The sound of hooves smashing against trees resonated throughout the orchard, the leaves rustling loudly as apples fell cleanly off the branches and into the baskets placed at the base of the tree's trunk. They landed with soft, satisfying thuds, the sight giving the large, red stallion that knocked them down a satisfied smile. The apples always did as they were told while he was around, not so much out of fear but out of understanding. The apples knew they were ripe and ready to be picked, so what was the point of staying up in the tree forever? At least, that's what Big Macintosh always thought. It's not like the apples could talk back or anything, but they always seemed to tell him so as he watched the new season of crops grow throughout the year.
The stallion picked up each basket one-by-one and dumped the ripe, red apples into a large wagon nearby, placed the baskets around another tree and the endless cycle continued. A soft breeze brushed against him, chilling his already sore muscles as he shivered slightly. It was the coldest day of the summer with the coldest wind chill he'd felt in a long time. He thought it odd that he was shivering in the hottest season of the year, but at the same time with the given circumstances and the fact that he was in the shade surrounded by warmth-blocking branches he didn't think much of it.
He raised his hind legs up and gave the next tree in line a mighty kick, watching his strength so as not to harm it by accident. The familiar sound of hooves against tree covered the sound of something several rows of trees away nimbly weaving through the trees. It hid, standing on its hind legs against a tree, and peeked around the large trunk. The large stallion didn't seem to notice and continued with his usual work and loading the apples into the wagon. The stallion turned around once again to place the baskets next to yet another tree and the creature made a move around one tree for each basket landing roughly on the grass. It was cautious, using the farmer's routine to its advantage and covering its advances with line of sight and obstructive noise.
Another loud kick against a tree and the creature made its move. It moved with precision around trees until the farmer was just around the next tree. Still it had been unseen by its target and the creature smiled at that. Things were going exactly as planned. It bided its time, waiting for the next kick against a tree. Only then could the creature satisfy its needs. It knew the pattern by heart. By know, the stallion should be rearing up and preparing for the kick.
Just as it knew it would happen, the farmer kicked the apples off another tree and creating the window it needed. The creature leapt out from behind the tree and tackled the red stallion in a sneak attack. Its prey huffed out all of its breath in shock before getting in a sturdy stance so as not to fall over. The weight of his predator was weighing him down, only allowing the movement of his head and neck. He turned his neck and head as sharply as he could to find the creature's bright blue eyes staring back at his green ones. Its face was square, obviously male, with a light tan coat and brown hair that parted in the middle and wrapped loosely around his ears. His face was partially hidden by his hooves and done so in a way to make his eyes the most prominent thing in Big Mac's vision.
"Howdy," Caramel greeted casually, doing his best imitation of the worst southern accent ever.
"Howdy ta ya too, Mel," Big Mac returned with a smile, "What brings ya over ta the farm?"
Caramel recoiled in mock dejection, "What, I need a reason to see my coltfriend now?"
"'Course not." Big Mac reassured while rolling his eyes.
"I just heard the beautiful sound of my hunk of a stallion doing his morning chores and thought I could watch the show." Caramel's voice was as sly as his smile as he brought his neck around Big Mac's, bringing their faces cheek-to-cheek.
"You're bein' quite the sweet-talker today," Big Mac said, getting into the mood.
"Do you like it when I compliment you?"
Instead of answering directly, Big Mac lowered his back end so that he was almost sitting on the ground with his hind legs still holding his body's weight. Caramel looked down with confusion that lasted for only a second as he was flipped into the air and landed squarely on his coltfriend's back.
Big Mac turned his head back around and, with one of the sexiest looks Caramel had ever seen him wear, said, "Ah love it."
Caramel was then carried off towards the end of the forest of apple trees. He laid down so he could wrap his hooves around the larger stallion's neck, partially for love's sake and partially for his own safety. The airs he had put on were wavering slightly as he felt the strong muscles of the stallion below him move and shift with each step he took. He refocused his attention--which was difficult considering his position--to his stallion.
"So, where we going?"
"Ah was hopin' you would know that, lover boy," Big Mac replied snidely.
His rattled nerves forced his guard down and caused him to blush at the nickname. He re-gathered as much of his confidence from before lovingly responding, "How about we head over to the barn? It should be only us around, right?"
Big Mac looked as if to think on that proposition for a moment, though he was actually thinking on how to string his coltfriend along a little longer before going where he wanted to go.
"Nah," he replied simply.
Caramel recoiled, for real this time, in shock. He sat back up and crossed his hooves together, turning his head away, "Fine, then where do you wanna go?" he huffed.
"Ah wanna relax. It feels like AJ's been workin' me harder than usual an' mah legs're killin' me lately. How 'bout the park?"
