Plowed Fields

Chapter 4 ‘The Dance’

A Big Mac Romance

The heat of the sun bore down on Mac as he finished the last few trees on the back forty. Jessica had sent an invitation to his two sisters, and he hoped that they would end up coming out. They could use the help, but more importantly he missed seeing them. He missed hearing Apple Bloom talk about the adventures she and the rest of the Crusaders went on. He missed Applejack fussing over the farm, and trying to make sure that everything went like clockwork. He stretched as he started to hook himself up to the wagon he had brought out with him.

“Mac?”

He looked up at the voice and saw a young human colt running toward him. he smiled and knelt down as the boy reached him and gave him a hug.

“Harold, your mama know you over here?” he asked.

“Yeah, her and Dad are still working,” he said.

Mac looked in the distance at the gated Corporate farm. He’d been over there once, walking Harold back, and it wasn’t run like a farm. The folks inside weren’t happy, and they didn’t seem to want to be there.

“How’s yer folks doin’?” he asked.

“Mama, she’s getting sick again. Daddy said he thinks it’s because she’s carrying me a baby brother or sister. Daddy sounded awful happy and sad about it,” Harold said.

“Why?” Mac asked.

“If Mama is going to have a baby she can’t work. If she can’t work we can’t make rent to live on the farm. We’d have to go back to the Stacks,” Harold said.

Mac had heard about the Stacks. Terrible places where bad things happened to good ponies. He had heard about some of those kinds of places in towns like Trottingham, and Neighyork, but it was far and few between back home. The way people talked about it here it was common place.

“Why don’t ya and ya folks come to supper?” he asked.

“Seriously?! That’d be awesome! Is Ms Jessica gonna make a peach pie?” he asked.

“I’ll ask her to. Go ahead and go tell yer folks,” Mac said.

He took off like a shot and ran toward the direction of the Corporate Farm. Mac walked inside and saw Jessica going through the process of making Peach Jelly and preserves. Another order from the Market, and it was one that he was glad they wanted.

“Jessica I invited Harold and his folks to supper,” he said.

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Mac shuffled his hoof and waited for her to finish with the jar she was working on. She did, and then she sealed it before putting it with the others she had already done.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Harold said his mama’s gonna have a foal, but it means they’re gonna have to move back to the stacks,” he said.

A look of understanding crossed her face. She had confided in him about her time in the stacks, and he had proved to be the stallion she knew he was. Now one of his new friends was faced with having to go back there.

“Is there anything we could do to help?” she asked.

“Dun know. Ah’d like to think there was, but Ah ain’t sur,” he said.

“Margret was talking about needing help with the market. They need some folks to work the local one while they make deliveries to their farm fresh grocery chain. Maybe Harold’s parents could talk to her. I can ask anyway,” Jessica said.

“Ya think that Margret and Frank would hire ‘em?” he asked.

“Well, they’ve worked for a corporate farm, so they’re not strangers to hard work. Harold isn’t a half starved little scarecrow, so they know how to budget, and I’ve never smelled anything on him that indicated his parents were into drugs, so I’d say there’s a pretty good chance they would,” she replied.

“Jessica, how do ya feel ‘bout a barn dance?” he asked.

“Okay, where did that come from?” she asked.

“‘Em folks are workin’ ‘emselves nearly to death over there. Though it’d be right of us ta give ‘em something relaxin’,” he said.

She leaned back and looked at the jars of Jelly she had already made. There was six flats ready. That was a full day of just mixing the gelling agent and the prepared peaches together, sealing, processing it, and letting it become the jelly it was supposed to. That didn’t include preparing the peaches, or sterilizing the jars. The order they had was for another ten flats, and that was realistically possible, by herself, in another two days. She had a week and a half left to finish them.

“Okay, but you’re going to help me finish up this order of jelly and peach preserves,” she said.

He nodded, and then watched as she got up, walked toward the small shelf that held several cookbooks and she pulled off one he had seen, but never seen her get down before. She looked at it, closed her eyes, and then opened it.

“Okay Granny, you said that everything you ever learned about get-togethers, barn-raisings, barn-dances, and family reunions is in here,” she said as she began looking through it. After a moment she stopped and then took note about what they had.

“Okay, we can do this. We’re gonna need some washtubs, tables, materials for cakes, extra materials for pies, and we need to make sure to have enough for about forty people,” she said.

They both looked at what they had. There was no denying that they would need flour for the pie shells, and cake, and then there was frosting. Jessica could remember her Granny making home made frosting for birthday cakes, cupcakes, and the like, but it was something she hadn’t quite mastered. They were going to need to get some pre-made frosting, and that meant a trip into town. She looked at the time and saw that she would need to start supper pretty soon. There wouldn’t be anyway they could get to town and back before dark.

The Corporate Farms had an open Company Store, that they even opened to the precious few private landowners, but everything there was four times the cost it was in Leona Valley. It wasn’t like they were going to throw the barn dance tonight. She could go into town after she and Big Mac prepared the jelly and preserves. Having decided on what to do she finished putting the last bit of what she had made into the jar, sealed it, and placed it into the pot where she was finishing out the last six. She got the pot to boiling and then turned to Big Mac.

