//------------------------------// // Game Over // Story: Boss Macintosh and Just Twilight // by AcidGreen //------------------------------// This is horrible. Twilight slapped her own face and tried to concentrate on the current task, but her eyes gradually wandered off to Big Macintosh fixing the fence. It was the evening shift of Wednesday. After Twilight honestly confessed transforming logs all the time was beyond her magical stamina, half of her chore became much less intensive. Right now, she was painting the barn, which breaks down in unreasonable frequency. This was a much easier work. However... Twilight grimaced as she heard a happy laughter. It belonged to Apple Bloom, who was currently riding on Big Macintosh's strong back and talking nonstop, effectively sabotaging her big brother. Macintosh didn't seem to mind at all. They were just having a good, intimate sibling time. Celestia help her, she was jealous of Apple Bloom. This is so horrible... How could I be so pathetic! Unreasonable! But... Twilight saw Apple Bloom giggling as she tried to hug his neck, but having difficulty due to their huge body size gap. I can't help! I want to do that! I don't want to see anypony else doing it! ...Oh what's wrong with me... Apple Bloom is his little sister! A filly! There's absolutely no reason to be offended, Twilight Sparkle! She has nothing to do with my problem... Twilight sighed as she teared her eyes away from the happy siblings and glared the wall she was working on. Since Twilight and Big Macintosh's "honorary sibling bonding" moment, practically nothing had changed between them. Twilight had no idea how to make any progress from this point, and Big Macintosh, as passive as always, didn't make any move either. Like he has a reason to do so in the first place... Twilight smashed the paintbrush on the wall. She was angry at everypony. Big Macintosh should be more perceptive of her longing for affection! Apple Bloom should stop showing off whatever she cannot bring herself to do! And she hated herself for being such an idiot. I need help. "Excuse me, but Boutique is already cl... oh hi, Twilight." "Hi, Rarity." Twilight sheepishly smiled. "Sorry, eh, am I interrupting something?" "Well, I'm working on the new order but it's nothing serious. What brings you here? It's..." Rarity eyed the clock on the wall. "... 8 p.m. Not so late so don't mind about me, but this is rather unusual." "I... I need... to, um, to, talk... about..." Rarity raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "Forgive my manners, dear. Would you like to come in?" "Well... yes, thank you." Rarity led the guest to the table, and without a word, she walked into the backroom. Soon she came back with cups of tea magically lifted. They stayed completely silent as Twilight sat at the table and Rarity served the tea. Twilight, still visibly nervous, took a sip. That was the exact moment Rarity abruptly spoke. "Big Macintosh." Epic splash erupted from Twilight's mouth. The tea spread to everywhere, but Rarity has already held a cloth front of her to prevent any damage on her coat. "How *cough* how could you *cough* you know that... *wheeze* NO! I mean what are you *cough* what are you talking about!?" "Nothing. I just said random thing. What are YOU talking about?" Twilight seriously considered pouncing upon Rarity and forcefully wipe that infuriating smirk out of her face, but eventually better part of her prevailed. "All right! You got me! This is about Big Macintosh!" "Forgive me, I couldn't resist! So, what about him? Is he giving you a hard time at the Acres?" Apparently Rarity was having difficulty keeping her face straight. "No... you already know it." "No I don't. Tell me about it." "Rarity...!" "Twilight Sparkle, I'm serious here." Twilight grudgingly looked up to face Rarity, and noticed her expression was, though she really looked like enjoying the situation, genuinely caring. "Consider this as a practice, darling. If you can't even tell me that, you will never be able to even confront the problem. You know that, don't you?" For a while Twilight stayed petrified, her face burning red, and Rarity patiently waited. "I have a crush on Big Macintosh." "There, that wasn't so hard." Twilight let out a sigh and giggled, feeling both mentally and physically liberated. "I'm that obvious, huh?" "I wasn't born yesterday, dear. Just a week ago you started working under Big Macintosh and now you suddenly visit me at nighttime, nervous and blushing all over. I wouldn't even call it a long shot." "Oh... Yeah." "Plus, I imagined you have a soft spot for a guardian figure like him." Twilight jumped at the familiar words. She knew Rarity can be perceptive, but not