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THE ROYAL APPLES - part II

It is amazing how quickly things can change is a short time. Take Sweet Apple Acres for instance. Only a few months earlier it had been a modestly successful family farm operated by the three Apple siblings. Three and a half if you counted Granny Smith. Now it was a bustling enterprise with no less than a dozen ponies bucking, harvesting and pulping the latest crop of cider apples

Everyone was busy. Applejack, instead of bucking trees was spending most of her day superintending the work crews. Applebloom, the youngest pony was splitting her time between school, chores around the house and crusading. Her latest efforts focused on earning a cutie-mark in something she called 'Bad Guy Stomping.' Granny Smith was in the kitchen, making sure the meals were properly prepared and that the cook they'd hired wasn't burning any of her pots. She would have preferred burning them herself, but with a large number of farm hands to feed even she had to admit it made more sense to hire a cook.

The only member of the family not out and about was Big Mac. The red-furred stallion was sitting on the front porch doing the books, confined there by the wheelchair he would have to occupy for at least another week. The casts that surrounded his legs rose all the way up to his withers, effectively immobilizing him. He hated sitting still for so long, but there wasn't much he could do about it, not if he wanted to be back on his hooves and in the fields before mid-summer harvest.

Mac carefully transferred several sets of numbers from his writing pad to the farm's ledger book. He then vented his frustration by ripping the paper from the pad, wadding it into a ball and tossing it into a nearby trash basket. "Two points," he muttered to no one in particular as he closed the ledger and slipped it into a side saddle hanging from the wheelchair.

He gazed out on the rolling hills of the farm with a practiced eye. A slight tinge of yellow leaves along one line of trees hinted at a need to inspect them for bark beetles. Caught early, they weren't a serious problem, but if left to their own devices they'd keep everypony on the farm up all night with their infernal yapping.

He looked around the farm's compound, focusing on the large tent that served as a temporary bunk house until a proper one could be built for the new farm hands. A carpenter pony and her apprentice were busy replacing damaged shingles on the roof of the barn; something Big Mac would have seen to himself under normal circumstances. All in all everyone was busier than bees... everyone except him.

It was a little bit of a letdown. For the first time Sweet Apple Acres had more than enough money to do all the things that needed doing, and then some. Saving Princess Luna had brought more than just fame to Big Mac. There were markets and restaurants in Canterlot falling all over themselves to sign contracts for anything the farm could produce. There'd even been a representative from a gravel company who wanted to buy rocks. Applejack sent him down the road to the Pie farm. Additionally Princess Celestia had gifted the Apples with a 'small stipend' as thanks for defeating a major threat to Equestria. Finance would not be a problem for some considerable time to come. There was a lot of work to do now and Macintosh felt left out.

The stallion was just about to roll inside the house and see if he could find something he hadn't read yet when he spotted a trio of ponies coming down the road, one trotting, one bouncing and one fluttering, though not very well. Rarity, Pinky Pie and Twilight must have something to talk over with Applejack thought Mac.

"Howdy ladies," the red-furred pony greeted them, a broad smile across his muzzle.

Rarity gracefully dipped her head. "And how are you this fine day Sir Macintosh."

"Ah wish you all would stop callin' me sir," he replied. "Ah work fer a living."

"But what use is a title if you don't use it?" the fashionista asked. "You did earn your knighthood, defeating Queen Chrysalis all by yourself."

"I think that Big Mac means he'd prefer it if we skipped formalities between friends," Twilight offered.

"Eeeyup!"

The lavender alicorn smiled, then suddenly lost control of her hover, bumping into a porch pole and ungracefully belly-flopping into one of the bushes surrounding the house. "UUGG!"

"Y'allright Miss Sparkle?"

"I'm FINE," she muttered, climbing out of the bush and brushing a few stray leaves and twigs out of her mane.

"Looks like you need a lot more practice flying," giggled Pinky Pie.

"You think?" the alicorn muttered sardonically.

"Iffen yer lookin' for ma sister," Macintosh said, "she should be out on the north forty showin' the new bucks how ta shake a tree."

"Actually, dear sir, we're here to see you," Rarity responded.

Mac looked at them, slightly confused. "You are?"

"Yes," the white-furred unicorn continued. "Her honor the Mayor asked us to stop by and find out if you'd be willing to come to the opening of Ponyville's new firehouse."

