Strange Tales from the Bedroom

 Moving back to Ponyville wasn’t nearly as difficult as Big Mac had feared it might, once he made up his mind to do so. Truthfully, in the all the time he had been in Manehatten, he hadn’t exactly made much of an impact; he was “staying” with his Aunt and Uncle, but he hadn’t exactly spent a great deal of time with them, and he was no more attached to them than when he got there. They were family, of course, but it wouldn’t be unbearable if he didn’t see them until the next reunion—not that the Oranges often attended.

Nor had he gotten a job—a real one, that is. Apparently, some ponies had bought his song in spite of the bad reviews, and he had made a few bits out of the whole experience. Not enough to make a dent in his expenses or anything—although he had hardly drained his bit bag—but a few bits at least. Perhaps they might pacify Applejack when he finally set hoof back on the farm.

Nor had he exactly made all that many friends, besides Vinyl and Octavia. Vinyl, of course, was coming with him, so he could hardly be said to miss her, and Octavia hadn’t been exactly close. Plus, after she had walked in on them, she had kind of… not exactly given them the cold shoulder, but things were rather awkward between the two of them now. So parting ways with her wasn’t particularly difficult, if anything, it was a bit of a relief.

In the end, all Big Mac had to do was pack his bags, say his goodbyes, and catch the next train that headed home.

However, the same couldn’t be said of Vinyl. Vinyl had lived in Manehatten, Big Mac gathered, for several years, and she had the sort of life that went with it; a home, friends, a job. And it didn’t help that Vinyl was almost painfully enthusiastic about coming back to Ponyville. Even though he had agreed to let her come with him—sort of—in the back of his mind, Big Mac worried that it wouldn’t work out. It would be painful enough seeing Vinyl go, but it would weigh far more heavily on his soul if he knew she was going back to a life she had inadvertently destroyed in her eagerness to come along.

Her job was the easiest of the three things to work around, since Vinyl had no intention of quitting, but Big Mac wasn’t too sure how Applejack—of heaven forbid, Granny—would respond to her plan to record her songs at Sweet Apple Acres. She certainly had the means to do it, of course, and probably knew how to do it too, but the whole idea was rather permanent, and Big Mac suspected his sister and grandmother would take issue with the lyrics of her songs besides. After several long debates, he was able to get her down to taking a vacation from her job, and seeing how things went before she dropped any amount of bits down to set up a recording studio.

Similarly, Big Mac had to spend an not-insignificant amount of time to talk Vinyl out of selling her place.

“Vinyl, what if you don’t like it in Ponyville?” Big Mac had said, a few nights after he had decided to go home. “If you sell this place, where would you live?”

“I can always get a new place, if push comes to shove.”  Vinyl had shrugged nonchalantly, before she had curled up beside him on the bed, pushing her muzzle into the side of his neck. “But I’m optimistic.”

Big Mac had frowned and pulled her a little closer, electing an approving murmur from Vinyl, even though he didn’t act any further on it. It didn’t strike him as a particularly convincing argument for why she should get rid of her place—than an idea had struck him.

“What about all your stuff,” Big Mac had waved his hoof around the room, at the walls and the things on them. There were all kinds of golden records—apparently a tradition in ‘show biz’—as well as her dresser and drawers. “How are you going to move it all?”

“Well,” Vinyl had lifted her head up off his body and blushed faintly, “I was hoping you’d help me move…”

“I’d be happy to, but, we’ll have to walk a fair ways to get to Ponyville, I’m not sure I can pull a load like this all this way—never mind the shippin’ costs and all.” That hadn’t been completely true, he probably could have hauled her whole life down to Ponyville without breaking much of a sweat, but just because he could didn’t mean he wanted to. Celestia knows if he tried it, he’d probably just injure himself again too. Thank goodness he wasn’t the Element of Honesty.

Still, it was a solid enough argument that Vinyl had relented and in the end only brought along a couple of suitcases of clothing—and assorted musician related materials. Big Mac had no problem hauling that for her, which was probably a good thing because before the two of them had made it halfway to Ponyville from Canterlot, the mare was already looking worn out. That worried him a fair amount—she clearly had never done any real hard work in her life. Most unicorns hadn’t, that was just the way of things, but Vinyl seemed to be particularly out of shape, even if it didn’t show physically. They took a fair number of breaks, therefore, and the sun was nearly down by the time they reached the outskirts of Ponyville.

