Big Mac Writes a Love Letter

by HiddenMac

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Spike walked slowly through the halls of Princess Twilight's Castle. In his claws he was going through the mail that had just been delivered. "Bill, bill, junk mail, bill. You'd think being a Princess would be enough to stop the bill collectors. Bill, science magazine, letter from fictitious Griffon Prince asking for bits to free up his bank account, Ah! Here we are!"

"Here's what, Spike?" answered Twilight Sparkle as he entered the library. She was, once again, rearranging the books in her collection; a task she enjoyed so much that she would occasionally disregard the outside world.

"The invitation for the anniversary of Ponyville's founding!" he held it up for Twilight to see.

"Well, open it up! Let's see!" Twilight knew what was coming next. She held her hoof up to her face to hide her snickering from Spike. As Spike opened the envelope, streamers and confetti exploded out and landed all over his head. Twilight erupted in laughter at poor Spike's expense.

"Yeah, real funny," he stoically replied as he spit a confetto from his mouth. As he reached for the invitation, he noticed a second letter in the envelope. "Huh, what's this?"

"What's what, Spike?" Twilight inquired, already returning to her task.

"There's a second note in here"

"Well, what's it say?"

"To the sweetest, most beautiful pony I know," Spike drooped his shoulders. "I guess it's for you," he held the note out for Twilight to take.

Surprised, Twilight grabbed the letter with her magical aura and quickly floated it toward her. Immediately, she started reading the love note.

"I wish Rarity would send me a love note..." Spike sighed as he skipped away to give Twilight some privacy. "Raaaarityyy....."

Twilight became enthralled with the letter. The student in her noticed the grammatical errors, but she could tell somepony was writing from their heart, about her. Nopony had ever expressed their feelings to her before in such a way. The closest she had ever encountered was some blushing and awful flirting from a colt with spikey hair. But this felt genuine. Her heart melted as she felt this pony bear their soul to her. Finishing the letter, she finally found the name of its author.

"Big Macintosh?" she asked disbelievingly. "Applejack's brother? I...I've never even thought of him in that way. I don't know what to think!" She read the postscript. "He wants to meet at the Ponyville Anniversary celebration? What do I do? What do I say?" She started to panic. "How do I feel??"

Rainbow Dash flew to her cloud home after finishing another day on weather patrol. "Another day, another example of me being awesome!" She was indeed great at her job, which mainly consisted of constant napping interrupted by the occasional kicking of a stray cloud. She noticed her mailbox, which was once again knocked over by the mailmare.

"She did it AGAIN! I swear, next time I'll...." she noticed Pinkie's invitation fall out. "Here we go!" She picked up the letter and carefully held it out from her. Knowing what was coming next, she opened it with the top facing away from her and grimaced as if it would lessen the blow. Once opened, she noticed nothing happened. Confident it was a false alarm, she proceeded to brag.

"HA! Pinkie Pie, you have to get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on ol' Rainbow Da-"

POP!

Streamers and confetti flew all over Rainbow Dash's face in a delayed explosion. She sneered, covered in party decorations. "You win this round, Pinkie..."

As Rainbow Dash walked into her home, Tank flew in to greet her while she inspected the invitation. It seemed very standard, as far as Pinkie was concerned. Then she noticed the second letter.

"What's this?" she started to read. "BLEH!" she shared the same reaction as Apple Bloom, "it's some gross, sappy love letter. I mean, I know why somepony would write me a love letter... I AM awesome! But really! Do they think I'm going to fall head over hooves for them?!" Rainbow Dash crumpled up the letter and threw it on the floor as she started to walk away.

She almost entered the next room when curiosity got the better of her. "Still... it couldn't hurt to just look at it...for laughs I mean!" she attempted to justify to her pet. She walked back and picked up the letter, straightened it and started to read. "There! See! It starts out sooo clichéd!" She continued on, "well that's nice..." The further she read, the more she felt as if she were special, and not the regular kind of special she constantly boasted about. She started to feel as if she were truly special, to some other pony! She almost felt a tear coming on as she finished.

"I'M NOT CRYING!" she tried to convince the stoic tortoise. "I just... had some cloud hit my eye!"

