I leaned against the apple tree and sighed. It was a perfect day. The weather wasn't too cold yet and I could still enjoy being outside. Big Mac was sitting a short way around the trunk. I smiled. "Good day isn't it?" He nodded. "Eeyup." I looked to my other side to Time Turner. "And you thought it would be hard helping with harvest." He chuckled. "Okay. You two got me there. It was kind of fun. And the apple pie Granny Smith made for us was delicious." We all sighed at the memory of that delicious dessert. Granny had really outdone herself.

I had invited Time Turner along to Sweet Apple Acres to meet Big Mac. He wound up volunteering to help with the day's harvest. We had all gotten along and had a great time. And with the extra hooves we had finished a few hours earlier than plan. So here we were, lounging under an apple tree.

I heard the sound of hoofsteps coming towards us. "Ah'm surprised at you stallions. A harvest to do and y'all are layin' lazy under a tree." I looked up to see Applejack and Twilight standing over us. I smiled. "The day's harvest is done AJ." She looked over at the nearby barn to see the barrels of apples we had brought in. She looked back at us in surprise. "You three did all that?" We all nodded. She shook her head. "Don't that beat all." I looked at Twilight. "And what brings you to this fine farm today?" She shrugged. "I finished my checklist for today, so I decided to see if Applejack need any help out here. But it looks like you three already got the work done." She looked over at Mac. "You're lucky to have such good friends Big Mac. Having the help must be nice." He nodded. "Eeyup." I looked between the two, waiting for one of them to say something else. Nothing.

Applejack and Twilight walked off towards the house. I sat up and turned to Mac. "You should at least say something nice." He glanced at me. "Didn't feel like the right place for it." Time Turner looked at us. "You two know something I don't?" I looked at Big Mac. He thought for a moment before slowly nodding. I looked back at Time Turner. "He's got a thing for Twilight." Time Turner smiled. "Nice mare. You'd be lucky to have her Mac." Mac smiled. "Eeyup." I chuckled. "Of course Timey's got his own secret crush, don't you?" He stared at me. "Timey? Really?" I shrugged. He rolled his eyes and looked at Mac. "He's right though. I...I want Rarity to notice me." Mac sat up. "Miss Rarity huh? She's pretty and all, but you think you can do it?" I nodded. "He's right. You'll have your work cut out for you. Rarity's very particular about things. She even rejected a prince once. Though he was a jerk."

We stood up and walked towards the house. Time Turner asked me about Rarity and I answered what I could. I realized I didn't know a whole lot about her. I guess that might change if Timey kept badgering me enough. We entered the house to the smell of aromatic heaven. My eyes darted around and landed on a doorway. "The kitchen." We raced in to find Applejack and Twilight drinking...'sniff sniff'...hot apple cider! Applejack shook her head. "Ah told ya we should have blocked the smell. Now we got three stallions that look like haven't eaten in a week." Twilight giggled and her horn lit up. Three mugs floated over to the table. "I saved enough for all of you. Hurry before it cools." We drank greedily. Usually I would be ashamed of acting like this, but this was Sweet Apple Acre Cider we were talking about.

I finished my mug and set it down. "Thanks. That was delicious." Twilight smiled. "No trouble at all. Applejack knew you three wouldn't be able to resist it." Applejack froze and looked from Twilight to us. I looked at the mares and then turned to look at the two cider-guzzling stallions. What was going on? Applejack had acted like she'd wanted to hide the cider and now Twilight was saying it was AJ's idea to get us to have cider to begin with? I looked at Applejack again. She locked eyes with me and gave a short shake of her head. She nodded to Twilight and then towards...Mac. Ah.

I turned to Mac. "I'm going to go grab some of those juicy Red Delicious we brought in." I looked over my shoulder. "You should come see them Applejack. Make sure they're fit for eating. You can help me bring some in if they are." I walked out of the kitchen and went for the front door. As I walked onto the front porch I saw Applejack out of the corner of my eye. We hurried over to the barn and entered. I turned to her. "Okay. What gives?" She chuckled. "Ah just thought they could, ya know, use a push." I rolled my eyes. "Mares just can't let stallions handle these things, can they?" She  punched me in the shoulder. "Not when it comes to mah brother. Big Mac's a slow mover when it comes to this sort of thing. And Twilight ain't much better off." I nodded. "Okay. I get it. They both like each other, but they're too afraid to make the first move. So you want to help them make it?" She grinned. "Exactly!"

We left the barn with some of the Red Delicious I and the other stallions had harvested earlier. Our plan was ready and now we just had to set it in motion. We were just coming to the house when Twilight walked out the front door. "I hate to leave, but I just remembered something that I forgot to put on my checklist for today. I'll see you later." She ran off and Applejack sighed. "Ah don't think that pony can stand bein' alone with Big Mac fer too long. She just won't do nothin'." I shook my head. "We've got out work cut out for us AJ." She nodded in agreement and we went inside.

Mac and Time Turner were still sitting at the kitchen table. I sat down and stared at Mac. "Did you talk at all." He looked at me and shook his head. "Nope." I put my face in my hooves. "Why not?" He shrugged. "Nothin' to say." I turned to Time Turner. "What about you?" He seemed surprised. "What? I didn't want to give anything away. You got Mac and his crush in the same room. I was afraid of letting something slip." Applejack rolled her eyes. "A lot of good you three are fer matchmakers. Do I have ta do everything by myself?" I sighed. "Don't fire me yet. We've still got our idea, remember?" Mac looked at the two of us. "And what idea is this?" Applejack and I looked at him and smiled.

The next day Big Mac and I walked into the library. Twilight turned and smiled. "Hi Speedy. Big Mac." I walked towards one of the bookshelves. "I was hoping to find something on clock repairs. Time Turner's giving me some pointers later this week and I'd like a head start." Twilight looked around the library. "I think I have something on the subject. Um..." She walked over to a shelf and looked it over. "That's funny. I could have sworn it was here somewhere." I looked at Big Mac and nodded towards Twilight. I watched him swallow hard and approach her. "Can I help?" Twilight looked up and smiled, answering softly. "Sure." The two ponies began to look over the shelves together.

I pretended to be helping in the search, but I knew it would be pointless. I had come earlier to have a talk with Spike. He was glad to hide the missing book to help Twilight out. "Every time she sees Big Mac she gets all mopey the rest of the day. If getting her a date with him will stop that, I'm in." And now the book was sitting only a few feet away from Twilight and Mac. They were getting closer. Twilight paused as she saw the book. "There it is!" She reached for the book. Just as her hoof touched the book, Mac's hoof landed on top of her's. Twilight blushed.

Big Mac slowly pulled away. "Sorry." She smiled. "Don't be." Mac shuffled his hooves for a moment. Come on big guy, you can do it! "T-Twilight?" She looked up at him. "Yes Mac?" They stared at each other for a few seconds. I saw Mac's mouth form a small smile. "Would you like to have dinner with me?" Twilight's eyes lit up. "Yes!" She put her arms around Mac's neck. "Yes!" She realized what she was doing and let go. "Sorry." He chuckled. "Don't be." They laughed for a moment before Twilight remembered that I was in the library too. "Oh! Here you go Speedy. This is what you wanted, right?" I smiled and looked at Twilight and then Big Mac. "Indeed it is." Next Chapter: Crusading For Dragons Estimated time remaining: 57 Minutes