//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: What's Important // Story: Family Matters // by SFC Ponycron //------------------------------// Family Matters Chapter 8: What's Important "Macintosh Apple," Applejack said coldly. Paralyzed into inaction, the red stallion and purple mare waited for Applejack to continue. To Macintosh's relief his sister did not focus her fury on Twilight, but she roughly pushed Twilight out of the way to get to her brother. "Are you drunk? Goin' round and kissin' mares like that ain’t what a gentlecolt does. Especially with one of mah friends." "Applejack." Big Macintosh tried to calm his sister down but she continued her tirade. "Ah cain't believe you. Here Ah spend an entire afternoon for you and mah friends only to find out you've been drinkin’ all day." "Applejack." Big Macintosh repeated "Twilight, ah'm so sorry mah brother did that to you. Ah don't know what's gotten into him." "APPLEJACK!" Twilight yelled. Twilight breathed heavily and nervously after yelling. Applejack blinked, turning her attention from her brother to her friend. "What?" Applejack asked. "Your brother didn't kiss me because he's drunk," Twilight started as Big Macintosh passed his sister to stand beside the purple mare. He strategically placed himself between his marefriend and sister before finishing Twilight's explanation. "Ah kissed her ‘cause she's mah marefriend." Applejack blinked again, her muscles tightening, a steely gaze focused on the pair. "What?" "It was just supposed to be me and Twilight havin dinner tonight. Ah wanted to figure out a way to tell you. Twilight wasn’t expecting this. Ah wasn't expectin' you," Big Macintosh finished. "Ah’m sorry you found out this way.” Applejack repeated, sounded like a broken record. "What?" A glass and pitcher flew over from the table, held aloft by Twilight's magical grip. "Maybe we should all sit down and have something to drink?" Twilight suggested. "Excuse me, Twilight, but Ah'm trying' to talk with mah brother," Applejack replied, glaring at her treacherous friend. Twilight shrank backward. In the two years Twilight had known Applejack, only the brothers Flim and Flam had invoked an expression of such intense anger. She returned the glass and pitcher to the table. "Ah think you should take Twilight's suggestion," Big Macintosh put himself between the two again. "Excuse me?" Applejack directed her gaze at her brother. "Ah'm saying we should sit down and we can talk about this like adults." "Or what?" "Or you can leave. Your choice," Big Macintosh matched Applejack's glare with his own. The pair could have started a fire with the heat between them. "Fine! Ah'm leavin! Enjoy your home cooked meal Macintosh. That's the last one you’re gettin' from me!" Applejack exited the library. A snapping sound followed as she whipped her tail around the doorknob and slammed it behind her. The force caused several books to fall from a nearby shelf, pictures on the wall rattled in their frames. "That didn't go as bad as Ah thought it would," Big Macintosh said a moment later. "Shouldn't we go after her?" Twilight asked. "No, she's gonna be furious for a while," Big Macintosh stated. "So once she calms down, can we talk to her?" Twilight asked as she followed Big Macintosh to the dining table. Dinner waited, starting to cool, it’s smell wafting through the library. Twilight couldn’t help but sniff. Her stomach turned with hunger and nerves. "We’ll try, but its gonna take awhile," Big Macintosh said. "Maybe I should-" Twilight argued. "Just don't. Ah know mah sister better than anyone else, and if she can do anything it’s hold a grudge," Big Macintosh slid alongside Twilight to rub up against her. "We didn't do anything wrong. Ah was just kissin' my marefiend, and ah liked that." "She seems so mad," Twilight pouted. "We were keeping a secret." "We wouldn't have gotten this far if we hadn't." Big Macintosh slid his head along Twilight's neck before resting it on her back over her stomach. He felt no difference in Twilight's size, no movement from a growing foal. Just a warmth that radiated from the possibilities. "This is the honest truth; you, me, and the foal. Everyone else will just have to get used to it." Twilight could not find the words so she backed away before kissing him. The red stallion enthusiastically returned it. *** "They were kissing again." Spike groaned over a bowl of heated coals and red hot chilli peppers that Rarity had provided him. A meal fit for a dragon, but he couldn’t help but think of the feast that he was supposed to be eating in the library. "You're gonna have to get used to that," Rarity warned him over her own dinner of a tree nut salad with a lemon cake for dessert that she split in two, one for herself and one for Spike if the dragon was wanting. "Twilight's parents used to kiss in front of us all the time," Spike complained. "That just shows they love each other," Rarity explained. "It was still gross. I didn't have much of an appetite after seeing Twilight do that with Big Macintosh. Too bad, Applejack's dinner looked good. I don't understand how she would want to eat after seeing that kiss," Spike sighed longingly at the missed nut roast. Rarity nearly choked on one of her own nuts. "Applejack saw them?" "Yeah, she was making dinner all afternoon, and Big Macintosh decided to lay a surprise wet one on Twilight," Spike's face contorted in disgust. "So thats why you decided to come here?"  