Ponyville was no Canterlot, and once the night fell, most ponies got indoors and stayed there, but that didn’t mean they didn’t work and play hard right up until it did, even as they fast approached winter. That wasn’t unusual or unexpected. What was unexpected, though,, was how many ponies had apparently noticed he had been missing.

“Hey there, Big Mac!” Golden Harvest waved her hoof at him as they passed her on the street, and Big Mac had returned the wave with one of his own. “I haven’t seen you here in a while.”

“Been out of town,” Big Mac commented, although he didn’t elaborate further—not that any pony expected particularly long responses out of him, of course.

As he wove his way through the town, the greetings were mostly the same, and his replies—when he didn’t just nod in acknowledgement—were mostly the same too. He just found it surprising so many ponies had even noticed he was gone. For some reason it made him feel happy, and a bit bashful.

Vinyl noticed too, but for different reasons: “Geez, it’s like I’m invisible—you can still see me, right Big Mac?” Vinyl added with a hint of mock-worry in her voice.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac chuckled, “must be those glasses, no pony recognizes you without’em.” That wasn’t really true, though. Vinyl hadn’t worn her glasses at all on the train or in Canterlot, and more than once a pony or two had come up and spoke to her or asked for an autograph. He hoped Ponyville wasn’t giving her the impression that the place was backwards or something, although after seeing Manehatten, he knew full well it was certainly on the small side.

Still, even with all the interruptions and well wishes, the two of them made it out of Ponyville in good time, before the sun set. It didn’t take long before they were surrounded by apple trees—although they were all bare of leaves and apples now, of course. Having lived on Sweet Apple Acres almost his whole life though, Big Mac knew the trees by scent.

Still, he wished Vinyl’s impression of the place had been during the height of apple season, not a bunch of dead trees. He would have pointed them out regardless, if it weren’t for the growing shadows and the chill that came with it. Big Mac wasn’t particularly bothered by the cold, of course, but Vinyl was shivering almost as soon as the sun set. They probably could have stopped and let Vinyl pull out something warm from her bags, but she seemed content just to press her flank against his as they walked.

Finally though, they crested the final curve in the road, and there was the barn and farmhouse, just as he remembered them, bathed in the orange light of the sunset. Before he knew what he was doing, Big Mac surged forward, breaking into a gallop and closing the last stretch of road between him and the gate in a manner of seconds. He didn’t mean to leave Vinyl literally in his dust, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it now. At the gate, he slowed to a trot, and finally a slow walk. Then he stopped completely at the threshold, looking in.

He wanted to step forward, but part of him was reluctant—he had left this place, would his family accept him back? Big Mac had known those worries would trouble him eventually, but up until now he had managed to shove them off into the future, occupying his mind with conversation with Vinyl or packing bags… now he stood at the gate to Sweet Apple Acres looking in and it felt like he was—

“BIG BROTHER!”

The high pitched squeal of delight cut Big Mac’s thoughts off abruptly, and before he had time to think, something small, yellow, and very excited slammed into his forelegs like an arrow into an oak tree. The tackle, as enthusiastic as it was, wasn’t nearly powerful enough to knock him off his hooves or even rock him, but it didn’t matter—it could only be one pony: Apple Bloom.

“You’re back!” His legs muffled Apple Bloom’s voice, and her grip prevented him from moving much, but Big Mac managed to shift his right leg out enough that he could return the hug. Perhaps not as tightly, but return it nevertheless. “Are… are you back for good?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac smiled down at the filly, even if she couldn’t see it.

“I missed you so much,” Apple Bloom’s grip somehow got a bit tighter.

“Missed you too, Apple Bloom.”

“What’s all this yellin’ about,” Big Mac looked up in time to see Applejack putting her hat back on her head as she stepped out of the kitchen door. Apple Bloom must have been taking slop to the pigs or something—a chore she probably should have done before sitting down to eat. It only took Applejack a moment to spot him, and she froze.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and truthfully, Big Mac felt a bit frozen too. Then Applejack trotted over to them at a measured pace.

