Yes - Big Mac & Applejack
Like a huddling of snow pushed up against a corner and left to be forgotten, the final remnants of foam gathered itself along the porcelain shores of a pristine black lake, waiting for the moment when they would finally disappear and leave nothing but a tepid pool that no longer held the sparkle of winter.
Through the window, the snowflakes fell piece by piece, each counted, each observed, no two the same but yet all the same as a matter of perspective.
They swelled upwards with a sudden breeze on the other side of a wall of glass, leaving the cup of coffee untouched, not a single ripple scarring its perfect surface.
Big Mac sat, quietly, in wait, watching the snow as it danced through the foggy morning.
All around, cheer.
All around, happiness.
The voices lifted, they roared, they called, they whooped and hollered even in this early morning, for it was a morning of joy and celebration, even for the things they knew nothing about.
Big Mac sat, quietly. Perhaps there was no reason to wait for anything. Perhaps there was nothing he was expecting.
A gust upset his coffee as the door opened, and a tatty, hoof-knit scarf wrapped around a cold face appeared.
“Hey,” Applejack said.
Big Mac nodded. Slowly. Twice. There wasn’t much point in trying to chase away his sister. Tenacity was something that she had more of, and he just didn’t feel like arguing.
Applejack sat, as she was going to.
“Hey, Mac,” she repeated, sliding into it. She was careful not to look straight at Big Mac.
But he knew. He knew what was to come. He knew what was ahead. He nodded once more, saying everything he needed to in that small gesture.
“I just don’t think it’s right to keep this going on too long,” Applejack spoke to the window. “Two days is cuttin’ it.”
Big Mac nodded, but not convincingly so.
“Is that all?” Applejack shrugged.
Big Mac shrugged back.
“Damnit, talk, Mac!” Applejack slammed her hoof on the table.
The stallion’s mouth opened, closed to moisten his drying tongue, and opened again. He tapped his hooves together, running them around as if twisting up an imaginary napkin.
“It ain’t easy,” he spat out.
“It never is. But you can’t do this. You know this as well as I do. Now, listen. We’ve all given you enough space, but ain’t nothin’ gonna be solved if you just clam up to yerself.”
“You don’t gotta worry.”
“I kinda do.” Applejack gave him a look. “And you can best believe I ain’t leaving here until we sort this out.”
“What if I just leave?” Mac asked. “What’s stoppin’ me?”
“You’re stoppin’ you. You know darn well this is somethin’ you ain’t gonna walk out on. But the longer you take, the more likely she’s gonna be the one doin’ the walkin’.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Look, Mac, whatever it is, let’s work it out. Keeping her waiting is probably about the worst thing to do to a gal. You gotta give her your answer.”
“Don’t got one,” he murmured, finally getting it out.
“Well, you better come up with one quick.” Applejack frowned. “Come on, Mac. Mama didn’t raise no saplings. Why ain’t you sure?”
“Because she asked.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Wasn’t me who asked.”
“I’m still not followin’.”
Mac played with his hooves again.
“What is it?” Applejack prodded. “Nervous? Jitters? Well, we all get that sometimes. But I’m gonna be be–”
She was cut off by a rapid shaking of Mac’s head, his bushy mane shuffling back and forth.
“Then tell me,” Applejack implored.
“I don’t get why she was the one who asked me first. I should have been the one t’ do that.”
“Oh no, you ain’t sayin’ that, Mac. I know you better. You ain’t boilin’ this down to a simple case of who gets to do what. She has every right to ask as much as you do.”
“No, that ain’t it at all.”
“Then what?”
“I don’t know if I was ever gonna ask if she didn’t.”
“What, you sayin’ you don’t love her?”
Mac shook his head again, angrily this time, over the beginnings of a frown.
“Then what’s it matter who asked, or who asked first?” Applejack questioned.
“What if she made a mistake?”
“By asking?”
“Yep.”
“Is that… a mistake that usually happens?” Applejack asked.
“Nope. I mean… I was waitin’. For things to be right.”
“Yeah, I get that. But I think you better explain why this means you ain’t ready to settle on somethin’.”
“Maybe I took too long.”
Applejack waited patiently for Big Mac to gather his thoughts. He was always one of minute expression.
“I mean, I always kept waitin’. Just goin’ on,” Mac said. “But I wonder what I was waitin’ for, sometimes. I wonder why I didn’t just ask first. Why it got to the point that she couldn’t wait no more.”
“Because she feels it’s the right time, Mac.”
“But I didn’t. And she knew that. I always kept on thinkin’, things could always be better. We were waiting for me to be ready.”
“Things can always be better, Mac. There ain’t no such thing as a perfect harvest.”
“So maybe I just can’t provide for her that’ll make me happy.”
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t be happy.” Applejack said.
Immediately, she waved her hoof in front of her face, as if swatting a fly away.
“No, no, no,” she said. “That ain’t what I meant. Look. I mean… You just don’t feel good about it because you’re tryin’ to be perfect. And that ain’t ever gonna happen. You want the best, and that’s natural, and you wanna make sure everything’s as smooth as butter. And that’s understandable. But for her, there’s somethin’ really a lot simpler that she wants.”
“Yeah.”
“She wants to get married.”
The snow kicked up once more, swirling through the air.