Rarity questioned him. "Is something wrong with that?" Spike asked. "Of course not,"  Rarity lied. Her hide lost its luxurious glamor and turned a ghostly pale as her stomach started to churn. She listened for the distant sounds of police sirens, ambulances, maybe even the army. She reasoned that Twilight must have the necessary alarms in place to summon any authority needed. Rarity's eye started to twitch when she realized that she was preoccupying Twilight's emergency contact source. She did not want to consider her friend a threat of any level, but an angry Applejack was a dangerous Applejack. The main door to Carousel Boutique slammed open, rattling the glass in its frame. Rarity's bell did not fare so well. The sound was silenced mid ring as the force of the opening door tore the clapper from the cup of the bell. It soared across the room, and disappeared into a pile of clearance clothing with a muffled tink. "RARITY!" Applejack called. "Spike, stay in the kitchen" "Why? Applejack sounds mad. She might need my help too." "Just stay," Rarity ordered. She left Spike in the kitchen to attend to her friend in the main room of her establishment. Applejack was pacing, her face turning tomato red. Rarity would not be surprised if her ears started releasing steam and whistling like a boiling teapot. "Applejack, what is wrong with you?" Rarity already knew but she could not let a friend get away with wanton destruction of her property. "What is wrong with me? What is wrong with me is my so called friend Twilight been sneaking' around behind my back with mah brother. That's what's wrong!" Applejack halted mid step. "I can't believe the nerve of that mare! She kissed him!" Spike emerged from the kitchen from the kitchen at the worst possible moment, after listening in on the conversation, without seeing Applejack’s expression. "I’m with you, Applejack. Kissing is gross, but Twilight says that’s what ponies do when they’re in love." "Spike-" Rarity tried to admonish the dragon for disobeying her order, but Applejack cut her off. "In love?" Applejack asked. "That's what Twilight said they are," Spike explained. "That Canterlot hussy! Seducing mah brother with her big city ways!" Applejack spoke before considering the company. "Applejack-" "Twilight's no hussy!" Spike spoke before Rarity's reprimand. "Just because you’re mad doesn't mean you should say stuff like that. If Twilight heard she would be hurt!" Before Applejack could speak, her lips zipped shut. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the glaring Rarity. "You have to calm down, Applejack. Twilight and Big Macintosh just kissed. It's not the end of the world." Applejack tried to protest behind the zipper. "Spike, why don't you go back to Twilight? She might need you right now." "But Applejack-" Spike protested. "I'll talk to her," Rarity reassured the dragon and sent him on his way. Applejack tried to follow, but Rarity held the door shut with her magic. "Now listen to me,  Applejack. You are acting like a foal. You should be happy for your brother and Twilight. I don't know where this jealousy comes from concerning your brother and his marefriends, but it's frightening." "Let me go." The zipper around Applejack's mouth faded as Rarity focused on keeping the door closed.. "Fine." The blue aura ceased to surround the door. "At least ah know where you stand in all of this." Applejack glared at Rarity one last time before storming out of the boutique. *** The flower bed outside of Sugarcube Corner rumbled slightly, and a flower was lifted several inches off the ground as a periscope shot out of the earth. It twisted and turned this way and that before the earth around it crumbled into the hole. Pinkie Pie looked around warily before she climbed out of her hastily dug tunnel. The Cakes would not be too happy when they discovered her sudden remodeling of the basement, but she would clean it up as soon she finished her mission. Her tail was wrapped tight around a red box bound by a purple bow. Both colors matched Big Macintosh and Twilight Sparkle's coats perfectly. Pinkie Pie looked around one last time before she made a run for it. She promptly slammed into a waiting Rainbow Dash. The pegasus even had one of Pinkie Pie’s own pillows tied around her front in preparation for the impact. "You forgot to check the clouds again," Rainbow Dash remarked. "It's just a present!" Pinkie Pie's eyes went big as she showed Rainbow Dash the present, a simple red velvet cake with purple frosting that read "Love for your Love - Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash raked her hooves through her hair. It was not as bad as the skywriting or hot air balloon Rainbow Dash had dissuaded the pink pony from hiring. "Why don't you wait a week to give Twilight something? You already know that Big Macintosh doesn't like surprises," Rainbow Dash suggested. The red stallion was the only pony in town Pinkie Pie never threw a surprise party for, per the request of Applejack. Rainbow Dash suddenly wondered if Applejack wanted to be involved