Whereas for the past week it had been to a bright, clear day, today it was to a dreary grey drizzle that Big Macintosh awoke. At first a bit confused as to why he awoke so late, that neither his alarm clock nor his sister woke him for the daily chores. As he became more used to the realm of the day, he remembered that it had been agreed by all of the nearby Apple clan that he was to have the day off; no-pony who worked the farm was expected to have to work on their birthday, after all.
He lay as he had awakened for several minutes, just staring out the window. The past week had been a time of glorious weather, perfect spring days to herald the start of the new month, but as with all good things, it had had to end. The crops needed water, and the easiest way to get that was from the clouds. So, the landscape had been covered by a dull, greyish haze through the lightly falling water, to the point where the distant Ponyville almost looked as though it were a silent town, completely covered with fog. The trees of the orchard would have that odd, wet-spongy feel to them, but the apples themselves would have been glorious, hand washed by Mother Nature herself-had there been any apples. But no, it was spring, and as always with spring, they were still trying to wake from winter, and only patches of small apple blossoms were showing forth.
His morning contemplation quota filled for the day, Big Mac rolled over, stretched his neck to the sides, eliciting a few near-euphoric cracks, and then proceeded with his normal early-morning-off routine; he grabbed a book from his nearby bed stand, rolled back over, and curled up, content to lose himself in the distant lands portrayed through the pages.
Big Mac looked about from the front porch, contemplating his course of action for the day. With no work to be done on the farm and his morning routine complete, he had a completely blank slate set before him, on which he would chart out his course, his list for the day… He gave his head a rough shake. Nope, that analogy was more fit for his sisters’ librarian friend. Not that there was anything wrong with having a complete checklist for oneself each day - hay, life on the farm was almost always a daily checklist! Nope, on his free time Big Mac preferred to be more spontaneous. Like… and artist at their easel, or a writer at their paper! Yup, that was it. A general plan laid out, but more room for improvisation, for spontaneous change.
Almost without thinking, Big Mac’s hooves started taking him towards the distant Ponyville. He found himself admiring the scenery as he journeyed; normally when he came this way, it was with a set goal in mind, be it a hard day of work in town, or an earth-shattering disaster looming on the horizon – Odd, how there seemed to be more of those latter ones these past few years than in… well, than in the all of his life prior, he figured. Well, there didn’t seem to be any of those around today, so all was still good, nothing to disturb his day off.
Almost as if Marephy herself had been listening, a pink whorl of magic smoke coalesced in front of the farm stallion, startling him to a halt. A second later, a scroll popped into existence, and was quickly caught before it could fall to the muddy earth below.
A smile so large it almost hurt the stallion had appeared the moment the swirl of magic was powerful enough to display the casters magic aura; there was only one unicorn in all of Equestria he knew who had that particular colour, and had known him long enough to have his genetic signature on file so that he could be contacted, anywhere in the world, at any time. With the grace of a foal with their Hearth’s Warming Eve present, he tore through the case and unfurled the scroll within.
Hey Mackie, how’s it going?
I’m sorry that I haven’t had a chance to communicate with you more frequently, but things are still pretty hectic over here in the Crystal Empire, getting all of the Crystal Ponies brought up to pace with being in the future.
Cadence and I are doing well, thanks for your concern in your last message! We’ve managed to patch things up; it was a stupid thing to get so angry over, but a few days apart gave us the time we needed to clear our heads to the point where we could laugh about it. It’s still a bit prickly at times, but things have been healing over quickly.
But enough sadness! It’s your special day! Hard to believe you’re another year older, you daft draft! Seems only yesterday you were constantly poking me back at camp, yet here you are now, helping head one of the most popular apple orchards in Equestria! How’d we grow up so quick?
Anyway, hoping you’re having a good day! I’ve got your present here, I’ll be sure to give it to you the next time we meet up; should be back for a visit in about four months.
Your BFF,
Shining Armor.
P.S. Found yourself a filly friend yet? Cadence has offered to help out if not!
