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Bachelor Party1,458 words
The Ultimate Challenge3,093 words
Meet The Parents1,896 words
The Big Day1,756 words
Baby Talk1,533 words
Shopping Trip3,764 words
Back On The Homestead2,399 words
Special Delivery2,554 words
Family Meeting3,224 words

Back On The Homestead

Macintosh had been sitting quietly on the sofa reading a book before hearing a knock at the door. Spike had already left with Trixie earlier in the morning due to the distance to the diamond dog territory. Trixie had informed them that Twilight would be along later with supplies for dragon-proofing the house. Macintosh slid a bookmark into the spot he stopped on and left the book on the end table before trotting to answer the door. He opened the immense door to reveal his sort-of sister-in-law, Twilight Sparkle, just the pony he had been expecting. What he hadn't been expecting was the extreme amount of lab equipment she was carrying in saddlebags and in her magical aura.

"Er, howdy Twilight. Ya need some help there?" He asked stowing his surprise away. She shook her head no before answering.

"Oh, no thank you. I have it under control really." Twilight replied happily as she trotted into the living room.

She levitated a large array of items out of her bags and placed them on a fold-up table that was among the first items she set up. There was a vast array of beakers and vials containing various chemicals in every color of the rainbow. She passed each item in front of her in her aura before checking off the items on a list also held in midair with her quill. Spike had told him about her near obsessive levels of organization, but seeing it first hoof was somewhat worrying.

"Is all this really necessary?" Macintosh asked looking over the items flying around his living room. He had to duck as he was nearly struck in the head by a centrifuge.

"Yes, the compound I'm going to use to make everything fireproof needs to be fresh when it's applied. So, I brought the essentials with me so that time wouldn't be much of a factor." Twilight replied as she began mixing the colorful liquids according to another paper she had pulled from her seemingly bottomless bags.

"Now, correct me if ah'm wrong. But aren't ya able t' teleport from Ponyville t' Canterlot on yer own? Couldn't ya've just made it at yer place n' brought it here?" Mac asked using his hoof to illustrate point A and point B by moving it from right to left quickly. Twilight looked back at him and opened her mouth to tell him exactly why she couldn't do that. Unfortunately on this occasion she could have done that with ease.

"Not making myself out to be such a genius right now am I." She said sheepishly. She had sort of wanted to show off her scientific skills, to make a good impression. This was far from the first time she had met the stallion, but this was the first time they were spending any time together alone. It had been her idea of course, it seemed like the right thing to do, but now she felt sort of silly.

"S' alright, ah get it. Yer important t' Spike an' Spike's important t' me. Ah know nuff about ya to know yer a good pony, mah sister thinks the world of ya too. Ya ain't gotta impress me." Mac said with a small, but warm smile. Twilight eased up considerably at this. She was the leading expert on the magic of friendship, but sometimes when you threw family into the mix she forgot everything.

"Right well, sorry about that. Anyway all I really need to do is mix this chemical with the floom extract. Then run it through the centrifuge for about five minutes. Then we just throw one of Peewee's feathers in the container and spray everything we need dragon proofed. It will make everything magically fire protected and taste terrible without being harmful." Twilight explained more honestly. She plucked a feather from Peewee who was asleep on a perch in the corner off the room as she mixed a purple liquid with a green watery gel.

Peewee squawked at her angrily before flying off to look for a safer place to nap. Macintosh would make sure to give the bird some extra seed for his trouble. He looked back to Twilight to see the alicorn placing several vials of the solution into the centrifuge before turning it on. It hummed to life and began rotating at a fast, but steady pace. He looked back to the green goop curiously, it seemed familiar to him.

"Ya said that green stuff was floom? How'd ya get that? Floom's a dangerous meat eatin plant from the griffon kindgom ain't it?" Macintosh asked before sniffing the substance. It was terrible, like rotten eggs and pickled cabbage had had a baby with a dirty diaper.

