Someone's Gotta Give

by Terra_Unigurl

Sweet

“Big Macintosh?” The trip was going better than expected for Twilight. Apparently most of the students, minus Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara whom called out sick, were eager to be outside in the sunlight. And most of the Apple family was great at demonstration. Applejack kept the fillies busy with tree planting, apple collecting, and baking. Apple Bloom helped her classmates in showing how she, a young pony, helped in collecting apples and identifying good apples from bad. But their brother was nowhere to be found on the farm. Until now.

The stallion jumped, much to the amusement of Twist and the pupils. Twilight took in the tempting smells of fritters, pies, tarts, puddings…she had to stop herself from drooling. “I didn’t think you were the brains behind the cooking.” She mused. He gave a sheepish smile.

“Not me, but a family tradition.” He peeked back into the oven window. The kitchen was rather large, but Twilight realized that with a family as big as Applejack’s it’s the perfect size. She stood next to him, giving a nod to the other pupils. “So…everypony else is doing okay?”

“Absolutely,” the mare nodded. She floated a scroll and quill as she listed off the activities accomplished. Green eyes gazed on as Twilight went further down her list. Other than her freak out, she was the one mare that seemed to have an expansive interest in his sister’s friend circle. Sure, it was reading but she didn’t just scour through books without cause. She did it to improve, perform, learn and understand the things in her life and others. Macintosh admired that, and it was a trait that he wouldn’t mind having in a special somepony. She smiled, but scrunched her nose suddenly. She gasped. “Burning!” He winced, hoping that it didn’t mean….

“The cupcakes are crisping!” Twist’s muffled voice squealed as she tried pulling down the oven door. With the help of a purple aura, the oven door popped open and five trays of cupcakes floated before the students. “What’re we gonna do now?”

“Can’t you just bake another set and throw this out?” asked Featherweight. Big Mac shook his head.

“We can, but these cupcakes aren’t completely burnt. We have a waste-not-what-not policy.” Twilight smiled.

“Okay then students,” the fillies and colts straightened up at her words. Twilight bit back a grin as Macintosh almost followed suit. “This is a perfect time to explore your creative thinking in a plight.”

“But,” Featherweight frowned. “I didn’t have my flying lessons yet.”

“Not flight, Feather.” Pipsqueak shook his head. “Plight. With a p. It’s another word for a dilemma.”

“Extra star for you, Pip.” Twilight nodded. “And yes, we do have a dilemma here. Can anypony figure out how to salvage slight crisp cupcakes?” The red stallion watched as the class murmured, seeing the gears work in their eyes. A red mane filly finally spoke up.

“How about cake pops?” She had a small lisp, but Big Mac smiled. “We can remove the burnt parts, mix the cake with frosting, dip them in more frosting, and when they’re done they’ll look like little apples. I know the recipe.” Twilight glanced at him.

“Well then Twist,” she lifted the tray. “How about we get started on those cake pops? In fact, you can lead the kitchen on a few desserts…” Setting the tray on the table, she turned to him. “While Big Mac and I talk…about business.” He tilted his head, but followed her to the other side of the kitchen. “Sooo…”

“…Eeyup.” He chuckled. She smiled, pulling out her checklist and quill.

“Well, that covers keeping them busy for a bit.” She quailed as the foals went into a frosting frenzy, splattering the sweets everywhere. “We are going to clean up afterwards.”

“No need.” Shrugging towards the mess, he leaned up against the wall. “Ain’t no different from our Apple family dinners.”

“Your dinners get this messy?”

“When AppleBloom cooks, yep. But I meant when the family reunion came.”

“Oh, well I’m sure that you wouldn’t mind some extra help.” Okay Twilight. Remember what Rainbow said.

---

“Be indirect.” The pegasi boasted. “Some mares-I mean colts, don’t like direct approaches Twilight.”

“But how I know when to be direct and when not to?”

“Well, for one thing you can’t confess in crowds. It puts pressure on their behavior. You need to get he-him alone.”

“A-alone? But…”

“No buts, Twilight. Everyone knows, well they should know, about that. Be alone, secluded.”

“I…suppose.”

“Still not gonna tell me who the lucky colt is?” the cyan Pegasus circled her for a bit. Twilight considered it, but Rainbow Dash was close to Applejack. And she wasn’t Pinkie Pie.

“Sorry Rainbow, but I don’t want you snickering everytime you see him.”

“So I see him often? C’mon Twilight, tell me! I mean were friends right?” She bit her lip. “I won’t tell anyone. Or even better! I’ll trade. You see Fluttershy….”

Twilight blurted, not wanting to get tangled in more than her own love troubles for now. “Oh no! Class is starting! So sorry Rainbow but I gotta…dash. You can tell me about how big Fluttershy’s secret is later.” As she glowed her horn, her flying friend scowled.

“No Twilight! Her secret isn’t what’s big, but that it’s...” But the mare only had the grass blades to hear the rest of her words.

