• Published 7th Jun 2012
  • 6,503 Views, 104 Comments

Mistaken for Strangers - Evan MacIan



While expecting her first foal, Rarity finds her relationship with Big Mac tested.

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Fake Empire

Chapter Seven

Fake Empire

It had started to rain after they had got home. It brought enough of a chill that Big Mac built a small fire in the master bedroom’s fireplace.

Rarity set a quilt in front of the fire and laid down on it, worn out by the emotion of the day.

Big Mac lay down behind Rarity, wrapping one of his large hooves around her.

They watched the flames flicker, red and yellow, getting whiter near its base.

“Ah wonder who he’ll take after?” Big Mac said.

“‘He?’” Rarity repeated with some amusement.

“Sure,” Big Mac answered. “There's more’en enough fillies running around the farm as it is.”

Rarity laughed. “I wouldn’t mind a little colt. I just wonder if he’ll be an earth pony or a unicorn?”

Big Mac chuckled. “It’d be funny to see a unicorn with a docked tail.”

“Wait,” Rarity said, turning slightly to look at him, “you want to dock his tail?”

“Course,” he answered. “Apple boys always get their tails docked at birth.” He gave his own shortened tail a slight wave to accent his point. “Don’t want it gettin’ caught in harnesses an’ such.”

Rarity lips tightened slightly. “Well,” she said, settling back against Big Mac, “we can talk about it later.”

They lay silently.

“Rare?”

“Yes, darling?”

“How much do ya know?” he asked. “About what happened b’tween me and Ace?”

Rarity paused for a moment, then answered, “I know you beat him up. I know how poorly you were doing then, because of your parents dying. That you were drinking, and that Applejack ran away to Manehatten because of you.” She felt Big Mac tense up slightly. “I also know it doesn’t matter. I don’t know how you changed, but I don’t need to. I know who you are now.”

Big Mac pulled her tighter against himself. “It was right after Ah beat up Ace…”

*****

Big Mac was humming a tuneless song as he stumbled up the path towards the farmhouse. His forehead ached slightly from where Ace had hit him, but he was buzzed enough to not care. He entered. Granny Smith was sitting in the living room in her rocking chair.

“Hey, Granny!” he called out cheerfully.

“Where ya been?” she asked. There was an edge to her voice. “Gone all night. Drinkin’, Ah don’t doubt.” She looked at the dried blood on his forehead. “Ah guess she was right. Out fightin’.”

Big Mac gave a smirk. “Weren’t much of a fight.”

She glared at him. “AJ’s gone.”

His smirk faded. “What do ya mean, ‘gone?’”

“She ran off yesterday.” Granny Smith answered. “Right after ya stormed off. She tol’ me she didn’t want to see ya get hurt. Tol’ me she was gonna go live with our relatives in Manehatten.”

“An’ ya jus’ let her go?!” Big Mac charged out the door.

“Ya think yer gonna talk her into coming back?” Granny Smith shouted after him. “She left ’cause of you!”

Big Mac galloped down the path. He cut through the northern orchard, taking a short cut towards the main road leading out from Ponyville. He ran out from under the trees and into a bare field, covered by a cloudy sky. It’s already too late to catch her, the more rational part of his mind said. She’s long gone by now. He started to slow down as he reached the edge of the field, coming to a stop where it met the road.

Granny Smith’s words echoed in his head. “She left ’cause of you!”

“It ain’t mah fault,” he said aloud. “This is ‘cause of the trouble ‘tween Ace an’ me. This is his fault!” He looked down the road towards the town.

“Ah oughta kill ‘em!”

Big Mac pawed the ground and started towards Ponyville at a canter.

That won’t bring her back.

“So what if Ah drove her off. So what?! Ah ain’t her pa! It weren’t supposed to be mah job to look out fer her!”

Ah should have been lookin’ after mah family.

“What do Ah care if she ran off?!”

They were mah responsibility.

“They all think Ah’m the bad guy, huh?!”

Applejack needs me. Granny Smith needs me. Apple Bloom needs me most of all.