"Me?"

"YESS! She wants you to cut the ribbon, and maybe even the cake, or pie, whichever they decide to serve at the PARTY!" said Pinky Pie, jumping up and down nearly as high as the porch eves and throwing confetti.

"Ah ain't much of a public speaker," Big Mac replied.

"Oh you don't have to worry about making any speeches," Twilight said. "There'll be lots of other ponies for that. All they want you to do is cut the ribbon and declare the firehouse open."

"And that's all?" the stallion asked cautiously.

"But of course it is," said Rarity, "except maybe for signing some autographs and posing for photographs, and of course looking absolutely spectacular in the tres chique outfit I'm going to design for you..."

"Outfit?"

"Yes, darling. With you modeling my Fall line of 'Hero' wear on the cover of every fashion magazine in Equestria it will be a spectacular success." The unicorn suddenly felt a magical tug on her tail. She turned to find Twilight frowning at her:

"Rarity," the alicorn whispered intensely.

"Is something the matter, dearie?"

"We are supposed to get him to WANT to come to the celebration," the princess hissed.

"But who WOULDN'T want to be celebrated from one end of Equestria to the other?" Rarity asked. She turned back towards the porch just in time to see the front door close. Big Mac was nowhere to be seen. The unicorn looked at Twilight, more than a little chagrined. "Oh, I know... I know!" said Pinky Pie. "I'm guessing maybe Big Macintosh?"

Twilight sighed, then took a deep, calming breath. "Come on girls," she said as she walked away from the farmhouse. "Maybe we can get Applejack to convince him to come." She led the others off towards the fields.

**********

"Ah'm tellin' ya sis, all this attention is right aggrivatin'," Big Mac grumbled as they sat together in the living room later that evening. "Why do they haff ta focus so much on what Ah did. It weren't like Ah did anythin' other than what was necessary."

Applejack listened sympathetically. It was easy to see he was upset because he was talking a lot more than normal. "Sometimes what seems necessary or ordinary ta you or me ain't really so. Least ways not ta ponies who weren't there at the time."

"But why just me?" the stallion asked. "They didn't pay nearly as much attention ta y'all when ya helped save Equestria, what is it, four times now?"

"Three," she corrected him. "Unless ya count the Chrystal Empire." She reached over and moved a black checker piece across the board between them. Mac studied it for a moment, then jumped her piece before realizing he'd fallen into her trap. Two swift moves later she was on his side of the board. "Crown me!" she grinned.

"Ya gotta face facts, young un," Granny Smith said from her rocker, popping one eye open to look at her grandson. "Every pony loves a hero."

"Ta answer your question, Ah think the reason they don't pay near as much attention ta me is 'cause Ah'm one of six. If they focus on any one of us, it's usually Twilight, 'specially since she became a princess."

"So why'd they make Big Mac a knight?" asked Applebloom looking up from the floor where she was doing her homework. "He ain't got no armor or sword.

"It's an honorary title, ta let every pony know that he's done good fer other folk," Applejak explained.

"Shouldn't y'all be a knight as well?"

The palomino mare chuckled. "Ah am sugar cube. Why do ya think any official mail Ah get from Canterlot is always addressed ta Lady Applejack Apple?"

"That's only 'cause they don't know ya like we do," Big Mac said as he captured his sister's recently crowned checker piece."

"That's fer dang sure," Granny Smith chimed in. All four ponies laughed. They were interrupted by a soft knock at the front door. Sitting next to the window, Big Mac pulled up the shade to see who it might be. His face broke out into a wide grin.

"Is it?" asked Applejack.

"Eeeyup!"

"Well then open the door and let her in, dang it," ordered Granny.

Applebloom was on her hooves and racing for the door before anyone else could reply. "Ah'll get it." She called.

The door was opened to reveal a blue-furred alicorn pony. She had an even darker blue main and tail bedecked with stars that flowed gracefully about her.

"Howdy Princess!" the young filly greeted her.

"And good evening to you, Mistress Applebloom." Luna responded, nodding her head politely." Is your brother, Sir Macintosh on the premises this night?"

The crusader looked a little confused. "Where else do ya think he'd be, seein' as he's still in a wheelchair?"