Big Mac smiled a warm, reminiscent smile as he tucked the letter behind his yoke. With a shimmer of sepia-tone, he recalled the day he first met Shining Armor; as had Applejack after him, when he was about Applebloom’s age, he had decided that life on the farm was not for him. He informed his parents with the seriousness that only one so young could manage that he intended to join the Royal Guard, become their leader, build an armada of flying airships, and head off to battle pirates. That summer his parents sent him off to Canterlot for a seasonal cadet program, and it was there that he met that funny white unicorn. For some unknown reason, he was drawn to his fellow cadet; in particular, his hoof was drawn to his fellow cadet’s side, apparently the only place where he was ticklish, to the point where any pressure at all would cause a head-jerking, magic-disrupting jolt, a point he made good use of. Shining still griped about the time Mac had poked him while he was drinking from that water fountain that had been set inside the wall, but hay, how could he have passed up an opportunity like that?
The two had bonded quickly, and likely would have gone on to a long career in the Royal Guard together had Mac not received a letter at the end of the summer; his mother had just given birth to his baby sister. And just like that, all thoughts of adventure left his head, and Mac galloped straight home, stopping only to apologize for his sudden departure and resignation to his group leader, and to say farewell to Shining Armor.
Afterwards, they had stayed in close contact, visiting each other when they could, writing to each other in letters when they couldn’t. It had been with much joy and laughter that they learned that their younger sisters, with no prior knowledge of their respective brothers’ relationships, had found each other out from across the cities and felt the same bond of friendship that the two stallions also had. Only the fact that he had been tied up in a full body cast for an entire month had stopped Big Macintosh from attending the royal wedding-turned-invasion-fiasco-turned-wedding, as the pair had made a solemn oath long ago to be the best colt at each other’s wedding.
The sepia memory reel burned to a halt as Mac stumbled to a halt in order not to crash into somepony. He shook his head, amazed to find that his reminiscing had brought him to the outskirts of Ponyville so quickly. With a shrug, he once again decided once-and-for-all he would keep his head out of the clouds more often. But first, he needed to find somewhere to go. Slowly trotting down the street, he spotted a familiar music store. With a wry smile, he remembered that it was, in fact, a Thursday, and so walked in.
Immediately his eyes sought out the counter, but his shoulders sagged slightly when he saw the pony standing at the cashier. Ignoring the disappointment, he sidled up behind the stallion already in line, and turned his gaze to the array of smaller instruments beneath the glass counter top. Almost immediately his gaze was drawn to their small selection of harmonicas; they were small, easy and fun to play, he could instantly think of a few songs to play on it, and heck if it wasn’t in his price range! Decision settled, he turned his gaze back to the line in front of him. Where’d this mare come from? Hadn’t there been a stallion there just a moment ago? Not wanting to make a potentially unwarranted fuss, he waited for her to finish her short transaction, before sidling up in front of the cash register.
“One of them harmonicas, please.”
The elderly mare behind the counter nodded with a smile, sliding one out of the case to the counter in front of him. “Nine bits, please.”
Putting the required coins on the counter, he looked back up. “Where’s Baritone?” He had been sure his friend would be working today; he’d told Mac that he only worked there Thursday’s, and Mac had been hoping to wish him a Happy Birthday as well, as his had been only the day before.
His hopes were dashed further as the mare shrugged. “Sorry, don’t know. Haven’t seen him for a while, actually. Coming up on a month, I think…” Nodding his thanks, Macintosh turned, leaving the store as the mare dealt with the next pony in line.
It was his grumbling stomach that decided where Big Macintosh was to head next, reminding him that he had, once again, skipped breakfast. As he slowly trotted his way across town, a familiar brown colt approached him.
“Hey Mackadoodle, how’s it going? Heard Ditzy had a lovely chat with you last night, how’d it go?”
Mac rolled his eyes at Time Turner’s nickname for him; he wasn’t entirely sure what went on in that eccentric brain of his, but the foreign fellow had settled on that name almost from the moment he first met Big Mac. “’s alright. She did. It was awkward.” And creepy as buck. “Told ‘er Ah wasn’t interested.” Not in mares who carried around newspaper clippings about him from years ago, and told him that ‘she wuvved him’.
