Chapter 8: Scratch on Wood

Big Mac trotted away from Pinkie and the tree with a confused, yet sad feeling in his gut. When he saw that Pinkie was able to find a small sign that the heart was there, Big Mac got scared. He didn't understand why there would be such a thing there, or why he was visible able to remember scratching it in there in the first place. It had been a clear spring day and the trees were just beginning to produce apples, so him and Pinkie decided to go for a walk in the orchard, where they found that tree. The two of them looked at it in full bloom before Pinkie turned to Big Mac and said-

"BIG MAC!" Applebloom shouted, snapping Big Mac out of his thoughts. He looked around to see Applebloom running towards him at full speed, jumping onto him when she got close enough. Her small body hit him hard, but he shrugged it off and kept walking, hoping that she would leave if he ignored her. Normally he would play with her and let her ride on his back when she ran up to him like that, but this time he knew why she was doing it.

"So, why were you shouting Pinkie's name in your sleep?" Applebloom asked, barely missing a beat as she climbed onto his back.

"It's nothing you need to worry about Applebloom," Big Mac said, hiding his annoyance perfectly. Applebloom didn't want to take no for an answer so she stayed on his back, staying silent until they made it to the orchard. When Big Mac reached the first tree Applebloom hopped off and sat down on the grass, her eyes staying glued to his face. He could feel her staring at him, examining his every movement as if that would give her the answer she was after, but it never would. Big Mac went about his business as though everything was normal, which annoyed Applebloom. How was she supposed to figure out what was going on if he wasn't going to say anything?!

"So..." Applelboom started, but Big Mac turned to cut her off.

"Applebloom, no matter how long you sit there I am not going to tell you what you want to hear," Big Mac said sternly, which surprised Applebloom. Normally Big Mac did almost anything she asked him to, and this didn't seem like it was that big a thing he would be this protective of it. It wasn't like Pinkie was his...

"Is Pinkie your marefriend?!" Applebloom asked loudly, making Big Mac jerk his hind legs out in surprise so hard that he nearly uprooted a tree. He slowly turned his head to look at Applebloom, who had a triumphant smile on her face as though she had just solved a really hard puzzle. How she managed to come to that conclusion, he would never know, but now his only thought was to get her to forget all about it. Big Mac quickly started racking his brain to try and figure out how he was going to that, but nothing came to mind except having Twilight use a memory spell on her.

"Applebloom, you know that isn't true," Big Mac said, lying straight through his teeth so hard that it hurt. If Applebloom ever found out that he was lying to her like this she would be crushed. She stared at him with narrowed eyes, trying to see if he was lying or not, but she really couldn't tell. His stoic expression and calm eyes made it impossible for Applebloom to figure out anything about him, other than that he was waiting to get back to work as soon as he could. As Big Mac started bucking the trees around him Applebloom slowly trotted away, defeated. All she had learned is that Big Mac wanted to keep whatever was going on a secret, but it definitely had something to do with Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie was trotting down the path to Ponyville while she thought about the tree. She was happy that the heart was still there, but sad that their names were completely gone, and she was surprised that Big Mac was there before her. Twilight had said that they were sharing dreams because of the foal, but was it possible that they were also sharing memories now? It didn't make any sense to Pinkie, but she knew that no pony had gone through this situation before, so it wasn't like she could just go and talk to somepony about it.

"Ugh..." Pinkie sighed as she entered the town, the sound of ponies quickly going about their business all around her. She felt like she didn't belong in this environment anymore. How would all of these ponies react if they knew she was pregnant with Big Mac's foal from another timeline that doesn't exist anymore? Would they treat Pinkie normally, or would they cast her out into the wild with her foal, branding both of them as freaks or mutants? All of the scenarios that were running through Pinkie's head were scaring her, and she didn't know what to do about it.

"Pinkie!"

"Huh?" Pinkie said as she turned around, just in time to see Applebloom skid to a stop in front of her. The little filly's eyes were locked onto Pinkie's as if they were looking through her, searching for something. Applebloom didn't move a muscle as she stared at Pinkie, who cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"What's up Applebloom?" Pinkie asked, now being slightly creeped out by Applebloom's stare. She still didn't move, so Pinkie decided to make her. Lifting her hoof up Pinkie slowly moved it towards Applebloom's eye, and thankfully the filly moved before it touched.

"What was that for!" Applebloom complained as she put a hoof over her eye instinctively, even though Pinkie didn't actually touch it.

"You were staring at me" Pinkie said flatly, giving Applebloom a dead pan stare.

"Oh..." Applebloom said slowly as she tried to remember why she was bothering Pinkie, "So, is there anything going on between you and my brother?" Pinkie froze up immediately when she heard that, afraid that one of her friends might have slipped up and told somepony, Rarity coming up first in her mind when she thought about who it might be, but she knew that none of her friends would do something like that for no reason. Not even Rarity would gossip enough to let the news of Pinkie's strange foal, she knew how important it was to keep it a secret. While Pinkie stood frozen Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle trotted by, coming over to talk to Applebloom.

After a few minutes of hushed conversation the three of them trotted away, just as Pinkie snapped back to consciousness. She looked around for a bit before coming to the conclusion that Applebloom had left, so she quickly made her way towards the bakery. Pinkie didn't want to run into anypony else right now, afraid that the news may have somehow gotten out anyways. As she entered the bakery Pinkie was greeted by the twins, who were reaching up to her, asking for them to play with them. For the first time in a long while Pinkie trotted past them, making her way upstairs. Even though she loved the twins as if they were her own, she didn't want to play with them right now. Right now, she wanted to be alone.

Sitting on her bed Pinkie's mind was riddling with "what if"s and "how come"s, and all of her thoughts were causing her to slip into a dark depression. What if Big Mac didn't want to raise the foal with her? What if he didn't want anything to do with her, but wanted the foal? How come Applebloom knew that there was something going on with the two of them? How come none of her friends were giving her any kind of help or advice? What if she explodes because of the foal?! Pinkie was slowly losing her mind when she suddenly felt something from her stomach.

"Huh?" Pinkie said out loud, confused by the feeling she got all of sudden. When she looked down she didn't see anything down there, so she decided to rub her hoof along her stomach, and that's when she felt it. A bump. A little push from her stomach meant that the foal was moving...

"Wow..." Pinkie said slowly, the foal kicking snapping her back to herself. The reminder that she was carrying a foal helped bring everything into context for Pinkie, and for a few minutes she felt completely calm and relaxed. Leaning her head back against her pillow Pinkie felt like nothing else matter but her foal's health and safety. Within in a few moments Pinkie drifted off to sleep, having a normal dream for the first time in the last few days.