THIS perceptive! Rarity triumphantly grinned. "Well, what's the point of visiting me if I don't know better?" Twilight smiled, nervously but full-heartedly. Her friends never cease to amaze her. She knew Rarity would enjoy this a bit more than she would like her to, but also was confident that Rarity wishes best for her and supports her as much as she can. So, Twilight told her everything about her feelings and situations concerning Big Macintosh. "...and today I was jealous of Apple Bloom! Over him! I'm crazy!" "Yes. ...I mean, I can see you are quite stressed." Twilight slumped over the table. "...And I have no idea where I should go from now on." "Hmm. To be precise, you'd like to move forward, but don't know how to do so. Correct?" Twilight raised her head and begun timidly playing with her hooves. "Yes... that's pretty much it. Do you think I should just tell him how I really feel?" "Oh no no no no no." Rarity waved her hooves as if she was drowning. "Ladies simply don't do that! Besides, that wouldn't work on him." "What does that mean? Am I... not good enough for him?" "Oh dear, don't ever say that." Rarity made a point by jabbing a hoof in front of Twilight's muzzle. "It's Big Macintosh's problem. In his book, there's nothing between friend and soul mate. Mind you, a lot of mares had already tried to win his heart, but he had always politely rejected them. There's no such thing as 'give it a shot' or 'try it out and see' in his love life." "Wow. That's... conservative, I guess." "In my opinion, he is prioritizing his family and work. Anyway, make sure to win his affection BEFORE you make moves. Because if he is not sure, it will be just 'eenope'. Ideally, you should make him ask you out. That's much more pleasant and safe." "Okay... but... how do I do that?" "Here's a serious problem." Rarity frowned for the first time of this conversation. "You already sibling-zoned him." Twilight smashed her face on the table again. "It was a heartwarming act, really so. But from Big Macintosh's perspective, that's practically 'let's keep it platonic', and by Celestia he will honor it." "...Don't you think a honorary sister can grow... into something more?" Twilight murmured without rising her head. "Sorry Twilight, but that's hard cold NO. I'm the living proof of that. I've been his honorary sister for over a decade." "WHAT!?" Twilight rose from the table like an upside-down lightning. "How did you... you..." "Well, Applejack and I were best friend since I can remember, and naturally I saw him frequently. So I guess it was natural for him to see me as an extra little sister and other way around for me." "That's ...right. I often forget I'm the only one really new here." "The point is, you are going nowhere from where you stand. I'm fine here, but you should move out. Quickly." "But how!?" "Oh dear, we are so behind the start line! As I said, any premature major advancement on him is a romantic suicide. I would suggest starting with giving subtle signs to give him clues and present yourself as a potential marefriend, but doing that after you said to him that you saw him as a big brother is... creepy. Come to think of it, it's really so considering you have a real big brother and he has little sisters, and he may think you are kind of..." "STOP! I get it!" "Excuse me." Rarity calmed herself with a sip of tea. "Anyway, we have to be creative here and stop complaining. It's not that we can cancel that siblinghood." "...Huh?" Suddenly, Twilight's bloodshot eyes flew open. "What did you say?" "Again, we have to be creative." "No, the next." "...We can't cancel that siblinghood." "Yes!" Twilight abruptly climb over the table and victoriously raised a hoof. "That's it! I can cancel it!" "WHAT?!" Rarity's jaw hit the table. "Wait, dear, please calm down. I know I said you have to move out of this predicament, but that doesn't mean..." "It's okay Rarity, I know how to do it safely!" Invigorated Twilight was already on the way to the outside. "Thanks for the advice! See you later!" Not even bothering listening to whatever Rarity was saying, Twilight galloped to the castle. She rushed into her new library, and without a hitch she singled out a book she was looking and magically held it in front of her. She skimmed pages until she found what she was looking for. "Yes... yes! I can do this! This will work!" Twilight closed the book, and through the window looked up the stars with disarranged pupils and evil grin. "I can erase his memory with this spell! I will make him forget we'd ever had that conversation on that night! This way I won't be stuck as his honorary sister and start all over again as a purely potential romantic interest! Mwahahahahahahaha..." In