//------------------------------//
// Chapter two: meet the friends 
// Story: Make me your mare! 
// by MidnightFMare 
//------------------------------//

	
POV: Big Mac


I wake up in my bed like I usually do and turn to look at my bed side table "Ms. Smartypants, Ah had the strangest dream. You were a pony an-" My eyes widen in shock as Ms. Smartypants is gone from her usual spot. I whip my head around my room in search of her when somepony whimpers "Don' move... yer' warm..."

I look on my back and on it is Smarty Patch, snuggling my shoulder.

Guess she isn't an early riser like me

I lay back down, and she slides off my back and to my side, nuzzling me in her sleep "Mmmpphh~ Big Mac~"

Maybe I'll sleep in...

"UP AN' AT EM!!" AJ yells, slamming a spoon against a pot

"Whoa!" I shoot up, and Smarty jumps away, landing on the floor "Don' Barge into mah room!" I yell, lifting Smarty off the floor.

"You sound like a filly caught with a hoof between her legs. It's ten in the morning an' mah friends are visiting. Apparently Pinkie caught wind of your friend and wants to meet her. Ah can't even understand why the others are here but..." she shrugs "An' ah wanted to get first dibs raggin' on ya" She trots out the door chuckling.

"... Ten in the morning?" I mutter when Smarty taps my shoulder "Uh... Big Mac? Where is the bathroom?" 

"Down the hall, to the left." she nods and scrambles out of my room. 

Guess ridin' on my shoulder when ah work left her unfamiliar with th' house... I think to myself, making my bed.

A few seconds later, she trots over to me, rubbing her eyes "Maccy... I'm hungies..."

My heart! I gasp and pound on my chest.

Smarty cocks her head "What's the matter Big Mac?"

"Nothin' just hungry" I reply, walking down the stairs to 4 pairs of eyes "Mornin'"

Smarty looks over my shoulder, "Who are you talking to- eep!" 

She ducks behind my leg, shivering a little "Somethin' th' matter?"

She looks at me with saucer eyes "I... do I have to go down there? Twilight is there and if she finds out I'm her old doll, she'll want to take me away from you."

I nod in vague understanding, biting on the scruff of her neck and carry her down, dropping her to nod to everypony.

"So... who's your friend Mac?" Ms. Sparkle asks 

"Smarty Patch" I reply and turn to Smarty, who is staring at her hooves She kind of reminds me of Ms. Shy "Y'all okay Smarty?"

She nods "Yeah, just nervous..." She stands and bows to everypony "I'm Smarty Patch and I'm from Canterlot."

Ms. Belle smiles "Well that is quite fortunate! Twilight here is from Canterlot as well."

Smarty nods "I know."

"Well, I suppose being a princess does give you a lot of popularity. Especially among ponies from the same place." she muses before a pink hoof shoves her aside "HI! I'm Pinkie Pie! Welcome to Ponyville!"

Smarty flinches and scurries behind me "I know... I know all of you."

Ms. Belle cocks her head "I think I would remember meeting somepony with two different eye colors... Twilight, what is that called?"

"Heterochroma. And you do seem awfully familiar..." she squints, looking at Smarty like she's a specimen under a microscope.

"What did ya want for breakfast?" I ask, scooting Smarty to the icebox

Smarty mouths her thanks and opens the icebox "Uh... do you have peanut butter?"

I pause "Ah'm not sure... let me check th' pantry"

She smiles and pulls out a juice box.

I nod and open the door to the pantry and a mass of yellow latches onto my face "AMBUSH!!"

I fall onto my back and pull Applebloom off "What in-"

Applebloom frowns Aw... wrong pony..."

Before I can open my mouth again, Applejack yanks her from my grip "Why in th' world were ya hidin' in th' pantry?!"

Applebloom smiles "Ah wanted to surprise Big Mac's marefriend!"

I stare at her, rubbing my neck "Marefriend?"

Applejack rolls her eyes "Ya brought her home from Celestia knows where, fed her, an' let her sleep in your bed. If that a marefriend, ah haven't th' slightest what this is."

Applebloom nods "Yeah! And now ah can stop hidin' those funny smellin' letters from Caramel! Oh, and here's th' peanut butter."

Taking the jar from her, I decide to forget the part about Caramel.

Smarty nuzzles me when I give her the peanut butter "Thanks Big Mac."

I nod and open the refrigerator and a familiar pink something latches onto my neck. "Hi Big Mac!"

"Hello Ms. Pie... mind gettin' off my neck?"

She smiles and slides off, disappearing into the empty crisper "Nope. Not gonna look."

Smarty walks over to the table and starts eating, oblivious to stare from Ms. Sparkle.

She gasps and claps her hooves "You look just like my old doll!"

Smarty pauses mid bite and looks up nervously "R-really? It's... it's probably just a coincidence. Hehehe..."

Ms. Sparkle shakes her head "No, I have eidetic memory and I never forget a face... or doll in this case." she cocks her head "In fact, your mane looks like the yarn hair she had and you have the same colored eyes as her buttons... and your coat is the exact grey-brown too. Could it be...?"

I stiffen, readying myself to grab Smarty and bolt Ah can probably outrun Ms. Sparkle, Ms. Belle, Ms. Shy, an' my sister... Ms. Pie maybe but not for long and Ms. Dash could easily outrun me if she flies...

Ms. Sparkle opens her mouth again "The model for my doll?"

Smarty and I stare at her "...What?"

