//------------------------------// // Grave Mistake // Story: Boss Macintosh and Just Twilight // by AcidGreen //------------------------------// "...ight, hey, Twilight!" "Huh... er?" "Were you sleeping?" Twilight gradually regained her consciousness. What's going on? She slowly looked around. It was... inside Sugarcube Corner. And the signboard hanging out from the ceiling says "Twilight got her job in Sweet Apple Acres party!". Now Twilight remembered. This was the first Sunday after she got the job, and as always, Pinkie was celebrating it. Everypony, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and one dragon Spike was looking at her quizzically. "Hellooooo??" Suddenly, Pinkie materialized right in front of Twilight and looked into her eyes intensely. The party host was apparently not happy that the guest of honor was not polite enough to stay awake. "Sorry, everyone... I'm just tired. Really." "Oh my... Is that because of your new job?" Fluttershy asked in concern. "No wonder." Rainbow Dash frowned. "Big Mac is driving you like a crazy, right?" "Hey, it's not like that!" Driven by a sudden urge to defend him, Twilight jumped in. "He's being totally gentlecolt about this." "Oh yeah? That's not how I remember." "What?" Twilight did not expected such response. "Rainbow Dash, have you worked under Big Macintosh before?" "Yup. That's years ago, before I became a weather pony. I needed just a hoofful of bits and asked him for a paying job." Rainbow Dash grimaced. "Boy I regret that. He was so demanding." "Well, he may have a high standard for work ethic..." "It was totally absurd! Really, I was a little filly, you know!? So, at some time, I couldn't keep up and needed a break. I took a nap on a tree and, well, took a bite of some apples I was harvesting. Big Mac saw me, and oh, he, was, FURIOUS." "Well... eh, shouldn't he be angry? You stole his product at all..." "He kicked down the tree I was on! I could break my neck, mind you!" Fluttershy squealed in fear. "And he grabbed me by the neck and yelled something so loud that I had no idea what he was yelling. I was so scared and I cr... no, I mean, that was so uncalled for and I left the field, and that's it." Twilight was not sure how to take this new information, and turned to Applejack. "She's exaggerating, right?" "Just a little bit." To her surprise, Applejack did not defend her brother as Twilight expected. "But that's pretty much what Ah saw. He could be a real hothead in a busy time." "Actually I heard similar stories from time to time." Twilight swung her head to meet slightly sad-faced Pinkie, who must be uncomfortable about the subject of no-fun work. "I've met several ponies who had worked under Big Mac and... weeeeell, he wasn't popular. They never said he got angry for no reason, but when there's reason... he could be a meanie." Twilight waited several seconds for anypony to start saying otherwise, but even Applejack was not making any effort against where the conversation was going. It didn't help Rarity was somehow staying silent for a long time. "I... would have never guessed. So far, he is an ideal boss to me." "Until you make a mistake." Rainbow Dash bitterly mocked. It was Monday, and her second week of work began. Twilight and Big Macintosh went to the familiar half-dead apple trees as always, but this time Big Macintosh was pulling a colossal cart. The trees were finally rooted out, and it was the phase to harvest woods. "Okay Twilight, now can ya turn them into logs?" "Sure." Truth be told, she was not so sure. Last week she learned that any easy task quickly becomes not so easy if it has to be done again and again. Her horn shot a blinding spark and engulfed nearby tree, and with a puff of smoke and sparks, the twisted tree shifted its shape into a near-straight log. "Well, is this good enough?" "Perfect." Big Macintosh beamed with content. Until you make a mistake. Impossible. He will never hurt me in any way. Yes, but, until you make a mistake. "Okay, ya keep doing it, and Ah'll gather logs and haul them back." Her boss was already lifting the log and trying to place it in the monstrous cart. Realizing she was being the bottleneck of the task, Twilight hurriedly began transforming next target. After his cart was loaded, Big Macintosh skillfully tied logs to the cart and hauled them to the direction of his house. As Twilight feared, this work proved to be harder than she anticipated. Trees were huge, and transforming them into unnaturally refined form required serious magical power. But what made things worse was that Twilight was already tired before even she began. The weekend was too short to get rid of all the effects from the previous toil, but bigger problem was that she couldn't sleep last night. The possibility of Big Macintosh mistreating her, as her friends suggested, was disturbing to say the least. Atelophobia. She was aware of her problem. She unreasonably feared disappointing her dearest ones, such as her parents, Shining Armor, and Celestia. She couldn't stop thinking they would abandon her if she didn't meet their expectation. But at least she knew such fear was unfounded, even though she couldn't control it well. There were a lot of mistakes she made, and they were always there to help her recover, not to judge her. It was proven. But what about Big Macintosh? What her friends—including Applejack!