On Death's Door

by Axel IV

Let's Have a Party

Six months. It had been six months since Big Macintosh had opened his eyes to greet the new day. Six months since he had looked to see the beautiful sun rising from the horizon. And it had been six months since he had saved the elements of harmony. Big Mac had shown no signs of him waking up, no signs of him returning to the world that he knew and loved. He was trapped inside his dream world.

Ponyville had been running like always. Summer had gone and winter had arrived, with winter wrap up not being too far away from that day. Snow had piled up outside of the hospital windows, and the ponies were clad in boots and scarfs. Normally, Big Mac would be piling wood into the stove to warm his house as his sister went to be with her friends. He would sit down with a good book and wait for the day to come when the plow needed him again.

This would be the first winter wrap up of his life that he would never attend.

Applejack had been with her friends almost every single day. She needed them to keep her going, to keep her from breaking down. She had gotten better, and she was now beginning to smile a little more. Even Applebloom was starting to talk to her again...the little filly was slowly starting to forgive her sister. Slowly...but surely.

The six ponies were gathered around Twilight's library, the snow coming down gently outside of the massive tree-structure. It was warm and soothing...just what they all needed.

"You know...." Applejack said quietly, looking out at the snow, "Winter Wrap up is near..."

"I know. I've got it all organized." Twilight spoke, taking a sip of some hot chocolate, "We don't have to worry about a big old mess again! We'll make it on time."

"But..." Fluttershy said quietly, "We'll be missing one earth pony..." They all went quiet. Each of them was thinking the same thing.

"Don't worry." Rainbow said, forcing a smile on her face, "It should be even better than last year. And when Mac gets up, that year will go by even better!" Her optimism was short lived. The six months had not passed by quickly, and their hope was already beginning to diminish.

"C'mon, everypony." Pinkie said, standing up from the table, "Don't give up on it yet! I'm sure he'll be up soon! I'm sure!"

"Yeah...is your Pinkie sense telling you that?" Rarity asked, "Is there even a sense for that sort of thing?"

"Rarity..." Twilight rolled her eyes, "Don't be like that." There was a awkward silence that followed soon after. Any talk of Big Mac resulted in sad moments of silence...at times they may have gotten angry. It was a touchy subject...but they had a hard time not talking about him.

Pinkie took a sip of her drink and walked up to the window, glancing out at the snow outside. "Hey....Remember that time when....."

---

Pinkie was prancing through the street, her saddlebags filled with candy, confetti, party hats, balloons, silly string, and other party materials that come to mind. She had realized that earlier that day she was low on party supplies, and that just wouldn't do! She had to be ready for any party occasion that could happen! She kept track of all the birthdays of all the ponies in Ponyville, and any special events that could pop up. She had to be ready!

On her way back to Sugarcube corner, she greeted just about everypony she saw. Well, she knew everybody and liked everybody, so how could she not? There was just some ponies that didn't understand Pinkie Pie, but she paid them no heed. She greeted them just like how she greeted others. As she pranced down the dirt street, she heard a familiar friendly voice in the street.

"...So have you been working on what I told you?...Okay, good...Big Mac's really gonna love this!" Pinkie recognized the voice of Applejack, and she smiled as she skipped over to the orange mare. Applejack was currently speaking with the local craftspony, and she seemed pretty energetic and happy about.

"Hey Applejack!" Pinkie exclaimed behind her friend, making the orange mare jump in surprise.

"Pinkie!" Applejack grinned, "Don't surprise me like that!"

"Sorry about that! Hey, what are you doing over here sounding so happy?"

"Well..." Applejack scratched the back of her head. She wasn't sure if she should really tell Pinkie Pie this...

"C'mon!" Pinkie was bounding up and down, "Tellmetellmetellmetellmetellmetellmetellmetellmetellme-

"ALRIGHT!" Applejack exclaimed, "Today's Big Mac's birthday, and I had ordered a new plow to be made for him. His old one was all rickety and rusty."

"Oh, alright then." Pinkie smiled and turned away, "Tell him I hope he has a- WAIT WHAAAAAAT?!" Pinkie gasped spinning around towards Applejack, "IT'S BIG MAC'S BIRTHDAY?! AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW?!"

"Heh, I'm sorry Sugarcube..." Applejack smiled nervously, "But since you don't talk to him much, he really doesn't know." Pinkie stared at Applejack, gaping. How could she skip over a pony?! All the ponies were too important to miss! She would have to call a party immediately and-

"Pinkie." Applejack said firmly, "I know this sounds crazy, but I wouldn't throw a party for him." Pinkie blinked, opening her mouth again before Applejack shoved an apple in to silence her.

