The Feeling Of An Apple's Core
It was the day before Hearth’s Warming Eve, and the Apple family was decorating the barn.
“I’m so excited for the Pie family to be visiting us this year”, Applejack said while putting some tinsel around some haystacks.
“I know! It was so much fun going to the rock farm last year,” Apple Bloom said excitedly.
“Eeyup!” Big Mac agreed with both of his younger sisters. Applejack grabbed the star to put on top of the tree.
“Applejack! Can I put the star on the tree this year?” Apple Bloom asked. Applejack smiled and handed the Apple Bloom the star. The yellow filly smiled, climbed some haystacks, and carefully put the star on the tree.
“That’s perfect Apple Bloom”, Apple Bloom smiled before climbing back down.
“Thanks, Sis”, Applejack gave Apple Bloom a hug which she returned.
“Come on, Big Mac, join in this family hug”, Applejack said looking at the red stallion. Big Mac looked around and saw his sisters hugging and went over and joined them. Half a second went by before Apple Bloom realised something.
“Wait! Where’s Granny?”, they stopped hugging and looked around the barn, and they found her asleep in her rocking chair. All three of them laughed, which woke Granny Smith up.
“Huh? What? Soup’s on”, Granny said while waking up from her nap.
“Look Granny, we finished the barn, and I put the star on top of the tree”, Apple Bloom said proudly smiling ear to ear. Granny Smith looked around the barn and then at the decorated tree.
“Well, that’s mighty pretty, ya’ll did a perfect job with the decorations”.
“Thanks, Granny”, Applejack and Apple Bloom said in unison.
“Eeyup!”, Big Mac said shortly after.
It was sunset and Big Mac was in his room, staring out the window, after a moment, he turned around and got a box from under his bed, took off the lid, and smiled. In the box were pictures from last Hearth’s Warming at the rock farm, but what Big Mac was smiling most at was the picture of him and Pinkie’s younger sister, Marble Pie. Underneath the pictures was a Hearth’s Warming card he made for Marble. He picked it up and read it over for the hundredth time, just to make sure it was perfect, the perfect card for the perfect pony. Suddenly, there was a quiet knock on Big Mac’s bedroom door.
“Big Mac, you still awake?”, Applejack asked, knowing that her brother likes to turn in early sometimes. Big Mac quickly put the card back in the box and slid the box back under his bed.
“Uhh... eeyup!”, Big Mac replied. Applejack opened the door to see Big Mac looking shifty.
“Big Mac? What were you doing?”, Applejack asked, but she didn’t get a response. “Big Mac? Are you hiding something?” Applejack asked, trying to get a response out of her brother.
“Nnnope!”, Big Mac said, looking left to right, and then at his bed, Applejack noticed where her brother was looking and smiled.
“What’s under the bed, Big Mac?”, Applejack said, continuing to smile.
“N-n-nothing!” Big Mac saying something other than yes or no surprised Applejack slightly, but she still wanted to know what he was hiding.
“You sure ‘bout that?”, Big Mac took a deep breath.
“A uhh... Hearth’s Warming present”, Big Mac whispered. Applejack understood that it was a surprise.
“Oh, I see,” Applejack could see Big Mac wanted to be alone, “Okay, well, I’m going to hit the hay, but I’m always here if you wanna talk” after Applejack left, Big Mac turned around, and continued to look out the window.
----------The Next Day----------
“Big Mac, come on wake up it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve”, Big Mac woke up to a bouncing Apple Bloom, Big Mac just closed his eyes again, the yellow filly noticed this, “Come on, Big Brother, the Pies will be here soon”, Big Mac quickly opened his eyes and got up, the sudden rush surprised Apple Bloom. “Okay... well, at least you’re up”, Apple Bloom left Big Mac to finish getting ready.
Applejack and Apple Bloom were doing some last checks on the barn when Big Mac walked in and they both noticed a slight difference.
“Big Mac, did you... comb your hair?” Applejack said, noticing Big Mac’s hair wasn’t its usual messy self. Big Mac did his best not to blush.
“Eeyup!” Big Mac slightly looked away. Applejack slightly chuckled.
“What’s the occasion?”, Applejack asked, smiling.
“Hearth’s Warming Eve”, Big Mac said, thinking quickly. Applejack caught Big Mac blushing, but didn’t want to bring attention to it.
“Fair enough, well Pinkie Pie and her family will be here an---“
“Any minute now?”, Pinkie Pie said, popping out from behind a haystack, which made Applejack jump.
“You know, I’ll never understand how you do that, Pinkie,” Applejack said. Pinkie giggled. “So, where’s the rest of the family?”