“Well, lookit what the cat dragged in,” Applejack’s voice wavered a bit, and as she got closer, Big Mac thought he could see tears in her eyes—although it probably was just a trick of the light, he was sure. Just like the light was messing with his eyes too, making everything watery looking. “I didn’t…”

“Applejack!” Apple Bloom tore herself away from Big Mac’s leg—much to his relief—and spun to face her older sister. “Big Mac says he’s come back! To stay! Isn’t that great?”

“This true, Big McIntosh?” Applejack asked, and Big Mac had a fleeting impression she was trying to channel the sternness of their mother, and failing horribly at it. “You back to stay?”

“I belong here,” Big Mac shook his head, “it was good to get out and clear my head, helped me realize it was the truth.”

“Well, of course you belong here!” Applejack surged forward; this time Big Mac was ready for the hug and returning it wasn’t nearly as awkward. “I’m glad you’re back, Big Mac, it ain’t been the same without ya around.” Applejack paused squeezed him a bit tighter. “I reckon that—” Applejack’s body went rigid for a second, and turning his ears, he could hear Vinyl finally approaching. Big Mac wasn’t sure if she had given him the space on purpose, or because she just didn’t have the energy in her to keep pace with him after the long journey.

Applejack pulled back, and Big Mac sidestepped so he could see both mares as Vinyl came to a stop a bit behind where he was standing.

“Who’s this?” Applejack asked bluntly, eyeing Vinyl skeptically. Vinyl gave her a nervous looking grin, which in Big Mac’s opinion just made her look skittish. Apple Bloom half-hid between Applejack’s legs as she got a good look at the stranger too, but Big Mac had no intention of letting the awkward silence go on for too long.

“Applejack, Apple Bloom, this is Vinyl Scratch,” Big Mac said, gesturing towards the unicorn, “She’s my, uh,” Big Mac’s mouth went dry, “my marefriend.”

Applejack’s eyebrows got lost in the brim of her hat as they shot straight up, and Big Mac’s face adopted the same nervous grin as Vinyl’s.

“Really?” Apple Bloom said as the pause threatened to turn into another awkward silence.

“Uh, hi,” Vinyl said at last, “yeah, we’re, uh, dating.”

“Uh-huh,” Applejack said sceptically, but before she could say anything else on the subject, Apple Bloom shot out from under Applejack and started spinning and skipping excitedly, probably trying to take in all three of them at once.

“Macie’s got a marefriend, macie’s got a marefriend!” Apple Bloom half giggled and half sang, making Big Mac’s cheeks heat up—he glanced over at Vinyl, and noted she seemed to be handling it a bit better than he was—she was still blushing a bit, but mostly she just looked bemused.

“Stop that!” Applejack snapped, taking a heavy step forward and startling Apple Bloom out of her tizzy. “Don’t you dare make fun of your brother, Apple Bloom, that ain’t right, and you’re a better pony than that!”

Apple Bloom blushed and looked down at her hooves, and mumbled out something that Big Mac thought might have been an apology.

Applejack clearly took it as such; “Good. Now go finish your chores.”

“But I wanted to stay with Big Mac!” Apple Bloom whined, and glanced up at Big Mac pleadingly. Part of him wanted to let her stay, but he knew better than to contradict his sister. Besides, somepony had to feed the pigs.

“Don’t you whine at me missy!” Applejack said, sounding irritated. “If y'all had done it when you were supposed to, you wouldn’t be doin’ it now.” Then Applejack’s expression softened, along with her voice, “there’ll be plenty of time to catch up with your brother… and Miss Scratch here, once you’ve done your chores. If ya do them quickly, that is. You’ve got school tomorrow, don’t think I forgot.”

Apple Bloom tried to protest some more, but under Applejack’s hard stare, the little filly galloped off to do her chores, rather than fighting it. That’s when Applejack turned back to Big Mac and Vinyl.

“So you two are datin’?” Applejack asked; Big Mac wasn’t sure if she was angry or curious or… something else. “Been at it long?”