"Applebloom!" her sister warned.

Sensing she was on the verge of being in trouble the filly grinned nervously. "Oops! Ah gotta go. It's past ma bedtime." She suddenly vanished, galloping upstairs as fast as her hooves would carry her. She was quickly replaced by Applejack.

"Good evening, yer highness. Would y'all like ta come in fer some tea?"

"Or a sip 'o cider?" asked Granny.

"Actually, I'm here to visit Big Mac, and see if he's feeling up to taking a moonlight stroll. But thank you for the offer, Lady Apple, Mistress Smith."

"Ah ain't anypony's mistress, young un. Ah'm a respectable filly."

Luna looked at Applejack a little puzzled by the elder Apple's response. A.J. just shrugged and stepped back as Macintosh rolled up to the door.

"Good evening Big Mac," she said warmly, her eyes bright with joy.

"Evenin' Miss Luna," he responded with equal warmth. "Did y'all say somethin' about a stroll?'

"Eeeyup," the princess responded, producing a giggle from both ponies. Without another word the two of them went out on the porch and then down along a path leading towards one of the orchards. The wheelchair glowed slightly as Luna guided it with her magic.

Before closing the door Applejack noticed a number of the Night Guards stationed discreetly around the farm. They weren't taking any more chances with the princess after what happened before.

**********

"...And so I told him if he wanted wings he'd have to screw them on," Luna laughed. Mac joined her, wiping a tear from his eye as he gradually caught his breath. He leaned back in his chair and looked out on the Everfree Forest from his favorite watching place. The waxing moon was a little past three-quarters full and it bathed the night with a ghostly, silver light. Luna looked at the simple but ruggedly handsome stallion. "Doth thou... oops, I mean do you like what I've done with the stars tonight?" she asked.

"Eeeyup," Big Mac replied, "though Ah'm findin' it a mite hard ta look at the sky with y'all sittin' next ta me."

"This is kind of like a dream come true. Isn't it?"

"Eeeyup."

They sat there for several moments leaning together in silence before Luna pulled back a little and looked at the farmer. "Big Mac?"

"Eeeyup."

"Doth thou mind ... I mean, is it alright if I ask you something personal?"

"Eeeyup."

Luna looked at the stallion nervously. "Would it be alright if... if... if I became you're favorite somepony?"

"Nnnope."

"I know it sounds somewhat forward... WAIT! What did you just say?"

Big Mac smiled mischievously. "Nnnope."

"Art thou rejecting me? ME? A PRINCESS OF THE REALM!"

"Nnnope."

Luna looked at him more than a little confused. "What? I don't"..."

The farmer gently took her head between his hooves. "Y'all cain't become somethin' ya already are and that ya always have been." He leaned forward and they kissed, long and passionately, only pulling away when they finally needed to take a breath. "Think Ah can ask ya somethin' personal, Luna?

"Eeeyup," she whispered dreamily.

"Are y'all gettin' bigger?"

She pulled away and looked at the stallion quizzically. "Well, that wasn't very romantic. Do you think I'm getting plump?"

Mac chuckled. "Ah didn't say fatter, ah said bigger... ya know, taller."

It was Luna's turn to chuckle. "I think you're the first pony outside of my ladies-in-waiting who's noticed."

"And?"

"Like the moon, I wax and wane a few inches each month, though it does not affect my powers. It's something that Tia doesn't have because the sun is a constant." She looked at the stallion. "Do you find that an unattractive attribute."

"Nnnope. As a matter o' fact, it's kinda cute," the stallion replied. "How big do ya get?"

"Isn't that a question I should be asking you?" the princess responded coyly. The inside of Mac's ears blushed and she laughed gently. "At one time, my sister and I were almost the same size; but when I was possessed Nightmare Moon used a large part of my magical essence in her fight with Tia. When your sister and the other elements restored me, I manifested in a younger form."

"So y'all be growin' back ta yer original size?"

"Eventually, but it will take time." Luna looked at Big Mac. "You know, this is the first time I've ever talked about this sort of thing with anypony other than Tia."

"Ah hope that ain't a problem," the farmer said. "Ah mean ya ain't tellin' me no state secrets, are ya?"

The Princess chuckled. "No, but even if I did I feel as if I could trust you with anything. You, well your whole family, seems to have a kind of aura of honesty and trust about you."

