Blue Acres

Chapters

Taking a nap is hard work.
Beep, Beep. I'm a cloud.
Meet the Musician
Fake Dates And Real Dates
Dealing with the family
Singing the Blues
The truth comes out.
Epilogue: And then they... [Warning: Clop]

Taking a nap is hard work.

Rainbow Dash lay upon a cloud, stomach down, her wings were stretched out to soak up as much of the sun’s warmth as possible. The nice thing about days like these, where there wasn’t much work, is that you could send your crew to do it while you get a well deserved nap. It was good to be the captain.

“Captain Dash, ma’am?”

Can’t a mare take a nap in peace?

Dash opened her eyes to get a look the one interrupting her sleep. The pegasus had a dark blue coat as well as a dark purple and black mane that as held out of her face by a plastic headband..

Great, the new filly.

She was a fresh recruit, but she did live up to her name and weather based cutie mark. It was nice having someone around that didn't need a lot of supervision but she also had the habit of getting a bit over excited. Dash could still remember the squee of joy she gave over Dash's sonic rainboom, among other things.

“Storm Chaser, what is it?”

“I just wanted to report that we finished the morning rain session and cleared the sky. Is there anything else you want us to do today or is that it?”

Dash yawned and sat up. “Why? You in a rush or something?”

“Yep,” replied Storm Chaser with a cheerful tone. “Miss Rarity has been really busy the last couple weeks, but today she’s finally open for new custumers again. I need a new cloak and I want to get to her quickly before she gets swarmed with new work. I’m just really excited because everything she makes is so beautiful.”

Rainbow shuddered as she remembered that Celestia awful thing Rarity tried to make her wear before the parasprites attacked the town. Not everything. She dismissively waved of her hoof, shooing the pegasus away. “Fine. Go on and get your new cloak thing.”

Storm Chaser, completely oblivious to Rainbow’s lack of interest, swooped in and hugged Dash. “You are the coolest boss ever.”

Rainbow just grinned. Of course I’m the coolest boss. Who else could be as cool as me? Well, ok, maybe Spitfire, but besides her it’s no contest. Storm finally let go of her. “Yes, I know I am. Now go before she starts going insane again from all the work.” Storm saluted her and took off.

Now, where was I? She lay back down and closed her eyes, just in time to hear a rickety old cart passing below her. “Horseapples,” she mumbled. She punched a hole through the cloud looked around for a bit.

The one main drawback when it came to sleeping on a cloud was that it moved. She had originally put it over an empty field, where she could get some peace and quiet, but the breeze had other ideas. Now the cloud hovered over the long dirt path between Sweet Apple Acres and the town. Ponies have often asked Dash why she slept in trees instead of always on a cloud; well, this is why.

The cart was being pulled by one stallion, while another walked along side it. The first one to catch Rainbow’s attention was the large red one, Big Macintosh. He was always pretty nice to her. One time while she was trying to perfect her Buccaneer Blaze move, she crashed on the edge of the farm and sprained one of her ankles as well as her left wing. He must have heard the crash, since he was on the scene pretty quickly. Big Mac gently loaded her onto his back and carried her all the way to Nurse Redheart, making sure to go slow and avoid any bumps along the way.

The other one was smaller and slightly effeminate looking. It was Caramel, a tan coated stallion with a brown tail. Rainbow knew that he occasionally worked for Apple family farm, usually with minor jobs that AJ and Big Mac were too busy to do. A memory from her trip to Apploosa popped up in her mind. There was a mare there that looked eerily similar to Caramel, including having the same cutie mark. Must have a sister or something.

Just as they passed directly below her, the left wheel hit a rock, cracked, and then fell off. She saw Big Mac just sit down and stare at Caramel. “Well, I did only say that it would probably make it through the delivery and back.” Caramel nervously rubbed his front hooves together. “I was almost right.”

Big Mac just sighed and undid his harness. “Ah don’t blame you. This cart has been needing a new axle and wheels for a while now.” He grabbed the wheel and tossed it on the back of the cart. “Ah have an idea. Caramel, strap yourself into the harness.”

As Caramel bent down to pick up the harness, Big Mac began to focus onto the brown colt's flank. His eyes lingered there for a few moments before he finally turned away.

Wait, what? Rainbow Dash shot back up to a sitting position. Did he just do what I think he did? Nah. AJ would have told me if Big Mac was a coltcuddler. We've known each other for years, there's no way she could have hid it from me for that long.

After looking back down, she saw Big Mac holding up the back corner of the cart while Caramel pulled it. She shrugged her shoulders and lay back down, which was followed by a lot of tossing and turning. “Screw it.”

Deciding that since she had nothing better to do, she bucked the cloud and took off towards the town.

****

The midday market was alive with activity. Nearly the whole town was there busying themselves with errands and shopping. Storm was leaving Rarity’s boutique, with a big smiled across her face. Rose had her flower stand set up around the middle. On the other side of the market, Dash spotted AJ at her stall. She gracefully floated down to the apple stand.

The country mare tipped her hat at Rainbow. “Howdy Rainbow, what can Ah do for ya?”

“I’ll just take an apple. One of the granny smith ones.” She placed a couple bits on the cart and AJ put the fruit in front of her. “Hey Applejack, I got a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Has Big Mac ever had a fillyfriend?”

Applejack placed her hoof to her chin and thought about for a moment. “You know, now that Ah think about it, no he hasn’t. Why do ya ask? Wait no, I get it.” She chuckled.

Rainbow cocked her head to the side. “Get what?”

“Now Rainbow, you don’t have to lie to me. I know how he helped ya the other week, so Ah can’t say this surprises me. You got a thing for him. I think ya’ll make for a fine couple and I’d be happy to have you in the Apple Clan. It'll be nice to have a mare that actually has the guts to ask him out, rather than trying to get me to set them up.”

“What?” Rainbow was frozen in place. She couldn't believe that Applejack would really think that. “Trust me Applejack, I don’t have a thing for your brother.”

“If you say so.”

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“Nope.”

"Whatever." Dash grunted, grabbed her apple and took off for home.

****

Dash had just finished her apple and sat down on her couch. She admitted to herself that if she were to ever try dating a colt again, it would probably be Big Mac. However, for the most part, her interest lay with mares.

She continued to think over what she saw earlier in the day. Is Big Macintosh a coltcuddler? It would explain why he's never dated anyone. Either way, it seemed obvious that AJ didn’t know and if AJ didn’t know, then he hadn’t told anyone yet.

Dash knew from firsthoof experience that being in the closet sucked. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted one of her comics. On the cover were two stallions staring at one another. The one on the right was mostly obscured by a large black cape and a mask with pointy ears covered his head. On the left was a pure white stallion with a green mane, a face covered with clown makeup and a blue flower with a knife coming out of it for a cutie mark.

What would Batcolt do to figure this out?

Beep, Beep. I'm a cloud.

The question had been bothering Rainbow all night. When morning finally came, she downed her morning coffee and shot out of her house like a bullet. She was a pegasus on a mission and nothing was going to stop her from discovering the truth. Well, almost nothing. She paused in the air and groaned, before returning to her home. A moment later she left the cloud mansion again, this time with holding a head of lettuce in her front legs.

Directly below her home was a dog house, surrounded by a fence. On the side the name Tank was painted on in bright green letters. Dash landed and whistled. “Come on boy. Time for breakfast.”

A small green head popped out from the door, looked at her and slowly smiled. Tank made his way out of the house and, after a wait that seemed way to long for the pegasus, got to his owner.

“Good boy.” Dash patted his shell. “I won’t be able to play with you today. Something came up.”

He simply stared at her and blinked.

“I know I said I would, but this is important.”

Blink.

“Don’t give me that look. I’ll take you over to Pinkie’s again soon so you can play with Gummy, ok?”

Blink.

“I… you can’t understand anything I’m saying, can you?”

Blink.

Should have gone with the bat.

“I’ll see you later.” She gave him little pat on the head and took off.

****

Dash realized that the first thing she needed for her plan was a proper disguise and for that, she only needed one thing. The one thing that every weather pony could create in an instant: a cloud. She swept over the town’s pond over and over again, collecting moisture each time. Within seconds she had created the perfect sized cloud for her to fit in.

****

A completely ordinary cloud, that oddly enough had a pair of blue wings sticking out of the top, now floated over the market area..

Rainbow peered down, through a hole in her cloud disguise, at her target: the large stallion running the apple stand. I’m going to watch you like a griffon. Memories of Gilda ran through Dash’s head, primarily the ones about her having freakishly good eyesight. Well, ok, maybe not like a griffon but like some bird creature. You can bet on that.

First minutes went by. Then a few hours slowly past. The longer she remained there, the slowly time seemed to go. She was now fidgiting in her cloud and mental commanding Big Macintosh to just give her the answer already. However, all she had learned about him was that he often said, “Eyup." Though she did discover that half the mares in town liked to ogle him when he wasn’t looking.

“This is boring.”

“Tell me about it." A sudden realization dawned on her, "What the hay?" Dash jumped up out of the cloud and saw a smiling pink pony on her Pinkicopter Mk. II. It was similar to the Mk I in most ways but this one did have a parachute attached to it. "Pinkie, what are you doing?”

“Pedaling.”

Dash, doing her best Tank impression, just blinked in response, she had long since grown used to Pinkie’s answers. If you wanted anything worthwhile out of that pony, you had to ask the exact right question.

“The better question is why are you pretending to be a cloud. It doesn’t seem very fun. Now, if you were a storm cloud instead of a regular one, then you could at least rain on stuff and shoot lightning. Now that would be fun.”

“I’m not pretending to be a cloud.”

“Then why-” she stopped in mid sentence and looked down. “Oh, I get it now.” Pinkie winked at her. “Don't worry Dashie.” She patted the blue pegasus on her head, "I think he's kinda hot also."

Dash was frozen in place, except for one ear that slightly twitched. “What?” For the first time in a while, Pinkie had truly caught her off guard. Pinkie checking out anypony just did not make sense. Spying to set up a prank? Sure. Spying to see what kind of party to throw them? Of course. But checking them out because she's attracted to them? No. Just… no. That simply did not fit with Dash’s image of her pink friend.

