"Ya what?" Applejack knocked the apples free of the tree, raining them down into the prepared baskets. She didn't move to harvest them afterwards, instead climbing the tree to tend to it. Trees needed more than good kick at times. "Are ya serious?"

"Ah ain't a joker..."

"Yes ya are, ya big goof." She smiled as she leaned in, angling the trimmer attached to her to take a careful snip. "Ya know, we're bein' honest, and ah know ya know what ahm talkin' bout. There are actual advantages, bein' on the stallion side ah thin's, fer apple tendin'."

Big Mac perked an ear at that. "Ya do mighty well. 'Least, that ah see..."

"Ah do mah best, 'cause what choice have ah got?" She pulled herself up higher for a new snip. "'Sides, ah like the body ah got. Ain't in no hurry to trade it in." But no reply came. She looked over her shoulder to see Big Mac looking awkward and chastised. "Ah didn't mean it that way! Look..." She hopped down, shaking her tools free. "Yer my brother. Ah'm on yer side, no matter what. Even if ya went through with it. That ain't the question."

"Maybe ah ain't as good a pony as you are, Sis..."

Applejack swatted at him in several quick swipes. "Cut that out! This ain't a contest." She took a breath deep enough to swell visibly a moment. "Look... Some ponies ain't happy in their skins. Ah get that. Shoot... Ah'm actually kinda glad you wanna try it out afore you do anythin' permanent. I'm just surprised, is all... Maybe ah aughtn't be. That's my fault." She grabbed him by the cheeks. "You're the handsomest stallion in this entire town, ya know that, right? Gonna break no few hearts with this."

Big Mac let out an unsure laugh at that. "Yer teasin' me."

Applejack hiked a brow. "Even that fancy unicorn knew it." She waved up towards Canterlot. "Reckon that's why he gave so many gifts. As stallions go, you're one of the top models. Be proud ah that... If you wanna try somethin' else, 'least be sure that ain't the reason yer thinkin'."

Big Mac sat back on his haunches, tail curling almost defensively. "Ah jus'... wanna try. Twilight said she'd let me try... if ah talked to everypony here at home. Planned to do that anyway, mind."

"Good." Applejack set a hoof on his nose. "If you just came home as somepony new, Ah'd... Wait, we did that once already, an' it was confusin'! Let's not do that again." She went for a basket to start pushing it along and stacking it on the next, creating a mighty stack of baskets. "Ya got my permission, fer what it--" She didn't get to finished, being hugged firmly by her brother, or maybe sister? "It's worth..." She took the time to return the embrace and they got back to the work of tending the orchard.

"But... Why?" Little Apple Bloom looked quite perplexed.

Big Mac awkwardly shuffled in place. "It's... hard to say, but would ya be mad?"

"Why?" She shrugged widely. "You'd still be you. I'd still be yer sister." That much seemed clear and simple to the little filly. She suddenly burst into giggles. "Would ya wear a bow like me?! Or a hat like AJ? Maybe a tail ribbon?" She danced, getting excited about the fashion choices. "Tell me!"

Big Mac's worry lifted into a smile. "So, wouldn't be mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" She hopped up right onto Big Mac's back. "You'd still give rides an' play, right?"

"'Course." He began walking, carrying her along. "Ah'd still be your sib, stallion or mare."

"Then what do ah gotta be mad about?" She hugged him from above. "Don't rightly understand it all, but you'd still be you."

"From the mouth ah foals." He descended the stairs with her, confident she was on his side.

"Huh..." Granny peered at him critically.

"Are ya... mad?"

She shook her head. "Ah don't get it. Yer already livin' a mare's life. Who ah never get to see!" She huffed in continued annoyance at that part. "You dun got both already. What's left to do?" She shrugged. "Ain't what ah'd be aimin' fer, but if ah was both, ah'd live it up."

Big Mac shuddered. One did not want to think about their grandmother in that fashion! "It... ain't the same, an' even you know that. She's not me. You can see me, but ya can't see her. She ain't helpin' 'round the farm, now is she?"

"Reckon she ain't..." Granny leaned in, eyes sweeping over Big Mac. "But yer such a fine stallion, don't take it the wrong way..."

"That's two..." Why did his lady relations seem to all agree he was... He wasn't that handsome! He was pretty sure? "Maybe ah'll be jus' as pretty... Um, we won't know 'till we try... It'll just be fer a little while. She said a week on the outside. Enough to get a taste, nothin' more."

"Not sure ah can 'magine that..." She rubbed at her chin thoughtfully. "But... it ain't all 'bout bein' pretty or handsome." she let out a slow sigh. "Yer my grandchild... Ah want ya to be happy an' healthy. It's the last thin' ah can do fer my children..."

Big Mac flinched back a step. "W-would... they be mad?"

"Ah ain't gonna speak for them." She slid to the ground and stepped towards him. "But if ah had to guess, if you were bein' a good pony, and a solid Apple, don't 'magine they'd turn you away any, an ah won't neither! Silly colt, go on, try on a dress if it makes ya feel better."

Big Mac went for a new shade of red. "It ain't like that..."

"Now yer lyin'... Done tried one on afore... Ah hear ya wore it well even." She pointed past Big Mac. "But ya got my permission, so what're you waitin' for? Ah was the last one, wasn't I?"

"How'd ya... know?"

She rolled her eyes with a grunt. "You ain't that clever. Wish you'd stop bein' so scared ah me, but that you are ain't a secret."

Big Mac shuffled awkwardly a moment. "Ya know ah love ya..."

