Chapter One
“There are Apples in Canterlot? Wowee, Granny Smith! I want to go too!”
“Now hold on, little missy”, said old Granny Smith, winking at the filly Applejack. “You’re too young to head off into the big city on your own.”
Applejack screwed up her face. “Too young? Too young? Mac’s only four years older than me! And anyway, I can apple buck as good as him any day!”
“Apple buckin’ doesn’t count for age, young filly”, said Granny Smith.
“Is it because I’m not as strong as him?” Applejack pressed. “Just give me a yoke and you’ll see. I bet I can pull twice as much —“
“Applejack…” smiled Granny.
“But… but…” Applejack began, trying to buff up her losing argument. She stared at her tall brother Mac who was standing silently in a corner, as he usually did. He had their late father’s cowboy hat on his head and was wistfully chewing on straw, eyeing her carefully. He did not offer her any help, just smiled and proceeded in his thoughtful state.
Applejack angrily stuck her tongue out at him, then proceeded to gallop out of the house.
“Now where do you think you’re going, Applejack?” called out Granny Smith, wobbling in her armchair.
“To see Rarity!” yelled Applejack from outside.
Granny Smith chuckled as she steadied her armchair. She glanced back at Mac, who was still daydreaming in his corner, the straw hanging from his mouth. She grinned at him, appreciating her silent grandson, then nimbly hopped off her armchair. Her landing gave Mac a start and he toppled over, having been leaning on the wall. The bit of straw fell out of his mouth.
Granny Smith chuckled again, then asked, “You goin’ to get your little sister, then?”
Mac stared at Granny. It took him a couple of seconds for him to realise what she was asking, then he nodded and muttered, “Eyup”, before trotting out of the house.
He found her in town, sitting dismally outside Sugarcube Corner with a half-eaten muffin the Cakes had given her. She eyed the sad muffin as though it was her last hope, poking at it miserably. However, when she saw Mac rounding the corner and coming towards her, she gobbled the rest of the muffin in one bite and jumped off her seat. She glared at him, ready to gallop away again.
“It’s not fair!” she cried, throwing a huff. From the insides of their bakery, the Cakes worriedly glanced out of the window.
Mac looked back at them and nodded, signalling that he had the situation under control. These miniature tantrums were a common thing for Applejack, and Mac was very glad that there was just one of her. He just hope that the baby Apple Bloom, who was back at the farm with Granny Smith, wouldn’t grow up to be such a loud filly like Applejack. He wouldn’t know what to do.
“I want to go too! I don’t get why Granny Smith is letting you go all on your own and not me! I can take care of myself!”
Applejack was working herself up before Mac’s eyes. She was shaking and stomping her hooves about as though a bull ready to charge, but Mac knew that she wasn’t going to go anywhere. If this was just like all the other little huffs Applejack threw, then he knew exactly where it was going. In three…
“I’m as strong as you!”
Two…
“I can be just as responsible, too!”
One…
“And I’m not scared of the big city!”
And that’s when she burst into tears. Before he knew it, she was running into him and digging her face into his bright red flank, shaking uncontrollably. Without saying a word, Mac pulled his little sister towards one of the benches outside Sugarcube Corner and held her tightly as she continued sobbing.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Mrs. Cake bustling around and preparing to run out in case he needed help. He shook his head, stopping her dead in her tracks. He knew exactly how to handle Applejack when she had worked herself up like that. That was why Granny Smith always sent him out after her when she ran off.
And he always knew how to find her.
She had said Rarity’s, yes, but he’d known that she would never have gotten there. She always made it halfway to her initial destination then stopped, unable to hold the sadness within her. And he knew —or at least hoped —that deep down she always wanted him to be able to find her. So she would sit still in an open space, pretending to miserable, and wait for her big brother to come to her rescue.
And Mac always did.
“I’m sorry”, she sobbed into his flank, wiping her tears against his shoulder. He didn’t mind.
“It’s okay, AJ”, he said, smiling down at her.
“It’s just —“ and he could tell she was struggling to get these words out, so he let her take her time “—it’s just that… I don’t want you to go.”
This statement, which had obviously been hard for her to say, took him by surprise. Though Applejack was generally predictable to Mac —from her tantrums to her impossible honesty —he had not expected her to say those words at all.