"Now..." Applejack cleared her throat, seeing the sad eyes of Pinkie Pie bore into her own, "Let me explain. Big Mac has a lot of work to do everyday until nightfall, and even when I try to get him to leave early he just gets all stubborn. If you can somehow convince him to have a party, that would be great." Applejack adjusted the hat on her head and smiled.

Pinkie spit out the apple and smiled widely, her eyes glimmering with determination, "Don't worry Applejack! I'll get right on that big oaf, so don't you worry!" The pink earth pony then took off for Sweet Apple Acres, kicking up a trail of dust as she dashed down the street.

"Sorry, Big Mac." Applejack chuckled, "But you're gonna have one fun day today."

---

A thunderous banging echoed throughout the apple orchard as a large group of the crimson fruit fell perfectly into the wooden buckets placed expertly underneath the tree.The big red stallion grunted in approval, looking over to see the amount that he had kicked down. All the apples had been taken from the tree, and it was a decent amount. Smiling in success, Big Macintosh slowly plodded over to one of the buckets to start piling them into the wagon. He had a few more rows of trees to go through before he could move on.

When he was loading up the last bucket, he noticed something strange. The basket was just slightly heavier than the others, and the apples were piled on a little higher. He placed it onto the back of the wagon to stare at it quizzically. What in the hay was-

The bucket suddenly exploded as apples were launched all around him, a pink earth pony's grinning face suddenly jamming itself into his nose. Big Mac was really freaking surprised, but he made no noise as he landed back on his haunches.

"Big Mac!" Pinkie gleamed, "I found you!"

The red stallion blinked a little before grinning, "Eeyup." He stood back up, walking around the wagon to pick the apples up one by one. And in the meantime, a strange noise was coming from Pinkie's mouth...like she was trying to speech like an auctioneer on a sugar overdose.

"So I saw Applejack today and I was like 'hi!' and she was like 'hi!' back and I noticed that she was at a store and she said she was looking for a birthday present for you and I had no idea that today was your birthday which was scary because I know the birthdays of every pony in ponyville so then I raced over here to ask you if you think you can take time off to have a party because its fun and-

"Nnope." Big Mac replied, placing the last apple into the bucket as he approached the front of the wagon. When he he had attached it to his yoke, he turned his head back forward-right back into Pinkie's face.

"Why not?!" Pinkie asked, her eyes wide with disbelief, "My parties are awesome! You get to meet every pony, talk to every pony, have fun with every pony, drink with every pony, eat with every pony-

"Nnope." Big Mac replied, chewing the sprig of wheat in his mouth lightly as Pinkie was lightly pushed aside so that he could move the wagon.

He felt four hooves land on his back, and Pinkie's eyes cast down onto his own.

"Why not?!" Pinkie asked, "We'll have such a great time!"

"Work." Big Mac replied, "I appreciate the thought Miss Pie, but by the time I'll be done I'll be too exhausted to move. Not all of us have the energy like you." He felt the hooves disappear on his back, and sighed in relief too soon. Before he knew it, Pinkie had suddenly found a straw workers hat and had it on her head and was trotting up next to him.

"Then let's get to work, sonny!" She saw, replicating Applejack's accent. Big Mac stared at her before grinning, "If you say so."

---

Back when Pinkie helped out with her rock farm, she had great experience with hard work. Moving and lifting heavy rocks each day was a great burden, and she was almost sore every hour of each day. That hadn't been fun at all, and she had detested everyday she spent working. However, after discovering parties, she was happy and had left all those hard days of work behind her. Besides, who could possibly find hard work fun?

Big Macintosh did.

As the sun beat on their backs, the red stallion looked like he was having the time of his life. With a powerful kick from his hooves, apples fell like raindrops into their buckets. While he sweat and strained, he had a huge smile as he pulled the plow across the fields. He chuckled as he pulled the wagon.

Pinkie would've been asking him all sorts of questions if she wasn't so exhausted. The pink wild card had officially met her match at Sweet Apple Acres, and she had panted with every passing minute. The soreness was double that of what she had experienced at the rock farm, and she couldn't find any sort of possible way why Big Macintosh was enjoying what he was doing.

"Big...Mac..." Pinkie groaned, flopping down onto her face as her buckets of apples spilled around her. Big Mac glanced back, his smile unfaltering.

