//------------------------------// // The Tale of Big Macintosh // Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Tales From The Stallion Six // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Rumble headed into town. They were hoping to find Thunderlane, and learn from him where they could find Rainbow Dash. All the while, Scootaloo constantly asked her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders if they were as curious as she was about how Rainbow Dash got her cutie mark. Suddenly, a small group of bunnies strayed onto the dirt road directly in front of them. Scootaloo braked hard, grinding her scooter to a halt just seconds before it would've collided with one of the bunnies. Then, Apple Bloom noticed something "Wait a minute, those are our apples!" she exclaimed, when she saw what the bunnies were holding in their mouths "They're stealin'!" "Come back here you no good apple thieves!" a familiar voice shouted, leaping out of a bush. Unfortunately, the bunnies quicky fled. The voice's owner, a stallion with a familiar red coat, an orange mane and tail trimmed short, and a trademark shoulder harness, ended up accidentally plowing into the wagon attached to Scootaloo's scooter. Knocking Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Rumble out of it. The resulting impact throwing Scootaloo off her scooter. "Big Mac, what the hay are you trying to do?!" Apple Bloom complained. She wasn't hurt, but she was upset. "Sorry sis." Big Macintosh apologized "I was chasin' after those sneaky little bunnies that were tryin' to make off with some of the apples I just harvested. You're not hurt, are ya?" "Of course not." Apple Bloom replied "Same goes for the rest of my friends." "Good, I'm sorry if I caused you and your friends any trouble." Big Macintosh spoke up. "Eh, we'll be fine." Rumble shrugged "We were on our way to see Thunderlane though." "We're hoping that he'll know where Rainbow Dash is. It's kind of important that we talk to her." Sweetie Belle explained. She decided not to mention that Scootaloo was really the only one to whom it was important. "I'm afraid I haven't seen him." Big Macintosh admitted "As a matter of fact I haven't seen much of anypony today. Spring's a very busy time of year for the farm." "We know." Scootaloo replied. "Say, Big Mac, how did you get your cutie mark?" Apple Bloom asked, observing the big green apple depicted on Big Macintosh's flank. "You really wanna know sis?" Big Macintosh asked "Don't you need to see Thunderlane?" Apple Bloom ignored Scootaloo's protests and said "Not right away. I think my fellow crusaders and I would really like to hear you story. That's not a problem for you, is it?" "Of course not." Big Macintosh replied with a shake of his head "It's quite an interesting story actually. Do you remember when Applejack told you how she went away to Manehattan for a time following Ma and Pa's death?" "You bet I do." Apple Bloom nodded "I still can't believe she nearly became a high society pony like Rarity." "Well, my cutie mark story begins around that time." Big Macintosh explained "Life was pretty rough on the farm for Granny Smith and I after Applejack left. We had to balance runnin' Sweet Apple Acres, with raising you. You were only a foal back then, and you were quite the hoofful. Anyway, I was really struggling. Not a day went by that I didn't miss Applejack, and long to see her again." As he continued his story, Big Macintosh began to think back to that time. He found that he could remember the events, as if they were yesterday. Big Macintosh woke up, as usual, with the sound of the rooster crowing. He yawned, and rose from his bed, putting the shoulder harness that he had recieved as a gift from his parents back when they were still alive. It was hard to believe how long it had been since the accident that had claimed their lives. After his usual morning visit to the little stallion's room, and a quick shower, he headed downstairs. Granny Smith was in the kitchen, feeding Big Macintosh's little sister Apple Bloom a bottle of milk. The yellow coated foal happily sucked down the milk as if there were no tomorrow. "Good morning Big Macintosh." Granny Smith greeted, as she picked Apple Bloom up and burped her. "Good morning Granny Smith." Big Macintosh said in reply, a smile forcing its way onto his face. With his sister Applejack off in Manehattan living the sophisticated life, Sweet Apple Acres felt empty. Sure, there was his Granny Smith, and his baby sister Apple Bloom. But with Granny Smith spending almost all her time looking after Apple Bloom, neither of them were able to fill in the hole in his heart that had formed following his parents' deaths. His sister Applejack deciding to leave for Manehattan had only made things worse. He should've said something, anything. He should've told her how he really felt about her leaving. But instead, he had said nothing and let her run off. Granny Smith told him that it was for the best, but Big Macintosh wasn't so sure. After breakfast, Big Macintosh headed out into the fields to begin his daily chores. "Why do I have to be the only one who does all of these things?" he thought to himself "I know Apple Bloom's not toilet trained yet, but that never stopped Applejack and I from helpin' out Ma and Pa when we were little ponies. That's part of the reason why Pa had that outhouse built." Most of his chores were completed before too long. And in the meantime, Big Macintosh said nothing. His thoughts kept drifting back to Applejack. How was she doing in Manehattan? Was she already impressing those high society ponies that took so much pride in their own appearances? Were Aunt and Uncle Orange treating her with the love she deserved? Had she already forgotten about Sweet Apple Acres, and about all the fun times she and Big Macintosh had shared back when Ma and Pa were alive? Big Macintosh worried so much about this, that he forgot to pay attention to what he was doing. A storm had blown through last night, and some of the trees in the orchard had been weakened. For such an average sized colt, Big Macintosh packed quite a lot of power. So much power in fact, that Granny Smith had warned him not to use all of it at once. Especially not when the tree he was bucking had been weakened. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. The tallest tree in the orchard couldn't take the powerful kick that Big Macintosh had given it. Time seemed to come to a standstill, as the tree began to fall. Big Macintosh was too frozen in fear to move, not that it would've done him any good. There was nowhere he could've run to. "Well, I guess I'm going to see Ma and Pa again much sooner than I expected." Big Macintosh thought to himself, as the shadow of the tree began to envelope him. But then suddenly, there was a tremendous roar, and in the blink of a eye a small protective magical barrier appeared around Big Macintosh. It was pinkish-violet in color. Big Macintosh had little time to question where it had come from however, because just a moment after the barrier appeared, the tree crashed into it. To Big Macintosh's surprise, the tree bounced harmlessly off of the barrier, and crashed to the ground in the opposite direction with a massive thud! The noise echoed everywhere. Big Macintosh was incredibly surprised, and he almost didn't notice when the protective barrier faded away a moment later. Looking at the ground, Big Macintosh was relieved to see that the tree had crashed in the middle of the field and hadn't hurt anypony. He was quite amazed to think that one kick from his legs had managed to do that. No wonder he was called Big Macintosh. Then, he noticed a single apple resting near the tree's trunk. Apparently, it had been perched up high, but the kick from Big Macintosh (and the subsequent fall) had knocked it loose. It seemed a bit bruised, but otherwise there wasn't a single mark on it. When Granny Smith heard the thud, she had come running as fast as she could. Apple Bloom clinging tightly to her mane. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay Big Macintosh. When I heard that thud, I thought for sure somethin' awful had happened to ya. I don't think I could've handled losin' another family member so soon." "Sorry if I made you worry Granny." Big Macintosh apologized. "You very well should be." Granny Smith scolded "This old ticker really doesn't take kindly to scares like this. There's a reason why the doctors say I can't help you out in the field. Not to mention, you made your little sister really upset. I had to resort to my secret weapon to get her to calm down." Apple Bloom suddenly began to shout, drawing Granny Smith's attention to the apple near the trunk of the tree. It was the same one that Big Macintosh had freed as a result of his powerful kick. "Well I'll be a donkey's uncle!" Granny Smith exclaimed "Big Macintosh, did you do that?" "I sure did Granny." Big Macintosh replied. "That there apple's been stuck up there tighter than the lid of a zap-apple jar. Nothin' I could think of would get it down." Granny Smith explained "You've got some pretty strong hooves Big Macintosh. Now I can see why you and your sister always liked to play wrestle." "I knew I was strong, but I didn't think I was that strong." Big Macintosh admitted "I guess I really don't know my own strength." "Well, you'll just have to be extra careful from now on. Don't need ya knockin' down all the trees as if they were bowlin' pins." Granny Smith replied, then there was a flash of white light. When it had faded, Granny Smith noticed something on Big Macintosh's flank. She blinked, and rubbed her eyes. "Is something wrong Granny Smith?" Big Macintosh asked nervously. "You got your cutie mark Big Macintosh!" Granny Smith cheered. "What?! Really?!" Big Macintosh asked, and checked his flank. Sure enough, a giant green apple with white sparkles all around was present were there had previously been nothing. "I realized that my cutie mark reflected my strength, and the benefits it could have for Sweet Apple Acres." Big Macintosh explained, as he finished his story "And ever since that day, I've been happily workin' the orchard without a fuss." "Big Macintosh, what the hay are you doing?!" a familar voice asked in a cross tone. It turned out to be none other than Applejack, and the farmpony was anything but happy "While you were sitting there, mouthing off, you let those bunnies slip away!" "Applejack, I can explain!" Big Macintosh protested. "There'll be time for that later!" Applejack said crossly "For right now, you're coming with me, and together we're going to track down those apple stealing bunnies!" And with that, Applejack led Big Macintosh away. "That was a really nice story." Apple Bloom said happily "I had no idea that my brother had such an interesting tale to tell." "Sappy's more like it." Scootaloo complained, hopping back onto her scooter "Now come on, we've got to find Thunderlane!" Rumble, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom, climbed back into the wagon and put on their helmets. Scootaloo did the same, and then she sped away as fast as she could.