“Not too long,” Vinyl replied before Big Mac could, “Miss Applejack…” Vinyl’s voice trailed off and Big Mac could almost hear the gears grinding in her head. “Wait, are you—?”

“That Applejack?” The mare said dryly, although Big Mac thought he detected a hint of pleasure in her voice too. “Eeyup. Don’t put much stock in it though, I’m just a regular mare, work hard, live right, that’s me.”

“You’re a hero,” Vinyl breathed, and Big Mac found himself chuckling—it was a bit odd hearing Vinyl speak in a tone of voice he had heard her fans use with her all day. He thought he had kept it quiet, but Vinyl must have heard since she shot him a hard glance. “I thought you said you didn’t really know any of the Elements.”

“Uh, well,” Big Mac shuffled his hoof against the dirt, “I didn’t want you to just see me as her brother, is all.”

“No pony thinks you’re ‘just’ my brother, Big McIntosh,” Applejack shook her head, “but enough of this, let’s get inside. It’s getting cold out here, and the dinner inside’s getting cold too.”

Big Mac’s stomach rumbled in concert with Vinyl’s, and they shared a sheepish grin at each other.

“I don’t suppose there’s food to spare for the two of us?” Big Mac asked hopefully.

His question was rewarded with Applejack’s muzzle splitting into a huge, happy grin. “Well, of course there is! There’s always enough for family—” Applejack shot Vinyl a glance “—and friends! There’s plenty, come on, I’ll serve you a plate or two.”

“If it’s not too much of a bother, do you think I could wash up first?” Vinyl said, glancing down at herself. Now that he was looking for it, her normally white coat was really more of a dull brown now; he was caked in dust too, of course, but it didn’t bother him nearly as much. “We’ve both been traveling all day.”

“Well, I don’t know if we can whip you up a bath real quick, but y'all welcome to jump in the pond, if you like. Mite cold, mind you, but it’ll wake you up, that’s for sure.” Applejack said, vaguely gesturing towards the small body of water in question. “Probably for the best, Granny wouldn’t be happy if you tracked dirt all over the house.”

“The pond?” Vinyl sounded more or less incredulous, and she looked as sceptical as she sounded.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac nodded, “I’ll be right with ya, Vinyl, don’t worry.”

Vinyl stared at him for a moment, before shrugging and trotting off towards the pond, leaving Big Mac alone with his sister for the first time in too long.

“So…” Applejack chewed her lip as she watched Vinyl dip her hoof in the pond—only to withdraw it with a yelp. “You’ve gone and got yourself a marefriend…”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed, not bothering to meet his sister’s eyes, “just sort of happened, you know…”

“And she’s movin’ in with us?”

Big Mac hesitated, and he was glad it was only the two of them here. For a moment, he watched Vinyl, thinking over his answer. It wasn’t really a simple yes or no question, not if he was going to be honest with himself. “I don’t know.” Big Mac said finally, “for the short term, she’ll be staying with us. Not sure if it’ll work out.” Big Mac glanced sidelong at Applejack, “Farm life ain’t for everypony, just like Manehatten isn’t for everypony. But we’re willin’ to give it a shot.”

“I understand,” Applejack’s eyes met his own, and she smiled again, “glad you’re home, Big Mac.” Her smile turned into a smirk. “I take it, by staying with us, you mean she’ll be stayin’ in your bedroom?”

“Uh,” Big Mac blushed; he hadn’t really thought much about that, actually. The farmhouse had more rooms, of course, but most of them weren’t really set up for guest. They didn’t have time to maintain guest rooms when they weren’t expecting company. But they probably couldn’t put anything together before it was time for bed—and he suspected Vinyl might object to them sleeping in separate bedrooms. Hoo boy. Big Mac thought to himself. “Guess so.”

The implications didn’t bother Applejack, of course, although her smirk got deeper and her eyes twinkled with humour. “Big Mac’s got a marefriend, Big Mac’s got a marefriend…” She half-whispered, half sang under her breath. Then she return to her normal ‘all business’ self. “Right, well, you better show your mare how we Apples bath, or else y'all won’t get nothin’ to eat tonight.” Applejack turned to go, before glancing over her shoulder at Big Mac with a grin. “And no foolin’ around, I know how you colts can get, so I’m warning ya now.”