"Just a bit more, Miss Pie." He replied, helping her up by pushing up at her side with his muzzle, "You're doing good so far." She tried to laugh, but ending up coughing lightly instead. The large form of Big Mac gracefully made its way over to the wagon, loading up the buckets of apples.

And then it finally happened. A few hours later, while the sun was setting, hundreds of the apple trees had successfully been apple bucked. There was no sign of the red orbs on them, and Big Mac was completely ready to call it in. He dragged the wagon into the barn and unhitched it from his yoke, gently trotting to find Pinkie who he had left outside the farm.

"Miss Pie?" He asked, "It's all over." When he saw her, he couldn't hold back a smile. The pink earth pony was lying on her back, snoozing loudly while her back legs twitched a little. He shook his head, spitting out the sprig of wheat. He approached her, and with a swift movement of his head she landed softly on his back, snoring still.

---

"APPLES!" Pinkie Pie shrieked, waking up suddenly as she screamed at the top of her lungs, "SO MANY APPLES! Oh hey, I'm in my bed!" At first, the pink pony didn't question anything. The morning sun was glowing through her window and she appreciated the warmth it was giving her. It was a few seconds later when she remembered what had happened.

"Oh no!" She gasped, "The party!" She darted out of her room, racing down the steps to leave Sugar Cube Corner. Was his birthday already over?! She couldn't be too late! She couldn't!" With a shriek, she opened the door to the outside world.

"Mornin' Miss Pie." Big Mac greeted, a bit baffled by her sudden appearance, "I was just going to ask if you were awake yet." Pinkie blinked, her eyes huge as she stared at Big Mac.

"No...No way..." She said quietly, her hair starting to deflate, "I...missed your birthday..." Tears began to form in her eyes, but Big mac laid a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

"No you didn't, Miss Pie." He grinned, "I had a blast yesterday. When you helped me out, I got work done early so I could spend time with my family. You gave me the birthday present I wanted most, Pinkie." The earth pony blinked, her hair starting to go back to its trademark appearance.

"Pinkie, " He began, "Sometimes, what a pony needs for their birthday isn't a party. It's knowing that they have friends and family that try their best to brighten up the day." Pinkie grabbed him into one of her infamous Pinkie death hugs, smiling into his neck.

Big Mac chuckled lightly, "Now come on. Isn't it Spike's birthday today?"

---

"We gave him a pretty big party after that though." Applejack chuckled.

"Of course! I needed to give him some sort of party!" Pinkie exclaimed, looking over at her friends with her wide smirk, "And when he wakes up, it will be the party to remember." The room fell silent again.

"Yeah..." Applejack said quietly, a sad smile forming onto her lips, "And when he wakes up, he's going to have so many chores afterwards..." They all laughed quietly, the air in the room brightening up a little more. Big Macintosh was gong to be in for quite a time when he wakes up. If he wakes up..

Comments

[Axis of Rotation]

Another good chapter; I enjoyed getting to see Pinkie's story about Big Mac, especially the point about living on a rock farm being hard work. To tell you the truth, I can't remember who out of the mane six we've got left, since I'm figuring you're gonna do a story for each one. Also, six months is a loooong time.

I'm glad you're having the mane six return to a "normal" life, getting slowly better; grieving is a process after all, and seeing how they return to their daily lives is neat--it also helps to keep things interesting. I mean, after six months they aren't going to act as sad as they did in the beginning. I think they would still be just as sad, and guilt ridden, on the inside, but after so much time I feel it would manifest itself in different ways, you know? Plus they would also probably be a lot more numb to the emotional pain--6 months is quite a while to feel like crap.

Keep up the good work!

[Gazzing_Meddow]

The new chapter finaly here!!
WOooooooooo!!!

[Aluminaughty]

Yay

[Atant11]

You get a thumbs up for another great chapter

[HighCutman]

sad fic is sad...
best pony
looking for the next chapter!

[Gustauve]

By all that is holy, please continue this story; it's wonderful.

[McSlendy]

Dude, I don't know what's keeping you, but please for the love of all things human and Equestrian, continue this. It. Is. Awesome. If not a tearjerker as well.

Oh God the feels...

[Gustauve]

Dear Lord above, you need to really get back to work here; you're lack of progress is killing us!

[Ikillyouagainhah]

Interesting story can't wait to read more if it's returned to.

[jack spartson]

920325 OH COME ON! WHY IS THIS CANCELED?!

[willhman]

Now this is an amazing story, why cancel it?

[spartan523]

Im so upset this got cancelled