Caramel assumed his original position, unable to stay angry with him, and nodded his head in agreement. It was a bit of a walk to the park from Sweet Apple Acres, only made slower by the extra weight on Big Mac but he refused to let Caramel off simply because of that. He trotted on with his head high and his smile on, even as they passed through the marketplace and ponies stared in their direction. Some smiled at the sight, some just looked away. Only a few seemed to be offended by the sight, but it was enough to make Caramel a tad uncomfortable. He hid his face in Mac's mane as best he could to avoid the gazes, both good and bad, that were aimed at him. He noticed again Big Mac's confident smile and posture, how he didn't let anything the other ponies thought ruin the fun he was having. The small stallion was able to take some of his coltfriend's confidence and reveal his face to the ponies around them, but only to those on their left as he stuck to one side instead of sitting up.
They finally reached the park just in time for all the foals to still be in school and the parents who weren't working and younger stallions to keep the place lively yet calm. Caramel's blush at the attention he was sure they were getting only faded slightly as the immediate population decreased. They arrived at a bench and took a seat for both of them. Caramel sat in front of Big Mac, who has his legs spread wide enough for him to fit and lean into him. He wrapped his hooves around the tan colt, in a comforting embrace. He felt his coltfriend's anxiety slowly die down as he got used to being "in the open."
They sat together silently for a while, nuzzling each other smiling for no particular reason. They watched the clouds go by and tried guessing their shapes, then sang some songs quietly to themselves. Neither of them were exactly professional singers, so they didn't want to deafen anypony. Big Mac would occasionally use his higher perch to nibble on Caramel's ear, earning him a moan of pleasure in return. Caramel would then try to push him away in vain, telling him to stop despite his obvious joy at the attention.
Then, Big Macintosh was caught completely off guard by what the tan pony did in retaliation. Caramel had looked up, locking eyes with him. He smiled at the farmer, an almost devilish one that reminded him of his forward actions at the farm. Before he could get a word out, Caramel pushed his head forward with unusual dominance against Big Mac's and locked lips. The larger stallion had to take a moment to recover before he pushed back. They continuously pecked each other with kisses, completely oblivious to whatever was around them. They let their tongues meet where their lips were, curling and twisting around each other like two foals wrestling. After several minutes they ended the kiss and looked deeply into each other's eyes. Their passion left the other blushing, even Big Mac's was visible through his coat.
"I'm really glad it was you I fell in love with," Caramel said through his beat-red face.
"Ah'm real glad it was you who asked me out," Big Mac put his head on top of Caramel's as he leaned in closer to Big Mac, practically using him as his own personal chair, "If it wasn't you, Ah'm not sure Ah would've even considered it."
Caramel suddenly yawned and his eyes grew bags under them. Big Mac brought his hooves around Caramel's belly, the way he always did when this time came around. It was only a matter of minutes before he felt the tan pony's breathing even to that of peaceful sleep. He stayed awake, however. His biological clock was set much differently than Caramel's, so he didn't feel the least bit tired. The advantage to this, though, meant he got to do one of his favorite things when they were together: sleep together. Even if he wasn't the one doing the actual sleeping, he enjoyed being Caramel's bed, his comfort, and his center. He felt like Caramel's world revolved around him with the way the small stallion was able to act around him. He was so much more open with his feelings when near him, even when they were out in public like this.
The pony was normally more reserved around anypony not part of the Apple Family. Even then, he could only be fully comfortable when he was there. It was even worse in public. He knew it wasn't because Caramel was embarrassed of him, that was for sure. He just didn't like unwanted attention and the thought of ponies looking at him while they walked through town classified as "unwanted."
Despite all that, though, Caramel tried his hardest to hold himself high when they were together. Everypony knew about them at this point, which probably made it easier for him to relax after some time. They never kissed in public, though. That was what surprised Big Mac the most. Then again, a year is a long time, he thought, looking down at his sleeping lover, He probably thought it was about time. He sighed, letting the thoughts wander away. He relaxed himself, closing his eyes and resting them. Right now, it was just the two of them. That's all that mattered.
Caramel opened the door to his house, the moon's light shrouding everything in a dim light from high above him. His lazy eyes, tired from the job he'd just returned from, blurred his living room into a mess of colors that took a couple moments to make sense of. He turned on the light and groggily made his way through the room, throwing his keys in the bowl on the table nearby. He heard an extra clattering in the bowl and looked inside to see a copy of his key resting below his own. The sight made him excited, bringing enough energy into him to bring a smile to his face and a hop to his step. He quickly trotted down the hall and opened the door to his room, dimly lit by the moonlight through the window. Through the rays of silver light he saw the red face of his sleeping stallion lying in his bed.
His breathing wasn't quite even yet, as if he was just drifting off into sleep. The sight carried peace with it as his gentle giant's chest rose and fell with his breathing, the heavy sighs audible as Caramel quietly approached his empty side of the bed. He slipped under the covers, making sure not to wake his heavy sleeper of a boyfriend, and made himself comfortable. The sight of Big Mac sleeping put him in a bit of a trance, focusing his vision only on the hunk of red fur before him. The hunk of red fur started reaching his hooves out, as if trying to grab something far away. Caramel, one to never disappoint him, quickly turned himself around and inched closer into his grasp. He was pulled in and held tight like a teddy bear.