---

“Twilight?” breaking out of her memories, she looked over to the stallion. “You okay?”

“Me? I’m fine!” she blurted, keeping her eyes on the proceedings. “I just…there’s so much I’m taking in right now. I’m still learning to be more open with my feelings instead of talking to myself or…”

“Or who?” Big Mac asked.

“Nevermind.” She uttered. He studied her before looking over at the foals too.

“Wanna practice?”

“Practice?” it dawned on her. He wanted to talk. Big Mac wanted to talk to her. “Okay…um...knock-knock?” His chuckle was deep, as she had imagined. He finally looked over to her, smiling.

“Whose there?”

“Cash.”

“Cash who?”

“No thanks, but I love peanuts.” She giggled. His smile broadened, another small laugh came from him.

“So did you always joke with whoever it was you spoke to before Ponyville?”

“Well, Smartypants was a special friend.”

“Special name, too.” He winced as Scootaloo dropped a pile of flour onto the ground while tryingto find a bowl. Twilight sighed, chiding the filly to be more aware of her surroundings.

“You met her, when I did the Want-It-Need-It spell.” Twilight saw him tense up.

“Your doll? That was…your friend?”

“Yeah,” Twilight shifted her hooves. Bringing up her ‘spell catastrophe’ to his mind was probably not the best way of selling herself as romantic potential. “I kinda miss her. We would stay up all night reading or watching the stars. I’d study with her, and play forts with my brother with her. I always had her with me, even coming here…” She flicked her mane. “But I guess it’s been a long time coming to let her go.”

“You don’t have to.” He looked back towards the ponies. “I..I can help.”

“Help?”

“You lost her in the mess at the field. And I…well.” He looked back at her. “I can help you look for it.”

“Really?” she couldn’t believe it. They would be alone. Together. “I…yes!” He gave a small smile. “How about tomorrow?”

“I have to work, be we can start right after that.” He paused. “Um..Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“You have frosting on your ear. And flank, and-” A glop of the alleged substance smacked him in the face. The unicorn paled, ducking another splat. Apparently, making frosting from scratch with a mixture wasn’t the best task to leave to smaller ponies.

“Um…” Twist and the other foals gave their best smile. “Sorry.” Macintosh observed the splotches of sweets all across the kitchen. Emerald eyes traveled to the coated ceiling, spotted countertops, slippery floors and resting his eyes on the unicorn next to him.

“Well, at least I can say it was a pretty sweet visit.” Assorted giggles filled the air, mostly relived. Scootaloo gagged.

“Oh C'mon, Scootloo,” Twlight smirked at her audience. “At least it wasn’t in bad…taste.”

He laughed harder, making Scootloo’s ‘ugh…really?’ almost muted by her other crusaders’ ‘awws’.

Comments

[Terra_Unigurl]

Sorry.....Terribly sorry. Summer courses took their toll. I will update every nine days from now on.

Fun fact: Twilight Sparkle is the number one female pony character that is shipped the most and with nearly all characters including the main six, her brother, most villains, both princesses, background ponies, spike, OCs (human and pony) and herself.

Spoilers:
Fluttershy, Derpy, and Discord are in the next chapter.

[Sound Wave]

Really ncie~ Can't wait tosee more! Oh and the last part of the this chapter is italized... perhaps you can fix that?

[bloodwolf432]

Um, near the end of the chapter you forgot to take off italics. And here's a fun fact, when Mac is involved he's usually shipped with Fluttershy for some odd reason. Thankyou for joining the small group who paired him with a different character, double thanks since it's Twilight.

[Fyreside]

I like what you got going with Mac and Twi, so fave and thumbs up. Just don't forget about Spike, people tend to leave him out and I'm sure he would have something to say about his sister/caretaker/boss/family dating. Also Mac has a surprise for Twilight!
Pinkie and dash... not my favorite pairing, I don't really do the mane six dating mane six ships, and Rainbow Dash is always the lesbian so I guess i find her shipped with a stallion refreshing... sorry but for me Rainbow is straight

[justanothername]

1192872
I agree with you on Dash being straight; I ind making her a lesbian very stereotypical. And yeah, Pinkie/Dash...I just don't think Dash has the patience to put up with her.

But aside from that, Twimac!

[Bronyhood of steel]

glad you updated cant wait for moree

[Terra_Unigurl]

1192872

I can understand why RainbowPie is seen as stereotypical. But just for your assurance and to keep your interest, most of the couples you see in the beginning chapters will not be the same pairings in the last chapters.

[Living Encyclopedia]

I apsolutely love Twimac!! I also like DerpyXTime Turner/Dr. Whooves, but that probably won't be relevant for this story... Anyway, agreeing with the other commenters, I prefer Rainbow being straight, but it really doesn't make a difference, this story is so cool!

(also... Has anyone noticed that the last emoticon says duck? What is that about?! Also the one I'm talking about is this one )

[Lelouch Vi Britania]

Yay, twimac....that hasn't updated in a while....damn