She looked down to find the author of this note. "Big Macintosh?! EW!" She tried to act as if she were too cool to be mentioned in the same sentence with the draft pony. "He's so quiet... and boring... and scruffy... and sensitive... and hard-working....." her tone subtly started to change, "...and gentle... and kind... and strong... and loyal... and handsome..."

It's a terrible thing for Rainbow Dash to be in love. It's a far, far worse thing for her to admit it.

Fluttershy cautiously walked out from her cottage. She was eager to receive Pinkie's invitation, but not eager to go out and get the mail. Usually it meant either listening to the elderly mail-stallion ramble on about stories that never went anywhere, or waiting for the younger mail-mare to deliver it with her usual frightening crash. Fortunately, Fluttershy could tell that the mailmare had already delivered the post today as her mailbox was already knocked askew from an earlier impact. She quickly retrieved her invitation and fluttered back into her cottage.

Fluttershy's woodland friends came out to console her as they seemed to know she did not like her confrontations with the post-ponies.
"It's alright, my friends," Fluttershy cooed while opening the letter. "The mail had already been delivered today, there's nothing to be afr-"

POP! The letter exploded sending streamers and confetti flying all over the place.

"EEP!" shrieked the sensitive pony as she jumped into midair, then dropped the note and dove under the nearby couch. Angel Bunny hopped out carrying a wooden spoon with which he proceeded to whack the note several times as punishment for scaring his timid caregiver. Satisfied that the inanimate object had been defeated, he carried it back over to Fluttershy and dropped it at her hind legs, which were sticking out from beneath the couch. Fluttershy turned around and tapped at the note a couple of times to make certain it was safe before forcing an embarrassed smile, to which Angel replied with an annoyed thumping of his foot.

As she started to read the invitation, Angel noticed a second letter still in the envelope. He could not read the strange symbols on the page but he figured Fluttershy should be made aware of it, just in case it was important. "What do you have there, Angel Bunny?" she softly inquired.

As she started to read, a confused look came over her face. Fluttershy had no experience when it came to love letters and didn't even realize what it was until she had almost finished reading. "Oh my," she commented. "Th-there must have been a mistake, this must be for somepony else, nopony would ever write something so nice about me."

The pale yellow pegasus thought the polite thing to do would be to stop out of respect for the pony for whom the letter was intended. Still, her curiosity won out as she continued on. Finally, she identified the author. "I-it's from Big Macintosh!" she quietly exclaimed. That reaction seemed to become more common with every pony reading it. "Oh my..."

Big Macintosh had always been nice to her and she did find him attractive, but Fluttershy had always been shy of the large and quiet farm pony, relatively speaking. Their rehearsals with the Ponytones helped a little, but she was still more or less afraid of him. However, part of her did feel jealous for the lucky pony who was the object of his affection.

"U-u-unless this letter is actually m-m-meant for me..." she trembled as she hid back under the couch.

The Carousel Boutique was a mess. Fabric and dress-making instruments were strewn about in a random manner. Rarity was already overwhelmed with the amount of orders incoming for the anniversary celebration. Now, ponies were coming in all day requesting alterations and ordering new and fancier dresses. "I'm NEVER going to get caught up with all this! This is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" She had been so obsessed with her orders, she barely noticed the tapping at her front door.

"What? Is somepony there?" she looked and found the gray-coated mailmare, now finished with her rounds. "Yes, yes. Do come in. Have a seat, I'll be with you in a- NOT THERE!" she shrieked as the pegasus nearly sat on Rarity's pin cushion. Thankful her cushion remained undamaged, and possibly the new client for what it's worth, Rarity grabbed the object and held a pin in her mouth as she went back to work on her current dress. "Now then, what can I do for you?"

The pegasus pulled out a torn, shabby looking dress from a then unnoticed clothing box she had brought in with her. "NOT YOU TOOOOO!" Rarity whined. "This is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" The gray pegasus seemed devastated. She hadn't seen this dress in a while and it had been even longer since having any need of it. She wanted nothing less than to look the best she possibly could for the celebration. She started to drag herself back toward the door in dismay.

"I'm sorry, darling." Rarity interjected. "It's not your fault. I've just been sooo backed up with all of these orders that I've just about lost it." She walked over and inspected the dress. "Now, let's see what we can do with your....errrr....dress."

