Chapter Four
“HEY! COUSIN MAC!”
Gaff Apple, a hay-coloured stallion, was galloping through the thick throng of travelling ponies towards Mac, followed by a Mars black stallion. Gaff had a pale yellow patch that coloured the tip of his nose and his forehead. The same yellow fur coloured his hoofs, making him look like he was wearing knee-length socks. As his pale green mane flipped over his head, a unicorn horn revealed itself upon his head, taking Mac by surprised. He didn’t know… there were unicorn Apples.
“Mac!” Gaff gasped as he slowed in front of his cherry red cousin. His large, green eyes squinted at his country cousin, a large smile spreading on his face. “It really is you!”
The dark stallion that had been following Gaff slowed just a couple of paces behind him. Mac glanced at him, noticing how his dark purple eyes were squinting suspiciously at something behind him. When the stallion noticed Mac was looking at him, he smiled hastily, shaking his short, glossy blue mane vigorously.
“We’ve been looking all over for you”, said Gaff, sitting down in exhaustion.
The dark stallion laughed, joining Gaff on the screed floor. “For some reason, Gaff was sure that you’d be wearing a sprawling cowboy hat and chewing on hay.”
“Hey!” Gaff started, grinning at his friend. “That’s how he looked in the photo Granny Smith had sent us —“
“Well, that’s rude.”
There was a short silence before Gaff’s smile gradually slipped off his face. The dark pony’s eyes squinted again, the same suspicious look recolouring his face.
They were both staring at the group of ponies behind Mac. The whispered comment, which had obviously meant to be heard, had come from the only male and tallest amongst them. LP was glaring down at Gaff and his friend, immediately creating tension amongst the ponies.
Mac, who was still standing between them, didn’t know what to do. He had never seen such pure ferocity between three ponies before. Both Gaff and his friend sprang up, almost squaring the white stallion. However, LP was taller than the both of them. When he stepped forward, silently forcing Mac to step aside, he looked much older than the two much shorter stallions. Gaff and his friend, however, didn’t seem to be backing down.
Mac wasn’t sure what was going on.
And that’s when Cheerilee, in a small voice, said, “Come on, LP. Not here.”
Mac didn’t get a chance to bid his childhood friend goodbye. Almost immediately after the most awkward squaring off Mac had ever been between, Mae had suggested they ‘just’ leave.
No one had disputed her and both parties had taken off. It was so quick and so tense that Mac hadn’t had a chance to wave at Cheerilee. When he’d turned back, having been almost herded by Gaff and his friend, he’d noticed Cheerilee basically being towed by Mae and LP.
Mac felt an unusual anger bubbling up inside him, and he knew who it was targeting. He’d only just met that LP fellow, and already he didn’t like him. Something about him. Mac shook his head, trying to return to the task at hand:
Walking. And dragging his grandmother’s suitcase.
“Would you like us… to help you?” asked the dark pony, staring at the struggling Mac. They hadn’t yet made it onto the street —the station was huge —mainly due to the fact that Mac’s dragging was taking an humiliatingly long time. And the crowds of ponies weren’t helping.
“Specifically, would you like Gaff to help you?” said the dark pony. Upon saying this, he nudged Gaff and laughed. Gaff’s face fell, then he shyly smiled again.
“I’ve been practicing, okay!” he said defensively, shaking his head. His short horn sparked spastically, it’s pale yellow light fading frequently.
At this point, Mac felt his suitcase handle tug between his teeth, as though gaining a life of its own, and he let go hastily.
He wasn’t used to magic. In fact, Ponyville was known for having the smallest population of unicorns in all of Equestria. Now that he thought of it, the only unicorns he knew were Applejack’s friend Rarity and her family. So that was… four unicorns in total.
Huh.
And now he was not only in the Equestrian capital, but also the city primarily populated with unicorns.
He watched as his gran’s old suitcase shuddered slightly before, slowly, rising up off the screed floor of the station. He stared at it incredulously, having always been fascinated by unicorn magic. Behind him, Gaff’s friend was laughing under his breath. When he looked back towards them, he noticed Gaff’s concentration being put off my his friend’s laughter.
Very soon afterwards, Gaff’s horn stopped glowing.
There was a crash, and when Mac looked back at the worn suitcase, the fabric had split. The few items he had carried spilled out onto the floor, and ponies around them just stepped over them like rubbish.
If Mac wasn’t already bright red in colour, he would’ve turned tomato bloody. Embarrassment washed over him like cold water.
“Shut up, 8-Bit!”
The dark pony, 8-Bit, had fallen backwards, laughing so loudly he began braying. Ponies around them stopped and stared as Gaff rushed to Mac’s aid, magically collecting up his stuff and apologising.