“Although, I know you aren’t like the rest of the mares in town.”

Dash nervously laughed. “Well duh, I am much more amazing than the other mares... but just out of curiosity, what do you mean, not ordinary?”

“You’re braver than the rest of us. You even kicked a dragon in the face. So I’m sure you’ll be one to finally ask him out.”

“Uh…”

“Apple cinnamon cake.”

“I… wha…”

“You know, because it’ll be apple-y and has a little spiciness to it, like rainbows. It’ll be the perfect cake for my, congratulations on being a couple, party. Bye Dashie.” Pinkie took off towards the bakery.

Dash just sat there for a few moments, staring off into the distance. “She is so random.” She shook her head a few times and then looked over the cloud’s edge.

Big Mac was still sitting there in the same spot. She spotted Rose and Lotus talking to one another as they walked down the street. They walked right past the stand and Big Mac didn’t seem pay a bit of attention to them. Really? The prettiest earth ponies in town walk by you and you don’t even glance at them? She was ready to announce her victory when another thought came to the surface. Well, I guess AJ doesn’t really check out colts while on the job. Maybe it’s just an Apple family thing. Selling apples is serious business to them. Besides, Batcolt would certainly get more evidence than this.

She lay back down onto the cloud, not bothering to cover herself up this time. This would be a lot easier if Ponyville had some more stallions. Then I could see if he looked at them when they pass. Now that she thought about it, it was weird that the town had so many more mares than stallions.

Her thought process was soon shattered by a rather over eager voice. “Rainbow Dash!”

Dash turned around and spotted a little orange filly hovering nearby. It had only been recently that Scootaloo learned to fly and now she was always up in the air. Even Dash had to admit; she was making great progress and doing so quickly. “Hey squirt, what’s up?"

“I think I’m ready to learn some tricks and I was wondering if you would teach me, since it's your day off? I want to learn from the best flyer ever.”

Well, I am pretty amazing.

“Sorry squirt, but I’m kinda busy today.”

“Oh.” Scootaloo’s body, except for her wings, went limp and any trace of a smile vanished from her face. “Ok. I understand.” The dejected filly began flying down, towards the ground.

Dash, no. You have to keep an eye on Big Mac. She’ll be fine. It’s not like you’re her biggest idol. It’s not like if Spitfire told you she didn’t have time for you, it wouldn’t break your heart. Damn it brain, this is why I don’t use you often.

“Scoots, hold on for a second.” The little filly stopped and looked up at her. “I can quickly show you some basic moves.”

In an instant Scootaloo went from frowning to smiling from ear to ear. She raced up and hugged Dash. “Thank you, thank you, thank, you, thank you…”

“Alright, alright. Now follow me.”

****

It took the better part of the next few hours to teach Scootaloo the high speed strut and Filly Flash. She had also wanted Dash to teach her the Buccaneer Blaze, but even Dash knew teaching a beginner that move was a bad idea.

Landing back onto her cloud she looked down at apple stand, or rather, where the stand used to be. “Horseapples,” she mumbled. He’s probably on his way home. She bucked the cloud out of frustration and took off towards Sweet Apple Acres.

She crossed Ponyville in mere seconds and was now over the dirt road. Come on, where the hay are you? She finally spotted Big Mac. Oddly enough it was around the same spot where she saw him yesterday. Screw subtlety. I’m finding out now.

She swooped down, landing in front of Big Mac and the two stared at each other for a moment. ‘Ok, now what do I say?’

“Howdy there Miss Dash. Can Ah help you?” asked the stallion in his standard western accent.

“Yeah, you can.” She nervously rubbed her hoof on the back of her head. “There's a question that I need you to answer. It's important.”

“Ah think I know what you’re going to say.” For the second time today, Dash just stared ahead in confusion. He couldn’t really know. There’s no way he saw through her perfect disguise. “Ya see, AJ told me about the conversation ya’ll had.”

The conversation with AJ? Crap. Now even he thinks I have a crush on him. Though, Rainbow couldn’t really blame him for that. With the way some of the mares acted around him, he probably thought every mare in town is wants to date him. Though that likely wasn't far from the truth.

“Now, you’re a very pretty pony and a mighty fine athlete.”

Great, I’m getting shot down by somepony that I didn’t even ask out. She snorted in amusement.

“But it’s just that, with all the farm work, Ah don’t have time to date anypony. I hope ya understand. No hard feelings, right?”

Rainbow sat down and sighed, she really was just going to have to come out and say it. “Mac, that’s not why I asked if you were single.”

“Oh?” For once today it seemed like it was somepony else’s turn to be confused.

“I didn’t even ask if you were single. I asked if you had ever had a fillyfriend. Yesterday, when I was trying to nap on a cloud, I heard you and Caramel coming up the road.” She could see Big Mac starting to sweat a bit and gulp. “I saw what I thought was you looking at his flank. Mac, are you a coltcuddler?” There, she had said it. Now, after all the frustration she went through today, she was finally going to get her answer.

Macintosh looked down at one of his ankles. “Oh, would you look the time. Granny’s gonna be wondering where Ah am. Ah better hurry.” He took off around Dash, at surprising speed for somepony pulling a cart.

But not faster enough. In a rainbow colored flash, she took off and easily caught up to him. Once again she landed in front of him, causing Big Mac to stop and turn his head away from her. “Look, I’m sorry if I’m wrong, but would you please answer me?”

“And why do ya want to know, huh?” There was a edge to his voice.

“I owe you one, so I want to help you out.”

“And if Ah do like colts, then what? How would you help?”

“About half mile out of town, there’s this old warehouse. A few years back it got converted into a night club. It’s a place for ponies like…” She hesitated before continuing. She knew that she couldn’t expect him to be honest if she wasn’t, so Dash continued. “For ponies like us. It’s a place where we don’t have to worry about hiding it, you know.”

“Us?” He was now looking her in the eyes again and his voice lost some of its edge. “So, you’re a fillyfooler?”

“Yep. Listen, I can take you there during the weekend, when you don’t have much work. What do you say?”

“Nope. AJ and Apple Bloom would be asking questions if I went out. There’s no way Ah can be away from the farm for that long without them getting curious.”

Damn, didn't think this far ahead. She tapped at her head with her hoof. Think, think, think… For some reason, the conversation with AJ popped into her head, followed by the one with Pinkie Pie. Her lips curled up into a grin. “I have an idea.”

Meet the Musician

The remainder of the week had gone by and it was now almost time for the big date. The sun was beginning its descent into the horizon as the large red stallion stared into his mirror. Behind him, Apple Bloom was busy brushing his tail. He had to look perfect for his first real date. Well, that’s what his sisters and Granny Smith kept telling him.

Ah can’t believe Ah’m doing this.

He turned her offer down at first and a second time, as well as a third. However, Rainbow was stubborn and kept trying to convince him. He hated to admit it but after awhile, he started to like the idea. However, he was still a bit scared that AJ would see through this lie. She was the element of honesty for a reason.

“Ow.” He quickly turned his head and stared at Apple Bloom.

She looked apologetic and gave a little laugh. He just sighed and turned back to the mirror; never could stay mad at her, even when she got into real trouble.

In the mirror he spotted Applejack standing at his doorway. “Ya know, you wouldn’t have to worry about knots if you brushed your tail more often.”

“Eeyup.”

The conversation was interrupted by a series of knocks on the front door. “My new big sister is here,” exclaimed Apple Bloom.

Macintosh cringed. She’d been calling Dash her new big sister ever since he told her about the date.

She’s going to be mighty disappointed when she hears the truth,

Applejack stared down at Apple Bloom with a frown. “Now, Ah done told you not to be saying that. This is just a date. We don’t want to rush them into anything.” Before Apple Bloom could turn on her trump card, AJ walked away and started down the steps. “What in the hay is she doing here an hour early anyways?”

Macintosh and Apple Bloom followed behind her and the knocking started once more. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming, feather flank. Hold your horses.” The door creaked open, revealing a slightly disheveled blue pegasus. She was breathing heavily and a little sweat was stuck to her forehead. “What in tarnation happened to you?”

“Getting chased by a crazy unicorn is what happened to me!” she blurted out.

A small yellow blur carrying a tray with a glass of juice on it came from the kitchen and up to Dash. The drink was all the colors of the rainbow and occasionally little currents of electricity ran across the surface. “Here. Some zapapple juice will fix ya right up.”

As Dash began drinking, AJ facehooved. “So, what set off Twilight this time?”

“Other crazy unicorn,” Dash responded, after setting the now empty glass down. “Rarity heard about the date and was hay bent on giving me a makeover. Let me tell you, that mare is pretty damn fast when she wants to be. But, with some amazing flying, I got her to trip over Sweetie Belle.”

AJ tried to hold back her laughter, but to no avail. Big Mac and Apple Bloom soon joined in.. “What’s the matter Dash, don’t you want to look pretty?”

Dash snorted at the question. “Just for that, I'm going to tell her when you finally get a date. I bet you'd look great in some fru fru dress.”

AJ froze in place and her pupils constricted into small dots. “You wouldn’t.”

“Like hay I wouldn’t. I can’t wait to see you try to run from her magic.” AJ quietly grumbled to herself. “Anyways, how did she even find out about the date?”

"Um, well that might be my fault," said Apple Bloom. "I may have told Sweetie Belle about it. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it kiddo. Hey Macintosh, you ready?"

“Eeyup. Later sis. Apple Bloom, don’t try to stay up late waiting for us.”

The pair left, with the sound of the filly yelling out, “Have fun.”

****

They went down the road at a quick and steady pace. Big Mac spent much of the time looking down at the road, just quietly listening to their hoofsteps. With the sound of each hooffall, his resolved grew weaker. He wondered what would the others be like and what would he do if a colt hit on him. Other concerns ran through his head, like what if they didn't like his accent. All these thoughts and several others raced through the stallions head.

His worry must have been pretty visible. At the very least, visible enough for the pegasus next to him to pick up on it. “Nervous?”

