//------------------------------// // Chapter 2- Small Tasks with Mega Results // Story: MEGA Macintosh // by BottleH2O //------------------------------// ZZZZZZZ- Snort! With a small lurch, Big Mac jolted awake, rousing himself from his deep slumber. He blinked sleepily at his surroundings for a second, his mind still taking a bit to wake up. With a colossal yawn, Big Mac threw back the covers and stepped out of bed, ready to start the day, but in his stupor, he didn’t even notice the two cracks on the ground his hooves had produced as he had emerged from his bed. Striding across the room sleepily, Big Mac located his wooden yoke. Picking it up he threw it over his head and onto his back, wincing a little as, for some reason, it seemed to be a little tighter than normal. “That ain’t too much of an issue,” Big Mac thought as he silently adjusted the length of it, so it could now fit more comfortably on his broad neck. “Eeyup,” Mac said nonchalantly, content that the problem had been solved. Walking over to his desk he retrieved a tan rodeo cowboy hat that had been given to him by his sister’s friend Rarity for Hearth’s warming. He normally didn’t wear anything aside from his yoke but today he was willing to make an exception. After all, today was going to be a scorcher outside and he didn’t want a repeat of yesterday, sweating up a storm in the hot sun. Placing the hat on his head, Big Mac looked himself over in the mirror. It was different than what he was used to, in all honesty he thought he looked more like Applejack than himself. “Maybe that’s a good thing,” The cynical part of his mind told him darkly “Maybe now the rest of yer family will notice another Applejack instead of plain ol’ Big Macintosh,” Mac frowned at the words the back of his mind had produced, yet, as he made to reach up and remove the hat, he paused and looked in the mirror again, before slowly lowing his hoof to the ground. “Maybe looking like AJ ain’t gonna be so bad,” Big Mac thought “Ah could try this out for the day in case something do end up changing for me,” With his resolve set, Big Mac nodded in the mirror, ready to start the day. Making his way over to his bed again, he quietly fixed the sheets and covers, tidying it up before walking to the door BANG! With a grunt of pain, Big Mac rubbed his head as he glared up at the offender of the headache. The top of the doorframe. Big Mac simply raised an eyebrow as he continued to stare at it. Did he really just hit his head off the top of the frame? But how could that be, it was over 7 feet tall and he was nowhere close to that height. Deciding that he was too tired to deal with that so early in the morning, Big Mac just shrugged and said “Nope,” before jamming his fallen hat back onto his head and walked outside into the hallway. The hall creaked and groaned as Big Mac sauntered through but he thought nothing of it. Making his way to the stairs he headed down and entered the kitchen. There Granny Smith was busy finishing up breakfast while Applejack and Apple Bloom were already seated at the table, talking amongst themselves. The two siblings at that point notice that Big Mac entered and were quick to get up and swarm around him. “Big Mac are ya ok? Ah was worried sick about ya yesterday!” Apple Bloom said as she scurried over and hugged Mac’s leg. Big Mac chuckled and gently patted his youngest sister on her head “Eeyup. Ah’m alright sis,” He drawled in his usual southern twang “Nothing a good night’s sleep can’t fix,” “Ah’m glad to hear that big brother,” Applejack said with a smile as she embraced him on the side, giving him a big hug “Ya gave us quite a scare yesterday Ah reckon,” “Eeyup,” “Well, as long as ya feel alright that’s all that matters ain’t it?” Applejack said reassuringly “Come on Macky, Granny just finished her famous apple family fritters and Ah already brought out some orange juice,” “Eeyup,” Big Mac replied in his usual manner as Apple Bloom broke her hug and bounded back over to her chair to resume her breakfast. Applejack took her seat next to Apple Bloom on the same side of the table and Big Mac took a seat on the opposite side, the head being reserved for Granny Smith. But as Big Mac walked over to his seat, his brow furrowed as he gave it a confused look. Had it gotten smaller? He was sure the chairs in the house were bigger than this. But he just shrugged it off. He was probably still tired from the early morning, so much so that his brain probably still didn’t process what was going on yet. But as Big Mac sat his large red apple buns down on the seat, he felt a noticeable crack go down the chair as it groaned under his weight “Darn it, the doggone chair has a break in it. Ah’ll have to repair it after Applejack and Ah finish up in the fields today,” Big Mac internally sighed at the unexpected additional work he’d have to do today. If the others had heard anything, they didn’t remark about it because at that moment Granny Smith had finished preparing the fritters and was heading back to the table with a large plate of them, all steaming hot and a crispy golden brown. “It’s all done everypony, come and get it!” She said happily as she set the plate down on the table center, snagging one for herself. As Granny Smith took her place at the head of the table, she started with slight surprise as she finally noticed Big Mac sitting there “Well Ah’ll be, how are ya feeling Mac?” Granny Smith asked. Big Mac simple nodded at Granny Smith “Ah feel alright Granny. Not too different from yesterday. Whatever