He snorted. “Well, maybe Ah am the bad guy!”

Big Mac started to slow down.

“Maybe Ah am the bad guy,” he repeated quietly.

He stopped completely.

“Fine. So Ah’m the bad guy.”

Big Macintosh took a few more steps, then stopped again.

“Ah—” He looked up at the sky. “Help me. Help me, dammit!” His voice grew louder and louder. “You have to help! You have to! ” He paused, then screamed, “DAMN YOU! WHY WON’T YOU HELP?! YOU HAVE TO HELP!”

He waited, for what he didn’t know. The world around him was empty, cold, and silent. The only sound was his breath, ragged and desperate.

Big Mac lowered his head. “Please,” he said. “Please. Ah ain’t strong enough. Ah can’t change. Ah ain’t strong enough. Ah don’t have any choice. Help me.”

At that moment a tremendous thunder roared through the fields. It tore branches off trees and flattened the grass. The force picked Big Mac off his hooves and slammed him on his back, knocking the breath out of him. Looking up he saw a great expanding wave of color exploding across the sky. It dissolved the clouds in its way, like water washing away dirt. In its trail the sky was left a clear blue, the sun unveiled and standing brilliant and blinding above the world.

Big Mac gasped for air, his eyes watering. He drew a deep breath, then another. Rolling onto his stomach, he pushed himself up.

A sound, drifting across the fields from the direction of the farmhouse, reached his ears. He listened to the sound for a moment, then took off running towards home.

It was the sound of animals screaming in terror.

His back hurt like hell, and he could hardly breath, but he ran anyway. As he neared the house he could see the destruction the explosion had caused. It looked like a tornado had come through. There were tree branches scattered across the ground, and all the windows in the house had shattered. From everywhere came frightened squeals of the farm animals.

He looked around wildly. “Granny!” There was no reply. “GRANNY!” he screamed.

“Ah’m over here!”

He saw her come around the side of the barn.

“Ah’m alright! Ah had gone to check on the pigs, when....” she looked up at the sky and shook her head. “What happened?”

“Where’s Apple Bloom?!” Big Mac shouted. “Where is she?!”

“In the house—in her crib!”

He charged through the front door and into Apple Bloom’s nursery. She was laying in her rocking crib, crying her eyes out, but otherwise fine. Big Mac closed his eyes for a moment and let out a shuddering sigh of relief. He leaned over the railing and looked down at her, gently rocking the cradle back and forth. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “Ah’m here.”

Apple Bloom’s crying slowly subsided. She reached up with a hoof towards Big Mac’s face. He leaned in so she could reach.

She nuzzled his snout, giving a quiet coo.

Big Mac said, “Ah promise Ah’ll always look after ya.” A tear trickled down his cheek. “Ah know Ah haven’t been there for ya lately, but Ah promise Ah do better. Ah’ll always be there for ya, for you an’ for the whole family, no matter what. Ah love ya, Little Sis.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek, then went out to help Granny with the animals.

*****

The fire had started to die down by the time he finished his story. Big Mac got up and carefully placed a new log in the fireplace. He then went and lay back down beside Rarity.

“That explosion you saw,” Rarity said, “it was Rainbow Dash. That was the day we got our cutie marks.”

“Ah know,” Big Mac replied. “Ah figured it out after AJ tol’ me ’bout how y’all saw it together. When it happened, it was like world was ending. Ah thought Ah was going to lose everything.” He was silent for a moment, then continued, “After that, Ah stopped goin’ out and getting’ drunk. Went and made peace with Ace, told him Ah was in the wrong. Ah started workin’ the farm, really workin’. Applejack came home soon after, and Ah did my best to take care of her an’ Apple Bloom.” He stared into the fire. “Ah hope Ah’ll be a good father.”

Rarity rolled over to look at him. “Of course you will be.”

“How do ya know?”

She gave one of her light silvery laughs. “If you asked anyone in Ponyville who the most dependable pony around is, who would they say?”