“Eeyup.”

“Don’t be. You have the greatest pegasus in Equestria as your guide. Stick with me kid and nothing can go wrong.”

Kid?

He thought about correcting her, since he was a good five years or so older than her, but their destination was now in view. It was a large square building, with a neon sign over its door way. It read: The Solar Flare. He could already hear the techno music pulsing from the club.

Is it too late to turn back?

“Come on slow poke.” Dash raced and he followed as quickly as he could. They approached the building and Dash opened the door. Instantly a wall of sound smashed into Macintosh. “You get used to it.”

After checking to see if his ears were bleeding, Macintosh scanned the room. At the far end was some earth pony dj. A lot of the ponies were mingling in the middle, around a large dance floor. Along the side wall was the bar and a few tables.

“Dashie, hey!” A mint colored unicorn came running up to Rainbow and the two shook hooves. She had a large smile and seemed pretty energetic. "Oh, and Big Macintosh, I didn't expect to see you here."

“Hey Ly.”

Macintosh bowed his head. “Howdy ma’am.” Lyra nodded in response.

"I'm not old and grey yet, so no need to call me ma'am."

“So where’s Bon Bon?" asked Rainbow Dash. "You two are always together.”

“Oh, she’s visiting her parents in Fillydelphia.”

The two mares continued their conversation, which was mostly just small talk. Macintosh slowly drifted away from them and towards the bar.

“Uh, do ya’ll have apple cider here?” he asked, trying to keep his accent down a bit.

“Yes sir. I’ll get you glass right away.”

Big Mac was surprised at just how quickly the stallion got it and returned to dealing with other patrons. He had to admit, if nothing else, they had good service.

“Big Mac?” In shock, Big Mac stopped mid drink, and began coughing. “Heh, sorry about that.”

Macintosh turned around to see the speaker. A blue stallion with bright yellow eyes stood there with a grin.

“Howdy Blues.”

An awkward silence settled between the two, until the blue pony finally spoke up, “You know, I never expected to see you here. This your first time?” The blue colt had the smoothest voice Big Mac had ever heard. Until finding out at a musical festival one year, he would have sworn that the musical notes Blues’ flanks meant that he was a singer.

Without knowing what else to say, Macintosh fell back to his old standby. “Eyup.” Awkward silence once more took over the conversation, or rather, lack of one.

Ah knew this was going to happen. Say something before you come off like an idiot.

It was times like these that Macintosh was thankful that his coat was red, so it was impossible for others to see him blushing. His so called fillyfriend, Dash, came in to break the silence this time around. “I leave you alone for five seconds and you’re already flirting with stallions,” she said in a mock surprised tone. “You’re a quick learner and picking up a musician at that. Maybe you should give AJ and Apple Bloom some tips on picking up colts.”

Now, Big Macintosh was more thankful than ever he was born with a red coat.

“Hey, Blue Boy.”

“Yeah?”

“Weren’t you supposed to be on stage like three minutes ago?”

It was only now that Macintosh realized the music had gone silent. A quick glance at the stage informed him that the dj and the turntable were both gone.

“Celestia damn it. Lost track of time again.” Blues stepped closer to Macintosh. He could feel his heart begin to beat a bit faster. “Hey Big Mac, I’m going to be on stage for most of the night. Are you coming here again tomorrow?”

“Uh… eyup.”

“Great, see you then.” The blue colt rushed off through the crowd, mumbling something about needing to get a watch.

Rainbow nudged him a few times in the ribs. “So, you like musicians too?” Big Mac just sighed in response. Dash leaned in and whispered, “Do you think he has a better flank than Caramel?”

Thank Celestia for red coats.

The pair continued their conversation for a few hours. Well, it was mostly Dash talking; doing her best to get Big Mac to say something about the way Blues looks. She also pointed out the other single colts.

Macintosh was mainly just paying attention to the stage where Blues was standing on his hind legs playing a saxophone. He never could understand how musicians could stand like that for so long. There were a few other ponies accompanying him on stage, but he was the one out in front. Unlike the quick techno beats from before, Blues’ music had a slow, steady rhythm to it. His notes were blending together perfectly, creating a melody for the dancing ponies to follow. For the first time Big Mac noticed that Blues was a rather handsome colt and had great eyes, which were currently staring back at him.

****

After spending some more time at the club, Macintosh and Dash made their way back to the farm. Dash was staggering a bit; a side effect from all the drinks that she had. He convinced her to sleep it off back in his room, rather than trying to fly home in her condition.

Along the way Macintosh learned that when drunk, Rainbow Dash loved to sing. However, her ability to do so went down considerably and the amount of times her voice cracked went up. He silently thanked the princesses for getting home quickly just so she’d stop.

Once inside, they spotted Applejack sitting in the kitchen. “Ya didn’t have to wait up.”

“Ah know, but Ah was curious about how it’d go. Ah'm guessing that you two had a good time, considering how drunk Dash is. I wonder how many ponies she woke up with her singing this time.”

“Of course we had fun,” Dash drunkenly slurred. “Your brother is dating the coolest and hottest mare in town.”

“Listen sis, Rainbow here ain’t in no shape to be flying home. So she’ll be spending the night.”

“Speaking of which, Ah should hit the hay also.” The three started going towards the steps, but AJ stepped out in front of them and turned. Giving Macintosh a stern look, she added, “Now, Ah know that what you and your fillyfriend do in your room ain’t my business but just remember, my room is right next to yours. If I get woken up by the sound of my best friend and my brother rutting around, Ah ain’t going to be a happy pony come morning. And if ya’ll wake up Apple Bloom or Granny Smith with it, then I’ll tan both your hides. Got it?”

“Eyup.”

Fake Dates And Real Dates

“You ready for this?”

“Eyup.”

The pegasus next to him hung her head down and let out a low sigh. “I just can’t believe she actually did it. Let’s get this over with.”

They opened the door to Sugar Cube Corner, releasing an explosion of streamers and balloons. Hanging above a triple-decker apple-cinnamon cake was a white banner, with the initials RD and BM surrounded by a heart. “Oh, lookie everypony, the guests of honor are here!” announced Pinkie as she began leading the other guests in a cheer.

“Uh… howdy everypony.” Macintosh put in best fake smile. When AJ told him of the party earlier in the day he never expected half the town to show up. Though, it was impressive that Pinkie somehow managed to fit in so many ponies, all the tables. and the decorations.

“Well, sorry you two, but I’m needed elsewhere. Parties wait for nopony.” Pinkie began weaving her way through the crowd, making sure all her guests were happy.

“What the?” Macintosh turned to see his fillyfriend floating in the air, surrounded by a light blue magical aura. “Rarity put me down!” The unicorn in question stood nearby, with Lotus and Rose on each side of her.

“Sorry to tear you two lovebirds apart, but we need to have a little girl talk with Rainbow Dash. Come along dear.”

Macintosh silently watched as Dash was pulled away from him; she mouthed the words, help me, several times before they disappeared into the crowd. Unsure of what exactly he just witnessed, Big Mac shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the cake and punch, though it wasn’t long before a familiar tan stallion grabbed a hold of him.

"There’s the stallion of the hour. So tell me buddy, how’d you manage to get her. huh? Or did she come to you?”

He felt a hoof poking him from the other side. “Yeah, man, just between us colts, how’d you pull it off? Did you sing her a love song or something?” That voice… Macintosh quickly turned to see it was Blues asking the question.

“Well, I, uh… You see, she asked me out. Eyup.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised, all the mares want Big Mac,” said Blues with a slight grin. “Though it does seem odd that you’d pick her over all the other fillies.” Blues took a small step towards Big Mac. “I wonder, were you just waiting for somepony that’s a bit more aggressive?”

Big Mac’s heart began beating faster. He thanked Celestia when he saw Caramel’s fillyfriend come up to them. “Mel, hun, are you going to spend all night bugging poor Macintosh?” She got closer and nuzzled Caramel. Pulling away for a moment, she turned towards Big Mac, “Congratulations by the way. I hope you two are happy together.”

“Eyup.”

She turned back to her coltfriend, and stared at him with a pair of big, lost puppy eyes. How do mares do that, wondered Big Mac. “Are you going to stay here with the colts or spend some time with your fillyfriend?” she asked.

Caramel leaned in and kissed the end of her nose, “Of course I’ll spend time with you. Later guys.” The pair walked off, with her wing draped over Caramel’s back.

“I should probably go and mingle like a good guest also.” Instead of immediately walking away, Blues got closer, and leaned in towards Big Mac’s ear, slightly brushing against Big Mac’s cheek in the process. “Hopefully I’ll be seeing you later tonight.” He turned and finally walked off.

Big Mac quickly looked around in panic, making sure no one noticed what Blues had done. Ah should have just stayed on the farm.

A few deep breaths and a bit of self assurance later, he grabbed up a piece of cake and found a relatively quiet corner of the room to relax in. With any luck, he could go unnoticed for the rest of the party.

Just as he leaned down to eat his cake, someone called his name. “Hey Big Macintosh.” Thankfully it was one pony he didn’t mind talking to.

“Howdy Miss Cheerilee.”

“So, I guess you have a new schmoopy doo now.” She giggled a bit before continuing, “Or am I the only mare that you’ll call that.”

“Eyup. Ah’ll never say that again.” He joined in with her laughter.

“At least this time it isn’t being forced by a love poison. You know, you and Rainbow Dash actually make for a cute couple. I’m sure little Apple Bloom is thrilled by it.”

“Eyup.”

***

Elsewhere, Rainbow Dash was backed into the wall by the three mares. “I simply cannot believe you Rainbow Dash. After only a single date and you’ve already spent the night with him. I know you aren’t a proper lady, but I still thought you knew better than to act in such a scandalous manner.”

“If you’d just let me explain-“ she was cut off as Rose put a leg around her and pulled her in close.

“Scandalous nothing, I’m proud of her. It’s good to see not all the mares around here are such prudes.” Rarity gave a dignified and lady like huff at the comment.

How the hay does she make everything she does look so graceful?

“So tell us Mizz Dash, does he live up to ze name Big Macintosh?”