hit mah chest didn’t seem to have any bad effect, Ah was able to sleep it off,” he replied Granny Smith looked relieved at the news “Well, that’s good ta hear sonny! As long as ya are feeling better that’s all that matters,” she said as she took a bit into the apple fritter. The others around the table beginning to dig in as well. But As Big Mac took his first bit into the fritter he felt like it was taking him a lot of effort to actually swallow the bite he had just taken “That’s weird, Ah guess Ah’m still not that hungry,” Big Mac thought “Still, Granny put a lot of work into this here fritter so Ah won’t leave it ta waste,” As Big Mac tried to force himself to finish eating, Granny Smith looked at her other two grandchildren and addressed them “So what are y’all up to for the day?” she asked them “Ah’m gonna meet up with Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell today so we can try our hoof at getting construction cutie marks!” Apple Bloom said excitedly “We’re gonna meet up at Fluttershy’s house and help her build a few fancy bird houses. We’ll get our cutie marks for sure this time!” Granny Smith and Applejack laughed good naturedly, the latter ruffling her sister’s mane “Ah’m glad to hear that lil’ sis. It’s gonna put mah mind at ease knowing Flutters is gonna be keeping an eye on you three,” Applejack said jokingly “So what about you Applejack?” asked Granny Smith “Big Mac and Ah are gonna go and finish harvesting the south fields today then the two of use are gonna go and do the West fields. We should have it all finished by the end of the day Granny,” Applejack said Granny Smith nodded “well, looks like all of ya have your days cut out for ya. Well, after everypony finishes eating we should get started. Remember: Make hay while the sun shines young’ins!” “Yes Granny,” Applejack and Apple Bloom in unison in a slightly board voice, while Big Mac next to them was draining his glass of orange juice so he could finally polish off that apple fritter he was forcing himself to eat. Granny Smith looked over “Macky, ya only had one fritter? Here, take another,” she said, plopping another fritter down in his plate. Big Mac looked at her with a slightly pleading expression “Ah’m all set Granny, Ah feel really full this morning,” “Ah nonsense, go on then Macky, Eat! And they’ll be plenty more where that came from. After all, you and Applejack are gonna need your strength today after you’re done harvesting!” Granny Smith said sweetly Seeing no way out of this, Big Mac just sighed in defeat and took the fritter, nibbling at it as he tried to finish off this one too. The warm morning sun shined pleasantly in the sky, the rays wafting down from the clear sky. Dew was collecting on the grass, adding a little sparkle in the landscape while the birds were chirping away, truly adding a little tranquility to the landscape. Further away, the front door to the Apple family house opened and a small yellow form adorned with a large bow on her head scurried out. Apple Bloom quickly said her goodbyes to Big Mac and Applejack as she darted over to where her two friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell were waiting for her so they could head off to school. Apple Bloom gave her two friends a quick greeting before clambering into a wagon with Sweetie Bell being pulled by Scootaloo’s scooter with the three of them zooming off towards the schoolhouse, trying to make it before the bell rang. Meanwhile back at the house, Big Mac and Applejack came walking leisurely out, having just finished saying their goodbyes to Apple Bloom. Big Mac clonking his head against the doorframe again as he went out. Granny Smith had decided to stay back at the house to wash the dishes and clean up a little before retiring for a nap, Mac and AJ were now heading over to the south fields to tackle the harvest over there for the day. The south fields haven’t been touched yet, which was why the two of them were determined to get started as soon as possible. “Boy howdy Big Mac, Ah’d say that there’s plenty of apples left for the two of us to buck down,” Applejack said as the fields came into view, toting behind her a wagon full of buckets “Eeyup,” Big Mac replied in his usual manner, hauling his own similar wagon and cargo “Heh, with so much left, I gotta wonder if ya were slacking some yesterday!” Applejack said playfully, slugging him in the side. Big Mac didn’t even feel anything from the blow but nevertheless he simply glanced back at Applejack and said “Nope,” but internally he was mentally sighing “Ah know AJ’s just playing but still, kinda devalues the time and effort Ah spent yesterday clearing out the fields alone if the two of us is gonna finish it off in a day,” Big Mac mused, his ears drooping a little, before he perked them back up quickly so Applejack wouldn’t notice. The two of them entered the south fields, pausing briefly to survey the landscape. There were tons of trees everywhere, all of them filled up with big, red, juicy apples on every branch. “Alright Big Mac, here’s what Ah’m thinking. Ah’ll stay over at this here cluster of trees and buck them apples off and continue mah way in, meanwhile you’ll head over to the back end of the fields and get to work bucking them apples there and work ya way in as well so the two of us can meet up in the middle of the field. Whaddya say?” Applejack asked proudly with a grin, glancing up at Big Mac. Big Mac for his credit just tipped his hat and said “Eeyup, Ah’ll head over now Applejack,” “That’s the