genuine or not, She didn’t know either of the pair and her name was fairly unique, so the chances of someone stringing those two words together was fairly low. After a few minutes of prolonged thought, she jumped to her feet and left some money on the table to pay for tea. Then she walked into the crowd in the direction of what she assumed would be here client; perhaps she’d meet this ‘Butter’ along the way and he would assist in guiding her that way..
****
Pinkie had found her way into the throng of the crowd, just like everyone else. Having picked up the ingredient she required and dropped it off at the bakery in record time, she was free to browse. That was when her notorious Pinkie Sense flared into action. She recognised the sensation immediately; a weak leg, a drooping eyelid and a fuzziness in her head. It was the sensation that there was someone new in town, who was within close enough proximity to Pinkie Pie. It took priority over the fact that Pinkie was also aware of Applejack and Butter in the market as well. She’d have to be blind and deaf if she hadn’t noticed their presence by now. Except this new pony was the only thing she was interested in for now. She had to meet them, had to make friends with them, and certainly had to make their first time in town the most memorable. She bounced her way through the crowd, showing remarkable dexterity and agility by slipping between ponies without disturbing a hair, following her senses to point her in the right direction. The sensations grew stronger and stronger, until she had the target in her sights. She pounced on poor Shrinky Dinks, taking the poor girl completely by surprise.
“Hi!” She shouted.
“Wah!” Shrinky tumbling to the floor. “Wh-who are y-you?”
“Wow, you must have come a long way if you don’t know who I am! Haven’t you heard of the name Pinkie Pie before? Like, at all?”
Shrinky shook her head. “N-no, c-can’t say th-that I have…”
“Well, you are in for a treat! You’re gonna be glad you ran into me - there’s going to be a huge party in your honour, just to welcome you here! There’ll be streamers and balloons, candy and cake, oh and party favours! It’ll be great!”
“Uhm, y-you ran into me, a-and I h-have some business to get to. S-so that party w-will have to wait…”
“Business? Boring, stuffy, business? What kind of business could possibly be better than a super duper fun party?!”
“We-well...business with h-her for starters,” Shrinky Dinks got to her feet and pointed towards Applejack, who was now much closer than she had been before.
“Wait...you’ve got business with AJ and Nutty?! That’s great! We can all be friends now! Come on, I’ll take you the rest of the way - Applejack will be so excited that I found her business friend for her!”
“I was alre-” Shrinky didn’t get to finish her sentence as Pinkie practically dragged her off against her will. Sure, she was going to where she wanted to be, but in the company of this excitable stranger it wasn’t exactly the smoothest of journeys. Still, provided this Applejack and Butter weren’t as crazy as Pinkie Pie, then her sanity would survive intact.
****
Applejack stood at the edge of the market, scanning the crowds for any sign of their client responding to her calls. She’d instructed Butter to keep close to her in case she missed anything, though it didn’t look like they were having any success. She was sure she had seen Pinkie somewhere in the crowd as well, bobbing up and down here and there. Her hair was like the fin of a shark, poking out of the surface of the crowd and then disappearing, only to reappear somewhere else further down the line. Other than seeing Pinkie, Applejack was beginning to get a little bored of drawing blanks and Butter certainly wasn’t enjoying being stuck to one spot. Even though that one spot was Applejack’s toes, which he was using in place of the traditional bench. He was moments away from suggesting that they give up and head for home, and telling the truth about how they couldn’t find the client. It might not have been the best idea, but it was fast becoming the best option. The crowd at least was starting to thin some, perhaps due to some sixth sense that informed them of the giantess’ growing ire. Though only in the direction out of town, which oddly only seemed to peeve her more.
Enter Pinkie Pie, with her arm draped around the neck of one Shrinky Dinks. Like an angel of convenience, Pinkie arrived on the scene, bringing with her the very pony they needed. Butter could hardly believe it; having not seen her bobbing through the crowd earlier, the stallion was simply stunned that she would arrive with their expected business associate. Once they arrived at his love’s feet, he hopped off and walked forward to greet them. Feeling his leaving, Applejack looked down and blinked in shock at the two new arrivals to their little circle. With the crowd having thinned down enough for it, she kneeled and then sat down, crossing her legs buffalo style to preserve space. It also helped in assuring Shrinky Dinks hopefully about her size and presence. Now if only she could figure out why Pinkie of all ponies had to be here.
