//------------------------------// // 153. Big Mac's Big Dilemma - Part 3 // Story: Blaze the Pony Tale // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// “What in jumpin’ jellybeans was that all about?” Carrot Cake was shocked by Macintosh's outburst. “I don’t know, but the Granny Smith's gonna hear about this!” grumbled Filthy Rich. “I was just trying to do the mayor a favor,” Ditzy said, sounding hurt. “We just wanted to make sure our Sweetie would be comfortable for her sleepover,” Hondo added when Cookie noticed the crushed package Big Mac had been carrying and looked inside. “Oh my… What have we done?” she said sadly, her voice earning everypony’s attention. “Big Mac was tryin’ to do somethin’ nice for his fiancée!” She showed them what the package contained and it finally began to dawn on them all. “No wonder he blew up at us…” Carrot Cake felt his day turn sour. “Oh… such an investment wasted all because of us,” Filthy sighed guiltily. “Poor Big Mac!” Ditzy teared up. “Well, y’know he was right, we…” Hondo brought up, “we all did kinda heap our problems onto him without considering his own business or his feelings…” “C’mon everypony,” Cookie’s voice told them all it was time for action rather than words, “we’ve got an apology to scrounge up!” As the afternoon sun dragged on over Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac sadly finished up his chores for the day and returned to the site of his project. Seeing the timber and tools and paint laying there, waiting for him to construct his surprise for his fiancée, Big Mac felt his heart sink. He’d planned this special gift for the wedding and the finishing touch was that glass work he’d waited weeks for, and now it just didn’t feel like it would be the same without it. But that wasn’t the only thing weighing down on his heart – Big Mac had always been patient and compassionate, dedicated to his responsibilities and living by the lessons in life his parents had taught him, and he strove to live by those lessons in their honor and memory. His father had taught him the importance of responsibility, his mother the virtue of helping others and putting them before himself. Of course, he knew that she hadn’t meant he should give of himself to others and forget about himself entirely, that she simply had meant it is better to be selfless than selfish. But every now and then it’s okay to be a little selfish. As he sat in the shade of a tree, looking but not really looking at the timber and tools, Big Mac felt the guilt of blowing up at his neighbors fall over him like rain. He’d had every right to be angry but the way he’d handled the anger was what bothered him. He only hoped his neighbors would come to forgive him somehow. “C’mon Crusaders, this lookout tower ain’t gonna build itself!” Big mac’s ears perked to the sound of his little sister’s voice and he peered around the tree and saw the Crusaders all headed up the path towards their clubhouse. Twinken was levitating some hammers and a bucket that rattled with what was probably nails. Apple Bloom and Button Mash pulled a wagon full of wooden planks and pieces, Sweetie Belle carried a large rolled up piece of paper in her mouth, Rumble carried what looked like a picnic basket, and Scootaloo carried a large coil of rope. “Now wha’ in th’ hay are them Crusaders up to…?” Big Mac whispered to himself and followed while remaining hidden in the foliage. He watched as the Crusaders made their way up to the foot of the tree that held their clubhouse, Apple Bloom and Button unhitching themselves from their little wagon, and Sweetie Belle took the rolled up paper in her mouth and placed it on a picnic table near the trunk of the tree. She unrolled it and Rumble placed the picnic basket on one end of the table, Twinken setting the bucket of nails on the other, as the Crusaders crowded around Sweetie belle, all smiling excitably as Sweetie Belle declared, “And so begins Project Watch Out – The Cutie-Mark Crusaders’ Lookout Tower!” “This is gonna be so cool!” Rumble pointed something out, “The rope-bridge is gonna be awesome!” “We’ll even put a telescope in it so we can see far away!” Twinken added, the others agreeing and smiling. Big Mac couldn’t help but smile at the Crusaders as he watched them talk and plan though he did wonder what kind of lookout tower they intended to make. The amount of wood they’d brought wouldn’t make for a very tall tower, which he was partly relieved by, and he wondered what the intended rope-bridge was for. Apple Bloom appeared to be directing the group as Sweetie and Twinken levitated the planks of wood into a floor like structure around a tree nearby to their clubhouse. Rumble flew up holding