The dress itself was in rough shape. It looked like an old bridesmaids dress for a bride that needed extra help to look good. It was a torn, wrinkled teal-colored abomination with frilly sleeves and a long, wide length reminiscent of an ancient, ultra-formal ball gown. Rarity half expected it to come with a large powdered wig with a fake bird in it. "Well..." Rarity tried to act supportive, i-it's...lovely." Her client seemed to grin with pride and a squee. "But let's see if we can find something a little more....how I can I put this delicately...acceptable!" The gray pegasus looked confused, but soon eager as Rarity added "Let's try on some of my best designs!"

The process seemed to be quite exhausting for both ponies. Rarity couldn't get her client to sit still in any of her dresses and the accessories her client requested made her look much like a rodeo clown. When Rarity would search for another dress, the pegasus would often wander, whether to ride the mannequin or skip-rope with the measuring tape. With the time growing late and Rarity tiring, she finally asked, "if you don't mind me asking, what's so important with this dress anyway?" referring to the teal abomination.

Her client finally spoke up as she looked Rarity in the eye, then slowly drifted one eye away. "It's always been my nicest dress. I just wanted to look nice for the big celebration, it's gonna be a very special night, after all!" Something about the look in her...eye...struck a chord with Rarity. The pegasus had always seemed so inattentive and carefree, but she could now see a glimpse of seriousness previously unknown to her. She wanted nothing less than to help her out with whatever she needed.

"Tell you what," Rarity offered, holding the original dress. "I'll do my best with... this, you just worry about having a the night of your life! I hope you have a wonderful time." She started escorting her client out of the boutique.

"Thanks Rarity!" the pegasus replied. "Oh, wait! you never picked up your mail!" she picked it up and handed it to Rarity.

"No, I guess I never did! I've just been sooo busy today!" Rarity flipped through before finding the invitation. "Well, so long, and I'll see you at the party!" They waved their goodbyes as she shut the door.

"Well, let's look at Pinkie's invitation," she opened it with her magic as the envelope shot out streamers and confetti. Rarity, however, did not react as she stoically grabbed a dustpan and broom with her aura and cleaned the litter into a trash can without so much as diverting her attention from the letter. "This must be one special party..."

She then noticed the second letter and quickly skimmed through. She instantly recognized it as a love letter but still had no change from her stoic expression. "Meh, I've seen better," she commented when finished. One would think Rarity would show some reaction either from the letter or the explosion, but clearly Rarity was experienced with both. It wasn't until she saw the name did she show any emotion.

"BIG MAC??!!"

That was the last pony in Equestria she expected. She'd rarely heard the stallion speak, even though she spent so much time around him with The Ponytones or around Applejack. She couldn't even imagine him saying the words he'd written in the letter. But she still felt her heart leap in her chest at this sudden realization. She had felt this way about Big Mac before. She once had an enormous crush on him; in fact, he was her first crush:

Rarity hadn't even gotten her Cutie Mark yet when she followed her new friend Applejack back to her farm. She did not have much in common with this orange pony, but she liked coming over to play just to get close to her cute brother. When she finally kissed him to confess her feelings... he fled away yelling "eeeewww, cooties!"

It devastated her at the time, but now she can look back on it and laugh.

"I suppose not every pony wants to find their soul-mate that young. Maybe..." she reflected, "maybe he feels now the way I did back then!" She could only hope and wait for the anniversary celebration. "Maybe it will be a magical evening!"

The school bell rang, sending all of Cheerilee's students out the door, save one. Apple Bloom had been awkwardly staring at her all day and now stayed behind to ask her teacher a question.

"So, Miss Cheerilee..."

"Yes Apple Bloom, what is it?" Her violet-colored teacher replied.

"Have you, uh, gotten any interestin' letters lately? In the mail Ah mean," she inquired with a forced smile.

"No, although I haven't checked today. Why do you ask?"

"Ohhhh, no reason," Apple Bloom seemed somewhat disappointed. "Ah gotta get goin' now.... important.... farmin' business!" With that, she too dashed out the doors of the school.

Well that was weird, even for her! She was used to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' antics and soon she'd put that out of her mind. "As long as she doesn't try to set me up with her brother again," she mumbled alone. "We're just good friends!"