“Ugh, you two are absolutely horrid.” Rarity's cheeks turned a light shade of red. “So… does he?”

“Look guys, I only slept in his room. As in actual sleeping. We didn't do that.”

“Too bad. Guess we’ll have to ask Cheerilee instead.”

“Speaking of which, look over there ladies,” Rarity raised her hoof and pointed to the corner of the room. The other three turned and spotted Cheerilee and Macintosh talking and laughing in the corner of the room.

“Yeah, he’s talking to Cheerilee, so what?”

“Rainbow Dash, really now, you have no issue with your new coltfriend talking to his ex? Do you know anything about relationships?”

“Any reason why I should have an issue with it? They were together for less than a day and only because of a freaking love potion.”

“But they did spend a lot of time together afterward,” interjected Rose. “I heard from Daisy that they did quite a bit of flirting.”

“Rainbow Dash, you need to go over there and make sure no mare steals him away. I wouldn’t put it past some of the ones around here to try it.”

“So what should I do? Put a sign on him: Property of Rainbow Dash, no mares allowed within ten hooves?”

“Mizz Dash, I know that they probably don’t have feelings for one another, but if they hang out without you, rumors may start.”

“Yeah and I wonder who’ll be the ones starting the rumors.” Dash glared over at Rose and Rarity; Rose tried to whistle nonchalantly while Rarity just stuck her nose in the air and huffed. “Fine, I’ll go and claim him, or whatever.”

I swear, Big Mac is lucky that he doesn’t have to put up with dating girls. They’re nothing but a pain in the tail.

With a frustrated grunt, Rainbow Dash took off through the air, flying over the other party goers to Big Mac and Cheerilee. “Hey guys.”

“Oh, Rainbow, it’s good that you showed up.” Cheerilee hopped up and walked closer. “Scootaloo skipped school today. Could you possibly talk to her and see why?”

“Doesn’t the squirt have parents or something? Can’t they deal with this?”

“Yes, and I will discuss it with them as well, but I know that she idolizes you. If you ask to try to be on time to school, she’ll definitely listen. Don’t you agree Big Mac?” They both turned to the quiet farmer.

“Eyup.”

“Fine, I’ll talk to her.”

***

“Thanks for coming party ponies.” Despite the long party, Pinkie was still bouncing around as if it was just beginning. She closed the door after the final guests left and began cleaning, leaving the guests of honor by themselves.

“Hey Big Mac?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re going to have to start heading to the club on your own. I’ll probably catch up after finding Scoots.” She left before Big Macintosh got a chance to respond.

***

“I said I don’t want to talk about!” Dash heard the arguing as she drew close to the crusader’s clubhouse. “I just didn’t feel like going.”

“Geez, you don’t have to bite my head off. Come on Sweetie, let’s just leave her alone.” Two of the crusaders walked out just as Dash landed nearby. “Hey sis, maybe you can talk to her.” Dash cringed at being called sis but decided now wasn’t the time to correct her. “Scootaloo has been acting weird today.”

“Yeah, Cheerilee told me she skipped school. Do you two know why?”

“Not a clue. She won’t tell us why and just gets angry when we ask.”

"I hope it's nothing serious," said Sweetie.

“Alright, I’ll check it out.” Dash flew up to the door and landed with a soft thump.

“What part of, I don’t want to talk about it, don’t you two get!” Scootaloo spun around, with her eyes glaring at the door; they softened quickly when she looked at Dash. “Oh… sorry.”

“By the sounds of it, I’m not the one you should be apologizing to. What’s up Scoots?”

“I… I…” She hung her down and tightly closed her eyes. “Please Dash, don’t make me tell you. I just don’t want to talk about it. Please don’t ask.” She turned her head away from Rainbow Dash.

“Fine. But try not to skip school again. Last thing I need is for ponies thinking I’m a bad role model or something.”

“Right… anything for you Rainbow Dash.”

***

Macintosh slowly trotted along the road. His stomach twisted itself into a knot and with every couple of steps, he looked back to see if Dash had caught up. Eventually giving up on the prospect of Rainbow showing up, he took a deep breath and forced himself to continue.

“Hey, Macintosh,” called a voice from behind him. Looking back he spotted a blue stallion wearing a saddlebag. “Glad I caught up to you before you went inside the club. I was thinking that maybe we could hang out in private? You know, so we don’t have to talk over the music.”

“Ah, uh...” Macintosh looked down the road again trying to spot Dash, but to no avail. “Alright.”

Blues raised one of his eyebrows. “Wow. You really aren’t used to this whole guys flirting with you thing, are you?”

Macintosh lowered his and shook it from side to side. “Nope. Sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for. I promise not to hit on you too much, alright?”

Macintosh nodded. “Thanks.”

Blues led the him away from the trail and to a close-by hill. Once there, he began unpacking his saddle bags, starting with a couple bottles of wine. “One grape wine and one cranberry wine. They also had apple wine, but I figured you could use a break from everything having apples in it.” Next he pulled out a blanket and with one quick flick of his head he spread it out over the ground. The last thing to come out of the bag was a small mound of various fruit and veggies. He looked up at Macintosh, “Never drink on an empty stomach. I learned that lesson the hard way on my first ever date. Luckily Derpy forgives pretty easily.” Macintosh was heading over to lie on the blanket but froze at that last comment and stared at Blues. “Hey, not everyone figures out that aren’t into mares early on.” Blues patted the blanket beside him and motioned for Macintosh to come sit.

The pair went through some of the food before moving on to the wine. Blues passed a tankard of the grape wine over to Macintosh and poured himself some of the cranberry wine.

"Don't ponies normally drank it in those weird glasses?"

"Yeah, but I've always preferred it in something that can actually hold a decent amount. Plus, these are easier to hold onto."

In truth, Macintosh had never had any kind of wine before. It had always seemed like something only the fancy ponies drink or to have during a date. He sniffed at it a couple times before taking a sip. It was very sweet and had a nice warming effect while going down. Before taking a real drank, Blues leaned into his side. Macintosh could feel the warmth coming Blues body and how it moved with every breath. Part of his mind yelled at him to move away but another part told him to accept it gladly; that was the voice he listened to. It simply felt too nice to move away now. Blues was the first to break the silence, “This is the place I usually come to write music. It’s far enough away from everything that you’re never interrupted and it’s perfect for star gazing.” As if on cue, the sun began its final descent into the horizon and the couple watched in awed silence. Blues started whistling a song. It was slow and had a somber feel to it; a requiem for the passing day.

“Hey Big Mac?”

“Yeah?”

“We should do this again some time.”

“Eyup.” Together they watched the first set of stars appear and then spread out all across the sky.

Dealing with the family

“Hey Rainbow, time to get up. We got something we need to talk to you about.” Applejack and Big Macintosh stared up at the pagasus lazily napping in one of their apple trees. “How many times do I have to tell that filly not to be sleeping in the trees with fruit? She’s gonna knock them off or bruise them.” AJ turned away from the tree, reared up and gave it a strong buck.

“Aaaaahhhhh-“ she hit the ground with a thud, cutting off her yell. “What the?” She sprung up and looked around until she spotted the siblings. Big Macintosh did his best to hold in his chuckle at her reaction; AJ on the other hand didn’t bother trying to hide her amusement. “AJ, what was that for. I was having a good nap.”

“Well you should pick better napping places. Anyways, we got a letter from Braeburn. Turns out the next family reunion is gonna be in Appleoosa. We wanted to know if you were going to come or not.”

“Why would I go to your family reunion?” She looked over at Big Macintosh, “Oh… right. Fine, count me in.”

“Good. Now there is one other thing we needed to tell you. Well…” Applejack paused for a moment. Macintosh could see her fidget around, likely thinking of the right way to put this. “Big brother, she’s your fillyfriend, you tell her.”

“Well, you see, it ain’t common for Apple family members to date pegasi. We’ve only ever dated earth ponies, so Applejack and I ain’t sure how the rest of the family will react to… you know.”

Rainbow Dash just stared at him for a moment with her mouth agape and then turned to AJ. “Is he serious? You guys aren’t allowed to date anypony but earth ponies?”

“Now, it ain’t like that,” said Applejack. “It’s not that they’re against it; it’s just that it ain’t normally done in our family. They may be a bit unsure of what to think, so Ah want you on your best behavior.”

“Fine. I get it. I promise I won’t do anything stupid, ok.”

“Good. You can go back to your nap now; we’ve got some chores to take care of”

“AJ, Ah want to talk to Rainbow a bit more if you don’t mind. I’ll catch up.”

“Sure, I understand. See you two later.” She turned and walked off.

“So you hide one relationship they’ll think is weird with another one they’ll think is weird?”

Big Macintosh rolled his eyes. “Ahem, it wasn’t my idea to do this.” Macintosh looked over to double check that AJ was out of earshot before continuing, “Last night, you left me alone on purpose didn’t you?”

The corners of Dash’s lips curled up into a sly smile. “Maybe. How’d the picnic go?”

“How did you find out about that?”

“I spotted you two cuddling on that blanket when I was flying to the club. Now answer the question.”

“You… saw that?” Macintosh sat down with a sigh. “It was nice, Ah guess.”

“So, are you and him a couple now or what?”

Are we a couple? Do I have a… He couldn’t finish the thought. “I ain’t really sure.”

“Playing it by ear huh? Yeah, that’s a smart move. Look, I gotta change the weather schedule because of taking time off, so when’s this reunion thing?”

“In a couple days. AJ and Ah talked about it and we wanted to head out early to help Braeburn get ready, so we’ll be catching the train tomorrow morning. You want to come with us or fly there?”

“I guess going with you would be what a fillyfriend would do.”

“Eyup.”

***

“Howdy cousins,” shouted the overexcited stallion as he pulled AJ and Big Macintosh into a hug. “Good of ya’ll to come early to help me out.” Big Macintosh, his sisters, Granny Smith, Rainbow Dash and Braeburn all stood in front of a farmhouse just outside of the Appleoosa orchard and the heat of the desert sun was beating down on them. “And Ah see that you brought Rainbow too. I certainly ain’t going to say no to an extra set of hooves helping us out.”