"Maybe so. But Ah wouldn't go sayin' anything around Applebloom. She and her friends were the queens o' the tabloids about nine months ago."

"You're joking."

Big Mac shook his head. "She learned her lesson about not minding other ponies business and what gossip does, but trust takes time to rebuild. Just be careful what you say round her."

"She hasn't been telling anypony about my late night visits, has she?"

"Not as far as Ah know, but that's cause Applejack and Granny both laid down the law on that issue from day one."

"Then that particular 'state' secret is safe," the Princess grinned.

"Eeeyup."

They kissed again, then sat quietly watching the night sky in silence, taking comfort in each other's closeness as they held each other's hooves. They stayed like this for almost twenty minutes before another voice cut into their private moment.

"Excuse me... Your majesty... Sir Macintosh?"

They looked up to see one of Luna's Night Guards standing a few feet behind them.

"I'm sorry for the interruption, but your highness wanted me to remind her that the Night Court will be starting in forty minutes."

Princess Luna sighed, unwilling to give up the gentle evening's pleasure for royal obligation. "Yes, Captain... I know, thank you." She looked at Big Mac. "I'm sorry, but duty calls. I hope you'll forgive me but..." She stopped speaking when the red-furred stallion put a hoof gently up to her lips.

"Ya ain't got nothing ta apologize fer. There are apples ta be bucked and they won't wait on any season but their own."

Luna chuckled. "You never told me you were a philosopher." Standing, she nuzzled Big Mac on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow night," she whispered conspiratorially.

"Eeeyup," the farmer responded, his heart warmed by the though.

Turning, Princess Luna's manner became less gentle and more authoritative. "Captain... see that one of your men is detailed to make sure Sir Macintosh is safely escorted home."

"Yes, your highness."

With that, Luna spread her wings and launched into the night sky, looking back just long enough to mouth the words "Love you." Before vanishing in the silver-blue flash of a teleport spell. Her guards melted back into the night, left to make their own way back to Canterlot, all save a rather muscular unicorn.

"By your leave, sir?" he said, gesturing down the hill and in the direction of the farmhouse.

"Eeeyup."

With a gently push of magic the guard pony began guiding 'Sir' Macintosh back down the hill. He'd taken no more than a dozen paces when a voice brought him up short.

"Captain Ironhoof."

He turned and found himself face to face with Princess Celestia. "Your Majesty?" he said with a deep bow. "What brings you out here this night?"

"I need to have a private word with Big Macintosh. I will make sure he gets back home safely."

"Yes, your highness. Of course." With that the Night Guard captain teleported away. Celestia looked down at the wheelchair bound pony and smiled.

"How are you feeling this night, 'Sir Apple?"

The farm pony shrugged slightly. "Ah'm doin' alright, your highness."

"The doctor tell me your leg casts should come off sometime next week."

"Eeeyup. Then Ah'll need a couple weeks o' therapy ta get the muscles working again before Ah can get back ta buckin' apples." The stallion looked up. "But Ah don't think y'all want to talk about that... your majesty."

"No. I want... I need to talk to you about my sister.

"Eeeyup. Figured as much."

"It's important that you understand what it will mean to be the special somepony of an alicorn," Celestia explained.

"Yer talkin' about bein' immortal," Big Mac said.

"That's the first thing you must know. We are not immortal, merely long lived. We can heal almost any injury and are immune to sickness, but we can be caught and killed. We can die from extreme old age, though none of us have for a very long time."

"Ain't this all somethin' that Princess Luna should be tellin' me?"

Celestia smiled gently. "She will, once she starts thinking with her head again and not just her heart."

"So why ya jumpin' the gun?"

"I have lived for a very, very long time... and I have befriended, romanced and loved ponies of every race just as deeply as you and Luna now love each other. Almost a dozen times I have shared a piece of my soul with another pony and been forced to mourn their passing. I know what heartbreak is and I have lived through it. Luna has not."

"Ya cain't be serious," Big Mac replied.