The eccentricities seemed to continue as every pony she passed seemed to have their heads in the clouds. Passing by one, she greeted: "Hello, Nurse Redheart! Beautiful day we're having!"

"Yes... his eyes are dreamy..." she replied, oblivious to the question.

Cheerilee stared in bewilderment. It seemed everypony behaved in a similar fashion. "The entire town must be in love! Oh, why am I the ONLY pony who seems to be alone? When will I find my Princely Stallion?"

She made a quick stop by the market area to pick up groceries before heading home. She chuckled as she spotted Bulk Biceps in a ridiculous Peanut Vendor's outfit yelling, as usual, to some unknown pony at the front end of an over-packed supply cart. Being behind the cart, she gave little thought as to the identity of its occupant as she continued on her way home. Reaching her front door, she tried to unlock and open it while carrying her supplies in the other foreleg and balancing on her hind legs. Finally, the door swung open causing her to fall forward and drop many of her items on the floor.

"OH, TARTARUS!" she yelled, angry at her misfortune. If only I had a big strong stallion to carry these for me she thought, now lonelier than ever. She picked up her frozen dinners and ice cream as she slammed the door with her back leg. She also noticed her mail on the floor, which see inspected after setting her grocery bag down.

"Well, here's my invitation to the Ponyville Anniversary Celebration. Wouldn't call this 'interesting', but it is nice," she commented on her earlier conversation with Apple Bloom. She then noticed the second letter, "well... this is interesting!"

She read the love letter with increasing emotion from each line. By the end, she had her hoof on her heart and tears in her eyes in a near swoon. She finally felt like the most special pony in Equestria! She just might have found her Princely Stallion after all! "Oh, who is my romantic admirer?"

"BIG MAC???!!!" she screamed. "Oh, NO! No, no, no, no, no! Not again!" She started to panic, running in place. "We're just good friends! This can't be!" Confused, annoyed, and in denial, Cheerilie pondered why Mac would do this again and how she was going to respond. He was a good friend and she was afraid a relationship would ruin it.

"I'll just avoid him!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I just won't go to the celebration!" Realizing she couldn't avoid him forever, she decided against that. "No, I should go and let him down easy. He's a good friend and I don't want to lose that!"

Maud had just returned from acquiring the family mail from the box beside the road to the rock farm. The sisters were gathered at the table while their parents nearly had their supper prepared, tonight they would be enjoying Rock Lobster! Despite the name, it was not actually a lobster, just rocks they trapped from under the water like a lobster.

While the sisters waited, Maud went through the mail. "This must be Pinkie's invitation," she said unenthused about the letter covered in pink and sparkles. Opening it, she ignored the POP while Marble flinched; Limestone just seemed to angrily roll her eyes. Maud quickly read the invitation and moved to the second. Taking about a second to read the entire letter, she monotoned to her sister Marble, "this is for you."

Marble seemed confused as she rarely got any letters, but at least this one should be from Pinkie. Maud moved onto the next letter as she pulled out her pet rock. "Look Boulder, you got a letter too; from your cousin, Sandy." Marble read her letter as a slight blush came to her face. Once finished, Limestone grew jealous being the only pony without correspondence. She decided to intrude onto Marble, "WELL?? ANYTHING INTERESTING??!!"

"Mmm-hmm!"

Zecora was beside her hut meditating on a beautiful day. She was relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet when it was interupted with a loud CRASH. Calmly, she remarked,

"Here comes the post, I see,
somepony has written to me."

Before Zecora could greet the mailmare, it seemed the scary mask beside the door to her hut had frightened her away... again. Zecora found but a single letter on the ground in front of her tree-hut.

"Letters for me there is only one,
but still, it is better than none.
From Pinkie this must be; an invitation,
No doubt for the big celebration!"

Opening the invitation, the streamers and confetti seemed to fail to explode. Perhaps Zecora had some Zebra magic forbidding anything from alarming her? Moving into the hut she inspected the letter. She didn't get out much but she still, on occasion, enjoyed the company of others, even though they weren't zebras like her. Hiding behind the unused confetti, she located the second letter.

"What is this that hid from my sight,
it must be a second letter alright."

She quickly read the first line.

