//------------------------------// // The Bearer's Bad News // Story: Bigger Than Mac // by DraconequusMaximus //------------------------------// Applejack and the others arrived back at the acres sometime after sundown. The day had seemed to drag on so long on it was hard to believe that everything had occurred in the span of little more than twelve hours. They had defaulted to walk instead of teleport, as they wanted to talk about the day's events. Their conversation had been interrupted by the townsponies' second volley of questions, causing the trip to take even longer. When they arrived they were greeted by an interesting sight. Spike was currently trying to replant an apple tree that had seemingly been ripped from the ground. Macintosh was silent but seemed less than amused at the loss of one of his trees. "The hay happened here?" Rainbow dash said flying up above the group to get a better view. Spike turned to see the familiar mares. He wore a sheepish smile as he passed the tree from his front claws to his tail so he could walk to them properly. "Well... I felt bad that both Applejack and Mac missed out on a full days work because of me. So... I tried to buck a tree to see if I could help out tomorrow. But, it sort of came out of ground when I hit it." Spike said before moving the tree in his tail to the front for them to see better. Not only had it been ripped from the ground, there was a large fist-shaped indention in the wood. It was at least an inch and a half deep, and all of his fingers were clearly outlined. To his credit, the tree was indeed barren of apples. "Sweet Celestia, Spike! What'd trees ever do to you?" Rainbow Dash said in amazement. "Nothing! I was just trying to help, not my fault I didn't know my own strength." Spike said dropping his head in shame. "Yer, three thousand pounds a' muscle Spike!" Macintosh said pointing to Spike's bicep with a hoof. "Hey! two thousand nine hundred thirty-seven. I'm not that heavy! ...by dragon standards." Spike said moodily. "How do you know that?" Twilight said looking over her big little brother. "Mom made me get all my measurements taken for the house." Spike said pointing to the freshly painted barn. The girls all took notice of it for the first time. Applejack was rightfully more than a little confused. "Why is mah barn purple, an' why are you callin it a house?" Applejack asked with a raised brow. "Me an' the pri-er, Celestia agree that Spike needs somewhere t' stay." Macintosh said avoiding her gaze. "Mac realized that I got too big for the library before anypony else. We're gonna convert the barn into a house... for us." Spike said moving just a little further away from Applejack and a lot closer to Big Mac. To her credit she was only slightly fuming. "Where the hay are we spossed' t' keep everythin' Mac? Ya coulda at least asked me first." She said glaring at her brother. Mac had a more serious face than anypony, including Spike had ever seen. "Applejack, yer mah sister, an' ah love you, but ah'm tellin you t' be quiet. Ah've supported you an' yer friends in everythin y'all did fer years, an' did yer work while you were away. Ah, even helped convince Granny t' agree t' that bat sanctuary. Yer gonna let us do this, whether ya like it er not. Ah'm the oldest, an' mah name's on the deed t' the farm." Mac punctuated his out of character tirade with a snort, leaving everypony speechless. Applejack in particular, was struck dumb. She could count the number times she had heard Mac that angry on her hoof. The last time was when some colt had said something about their parents who had passed away only a few months prior. Mac had sent him to the hospital with a single buck, he had always been big for his age. Mac was silent, but obviously not his calm self yet. Spike dropped the tree from his powerful tail's grasp and wrapped it around Mac's midsection, lifting him into the air. He repositioned the stallion to meet his eyes. "Mac, I know what this is really about. You're going to apologize to your sister, and then we're going to tell them about it. Got it?" Spike asked adopting an almost parental tone. Macintosh nodded guiltily and was placed next to Spike. Spike ushered him forward with a claw, making him stand before his sister again. "Ah'm sorry, AJ. Ah'm not really mad at ya." Mac said in a defeated tone. "And?" Spike said from behind. "Ah wanted a place fer the both a' us to stay together. I wanna spend as much time with im' as possible, before..." Was as far as Mac could go before it was too much for him. "Before?" Applejack asked, fearful of the answer. "Before he runs out of time." Spike said stepping forward, alongside Big Mac. "Is there sumthin' wrong with im'?" Applejack asked, obviously concerned. "There's nothing wrong with him, he's upset because he knows he's going to die thousands of years before me, if I do." Spike said pulling the weeping stallion into another hug, holding him as tight as it was safe to. "What? Did the princess make him immortal because he's her kid?" Rainbow Dash asked the girls, unsure of what to think. "She didn't need to. Dragons live as long as it takes for someone to slay them. So long as I keep my claws to myself, I might very well live forever. Mom came through and talked to us about it. We've agreed we can make it work, but it's starting to get to him." Spike said hanging his head in shame. He had known about this since he was very young. He had cried about it for days. His