Applejack looked up from her work to find her brother’s jaw stretching in a violent yawn as he approached the field from the house.
“Finally decide ta do yer chores, huh?” She taunted. “Why were ya out so late last night? Yer ‘plans’ with yer ‘friend’ go well?”
He simply smiled at his success and nodded.
“Any plans ta introduce ‘em?”
He thought for a second, “Ah’ll run it by, an’ see what their thoughts are.”
“Well, I can’t wait.” She kicked a tree, causing a rain of ripe apples. “Any more plans with ‘em?”
“Eeyup.” He answered, while carrying a bucket full of apples over to the nearby cart. “Tonight.”
“Oh, really? Well, y’all have fun, Ah gotta run the cart in town. Bring me more apples when yer done."
Rainbow Dash soared low over town, scanning the crowd for the food stalls that she usually stopped at. She located the stand of Carrot Top, the Apple family’s neighbor, and the primary vendor of root-based vegetables in Ponyville.
She landed and approached just as the last customer was leaving. “Hey, Carrot Top, hey, Roseluck.” She greeted the mare running the stand and her friend.
“Hey Rainbow Dash.” Carrot responded. “What can I do for you?”
“I’ll just have a small basket of carrots, and a few radishes, and I guess that’s all.”
“Alright, here you g-” Carrot Top was suddenly cut off by a screech from Roseluck.
“EEEEEE!!!” Roseluck screamed, startling both of the other mares. “Looklooklooklooklook!! It’s him! Ok, just play it cool. How do I look?”
Carrot Top and Rainbow Dash stared at the excited mare for a little, before Carrot nodded her approval, and Rainbow Dash turned to follow Roseluck’s gaze.
At the other side of the shopping square was a large, red stallion pulling a cart. He had apparently heard Roseluck's outburst and glanced in that direction. Big Mac noticed Rainbow first and sent her a gentle smile and a kind nod, which she returned with a smile of her own and a flutter of her eyelashes.
Roseluck also noticed the smile and nod, and took it to be for herself. "Oh my gosh... HE SMILED AT ME!!!" Macintosh's look of panic confirmed that he had noticed his mistake and he then began to search for an escape as the enthusiastic mare took off after him, screaming, "Wait! Come back! I love you!"
Carrot Top sighed, "Oh, Roseluck..."
"Yeah, what was that about?" Rainbow inquired.
"Well, a little while ago, Applejack set her and Big Mac up on a blind date." She began explaining. "He isn't into her that way, but she is obsessed with him." Carrot Top leaned across the cart to get closer to Dash. "She even has a creepy shrine to him, where she burns apple wood incense, and candles."
Rainbow Dash was shocked, "I, uh, don't know what to say to that..." she shuffled a little, and then remembered her purpose for coming here. "Oh, right, can I get my order?"
After receiving her carrots, Rainbow worked her way through the crowd, gathering the other goods that she needed, before arriving at the Apple family stand.
"Hey, AJ." She greeted her friend, who was shifting from dealing with customers, to unloading crates of apples and apple products from a cart that was still attached to an empty harness. "What's up?"
Applejack chuckled a little, "Not much, business is a bit slow today, but mah brother jus' came by at full-speed, bein' chased by some mare. He didn't even slow down to unhook himself, he jus' dropped his harness an' took off." She finished with a shake of her head.
"Haha, yeah, I saw that."
"Oh, Rainbow come over here." Applejack said, obviously preparing to share a juicy secret with her best friend. Rainbow complied, and picked up a basket of apples, so that she could help while hearing the cowpony's gossip. "Mah brother started datin' last night!"
Red coated Rainbow's cheeks as questions began to fill her mind. Questions like, Oh my gosh, does she know? How does she feel about it? Did Mac tell her? And Why didn't Mac tell me he was telling her?
"Ah think it's either Pinkie or Rarity."
"Huh?" was the intelligent response that Dash came up with.
Suddenly, the basket of apples on Applejack's back erupted, sending red and green fruits everywhere, and revealing a vibrant pink head.
