//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: "If you ain't got anything nice to say..." // by ManlyDerp //------------------------------// "... Well then... so mah brother exploded... don't rightfully know how I'm supposed to feel about this... I mean, Twilight exploded before... twice actually, now that I think about. Once into flames, which doesn't seem to be the case here... and the other time into ashes, but she came right back as a princess... is Mac a princess now? D-does... does that make me a princess...?" Applejack shakes her head. "I don't know what to believe in anymore..." "Applejack!" The emotionally confused farm pony lifts up her head from the ground and watches as two of her friends, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, file into the alleyway. "Applejack!" repeats Fluttershy. "Thank goodness we found you!" Applejack waves a hoof passingly. "Oh... howdy girls..." she then waves a hoof over the spot where Big Mac once stood. "... Mah brother exploded." Pinkie Pie slumps. "Aw, bummer. Second time one of my cousins did that..." Fluttershy frowns. "Girls, he didn't explode. Discord probab-" Applejack suddenly jumps to her hooves. "Ah hay! I forgot that Twilight told me he was in town helping her!" The earth pony stomps on ground. "Darn it all! This has Discord's name written all over it! What's he doing messing around, Fluttershy?!" The pegasus looks away. "N-no reason." The orange mare shakes her head and stomps for a second time. "Uh uh; no way no how, Flutters. Discord is on thin, thin ice and we both darn well know that he wouldn't be using what little power he's got left just to mess with us." The farmer looks away. "I hate him for what he did to us, yeah, and I'm still nowhere near ready to forgive him... but I was told he's been helping you girls out with the whole chaos magic hoopla going on in town right now and if he's okay in your girl's book for that then he's fine in mine..." Applejack looks hard into Fluttershy's eyes. "Regardless though, him suddenly causing trouble again in these parts doesn't add up. What happened, Fluttershy? Tell me, please." Fluttershy begins to shrink, but a quick breath rightens herself back up again. Pinkie Pie looks back and forth between the two ponies, unsure what to be feeling right now. "... He's upset over something Big Mac said to me, Applejack." Fluttershy admits gloomily. "I'm sorry. I was the one who told him. I-I didn't think I could hide it from him so I was just honest and, well, Discord got a bit... possessive." There is a moment of silence. "... Possessive?" Asks Pinkie. "What, does Discord think he owns you now?" The pink pony giggles as she wraps her friend in a hug. "Heh. Well, hate to break this to him, Fluttershy, but you're totally ours! Want us to file a cease and desist on him, filly?" "Wait a tick," says Applejack. "Possessive, Fluttershy? He got possessive...? W-what... what in the hay did mah brother say to you?" This time, Fluttershy does shrink into herself. "U-um, well... h-he, um... you see..." Applejack taps a hoof. "Clocks a' ticken, girl." "H-he... h-h-h-he said..." Pinkie releases her grip on the pony. "He said...?" "... That I have a nice flank." Another moment of silence passes. "... Wha?" "He said I have a large but very nice flank!" Fluttershy finally admits. "T-that's all he said! He was in a hurry and galloping towards town and I was heading back home w-when we crossed paths and I said hi to him and he said that back!" The shy pony covers her blushing face with her wings and shrinks down to the ground. "I-I flew home as fast I could after that, so very very embarrassed, a-and just had to go somewhere to organize my thoughts. "... It was kinda nice though, I'll admit..." "..." "..." "... So, yeah, ignoring that last bit," Applejack says, taking charge. "You told all of this, 'cept I'm willing to bet not that last bit, to Discord and now he's angry at my brother... what the hay are we going to do about this, girls? We can't just let him have his way with Big Mac!" "Isn't Discord still super duper weak from losing his magic to that big old meanie a few weeks back?" asks Pinkie. "He can't do that much to him... right?" "T-that's true," Fluttershy replies. "He hasn't been able to do the things he normally could do... he can't even teleport that far anymore!" "Really? Whew," exhales Applejack. "Well that's a relief. If he can't go that far, then that means Big Mac must still be in town somewhere!" "Yeah," says Pinkie. "But... where?" ___________________ Big Mac awakens groggily. His head feels like mush and his muscles are more sore then they've ever been. Running through a building will do that to a pony, true, but the red stallion is usually very resilient to such aches and pains. Now though, he can hardly move an inch. Well, except for his constantly flapping mouth. "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Think I'm gonna hurl... nope. Still in pain though. Ow. Ow. Ow... n-need to talk to somepony. N-need. Neeeeedddd... h-help me..." "... Big Macintosh?" With some effort on his part, Big Mac slowly lifts himself back up onto his hooves. It is only now does he see the stars in his eyes caused by the sudden magical relocation. Blinking a few times, the stars begin to dissipate until he can fully see the pony before him. Big Mac stares into the unicorn's blue eyes. Rarity stares back... ... along with the rest of the patrons of the very crowded Sugarcube Corner. A whimper escapes the stallion's lips as his ears flatten against his skull. "N-nope..."