Chapter 7: Big Mac's Morning Surprise

Big Mac's eyes slowly opened as he was shaken awake from behind. Rolling over in his bed he half expected to see Pinkie Pie, especially after the dream he had, but instead he was brought face to face with Applebloom, who had a worried look on her face. She was mere inches from his face until his eyes locked onto hers, which prompted her to stand up all the way.

"Were you having a bad dream Big Mac?" Applebloom asked sheepishly as her gaze slowly shifted towards the floor. Big Mac looked at her in confusion for a few seconds before he decided to look around his room. It was exactly the same as he had left it the night before, except his sheets were messier and there was a strange wet spot by his flank...

"You were screaming and then there's that spot on your blanket," Applebloom said, pointing to the wet spot that Big Mac had just noticed, "Did you wet the bed because of a scary dream Big Mac?" There was no answer from Big Mac as he stared at the spot, trying to remember exactly what his dream was about, and eventually it started coming back to him. He was married to Pinkie Pie, it was their first night together and they went out to a tree they had carved their names into. In no time at all the two of them decided to make the marriage official by...

"Applebloom get out" Big Mac said, thanking Celestia for his coat being red as it hid the blush that was growing on his face.

"But-" Applebloom tried to argue, but Big Mac wasn't having any of it.

"I said go" Big Mac said forcefully, his harsh tone scaring Applebloom into leaving. He rarely used that tone of voice on her, and whenever he did, it meant that she really should do as he asks. Once she was out of the room Big Mac attempted to get out of bed, the blanket sticking to him slightly. He had to pull hard to get it off of him, a little bit of his coat going with it when it came off completely. After making a mental note to thoroughly wash his blanket before going to bed that night Big Mac headed downstairs for breakfast, hoping that Applebloom wouldn't bring it up again.

"So are you sure you're okay Big McIntosh?" Applebloom asked as she spun around in her chair at the breakfast table, her mouth half full with cereal. Big Mac let out a loud sigh as he headed into the kitchen so he could pour himself a bowl of cereal. He knew full well that Applebloom wasn't going to let the issue drop until he told her what really happened, or told her an extremely convincing lie. When his bowl of cereal was ready he moved over to the table, sitting opposite Applebloom like he always did.

"Big brother?" Applebloom asked, hoping to get an answer out of him sometime soon.

"What is it?" Big Mac asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Did you have a scary dream last night?" Applebloom asked as she stuffed her face with a spoonful of cereal, "You were screaming and shouting, it's what woke me up this morning"

"Sorry about that Applebloom, I was just having a strange dream," Big Mac said, straying close to the truth in the hopes that Applebloom would accept his vague answers. She gave him a close look as she slowly chewed her cereal, her eyes snapping shut when a sharp piece stabbed her gums. Once her mouthful was down she decided to ask another question.

"What did Pinkie have to with it?" Applebloom asked slowly, narrowing her eyes to scrutinize Big Mac's expression, "You were calling out her name, and before I went into your room you shouted it really loudly" Big Mac started choking on his mouthful of cereal when he remembered that he does talk in his sleep, which means that the entire time he was with Pinkie in his dream he was...

"Oh good, you two are already awake," Applejack said from the kitchen door, her hair still a mess because she had just woken up, "I checked your rooms and neither of you were there" Before Big Mac could get up and pull Applejack out of the room so he could warn her Applebloom spun around in her chair at mach speed, her eyes wide with hope.

"Applejack, do you know why Big Mac was calling out Pinkie's name in his sleep last night, and why he had a wet spot on his blanket when he woke up?" Applebloom asked hopefully, stunning Applejack with her question. Applejack looked at Big Mac with a stunned look on her face for a few minutes until Applebloom leaned forwards on the back of the chair so she could reach Applejack, but forgot that chairs are affected by gravity.