Time Turner laughed at this. “Know what you mean, mate. She’s a nice enough gal, but…” It was no secret between the two that Ditzy had also approached the foreign stallion under similar circumstances. “Anyway, hear it’s your birthday! Happy birthday, man! Any big plans?”
“Nope. Just family dinner. You?” Time Turner’s birthday wasn’t until later in the month, but you never knew with the guy.
“Well, you know…” He just shrugged, not going any further along that line of thought. “Anyway, gotta run! Allons-y!”
Macintosh watched as the strange brown stallion indeed proceeded to gallop out of sight. Strangely enough, he’d only known him for a few months, but already considered the foreigner one of his closest friends in Ponyville. Still had to find something for his birthday, but the colt seemed to already have anything that Mac thought of.
Leaving the conundrum of gift for another time, Big Mac pushed open the door in front of him. Oddly enough, his temporary brown companion also seemed to have a knack for arriving and departing at exactly the right moments, for Mac had just reached his destination; Sugarcube Corner.
The Corner was in an odd state of being mostly full, while seeming empty. The majority of the seats were filled, but no-one was in line, and there was an oddly hushed quality to the air. Despite the odd quiet quality to the quaint bakery, it still had the comforting feel to it that Macintosh had grown so acquainted to.
With a smile, he nodded to the mare behind the counter. “Howdy, Mrs. Cake.”
“Howdy yourself, Big Mac! What can I get for you today?”
“Hmm…” Big Mac quietly contemplated the display case for a few moments. “Could Ah get a mac ’n cheese…”
“Hey!”
“A…” Looking up, he quickly assessed the drink selection. “Vanilla milkshake…”
“Hey!”
“And… four snicker doodles?”
“Hey! Hey! Hey!”
Failing to suppress his smile any longer, he shifted his gaze over to the practically prancing pink party pony. “Howdy, Miss Pie.”
“Hey!” With a final wave, Pinkie pulled Mrs. Cake aside, whispering hurriedly. Mrs. Cake eventually nodded before trotting into the back, where a clattering of pots commenced. With a grin as wide as the one he’d had earlier, Pinkie turned back to Big Mac. “So Mackie, what brings you to Sugarcube Corner today?”
“Lunch.”
“Okie Dokie Lokie! One mac’n’cheese for a cheesy Mac, a yummy yummy in your tummy vanilla milkshake, and foooouur snicker doodles! That’s an awesome word don’tcha think? Almost like cracker doodle, which is like cracker box! And cracker boxes are awesome cuz you can totally dress up in a greasy sweet suit and go ‘See you’re still a cracker box’ and no-one’ll get it but it’ll still be hilarious! You know thinking about it I don’t see you off the farm very often, like almost never except for work and deliveries and do you think you could work for us that would be awesome and amazing and we could hang out and do stuff and it would be so much fun we might have an opening for a delivery pony soon because I heard Mr. Cake say our current one isn’t very good but he’s a nice guy and I like him but I like you more and it would be awesome if we could work together and see each other and talk and stuff that’ll be twenty bits please!”
Blinking at the tirade, Mac only nodded, before pausing. “Could Ah also get a red velvet cupcake?”
Pinkie’s enthusiasm wilted immediately, but she smiled nevertheless, still holding out with a small, teeny tiny, slightly crooked smile.
For some reason, Big Mac felt as though he needed an explanation for requesting such a treat. “’s a birthday cake.”
Nodding, Pinkie silently went about gathering his order, before handing it over with a quiet “Happy Birthday!”
Nodding his thanks, Mac gathered up his order, taking over to a stool by the window. For the next few minutes he silently ate, contemplating anything that came to mind. The mac ’n cheese was delicious and scalding as ever, made even better by the slathering of ketchup he applied, and cooled by the extra-thick milkshake. Eventually, however, the only items left undevoured were the snicker doodles, which he set aside for later, and the cupcake.