Twilight looked at him like he were a complete stranger. She had no idea exactly what floom extract came from, she had gotten this potion recipe and the ingredients from Zecora a couple days ago. It didn't seem possible that Macintosh would know about these things that only Zecora seemed to know anything about. Although Apple Bloom had spent an awful lot of time with the zebra over the years, perhaps she had told him about it?

"I'm actually not sure, I've never heard of it until recently. Did Apple Bloom tell you about it?" Twilight asked the strangely knowledgeable stallion.

"Ah learnt about it in school, it's one a' the most dangerous plants in the world. Ah hear it's got more uses than duct tape though." Macintosh replied as he pointed to three frames on the wall across the room. Twilight trotted across the room to read the documents in the frames.

To her great surprise they were degrees from the Equestrian Institute of Agricultural Sciences. A masters in Agricultural Science, a masters in Agronomy, and a bachelor's degree in Nutritional Science. Three fields all related to one another, and that she knew virtually nothing about. She knew Macintosh was about three years older than her, but to have that many degrees was genuinely surprising. Of course the most surprising thing was that Macintosh, the quiet, gentle stallion her brother had married was apparently brilliant.

"I had no idea that you were such an educated stallion. I knew you took care of an awful lot of things here on the farm, but I assumed it was all earth pony magic that made everything your family grows so special." Twilight said in surprise to the humble stallion.

Their was also a hint of apologetic tone to her admission. She had always thought Macintosh was a hard worker, but never a hard thinker. She recalled that Applejack had mentioned he took care of the farm's taxes and the like but never thought much of it. She had never thought of him as simple, but never considered him as being very complex either.

"Ah don't do nothin fancy t' the crops. Ah just give everythin the best ah can give it. The compost is sorted perfectly, an' it goes into the smaller crop's soil. The apple trees get the best care we can offer, an the bat droppins help enrich the soil an' spread seeds. Ah make sure the cows get the best food so they can make the best milk. Nothing like makin potions er anythin like that. Mah degrees help out with things, but ah went to school in the first place fer Pa. Before he an' Ma passed ah promised t' be the first Apple to go t' college. Ah went through the mail so's ah could still help round here, but Apples always keep their promises. Ah intend fer our girl t' go t' college too." Macintosh explained.

As he spoke he directed Twilight's attention toward a tall shelving unit in one corner of the room. Upon it were the majority of the photo's either Spike or Macintosh owned. Twilight was familiar with most of them, but Mac's were ones she hadn't seen before. There were numerous family reunion pictures and other events, but a picture of two Apples she had never seen before stuck out to her. One was a stallion, the other a mare holding a yellow foal with a red mane swaddled in a blanket. It was definitely the late Apples that were the parents of Macintosh, Applejack, and Apple Bloom. Beside it was a picture of Macintosh sitting before two headstones while wearing a tasseled cap. He wore both a smile on his lips and had tears in his eyes.

"Ma and Pa, ah ain't surprised ya ain't seen a picture a' em. AJ gets kinda torn up whenever she thinks of em too much. Ah know fer a fact she keeps one on her nightstand, but Apple Bloom asks a lotta questions. Makes her uncomfortable. Applejack takes after Ma an' Pa was a lot like me, smart but quiet and too shy fer his own good. He always regretted not goin t' college." Macintosh added. She had often wondered about the Apple family's parentage but Applejack was always reluctant to speak of them.

"I really appreciate you telling me all that Macintosh, I'm glad we agreed to get to know each other better. I see a bright future for you, Spike, and the baby. Also it's kinda nice knowing I'm not the only one with a degree around here." Twilight said with a deep feeling of gratitude. Mac nodded with his trademark subtle smile.

The tender moment was soon interrupted by the sound of the chemicals overheating. The pair looked back to the centrifuge to see the vials still spinning while on fire. Apparently floom combusts if mixed for too long, magical ingredients were fickle things. To their abject horror the vials flew from the rotating device, splattering several spots on the walls with the volatile slime. The spots instantly became stationary fireballs eating away at the wood and plaster of the walls, slowly expanding outward.