"I'm dating your brother?" Pinkie Pie asked, somehow managing to keep a stack of three apples balanced perfectly on her head. "Wow, you would think that was something I would've known."
"Pinkie!" Applejack shouted, obviously annoyed, "How long have ya been in there?"
"In where?" she asked, tilting her head and causing the tower to topple and cascade back into the basket.
"In the basket." Applejack deadpanned.
"Oh, that." Pinkie looked at the basket, and back at Applejack. "I have no idea."
"Well, could ya git out?"
"Okie doki loki!" and with that, Pinkie Pie took a deep breath, covered her muzzle with a hoof and descended back into the shallow depths of the apple basket.
"Well, AJ, I don't think it's Pinkie." Rainbow laughed as she slid the basket off of her back.
“Well, Ah guess it must be Rarity then, jus’ don’t tell anypony.”
Rainbow chuckled and made a zipping motion over her lips. “No problem.”
“Darn it!” Applejack shouted, startling Rainbow and the other ponies in the general area. “Mac! He fergot his harness, an’ he needs it fer his chores today.”
“I can take it!” Rainbow volunteered, possibly too enthusiastically. “I mean, I was going to do some practicing by your place, so I could take it to him.” She said, trying to cover her slip-up.
“Well, that’d be mighty kind of ya.” Applejack accepted, though noting the strangeness in her friend’s willingness to help.
Rainbow took off for her house, now loaded with several bags of groceries, and a large wooden harness. As soon as she was out of view of the town square, she scanned the sky to make sure nopony was watching, and slipped the massive yoke over her head.
It smelled like apples and sweat, and as disgusting as that might be, it reminded her of Mac and she liked that. It was way too big for her, and it kept slipping uncomfortably over one shoulder, and the aerodynamics were terrible, but for some reason she liked wearing it. She dropped the bags of food off at her house, before zooming over to the Apple Homestead.
“Wait.” She said, slowing to a halt and hovering in midair. “Why the heck do I like the way it smells?” She looked down at the harness, shook her head, and continued on her way.
Big Mac was hiding in his room.
Roseluck had chased him the whole way back to the farm, and he had only just managed to get the door to the farmhouse shut and locked before she slammed into it. He had rushed to close each of the first-story blinds and curtains, being sure that each window was locked tight and that the lovestruck pony couldn’t get in.
He was now hiding in his room on the second story, hoping desperately that she wouldn’t be able to find a way up there.
A tapping on his window caused him to leap in fear; there was no logical way that Roseluck could’ve found a way up there, right? He turned cautiously towards the window, expecting to see the ecstatic face of his stalker plastered against it, but instead he saw a much more welcome sight.
Rainbow Dash was hovering directly outside of his window, currently laughing hysterically at his jumpiness, and wearing his harness.
He pushed open the window and asked her, “What?”
“You jumped, like, five feet in the air!” She managed to get out, while alighting on his windowsill. “It was hilarious!”
Mac chuckled at her excitement and moved out of the way, gesturing her inside. “Well, how often do ya have ta run away from ponies that are obsessed with ya?”
“More often than you probably.” She said, as the harness slipped over her shoulder and sagged really low. “Ugh, this thing is huge!” She complained, shimmying it back into a better position. “And the aerodynamics are horrible!”
“Well,” Big Mac began to lift it over her head. “It ain’t made ta fly with, an’ it certainly ain’t made fer pretty little fillies like yerself.”
Rainbow blushed at the compliment, “Heh, well, I, uh, brought that back for you.” Then something clicked in her mind. “Oh, by the way, AJ has no idea.”
“No idea ‘bout what?”
“About us.” Rainbow explained, while reclining on his bed. “She thinks that your dating Rarity, and we should probably clear any of that up before Pinkie throws a party for the two of you.”
“Eeyup.” He said, with a worried expression on his face. “Ah don’t got anythin’ ‘gainst Miss Rarity, but Ah don’t think she’d do too well on a farm.”
