Chapter 6: Stars
7 ½ MONTHS UNTIL DUE DATE
A couple of weeks have past since the announcement that Big Mac is most likely the father of Rainbow Dash’s unborn baby. This has gotten the red stallion some unwanted attention from both his sister’s friends but also a number of ponies around town. Because of this, Big Mac had kept himself at the farm, getting lost in his work. This didn’t exactly mean it was a complete cure for Big Mac and his thoughts. In fact, he would often ask himself the same question Applejack would ask: just what were Big Mac and Rainbow Dash to each other? The stallion was unable to find a definite answer to the question and would drop it to work on the task at hoof to think about it, but he couldn’t find a good enough answer for his sister or himself.
One evening, Big Mac returned from the fields to his home. The porch light shined, guiding him back to the house and barn. Luna’s moon had not yet risen for the evening and Big Mac was hoping to take advantage of the darkness to get some rest. Before he could get inside, however, his ears twitched slightly as he heard a couple of voices coming down the dirt path. Both of the voices were recognizable to him; it was Rainbow Dash and his sister, Applejack. He was able to get onto the porch of the house before he heard his name.
“Big Mac! Hold up!” she called out as the two drew closer.
The stallion knew better than to disobey his sister. He stopped mid-stride and waited for the two mares to trot closer. With the porch light finally shining upon the two ponies, Big Mac finally got a better view of the ponies. He noticed that Rainbow looked slightly different from the last time he saw her, which was in the library when she proclaimed that Big Mac was the father. The bump on her belly was slightly larger, about the size of a Dash’s hoof.
“Evenin’,” he greeted in his low voice.
“Howdy, Big Mac,” Applejack smiled at her brother.
“What’s up?” Rainbow Dash nonchalantly spoke, almost as if she didn’t care that he was there.
“Great, formalities are outta the way, now ah get the wheel movin’ on this,” Applejack spoke.
This statement puzzled the other two. “What are ya talking about? I thought you were going to give me the day-old apple fritters that didn’t sell.”
“Ah jus’ said that ta get ya here,” Applejack explained, “The real reason ah brought ya here is so ya can talk ta Big Mac.”
The red stallion raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Beg pardon?”
His sister continued, “The two of ya haven’t seen each other in some time, an’ ya haven’t spoken ta each other even longer. What I want ya both ta do is figure out jus’ what in Equestria ya two are to each other.”
“Ah don’t know ‘bout this, Applejack,” Big Mac expressed his concern.
“Ah, hush up! The two of ya need ta figure this out. Each time ah ask either of ya, ah don’t get an answer. Now, neither of ya are allowed ta leave until ya both figure all of this out,” Applejack’s voice was stern.
“Dang, you don’t have to be so pushy, AJ,” Rainbow commented, “Could ya at least give us some room? And I better get those fritters after this.”
The orange mare nodded, “Alright, jus’ make sure ya got figure this out, got it?”
Both Rainbow and Big Mac nodded as Applejack entered the house. With that, the two ponies were left alone in the front of the Apple family home.
“Guess mah sister really wants an answer, huh?” Big Mac was the first to speak.
Rainbow avoided eye contact as she replied, “Yeah….” It was as if she was looking for something.
“So….um….ah would kinda like ta know the answer, too,” Big Mac admitted as he looked at Rainbow Dash, “Jus’ what are we?” Her attention was elsewhere, not on the red pony.
Without turning to the stallion, Rainbow Dash started trotting away, “Follow me.”
Big Mac didn’t question her, following the blue pegasus. The darkness of the night was pretty harsh, but the light of the stars and the tiny bit of Luna’s moon that was peeking over the horizon was enough for the two to trot along. Big Mac wasn’t sure what Rainbow Dash was doing, but he followed her, up to the barn. Rainbow pushed open the door of the barn and went in, not bothering to ask permission. Big Mac followed in, but he didn’t have to go far as Rainbow had stopped just inside. The mare was looking at an empty spot on the dirty ground.
“Here’s where it all started, or so we think anyway,” Rainbow spoke in a hushed tone, “What’s it been, four, five months?”
“’Bout four, ah think,” Big Mac replied, matching Dash’s pitch.
“Hmm….” Rainbow let out a noise as she started to flap her wings. Taking flight, she flew up into the rafters and the second floor of the barn.
Big Mac could only watch as she went up and landed. He quickly looked around the barn and found a ladder. Retrieving it, he used it to climb up to the barn’s second floor rafters. Upon arriving, he saw Rainbow Dash unlatching the second-floor loading door. Having a bit of difficulty in pushing it, Rainbow turned around and gave it a swift kick of her hind legs. The door opened outward and let the night air into the upper half of the barn. Dash then sat on the edge, letting her bottom two hooves dangle down. Big Mac trotted over on the squeaky wooden planks and sat on the left side of the pegasus, leaning slightly onto the doorframe.
The two sat in silence for a few minutes. Big Mac was staring down at the ground and the farm below him, while Dash’s heads were looking up at the clear night sky.
“Could ya….answer the question, Miss Rainbow Dash?” Big Mac sheepishly asked, not having the courage to look up.