It was a little known fact, but Big Macintosh had had a secret crush on Rainbow Dash for quite a while. He’d barely been able to concentrate when he’d had the chance to run alongside her when those Flim Flam brothers had threatened his family’s livelihood. He had been ecstatic when afterwards she’d come up to him and told him how ‘awesome’ he’d been during the whole thing. He could barely contain his joy whenever she came over to help out around the farm, or just hang out with his little sister. She’d even brought over a batch of red velvet cupcakes she’d baked one time for the entire family to eat; all of them had been flabbergasted when she did so, as it was a well-established fact that Rainbow Dash did not cook. She did, however, bake some killer cupcakes. They had instantly become the best thing he had ever tasted in his entire life, and he believed they were the best thing he would ever taste.
One day, months after the Flim Flam incident that marked the start of their actual audible relationship, he finally worked up the courage to ask her out. She had once more come over to help out around the farm, spending the entire day in Applejack’s company. Knowing he’d likely only get the one chance, he waited until his sister had gone inside, and Dash was about to head home. It was then that he approached her to ask that one simple question, and it was then that his world shattered.
As it turned out, Rainbow Dash had been close friends with another Pegasus in town, a mare by the name of Cloud Flitter. Cloud Flitter had, several months before, taken a liking to Big Macintosh, and refused to accept his ‘nope’ to the point where he told her that he didn’t like her that way, would never like her that way, and if he found her lurking around the farm one more time, he’d get a restraining order against her. It was at this point that Cloud Flitter decided that if she couldn’t have Big Macintosh, then nopony could, and so, when she heard that Rainbow Dash had been hanging out around him, oh-so-kindly informed her that Big Macintosh had verbally and physically abused her, physically held her against her will, and threatened further abuse should she ever tell anypony about it.
Being the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash took her friends words as gold, and needless to say, Big Macintosh’s standing with her dropped considerably, to the point that at the first chance she had with him alone, shouted all of this to his face, how he was a terrible pony, how the likes of him should be thrown in Tartarus for all of eternity, and she couldn’t stand to look at him ever again.
Needless to say, Mac was crushed.
Applejack had heard the shouting, and came out of the farmhouse just as Rainbow Dash departed. Mac told her what had actually happened, she told Rainbow, together they confronted Flitter, who in turn apologized to all, albeit rather sullenly. Despite learning the truth, the relationship between Mac and his dream mare was never fully repaired, and he was left pining.
All of this passed through Mac’s head as he looked at the confectionary before him, remembering the first one of Dash’s that he’d ever tasted. Although she tried her best, Pinkie’s sadly always fell short.
He frowned, looking closer at the cupcake in question. Although he’d seen it in the display case, and seen Pinkie the entire time she’d dealt with it, she had nevertheless somehow been able to rearrange the sprinkles to spell out ‘Happy Birthday Big M!’ A closer look actually told Macintosh that they hadn’t been rearranged, that was their original configuration. But it hadn’t been when he’d first seen it. What… How…?
Looking up to the counter, he found Pinkie looking back with a large smile. Seeing him seeing her, she gave him a rather joyous wave, before returning to… whatever it was that Pinkie did. Quite the mare. Maybe…? With a chuckle, he belatedly waved back, before finally eating the cupcake in question. The icing was cream cheese; one of his least favourite toppings, but the cake itself (and the sprinkles) was quite good.
With a final wave, he departed the confection coated cottage, and was surprised by how dark it was. Not exactly dark, per se, but definitely not the peak of daylight, either. A quick glance at the town clock told him that it was shortly after six o’clock. Huh, he must’ve spent more time at Sugarcube Corner than he’d thought. Just enough time to get home in time for dinner, then.
The walk back from town was rather uneventful; the rain rained, the trees stayed trees, and Big Macintosh walked. Whether it was due to the weather or the hour, Mac didn’t know, but for the most part there were very few ponies out and about. A couple stopped to wish Mac a happy birthday, to which he smiled and nodded, but for the most part he was a he normally was; the large, quiet stallion plodding along through life in the background.
He felt a warm glow in his heart as he approached the old house where he grew up, seeing the lights all on on the lower floor, with the occasional shadow passing in front of the windows. The warm smell of cooking food assaulted his nose as soon as he opened, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at his impeccable timing; “D’you know when Big Macintosh’s coming back?” Applejack asked from the other room, presumably directing the question at Granny Smith.
