Chapter 1:
It was a bright, sunny day as many of the citizens of Ponyville made their way through their chores and jobs, eager to finish up so that they could enjoy a little leisure time. Unfortunately, there were three little fillies who had the day off from school and were faced with the unique problem of having a tad too much free time and no idea what to do with it. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were lazily lying upon some bales of hay at Sweet Apple Acres, with Scootaloo repetitively tossing an apple up and catching it when it fell down. “Ugh…” moaned Sweetie Belle, “I’m so bored. Do either of you have any idea about what we should do today?”
“Well, we could try getting our Cutie Marks again, but I don’t really know what we could try next,” said Scootaloo.
“We’ve already asked Applejack and the others about how they got their Cutie Marks, and that didn’t help very much,” said Apple Bloom.
“Hmm, we did ask Applejack, but we never did ask your brother how he got his Cutie Mark,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Big Macintosh? Well, he doesn’t like talking very much, but I guess he won’t mind, since it might help us out.”
“Well then that settles it! Let’s go find him. This may be our lucky day yet!” said Scootaloo excitedly as the three friends headed towards the house to look for Big Macintosh. As they entered the kitchen, the three fillies found Granny Smith pulling out pots and pans out of the cupboard and murmuring, “Dang flappit… Where’d I put those durn thangs…”
“Granny, what are you doing?” asked Apple Bloom.
Granny Smith turned to the three fillies and gave a friendly wave, “Why hello girls! I’m tryin’ to find my glasses. Have you three seen them anywhere?”
The three fillies giggled as they spotted the glasses resting upon Granny Smith’s head. Apple Bloom walked over and placed the glasses before Granny Smith’s eyes and the old pony blinked as the kitchen came into focus. “Well what do ya know, it’s always the last durn place you look! Thank you Dearie. So what can I do for you girls?”
“We’re trying to find Big Macintosh, have you seen him Granny?”
“Hm, I think he might be out in the barn. He finished his chores rather early today and I think he headed there to get a little shut-eye.”
“Thanks Granny. We’ll go there and check.”
“Your sister, that nice Twilight Sparkle, and her little dragon are upstairs if you need to speak with them as well!” called Granny Smith as the three little fillies trotted out of the kitchen and headed towards the barn.
The three fillies popped open the barn doors and looked around to see if Big Macintosh was around. Their ears perked up when they heard a soft sucking sound coming from the corner of the barn. The fillies followed the sound until they spotted Big Macintosh gently dozing in the corner. He was curled up into a ball, with one of his front hoofs wrapped around a worn, old Smarty Pants doll, while the other hoof was within his mouth, being sucked softly. The three fillies let out a simultaneous “Aww…” as they took in how adorable Big Macintosh looked in his current state.
“He looks so cute!” gushed Sweetie Belle.
“Though I can’t believe that he still sucks his hoof!” giggled Scootaloo.
“I never noticed that before,” said Apple Bloom, although she silently admitted to herself that she rarely saw Big Macintosh sleep, since he was usually working when she came home and he did have a later bedtime than she did.
“He looks just a little, bitty baby colt,” said Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo chuckled at the idea and joked, “A baby that big would need would one heck of a mommy!”
“Or three…” said Apple Bloom as an idea formed within her mind, “That’s it girls! Maybe Big Macintosh could help us get our Cutie Marks as mommies!”
“Come again?” asked Scootaloo, who didn’t quite understand what Apple Bloom had meant.
“Well, real babies can get hurt or sick really easily, but if Big Mac pretended to be a baby colt for us, we could practice with him and see if we have any talent at being mommies,” said Apple Bloom.
“Oh, I get!” said Sweetie Belle, “It’s just like playing pretend! Rarity and I used to do it all the time, and we’d use costumes that she made herself!”
“I don’t know,” said Scootaloo, “do you think Big Macintosh would help us like that?”
“Well Granny did say he was done with all of his chores for today, plus he’s said he’d try to help me get my Cutie Mark if he could,” said Apple Bloom.
“That settles it then!” said Sweetie Belle who turned to Big Macintosh and began to gently play with his ears as she cooed, “Wake up, little sleepyhead! It’s time rise and shine.”
Big Macintosh giggled lightly in his sleep as he felt his ears being tickled and he slowly opened his eyes to find three little faces staring at him eagerly. His eyes popped open, and he jumped with a start. The three fillies giggled as they noticed that in his haste to get up, he hadn’t removed his hoof from his mouth and was clutching the Smarty Pants doll closer than ever to his chest.
Big Macintosh quickly realized this as well and quickly put both of his hoofs behind his back, with a light pink blush appearing on his normally crimson cheeks. Trying to distract from his embarrassment, the normally quiet pony quickly said, “Uh howdy girls, what are y’all doin’ here?”
“Big brother, remember when you said you that you’d lend a hoof if I ever needed help finding my Cutie Mark? Well, my friends and I don’t have school today and we were wondering if you would help us out?” said Apple Bloom.
Upon hearing her request, Big Macintosh let out a relieved sigh. He was well aware of his little sister and her friends’ quest to earn their Cutie Marks, and he had offered to provide his assistance if they should need him (especially if they needed a watchful eye present so that they didn’t get hurt). With the expectations that he would have to either set up some contraption for them or simply act as a chaperone, Big Macintosh said, “Eeeeyup, I’ve got some free time. I’ll be glad to help y’all out.”
“Yay!” cried Sweetie Belle as she grabbed Big Macintosh’s side and began to cuddle him, “You’re going to be the best baby ever!”
“Eeeeyup, I’ll be… wait a second. Say what now?”