“Well Braeburn, I think Big Mac has something he wants to tell you.” She poked at his side a few times with her elbow, “Don’t you?”

“Right. Ahem, cousin Braeburn, we didn’t bring Rainbow with us just to help out. We brought her because her and Ah are now dating.”

“Big Mac how could you?” He pulled in Macintosh for another hug. “How could you get yourself a fillyfriend and not tell your favorite cousin? I’d be mad at you if I wasn’t so happy to hear it.”

“Sorry. We ain’t been dating long, that’s why Ah didn’t tell ya.”

Braeburn turned his full attention to Rainbow Dash. “I guess that makes you my cousin in the making. Welcome to the Apple clan.” He turned away from them and headed towards a nearby barn calling back, “Alright everypony, let’s get this work done. Big Mac, Rainbow and Ah will work on setting up the tables. I got a whole bunch of them in the barn. AJ and little Apple Bloom can get Granny set up in the guest room.”

“Alright, we’ll come back quickly to see if ya’ll need help.” Applejack picked up the few bags that they brought along, “Come along Granny, let’s get you some shade and get us something to drink.”

Macintosh and Rainbow followed Braeburn into barn but instead of heading to where he placed the tables, he turned back to the pair. His normal big smile was gone. “I just want to quickly say while the others are away, good luck.”

Rainbow looked over at Macintosh, who just responded with a shrug. “Good luck about what?”

“About winning over the family. Let’s just say that Big Macintosh ain’t the only member of the family that has his eyes on a certain someone that ain’t an earth pony. If ya’ll make a good impression, it’d be really helpful for me. Well, we probably should actually get to work before AJ thinks we’re slacking off.”

So what Dash and Ah are doing can mess things up for cousin Braeburn? A wave of guilt washed over Big Macintosh. First Apple Bloom gets all excited about having a new sister and now Braeburn is depending on us. Why couldn’t Ah just be normal and avoid all this?

***

As a new day began Big Macintosh and the others were up early to greet the rest of their family. He sat at a table with this granny and a gaggle other old ponies since his sisters and Rainbow Dash had voted him to be the one to watch over the senior members of the family during the reunion.

“I tell you what; she must have some earth pony blood in her somewhere. She can pull the carts just as well as AJ and having a pegasus around to reach the apples that won’t fall is sure handy.” Some the others nodded their head, seemingly to agree with Granny Smith’s comment.

“But can them pegasi actually farm. They’re connected to the sky, not the ground like us. What about their kids? Will they be earth ponies that can help grow the crops or only useful around harvest time?” retorted one of the other old mares at the table. Big Macintosh recalled that her name was Apple Tart and how it fit the sour old mare. She turned towards him and said, “I don’t get it boy. I know there are other farming families around Ponyville. Was there something wrong with the mares of those families?”

“Nope. They just didn’t interest me.”

“Well you could have at least tried giving them a chance.”

“Oh phooey to you. I say Dash makes a good member of the family,” retorted Granny Smith. “Just look at how well she gets along with the young’uns.” Granny pointed over to Rainbow Dash being chased by a bunch of the children. Each kid was doing their best to get her with their water balloons but she’d always dodge at the last moment.

“You are all too slow. Gotta be faster than that to get this pegasus.” She took off with a laughing group of children doing their best to keep up.

“Being a good clown does not make one a good farmer or a good member of the family.”

And what would you know about being a good member of the family? Big Macintosh clenched his teeth to make sure his thoughts stayed as thoughts.

“Granny Tart, Granny Tart!” called out a young colt. The young child came running up to the old mare with his mother, Caramel Apple, following behind him. A plushy made in the image of Princess Celestia was held in his mouth and bounced up and down with each step. “Look at what mommy got me.”

Apple Tart’s expression softened for a moment. “Ain’t that precious. Why don’t you go find the other kids and show them while your mom and Ah talk?”

“Yes ma’am,” he said and took off to find the others.

The moment he was gone, any softness Apple Tart’s face had vanished. “Why did you get him a doll? He’s a colt, not a filly.”

Caramel Apple simply rolled her eyes at the comment. Must be used to it by now, figured Big Mac. “Mom, it’s not a doll, it’s a plushy. There ain’t nothing wrong with a colt having one.”

“You say that now but if you keep getting him dolls next thing you know you’ll find him playing dress up in your clothes or trying to kiss the other colts.”

“Mom, a plushy ain’t gonna make him a coltcuddler.”

“Well I still think you should get him something else to replace that girly toy.”

Macintosh swallowed his anger and other emotions at the comments and stood up. “Ah’m gonna get something to drink, do ya’ll want me to get you anything while I’m up?”

“Yes, grab me something to drink,“ answered Apple Tart.

“Right.” The fact that he owned his own doll, as Apple Tart would put it was not lost on Big Macintosh. He admitted to himself at the thought that his Smarty Pants stuffed animal was making him like stallions was a bit funny if she would have meant that as a joke. However, having heard Apple Tart’s complaints about ponies these days and how in her day everyone acted proper, she likely meant every word of it.

“Hey Macintosh.”

The voice of Rainbow Dash snapped him back to reality. A few of the girls were still following Dash, right behind tail; which was now covered in pink ribbons. “Howdy Rainbow. What happened to the rest of the kids?”

“A pony just arrived with a bunch of cake and pie. I guess I’m less interesting than junk food.”

“Miss Dash, can Ah ask you a question?” said one of the girls. “The ponies in the stories that ma and pa read me always kiss when they’re in love but Ah haven’t seen you and cousin Macintosh kiss. Why haven’t you?”

The couple stood still and Macintosh’s brain was working overtime to try and figure out an answer for the girl; judging by Rainbow’s expression, she was doing the same. After a tense moment, Dash answered the little filly, “Heh, well, I didn’t want to kiss in front of you kids. I know you all don’t want to see that mushy stuff that adults do.”

“We ain’t that young,” spoke up one of the fillies.

“Yeah and it’d be cute. Just like when princes and princesses kiss in our stories,” said another.

“Um,” responded Dash as she looked up at Macintosh. “I guess we could.”

Macintosh took a deep breath, calming his nerves a bit. He leaned down towards Rainbow Dash, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips against hers, making sure to keep his tongue firmly at the bottom and was relieved to not feel Rainbow’s tongue in his mouth. Breaking the kiss, after what felt like forever, he opened his eyes and spotted Rainbow’s wings standing straight up.

“Aww,” said the fillies in unison before running off.

The pair turned and walked towards the food table as Macintosh tried to figure out the right way to ask about her wings. “Rainbow…” he whispered. When she looked over at him, he pointed to her wings.

“Oh," she whispered back and then folded her wings. "I faked it.”

***

Scootaloo’s wings beat against the air as she raced towards Carousel Boutique. She had checked with Sweetie’s parents first, but they said she was visiting Rarity. Scootaloo quickly turned the scooter and slid to a halt in front of the store.

Ok, you can do this. Just go in there and apologize to Sweetie. No big deal.

Finishing with her pep talk, she hopped off the scooter and opened the door, to a familiar sounding chime. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique and… oh, it’s just you. Err, no offense dear. You’re here to see Sweetie Belle right?” Before Scootaloo had the chance to respond, Rarity called out for her little sister.

Sweetie came rushing into the room. “What do you need Rarity?” She glared Scootaloo and gave a little huff, in the same manner as sister. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Gee, everyone is just so happy to see me today,” she said with an eye roll.

“If you two girls will excuse me, I’ve got work to do,” said Rarity as she left the room.

“Um, Sweetie Belle, can we talk?”

“Are you going to yell at me again?”

“Look, I’m sorry ok. I didn’t mean to yell at you two, alright.” Sweetie didn’t respond and just looked away. Scootaloo sighed at the display. She figured that Sweetie would still be angry and already knew what she had to do. She walked over to the other filled and placed her hooves on either side of Sweetie Belle, pulling her in for a hug. “I really am sorry. You two are my best friends and I’m an idiot for yelling at you.”

Scootaloo felt the initial tenseness of Sweetie’s body give way as she returned the gesture. “I forgive you.”

Scootaloo noted just how soft Sweetie Belle felt in her forelegs, like she was hugging a giant, warm marshmallow. She closed her eyes and nuzzled against Sweetie Belle’s neck, just focusing on how nice it all felt… Suddenly her eyes snapped opened and she jumped back.

Why did I just do that? Now she’s going to think I’m weird or something.

“Why are you blushing Scootaloo?”

She took a moment to steady her breathing, and to calm herself down. “Oh, uh, I was just thinking of how much of an idiot I was. Yeah, that’s it. Hey, want to hang out and do something?”

“Alright.”

Singing the Blues

Blues lay on his bed, staring at the far wall, as he had been for the last fifteen minutes. Unsurprisingly, it did nothing to help alleviate his boredom, which was getting worse by the minute.

His thoughts drifted towards Big Macintosh; the way the shy stallion reacted to his teasing, the way his fur felt against Blues and that cute farmer accent. Starting a new relationship, if that’s what this was, felt… well, weird was the only word that Blues could use to describe it, but not in a bad way. His relationships were few and far in between and even those rarely got serious. Actually, now that he thought about it, he had only ever been in one serious relationship before.

***

I met him a few years back. Back then I was living in Manehatten and playing a bunch of different gigs with other musicians for bits. On this night I was doing a concert with a popular unicorn DJ in one of the city’s many nightclubs. We wrapped up their set to the sound of applause.

“Considering how slow you were playing, I thought you were going put them to sleep,” commented Scratch.

“Sorry I don’t make up for a lack of talent by just playing really fast that certain unicorns.”

“You call that having talent? I could stick the mouth piece in a donkey’s rear end and make better sounds than you do with it.”

“Big talk from somepony that doesn’t even play a real instrument.”

“I… I…” She quickly turned around and began rubbing the side of her turn table. “Don’t you listen to the mean stallion, Wub Wub, you are a real instrument no matter what others say.”

I did his best to hold in his laughter, I really did, but it was impossible. Scratch soon joined in. “You are so weird at times.”