Big Mac rolled his eyes as he started towards the pond and a rather skittish looking Vinyl. It was good to be back.

**

While he had had been gone, the work hadn’t stopped needing to be done, and when Big Mac finally rested up and was ready for it, there was plenty for him to do around the farm. There was the usual; fixing tools, pruning trees, managing the stocks of apples and so on. Apple Bloom had apparently tried her hoof at cooking while he had been gone, and managed to scorch the stovetop something fierce—and he had to clean it off. Not that he minded, it was good, honest work. However, in addition to all the normal sorts of work on Big Mac’s plate, he also had to teach Vinyl a few things about life on the farm.

Pretty quickly, it became clear that Vinyl didn’t have any idea what to do, or how to do it, and since the weather pegasi had scheduled a shorter winter than normal, there wasn’t a whole lot of time to teach her everything. Not that he was sure she’d stick around long enough to ever put that knowledge to good use.

To that end, though, Big Mac spent a far chunk of his morning setting up the practice tree. The tree had been in the family since Granny was a filly, although Big Mac wasn’t sure where exactly it came from; long since dead, they kept the tree in one of the barns so they could practice on it and keep their legs strong and their aim true when the apple trees weren’t ready to be harvested. Practicing and training; He had learned to buck trees on the old girl, just as Applejack did, and Apple Bloom was starting to, and now, so would Vinyl.

When he was satisfied it was ready, he went and found Vinyl. Easier said than done, because if she wasn’t watching him work—not that he minded—she was often all over the place, either talking with Applejack or Granny or just wandering the property. He found her eventually, and invited her back to the barn. Vinyl seemed rather eager, but it wasn’t until they were halfway there that Big Mac realized it might be because she was getting the wrong impression as to why he was inviting her to the barn in the first place.

“Here it is,” Big Mac said as he pushed the barn door open with his shoulder, letting Vinyl slip into the barn before he hauled the door shut with his teeth. Even as an Earth pony, after working—and sweating—in the barn most of the morning, the chill was particularly cutting and he had no desire to experience it further.

Big Mac turned around, only to find himself kissing Vinyl. It wasn’t unexpected, and it certainly wasn’t unwanted, but after a couple of minutes of enjoying one another, Big Mac gently pushed her away. “That ain’t why I asked you out here, Vinyl.”

“I—” Whatever Vinyl was about to say died on her lips, “Oh. Um, so…?”

Wordlessly, Big Mac gestured to the tree behind her. The practice tree, he reckoned, had at one time been an apple tree itself, but it had long since died and dried out. It sat in a pot—well, more of a tub, really—and the tub sat in a hole he had dug in the ground. There weren’t any leaves on the tree branches of course, and more than one branch had snapped off due to age and abuse. Nor were there any apples; rather, Big Mac had spent the morning hanging baubles—normally used for decorating around Hearth Warming’s Eve—on most of the branches where a pony would expect to see an apple growing. Finally, he had set up a bunch of baskets around the base of practice tree, to catch the faux apples.

All in all, Big Mac was rather proud of himself. Normally it took forever to set up, and he had to get Applejack’s help, but he had decided to do it all on his own. He sort of was hoping to surprise his sister when Vinyl could buck trees with the best of the family, and Applejack was more than a little bit sceptical that Vinyl wasn’t going to be gone within a week. She didn’t mean nothing by it, of course, but she did have a way of being blunt.

“The he—hay,” Vinyl grimaced and for once, didn’t swear. That actually hadn’t been any of Big Mac’s doing. If anything, he wished Granny hadn’t come down so hard on the mare when she caught Vinyl cussing. “The hay is this? Some sort of Hearth Warming’s Eve tree or something?” Vinyl glanced at him with a teasing gleam in her eye, “you know that’s weeks away, right?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac chuckled, “nah, this is a so you can learn to buck an apple tree.”

“Oh,” Vinyl looked up at the tree thoughtfully, before lighting her horn up. Several of the bauble s lit up too, reminding Big Mac of how Twilight had helped clear the trees a few weeks past. Although Vinyl didn’t have her magic gripping nearly as many. Vinyl quickly pulled them off the tree and set them into the baskets below, before returning to the next bunch. It was impressive, sure, but that wasn’t the point.