mother eventually helped him past it, but the more friends and loved ones he obtained, the more it seemed to sting. "I knew about it, but I wasn't sure if you did Spike." Twilight said feeling almost as guilty as the dragon himself. "Kinda figured, I know mom gave you copies of all her books about dragons when we moved here." Spike said shedding a couple of tears that boiled away as they fell. "Why didn't you tell us this sooner Spike?" Rarity said sounding hurt. "I don't like to think about it. Almost everypony I know will be dust before I'm even considered an adult by my species. Mom, Aunt Luna, Discord, and maybe Twilight will be all I have in less than a century. Dragons take naps longer than that. I feel like a monster every time I think about it, I don't deserve so much extra time." Spike said looking to the stallion he held. "You aren't a monster Spike, you're just different." Fluttershy said flying up to pat Spike on the back. He couldn't feel the shy mare's gentle touch whatsoever through his now nigh impenetrable hide, but the sentiment was greatly appreciated. "Shy's right Spike, the princesses are like, ancient and we don't call them monsters." Rainbow Dash said landing in front of the melancholy couple. "I could hardly think of you as a monster for such a thing. You didn't ask for this deary." Rarity said lifting a monogrammed hanky to Spike's eyes in her magical grasp. "Spike, I can sort of relate. Me and Cadence are the first ponies to be made into alicorns with magic. We may or may not live as long as the sisters do, or live for a few hundred or maybe even shorter than an ordinary pony. It's hard to say what the future will hold, but we'll stick with you as long as we can Spike." Twilight said placing a hoof on the claw Spike wasn't using to hold Macintosh. "And I'll party with you every year, until I drop." Pinkie Pie said jumping onto Spike's back, giving him a hug from the back of his neck. Applejack was the last of the group to respond to the news. Things had seemingly been forever changed in the span of a day, but there was no monster to fight, evil to vanquish, or wrong to right. This time, she was staring down change. A force ponies have feared since time immemorial, but Apples weren't ones to back down. "Ah'll be with you, and mah brother so long as you two can put up with me." Applejack said planting a playful punch on Spike's bicep, "But you better promise t' keep watch over the family, beens yer gonna be a part of it." "I promise, I'll watch over the Apple family, and all your families for as long as I can. Ponyville too." Spike said sweeping everypony into a group hug with his increased reach. The hug lasted several minutes, it was silent, but for awhile the group seemed to share the noiseless communication Spike and Big Mac had. It was nice, but it was getting continually darker, after a time the group separated. New worries, and new promises were shared between them. "Ah'd offer to let ya stay in the house Spike, but it don't seem to be an option right now." Applejack said rubbing her foreleg at the awkwardness. "Nah, it's fine. Mac cleared out the barn already, plenty of room for me. I'll help with chores in the morning, but I don't think I should mess with the trees again." Spike said as he placed Pinkie back onto the ground, removing her from his back. "Eenope" Big Mac said from his side. "Sounds like a good idea, we could use some muscle to get some stumps outta the ground." Applejack said looking over the uprooted tree. "Come on Mac, today seemed t' last forever. Ah know ah could use some shut eye." "Eenope, ah'm staying in the barn with Spike." Big Mac said without meeting his sister's eyes. A chorus of "OOOOOOH's" was heard from Pinkie and Rainbow, who had their minds planted firmly in the gutter. Applejack chose not to acknowledge their presence, but looked a little uncomfortable about what they were implying. "Uh, alright. Just... nothin'... funny, okay?" Applejack said as she silently prayed Twilight could erase images from a pony's imagination. "First of all, we've only been together a day officially. Second, not actually sure that's physically possible for us. Third, I never, ever wanna talk about that with my coltfriend's little sister. Lastly, Pinkie and Rainbow had better stay on a three-thousand pound dragon's good side." Spike said, enumerating his qualms on his claws. "Two-thousand, nine-hundred, thirty-seven pound dragon." Big Mac said with a smile. Spike chuckled a little, and dropped his tough-guy act. "Anyway, see you girls tomorrow." Spike said before grabbing Big Mac with his tail and placing him on his back. "Hah, I can give ponies rides now! This is cool." Spike said as he turned to walk to the barn. "Yeah, I bet you want Mac to ride y- OW!" Rainbow Dash began yelling before receiving a powerful thump on the head courtesy of Equestria's newest princess. "He's still my little brother Dash, not funny." Twilight said lowering her hoof. "Be,ides, Celestia would probably hit you with solar plasma if she heard you say that." Rainbow was immediately silent at that revelation and the girls said their goodbyes to one another. Applejack was inside the house and halfway up the stairs before she had a revelation. "Apple Bloom gets home from Babs' place tomorrow. An' ah'm gonna have t' go through all this awkwardness again." She said to nopony in particular. Ah need a drink. She thought to herself. Turning around, she headed for the kitchen.