spirit Big Mac, We’ll have this place harvested in no time!” AJ said happily, taking her wagon and trotted off to where she wanted to begin knocking down apples. “Eeyup,” Big Mac said nonchalantly as he gathered up his wagon and buckets and headed over to the back end of the field. “Well, time to finish off this here harvest,” He thought as he headed over. But as he went, Big Mac couldn’t help but notice that something was off, though he couldn’t place what it was. “Are there less fruit on the trees? No that ain’t it. Maybe the grass grew shorter this year? No that ain’t it either. So what is going on? Am Ah just loosing it today?” It wasn’t until poor Big Mac knocked his head on a branch leaning from a tree he was passing by did it come to him. “That’s it! Ah don’t know why or how but for some reason the trees seem to be a little smaller. Why is that? Ah could never hit mah head on any branch before when Ah was walking here a few days ago and now there seems to be plenty around for that to happen. We hadn’t gotten any rain or such lately so why do the trees seem so small today?” Big Mac continued to ponder this as he strutted up the apple trees in the back of the south fields. He decided to just drop it for now and focus on the task at hoof. Setting his wagon down by a nearby bush, he unhooked the latches from his yoke and set them down before walking over to the back of the wagon. Just like yesterday Big Mac lowered the wooden plank from the back and began to remove some of the buckets one by one and placing them around the first tree he was going to buck. After everything was in position, Big Mac stepped back with a satisfied “Eeyup,” and surveyed his work. Getting the buckets into place was a delicate job that requires precision, contrary to what a few ponies thought, where they felt like you just place the buckets in random positions and hoped for the best. Maybe it was his attuning to nature that gave him some strange form of foresight of were everything was going to fall? Honestly Big Mac wasn’t sure. Big Mac made his way over to the tree trunk and turned around, about to rear his hooves and buck the tree when he noticed something: a small dent in the trunk. Normally he wouldn’t have thought much of that because that occasionally happens when he and Applejack buck some of the trees but what struck him as odd was the fact that he remembered tackling the south orchard last harvest by himself, which means that he would have made the dent in the tree. What was so wired to Big Mac was the fact that if he bucked the tree now, then his hooves would have reached a good deal higher than before. “But how could that be?” Big Mac wondered “Ah stopped growing years ago, Ah couldn’t have suddenly have gotten another growth spurt right?” But the more Big Mac thought about it, the more he seemed to some to the realization that this had to have been the case. From his legs dangling out of his bed, to his yoke not fitting entirely in the morning, to hitting his head on the door frame and the branches, to even the chairs back at the house seemingly becoming smaller. All the facts pointed to him receiving a seemingly late growth spurt. “Ah can worry about that after Ah’m done with the harvest. After the day is done Ah can tell Granny and mah sisters and let them know,” Mac thought as he reared his muscular legs back, the force building up, before unleashing, striking the trunk of the tree. And then the chaos ensued. The second Big Mac struck the tree trunk, his hooves released a blast of green magic, a similar color to his cutie mark, it arched up the entire tree and spreading to a few other nearby. Big Mac back off, stepping back as he looked up in disbelief at the spectacle. There he saw that the trees began to shudder slightly before the leaves somehow became even more green than before, more and more apples began to grow on the branches at a rapid-fire rate, and even the dent in the tree repaired itself by magic. But the staggering about of apples in the tree soon became too much for the branches to handle before they began to rain down onto the ground, falling down onto the ground while others managed to fall into the bucket, eventually leaving the branches bare. But the surprises weren’t over yet, because as Big Mac continued to gawk at the scene, his cutie mark began to glow, and a green hue surrounded himself. Big Mac looked down in shock at the aura, not daring to move before he saw that the tree line before him was beginning to get smaller. Big Mac looked on incredulously as he continued to rise, getting bigger and bigger until finally, his head popped up over the tree line. A flock of birds flew past his head as Big Macintosh blinked and tried to understand what in Equestria just happened. Where did he suddenly get magic from? Why did he have magic? And most importantly: WHY WAS HE TALLER THAN THE TREES NOW? “Macky?!” hollered a familiar voice from somewhere down below Big Mac turned his head down and observed the ground, still a little shaken from the experience. Down below, still at the front of the south fields which he could now see with ease, Applejack stood next to her wagon, she had just seen a bright flash of green magic from somewhere over to the south when she suddenly found herself gawking at the face of her now 50-foot-tall brother who’s head had just popped up over the treeline. Big Mac slowly took off his now gigantic hat “Uhhh AJ? Ah think ya should go get Twilight,” he rumbled “Uh-huh,” Applejack just simply said in a weak voice.