She pulled me close with and continued her laughter. “And yet you like hanging out with me. Doesn’t that make you weird also?”

“Probably. So, what’re we doing tonight Scratch?”

“Same thing we do every night Blues, try to have as much fun as possible.”

The two of us trotted over to the club’s bar, along the way Scratch thanked Celestia for the idea of club musicians getting free drinks; though how she talked the manager into that idea, I’ll never know. I guess when you become popular as her you get better perks.

“So, any luck in the boyfriend department?” I responded with shake of my head. “You need to get a pair of awesome shades like mine. Guys dig sunglasses.”

“Oh, of course that’s why they flock to you. Has nothing to do with you being a female that known for having lots of sex.”

She scratched the bottom of her chin, thinking it over for a moment. “Nah. It’s the shades. And speaking of guys, there’s one of there with his eyes on you.”

“Like I’m going to fall for that one again,” I said with an eye roll.

“No, I’m serious. Look.” She motioned her head towards the end of the bar. Sure enough, when I looked back there, I spotted a grey unicorn with a short black mane and a pair beautiful, blue eyes looking my way with a smile. “You going to introduce yourself or what?”

“Uh…”

She practically pushed me off the barstool. “I’m tired of you complaining about being single and not getting laid. Go on, get yourself a boyfriend. Oh and see what his policy on threesomes is.”

“Really, Scratch? Really?”

“Hey, it can’t hurt to ask, right?”

With a defeated sigh I marched over the stallion and did my best not to sound like I’d been forced into this conversation. It turned out that his name was Jet Set and he spoke in that typical, upper-class Manehatten accent. Honestly, as soon as I heard his style of speech, I was ready to bail, but then he said something that really caught me off guard.

“That set, I think that’s what you musicians call it, yes, that set of yours sounded similar to Colt-Trane’s music. Though that ending sounded much more like Bleeding Hooves Murphy. Were they inspirations for your music?”

I stood there for a second with my mouth hanging open. “Wow. Yes actually, I’ve been listening to old music of theirs since I was a kid. You really know your jazz.”

“But of course, my good sir. I make it a point to collect music from the very best in all the genres. So, would you care to continue this conversation somewhere more private?”

“Sure,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders. Despite his accent, I figured that this Jet Set guy can’t be all that bad. At the very least I can talk about music with him for a while.

We walked out of the club, and out onto the city’s sidewalks. The cool night air was a nice change to the heat generate by all of those ponies inside. Jet was just finishing up some weird story, “And that’s when he said, that’s not a martini, that’s my wife.”

“Heh, heh, good one Jet.”

Good taste in music: Check. Good taste in humor: Could use improvement.

***

In the following days, I learned that not only did Jet Set talk like the rich ponies in Manehatten, but he also had enough money to put them to shame.

The two of us were in some tailor’s shop. I stared ahead at the three mirrors in front of me, checking out how the suit that I apparently had to have, looked. I moved around a bit and pulled at the collar, trying to get comfortable in the restrictive clothing. It didn’t work.

“Oh would you quit fidgeting.”

“I don’t like these things.”

“Blues, you are a musician, part of your job is to have the right image and wearing a suit while playing the sax just adds so much more to the presentation. Don’t you agree?”

“The music itself is all that matters. Not how I look while playing.”

“So says that pony that always plays second fiddle to others.” I really didn’t want to admit it, but he had a point.

Even though he would nag at times, we were getting along pretty well. He loved to dote on me and give me presents. I was a bit worried that I wast becoming a trophy wife, particularly since I’m a guy, but hey, free stuff. He would even try to use his business connections to get me gigs, ones where I would be the main musician, and not just there to accompany others.

The tailor came around holding a yellow lily, placing it on the front of my suit. “There you go Mister Blues, the final touch. It’s even the same shade as your eyes,” said the tailor.

“Oh, I completely agree, it’s perfect,” said Jet.

You know what? I looked pretty good in a suit. Though I still hate the things. They’re hot, restrictive and simply aren’t worth the effort it takes to keep them clean. However, if you got to wear something you hate, at least make it something that looks good on you.

***

I got the chance to wear my suit the next day on our date at some fancy restaurant. It was one of those places that charged a fortune but yet you barely got any food. I told him that we should have just gotten a pizza or something, but he was insistent on having a dinner date. ‘We should have a real date,’ he said. Things got better afterwards when we found a nice and secluded spot in Central Park to do a little stargazer.

He grew quiet and there seemed to be a bit of a barrier between us. “Something up?” I asked.

“No, no. It’s just that… well; this is actually the first time I have been on a date with another stallion before. I am not entirely sure what I should do next,” he said to the ground, though I think he meant it for me as well.

“Just do what you would with a mare.”

“Very well, but please remember, this was your idea.”

He got closer, until he was right up against me and nuzzled my cheek, ending off with a small kiss on my nose. I’m sure I was probably blushing like some idiot. If Scratch would have seen me, I’d never hear the end of it.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked, breaking my thought process.

“No. You did everything right.” I leaned over and planted a big kiss on him. His horn suddenly started glowing so I think he liked it or he was surprised or maybe something else. Well, let’s just say that it had some kind of effect.

***

About a week after the date, Jet set me up with a gig. Ok, so technically he was the one hiring me, but it was still a nice sentiment. I was playing for him and a bunch of his rich friends on board a giant airship.

Just as I was finishing up, I spotted a white unicorn stallion surrounded by a flock of starry eyed mares. Jet later on told me that he was some distant relative of the princess. “Now, now ladies, this is why I had my servants make a schedule. There’s only enough of me for two at the time, so the rest of you have to wait your turn.” That voice… that horrible voice. It made Jet’s way of speaking look normal. I wondered if the airship or this so called prince had more hot air in them.

Jet walked up to me, and nuzzled my cheek. “So, the prince has caught your attention? Should I be jealous?”

“Yeah, right. I don’t think I could even get past his groupies.”

“Indeed. They’d tear you to shreds before allowing more competition. Care to come with me back to my cabin? We still have an hour until we dock in Canterlot.”

“Only an hour?”

He led me back to our cabin, making sure to lock the door after we entered. I gently bit his ear and pulled him over the bed, then pushed him onto it. He rolled over to his back and giving me a full look at his body. Jet’s cheeks turned a bit red and he lips curled up into a sheepish little grin. Never one to deny an open invitation, I leapt onto the bed. As I stood over him, I used one hoof to hold him down by the shoulder and leaned down, giving him a love bite on the side of his neck. Oh, and I may have growled a bit while doing it. Or not. I don’t really remember all that happened next.

Afterwards, we laid on the bed for a while. Both of us were still panting a bit, and he had a noticeable mark on his neck. I tapped it with my hoof, “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be.”

After that night, we started seeing even more of each other… in more than one manner of speaking. It was amazing how his personality would change behind closed doors. He just became so relaxed and he loved to cuddle. I think he may have liked it even more than the sex. I wonder how Macintosh will act once he relaxes around me… if he learns how to relax.

***

Everything was going smoothly as we reached our one month anniversary. He took me to a little cabin he owned, along the outskirts of White Tail Woods. Jet said he loved going there whenever he wanted to get away from the world, and I could understand why, particularly in winter. All the animals were hibernating and the air outside was dead calm. It was as if the outside world didn’t even exist while there.

The candle on the night stand flickered, stretching out and moving around our shadows. We were lying on the bed, with him in my forelegs as I teased his ear a bit with some nibbling. I can still remember how he would fidget around and nuzzle my neck whenever I did that. He was so adorable when he was like this and I loved it. I… I loved him.

Then there was a knock at the door. “Jet Set, I know you’re in there. Open this door right this minute,” said a female voice. Her accent sounded just like his. “We need to discuss some matters.”

He slowly pushed my legs away and got off the bed. “Jet, what’s going on?”

He looked at more for a moment and opened his mouth, but then closed it before anything came out. Jet walked out of the bed, into the living room where I heard the front door open. I heard the other pony coming inside. “Hello dear,” he said. There was a certain amount of warmth in his voice that I didn’t hear often out of him. The only other time was when he spoke to me.

“I needed to talk to you about your latest affair.”

I kept repeating that word in my head: affair. It just didn’t make any sense. Knowing there was only one way to get my answers, I went out there to see who this mare was. The yellow unicorn and I locked eyes as soon as I went through the doorway.

“You must be Blues. A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” she said with a bow of her head. “I am Upper Crust, Jet Set’s wife.”

The throat tightened when I repeated that last word, “Wife?” I turned from Upper Crust to Jet, but he looked away from me.

“That… is correct,” he said

“Now then, firstly, I’m sorry for my husband not making you aware.” She turned her gaze upon Jet. “And you, we talked about this over and over again. I don’t care about you little trysts on the side, but you are to be discreet about it. The last thing I need is you giving those mules in the country club something to gossip about.” She glanced back at me, “Though I suppose I can give you some credit for picking a stallion this time. However rumors will still start if you keep treating him like you do in public.”

My relationship with him was all lie. I was just an affair for him, nothing but someone who he sleeps with on the side when his wife isn’t around. Part of me wanted to give him the hardest kick I could, another part just wanted to cry and another wanted to be as far away from him as possible. I walked back into the bedroom and grabbed some bits.

“Blues wait, please?” he begged.

“Go to Tartarus.” I wasn’t going to listen to anything he had to say. He had yanked me around long enough and I wasn’t going to waste anymore of my time with him.

I left the cabin, walked to Ponyville and took the train back to Manehatten. From what Scratch told me, I was in tears when she let me into her place. I don’t remember. All I know is that me and her drank more alcohol than what should be possible and I moved back to Ponyville shortly afterwards. I can’t say that Jet wasn’t one of my reasons for leaving the city.

***

Blues got up with a grunt and went into his bathroom. He stared into the mirror. “Dude, you look like crap.”

He couldn’t help but to compare his relationship with Jet to this thing going on with Macintosh. He believed that he was definitely trading up. Macintosh was honest and Blues knew full well that he didn’t have a secret wife. However, having him take Dash to a family reunion had brought up his bad memories of Jet. Once again he was someone’s secret love. One bit of doubt in particular kept working its way into his thoughts over and over.