"My brother probably saw you as a filly and subconsciously used you as a model for Miss Smartypants! Where in Canterlot are you from?"

"The west district." Smarty replies, eating again.

I exhale the breath I'd been holding and put a pot of water on the oven, rummaging through the pantry for oatmeal when I poke a soft something.

A white soft something.

A white soft something with green eyes and a lavender and pink mane.

"... Why are you in the pantry?"

Sweetie stares at me and grins nervously "I... I woke up here?"

I sigh and bite the scruff of her neck and grab the oatmeal before closing the pantry.

Ms. Belle gasps "Sweetie! Why in the name of Celestia were you in that musty old pantry?! You could have ticks and mites and spiders and Celestia knows what else! Or worse you could get bitten by some filthy rodent or creature that makes its home in there!"

Applejack glares at Ms. Belle "Are ya sayin' we don't have a clean house? She might get covered in preserves, yeah, but not critters."

Ms. Belle blushes "I... I meant none of that personally Applejack, it's just that pantries and other dark, enclosed spaces breed and attract animals and other things."

Applejack nods slowly "Uh-huh... why don't you take Sweetie home to clean up an' check her for ticks... an' th' like?"

Ms. Belle stares at her in confusion "Why can't she use your bathroom?"

Applejack rolls her eyes "Ah'm afraid it might have water bugs, mildew, an' other things."

I cover my snort with a cough, pouring the hot water on my breakfast.


POV: Smarty Patch


I carry my plate to the sink, glad to be out of the spotlight for a moment.

Big Mac carries his bowl of oatmeal to the table where Twilight still sits thinking, Pinkie Pie stacking plates and cups on her head. 

I thought that she'd figure out who I was just by my name alone! I guess she's still oblivious... I think to myself, washing my plate and knife.

I set the plate to dry and walk up to Big Mac before sitting next to him "What's the work load for today?"

Big Mac turns to me "Southwest fields, manning the stand... rotate the soil in the western tuber patches..."

I grin "Okay, so I'll take the stand and you can stay here to plow and buck. How's that sound?"

Applejack shakes her head "Sorry Smarty, but ya ain't even workin' for us."

I shrug "I was just doing it so that Big Mac doesn't have to deal with the loitering mares and I believe that it's going to rain around three so... I just thought that I'd take care of something that I can do easily. I'm obviously not strong enough to do labor anyways."

Applejack mulls this for a minute and nods "All right. Ah'll go get th' price boo-"

"Memorized already. I know the exact price each apple will cost based upon the day of the year and species. have the earlier picked apples in the middle between the treats and the freshly picked ones. Is that right Big Mac?"

He stares at me surprised before nodding.

"How much does a Red Delicious cost?"

"Three bits a bushel, one half plus two bronze bits that is dropped unless the sum with other apples exceeds five bronze for a single."

Applejack blinks for several seconds and walks over to a book "... Dang. Yall're right on th' dot. Ah need to check this everyday... are all you Canterlot ponies super-smart?"

Twilight snaps out of her daze "Did someone say something about math?"

Rarity shakes her head "No Darling, but I must say I'm impressed Smarty. I never knew that about apple prices... or that you still use bronze values..."

I shrug "I was taught old empirical. And I read that book with Big Mac one time when Twilight was reorganizing the library."

Twilight cocks her head "Apple prices don't strike me as recreational literature..."

Rarity rolls her eyes "You once read the address book upside down in Germane."

Twilight blushes "That was between new book shipments... I got bored."

Big Mac snorts and motions for me to head outside "Ya sure you can handle th' stand?"

I nod, my dreadlocks covering my eyes "I'm as positive as a pony on nitrous oxide!"

He blinks "Oddly specific... jus' let me get th' harness on ya."

I nod and when he puts it on me, I grunt "Okay... never knew how heavy this was..."

"Need help?"

"Nope! Just let me get moving and I'll be good." I reply, taking a step forward but I stay stationary "Okay, I got this!"

I try again, grunting at the strain "Okay... I have an idea." I start jogging in place and gradually speed up, sweat running down my face.

Big Mac raises a hoof "Ya sure ya don't-"

"I GOT THIS!" I yell, moving my hooves as fast as I can.

Somepony walks up to him "She okay?"

"She's got this" Big Mac replies, sounding distant.

A loud springing sound comes closer "Oooo! Nice digging form!"

"GGGRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!!!!!" I roar, digging my hooves in and kicking away from the ground in fury.

"Ya think she'll-" Applejack asks, her voice drowned out by my hooves.

"Give 'er a moment" Big Mac replies.

the ground gives way and my hooves hit wood "Wait! Wood?!" I stop and open my eyes and under my hooves are muddy wooden boards "Big Mac! I think I found a treasure chest!!"

Big Mac's head looks at me upside-down "Ya think so?"

I pause "Why are you upside-down?"

"Ah'm not. Yall're upside down."

I blink and notice my hair is sticking up "Wha- ah!" I fall and swing onto the top of the apples "What just happened?"

Pinkie Pie pops up from the apples "You dug a hole! A big circular hole!"

Applejack helps me out of the apples "What she means is that ya dug when ya tried movin and went under the cart. Ya got so into it that ya didn't notice that ya'll were upside-down."

I blink and look at the hole in front of the cart and under the front half of it "Oh... my bad."

Big Mac grins "Maybe ya should've let me unlock th' brakes 'fore ya tried to pull it."