“Hello there, I uh, assume you’re Shrinky Dinks?” Butter asked, looking her over. She fit the description well, better than most of the ponies he’d accosted earlier.
Shrinky opened her mouth, but Pinkie Pie interrupted. “Yup yup! This here is Shrinky Dinks!” The party planner gave the other mare a one-armed hug, prompting an embarrassed squeak not unlike a mouses. “She says she has some super boring business to do with you guys! So, because I’m such a good friend, I brought her straight to you - poor thing was wandering around the market on her own!”
“But I-“ Shrinky tried again.
“Thanks for that, Pinkie. Is that true? Are you the one here to conduct business with the Apple family?”
Shrinky Dinks nodded, then shook her head, then ended up doing a combination of the two. “Y-yes, well, n-no, kind of? I was at a cafe, then I saw…err heard...Applejack? So I started walking through the market and then out of nowhere-”
“Oh oh oh! That’s where I came in! My Pinkie Sense was tingling, telling me that a new pony was in town and you know that I have to welcome every new pony and throw them a party! Then we talked and that’s when we came here, to see you guys!”
By now, Applejack had heard enough to chime into the conversation. “Well, if ya are our client, ah c’n only apologise fer takin’ so long. Ya might’ve guessed, but we weren’t th’ ones ya were supposed t’ be meetin’. Th’ rest o’ th’ family are sick, an’ there ain’t anyone else, so we were kinda th’ backup. Still, a pleasure t’ meet ya.”
Applejack held out her hand to shake hands with Shrinky Dinks, though upon the noticing the absurdity of such a thing, she swapped to just a finger. Shrinky shook it with both of her hands and the group got down to making good on their business deal. Shrinky was there to help the Apple family with one of their biggest pest threats. That being vampire fruit bats. There had been multiple occasions when the little pests had ruined a perfectly good crop of apples, leaving the family at a loss for how they were going to make money for that season. That was where Shrinky Dinks came into it, what with her passion for pests of all kinds and her penchant for potion making. It had come to the attention of the Apple family that, in the process of creating a new pesticide, she created something else in the process. That extra mixture just happened to be the very thing that the Apple family needed. It was a deterrent for vampire fruit bats. All it took was to spray it on the trunk of the tree and it would produce a scent that only the bats could smell. The whole point of the meeting had been to broker a deal where the family would be able to pay Shrinky for that byproduct.
Before they began truly negotiating, Shrinky explained her affliction to the group. She gave them a list of signs to watch out for, and it was quite the extensive list. Her triggers seemed almost limitless and covered things from sneezes to random shaking. It surprised the group to learn that there was the possibility that she could have fired off a spell when Pinkie pounced on her. That directed a lot of stares towards Pinkie, who simply shrugged and smiled at them. Once little bit of information had been shared and everyone felt happy to continue, the negotiations began and were going great. Though that might have been down to the fact that both sides were in very agreeable moods. Whilst Butter and Pinkie sat on the sidelines, under Applejack’s attentive gaze, she and Shrinky talked things out. Money was the deciding factor on whether or not the deal could be made, but neither of them wanted to put down an offer first. The pair continued to talk in a back and forth, avoiding the question repeatedly, until things seemed to take a strange turn. Halfway through a sentence, Shrinky was struck by silence. Like she’d been struck by lightning, minus any kind of actual tension or sounds.
“Ah..ah…” A faint hum filled the air, localized to the small group. Shrinky Dinks muzzle scrunched up, clearly in some kind of discomfort. Her mouth slowly opened into an ‘O’ shape, then closed so fast there was an audible clap. Nobody really knew what was going on, but it was certainly a little creepy. Everyone fell silent, their eyes on Shrinky as she seemed to be affected by this sensation.
“Ah…ahh…” It was like being outside in the middle of a thunderstorm, except the day was as bright and cheerful as ever. There was a soft fizzle as Shrinky’s horn lit up briefly with an eerie glow, which faded away almost as soon as it had arrived. Suddenly the humming made sense.This was all on Shrinky; it was the magic thing that she had warned them about. What were they to do? Could they run and make it into some kind of mystery exclusion zone? What about Applejack? She wasn’t exactly in the easiest of situations to get nimble. Their minds raced as they thought about what to do. The glow returned to Shrinky’s horn, growing brighter and brighter by the second, like the countdown to an explosion. And then…