"For me this letter cannot be,
for I am not a pony.
But please allow me to intrude,
I intend to be curious, not rude.
A love letter to charm the romantics,
while I can appreciate the semantics".

As she read, she could admire the author and how he expressed his feelings to his secret love. She might be able to write one better, but she was still amused at the imagery and metaphors. Surprising to her was the name at the bottom.

"Big Macintosh?!......i-i-is the name of this bard," she looked around to ensure nopony caught her nearly missing a rhyme.
"Whomever she is, he has fallen for her hard!"

She knew a bit of Big Mac, but most of that was second-hoof information she got from his sister Apple Bloom while teaching her potion making. She knew Mac was strong, loyal, hard-working, and quiet, very quiet. In fact, the only interaction they had, he never said anything to her. However, that was because he couldn't say anything as he lost his voice. Still, she could see first-hoof how big, handsome, and gentle he was.

Her emotions started to stir. She began to realize how desirable a stallion like Big Mac could be, and how much she missed affection. Part of her began to hope the letter had indeed been meant for her and he just wrote "pony" out of habit. She made up her mind, she will go to the celebration and meet up with Big Mac anyway.

"Of the stallions around, Macintosh is best,
I will go meet him, I will take this test.
Ambiguous writing, this note will show,
But if I do not try, the answer is already 'No'."

Caramel started to return home from the fringes of the Everfree Forest. He'd been hired to collect wildflower seeds to prepare for the next winter wrap-up. His mind wandered, for he had received a most peculiar letter today with his invitation to the upcoming celebration. It appeared as if his friend Big Mac had sent him a love letter! Caramel knew Mac better than this; there must have been a mistake. The tan earth-pony already had a green pegasus marefriend, and Mac would occasionally comment on wanting a marefriend of his own. When he finished with his chore, Caramel would visit his friend to see if anything was wrong and how he could help.

Shortly after beginning his trek back to Ponyville, Caramel was beset by a ferocious Timber Wolf! Fearing for his life, he dropped everything he had to beat a hasty retreat back into town. Applejack will sure be cross with him for leaving the seeds behind again, but at least he'd be able to escape with his life.

After the tan Earth-pony fled, the Timber Wolf fell to the ground followed by the strings attached at various spots. The master of this lifeless marionette soon revealed herself. "Ha ha haaa..." a blue unicorn appeared from out of the bushes. "Yet another pony proves no match to the magical superiority of The Great and Powerful Tr-r-r-r-rixie!" She trotted over to her newly won prize only to be disappointed by the humble spoils. "SEEDS?! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands a greater tribute for such a clever and masterful illusion!"

Looking away from the litter of seeds, she spotted a note. "Trixie hopes this was important to you, then she can regain some small satisfaction for you wasting her time!" she chided as if the escaped Caramel had any choice in the matter. Reading the note, she began to fill with emotion, that emotion being humor. Rarely before had the showmare laughed so heartily, at least genuinely. "This is, without a doubt, the single most ridiculous thing Trixie has ever read! Trixie is amused!"

After several more moments of hysterical laughter, Trixie began to concoct a most diabolical plan. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will meet this..." she read the name, "...Macintosh in disguise. Then, when he expects his 'beloved', Trixie will reveal herself so he could see what a real mare looks like! Then he'll surely fall in love with Trixie only to have Trixie reject him, leaving him and his mare heartbroken. That will show everypony that The Great and Powerful Trixie is BEST!"

Fleetfoot gathered the mail as she headed into the break room of the Wonderbolts Academy. Spitfire and Soarin' were already there, sort of. They had been training some new recruits and trying to rehearse one of their new routines. The three top flyers could barely drag themselves into service today. Spitfire was hunched over her morning coffee while Soarin' laid back, already snoring back to sleep with his tongue hanging out of his open mouth.

"That today's mail?" asked Spitfire, eyes struggling to stay open.

"Yeah..." replied Fleetfoot. "Looks like more fanmail and an invitation from Ponyville."

"Ugh... Rainbow Dash..." the Captain of the Wonderbolts was in no mood to put up with the obsessive pegasus today. "Probably thinks she can get us to perform now that she's one of us..."

Fleefoot opened the letter with the now routine explosion of the invitation, sending streamers and confetti all over the break room table and startling the expert fliers.