“They’re right behind me”, Pinkie said, making her way toward the barn doors, then not a moment later the rest of the Pie family walked in.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, ya’ll”, Applejack greeted, making her way over to them.
“And a Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve to you too, Apples”, even though Igneous still spoke with his usual monotone posh tone, since meeting the Apples, the words he uses have become simpler. Igneous looked around the barn, “Say, where’s Granny Smith?” Applejack looked behind the Pies.
“Here she comes”, Granny Smith walked in at her own pace.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, Igneous Rock, Cloudy Quartz, and the rest of the Pies,” Granny Smith greeted as she walked into the barn.
“Wow! Applejack, the barn looks amazing. I love all these decorations,” Pinkie was pointing at all the decorations.
“Thanks, Pinkie, now that everyone is here, why don’t we all head inside, sit down, and have some hot cocoa”, Applejack suggested. Both the Apples and the Pies nodded in agreement. Big Mac was looking at Marble while Marble was looking at him, they both smiled until Limestone ushered Marble.
They all sat in the lounge drinking their hot cocoa, then out of nowhere, Big Mac scratched the back of his left ear, and not too long after Marble did the same. A moment passed and Big Mac finished his hot cocoa and went into the kitchen to swill his mug out. A couple of minutes went by and Marble got up to do the same.
Big Mac saw Marble walk into the kitchen, and he smiled.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, Marble”, Marble swilled her mug out and went over to Big Mac.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve to you too, Big Mac. I’m glad we came up with that signal. I find it so much easier to talk to you,” Big Mac nodded.
“Me too, I’m looking forward to tomorrow”, Marble nodded in agreement. They both smiled at each other, then Pinkie Pie burst in, which made them both jump.
“Oh, Marble, are you and Big Mac having a good time?”
“Mhmm!” Marble found it hard to say anything else.
“That’s good, we’re going to play a game, so don’t take too long”, Pinkie Pie said while jumping back into the lounge. Marble looked back at Big Mac.
“I don’t know why, but even around my sister, I find it difficult to speak,” Marble confessed.
“Well, she can kinda... loud”, Big Mac smiled, which Marble returned, then they both headed back into the lounge.
As they walked back into the lounge, they saw everypony getting into teams. Pinkie then spotted Big Mac and Marble.
“Guys! We’re playing hide-and-seek, but in teams, we have Mum, Granny Smith, Limestone, Maud, and Apple Bloom on one team, and you two are with Dad, Applejack, and moi,” Pinkie Pie had to catch her breath after saying every member of both teams at once.
“So, which team is seeking first?” Limestone asked, wanting to get started.
“So you guys have to give us ten seconds to hide and then we’ll swap”, Pinkie said excitedly, so Cloudy, Limestone, Granny Smith, Maud, and Apple Bloom all turned around, closed their eyes, and counted to ten, and that’s when Pinkie and Applejack went off in one direction, Igneous went off in another leaving Big Mac and Marble left to hide. Big Mac looked at Marble and tilted his head in a ‘follow me’ way.
Big Mac quietly opened his bedroom door and walked in while Marble followed.
“Why in here, Big Mac?”, Marble quietly closed the bedroom door behind her.
“I thought we could hide under the bed. I think it might take them a while to find us,” Big Mac smiled.
“Good idea,” Big Mac and Marble crawled under the bed. As Marble was making sure she was completely under, she accidentally hit a box.
“Oops! Sorry, Big Mac, I didn’t mean to do that,” Marble reached out from under the bed to get the box back and slid it over to Big Mac.
“It’s okay,” Big Mac said, taking the box and keeping it close. Marble noticed how close Big Mac was holding the box.
“That box seems pretty special,” Marble saw the design on the box was quite elegant. “It looks beautiful,” Big Mac smiled.
“It’s a Hearth’s Warming gift, for a special pony,”, Marble saw Big Mac’s smile.
’Does Big Mac have a special somepony? I can’t tell him, I like him now’, Marble continued to think, ’Oh no! My gift, it says how I feel in black and white, what do I do now? Marble was trying hard not to show her worry to Big Mac, Do I tell him now? Is it too late? Come on Marble, it’s now or never
“Uhh... Big Mac?” Marble stuttered.
“Eeyup?” Big Mac whispered.
“I just wanted to say, umm... I uhh... you’re very spec---“ Marble and Big Mac heard somepony walk in, Marble put her hooves over her mouth.
“Where is everypony?” it was Apple Bloom, and she sounded slightly frustrated. Apple Bloom looked over at Big Mac’s bed, and she smiled.
