Chapter 9: Fresh Apple Pie

Big Mac was bucking away in the orchard, eager to get the day's quota finished soon so he could take a nap in the orchard. It was something he only did when he was overly stressed out about something, and this relationship with Pinkie that he couldn't remember was stressing him out more than anything had before. How was he supposed to deal with the thoughts and dreams he's been having recently if he had no pony to talk to. He would talk to Applejack, but Pinkie was her friend, there's no way she would take it easily. All he's told her is about the first dream he had, but everything after that would make things awkward.

"Big McIntosh, we need to talk!" Applejack shouted from somewhere nearby, making Big Mac freeze up immediately. Speak of the devil, he thought when Applejack's stetson poked through the trees around him, the orange farm pony quickly following after it. When she lifted up her head Big Mac was greeted by a less than happy stare.

"What is it sis?" Big Mac asked, hoping she wouldn't notice the nervousness in his voice. She watched him carefully for a few seconds before softening her expression.

"What's with that shouting Applebloom heard?" Applejack asked, making her intentions clear right of the bat, "Was it another one of those dreams?" Big Mac swallowed hard before answering, knowing that there was no way he could get out of this situation without telling the truth. If it was any other mare, he might have a chance to get away, but Applejack was his sister, she always knew when he was lying.

"Yeah, it was one of the dreams..." Big Mac sighed, lowering his head in defeat. Applejack gave him a surprised look as she thought about what that meant for why he was shouting Pinkie's name. A dream about her, the last one was their marriage, and the only thing that would make him scream her name after a wedding is...

"You're joking right?!" Applejack said suddenly, her face bright red from the embarrassing thought that was in her head. Big Mac slowly shook his head as he watched his sister's face turn redder than he was, which managed to make him crack a smile. When Applejack looked back at her brother she had a fire in her eyes, like she wanted to beat him into a pulp for having a dream like that about her friend, but before she could do it she remembered why he had a dream like that. The foal of two timelines was making the buried memories resurface, and he had no control over what he ended up remembering first.

"This is all because of that damn foal..." Applejack said under her breath, but Big Mac's keen hearing managed to pick it up.

"What was that about a foal?" Big Mac asked, raising one eyebrow to her. Applejack's eyes shot open when she realized what just happened. She thought out loud about the foal, right in front of her brother. Worse yet, he heard her say it, meaning he knew about the foal now...

"It was, uh..." Applejack stuttered, trying to lie, "Nothing, nothing at all!" Her face scrunched up, a sure fire sign that she was lying, which made Big Mac narrow his eyes at her. He knew she was lying, and that she had said something about a foal. Given the situation it could only mean one thing, Pinkie was pregnant, and he is the father. Applejack shifted uncomfortably on the spot before running away, knowing that if she stayed there he would start asking more questions. Big Mac watched her closely as she ran away, knowing that she was trying to hide something important from him.

"Something weird is going on here, and she's going to tell me sooner or later..." Big Mac said quietly to himself before he looked around at all of the apples he's already bucked. Doing some quick mental math he decided that he could make up for it tomorrow if he worked an extra hour, so he decided to trot off to find a place to nap. Eventually he found the perfect spot, not noticing that it was the tree that the heart was carved into...

"I'll take two!" a stallion said happily as he stepped up to the wooden stall. From down the path Big Mac could see the stallion happily toss a small bag of bits onto the counter before he trotted away happily, carrying the two fresh apple pies on his back. As Big Mac stepped up the stall he saw another stallion trot up with a medium sized bag of bits on his back.

"Two apple and one pumpkin!" the stallion said happily as he rolled the bag onto his wing before flicking it onto the stall. Pinkie quickly ducked under the stall and came back up, balancing the pies on one hoof and her snout. Putting the three pies on the stall she turned to Big Mac, while the stallion and what Big Mac assumed was his marefriend trotted off with them.

"What's up honey?" Pinkie asked before she gave Big Mac a quick kiss on the cheek. Pinkie looked over at the stall to see a stallion waiting patiently for her to turn back around so she could take his order. She quickly took his order of one apple pie before turning back to Big Mac, who had a smile on his face.

"Business is good?" Big Mac asked, noticing the overflowing box that Pinkie was using for the bits she was using for the money she was getting for the pies. At a quick look Big Mac was able to guess that there was at least 1300 or more bits in that one box, but for all he knew Pinkie could have a few more stashed away for when she's ready to head home.

"Yup, it's been almost nonstop since I set up the stall this morning, I'm not quite sure why though," Pinkie said honestly, a shy smile creeping across her face as she realized that the line she had still waiting for pies went all the way, and around, Sugar Cube Corner. She did feel a bit guilty about her small stall doing better than the Cakes' bakery, especially since she had interned there for a short while before her marriage to Big Mac.

"Need me to get you some more pies?" Big Mac asked, noticing her dwindling supplies. She had maybe nine or ten more orders before she would have to shut it down, unless he was able to bring her some more from home first. Pinkie quickly shot him a pleading look before she went to take the next order, a mare's who's bits were already on the counter. Giving the stall one more look before he left Big Mac headed off as quick as he could to get Pinkie her emergency pie supply.

After a short run home to grab the pies Big Mac returned to find Pinkie attempting to try and calm down the crowd of ponies that had grown around the stall. Putting the pies down Big Mac ran into the crowd, pushing ponies out of the way so he could stand next to his wife Big Mac's presence quickly calmed the crowd. They all knew he was a calm, peaceful stallion, but there was one rule that everypony in Ponyville had. Do not. Fuck. With Big Mac. He may be the nicest pony in town, but if you mess with his family and the only thing you'll be able to eat will be apple sauce for the next two weeks. With a few sharp looks Big Mac was able to make the crowd disperse and quickly form back into a nice and orderly line.

Once the situation was settled Big Mac trotted over and grabbed the pies that he had gone to get and put them under the stall. He stuck around for a little while to make sure things were still going to be calm before he turned towards Pinkie, who's mane had become frizzy and disheveled from the stress she had been under.

"Are you going to be okay for now Pinkie?" Big Mac asked, a gentle smile on his face to try and calm her down some more.

"I should be," Pinkie said quietly, "I think so"

"Ok, then I'm going to head back to the farm, I got plenty of apple trees that need some bucking," Big Mac said as he bent down to give Pinkie a quick smooch. Pinkie happily returned the smooch before she turned back to the stall, wanting to quickly finish up the days work so she could avoid another incident like the one that just happened. Big Mac smiled at her as he started to trot away towards the farm, the lingering smell of the pies allowing him to have a comforting walk back.

Over in Sugar Cube Corner Pinkie was shocked awake by the twins suddenly jumping onto her stomach after they had worked together to sneak into her room. Shooting her head up she saw them giving her worried looks. Pinkie and the twins kept their eyes locked for a few minutes before a mutual understanding was reached.

"Were you two worried about me?" Pinkie asked playfully, to which she got some excited noises in response from the twins, "Oh, don't be worried about me, Auntie Pinkie is perfectly fine!" Rolling off the bed with the two of them Pinkie quickly went into play mode, and within minutes all that could be heard from upstairs was the sounds of the three of them messing around. The entire time they played all Pinkie was able to think was, Soon I'll have a foal of my own to play with...