“Applejack,” he promptly replied.

“That’s right,” Rarity answered. She smiled, the same smile she always got when she was about to win an argument. “And if you asked Applejack who the most dependable pony around is, who would she say?”

“Well,” he hesitated.

She raised an eyebrow.

“... Ah guess she’d say me,” he finished.

She nodded. “And when Apple Bloom has a nightmare, who is it she comes and wakes up at night?” She paused. “Or interrupts, at least?”

Big Mac gave a chuckle at the embarrassing memory. “Ah guess that’s me too.”

“So if Applejack, Apple Bloom, and I all think that you can be counted on, are you really going to disagree?”

He laughed. “No. Ah’ve learned not to try an’ argue when the Apple ladies band together.” His laughter faded away. “Yer sure?” he asked quietly.

She gave him a soft kiss. “As sure as sunshine.”

The End

----------

Full Credits:

Chapter Titles:

Alison Krauss
“The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn”
Blitzen Keeper
“Black River Killer”
Cat Power
“He War”
“Metal Heart”
The National
“Mistaken For Strangers”
“Slow Show”
“Fake Empire”
Otis Taylor
“Nasty Letter”

And of course…

Lauren Faust:
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

I would like to thank RustedRabbit for providing the cover image, as well as Ponyfanficer and especially Hyperexponential over at Ponychan for their help in critiquing and vastly improving this story.

Comments ( 40 )

*sees title*
*sees chapter titles*
*hasn't read previous story and it's 4 AM*
*adds to Read Later anyway for The National and Blitzen Trapper references*
Well done, sir. :rainbowkiss:

Very good, very good indeed, sir! I would very much like a sequel to this one. :yay:

:eeyup: OH BIG MAC YOU GIANT LOVABLE SOFTY YOU.

I liked this story, in case you hadn't realised. Can we please have more? :ajsmug:

:rainbowderp::rainbowdetermined2: Causing cutie marks and disasters since she was a filly.

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Very nice ending to a wonderful story. I just wish we knew the gender of the baby, such ambiguity drives me mad.

Should have gone with Explosions In The Sky for a title for the last chapter, lol.

What a great story. I wouldn't change much of anything about the plot.
You might consider in the future, though, using italics to denote internal thoughts. Helps differentiate it from action and narration.

So many thumbs up!

A beautiful story. :pinkiesmile: It's a shame it's over now. :fluttershysad:

Do you plan on writing some sort of epilogue?

775268
Shouldn't instead of should? I think? If not, then I'm confused, I admit.

I shed so many manly tears. Great ending, my friend. Short and sweet.

775679
:twilightsmile: It's supposed to be "should." Gives it a whole new meaning, doesn't it?

That was a pretty cute story, and pretty well written, but there's one thing that just doesn't sit right with me.

Titles. I don't know if it's just me, but I don't see how any of the chapter titles fit with their content, nor how the fic's title relates to what actually happens. Additionaly, a little author note poking up at the end of each chapter just to say "Oh and I named the chapter after this song." just plain snaps the immersion every time. It's kind of a whiplash every tme going from "aw that's so sweet" to "Look at this song everypony!"

I've noticed this seems to be an ongoing thing with your fics, and I would suggest moving away from that and into using titles that are a little more connected to the chapters' contents.

Otherwise, your writing is quite good, though some indentation might make things easier to read.

Keep up the good work! :twilightsmile:

I hope you have a sequel planned! :heart:

Just excellent. I read the story in one sitting, and now I am in a rather cheerful mood.
In the words of Maggie Simpson:
"Sequel?"

774697
I'm glad you mentioned italics, because I hadn't realized that not all the formatting had carried over from Microsoft Word to Fimfiction. I could see how it would be confusing.

Nice story, but I do have a problem in the time-scale department.
AJ was gone for just a day before the Rainboom?
That's not a lot of time to cross Equestria.
Or to become a socialite.
Or to become so homesick, you're reduced to tears.
That's my only real niggle with this, so well done otherwise.