Is he really worried about what his family will think… or is he ashamed of it?

He shook the thoughts out of his mind. “I need to go do something before I make myself crazy.” Blues grabbed his sax and headed out the door.

The truth comes out.

Rainbow Dash glided through the rows of apple trees, happily taking in the pleasant scent of the orchard and enjoying the wind blowing across her fur. She circled around a hill on the edge of Sweet Apple Acres a few times before landing. It wasn’t long before she heard the sound of hoofsteps from another pony.

“You could have helped carry the basket,” said a mare in her typical farmer accent.

“Yeah, yeah, I showed up on time this time, so that should get me out of having to carry stuff. Right?”

“Nope,” responded the mare.

Rainbow heard the picnic basket being put down and then felt the muzzle of the farmer mare brushing against the back of her neck. Her wings rustled, her breathing quickened and a soft, pleasurable gasp escaped from her mouth. “I’ll carry the basket every time if you do that more often.” The mare laughed a bit as she stopped. “Cheater.”

“Learned from the best,” she said.

Dash turned around to see a red mare with an apple half for a cutie mark. She was much larger than the average mare and had more muscle than the average mare as well but still had a pretty face and a curvy flank. “So, did you bring the cider?” asked Dash.

“Eyup.”

The mare pulled out several different kinds of food and a couple bottles of cider, much to Rainbow Dash’s delight. They quickly made their way through the food and drink, and lay down on the grass afterwards, cuddled against each other. Dash stretched her wing out, laying it on the mare’s back and nuzzled against her neck. It had been years since she had a marefriend and now she was going to enjoy it for all its worth.

Dash closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them to find that she was staring up at the ceiling of her bed room and had a copy of, Daring Do and the Temple of 63 Runes, lying on her chest. “Stupid dreams,” she mumbled before getting up.

***

A little orange pegasus sat quietly in the crusader clubhouse. Her friends were discussing something but in her mind she was off flying with Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts. A hoof nudged her shoulder, snapping her back to reality. “Huh, wha?”

“Ah asked, what do you think Scootaloo?” asked Apple Bloom.

“About what?”

“You didn’t listen to a word we’ve been saying, have you?” Apple Bloom sighed and shook her head, “You dodo.”

“Hey, don’t call me a dodo.”

“What are you going to do about it, dodo?”

Scootaloo pounced on Apple Bloom, leading to the pair rolling around on the floor. It wasn’t long before Apple Bloom had her pinned down, with Scootaloo squirming around in vain to get out from under the earth pony filly.

Apple Bloom leaned down, to the point that her nose was almost touching Scootaloo’s. “Dodo, dodo, dodo,” she said with a big grin. “Now, Ah was trying to ask you, what you think ponies do on dates and if we could get a cutie mark for any of it.”

Apple Bloom has gotten really strong, thought Scootaloo. She could feel her wings begin to move outward from underneath her and Scootaloo’s cheeks reddened a little as she fought to keep them closed.

“Oh, oh, I know what we should do,” exclaimed Sweetie Belle, causing Apple Bloom to turn away, much to the relief of Scootaloo. “We should follow Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash during one of their dates.”

“That’s a great idea Sweetie Belle. What do you think Scootaloo?”

“Sure, I’m in.”

***

Macintosh knocked on the door to the small house.

“Coming,” said a voice from inside. The door opened revealing the blue musical pony. “Hey Macintosh.” Blues motioned with his head for Big Mac to come in.

The living room was much cleaner than Macintosh would have expected. He never would have guessed that Blues would be this tidy. “Blues, are you free tonight?” he asked.

“Depends on how late you’re talking about. I got a gig this afternoon, but it should be ending around seven. We can meet up at the club after that. Cool?”

“Eyup.”

Blues leaned in towards him, most likely trying to nuzzle his cheek, but Macintosh, on instinct, turned away.

“Sorry,” Macintosh said.

“Whatever.” The annoyance in Blues’ voice was coming through loud and clear to Macintosh. “I’ll see you tonight.”

***

“This was a stupid idea,” complained Scootaloo. She was being squished between her friends inside of a box. A pair of eye holes had been cut out of the front, allowing Sweetie to look around and tell the others what was happening.

“My idea wasn’t stupid,” said Sweetie Belle.

“No, but hiding in this box was.” Scootaloo glared at her farmer friend.

“Hey, you didn’t come up with any better ideas for a disguise,” said Apple Bloom.

“Shush, Macintosh and Rainbow Dash are coming out of Sugar Cube Corner and now they’re… turning and going down the road. Guys, we need to follow them,” said Sweetie Belle.

The three of them lifted the box up and ran down the road after the loving couple, with Sweetie Belle guiding them around obstacles. They followed the pair all the way to the edge of town.

“Now where they hay could they be headed to?” asked Apple Bloom.

“They’re going to notice a box all the way out there,” said Scootaloo, as she lifted the box up and tossed it to the side. “Let’s use the bushes.” The other crusaders nodded in agreement.

***

True to his word, Macintosh got to the entrance of The Solar Flare about a half hour after seven with Rainbow Dash a few steps behind him.

“So, you going to go in or waiting outside for you coltfriend or whatever you want to call him?”

“Ah’m gonna wait outside,” he replied, getting a shrugged shoulder for a response.

It wasn’t long before he spotted Blues came walking up the road. “Hey,” the musician said as he approached. His tone seemed much more subdued than normal. “Let’s go to the same spot as before.”

Macintosh nodded and followed Blues to the same hill they’ve been going to. Along the way he thought he heard a twig snapping in a nearby bush, but chose to ignore it, figuring that it was just some critter wondering around.

“There’s something we need to talk about,” said Blues.

“About what?”

“About how long you plan on keeping this going on.”

“Oh,” replied Macintosh as he lowered his head. “Ah… Ah don’t know.”

“You have to tell your family eventually.”

“Ah know.”

Blues walked up beside him and sat down. “Listen Macintosh, I like you, a lot, but I just can’t do this anymore. Sneaking around was fun at first but now it just brings up a bunch of bad memories. I can’t be your dirty little secret.”

Silence followed Blues’ statement, as it sunk into Macintosh’s mind. He didn’t want to give up his dates with Blues but every time he even considered telling Granny Smith or his sisters, his body clenched up in fear.

“Hey Macintosh, I need to ask something.” Macintosh turned his head and the stallions looked into each other’s eyes. “Is it really that you’re worried about your family or are you ashamed of this?”

“Ah ain’t ashamed,” quickly answered Macintosh.

Blues looked away, obviously not fully convinced. As he waited for the blue stallion to look back at him, Macintosh worked up courage. When Blues turned back towards him, Macintosh leaned in and kissed the smaller stallion, pushing his tongue into Blues’ mouth, wrestling with Blues’ own tongue. Eventually he pulled away, a small string of saliva clung to both tongues for a while, shining in the setting sun’s light, before snapping.

“Wow. Didn’t see that coming,” said Blues as he leaned against Macintosh. “Ok, I… I believe you. But you still got to tell your family.”

“Ah know,” Macintosh conceded.

“Though before that… want to head back to my place?”

“…eyup.”

They walked off from the hill, shoulder to shoulder and giving each other little kisses along the way.

***

Three wide eyed, shocked little fillies watched the stallions walk off from their hiding place. Scootaloo’s own experiences raced when they kissed.

“What just happened?” asked Apple Blooms.

“Macintosh is cheating on Rainbow Dash,” said Scootaloo.

“My big brother ain’t no cheater.”

“He was kissing somepony else. That’s cheating. And… and it was with stallion.”

“Apple Bloom, why didn’t you tell us that your big brother is a coltcuddler?” asked Sweetie.

“A what, now?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Coltcuddler. Those are stallions that date other stallions. Rarity told me about them.”

“Yeah, well, my big brother ain’t one. He’s dating Rainbow Dash.”

“But he made out with Blues. Looks pretty coltcuddlerish to me,” said Scootaloo.

“Listen girls, please don’t anyone about this,” said Apple blooms.

“Fine, let’s just go,” said Scootaloo.

***

A few hours had passed since her so called date with Big Macintosh ended and Rainbow Dash was flying home. As she approached her cloud mansion, she spotted a little orange filly sitting in front of her door. “Squirt, what are you doing here?”

The filly kept her eyes turned away from Rainbow as she answered, “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Can’t this wait until morning?” she asked with a yawn.

“No, I want to do this now… if that’s ok with you Rainbow Dash.”

“Fine, let’s get this over with so I can sleep.” She unlocked her door and led Scootaloo into her living room. “So squirt, what did you need?”

The filly fidgeted around before saying, “Sorry.”

Rainbow facehooved as she felt frustration build up inside of her. “You kinda have to also say what you’re sorry for.”

“Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and I followed you and Big Mac around on your date.”

“And what, exactly, did you three see?” Despite trying otherwise, her words came out louder and angrier than she had wanted.

“You went into some building I’ve never seen before. Macintosh walked off with Blues and they… made out. Dash, is Big Mac cheating on you?”

“No.” Scootaloo looked up her with a confused expression. “Listen squirt, I need you to promise to keep this a secret.”

“Anything for you Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow groaned at the answer. That seemed to what the filly always said when Dash asked something. “Look, Macintosh and I aren’t really dating. He’s actually with Blues. He’s trying to keep it a secret”

“Um, is… is there something wrong with stallion liking another stallion?”

“No,” said Dash. “There’s nothing wrong with a stallion liking a stallion or a mare liking a mare.”

Even Dash could tell that the filly was growing more nervous as the talk continued. “So… if a filly started getting weird feelings around her friends… that’d be ok, right?”

“Squirt, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Scootaloo nodded her head.

“Yeah, it’s ok.”

The filly rushed towards Dash, wrapping her forelegs around Dash’s shoulders. “Thank you Rainbow Dash. You really are the best.”

As if there was any doubt, thought Rainbow. “Listen squirt, I’ve been in your shoes and it sucks, but it’ll get better.”