in all the party planning so she could control the guest list. "But there is so much to celebrate! I can't believe they’ve been together for a year without any monthiversary cupcakes from me," Pinkie Pie whined. "Not everyone wants actual things when they want to celebrate. Big Macintosh and Twilight are just happy being together. Like Matilda and Cranky Doodle." Rainbow Dash regretted having to clarify Twilight and Big Macintosh's relationship to Pinkie Pie without getting permission from the couple themselves. Rainbow Dash also regretted mentioning Cranky Doodle. Pinkie Pie's hair went flat. The former traveler was still learning to tolerate Pinkie Pie’s presence. "I was just trying to be nice." "You’re lucky everything worked out in the end, Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash cringed a little when Pinkie’s eyes began to tear up. She quickly changed the subject. "Why don't you get started on trying to make that cake for Tank? My three month anniversary of owning Tank is coming up in two weeks. I want the party to be awesome, and a cake that both a pony and a tortoise could eat would make it great." Pinkie Pie's hair inflated at the challenge. "Okie dokie, I'll have test samples for you the day after tomorrow." Pinkie Pie disappeared into her hole to enter Sugar Cube Corner. Rainbow Dash shook her head as the garden fixed itself. She turned around to find Applejack staring at her. The pegasus stamped the ground nervously. "So how much of that did you hear?" "Enough," Applejack said. "How long have you know about them dating?" "About a month now," Rainbow Dash admitted. "And you kept it from me?" "They kept it from everyone else. They didn't want anyone else to know." "No wonder why that city slicker was so comfortable with laying a big one on mah brother in front of me." "They kissed in front of you?" "Twilight Sparkle obviously enchanted Big Macintosh somehow, and what's worse is that all of you are IN ON IT!" Applejack yelled the last part before leaving a very confused Rainbow Dash behind. *** Spike rushed back to the library to discover Big Macintosh and Twilight eating Applejack's dinner without Applejack. "Are you alright?" Spike asked. "What's wrong, Spike?" Twilight said. "When I was eating dinner at Rarity's, Applejack came into the store all angry and started calling you names," Spike explained. "What did she call Twilight?" Big Macintosh stood from his chair and pushed it back under the table. "She called Twilight a seducer and a hussy," Spike explained. “What do those words mean anyway? "She said what?" Twilight's voice cracked in surprise. Big Macintosh expected that but exclaimed, "In front of you?" "Yes," Spike said. "Twilight, if you’ll excuse me. I have to go talk to mah sister.” Despite being insulted, Twilight proved to be more level headed. "While you’re this angry?" "Ah reckon Ah could cool my hooves if’n Ah take the long way home," Big Macintosh reassured her before leaving. "Why is all of this happening? I mean, you're just in love," Spike asked. Twilight paused before pushing away her own plate. She stood and lead Spike to a couch. "Sit down, we need to talk." "There's more?" "There's a lot more," Twilight sighed. "Applejack's angry because she has a hard time accepting changes. That's the main reason why Big Macintosh wanted to keep this a secret for so long. We just wanted to make sure this was something that would last before somepony else tried to end it for us. I also didn't want the same thing that happened with Young Blood in Canterlot." "But he really hurt you," Spike protested. "Yes, but we were also young and stupid and it hurt more when other ponies tried to interfere." Twilight Sparkle did not have to speak Shining Armor's name out loud. Spike did. "Shining Armor was just trying to protect you." "I love Shiney, but he did too good of a job trying protecting me from the pain. I was so afraid of getting hurt that I didn't try to date again, and even if there was a stallion for me in Canterlot, Shining Armor would have made sure we never met," Twilight admitted. "There are going to be some changes coming. I just want to know that no matter what you and Big Macintosh are very, very important to me." "Are you guys gonna get married?" Spike asked, excited at the thought of actually being able to throw a bachelor party. As soon as he found out what it was. "Eventually," she said. "Remember what Celestia said to us about why your first governess had to leave?" "Water Lily? Celestia said that she and her husband really loved each other, and because of that love they were going to have a foal," Spike replied then thought about it for a moment. "Are you and Big Macintosh going to have a foal?" "Yes," Twilight said. She could see the gears working in his head. His face suddenly countered with worry. "But you’re not gonna leave-" She gently put a hoof to his shoulder. "Of course not.” She swept him up in a motherly embrace. "Never. Water Lily was hired to care for you. We care about each other no matter what. You’re family, Spike, and whatever ends up happening we go through it together." "Alright." Spike hid his tears be wiping them on Twilight's coat. There was more he wanted to talk about, but for now he was okay with waiting.