“Rarity! Hah! Never.” Rainbow agreed with her special somepony. “That muc dirt would never get that close to her, outside of the spa of course.” She then bit her lip, and built up the courage to ask. “So, speaking of the mare that you’re dating, what were you thinking about doing tonight?”
Mac took a deep breath, and admitted, “Ah haven’t gotten a chance ta put much thought to it.” He looked to her with a hopeful look on his face. “Got any ideas?”
“How about a picnic!” Dash answered quickly. “We could go out to that lake! It’s going to be a beautiful day, we could go there, and I was kinda hoping that maybe you could bring your guitar? That would be, like, super cool.” She explained with an adorable smile and a sweet blush.
Mac waited a few moments, before he began to laugh. “Even if Ah didn’t like that idea, Ah don’t know if Ah coulda said ‘no’ ta that face. How ‘bout Ah pick ya up at seven?”
“YES!” She cheered, jumping into the air, ecstatic; then she realized that she was making a fool of herself. “Oh, uh, I mean, sounds good!” She smiled sheepishly, and began to leave, “I’ll see you later, Mac!”
She wasn’t gone more than three seconds before she was back, blushing as she grabbed Big Mac’s Dream Journal from his dresser, and continued on her way.
My ship was now on the open ocean, cutting through the waves and slicing past a vast assortment of marine creatures. Dolphins breached the surface, leaping in the air and playing amongst themselves. A gigantic whale, the biggest thing that I had ever seen, drifted along beside the ship. Seabirds would use the rigging of the ship to catch their breath. Massive schools of fish would flash by on either side of the ship, greatly exciting the dogs and griffons who would then take to fishing.
"Ugh." Dash felt queasy. "I remember when Gilda would eat fish, it was disgusting."
The two groups had their own versions of the harvesting process. The dogs had bought large nets at the last port, and dragged them along behind the ship. They would capture more fish in one haul than they could rightfully keep. There were too many fish to keep for long periods of time, but thankfully the schools were fairly common.
The griffons, however, had a far more impressive and showy form of fishing. They would circle the massive schools from the air, soaring with the seabirds, awaiting the aid of dolphins as they herded the fish to the surface. When the porpoises herded some fish to the top of the water, Vincent and Gilda would dive. They would fall in sync, reaching unbelievable speeds with their talons and beaks ready to capture the unsuspecting, scaly creatures. Their method was less efficient, but it yielded the best results as the two griffons would return to the deck with great trophy fish, sometimes even coming back with massive tuna that would serve much of the carnivorous portion of the crew.
"Yeah, I remember when she did that too."
One day, while the griffons were putting on their show for the crew, everypony was watching, except myself. I was looking over the stern at the wake of the ship, because something felt wrong.
“Big Mac!” Daring called from my side, “Did you see that? That fish was huge! I’m surprised that Vince could carry that.” The crew had taken to assigning the griffon prince a more manageable name, and Vince was the only one he answered to.
“Huh?” came the intellectual goldmine that constituted my response.
Dash snickered at her crush's cluelessness.
“Were you paying any attention to them at all?” She said with her head cocked to one side.
“No, Ah guess Ah wasn’t.” I confessed. “Ah’m jus’ worried. Somethin’ feels… off.”
She tensed slightly, and her voice became cool and professional. “What do you mean?” She began to look in the same direction as myself, using her far more keen eyes to try to spot the trouble.
“Ah don’t rightfully know.” I admitted, while I wrapped her in an arm and my cape; she responded to the affection by leaning into my chest. “It’s probably jus’ nothin’.”
“Yeah, just relax.” She tried to comfort me, “The crew has been talking about holding a poker tournament after dinner, you gonna join?”
I chuckled at that. “Ah don’t have any money.”
"I knew he'd be broke by now."
Daring Doo’s mouth dropped open, and she stared at me in wonder. “You don’t have any money?”
“Nnope.”
“Then…” She tried to figure things out. “How did you pay the crew? And your sister? You gave her some money in that letter, right?”