"I am. Luna was very young when we defeated Discord using the Elements of Harmony. That battle changed us from unicorns to alicorns. Unfortunately Discord's chaos was not as easy to undo. He had disrupted the balance of nature for our world, requiring that my sister and I take responsibility for the raising of the sun and the moon. Discord, our ascension and the work needed to restore the world left little opportunity to engage in affairs of the heart. Luna especially threw herself into the work, ignoring the empty feeling one has when their soul is incomplete. Unfortunately, this was what Nightmare Moon was able to exploit, and less than three hundred years after Discord, my sister turned against me."

"Applejack told me that part o' the story."

Celestia nodded. "Imprisoning her on the moon was heartbreaking for me, but it had to be done." She paused for a moment to look at Macintosh. "That is something else that can kill an alicorn... a broken heart."

"But you survived."

"After a fashion. During the first hundred years or so I was a cold and distant ruler. I lost my connection with the Elements of Harmony and I might have remained unfeeling even to this day had it not been for Starswirl the Bearded. He helped open my heart and made me understand what love is."

"Ah visited the palace once on a tour. Always did wonder why there was such a big statue of him in the garden."

Celestia nickered lightly, sounding a little like a school-filly. "He would be so vexed with me if he knew I went and put him on a pedestal." Big Mac chuckled with her, then she became more serious.

"The point I am trying to make is this: You are now in Starswirl's position. Luna needs you, not only to love her, but to teach her, to guide her and help her understand that there is life beyond loss. She is a very powerful being, second only to me, but she is also quiet vulnerable."

"Ah'm afraid Ah ain't a very well educated pony. Don't have much more than some basic schoolin'."

"Your schooling is not as important as your wisdom," Celestia insisted, smiling once more. "From what I've seen and heard of you, Big Mac, you are a very down to earth pony with more than a fair amount of common sense. It a trait you share with Starswirl."

"Then ya believe Ah can help Luna the way Starswirl helped you?"

The Sun Princess nodded. "There is one more thing that I feel you must understand, depending on how your relationship with Luna may develop. If you truly commit to each other, the same way Princess Cadence and Shining Armor have, that means you may well become a Prince of Equestria. On that day your simple farm life will come to an end and you will have to take on a much larger role in society."

Big Mac became very quiet for a long time. This was something he'd been ignoring since his relationship with Luna had blossomed. The princess was right. If he did marry Luna his life on the farm was over. "Did Starswirl have ta give up his magic when he married y'all?"

"No, because he never did become my prince consort. Our relationship was much more... private. He was, nevertheless, my own special somepony."

"So, it's possible ta have a private relationship with a princess?"

"Up to a point, yes," Celestia said. "Personally, I think that, like Candice, it would be better for Luna to have a more formal relationship. She has a very young soul has always been far more sensitive to criticism than I. She needs the confidence, the sense of commitment that a wedding would provide. That, of course, is entirely up to you and Luna."

"If Ah did become a prince, ah wouldn't be expected ta give up my family, would Ah?"

"Of course not. As a matter of fact, I think that she would benefit from having a couple of younger 'sisters' to confide in."

Macintosh became very quiet at this point and looked at the stars above. He was certain that his and Luna's love was quite deep. She'd lived in his dreams ever since that Nightmare Night when she'd visited Ponyville, and in the aftermath of Chrysalis' attack she'd spent long hours by his side in the hospital; making sure he had the best care possible and helping his family thrive. What she had done went beyond mere gratitude. She'd risked her own soul to keep him from dying that first night, and when she wasn't with him, it almost felt as if he were missing a piece of himself. She had even whispered privately that she felt the same about him. Big Mac smiled to himself. If there was one trait he shared with his sister, it was that he could sense when somepony wasn't being honest with him. Luna, he knew, was telling him the truth.

The farm pony made a decision. He lowered his head respectfully as he spoke to Celestia. "Yer Majesty. Ah would like to have yer blessing ta love and marry Princess Luna when she decides the time is right."

"That is a rather... interesting... way of proposing, Sir Macintosh. Why not simply ask her for her hoof yourself?"

"As y'all said, Luna needs ta become more confident in herself. It would help her more ta ask me than the other way 'round."

Celestia smiled. "As I said before, wisdom doesn't need formal schooling to be present." She regarded the wheelchair bound pony. "It may take my sister time to build up the courage she needs to ask you. Are you sure you'd have the patience to wait?"

Macintosh looked up at the Princess and returned her smile. "Eeeyup."