“Gotcha!” Apple Bloom pulled back the duvet, “Oh...”, only to find an empty bed. Apple Bloom was about to leave the room, but then she looked at the bed again, walked over, and looked under it. “Big Mac! Marble! I found you! I found you!” Apple Bloom was bouncing around in joy that she finally found somepony. Big Mac and Marble crawled out from under the bed. “Come on! Everypony has already been found”, Apple Bloom rushed out of the room.
“Seems it was a good hiding spot then,” Big Mac chuckled to Marble, when he was sure his little sister was out of earshot. Marble, still thinking about that special box, tried her best to chuckle back.
Maybe that’s a sign making sure I don’t tell him... yeah I’ll leave it
Big Mac and Marble walked into the lounge, only to see their team.
“My goodness, you guys are slow, the other team has already started to hide,” Pinkie said. Big Mac and Marble looked at each other and then back at Pinkie, “It’s okay guys we can just start counting now,” Pinkie then smiled, covered her eyes with her hooves, and started counting to ten while everypony did he same except Big Mac and Marble who just covered their eyes.
Once Pinkie reached ten, she darted out of the room while every other pony just walked at a normal speed and started searching. Big Mac and Marble went and searched together.
Big Mac looked around to see if there was any pony about, he blushed.
“I enjoy spending time with you”, Marble looked up at Big Mac who was blushing, but smiling. Marble smiled back until the thought of the box entered her mind again, but she did her best to keep the smile.
“Mhmm,” Big Mac’s smile dropped. Marble didn’t notice.
Mhmm? What happened to being able to talk to me?, Big Mac got worried.
Unfortunately, this behavior continued throughout the search, which only made Big Mac slightly panic.
Maybe, she doesn’t like me... wait, what about my gift!?
Big Mac and Marble were both not too focused on the rest of the day, so it was just a blur to them both before everypony went to bed.
Marble walked into the room she was staying in and started thinking about her gift for Big Mac.
“Maybe I should leave my gift and not give it to him, because if he does have a special somepony, it will just make it awkward, or if he doesn’t like me for any other reason, it would be awkward,” Marble sighed, “I like what we have, so I will not ruin it by telling him how I feel,” Marble got into bed, but couldn’t fall asleep as she had so many thought going around her head.
Big Mac was pacing up and down in his bedroom, worrying.
“What do I do? What if she doesn’t like me back? She seemed so distant after hide-and-seek...why?” Big Mac took the box from underneath his bed, took out the card he made for Marble, and just read what he wrote, Big Mac started to tear up, he was angry at himself, “Why did I ever think a perfect mare like her would like me back?” Big Mac went to rip the card up, but something stopped, he didn’t know what it was, but it calmed him down enough to just put everything back in the box, slide the box back underneath his bed, and get into bed, as he got into bed, he let out a big sigh, “I hope tomorrow’s a good day regardless”, but Big Mac knew he would have to pretend for the whole day.
----------The Next Day----------
“EVERYPONY! IT’S HEARTH’S WARMING DAY!” Pinkie’s scream could be heard entirely through Sweet Apple Acres. Needless to say, everypony was awake, even Granny Smith, which, according to Apple Bloom, ‘Never wakes up from her naps’.
After letting his heartbeat slow back down, Big Mac just led there, until Pinkie and Apple Bloom burst in.
“Big Mac, how are you just led there on Hearth’s Warming?” Pinkie asked.
“Yeah, come on Big Brother, you’re usually one of the first ones up,” Apple Bloom said, pointing to her brother’s unusual behaviour. Big Mac slowly moved and got out of bed.
“Are you coming down, Big Mac?” Pinkie asked.
“Eeyup!” Big Mac said with a yawn and a low tone, which Pinkie didn’t notice.
“Awesome! I’m going to get everypony else, hee hee”, Pinkie darted out of Big Mac’s room.
“Wait for me, Pinkie Pie!”, Apple Bloom said, chasing after her. Big Mac just sighed.
Marble was led in her bed, tired from not getting much sleep the night before. Marble turned over into a position where her head was slightly off the bed, and just sighed.
“Marble!” Pinkie burst in, which made Marble ump so much she ended up on her feet.
“Oh, good, you’re up, but come on slow coach, let’s get downstairs and open presents,” Pinkie was gone almost as quick as she appeared.
Big Mac made his way out of his bedroom while Marble made her way out of her’s, they met in the hallway. Big Mac gave Marble a weak smile, which she returned before they both headed into the lounge.
“Ahh! Everypony is here, time for presents”, Pinkie said excitedly. Applejack smiled and looked under the tree, but there were no presents.