Absolutely LOVED the story!! Just all these emotions...UGH can't handle them all!!
But other than that, I truly enjoyed reading this story. And of course, I rarely see this shipping for characters, so it was interesting to think about how this would all play out.
Well this already got a fav and a like from me so have a Big Mac and Rarity. :raritywink: :eeyup:

ahhhhhh my heart! so many feels :raritycry: you must make a sequel good sir :raritystarry:

So many feels! So... much... happiness! :D I truly loved this story. Redemption is probably my favorite literary theme, and this story is on my favorite's list. Bravo, I say!

So I just have one question: Will we ever get to read about the baby after it's born, maybe in an epilogue?
Overall, I still loved this and thanks for writing it.

Absolutely, genuinely, beautiful ^^ bravo.

Too bad Hasbro messed up with your world, with parents and such, with "Sisterhooves social". :ajbemused:

Oh well it still is a great alt-universe story indeed :) and certain parts of it were pretty moving.

780821
Agreed here, the timeline doesn't quiiiiite work. Unless Mac went on one hell of a bender! :eeyup:

Still, the way you wove this story in with Cutie Mark Chronicles and even Ace's appearance deserves applause. You've done very well adding to and expanding canon, and the minor inconsistency with Mommity and Daddity doesn't take away from that.

Both of these stories are the perfect length, in my opinion. They convey great emotional depth without overstaying their welcome. And they create believable romance without being sappy or inventing instant attraction.

Top-class romantic fics, with excellent accompanying music as the icing on the cake. Thanks so much for writing!

Excellent work.

*Flops on back and flails hooves in the air wildly*
Why Why WHY! :applecry:

I want to see the foal! How can the story be over... the foal wasn't born! :twilightangry2:

I hope there is a sequel. I've been reading your work for a while already, and I would like to meet their son. (Because, as Big Mac said, there's enough fillies running around.) Great story! Hope to read more! Praise RariMac!! :raritywink::eeyup:

very nice storie enjoyed it alot.

D'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw.

My heart. You borked it.

Excellent, I just finished both of the stories and cannot help but wonder, will there be a sequel? Stars and Thumbs-Up all around.:yay:

And, I finally got around to reading this. And I'm glad I did.

Even though I never read the first story, I absolutely loved this one, and now I'm a bit tempted to actually go back and read it. It's nice to see a fic that gives a lot of backstory and character development to Big Mac for once, and allow me to look at him in a new light.

I read The Lucky One and then this story immediately after. You've gotten two greenthumbs and a watch from me. Great stories, keep up the great work!!!

So much adorableness.... :yay:

Will we be expecting a sequel? I DEMAND A SEQUEL! ...please?:fluttershysad:

It's a beautiful story even if there wasn't a sequel I wouldn't mind:moustache:

776471 The ending is particularly unsatisfying. It's like the characters just up an vanished. No more pre-foaling drama. No foaling drama, or even post-foaling drama. Just Big Mac tells why he changes his behavior and a scene of him adding logs to the fire, but after that? Nothing.

You didn't just kill the story, you butchered it!

So, while I won't give you a thumbs down, I also don't want to favorite it because of the sudden abrupt ending. Like a story where Armageddon happens and there's no survivors whatsoever. It was great up until this point. There were conflicts, both in the present and the past, there were moments of friction between the characters, and then bam. You slapped on 'The End.' when Rarity was in the middle of her gestation period. I'm just upset, because I see so much potential for more chapters.

So, that's my beef with this story.

Peace,

AuthorGenesis

Big Mac's epiphany-laden conversation with himself was awesome.
I was expecting this story to be more about outward social pressures suddenly challenging Rarity and Mac's relationship rather than an internal rift, and if we're being honest I think that would have been a better story. Big Mac was being such a sweetheart through the whole thing I couldn't possibly fathom that Rarity would have let things self-destruct, even if she WASN'T pregnant with his child. It saps a lot of the tension when you know the only thing standing between two lovers is a simple conversation.
But that wasn't what you wrote, and what you wrote was great.

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