“Stop.” Big Mac didn’t bother raising his voice, and besides, he wasn’t really angry. “Ya got to buck the tree, not use your magic.”

“What?” Vinyl let her magic evaporate, causing the bauble s currently held in it to drop to the floor. “Why not?”

“Just how we do it here,” Big Mac said, scuffing his hoof against the barn floor and nudging one of the fake apples back towards the basket. “Apples have always kicked the trees to get the apples out of them.”

“But…” Vinyl bit her lip and glanced at the tree’s branches above her. “I could just use my magic. I don’t know if I could buck a tree hard enough to get it to drop its apples anyway.”

Big Mac shifted uncomfortably; he didn’t really want to tell her not to use her magic, for Vinyl, as with most unicorns he suspected, her magic was part of her life. It’d be like telling a pegasus she couldn’t fly. And he didn’t want to make it harder for her than it already was for her. On the other hoof, though. “I know that, but just imagine how much more impressed Applejack and Granny will be if you show up and just buck the trees?”

Vinyl chewed her lip and glanced at the tree again, before sighing heavily. “Alright, I guess I’ll try it.” Vinyl smiled at him, “think you could show me how it’s done, Big Stuff?”

“Eeyup.” Big Mac got into position with his hind legs facing the trunk of the dead tree, and pictured in his head the right place to hit it. It wasn’t about strength, although strength helped, it was all about having a knack for the tree, knowing where to hit it. Every tree was different, of course, but he had practiced on this one so much he felt sort of like he was cheating as he lined up against the sweet spot. When he was sure he had it, he quickly kicked out with both his hind legs, grunting as his hooves connected against the trunk. He could almost feel the power flowing out of him and into the trunk.

A second later, all the ‘fruit’ dropped into the baskets.

“Wow,” Vinyl commented as Big Mac turned to look at her. “that’s impressive.”

He just shrugged and trotted over to where he had left the stepladder, since he’d have to re-hang everything now, but when he turned around, he was treated to the sight of half the baubles being back on the branches. Vinyl was using her magic to reset the tree, and for a brief moment, he almost considered telling her not to bother—her magic was more than enough. But in the end he settled for just watching.

“So I stand like this?” Vinyl adopted a stance sort of like he had done just a few minutes before, but it wasn’t completely right.

“Almost,” Big Mac trotted over and started tapping her legs and gently guiding her into the proper position. He lined her up just so her kick would connect with the right spot of the tree—he’d teach her how to identify that later, once she got the motion down. When he was satisfied she was ready, he stepped back and nodded to her.

“Here goes nothing!” Vinyl shifted her weight, and lashed out against the tree with her rear hooves. And screamed. As she struck the tree, her left hoof had missed, more or less, and her right hoof hit the tree at a bad angle.

“Fuck! FUCK!” Vinyl yelled as she hopped back and forth, holding her injured leg out from her body as if she was trying to get away from the pain. “SHIT!”

“Calm down!” Big Mac ordered as he hurried forward. As gently as he could, he took Vinyl’s right back leg in his hooves and examined the injury. It wasn’t nearly as bad as he had first though, but it looked sprained. Still probably hurt a lot though.

“Wait here, and keep it elevated,” Big Mac told Vinyl as he kicked a bale of hay towards her so she’d have somewhere to sit. Vinyl nodded through gritted teeth, and he went off to find the medical kit.

When he finally got to dressing it, Big Mac was completely convinced it wasn’t that bad, but he still gave her a pill for the pain just to be nice, then carried her back to the house on his back. Granny gave him a quizzical look, but he didn’t offer any explanation as he laid Vinyl down on the couch. He hoped it wouldn’t take too long for her to heal up, and he hoped it wouldn’t put her off trying again next time.

He brought his concerns up later that evening, and she certainly didn’t seem to be too put off what had happened.

“It was my own fault, Big Stuff,” Vinyl said with a shrug. Or at least what passed for a shrug when the two of them were lying in his bed. Unlike Vinyl’s bed back in Manehatten, his own bed wasn’t exactly built for two, and it was kind of a tight squeeze, if not a necessarily unpleasant one. “I just kicked it too hard, didn’t really do it right.”