“Ah pay the crew from the ship’s account.” I explained. “An’ Ah gave the last of ‘Mah’ money ta mah sister.” I put quotes around ‘my’ with my hooves when I got to that part, because the money that I had allotted myself was significantly drained with my last withdrawal. “An’ the ship’s funds ‘re runnin’ low too.” I sighed and sagged, the stress finally working its way out. “Ah really hope that Ah find the treasure.” I finished with a wistful sigh.
“Well, captain,” Daring Doo began, quietly, and with a slight quiver in her voice. “I got a pretty hefty sum as a finder’s fee for the Serpent’s Scepter, on top of the money that I already had. So, you know if you want to, we could join bank accounts and share my money.”
"Was that a proposal?" Rainbow Dash pondered. "Did she just ask him to marry her? Is it OK for the mare to ask?"
I looked at her, astonished, “That was quite the hint.”
“Ugh!” she laid her head against my chest, “And it took you long enough to pick up on it!” she said, feigning irritation.
A collective cheer from the crew drew our attention away from each other, as I realized that the dogs had managed to snag a massive fish with the aid of the griffons. The monstrous, thrashing beast has a gigantic fin on its back, and a long, narrow snout that ended in a point.
The swordfish effortlessly threw off the lighter dogs that were trying to wrestle it to the deck. It gasped against the air and thrashed, beating the deck and any of the crew that got too close. The nose looked sharp enough to seriously wound any that got within its reach, and the way that it was being whipped around surprised me that it hadn’t caused any serious injuries yet.
Sea Dog dropped from the riggings and landed directly upon the flailing gamefish. “AVAST!” my salty first mate screamed, while he attempted to subdue the floundering marlin. “He’s a feisty one!” He wrapped one of his massive black paws around the pointy snout and used his other hand to bring down a large wooden mallet onto the skull of the fish, halting its flailing.
The entire crew cheered heartily at his success, and the two griffons in the crew grasped the limp mass and spirited it away to clean and prepare it for cooking.
The ship was soon abruptly jerked, as though hitting something large and submerged. Some of the crew lost balance and fell over, but everyone began to search the horizon and surrounding waters for the cause. I glanced over the starboard side of the ship and saw something moving.
There was a large, dark shape moving beneath the water. “Daring!” I called her over to my side. “Come look at this!” Whatever it was, it began to descend just as she got to the bulwark.
“What was that, Captain?” She asked, her wonderings echoed by the nearby crew that had seen the shape.
“Ah can’t rightfully say…” I admitted, as the waters became clear of any trace of the previous disturbance. “An’ Ah don’t care ta find out.”
We continued to sail for a while, previous conversations forgotten and the whole crew on edge about the recent events. Something was off, and everyone knew it.
“Cap’n,” Grog said, as he stumbled towards me at my position at the helm. “Where be we headed?”
The island we were headed towards had no name, and wasn’t part of a named chain or anything like it, so I had no precise answer to give, so I did the best I could. “East.”
Grog and a few of the other crew members tensed up and stared at me. “W-why?” One of them ventured.
Their reaction unnerved me, “Why? What’s wrong with ‘east?’”
Grog tripped in my direction, then slinked up towards me, as though scared of what he was about to say. “These waters be… cursed.” He whispered the last word, like it would trigger something bad. “The further ye go east, the worse the seas git. There be stories ‘bout ships that ‘ave disappeared in the Eastern Seas, an’ the beasts that took ‘em!”
"Of course the waters are cursed." She mumbled. "It wouldn't be a pirate story, if they weren't."
“Captain.” Lumber Mill reasoned, “I’m not a superstitious stallion, but I have heard enough stories about the unnatural things that live in the Eastern Seas, that I don’t want to risk it.” He then rethought his statement, “At least, without good reasons.”
The whole crew was watching, anticipating my response, and I realized that now was as good a time as any, and I told them. “Treasure.” The crew immediately began to listen, some got excited, some got worried, and the diamond dogs began to drool with anticipation. “The Flying Crab is moored on an island in these waters, an’ the treasure’s buried there too. That treasure’s the biggest pirate treasure on the planet, an’ Ah think that mah crew deserves a cut.” I scanned the gathered crew for any sign of weakness and asked, “So, who’s comin’?”