“Uhh... Pinkie Pie, did you hide the presents?” Pinkie laughed.
“No, I remembered what you said, but I thought it would be nice to personally give our presents rather than picking out random ones from under the tree”
“So where did you put the presents that were already under the tree?”, Applejack asked worryingly.
“In the barn sorted out in piles, all you have to do is pick up your pile and hand out your presents, I’m going to get our piles,” within seconds Pinkie was back with five piles of presents, “Mum and Dad here you go, Limestone this is your pile, Maud, these are yours, Marble these are yours and these are mine,” Pinkie smiled and was ready to hand out presents.
“Hold on ya’ll, I’ll get our piles from the barn,”
A few moments passed, and Applejack returned with all the presents.
“Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, Big Mac, and me,” Applejack handed out the piles.
It wasn’t long before they handed all the presents out and everypony was showing gratitude towards each other.
“Pinkie, this is amazing,” Applejack could stop looking at Pinkie’s present, it was a rock as tall as her, but sculpted to resemble her and Pinkie.
“I’m so glad you like it, and thank you so much for the unicorn sparkle ingredient. I’m definitely using this in my next batch of cakes,” Pinkie got excited about the thought of making Unicorn Sparkle Cupcakes.
“So has everypony received their present from everypony”, Applejack asked, everypony nodded, but then Pinkie Pie noticed something.
“One, two, three, Big Mac you only have four presents from us, I see Limestone’s, mine, Mum and Dad’s, Maud’s... Marble’s present is missing,” Pinkie turned to Marble.
“What happened to the present you made for Big Mac?” Marble eyes grew, but her pupils shrank, she didn’t want Big Mac to know about her present, Marble just shrugged, “I’ll find it”, Pinkie was gone and back before Marble could even try to say anything, “Found it! Here you go Big Mac”, Marble was too shy to try to stop anything. Big Mac looked at the present, then at Marble, then back down at the present to open it, inside a box was a rock sculpted into a heart, Big Mac smiled, but then noticed engraved writing on the heart, he read it in his head.
’My dearest friend, Big Mac, you are so easy to talk to; you understand my fear of talking and spending time with you is always amazing; I was hoping we could be more than friends, because I’d love to share more than just my words with you, will you be my Apple?’ Big Mac smiled, but then his expression changed to slight worry and he ran up the stairs.
’Oh no! I’ve ruined my friendship with Big Mac’ Marble thought, but he was back down before she could think another thought, and he handed her the box. This surprised Marble. ’The box for somepony special? Am I...?’. Marble opened the box to see a picture of her and Big Mac on the rock farm from last Heart’s Warming. She smiled, she then saw a personalised Hearth’s Warming card, she picked it up and read it in her head.
’Marble, you make me a better version of myself; I say more words to you than anyone else, but all those words can never explain the feeling I get when I spend time with you, I like you so much; I hoping you could be my Rock to lean on’. Marble tried not to cry. She scratched her left ear and Big did the same and they went into the kitchen, everypony was confused.
“Big Mac, I did not know, the special pony was me,” Marble smiled.
“I did not know you felt that way about me,” Big Mac returned the smile.
“So now you know how I feel, will you be my Apple?” Marble blushed.
“As long as you’ll be my Rock,” Big Mac and Marble hugged.
“Yes, I will,” Marble was nearly crying with happiness.
“Then yes,” Big Mac replied, hugging Marble tighter. Then they both realised the hug, but still had their arms around another.
“Big Mac, look,” Big Mac looked up to see a mistletoe.
“Well, it is tradition,” Big Mac smiled. Marble and Big Mac kissed each other, and they both felt a relief of finally, but Pinkie cut their kiss slightly short.
“Oh, my goodness! You guys kissed!” Big Mac and Marble turned around to see everypony by the kitchen door. They both blushed.
“Well, I guess that explains your strange behaviour,” Applejack said.
“So, you guys like each other?” Limestone asked.
“Eeyup!”
“Mhmm!” Both Big Mac and Marble were in sync.
“So, are you guys together now?” Pinkie asked excitedly. Big Mac and Marble looked at each other, then back at Pinkie, and both nodded. “Ahh! I have to throw you guys a getting together party”, and nopony was ready for what happened next.
“Maybe, let everypony celebrate Hearth’s Warming first,” Marble said softly.
Everypony’s jaw almost hit the floor. Big Mac and Marble just laughed at all their reactions, then looked at each other and kissed once more before everypony composed themselves.
“Shall we?” Big Mac said, leading everypony into the lounge.