Big Mac did his best to refrain from agreeing with her. “I should have helped you a lot more than I did.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Vinyl smiled, and the conversation moved on from there to a more physical type of conversation.

Still, by the time Big Mac rolled over and tried to get to sleep, he suspected Vinyl wasn’t completely happy.

**

When Market Day rolled around, Big Mac knew for absolute certain that Vinyl wasn’t happy living at Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn’t an unexpected thing, really, but deep down he found it still hurt.

Even though Vinyl’s leg hadn’t completely healed, she had insisted she be allowed to tag along when Big Mac took the latest bushels of apples to the market, not that any pony minded. There wasn’t a whole lot to do back at the farm on Market Day, and Vinyl couldn’t do any of it to begin with, so letting her come along seemed like a good idea, even if she eventually ended up climbing into the wagon itself alongside the apples.

Once they got there, though, she was more than helpful setting up the stand, and even Applejack seemed to be impressed with the way she managed to cut bargains with customers. Everypony seemed to be fairly interested in the fact that he had a marefriend now—much to his embarrassment—and everypony who stopped by exchanged a few words even if they weren’t buying, which was nice.

Around noon, Applejack went off to find her friends for the rest of the day, leaving him and Vinyl to manage the stand. That’s when Big Mac realized Vinyl wasn’t happy.

It was a subtle thing, really, one he probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t gotten to know Vinyl so intimately. When she talked to ponies, she’d perk right up, her smiles seemed a bit brighter and her eyes were a bit more excited. She had missed being social, he guessed, and as Lyra wandered by with her harp, she seemed a bit excited—and pleased when Big Mac tossed her a couple of bits.

However, he had to wait until Apple Bloom got out of school before he confronted Vinyl about it. Thankfully, the filly was more than eager to mind the stand, if only for a few minutes.

“Really?” Apple Bloom cantered in a tight circle excitedly, like Winona chasing her tail. “You mean it?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac was already having second thoughts about it. Some days Apple Bloom seemed mature, other days, she seemed… less so. He had a sneaking suspicion that today was going to be one of the latter days. The best he could hope for, he worried, was that the stand would still be in once piece when they got back. Thankfully, they didn’t need to go too far to have some measure of privacy. “Come on, Vinyl.”

“Nice to sit down,” Vinyl commented as Big Mac helped her lie down on a grass knoll across from the market. He could sort of still see the Apple stand out of the corner of his eye, which brought him some measure of comfort, but he really didn’t want to divert his attention too much. “So why’d you ask me out here? I don’t know Apple Bloom very well, but isn’t she a bit young to watch the stand?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac sat down beside her and pressed his flank up against hers, thinking about what to say next. “You’re not happy on the farm, are ya, Vinyl?”

“Well of course I’m…” Vinyl’s voice trailed off as she saw the look Big Mac was giving her, and sighed heavily. “No, I guess not. I thought I could handle it, but… You’re all such strong ponies, even Apple Bloom, and she doesn’t even have her cutie mark yet. I guess I know how you felt, back in Manehatten.”

“Like you don’t belong.” Vinyl nodded and looked away for a second. Big Mac took the opportunity to press his nose into her ear for a moment.

“I wish I did, though, I want to…” Vinyl sounded a bit sad, and Big Mac turned her to face him before kissing her gently on her lips.

“I know you do, Vinyl, but if you stayed with me, can you think of any way it’d end where you wouldn’t one day wake up and resent me?” Big Mac asked her, trying to make his voice as kindly as possible. “I’ve seen it before, and I’d rather we part ways and still be friends, than for you to hate me—or I you.”

Vinyl frowned at him for a moment, as she considered his words, then gave him a sad looking smile. “For a farm pony who mucks around in the mud all day, you sure can be wise, Big Stuff.”

“I don’t know about that.” Big Mac shifted uncomfortably against Vinyl, and it was her turn to kiss him back. It lingered a bit longer, and it was a bit sweeter, in some ways, but it made him feel sad, rather than happy. He was going to miss this.