"I AM SOMEPONY'S MOMMY!!!" screamed Soarin', delirious at being awoken so abruptly.

"I don't think this is from Dash," Fleetfoot obviously stated. She took a moment to read the invitation. "But it looks like you are correct. It's an invitation to the Ponyville Anniversary. Naturally they're going to want us to perform."

Spitfire groaned at this news. This meant even more overtime or falling behind on their current duties. "See if you can find some way to get out of this, will you?"

It was then that Fleetfoot noticed the second letter in the envelope. She quickly read through until she noticed the name at the bottom. Her hooves started to tremble as the rest of her seemed to lock-up, frozen in place.

"Fleetfoot? Can you do that?" reiterated Spitfire.

"All the bridesmaids will wear salmon..." Fleetfoot trailed off.

"Fleetfoot? Snap out of it!" commanded her captain.

"Huh? Sorry!" she apologized. "I...uh, think we should do the show..."

Naturally, Spitfire was confused. She looked over to Soarin' for reassurance only to find him hunched over and back asleep. "Wait a sec Fleetfoot, a moment ago you seemed against it like I did. Why the sudden change?"

"Uh... err..." she stammered looking for any excuse. "I... just think it'll be good for morale! After all, it's our duty to perform! Right?" the white-maned pegasus stared back at her captain expectantly, hoping that will convince her.

"Fiiiine!" Spitfire relented. "Let Crash know that we'll..."

Fleetfoot never heard the end of that sentence. She quickly bolted to her private office and made her way to the locker. Opening it revealed a treasury of artifacts pertaining to Big Macintosh. His portrait that she purchased filled the back wall with the custom pony toy Spike made set in front. Her favorite item had to be the plushie modeled after Pinkie Pie which had an oversized head. She remembered how Big Mac destroyed an entire carnival game with his impressive display of power and emotion just to win this for her, or so she thought. Whenever she felt down, she would give this toy an embrace and reassure herself that her one true love was out there.

Now she had a new treasure! A note written by Macintosh himself declaring his feelings for her. Soon she would be able to retire and use the bits she saved up as a Wonderbolt to travel the world seeking adventure and romance with her gallant stallion! Setting the tiny toy aside, she made way for the note to take its position as her centerpiece. She hugged the giant Pinkie as she lost herself in thoughts of fancy.

"Honeymoon in Las Pegasus...."

Princess Celestia eagerly sat in the throne room as she awaited the arrival of today's mail. She knew the invitation was coming, she just wanted to play a quick prank on her younger sister Luna. She struggled to keep her straight face as Luna entered.

"You appear impatient. Is something the matter, my sister?" the blue younger Alicorn queried.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just waiting for today's mail; seeing if anything interesting arrives," she calmly replied. The sisters already let Princess Twilight know they would be attending, but it was still nice to receive a formal invitation.

"Well, the sooner we get out of Canterlot, the better," Luna stated matter-of-factly. "The temporary guard Cadance sent on loan is severely trying my patience!" The castle had a few guards fall ill and Cadance seemed much too eager to send a temporary replacement. "If I have to put up with him much longer, I will have him replace Cerberus! That will strike fear into the heart of every villain in Tartarus!"

"Surely he can't be that bad," Celestia believed all her subjects were good and inherently honorable. There is no way one of her own Royal Guards could fill her sister with such disdain.

"You shall see for yourself!" Luna scoffed. The object of her contempt stood at the doorway to the throne room. He was trying to woo a castle attendant who looked obviously uncomfortable and hoped for any polite way to cease the conversation, to no success. "GUARD!" Luna screamed. "Have you any messages for us!" With the momentary distraction, the frightened attendant fled through the doors as fast as her four legs could carry her.

"Oh, ch- yah!" The pegasus flew over to the Royal sisters. "THE ROYAL MAIL HAS ARRIVED....." he stood in a heroic pose with his foreleg extended.

".........."

He said nothing as he kept his pose.

".........."

The sisters stared at each in awkward silence, disbelieving one of their own personal guards could be this dense. "AND..." Luna finally spoke up, "What IS it?!"

"Oh, RIGHT!" he snapped out of it. The guard pulled out Pinkie's invitation and presented it to the Princesses with a prideful grin. When Luna reached out to grab the letter, the colt gave her a flirtatious wink and bobbed his brow. She retracted her foreleg, rolled her eyes, and grabbed the letter using her magic instead.