"And I love you." She said each syllable slowly and purposefully. "Silly thin'. Ya think yer grandmother never did nothin' scandalous... Go on, think yer the first pony ever to color outside the lines!"

He grabbed her in a returned hug and set off. "Then ah will. Um, thanks." He marched off with renewed vigor.

With the blessings of his family behind him, he powered right through Ponyville, nodding to a few familiar faces on the way.

"Look at you!" Lyra grinned from her bench, aside Bon Bon in the morning sun. "A pony with a mission."

Big Mac faltered at the callout. "Ayup." He turned to the two mares, considering a moment. "Um... 'bout to try somethin'... may be dumb, may not be."

Bon Bon hiked a brow at that. "Well, now you have to tell us what it is. You can't just tell a pony that and not say what it is."

"Those are the rules," joyfully called out Lyra. "Spill it, Big M! What insanity have you got in mind?"

Big Mac sat and brought up his hooves to rub on one another. "Well..." It couldn't just stay a secret, could it? He'd be a walking sign of what happened. "Ah'm gonna get Twilight to cast a spell on me."

Bon Bon leaned forward with sudden intense interest. "A dumb spell?"

"The spell ain't dumb..." Big Mac kicked a rock a few feet away. "Askin' her to make me a mare."

The two went still and quiet. Lyra was the first to recover, bubbling into howling laughter. "Wow! Wow! Seriously? Wow..."

Bon Bon gently swatted at her. "Be nice. Um... Did you... lose a bet?"

Big Mac shook his head quickly. "Ain't like that! Um... Ah... just wanna..."

Lyra hopped to the ground in a smooth arc. "Wow... Sorry, said that a lot today." She started. "Is that why you asked... Nevermind." She waved it off. "Are you serious? You really wanna know?"

"I want to try the, uh... mare side... Um..." He glanced away and back at the staring mares. "Are ya mad?"

Lyra shook her head slowly. "Mad? No. Curious? Yes. Now, I don't blame you. Mares are where it's at, if you ask me, which you just did without trying. Still, most stallions I know are pretty happy where they're at."

Bon Bon applied a hoof to her face. "Lyra..."

"What? It's true! They're soft in all the right places, and--"

Bon Bon grabbed her, arm around Lyra's neck and drawing her back. "Forgive her, she likes to talk."

Big Mac looked between the two, new understanding dawning. "Is... Oh... Oh! Oh..." He waggled a hoof between the two. "You two?"

Bon Bon laughed nervously. "Best friends!"

Lyra waggled her brows with meaning. "With benefits."

Big Mac coughed into a hoof. "Ah... see. Um... Gotta question then."

Lyra hiked a brow. "To be honest, this is usually the part where the stallion runs off. Oh! Unless you plan to ask if you can watch and/or join in. The answer is no."

"Ain't either of those." He colored with the implications presented there. "Ah already got a girlfriend... Right nice mare. Ya met her?"

Bon Bon clopped her hooves. "I know her! Does she... know you're doing this?"

"Ah'm only tryin'... But she..." Was it safe to tell them? "Um... She likes all ponies, if ya get what ah mean?"

Lyra nodded sagely at that. "Oh, yep. Not me. I like mares." She looked across at Bon Bon. "You?"

"Dummy." She pushed Lyra away. "Obviously... I like mares..."

Lyra nodded. "Obviously, but do you like stallions too or not? No offense, Mac, but stallions creep me out, that way. Fine friends, but let's keep it to that."

"Um..."

Bon Bon patted Big Mac on the chest. "She likes to talk. We know you aren't here to make awkward advances." When he relaxed a bit, she smiled. "As for me, since everypony's so curious... I'm Lyrasexual."

Big Mac blinked at that. "What?"

Bon Bon tossed her head towards Lyra. "She gets my motor humming, and nopony else does. Not interested in anypony else. Simple as that. Other mares? Don't care. Other stallions? They aren't Lyra."

Lyra gasped and recoiled. "No way! Wow, now I feel like a real heel... Here I am... You are so loyal!" She pounced Bon Bon, the two sharing a warm hug for a moment.

"Don't." Bon Bon pushed Lyra back a few inches. "Getting the hots for a pony isn't a breach of trust. It's acting on it. I dare say, in a way, you're more loyal, since you want to do something, but you don't. I just don't even want to. It's easier, if you think about it."

"Deep." But Lyra's attention had returned to Big Mac. "Alright, so you have this ladyfriend, and you're pretty sure she's alright with a ladyfriend. So... what's the problem? You just want to show off?"

"No, ain't like that!" He waved his hooves in frantic negation. "It's... More... Ah don't know what to do... If we're both mares, what do we do?" The one time he'd tried, he'd used unicorn parts in a very male fashion. A female earth pony wouldn't have that option to fall back on. "Sorry if this is... Sorry..."

Lyra pressed a hoof to one of her cheeks. "Wow... I really need to stop saying that, but this is really a 'wow' kind of day if you think about it. A stallion asking how mares love mares, and not in a creepy kind of way. I have to hoof it to you, congratulations on being the first pony I've seen to manage that."

Bon Bon shook her head slowly. "Big Mac, you're a reliable pony. I know you didn't ask for anything but the best of reasons... But that's a question I'm just not comfortable answering for a stallion. My fault, not yours... but no. If you come back as a mare, somewhere not literally the side of the road, I might feel different. Go on. We're rooting for you."

Author's Note

Big Mac discusses this with his family, and some background ponies. They have opinions too!

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