Rainbow spoke, but not with an answer, “How many stars do ya think there are?”
This odd question was enough to cause Big Mac to look at Rainbow Dash, “Beg pardon?”
The peasus’s gaze was still fixated on the stars, “When I was little, my dad would take me camping out almost every weekend during the summer. We would hike for miles until nightfall, then we would make camp, toast marshmallows and tell spooky stories. But one thing that I always remembered was that he would ask me how many stars were in the sky. I would try and count them, but I would always lose track of how many there were. So when he asked me how many there were, I would always answer with ‘I don’t know’. He’d always tell me that’s a good answer because he didn’t know either.”
Big Mac listened intently to Rainbow’s story, not saying a word.
“I guess that’s the same answer I have for what we are: I don’t know,” the pegasus admitted with a sigh, hanging her head.
“Ya don’t know?” Big Mac asked softly.
“I don’t, okay? I don’t know the answer,” Rainbow’s words sounded angry, but they were filled with sadness, “I just figured if I just ignored you, I would just forget about you....and how I feel.”
Big Mac paused a moment before he replied, “Well….how do you feel?”
Dash took a few deep breaths with her eyes closed. Finishing such, she answered, “I….like you. You’re a really nice stallion, Big Mac….too nice even. I just don’t know what to do or say about it. I’m not used to it.”
“Ah’m sorry.”
Rainbow looked to Big Mac, “Sorry? What are ya sorry for? If anything, I’m the one that should be sorry. I avoided you for almost a month, told everypony you might be the father and left you to deal with that by yourself. And about that, sorry about that, I….just kinda wanted to get the attention off of me for a while. Didn’t mean to throw you to the wolves like that.”
“It’s no big deal, Miss Rainbow Dash,” Big Mac insisted.
“See? You’re too freaking nice,” the pegasus sighed in frustration, “I just wish I could forget about all of this junk. That my life could be the same and go back to what it used to be.” Rainbow leaned backwards, resting her back on the wooden planks. With another groan, she added on, “Some days, I just hate everything….and right now, that includes me. I just don’t want to think about any of this.”
Sitting in silence, Big Mac thought of something. “Could ya tell me ‘bout yer father?”
“My dad?” Rainbow was puzzled, “Why?”
“Ah’m curious. After all, ah’m ‘bout ta be a father mahself,” the stallion had a little smile on his face at his own statement.
Rainbow Dash sat back up and smiled as she started to recall, “My dad was awesome, he still is awesome. He was one of the fastest pegasus in Cloudsdale. Heck, even worked with the Wonderbolts for a number of years before taking it easy. He broke so many flight records, it was awesome! But, he insisted that he retire to raise me by himself.”
“What ‘bout yer mother?”
The pegasus’s enthusiasm seemed to disappear, “I never really knew my mom. I remember when I was small, she was there one day and the next she was gone. I didn’t get it, and when I asked my dad, he didn’t give me an answer. I just remember when I asked him, it looked as if he was about to cry. He said that I should remember that my mom loves me very much. But he insisted that everything will be okay.” Rainbow’s ears dropped down and her eyes formed a few tears as she finished speaking, “I just never could understand how he could smile with all those tears in his eyes, telling me that everything will be wonderful.”
Upon hearing what Rainbow had said, Big Mac could really only say one thing, “Ah’m sorry to hear that.”
Quickly wiping away the tears out of her eyes, Rainbow returned to her normal self, “Well, doesn’t matter right? My dad raised a winner! Tough as nails, faster than any other pony around!”
Big Mac couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at her boasting, “Ya sure are.”
By this time, Luna’s moon had risen fully above the horizon. With the light shining in, Rainbow Dash spoke, “Ya know, Big Mac? That actually felt good.”
“What did?”
“Letting it all out,” Rainbow leaned toward Big Mac, resting her head against his body, “I guess I had it all bottled up inside that it just needed to get out one way or another.”
The stallion felt Dash against his body. He leaned more toward the doorframe to his left in order to better support the two of them.
“So, yeah, thanks, big red,” the pegasus casually stated as she leaned more onto Big Mac as she made herself comfortable. Shifting her body around a few times, Rainbow Dash finally made herself comfortable. In this position, she was leaning against Big Mac’s right side, as if she was lounging on a couch, with her right bottom hoof propped up against the doorframe and her left bottom hoof hanging out of the doorframe.
“Think nothin’ of it, Miss Rainbow Dash,” Big Mac replied.
Rainbow tilted her head upwards slightly to look at the red pony, “By the way, how do you feel about me? I mean, I kinda already just spilled a lot about me, it’s only fair if ya do the same, big red.”
“Well, ah really meant what ah said. Ah really do care ‘bout ya, an’ ah really do have feelings fer ya,” Big Mac answered looked back down at his hooves.
Rainbow laughed, “Haha! Spoken like a true sap!”
The laughter caused Big Mac to blush a bit.
With her laughter finally gone, Rainbow spoke with a smile on her face, “Ya know, maybe having this baby won’t be that bad as I thought it would be. I feel like maybe everything will be wonderful after all.”