"Twilight, do somethin magical!" Macintosh shouted as he tried to keep the photographs from the fires.

Twilight lit her horn to stop the fires, but the fires had reached into the wall and heated a pipe causing a bolt to fly from it and strike her horn disabling her magic until the ringing in her head stopped.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh, my horn! I can't think straight, throw some water on it or something!" She cried in pain. She grasped the sides of her head with a hoof, trying to keep her head together.

"Ah cain't it's a chemical fire! Ya cain't use water on chemical fires!" Macintosh bellowed back as he tried to beat the fire out with a throw pillow. All that accomplished was to ignite the pillow which he threw out the door.

"Use a fire extinguisher then!" Twilight replied shakily as she wobbled to her hooves.

"We ain't got one!" Macintosh replied as he moved a houseplant away from the flames.

"What? Are you telling me, that you married a dragon, and you don't have a fire extinguisher!?" Twilight yelled in disbelief.

"Yes! Ah appreciate the irony! Yell at me when ah'm not burning up in mah own house!" Mac yelled back, patting out the small fire that had started on the yoke he wore at all times.

Suddenly, the pair's attention was drawn in by the flames funneling into one spot. The fires funneled into what seemed to be another larger, ball of fire flying about the room, drawing the wild flames into itself. As soon as all was clear, and the walls burned and bare, but still standing were out, the fireball hovered in the middle of the room. The pair's eyes never left the magical glowing fireball, entranced by the beauty and horror. The fireball soon grew smaller, and the brightness dimmed. Inside a shape could be seen, it appeared to be a bird.

"Peewee!?" Both Macintosh and Twilight gasped in confusion.

Sure enough, the flames dissipated revealing the now glowing form of the adolescent phoenix. He was beautiful in his golden glow, the natural golds and reds of his plumage accented greatly. It was somehow an even greater spectacle than seeing Philomena rise from her own ashes. It was, as many spectacles of great beauty, short lived. The glow abruptly ceased as Peewee landed on Macintosh's head and burped up a small cloud of smoke. He looked down at the stallion with an annoyed look. This was the second time he had been rudely awakened from his nap after all.

"Peewee, ah am getting ya so much birdseed fer this." Macintosh said happily. Peewee cooed appreciatively in response.

"I don't suppose you can also repair fire damage?" Twilight asked the magical bird hopefully. Peewee shook his head no sadly. Twilight massaged her aching forehead a moment as she thought.

"Well, I'd say we have about five hours until Spike and Trixie get back. I have the best clean up crew in Equestria on standby at all times. Let's face it, this is Ponyville. They can be here in an hour, and have everything done in three. We can make the solution over, and then we spray everything before they get back and we tell them about our wonderful bonding experience. Minus the fire and yelling parts, sound good?" She asked frankly.

She shakily levitated a piece of paper from her bags, anything complex would be beyond her for the rest of the night, but sending a letter wouldn't take much. Macintosh thought about their options, honesty is always the best policy.He thought. However, his desire not to tell his husband they had nearly destroyed their new home while the baby could arrive at any time won out in the end.

"Eeyup." Macintosh replied as he went off to find Twilight a quill. Spike could do without knowing this one little detail.

Author's Note:

Floom, is the liquid the witch daughters fought about retrieving when they were going to make the smooze with their mother in the first MLP movie of G1. There was a song about who should get it and everything, as Mac said it's a big ugly spiked plant that not only eats you, but also beats the tar out of you first. I imagine something so terrible would have to be useful, otherwise they would have killed it with fire by now.

And before you say anything, Twilight was a little OOC on purpose. who doesn't make a fool out of themselves trying to impress someone they find important at least once in their lives?

As for Macintosh, I just always imagined he's a character with a lot of depth we just don't know about.

Also, I've officially got a name for the baby! Both her normal name everypony will call her, and her ridiculously fancy name that nobody uses for anything other than official paperwork or whatever like I did with Spike.

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