“Ya call?” Mac smiled at everypony’s shocked expressions as he trotted into the room as if on cue. His smile was slightly dampened when Applejack turned to him with a worried expression.
“Mac, Ah’m so sorry, Ah forgot that Ah promised Twilight that the girls and Ah’d help her with… well, Ah don’t rightly know what with, but it sure sounded important. We were gonna go out as a family to Blue’s Bayou; we know how ya love their Neigh Orleans food, but… well, would ya mind if we had yer birthday dinner on Saturday instead?”
Big Mac stared at his eldest sister in silence for several moments before shrugging. “Nope. Not at all. Go ahead’n have fun with yer friends.”
A grin almost split Applejacks face in two. “Thanks, Big Mac, yer the best! Ah’ve got time for a quick dinner, so let’s eat!”
The dinner, as were all that his sister made, was delicious. One of her specialties, a ‘broccoli braid’, contained generous amounts of freshly baked dough, fresh broccoli from the families private vegetable patch, and apples, preserved from last season’s harvest. The meal had been finished off with a bowl of ice cream each, before Applejack dashed away into the night. Still exempt from household chores, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom had cleaned the kitchen, and then the family had congregated in the living room, in front of a warm, crackling fire; first, for Mac’s present, which turned out to be a gorgeous painting of n airship breaching the top layer of clouds. After hanging it in his room, he returned to the rest of his family, as they settled into their tasks for the night; Granny Smith to her knitting, Apple Bloom to her homework, and Big Macintosh to his reading. Apple Bloom headed up to bed after not too long; just long enough for her to have finished her homework, and Big Macintosh to have given it a cursory glance to make sure that it was in fact done, and nothing done hopelessly wrong. Granny Smith was the next to depart, slowly hobbling off to her room, while Macintosh waited by the slowly dying fire, listening for the creak of the door.
It was past eleven o’clock by the time Applejack finally arrived home, the slow squeal of the door opening making more noise than normally opening it ever would have. “Y’all have fun tonight?” Macintosh lowly rumbled, causing Applejack to jump from shock.
“Don’t scare me like that, Mac! Ya almost gave me a heart attack!” Applejack mimed clutching at her chest, her breathing exaggerated in its pace. “Ah’m not a young filly anymore, ya know!”
Dead silence met this statement, and a rather deadpan look. “And Ah’m a spring chicken, am Ah?” Mac finally retorted.
With a roll of her eyes, Applejack gave Big Mac an exaggerated pat on the shoulder. “Don’t ya worry none, Mac; why, yer as young as ya’ll ever be!” Mac wasn’t entirely sure how to take this. “But anyway, yup, we had a grand ol’ time; world crisis averted!” He was fairly certain he was supposed to chuckle at that, and so he did, but you never knew, since that purple Sparkle pony had arrived in town… “Pinks was askin’ ‘bout ya, by the way.”
“Oh?”
“Makin’ sure ya had a good day. She nearly had a fit when Ah told her ya weren’t wantin’ no big ‘n fancy party, just a small family gathering.”
Mac took a moment to think over the course of the day. Read a good book? Double check. Get letter from best friend? Check. Multiple birthday wishes from friends in town? Check. Good food and company? “Yup. Good day.” Might not have been much of a day, but for him it was a great one.
“Good ta hear!” Applejack beamed up at her brother, before failing miserably at smothering a yawn. “Well, Ah need ta hit the sack; had a long day, without mah big bro on the farm!”
“Well, don’t ya worry none, Ah’ll be out there at the break o’ dawn tomorrow, lil’ sis. Night.”
The siblings smiled at one another for another moment before heading to their respective rooms. Despite the late hour, Mac found himself unable to sleep. After nearly an hour of tossing and turning, he finally rolled out of bed once more, before digging under the mattress, and pulling out a small book. He held it in his hooves for several seconds, before shrugging and carrying it over to his desk. Carefully lighting a small lantern, he dug around in his drawer for a quill and some ink, before flipping open the book to the fist blank page, and began recording the day.