“As soon as these finish we’ll put these flats away, and then we’ll get started on supper. Did Harold want anything special?” she asked.

“He asked if’n you’d fix a peach pie,” Mac said.

She smiled at that thought. The boy could eat an entire peach pie by himself. She’d watched him take two of the biggest slices she’d ever seen and was completely content with them. Still, she needed to make sure that she fixed something they would all like. So, one peach pie, maybe two would be on the menu. She already had a pot of beans cooking in the slow cooker, so there was the main course, and she could fix a loaf of corn bread to go with it. The potatoes were another thing. Beans didn’t taste right if there wasn’t any fried potatoes to go with them, and Mac could eat an entire platter of fried potatoes. She had about four good sized potatoes to make home fries with, but not enough for everyone. She didn’t mind skipping on the fries, but there was still the problem that Harold’s parents might not get enough.

She considered it for a moment and then a smile came to her face. It’d be more desert, but she could make peach fritters. Mac liked them, just as much as the potatoes, and he’d eat those in the stead of the potatoes. Grinning she got to work, and felt two big hands on her waist. She leaned against the stallion behind her.

“Ya ain’t mad are ya?” Mac asked.

“No, I’m not mad Mac. You’ve got a good heart, and it’s kind of to invite them. We’ll get a good supper cooked up for them, and invite them to stay the night if they don’t want to walk home,” she said.

“Reckon some of those trouble makers are out?” he asked.

“The world’s full of them, but they don’t really come out into the rural areas much. Most of what’s out here is Corporate Farms, and they know that the corporations that own those farms don’t mess around,” she replied.

That was something else Mac had heard about. The owners of those Corporate Farms didn’t wait for someone to explain themselves. If they came into the farm armed, or had attacked someone, they were dealt with quickly. Harold had told him that he had heard about it from some of the other human foals. They talked about how somepony was trying to make somepony else let them into the farm by holding one of the workers against their will. The guards had ended up dealing with them both.

“Still hard ta believe,” he said.

She leaned against him, enjoying the closeness they shared. Ever since she had opened up to him, confessed what had happened, and let him help her she could feel herself becoming more and more comfortable. She wanted things to work between them. More than that she needed them to work between them.

“Mac… I… I think that I’m…” she started before he pulled her tight against his bare chest.

She loved the feel of his fur, even when he’s been working all day and gotten sweaty he felt soft.

“I feel the same way,” he said.

“Are you ever going to let me say it?” she asked.

“When yer actually ready ta, and not before,” he replied.

gentle didn’t even begin to describe Mac. He was more than gentle. He was kind, sweet, and amazing. She looked at the dishes she was cooking, checked the timer and saw that it was time to put the rest of the jars with the last flat. She flicked off that burner, used her tongs, and got the last six jars out. She quickly dried them off, and Big Mac moved them quickly, partly because he didn’t think about how hot they were, to the flat.

“Go ahead and take those to the basement if you don’t mind, and I’ll get to finishing up supper,” she said.

She watched him lifting the flats up, carrying them to the basement door, and then working around to opening it. It amazed her how strong he was, and yet how she barely felt it when he was with her. His hands which could be as hard as steel were as gentle and soft as crushed velvet with her. She smiled, went back to the potatoes, fritters, and pie she was making.

Time seemed to slip away as she cooked, and a little after an hour there was a knock at the door. Big Mac, who had come back up the stairs and helped with the cooking, walked over and opened it to reveal the dark haired boy and his two parents. She smiled and offered them all a seat. Both of Harold’s parents looked ragged. She smiled and offered them both a glass of lemonade. They accepted, and she watched them.

Stephanie, his mother, looked extremely tired. She remembered meeting the woman when they first came here from the stacks. She had looked pretty, but it was obvious that she was used to living as poor as possible. Still, it was somewhat of a surprise to see someone coming from the stacks who didn’t look like death warmed over. Stephanie’s long blond hair, green eyes, and lightly tanned skin was a contrast to the normal sunken eyes, pale skin, and miles of track marks, or missing teeth from meth use, and her husband Robert was much like her.

He had looked healthy, and possibly a fourth or tenth, Irish descent. Now his coppery red hair, was shorter than ever, his green eyes looked sunken, and the hope, precious hope she had seen when they first arrived was long gone. They both looked like they had accepted that this was the way the world was.

“Thank you kindly for inviting us to supper,” Robert said.

“It’s fine, and I thought that I might ask how things are going,” Jessica replied.

“Our quotas have been upped from last month. We managed to actually reach quota, and so they didn’t dock our pay, but now they want twice as much. The only way to do it is to double our shifts… We’re already working ten hour work days. It’s that or we make the children work in the fields as well,” Stephanie said.

Mac looked at her and she nodded.

“If you guys are interested I know the owners of the Farm Fresh grocery chain, and they’re looking for someone to run the local Farmer’s Market. I’m not sure what the living arrangements would be, but the work wouldn’t be nearly as hard as what you’re doing now,” Jessica said.