A chorus of “Aye, Captain!”s, “Yes, sir!”s, and “Me!”s greeted me from those who were spurred on by the thought of gold and jewels. Those who were less enthusiastic shuffled and avoided eye contact.
“If yer up for it, git back to yer posts.” I demanded, to which I was greeted by the stomping of hooves and paws on the planks of the deck as ponies, dogs and griffons rushed to their assigned places.
I then noticed something slightly eerie, that my crew noticed as well. “Captain?” Smoky Mirror asked, “What happened to the wind?”
The sails were hanging limp. The riggings swayed loosely . Beams creaked in the subtle calm. Not even a wave splashed against the hull of the ship.
“Captain?” Chance said, “Where did this fog come from?” Sure enough, to the east, was a rolling fog, slowly overtaking the ship and blocking out the sun.
“This be… troublin’.” Sea Dog stated eloquently.
“Eeyup.” I concurred, equally so.
It wasn’t long before visibility was cut significantly. I couldn’t see Spotter in the crow’s nest, those at the stern couldn’t see the bow, and vice-versa. I sent the three members of my crew with wings to scout out and see if they could do anything with the fog, and I began to pace the deck while awaiting a response.
I was so wrapped up in my worrying, that I didn’t notice the distracted unicorn that I was about to collide with.
“Astro!” I accused, as I got back to my hooves. “What in tarnation are ya doin’?”
“Huh?” he said, in his standard, distant tone. “Oh, sorry captain. I was just watching the pretty light.” He used a hoof to gesture over the side of the ship into the distant fog, where a yellowish-green light was bobbing.
"Oh, that's nice and creepy." Rainbow admitted.
“What is that?” I asked, my nervousness increasing.
“I don’t know, but it’s fun to watch.” Astro said, his head mimicking the movements of the light. “Ooh! It’s getting closer too!”
“Captain!” I was startled by the return of my aerial party. “We can’t do anything about this, except wait it out. There is something unnatural and weird about this fog.” Daring Doo finished up with a shudder. Then she noticed Astro, and the light he was observing, which had now attracted the attention of most of the crew. “Uh, Mac, what is that?”
“Ah don’t know, but Ah think we need ta check it out.”
"No, don't..." Rainbow hung her head. "You idiot."
“Captain.” Vince spoke up. “I’m willing to do it.” I nodded my consent and Gilda voiced her concern for him. Then he took off.
His form started to fade away, but he stopped at the light, which was coming more and more into focus. The thing had a stem coming out of the water that came up and curved, allowing the bulb to dangle and bob. Vince circled it once, examining it closely, then he poked it. Whatever it was, it was alive, and it responded to his touch by jerking away. Vince went to examine the phenomenon once more, and then he followed the stem into the water.
Those of us on the ship could hear his screech of terror from the deck.
The griffon began to climb into the air as fast as he could, and it was just fast enough. Whatever it was that he had seen below the surface of the water, burst through, with a monstrous maw attempting to close on him.
Vince changed direction and came towards the ship, and the monster disappeared below the surface once more. He was almost home clear, when the water beneath him burst, sending a violent force through the water.
Vince was hit by a powerful wave, that washed over the side of the ship, depositing him on the deck, coughing and sputtering. Behind the wave was a horrifying thing.
The stem of the dangling light was coming from a beastly head of some deep-sea monster. The dark, wrinkly beast had eyes that were the same color as the light positioned at the base of the light, and other, smaller lights running down its long neck and down into the water. The most horrifying part, though was the mouth. The massive maw that had almost captured Vince a moment ago was painfully visible, and the teeth protruding from it were long, narrow and forming an almost cage-like covering to the opening.
"Wow, yeah, that is creepy."
We were shocked into silence, each of us staring in awed muteness as the twisted deep-sea beast that had just surfaced and attempted to eat one of us. Then the screaming began.