the bucket of nails and a hammer, nailing the planks together to hold on their own without Twinken and Sweetie. Meanwhile, Scootaloo and Button were hard at work tying loose planks of wood with rope to create a rope bridge. Overall their efforts were crude and a little messy, but they seemed to be doing okay. Or at least they were until the entire floor fell from the tree and broke apart. The group gave a groan and moved to start working again. As he watched, Big Mac made a decision. "Hey y'all, think you could use a hoof?" With a mighty swing of his hoof, Mac slammed the final nail into place and stood back with the Crusaders to admire their handy work. A lookout tower now stood proudly in the tree next to the clubhouse, a rope bridge linking the two structures together. Overall, it looked pretty impressive, and the Crusaders were quick to share their opinions. "Oh yeah, this is wicked!" Scootaloo cheered. "Now we'll be able to see all over the farm!" Button added. ""It looks awesome,” Twinken declared, “great work, team!" Big Mac said nothing, watching them all hop about congratulating one another and coming up with plans they could use their new look out for. He gave them all a smile and turned to leave to continue work on his own project, pleased he was able to escape his guilty feelings for a little while. However before he could get far, he suddenly found himself knocked to the ground in a Crusader tackle hug, as all 6 members grabbed a hold of him laughing happily, spurring a laugh from him as well. In a unified voice that would have made Princess Luna's royal Canterlot voice sound like a whisper, the group yelled out "THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP, BIG MAC!" After taking a moment to get his hearing back, he gave his head a shake and let his smile warp into a massive toothy grin. He piled the Crusaders up in his powerful arms and nuzzled the lot of them. "Yer welcome y’all, but really, Ah was happy t’ help." "Just like you always are. Well, until you get pushed about and mistreated..." The big red farmer gave a confused blink before lifting his head to see Mayor Mare, Filthy Rich, Hondo, Cookie, Carrot Cake, Noteworthy, Ditzy and even Octavia all shuffling about giving him a guilty look. For a long awkward moment, nopony said anything until Scootaloo broke the ice, “I can’t take it anymore, what’s going on?!” “Big Macintosh,” Mayor Mare stepped forward, behaving formally but clearly apologetic, “as Mayor of Ponyville, I am supposed to serve the citizens, not the other way around. It has come to my attention that we have all taken advantage of your helping hoof and shown you almost no gratitude whatsoever.” “Macintosh, you were right,” Filthy Rich apologized, “I should’ve been prepared to handle my own problems and not have expected you to take care of everything simply because of our history in business.” “I shouldn’t have dragged you into my problems and treated you like you were an employee,” Carrot Cake added. "Especially since you don't work for me at all." “I was a jerk and passed a problem onto you,” Noteworthy sighed. “And that problem might not have been had I been more reasonable,” Octavia admitted. “We weren’t entirely straight with you about our daughter’s luggage,” Hondo shrugged. “And I’ve got to work on my landings and take better care of the mail I deliver,” Ditzy said with teary eyes. “What we’re trying to say, Big Mac, is…” Cookie stepped forward and levitated something in front of Big Mac. She pulled off the cloth covering it and Big Mac was astonished as Cookie said, “We’re all so very sorry.” It was the stained-glass window Big Mac had ordered, completely restored! It was almost the width of a wagon wheel, shaped like his own green apple cutie-mark but the sparkles that surrounded it had been replaced with little butterflies, blue with pink wings, just like the ones of Fluttershy's cutie-mark, and it was perfect! The Crusaders all oohed and ah’d at the window, as Apple Bloom asked, “Big Mac, what’s this for?” Truly was Macintosh touched, that after his outburst and rudeness, his neighbors would go to this trouble. “Muh weddin’ present,” Big Mac felt a tear go down his face before looking to his neighbors, all of them smiling. “Thank you.” “You’re very welcome, Mac,” Hondo replied before rolling up the sleeves of his Haywaiian shirt, “Now how can we help ya?” “Whattya mean?” Big Mac asked. “Well obviously, Macintosh, you intend to make something to go with that stained-glass,” Filthy Rich stated. “Direct us as you will and before you know it, it will be done!” Dawning realization turned to joyful gratitude as he nodded with a determined smile. “C’mon y’all, we got work t’ do!” As the sun was setting, Midnight had just exited his workshop when he’d heard the sound of hard work. Following it, he came to a clearing and was amazed to see his neighbors, the Mayor, Filthy Rich, Carrot Cake, Noteworthy, Octavia Melody, Rarity’s parents, and the Cutie-Mark Crusaders standing at Big Mac’s rear as they gazed proudly upon a gazebo! It was beautiful and grand in a humble way, not large but a size that befitted it, painted a nice even coat of glossy white, and its most eye-catching detail was the stained-glass window depicting a union of Big Mac and Fluttershy’s cutie-marks, set right above the built-in archway. “Well, well!” They all looked to Midnight as he gazed reverently at the gazebo before his eyes fell upon his brother. “I take it things went as you’d hoped?” “More than that, Midnight,” Big Mac replied before going up to stand in front of the gazebo and face everypony. “Ah learned somethin’ t’day – It’s fine t’ set yer goals an’ work towards `em, but Ah learned wha’ really drives me is helpin’ others. Tha’ don’ mean Ah’m gonna help everypony at th’ drop o’ th’ hat an’ jus’ help `em anytime or anywhere. Jus’ tha’ Ah learned about applyin’ mah attention t’ th’ things tha’ matter an’ takin’ pride in bein’ helpful an’ rememberin’ tha’ as much as Ah give of muhself t’ muh friends an’ family Ah can always count on them t’ give of themselves t’ me when Ah really need it.” Everypony all stomped their hooves and cheered in applause and agreement, Midnight smiling proudly when he felt a tingle in his horn and sensed something that was both foreign and familiar. Big Mac sensed it too, as the both of them looked to see a beam of green and red light flare up, its direction coming from the house! Everypony watched as the pillar dimmed to a sparkle that approached across the treetops, and made itself known as Big Mac’s Elemental jewel! They watch in amazement as it floated in front of Big Mac, its crystal-clear facets brightening green and red, and without even knowing why, Macintosh reached out to touch it. No sooner did his hoof make contact did a blinding light of green, red, and gold flare so brightly nopony could see as Big Mac felt his Harmonic Armor and then something on his head! The light dimmed and everypony gasped! Big Mac’s Harmonic Armor was now primarily green with red and gold accents, his work collar’s metal parts were gold plated and on the part below Mac’s neck was his cutie-mark surrounded by sparkles, and on his head was a green and gold Helm, the plume colored the same ginger as Mac’s mane! The Elemental jewel still floated in front of him though he noticed it started to drift down, prompting him to take hold of it, and he felt a spark of enlightenment! “Macintosh…?” He looked up to everypony, who were all blown by what they had just witnessed, Midnight asking, “…What is it?” Macintosh looked down at the jewel and smiled as he declared, “It’s… th’ Element of Devotion!!” He raised it proudly over his head and a second applause rang out in recognition of this now fully-realized Guardian of Harmony! After putting away his armor and helm, Big Mac and Midnight went with Midnight to the Tree of Harmony, to the mysterious chest that was still there in front of the Tree's trunk. Big Mac walked up to it and felt the jewel in his hoof quiver as though it sensed where it was supposed to be. Big Mac looked to Midnight, who nodded encouragingly, before he raised the Element of Devotion and it zoomed over to the box, inserting itself into the panel next to the Element of Faith. No sooner had it, it shined as it then reflected Big Mac’s half-sliced green apple cutie-mark, the panel around it emblazoned with the white sparkles. Big Mac still felt a sense of disbelief when he felt a hoof on his shoulder and looked to see Midnight smiling at him. “I’m proud of you, big brother.” “Thanks, little brother,” Big Mac smiled back. “Let’s head t’ Pepper Pony’s, on me.” Somewhere deep in the Everfree Forest, not far from the Castle of the Two Sisters, the cloaked figure hissed as it held a comic book, “Such tripe, such brain-rotting garbage, and yet…” She read (to herself) something scribbled in the corner that read: You can return to the place you started when the Mane-iac is defeated. Take a closer look to join the adventure in this book After that, it detailed the rest of the story in the comic book. The figure had observed the events closely, and had been intrigued by the magic of this spell. If this magic can take things into the book… she pondered as her eyes settled upon the villain, …perhaps it can bring things out! She sneered deviously as she vanished in a haze of purple and green, taking the comic book with her.