Caramel imagined all of the times he had been held like this, before they had gotten together. It usually happened after he had been teased or something equally terrible happened. One time stuck out in particular. He had somehow ended up at Sweet Apple Acres one day, his first day in his new school in Ponyville. He was much smaller than the other stallions--heck, even smaller than some of the mares--in his class, not to mention the only blank-flank. He was teased through the whole day despite his teacher's attempts to gain the class's attention. He ran away, not paying attention to where and not caring how long it took to get there. He didn't get far, though, before he ran straight into a tree in his blind sprint.
He'd gotten dizzy from the impact and stayed below the large branches, glad that he was shielded from the sun. The last thing he needed was to be seen. Just then, a smaller, but still much larger than he, version of Big Macintosh poked his head from around the trunk, curious as to what had just knocked down some of the apples he was supposed to pick. Caramel had his head buried in his hooves and was unaware of the stallion's presence until he had literally put his nose in his business. Caramel felt his wet nose poke his front leg and looked up in surprise. He began to cower as close to the tree as possible, not once thinking to start running again.
Caramel covered his eyes once again, attempting to shield himself from the large colt. He waited for the words, those hurtful words, to invade his ears again. He waited for several seconds, almost a minute, before daring to look back up. The colt was no longer in front of him, but had instead taken a seat next to him. Confused, Caramel turned to study him more closely, though making sure to stay as far as he could given his position. In the next moment, the colt had wrapped his front legs around him in a hug and released about five seconds later. He was about to ask when he was interrupted.
"Pa always tells me ta help ponies when Ah could an' you looked like ya needed a hug," the young farmer said as he smiled friendly towards him. Caramel felt like he was paralyzed in that spot, yet not an ounce of the fear he had moments ago was there anymore, as if the colt before him had dragged it all out of him. He stayed there with Big Macintosh until his parents had come looking for him, but promised that he would visit as much as he could to play.
Caramel snapped back to reality as a heavy yawn escaped his mouth, reminding him of how tired he was. He felt Big Mac's warmth cover him, not caring that he was much too warm to be sleeping like this in the summer, even on the coldest night of the season. He wouldn't leave his lover, his support, his wall, his Big Macintosh.
He suddenly woke up several hours later to Big Macintosh attempting to be sneaky and slip out of bed without waking him. He noticed his obviously unsuccessful attempt when he saw Caramel turn to him with sleepy eyes.
"Morning, Mac."
"Mornin', Mel. Sorry fer wakin' ya." He pecked a kiss on Caramel's forehead and turned to head out the door when he was stopped.
"Wait, I want to come with you!" Caramel jumped out of bed as quickly as he could, his morning energy shining through as usual as he headed past Big Mac and to the bathroom to freshen up. He came back out with the appearance of a stallion ready for the day. As long as you ignored the grease and filth from the previous day, that is.
Big Mac shook his head, causing Caramel to frown slightly. "C'mon, Mel," he said, nudging him back into the bathroom, "let's get ya cleaned up. Ya look like a mess."
Caramel fought a little as he was nudged into the shower and the warm water began raining down on him. "But Mac, I'm just gonna get dirty helping you out anyway!" Caramel stopped complaining as Big Mac's large frame hopped into the shower with him. Big Mac jabbed his mouth onto Caramel's and held there for a few seconds, using just enough force to overpower him. After a few seconds the tan pony had lost his balance and slipped on the water. He fell shortly on his back and looking up at the other stallion's frame, which only seemed bigger from his current angle.
Big Mac continued to stare deeply in his partner's eyes, never looking away once. Caramel felt the steam warm his exposed body, along with . . . other things. Big Mac smiled at the view, lust obvious in his eyes. "Ya know, with all the work I've been doin' lately we haven't had much time for 'fun.' Wanna change that?"
All Caramel could really remember after that was him nodding his head with pure excitement. Everything after that was sort of a blur thanks to the heat of the shower, but he knew that it was enough to put an amazing spring in his steps as he followed his favorite stallion to his home and help him work to catch up for his lost time. Big Mac couldn't contain his own giddy smile; it practically told the whole town what had happened. But, he didn't care. He didn't care as he walked through the marketplace and around the last few ponies setting up their stands. He didn't care, and neither did Caramel for that fact, as they received the gazes of the other ponies as usual. He didn't care as he set up the baskets and wagons around his section of the farm and continued where he left off yesterday.
He listened as the sound of his hooves smashing against trees resonated throughout the orchard, and the leaves rustled loudly as the apples fell with soft thuds into the baskets. He lifted the apple-filled baskets onto his back one at a time and poured the apples into the wagon to be sorted later. He watched as Caramel dumped in his apples, picking the apples like a real Apple himself despite his lacking frame. They smiled at each other as they placed their baskets around other trees and bucked those apples down too, repeating the endless cycle. Big Mac smiled contentedly at that. His wonderful, beautiful cycle.