Ponies and dogs ran around the deck, already accepting that we were dead, Gilda was attempting to aid Vince with recovering, and Daring Doo was clinging to me.
“Somepony git below deck an’ shoot it!” I shouted At the general populace, but none paid me any heed. Then I noticed Astro staring at the monster, apparently unaware of the danger that we were in. “Astro, git to the guns an’ shoot it!” I demanded, managing to alert the spacey pony of the urgency of my request, so he sauntered off at a leisurely pace. “HURRY!”
I looked back at the beast, which was towering above the masts of the ship. I pulled out my pistol, and dropped it to the deck as I realized the uselessness of such a small projectile. I pulled out my cutlass, and hurled the blade at the monster’s throat.
I watched as the sword twirled, spun, and soared towards one of the large, glowing bulbs on the neck of the beast. Then, by some divine intervention, it struck the target.
"Wow, way to go Mac."
The luminescent bulge was sliced open, causing a glowing liquid to pour out of it. The beast squirmed in pain and annoyance, and lowered its head to the level of the ship. As it came closer, my comrades hurried to the opposite side of the ship, causing the boat to rock.
It twisted its head to the side, allowing me to look into the pale glow of its eye, and I realized that my decision to attack it was a poor one. The massive maw of the beast opened, revealing the cavernous throat behind the bar-like teeth. Just as it was about to attack, Astro accomplished his task.
A single cannon went off from below the deck, launching the heavy lead projectile into one of the pale eyes, causing the beast to recoil, then rear up and thrash in pain. It then sank below the surface of the water.
I turned to my crew and shouted, “We gotta git outta here!” Somepony understood, and used a surge of magic to build up a massive wave behind the ship, and send us skimming away from the obviously dangerous section of water.
Rainbow Dash was getting ready for her second date with Big Mac. She was excited, confident, and just a little nervous, but there was definitely reason to be; something was hanging over her. She took a deep breath, and looked at herself in the mirror.
“Alright Dash,” She attempted to psych herself up. “You have to tell him sometime.” She examined her mane closely, and ran a brush through it, clearing out some knots. “And it’s better to tell him now, before it hurts too much.” She pulled out a few loose feathers from her wings. “You never know, maybe it won’t bother him.” Her voice was becoming shakier and shakier.
She looked back in the mirror, noticing that her wings were drooping, her ears were laying limp against her skull, and there were tiny tears forming in her eyes.
She sighed. “Come on, Rainbow, you need to tell him tonight, if he’s a good guy, he won’t care, and if he does care, he’s not a good guy.”
“Big Macintosh?” Applejack called, as he began to walk out of the door. “Why are ya takin’ Ma’s old guitar?” He looked back to see a slight, cocky smile on his sister’s face.
“Mah friend wanted ta hear me play.”
“So, yer takin’ yer ‘friend’ on a picnic? An’ yer gonna play guitar fer ‘em?” Applejack leaned against a wall, crossing her hooves. “Sounds like a mighty fine time ta me.”
“Eeyup.”
“Well, hurry along, don’t wanna keep yer ‘friend’ waitin’.”
“Nnope.” And with that, he left the old house, heading toward the floating home of the fastest flyer in Equestria, the holder of the title “Best Young Flyer in Equestria,” the Element of Loyalty, a fantastically beautiful mare, and an overall wonderful pony.
More important than any of that, was the fact that she was his date for the night, ahe wanted to spend time with him.
It made the huge stallion feel light enough to fly to her house.
He still couldn’t, but he felt that way.
He found her at the top of the hill that her house was anchored to. “Hey, Mac. What took you so long?” She joked with her crush.
“Ah had ta explain tonight ta Applejack, so that took a little.” He shrugged the guitar to the other side. “She still don’t know it’s you though. Wanna go?” He asked, gesturing ahead of him.
“Sure, let’s.” She said, as she began to walk beside him to the lake where they ran into each other a short time ago. The thing that she needed to tell him was almost forgotten in the excitement upon seeing him.
Almost.