*SMASH*

"Ow..." Applebloom groaned with her face on the floor, getting a short chuckle from Big Mac. Applejack bent down and helped her up before she trotted over to Big Mac, pulling him outside so she could talk to him. When they were outside and Applejack was sure Applebloom wasn't pressing her head up to the door she began the interrogation.

"What were you doing last night?" Applejack asked, her eyes shooting daggers into Big Mac. He looked around desperately, wanting to find something that he could use to change the topic, but the only thing that he could see was...

"Well, would you look at the time!" Big Mac said, over exagerrating it on purpose, "I should really get to work now, so I'll have to see you later, bye!" Big Mac quickly tried to run towards the orchard but Applejack grabbed his tail, yanking him back so hard that he yelped. She spun him around and pressed her face up against his, looking deep into his eyes with an angry glare that said, "We're talking about this later". With a weary sigh Big Mac trotted off to the orchard, leaving Applejack to deal with Applebloom while he got away.

As Big Mac explored deeper into the orchard he felt a strange similarity come over him, as if he had been in this area recently. Normally it would have been because he had been working in the area, but he hadn't bucked this section of the orchard yet, so that would have been impossible. Now that he thought about it the only time he had been near this orchard was when he had to dispose of the old apple cart, which had been on it's last legs for years. When he looked at it's rotting remains he remembered getting a new one after Applejack had left for Manehattan, and that Pinkie was there with him, but that didn't seem right. Why was Applejack still in Manehattan, and why in Equestria would Pinkie be there with him when he was buying it the new one?

Shaking off the weird feeling Big Mac continued on his way into the orchard, still not entirely sure what was going on with his dreams and out of place memories. It felt as if he was remembering a different life than his own, but it was still him that he saw in them. When he shook off the strange feeling Big Mac found himself standing before a tree he remembered from his dream the night before.

"Now why am I here...?" Big Mac asked himself quietly, wondering why he would subconsciously go to this tree out of the thousands that were around him. Looking around the tree he didn't see anypony, so he thought that he was entirely alone, which would give him the chance to check to see if it was there. Trotting around the base of the tree Big Mac looked for any sign of a carving, but all he could find was a small scratch that he had accidentally made in the tree when he was younger.

"I wonder why I had that dream..." Big Mac said quietly as he turned to leave, but when he heard a branch snap behind him he spun around, only to see...

"Pinkie Pie?" Big Mac asked nervously. He wasn't expecting to see her here of all places. She seemed as shocked as he was, and when he stepped towards he she instinctively stepped backwards. The two of them stared at each other for a long time before either of them made a move.

"Um... hi" Pinkie said slowly, raising her hoof up to give Big Mac a slow wave. He returned the wave shakily before the nagging question popped up in his mind.

What is she doing here?

Little did he know, Pinkie was thinking the exact same thing. While he stood perfectly still Pinkie stepped forwards, somehow managing to keep her breakfast inside her for once as she looked to see if the carving was still there. At first look around the tree it was gone, but when Pinkie moved forwards to put her head against the tree she noticed a faint line in the bark. With her mood suddenly lifted Pinkie jammed her hoof into the line, scratching her hoof along it so that it was more visible.

"What are you..." Big Mac said slowly, but after a few seconds he realized that the shape Pinkie was tracing out was turning out to be a heart, "You have got to be joking..." Pinkie ignored Big Mac's disbelief and continued to trace out the heart, and when that was done she looked for their initials, but couldn't find them. With a frown she turned to look at Big Mac, who was extremely surprised by what he saw. The two of them shared an awkward stare before they turned away from each other, neither of them knowing what to do now.

After a few minutes the two of them trotted away from each other, both of them not sure what to do with the knowledge they just got. The carving had been there, in the other time, but it only carried over enough for the heart to be noticeable if you looked close enough. Pinkie was shocked and surprised that it was there, but she was even more surprised that Big Mac had gone to the tree at the same time as her. Big Mac on the other hoof was scared and worried, not sure what he was supposed to do with the knowledge that at somehow he had been in love with Pinkie and scratched that heart into the tree for her...