“Look”, he was saying, trying to gather the things that were out of reach. “My magic isn’t brilliant, okay? And I’m starting Magic School at the end of summer so I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have tried!”
Mac didn’t say anything.
In the midst of all the chaos of a ripped suitcase, randomly spilt contents and rushing pony hooves, he was ardently searching for one particular item. A wooden frame that was extremely important for him to find. And 8-Bit’s ridiculous laughter and Gaff’s apologies weren’t helping.
It was almost like —so many things had gone wrong already. Now this?
“Is that everything?” Gaff asked, pushing more and more things into the ripped suitcase. It bulged oddly, the rip getting bigger.
“No…”
Panicking, Mac began moving around the station, completely forgetting about his extreme social anxiety. He kept accidentally knocking ponies out of the way, and frequently received rude comments from the majority. But he didn’t care.
“What’s left?” Gaff asked from over the split suitcase.
“Just”, Mac muttered, “something important…”
The he saw it. Much to his dismay, however, there was smashed glass scattered around the small, wooden frame. It was just a few feet away from him, on the floor. Noticing the broken glass, ponies avoided the frame and it sat there, looking desolate. Relieved Mac began moving towards it.
However, as he approached, it began to glow —a pale, yellow light spread around it and made it shudder. Mac stopped, suddenly worried.
“No…”
Gaff suddenly appeared beside him, his horn glowing and a proud smile colouring his face. “Is this what you were looking for?” he said, lifting the frame towards the two of them. “Then you’d better be careful —glass everywhere.”
Mac watched as Gaff’s eyes finally landed on the picture inside the frame, his smile suddenly disappearing. What replaced it was a thoughtful expression, curious and slightly confused. He eyed the photograph intently, and Mac felt his heart beat pick up in speed.
“Don’t worry”, Gaff said, his voice suddenly down to a whisper, “I’m much better with smaller items.”
The he looked at Mac. Mac looked back, not quite knowing what to expect.
“Are they…” Gaff asked slowly, “…your parents?”
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Well, yes, but . . . LP is a jerk! I'd love to see some foreshadowy CheeriMac shipping!
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Gaff and 8-Bit? They're some of my favorite characters from the comic book.
I'm enjoying seeing Big Mac and his experience in the (apparently 1980s) big city, and I'll look forward to more.
4631894 thanks!! I'm just... diving head first into this story so I'm glad people are liking it
4631942 1980s... hmm, I don't know much about the culture then, but I'll try and incorporated the obvious retro cues just so we remember that this was BEFORE the time of the actual series. Haha! I know, I also loved those two AND Poindexter so much that I just had to!! And... I'm not really sure of painting LP as a bad guy. This story was initially supposed to focus on HIM, but then it just flew off in a completely different direction... (am I giving away too much?)
No shipping? But the story is labeled romance!
Besides that, was there any particular reason Big Mac was having trouble hauling a suitcase? You explicitly state that he didn't have very many possessions when it breaks open, but don't explain why he has difficulty carrying something designed to be easily transported. Is he unusually weak as a youth or something?
4632403
ooft... now I'm scared. I think I'll take the Romance tag off then? I'm still not sure where I'm taking this so please excuse the flakiness... if you can bear with me then thanksies. If you can't then I apologise... 
umm, well, he's having difficulties because he's having to drag it using his mouth through a thick crowd of ponies. Not that's it's ridiculously heavy, just that its a ridiculously difficult task. I dunno, maybe I should explain that a little further. Also, he's not the well-known 'Big' Mac yet, and even if he was I'm not the keenest on the idea of earth ponies being extra strong or anything. But don't take that as my headcanon... I'm yet to change my mind.
also... I'm terrified. Thanks for the hard hitting question
4632438
Well, the shipping thing was kind of a joke, really. I have to assume there's some reason you tagged it as you did, and that usually means shipping. But it is what you make of it.
I do feel that the suitcase requires some sort of explanation in the story, since you made its coming apart the focus of the chapter. Whether or not earth ponies (or even Mac) are really strong is besides the point, because carrying luggage filled with relatively few belongings is no great feat of strength. Although there is a point to be made for an earth pony farmer who's used to hard labor and carrying things in his mouth having especially little difficulty.
Maybe it was already damaged? If that was the case it would explain Mac treating it especially carefully and it breaking apart so easily when it was dropped.
4632682
I like that as an explanation actually... I think it just needs more detailing. I'll incorporate that, if you don't mind.. make him more cautious than struggling? Thanks.
The shipping... give me a second to think about that. Because I do have a chapter where we see cheerilee again and... well.
Well, I wonder what the story is between LP and Gaff. Also I think 'hearded' should be 'herded.'