—suggested was exact opposite. Twilight began to panic as she realized she was not sure about the criterion of current task. When they were clearing woods, she just followed Big Macintosh. But now, she had no idea if she was doing things fast enough. She could only do the safest move she could come up—just doing her best. Oh, this feels so good... it's warm, firm but not not too firm. What is this rhythmical, gentle vibration? Like I am on a train—waitwhatinthehayishappening? Twilight's eyes opened to their full extent. What she immediately saw was a beautiful dusk, and apple trees moving past her. She quickly noticed she was the one moving forward. She also noticed something was obscuring half of her vision. It was the back of Big Macintosh's head. Twilight was being carried on his back, all her limbs sprawled over his massive body. Huh? What is going on? ...Okay, let's recall the events of today. It's Monday. I came to work, transformed trees, morning shift was over and I ate lunch, took a nap, woke up, started evening work... oh that's right, I felt so spent I decided to take a break... and... oh. I must have fallen asleep! And Big Macintosh found me and now bringing me back to the house. How nice "GAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" Big Macintosh missed his step and promptly had his face crashed against the ground. In the process, screaming Twilight was tossed in front of him. Their eyes met each other. "Oh... yer awake, Twi—" "IMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRY!!!" "What a..." "NO I didn't mean to sleep believe me please! I'm sorry I'm sorry Just give me one more chance and I don't need the dinner I will go back to the work I'm sorry!" Twilight made a bolt for the unfinished job, but before making ten steps, her legs failed and she ungraciously dropped to the ground, stomach first. She gathered her strength and tried to get up. She couldn't. Twilight groaned as she tried it again but her body didn't rise even by a millimeter. Then she realized she was being pinned down. Twilight slowly looked her side and found Big Macintosh, looking down into her eyes intently. Twilight began to tremble, choking in fear. "...Twilight." Twilight's eyes filled up with tears. "...Ah don't know what's going on, but I swear nothing is gonna hurt ya, so... calm down." Several seconds of silence followed. "And don't go back to work. Ah'm the boss and Ah call it a day." Big Macintosh removed his hoof from Twilight's back and stepped back a little. Twilight shakily sit up, still trembling. "Are you..." Twilight's voice was weak and raspy. "Are you mad at me?" "Nnope." Big Macintosh replied, dumbfounded. "Why?" "B-Because... I failed. I just fall asleep in the middle of w-work and, and..." Twilight's speech stopped as Big Macintosh took her hoof in his and gently squeezed. "Sorry Ah wasn't being clear about this. Ya are doing wonderful, Twilight. ...And Ah knew ya were trying hard, maybe more than ya should be, but Ah don't know how ya feel by using too much magic, so Ah thought it's best to let you pace yourself." Big Macintosh paused to see if Twilight was following. "The point is... er... ya did nothing wrong and Ah'm not mad at all. So... are ya okay?" Twilight kept sniffing for a while, but gradually she recovered her usual posture. Finally she apologetically smiled. "I should've known better than being scared of you." "Eeyup." Big Macintosh returned his smile. "Just say whatever in yer mind." "Really?" "Eeyup." "Then can you give me a ride on your back again?" WHAT THE HAY!? Twilight realized, for the first time in her life, her mouth moved before her brain. Blushing profusely, She looked away from him as much as possible without breaking her neck. This is so embarrassing... But isn't this what I wanted? He sees me as who really I am, and I can be who I'd like to be. That's why I like about him. I know things get the better the more I open up. I can be real me to him. I can say anything to him. "Eeyup." Big Macintosh did not let the awkwardness linger and swiftly let his head slide under Twilight's torso. Before even she could gasp, he tossed her straight up, and she landed on his back again. "Thanks." "Yer welcome." "I have one more thing to ask." Twilight hesitated for a moment, but she decided that the role of her brain was already over and she shall follow her heart. "Some of my friend told me that you had hired ponies years before me and... you were quite harsh when they weren't... good enough. Is that true?" "True." "Rainbow Dash told me that you kicked down the tree she was sleeping on. To be fair she told she was napping and eating apples without asking your permission but—" "True too." "This doesn't sound like you." Twilight slowly raised her arms and hugged his shoulders, irrationally hoping he didn't notice. "But Ah was like that. Ah regret most of the cases though." "What happened?" "No excuses. Just it was hard times back than, and Ah was angry and frustrated