Celestia seemed in mild disbelief. "Guard, do you realize that attendant is happily married?" referring to his earlier attempt.

"What about it, Bro?" he seemed ignorantly confused.

"GUARD! THIS IS PRINCESS CELESTIA! SOVEREIGN OF ALL EQUSTRIA! YOU DO NOT CALL HER...'BRO'!" Luna screamed, fed up with the insolent pegasus.

"Sorry Bro! Er, I mean your highness!" he begged.

"ENOUGH! AWAY WITH YOU!" Luna seemed to snap. "LEST WE SEND YOU TO SPEND A THOUSAND YEARS ON THE MOON WITH NONE BUT THE MOST ANNOYING INHABITANTS OF YAKYAKISTAN!"

The terrified pegasus did his best to leave as quickly as able. Celestia looked over at her enraged sister apologetically, "please forgive me, my sister. I should not have doubted you."

"It's all right," Luna calmed down. "Perhaps we can just leave early and be rid of this nonsense."

"Of course," Celestia added as she pointed to the invitation. "Just don't forget to open the mail," still trying to hide her laughter, she waited for her younger sister.

Luna opened the envelope with a startling POP. Streamers and confetti now adorned her regal crown. Celestia couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight of her "Royal Sister".

"Really?" Luna chastised. "Is this how the 'Sovereign of all Equestria' behaves?" She sat up from her throne and started to walk away. "Well, I'm going to go pack, and I'm keeping the letter!" She marched onto her quarters, leaving her sister laughing on the throne.

As Luna stomped into her quarters, she threw the invitation onto her canopy crescent-moon bed. After setting her luggage beside it, she finally opened the invitation to inspect the letter. The princess smiled as she looked forward to the festivities. Sticking out of the envelope was an unnoticed second letter. "There is more?" she asked envelope.

Reading the new letter, her anger seemed to return at the thought of a new admirer attempting to woo the Alicorn princess. "Stallions never change..." She was ready to give up on love altogether until she noticed the signature. "Macintosh," she pondered to herself. "Macintosh... where do I know that name?" It sounded familiar, but she just couldn't place it. "Oh yes! Now we remember!" the joyful princess exclaimed. "Big Mac! The 'Alicorn Prince' who helped me with the Tantabus!" She started to recall other encounters with the shy earth-pony. "We also joined forces at that fair one time! We defeated many rivals! HUZZAH!"

Her expression changed from anger to retrospection. "He seemed a very quiet and sensitive pony, it does my heart good to know that there are at least some honorable stallions out there." Being The Princess, many stallions would vie for her attention, though she ignored them all. Big Mac was a stallion that seemed genuine, if not a little fearful. She liked him, even going so far as to steal a kiss; an action condemned by her elder sister. Luna sighed, "maybe I will go see him..."

"See whom?" Celestia inquired as she entered the room.

Surprised, Luna tried hiding the note, "NOPONY! I-I-I meant to say her...Twilight, I mean! Maybe I will visit Twilight Sparkle!" Luna was a terrible liar.

"Sister," Celestia started to lecture, "I know what you are planning. I followed shortly after you to apologize. But we both know we can not become involved with our subjects. The pain would be too great with their inevitable death."

"I know," Luna lamented, "but I spent so much time alone. And now that I'm back, I can enter everypony's dreams, see their thoughts and desires yet still not become involved unless absolutely necessary. I feel lonelier than ever!" She began to sob in a state of self pity.

Her emotions were not lost on Celestia. "You will always have me, but I know that can not always be enough. It's a blessing to live so long, but also a curse." She paused for a moment of self reflection. "Very well," she relinquished, "Let us at least meet with this stallion and hear what he has to say!"

Luna leapt as she gave her elder sister an approving hug. Celestia was still uneasy as she too knew of Big Macintosh. He was more than Applejack's brother or an integral cog of the economical infrastructure of Equestria. He was a deep, sensitive, and intelligent pony worthy of any mare, including a princess. Part of her grew jealous with Luna's sudden infatuation of the large earth-pony.

After all, wasn't the letter was addressed to both of them?