When they pulled back, though, Vinyl’s sad smile had transformed into a mischievous grin, though.  “But you know, I needn’t move far…”

**

“…She decided to get a small place in town, ya see, and we dated for a little while,” Big Mac said with a shrug, as Cheerilee pulled away from him, looking thoughtful. They had been laying on the bed so long, she moved kind of stiffly—a problem he suspected he’d experience once he got moving too. “On and off, you know. But she travels around so we broke it off eventually.”

Cheerilee grinned at him and pawed his chest with her hoof; “So, you… sing?”

“Well, like I said, not well,” Big Mac shook his head. That was a road he wasn’t going to go down. “It was foolishness, really, the whole thing.”

“I don’t believe that,” Cheerilee in a firm tone of voice, one that reminded Big Mac of when he was a colt in school and the teacher would take the same tone. “I’ve spoken to Vinyl Scratch before, you know, she came in a few months ago and gave a talk on music.” Cheerilee tilted her head a grinned at him. “She didn’t strike me as the sort of mare that would give out undue compliments, even to spare a pony’s feelings.”

“So?”

“So, if she said she thought it was good, maybe it was good?” Cheerilee pulled herself a bit closer and draped herself over Big Mac, with her nose touching his. “I don’t think it was a foolish thing either. I not even sure why you thought it was particularly shameful. I knew you dated Vinyl. She told me…” Cheerilee grimaced. “And Apple Bloom, if I’m being honest.”

“I ran away because I was jealous of my sister,” Big Mac shifted out from under Cheerilee and flexed his legs before standing up.

“But you came back, that’s what’s important,” Cheerilee pointed out, to which Big Mac just grunted. He had tried to tell himself as much, but when he was retelling the story, and refreshing his memory of it as he went, he couldn’t help but think he came back because Manehatten was making him uncomfortable, not because he felt truly guilty about leaving the farm. What if his song had done well? What if he had become successful? Might he not still be in Manehatten, crawling out of bed with Vinyl or some other pony? He hadn’t thought about his trip to Manehatten in a long time, and now he wished he hadn’t.

“I can guess what you’re thinking,” Cheerilee said after a moment of watching him stretch. She was lying sprawled out on the bed, with an expression that he could only describe as disappointment on her face.

“Is that so?” He sounded more irritated than he meant to, but there was no helping it—although truthfully he was more annoyed at himself than her.

“You’re thinking you didn’t come back for the right reasons,” Cheerilee hauled herself out of the bed and poked her hoof against his chest. “I can tell you right now that those reasons don’t matter nearly as much as the fact that you came home. Do you think Applejack really cares? Or Apple Bloom?”

Big Mac frowned at her, and then sighed heavily, “I guess you’re right.”

“’course I am,” Cheerilee’s determined expression broke into a gentle smile and leaned in to kiss him softly. “I’m your mare... Big Stuff.”

Big Mac blushed, and hoped she wasn’t going to call him that all the time like Vinyl did. Even though they hadn’t really done anything in over a year, whenever she saw him, she’d still teasingly call him that. One day Apple Bloom was going to ask him to explain it, and Celestia knows that wasn’t a conversation he was eager to have with his youngest sister. Or Applejack. Or anypony. Still, it was nice to have a special somepony again, and he certainly missed the more physical aspects of having a relationship…

So he kissed her back and enjoyed every second of it.

Then the wall clock chimed out the time.

“Thanks, Celestia,” Cheerilee muttered sarcastically as she abruptly pulled away and glanced at the smaller alarm clock by her bed. Big Mac glanced too, and knew it was time to go. Technically it was his day off, but he still had a few things back at the farm he wanted to take care of before bedding down. Maybe…

“Do you think we ought to tell her?” Big Mac asked softly, “we’ve been doing this behind everypony’s back for a while, and I’m kind of getting sick of it.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing honestly,” Cheerilee shook her head and helped him get back into his collar. “Maybe if the right time comes up and…”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac nodded, and turned towards the bedroom door. “See ya soon, snookie wookie?”

“Of course,” Cheerilee rolled her eyes dismissively, before giving him one last kiss before he trotted off. “Sooner, I’m hoping.”