“Dash?” Big Mac asked, concern flowing from his deep voice, as they arrived at their prearranged picnic spot. “Ya barely said anythin’ on the way here. Is somethin’ bugging ya?”
“Huh?” She asked, lost in her own thoughts and the horrors that this revelation could cause. “Oh, uh, no, sorry, there’s just been a lot on my mind.” Then, determined to turn the conversation away from the course she was taking, she decided to mention, “Hey, so I see you brought your guitar.”
“Eeyup, Ah brought Ma’s old six-string, like ya asked.” Macintosh’s mention of ‘Ma’ made Dash cringe. “She was a great, strong mare, an’ a wonderful mother.” Dash winced. “Someday, Ah hope ta be as good a parent as her an’ Pop.” Dash felt like she was going to puke. “Someday, Ah hope one o’ mah foals wants this ole guitar.” Dash tried to stifle her sob, but Big Mac heard.
“Dash?” He looked over at her, and found her biting her lip, tears streaming down her cheeks, and her shoulders racked with sobs as she tried to avoid making eye-contact with her date. “Dash! What’s wrong?” Mac knew from the time he had spent around Applejack and her friends, that Rainbow Dash rarely, if ever, cried. “Please… Dash, ya can tell me…” He attempted to comfort her, gently wrapping his hoof around her shaking shoulders and pulling her close.
“M-M-Ma-Mac…” She started, then dropped her head against his chest, “I have something t-to tell you.” She took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself down. “I-I’m sorry, I-I-I should have told y-you before, but I thought you might not like me any more.“ She admitted shakily.
“Dash, what is it?” Mac asked, while gently placing a hoof under her chin and raising her reddening, tearstained face to look into his.
“I should have told you earlier, but I was scared.” Mac was starting to get worried, what would make her feel this way. “I should p-probably just t-tell y-y-you now, before it hurts too much.” Mac was trying to imagine what could possibly cause her to feel like that. Was she moving away? Was she a wanted criminal? Was she secretly a stallion? Was she allergic to apples? That last thought gave him chills. “M-M-Mac, I, uh, I’m barren.”
“What?”
“I can’t have kids! OK?” She screamed at him, the echo bouncing over the lake. She then told him about how she found out. “I was twelve. I got my check up for flight camp, and they called me and my parents into a room, it was totally not normal. They told me and my parents that I wasn’t developing properly.” She was blushing intensely.
“I went back to the doctor’s a lot that summer, and they kept telling me that they would do everything they could, but it never seemed to help.” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “Finally, they told me that I couldn’t have kids. They told a little filly that she would never be a mom, and they told her parents that they would never have grandfoals.” Dash was crying, but she kept talking. “I used that as an excuse to train harder to get into the Wonderbolts, but I-I-I still always wanted a-a-a f-family.”
She took another deep breath, and stood up. “I-i’m s-s-sorry Mac, I should g-go.” She began to trot off, crying softly.
“Now hold on.” Mac’s assertion, caused Rainbow to stop in her tracks. “Now why should ya leave? We ain’t even started ta eat yet.”
“W-what?”
“Ah made some sandwiches, an’ pie!”
“So… You don’t care?” She attempted to clarify, hope slowly creeping back.
“Dash, why would Ah care ‘bout that?” He asked, trotting up to her, and wrapping a huge forehoof around her and pulling her close.
“Well, I know how important family is to the Apples.” She said, “And you were talking about wanting foals, so I thought…”
“Rainbow.” He said, soothingly “Ah’m sorry, Ah shouldn’t have mentioned foals, but Ah don’t care ‘bout that.” His ears tucked down with embarrassment. “Ah care ‘bout you.”
“Aww! Mac! That’s so sweet!” She said, nuzzling into his neck and settling into a hug. She sighed, “Thanks, Mac, I needed that.” A few moments later, she said, “So, you made sandwiches?”
They continued eating, chatting, and playing and singing songs until Rainbow Dash fell asleep on Mac’s shoulder. Mac carried her to her house, where he gently shook her awake, finally allowing each other to go separate ways.