and didn't give a damn about anything except protecting mah Sweet Apple Acres. But Ah learned to run Acres better and AJ became a huge help as she grew up. Soon I had less reason to get stressed out." Twilight let out a sigh of contentment. "Sorry for asking something... personal." "No problem. Anyway, don't worry. If yer being too lazy, the worst thing can happen is that ya ain't getting paid at all." Twilight giggled sheepishly. On the rest of their way, Twilight gave her honest opinion on how hard the work was and tried to explain the effects of magical strain, in which Big Macintosh seemed genuinely interested. Big Macintosh promised to arrange her task to be more reasonable. After they reached the house they acted as nothing extraordinary happened, except that Big Macintosh insisted that he walk her home after the dinner. "Thanks, but It's not necessary." Twilight said so, but even without trying she could show she was pleased by his gesture. "Do you seriously think somepony pops up from nowhere and knock me out or anything?" "Nnope. But yer tired and Ah'd like to make sure ya reach yer home." So they walked to the castle together. This time Twilight remained silent, and predictably Big Macintosh didn't initiate any conversation. Most of the time Big Macintosh was looking straight up, so he did not notice that his company was stealing glances at him too frequently. But suddenly he looked at Twilight. "Okay, see you tomorrow." Big Macintosh decided he was close enough to the castle and turned back. "Wait." Even Fluttershy would agree that the voice was so weak that it couldn't be meant to be heard. But Big Macintosh heard it. He again trotted back near Twilight, who was looking down her hooves. Big Macintosh was not at ease either. Telling a stallion to stop after he walks a mare to her home? This has to go somewhere. "...Eeyup?" "I... ugh, I had to tell you one thing." Twilight looked up. "When I asked you to give me a ride, it was not that I was too tired to walk on my own. It's because... I kinda... missed it." "Playing horsy?" "Er, no, well, kinda, but..." Twilight thanked Luna for the subtle moonlight on tonight, otherwise the blush on her face was too obvious. "What I meant was... guardian figures. You know, I came to Ponyville, and learned friendship. My friends are best things in my life, I'm really glad that happened, but... that doesn't mean I don't miss my parents, my big brother, and Princess Celestia." Big Macintosh silently nodded. "So, when you were carrying me on your back... you made me feel like a filly again, feel like... safe, cared, you know. And I liked that. I, I just want you to know that... I'd like to think you as one of them." Twilight was busy staring the ground, completely oblivious to the anything else. So, when suddenly something warm and strong enveloped her shoulders, it took a while to realize that it was Macintosh's arm. "Perfect. Ah don't mind having an extra sister." They remained still for a while, but Macintosh remembered it was not late enough for everypony to be sleeping, so he swiftly moved back to the previous position. "...So, see ya tomorrow." "Yes, tomorrow." Twilight dared one more glance at Big Macintosh's eyes and entered the castle. Exactly at the moment the door was closed and locked, she galloped through the corridors, broke into her room and slammed herself onto her bed without a break. Twilight flailed her hooves blindly and as soon as she touched the pillow, she grabbed it and smashed it against her face. Twilight let out a muffled victory cry. She never felt this proud of herself. This was her first time to actively establish relationship with important pony in her life. Her family, Princess Celestia, Cadence and fellow Elements become a part of her life before she knew, but this time, it was different. She wanted to be close to Macintosh, and she decided to make it so, and she did it. Expressing affection without knowing what his response could be was dreadful and uncomfortable experience, but also exhilarating. This was not about luck or destiny, but nothing other than real courage... Okay who am I kidding. That was a grave mistake. Her eyes flew open with surprise. She knew this feeling—something unpleasant yet true was climbing up in her mind. No. What's wrong with me? Big Macintosh and I are closer now. Great isn't it? Oh, give me a break. "Guardian figure"? My heart is cracking the rib cage and my knees are shaking. Since when do I act like so around any of my guardian figures? Twilight shut her eyes as panic begun to overwhelm her. ...What I told him wasn't a lie. True, but I didn't tell him this real feeling either. We are closer, but moved away from the ideal. Now he thinks I want him to see me as his little sister. That's great, but not the best. All right all right, I admit. I like him more than I thought. But so what? I don't have to tell him that I have crush on him right away. But It's going to be painful, if you know he sees me as an extra sister just because you asked. Plus I don't have much time. When this week is over I won't have any excuses to see him anymore. I'm worrying things too much. This is going to be fine.