next morning, Twilight reached Sweet Apple Acres ten minutes earlier than she normally did. She found her target inside the barn as usual. It appeared Big Macintosh was reinforcing the giant wagon. "Good morning, Big Macintosh." "Mornin', Twilight. Yer early today." "Yes, because I need your time. Can we have a talk?" "Eeyup." Big Macintosh dropped a hammer and looked at Twilight curiously, who was wearing unfamiliar smug grin. Without a word Twilight's horn begun to simmer. Perfect. Look at my eyes! This spell isn't easy, but when he is not mentally alerted at all, I can erase his memory at any... wait! The glow quickly died down. I'm going to erase his memory of my choice. So before that, I can ask him very personal question to help me gain his affection! Normally this is too risky and awkward move, but, thank Celestia, he's not going to remember that. Twilight cleared her throat and glanced at Big Macintosh in a way she thought sultry. Big Macintosh's pupils shrunk in confusion. "Big Macintosh. This is going to be a little bit personal, but I need honest opinion of stallion, like you. Is it okay?" "Ee...yup." "Great. Ahem. So, It's while since I came to Ponyville, and, things have been great, with all friends and lessons. However, I think I'm ready to step up farther in my life now. That is, to put it simply, I'm considering having a coltfriend!" "...Uh-huh." Macintosh nodded. Twilight tried to read his emotion, but seeing nothing other than confusion, she continued. "Well, I talked this about one of my friends, and looks like the best course of action is getting stallions ask me out, but before that, I need to do some research on what kind of mares are popular among stallions. And I thought, why not ask them! So..." "...So?" "So, what do you think, Big Macintosh? What kind of mare you want to go out with?" Whoa I'm on fire, Twilight! I never knew being vulgar feels so good... If I know he's going forget all of this, of course. Clearly Big Macintosh was shocked by her sudden and unexpected forwardness. Somehow seeing him visibly nervous made Twilight comfortable and confident. "Eh... wait. Why are ya asking this? I thought this is about ya, not me." "Well, eh, sure it is, but I'm trying to build stallions' general point of view, so any opinion from any stallion helps." "But this is about ya getting asked out, so what Ah say doesn't matter. Actually what anypony says doesn't matter." "What? Why?" "Let's face it, nopony's gonna ask ya out." It took seconds for his words to sink in her mind. When it did, Twilight's smug attitude was instantly vanished. She begun to quiver as her eyes became watered. "Wait!" Macintosh hastily added. "Sorry, Ah didn't mean ta sound like that! It's not that yer unattractive or anything, but ya know, yer a princess." Twilight violently flinched and glared him, almost angrily. Not that from you...! "Does that have to do with anything?" "Eeyup. Common ponies don't run after a princess. If yer looking for Canterlot highborn or something it's a different story, but in Ponyville? Yer too much. Ah don't think anything could happen if ya just wait. That's meh opinion." "Thanks." Twilight immediately responded. Her voice was level and expression was invisible behind her mane with lowered head. "I'll begin transforming trees." Without a glance toward the boss Twilight excused herself from the barn and headed to the now all familiar fallen trees patch. As she moved on the way, her walk changed to trot, and trot became canter, and it soon accelerated to full gallop. When she reached the patch, Twilight immediately begun transforming without catching breath. Wheezing and gasping, she recklessly made three not-so-straight logs. Noponies gonna ask ya out. Yer a princess. Too much. Twilight screamed as she lifted a dead tree and violently slammed it against the ground, breaking it in half. Throwing the wasted wood away towards wherever she didn't care, Twilight laid prone burying her face in her hooves, and wailed. I thought he wasn't the one of them! I thought he would always make me feel special, not different! What truly broke her heart was the fact that she couldn't blame Big Macintosh. He was just being honest as she asked, and what he said made sense. She is princess. She is untouchable. And if he thinks she is too much, at least that's exactly what she is to him. If his opinion was clearly wrong or biased, she could just disagree and maybe correct him, but, it wasn't. Twilight wept in misery for about a minute, but after she rose, she resumed her choir in steady and mechanical manner. She quickly learned that doing anything which keeps her mind away from what just happened was much better than moping about it.