Robert looked at her, then at Mac, and then back at her.

“Is there a catch?” he asked.

She looked at him with a questioning glance.

“I’m serious, is there a catch? Is there something you want, or that you,” he said pointing to Mac, “want to make this happen?”

“No, yer ma and Jessica’s friends. We wanna make sur that the two of ya are happy,” Big Mac said.

No sooner had those words left his mouth than Stephanie jumped up and wrapped her arms around him. I watched as she hugged the stallion she wasn’t sure of before tightly. He gently returned it and then let her break away from him.

“When could we find out?” Robert asked.

“We’re going to be delivering a load of peach jelly and preserves to the market in about a week. I can ask her then, or if we get finished early I can ask her when we get there,” Jessica said.

“How much more do you got to do?” Robert asked.

“About ten flats,” Jessica replied.

“Stephanie, do you feel like working tonight?” he asked.

“I do if you do,” she replied.

Jessica smiled, shook her head.

“If you two want to help do them that’s fine, but sleep tonight. It looks like you could use a real bed, and some real sleep. Tomorrow we’ll get to cracking on it, and if we’re lucky we might get through with them. If you want to ride over with me and Mac I can introduce you to Margret and we can go from there,” she said.

The nodded, and she watched as something returned to their eyes. Something that had been gone when they arrived here. Hope was there. Hope of getting out of the near slave labor they were in. The night progressed, and she watched as Harold put away more pie than anything else. Stephanie and Robert both ate a decent serving of beans, cornbread, and home fries, and like she expected Mac put away the fritters. he actually beat her great Uncle Michael’s old standing record. The lot of them headed off, and she showed them and Harold to two separate rooms. Harold was excited to get his own room, and she knew that it was going to give Stephanie and Robert a chance to be husband and wife without worrying about Harold being in there.

She walked toward her room and stopped. This wasn’t where she wanted to be. Sure, it was the master bedroom, but it wasn’t Mac’s bed room. She started to walk toward his room, when she realized how badly she most likely stunk. She walked toward her bedroom, pulled off her jeans, panties, gray t-shirt, and sports bra. She grabbed a New York Rangers’ Hockey Jersey. Once she was done with that she walked into her bathroom and started the shower. She felt low pressure and realized that someone else, Mac, was taking a shower as well.

She began washing using the soaps she had noticed he liked. Tea Tree Oil shampoo for the peppermint smell for her hair, Dove Lavender for her skin, and finally when she felt clean she stepped out and dried her hair, and body. She pulled the hockey jersey on, and looked to make sure that it fell down between her thighs. Grinning she walked out, closed her bedroom door and walked into Mac’s room.

She saw him facing away from her. It was the first time she had ever seen him nude before.

~~~~~Clop Starts Here~~~~~

The well defined muscles of his back and legs moved and flexed eveningly and smoothly. It was like watching a living piece of art as he faced his bed. She could tell that he had just straightened it, and she couldn’t help, but notice the way he was checking over it, bending over slightly, giving her a full view of his stallionhood. Even flaccid it was impressive. She wasn’t sure why, but she had half expected it to look more along the lines of a normal horses.

Instead it looked surprisingly human. Granted like a human who had never been circumcised, but it looked human. It also looked somewhat threatening in its sheer size. She gathered up her courage, closed the door behind her, and caused him to turn around. He looked at her, his hands moving to cover himself. She walked toward him, taking one of his hands and putting it between her breasts.

“I love you. I’m ready to say it, and I’m ready for something else. I trust you Mac, and I want to be with you,” she said.

She leaned up to him, catching his mouth in a kiss. His other hand left from covering himself to moving under her shirt. She felt him feeling the shape of her ass, moving to her lower back, and then she felt his mouth moving from hers to her neck. She stepped back, pulled off her jersey, and let it fall to the floor. From there they moved to the bed. To her surprise he kissed down her, stopping to gently suckle at her breasts. He kissed down further until she felt his tongue moving around her mound. She could feel it slipping inside, spreading her gently open, making her squirm. He stayed there, working on her, making her squirm, and causing her to moan deeply. Finally he moved up her and she felt him touching her.

“Do ya want to?” he asked.

Even now, he was gentle, and she loved him for it. She nodded, and she felt him pushing forward. He went slow, pushing into her, giving her time to adjust, and she felt the thickness of him as he filled her. Inch by inch he kept going until he was completely sheathed inside of her. She let out a soft moan as he pulled back, and her hips rolled forward, He pushed forward and met her. Once more she let out a moan of pleasure.

He lasted about four minutes the first time, and it was well over two and half hours later when they lay beside each other covered in sweat.

“I love you Jessica,” he said.

“I love you too Mac, I love you too,” she replied.

Author's Note

(And Jessica finally got over some major issues. If you’re wondering about what she got over, go check out An Apple in a Bushel of Peaches. This was a longer chapter for the two of them, but I felt that it should be. The next chapter is going to be a fun one. Expect a visit from the bruiser from the corporate Farm as he tries to intimidate Big Mac.

Again, thanks for reading and commenting.

LF)