The two sat together in Rainbow’s living room, without saying much of anything for a while. Rainbow playfully nudged the filly and asked, “So, when did you start liking fillies?”

“Dash,” Scootaloo whined with a blush.

“Oh come on, you can tell me.”

Scootaloo sighed and said, “There was a CMC sleep over at Rarity’s house and during the night I got up to go to the bathroom. When I opened the bathroom door, I saw Rarity in the shower.”

“A wet Rarity huh? Yep, that’ll do it,” she said with a chuckle.

***

Night and morning had passed and the afternoon had come. Macintosh paced back and forth in the barn, growing more nervous with each passing second. He had decided that today he was going to tell AJ the truth. He had talked it over with both Blues and Rainbow Dash in the morning and they both told him to just be direct. He agreed, and told AJ to meet him in the barn to talk about something.

He looked up as the door opened and saw his sister came in. “Howdy, so what’s up? You look more nervous than a jackrabbit in a snake pit,” she said.

He took a deep breath, looked her in the eye, and began to tell Applejack the truth; how he had been hiding the secret from AJ and Granny, about how Dash figured it out and that their relationship was fake. Though he did leave out the part of Dash being a fillyfooler, deciding that it wasn’t his place to tell her that.

“Stop!” yelled Applejack. “Just stop. Ah’m going to go before I say something that Ah’ll regret. We’ll talk about this later.” She slammed the door shut as she left.

He sat there in silence, listening to her walk off. “Ah’m sorry,” he whispered.

***

Dash had been watching the old barn from her cloud over the farm. She winced a bit as she saw AJ slammed the door on her way out. The farmer mare walked off into the orchard, bucking one of the trees along the way. Dash could have sworn that the tree leaned a bit afterwards and wondered if it was going to fall over.

Not liking to see her friend in this mood, Dash flew down into the orchard. “Um… Hey Applejack. What’s up?”

“Not now Dash.” Applejack growled a bit during her response.

“So, are you angry at me too?”

“Ah… no, Ah ain’t angry at you for going along with Macintosh’s idea. You were just trying to help.”

“His idea? That idiot,” said Dash with an eye roll. “AJ, it was my idea to pretend to be his marefriend and I was the one that showed him where he could meet other stallions like him. Did he also tell you that I’m the same way?”

AJ spun around and glared at Rainbow Dash. “Does it really bother you this much?” asked Dash.

“You’re damn right it bothers me that you and Big Mac would lie to me like this.”

Rainbow backed up a bit, having never heard Applejack this angry at her before.

“You’re my best friend and he’s my big brother. There ain’t anything Ah wouldn’t do for the two of ya’ll and there ain’t any pony Ah trust more than ya’ll. But Ah guess you two don’t think the same about me.” She turned and started walking away.

“AJ, wait.”

“What?”

“I get it, we messed up. Just… promise you won’t tell anyone what I’m going to say?” AJ glared back at her, again. “Right, right, trust. Look, I’ll admit it; I was scared of telling you.”

“Dash, why in tarnation would you be afraid of telling me?”

Dash pawed at the ground for a bit, before saying, “Think about the stuff we do together. How often do we wrestle or end up lying on the ground next to each other. If… if you knew I liked mares, maybe you wouldn’t want me being that close to you.”

Dash heard a set off hoofsteps getting closer to her and then felt Applejack’s hoof on her shoulder. “Dash, you’re my friend and Ah won’t ever treat you differently. Unless you keep lying to me, that is.”

“Right… sorry. Listen; don’t be too mad at Big Mac.”

“Fine, Ah’ll try to not to. Well… Ah should probably go back and work things out with him, and Dash, again, no more lying to me.”

***

Macintosh looked up as the barn door opened once again to see his sister coming back in. “Applejack… Ah’m sorry.”

“Listen Big Macintosh, before you get the wrong idea, Ah ain’t angry at you for liking stallions. Ah’ll admit, thinking of my big brother dating another stallion is weird. Actually, it’s really weird. But what Ah’m angry at you for lying to me. We’re family; we ain’t supposed to lie to each other. Especially about who you are dating.”

Macintosh lowered his head and said another apology.

“Stop it. No more apologizing, just don’t do it again. Now then do you have a…” AJ paused for a bit, clearly the topic was still a bit awkward for her to talk about, “Do you have a coltfriend?”

“Eyup. Ah’ve… Ah’ve had some dates with Blues.”

“Ok, then this is what we’re going to do, right now you and Ah going to tell Granny Smith and then Apple Bloom about all this. Then, you are going to talk to Blues and have him come over for dinner with the family. Alright?”

“Eyup. And sis… thanks.”

Epilogue: And then they... [Warning: Clop]

Blues lied on his bed, mindlessly staring at the ceiling and listening to the rainfall. Oh, the storm was scheduled for much later in the night but apparently, the pegasi had other ideas. He had the perfect night planned for him and Big Mac. They were going to pick up some sweets from Sugar Cube Corner, head back to Blues’ home, he’d play a little music for Big Mac, and then they go to bed together. Images of what could have been passed through his mind, some romantic and others a bit more carnal. However, any chance of that was washed away.

He started to let out a depressed sigh but was cut off by the sound of knocking. Laying still, he listened closely as the sound came again.

It couldn’t be him. He’d have to be more stubborn than a mule to still come for the date in this rain.

Blues’ rolled off his bed with a groan and headed for the front door. He opened it, revealing a soaking wet red stallion holding a rose in his mouth. “I...” not knowing how else to finish the sentence, Blues simply facehooved. “Get in here.”

After grabbing a few towels, he set to work trying to dry off Big Macintosh. “What in the hay were you thinking? Tell me you didn’t just come here because it was date night.”

“Eyep.” Big Mac leaned down and nuzzled Blues, who gladly returned the gesture.

“Come on you big oaf, let’s get you someplace to warm up.” Blues led Big Mac to the bedroom, swishing his tail against Big Mac’s along. Maybe, just maybe, the night wouldn’t be a total bust; Blues would still get to spend the evening cuddling with his boyfriend.

The pair got into the bed, snuggling against each other. Blues, in a playful mood, licked the tip of Big Mac’s nose. Macintosh perked up, giving Blues a curious look; which Blues immediately took advantage of, leaning in and kissing Big Mac. “Hey Macintosh, I’ve been thinking, um, do you want to go a bit farther tonight?”

“Uh... Farther?” Blues wasn’t sure if the look was from shock or fear.

“Yeah, farther. “ He kisses Macintosh on the cheek and whispered into his ear, “I want to make you happy. I want you to feel pleasure.”

Blues could feel his boyfriend’s body tense up a bit. “Ah... Alright.”

“You sure?”

“Eyep.”

Blues nudged Macintosh over, onto his back and stood over him. Leaning down, he began kissing and nibbling at Macintosh’s neck, noticing that one of Big Mac’s legs kicked in response. “You won’t regret this, I promise.” He worked his way down, kissing along Big Mac’s chest and belly, eliciting a few grunts from Mac. Ending up face to face with Macintosh’s penis; it was large, twitching, and brown. Blues giggled at the sight. “I’m sorry, it’s just that, it’s brown and you’re red. It’s like you’re a giant apple and this is your stem.”

The laughter and comment earned Blues a less than amused look from his boyfriend. He rolled his eyes and leaned down, licking along the edge of the flared tip. Macintosh kicked again and gasped. Blues licked again, this time starting from the sheath and moving all the way up, taking the head into his mouth once he reached it. Blues closed his eyes to focus entirely on the task at hand, continually massaging the head with his tongue as he moved up and down on the shaft. Macintosh squirmed under him, moaning the whole time; it was long before drops of precum were pouring out..

He moved faster and faster, getting more gasps and moans from Macintosh. Then, Mac’s body tensed up, and Blues’ readied himself for was coming. Squirt, after squirt, after squirt of Mac’s seed filled Blue’s mouth; who had to quickly swallow several times just to keep it from becoming more than his mouth could hold. The final spurt came out, and Blues sat up, swallowing the last bit, and opening his eyes to see the results.

Mac was panting and staring up at Blues with a smile. “How does it taste?”

“Hm?”

“Ah want to know how it tastes,” Macintosh says and taps his forehooves together, nervously.

“Like apples.” This answer got Blues the same unamused stare as his stem comment. “I’m serious, it tasted like salty applesauce. If you don’t believe me, taste it yourself.”

Blues’ jaw dropped as Macintosh did exactly that. He wiped off a bit from his penis and brought it to his mouth. “Wow, it does.”

“Aha, I told you so. Also, that was kind of hot.” Blues walked up and laid back down beside Mac. “Did you enjoy it?”

“Eyep.”

“Goo-” Just as he said that, Blues was rolled over onto his back with Macintosh standing over him. From this angle, Macintosh’s body seemed even larger than normal..

Macintosh leaned down and nibbled on Blues’ neck. Is he really going to do this? wondered Blues. Macintosh moved down, kissing along his chest, then moved to his stomach and finally Blues stopped him, putting up a back hoof to keep Mac from reaching his penis.

The two stared at each other. “You don’t have to do this if you aren’t ready.”

“Ah know but Ah want to.”

Blues opened his back legs and giving Macintosh an opening to continue. Mimicking Blues’ technique, Macintosh gave a little lick to start and then a longer one, followed by taking the penis into his mouth. Blues’ hips bucked at the licking and now he was pawing at the sheet on either side and moaning. After of a few moments of bliss, Blues felt himself on the edge. He tried to say so, but each time, only a groan would come out. He gave one more buck of his hips, and shot into his boyfriend’s mouth.

Macintosh quickly let go and scooted back, coughing. The penis fell back, spreading the rest of Blues’ seed onto his stomach. “Doesn’t taste like apples?” asked Blues, between the heavy breaths.

“Nope.”

***

Sheets were changed, a shower was taken, and now the couple laid together, with Mac’s head on Blues’ shoulder, and Blues stroked Macintosh’s mane. “So, how did it taste?” asked Blues.

“Bitter.”

“Guess I’ll have to eat more fruit.”

Macintosh’s breathing slowed and Blues gave his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek before joining him in sleep.