It had been about a year since the accident that had left Mac, Applejack and baby Apple Bloom orphaned. Since then, Mac had had to grow up pretty quick so as to look after his little sisters as well as tend to the farm. Even when Granny Smith had moved in with them less than a month after their parents’ passing, Mac still bore all the responsibilities of the house, from organising the animals to planning apple-bucking season. It had only been recently that Applejack had been allowed to join in and help, doing the jobs that didn’t require as much skill to them. However, Mac had noticed, his sister did have the raw Apple-family skill for working on the farm and soon she had joined him in the orchards, apple bucking like the best of them.
And that was when Mac had decided that his sister was strong. He could already see her in the future, taking over the farm and allowing him to recede into his quiet, helpful state. Already she was asking about how cider was being produced and how they could maximise on produce. The other day she had suggested ways on how to get rid of the fruit bats that had recently invaded their eastern orchard. Sometimes he wondered whether Applejack’s innate sense of responsibility had come about on its own accord, or had developed due to the loss of their parents, like his.
And now he realised, as he looked into his sister’s dripping, green eyes, he had never once heard her express how much she still needed him.
The pang that hit his heart was painful. He held her tighter, tipping his late father’s hat so as to hide the tears that were also threatening to fall out of his own brown eyes.
“AJ”, he said, clutching his little sister as though some invisible force was going to tear them apart, “don’t worry. You know I’ll be back as soon as you know it.”
“I know…” she sobbed, still quivering. “But… but, what if you don’t? What if you like the big city so much that… that you decide to stay there with cousin Gaff?”
At this he chuckled, letting the tears fall. Applejack stared up at him, at his amused face now streaming with tears, and couldn’t help smiling as well. She reached up and brushed the tears off her brother’s cheeks and laughed with him, realising how absurd her question was.
“You know I’ll never do that”, Mac said anyway, grinning. “You think I’m just gonna leave the farm in the hands of Granny Smith? You’ve gotta be crazy for asking that!”
They laughed together again, still holding on to each other. A filly and her brother.
From behind the glass, the Cakes watched the scene. Mrs Cake, always a sucker for poignant endings, was patting a handkerchief on her face.
After several moments of drying their tears and laughing at the idea of Granny single-handedly taking care of the girls and the farm, Mac got up and turned to face his still seated sister. He smiled at her as he slowly took off their father’s hat. He held it in his hoof for a moment, staring at it and breathing it it woody, sentimental scent. Then, with all the care in the world, he placed it atop his little sister’s straw-coloured mane.
The joy that drew itself on her face was unimaginable. She beamed at him as the too-big hat fell over her eyes. She blew on it until it settled, almost too perfectly, atop her head, then excitedly asked, “What’s this for?”
Mac swallowed, smiling back at his sister. What he had just done had been tough —he had worn that had every day for almost a year now, never once having washed it in fear of removing his father’s musty scent. However, he’d known just then that Applejack needed it way more than he did. So he’d had to let it go.
“It’s… a promise”, he said, raising his hoof. “A promise that I’ll definitely be back before you know it.”
Applejack stared at him, then down at the raised hoof. She then raised her own hoof, touched his and grinned under the shadow of the large cowboy hat.
“I believe you”, she said, grinning back at him, “so you’d better go. Now. Or you’ll miss you train.”
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I like your start and you've got all my favorite tags. Be sure to continue this and you've got a favorite from me.
You have a fave from me now! It's very cute.
Excellent start. I can't really see where this is going, but you know what you're doing. Fav'd.
4566707 Thank you so much :pinkie happy: I'm going to be much faster with this one since I'm actually enjoying myself
4568022 cute? Aaah.. exactly what I was going for
thanksies
4570400 haha... Do I know what I'm doing tho?
It's one of those... roll with it kind of stories. I know how it ends, but I'm going to have fun with the middle bits 
4570454
Well, I meant more in the technical sense. Besides effective writing, you established an emotional basis for Mac that (I assume) is going to color the rest of the story, and characterized Mac through his relationship with his sister. You could have just shoved him on the train with a note or briefly noted memory as a pretext, but you took the time to show that leaving the farm is kind of a big deal for BM. That says a lot.
4570543 aww shucks
thank you!! I was about to just shove Mac into the train, but then I really wanted to write about a miniature, kind of bratty Applejack 
And then... it kind of became really personal. Anyway, thanks for noticing! 
Good start. I'm intrigued with where you plan to go with this . Also I think the bit "...would have given her" should be "...had given her". Other than that, I didn't notice anything glaring.
Also, who doesn't love Big Mac's steadfast stoicism?!
4573476
Thanks!! I'll really try how to keep the quality up... but I'm not sure exactly where that part is? The change you want me to make...
4584651 The sentence where Big Mac finds AJ sitting outside Sugarcube Corner.
4584675 Seen it. Thanks