“You know,” Applejack continued. “Whether you think you’re ready or not ain’t the problem. She thinks you’re ready. And I suppose that’s the whole point.”
“Yeah. I get that. Maybe if I explained it to her…”
“You probably owe her some kinda explanation either way.”
Big Mac sighed again.
“I really don’t get what’s eatin’ you so bad.” Applejack said, honestly.
“She just shouldn’t have asked me.”
Applejack shook her head. It was hard when he was being stubborn. It was harder when that stubbornness was being backed by fear and a lack of confidence.
“So what do you want to do?” Applejack asked.
“I’ll tell her. She’ll understand. I just need a bit more time. And when things are right, I’ll let her know.”
“If you say so, Mac.” Applejack responded, quietly.
“She’ll understand, right?”
“Yeah, of course she will.”
“She’s great like that.”
“She’ll understand. But you know what?” Applejack raised her voice. “You’re going to disappoint her. And it has nothing to do with how ‘ready’ you are about all of this. It has everything to do with the fact that you’re just lettin’ some silly notions distract ya from the right thing.
“Do you want to know why she didn’t wait for you? Do you want to know why she asked first? It’s simple. When ponies want something, they ask for it. Sometimes, even when they know the risks, they still want something bad enough that they’re going to try anyway. It’s as simple as that. She don’t care ‘bout perfection. She wants you not to worry neither.
“I think the only question you really have to ask yourself right now is if this is somethin’ you also want. Not sometime later. Not sometime in the past. Right now. And I think you really oughta stop worryin’ so much about anythin’ else, because there are things you can work out later, and things you gotta worry about now, and you are making me goldarn angry, Big Mac!”
Applejack took in a breath and brushed her mane out from under her face, sitting back down. She hadn’t remembered standing up. She also hadn’t noticed when The Owner had appeared, standing beside her with a strange look on his face.
“I don’t know how I can put this more simply for you,” Applejack said.
“Miss Applejack,” The Owner said. “You look… ready to order.”
Big Mac shrunk into his seat.
Applejack turned to look. “I’m not thi–”
“Although,” The Owner cut her off. “I’m not sure why you needed to take so long to answer. There is only one obvious choice, of course.”
“Beg your pardon?” Big Mac muttered.
“Oh, I apologize.” The Owner turned. “I was speaking to the lady. We have a delightful butternut-pumpkin latte on special. It’s your chance to get it now only for this short time. Once it’s gone, who knows when it will be back? Even if you asked yourself later, we might not be able to accommodate. And you surely will regret missing out on this fabulous offer.”
Applejack just stared.
“Clearly, you know what your answer must be.” The Owner said.
Big Mac stood up.
“Hey! Where are you goin’?” Applejack followed suit.
“Schoolhouse. I gotta go now.”
“What are you gonna do?” Applejack threw out in a half-threat as Mac made for the door.
“I’m gonna get married!”
“But it’s the middle of class!”
“I don’t care!” Mac said, letting the door shut behind him.
“You left your…” Applejack held up a scruffy, beige, thick-weave. “... scarf.”
She smacked her lips, settling back down into the comfortable plush chair as the snow kicked up even more furiously outside.
“I guess that settles it, huh?” Applejack said aloud.
The Owner rocked back and forth on hooves, looking with a plain expression from the door to Applejack.
“Was it something I said?” he asked.
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If I needed a reminder of why I like your writing, I just found it.
Real subtle, there. Though with Big Macintosh, sometimes you need to drive that hint in with a sledgehammer before it penetrates.
A lovely bit of sibling interaction and an important message.
5705467 I actually liked it better than season 3. It's my second favorite season.
5704785 Well no, but there were some episodes that could make you scratch your head wondering what you just watched.
5705542
Yeah, that's what a lot of people tell me. I'll get around to it eventually. It was kind of the sour nonsense of 3 that made me not really wanna get back into it.
So if Derpy and Pinkie can see past the expected into the actuality does that mean that they are the only one's who can truly see reality without the bias of perception and expectation. If so then does that mean the can see The Owner's true form and remember it. And if that is true then what is stopping them from shattering the whole cafe illusion and construction. Also I feel like I missed some sort of cross over in the last chapter. This is some great philosophical stuff.
5714449
Well, first of all, it's quite lucky that that event never occurred, nor did the real Pinkie or Derpy ever go down that line! This will be explained more in the next ■□ chapter.
In addition, I like to see the Prism as an organization that is very paranoid about being found out. They have many safeguards in place to fight against those who are... more sensitive to truth. Which is not to say that it's 100% defensible, of course, but this is another topic brought up in a later chapter/story.
And you didn't miss a crossover. It was just how the story came out, although I can understand why you might think so. It's of radically different tone than the rest that's passed by so far, but that's the fun of having guest writers in the first place, yeah?
Thank you for reading and thinking!
Oh you sly dog Owner you. *grins and points*
Heh.
Come on, AJ, you spent all chapter nagging Mac into action, and now that he's in action you're complaining? Silly pony.
This chapter reminds me of my long-term theory about CheeriMac. While not my favorite Mac ship I also don't mind it, but above all else it's the one ship that I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest about if we end up seeing it set sail in the show someday.
This is... an amazingly apt analogy for people.
5793086
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