Falling Down
Big Macintosh looked up to his father growing up. It was the natural thing to do, after all he was a big, hard-working stallion. The stallion of the farm, in fact, and since Macintosh was still too young, he’d have to settle for being the little colt, smothered in mommy and grandmother kisses and trying to help when he could.
And all too soon, he had a sister that was dolled upon, which gave him the breathing room to focus more on helping dad than being the center of attention.
Bright Mac never strived for any form of attention. He loved his wife, his family, his home. He loved to work out in the fields all day, and some nights go out with the other stallions in town to the tavern, while Pear Butter would have Cup Cake over for a visit and they’d talk about cooking and sewing and other filly stuff.
Macintosh had begged to go with his father, but it was always the same thing. When you’re older, he’d always say. And so Macintosh would continue to work hard with his father, getting big and strong, and his mother would help him with homework because planting seeds or picking up stray apples was hard work, but easy on the mind.
Arithmetic and grammar were easy on paper, but hard on the mind.
By the time his second sister was born, things were changing for Big Mac. He was living up to his name, big and strong like his father, yet gentle and quiet like his mother. It took a lesson from his sister Applejack to learn that not everything on the mind needed to be voiced, and had since reserved himself.
And then, one day, Father and Mother didn’t come home. The Everfree was unforgiving when it was hungry, and only small traces of their wagon were found inside those cursed woods.
And yet, over the years, Big Macintosh couldn’t help but look back on those days of his youth, working alongside his father. It was blissful, and he’d been called that along with ignorant more than once, but he could accept that.
Marefriends came and went, but it wasn’t until Sugar Belle that he realized ignorance wasn’t always bliss, and needed to act before something unfavorable could happen.
So they were married, with their own mistakes along the way, ones he was sure his parents had gone through as well, but that only made his love for Belle all the stronger. Having that connection, be it spiritually or otherwise, was good enough for Macintosh. They had a foal, and then a second, but the third would test them far greater than he ever thought.
Her name was to be Annie Belle, at least, they had it put upon her headstone in the family plot.
He never truly understood what his father always meant about Big Mac and his sisters all being a blessing until he and Belle had their first foal. Any after that were simply expected, the very idea of losing one was never in his mind. Pleasurable to make them, and a pleasure to have them in their lives.
That changed, and it was like a wagon crashing into him. One full of rusty, broken farm equipment that stabbed at every available weak point on his body, mind, and spirit.
They would never try for a fourth, as the pain of losing Annie was too great on both of them. Even greater than when they lost Granny Smith shortly after their first foal’s birth. She knew he’d be a strong colt like his father, and his grandfather, and his great grandfather.
Big Macintosh agreed, and remembering the practices of his own father, he fought and strived to allow his son, and his daughter, to be the best they could. They helped on the farm, much like any young Apples before them would. Like he had, oh so many years ago. Like his own father had when he was a young colt with Big Mac’s grandpappy, who the only memory he had was the smell of his bourbon barrel cologne that was still in the bathroom cupboard to this day.
He wore it when courting Sugar Belle. It was for good luck, and it sure brought it.
Big Macintosh Apple had had a lot of pleasure in his life. Growing, working, loving, all in his time of youth. He was still a hard worker. Day in, day out. Big Sugar, his colt, now a fine young stallion, stayed on the farm to work. Their daughter, Lasso, traveled with Apple Bloom, helping ponies with their cutie marks and destinies all around Equestria, and beyond.
Before too long, Big Sugar had himself a wife, and were on their way to having a foal.
And then Big Macintosh had his first heart attack.
Over the decades, the fields seemed to get increasingly larger, increasingly tougher. The apple trees didn’t seem to drop as many an apple when he bucked or kicked. He’d had to use both rear hooves when he was little, then as he grew, could do it with one swift kick, and with the showing of grey in his blond mane he found he needed two again.
Once a stallion, twice a colt as the old saying goes.
Sugar Belle refused to allow him to work so hard after that, and it took a scolding from his own son to put him in his place: beside his wife of thirty five years, on the porch overlooking the farm.
Applejack would stop in from time to time, when she wasn’t busy with her own farm or traveling with her wife Rainbow on out-of-Equestria Wonderbolts shows. They were getting there, too, he noted. Wouldn’t be long before she’d start complaining to him of all the things he was going through now.
Enjoy yourself while you’re still in the pink. It was a lyric from a song Granny had sang to them in his distant past, but that single line would come back to haunt him from time to time.
He’d find himself constantly asking, well, himself, had I enjoyed my life?
Simple stallion, and a simpler answer. Yes.
Another grandfoal, another heart attack, and Big Macintosh was now Pappy Mac, who would regale his grandfoals with stories of his youth, of competitions and medals won. Hard work which, while on the surface, hadn’t seemed like much, was at a deeper level the foundation of their lives, allowing them the luxuries and time to enjoy with one another. The pleasures of youth come and gone, reaping the rewards having been bountiful, and now it was downhill.
Big Sugar had gotten them one of those new television boxes. It was just another thing to pass the ever ticking time with. Several more decades came and went, new programs became reruns, and black and white would soon be in full technicolor.
At 80, Sugar Belle had her first stroke, and for the next 4 years they’d grow in rate until the worst one would claim her to the Apple Family Plot.
Pappy Mac was a reasonable pony, and went ahead and had his own hole prepared while they buried his wife of 50 plus years.
It would only be another year, and Sugar Mac would bury his father beside his mother. Pappy Mac had told them about how they never found their grandparents, what had become of them. This was a blessing, that they were able to say goodbye, and lay them to rest. Princess Twilight Sparkle had been there for both funerals, standing at his aunt Applejack’s side, a large purple wing draped over her back.
His sister, Lasso, weeped into her brother’s side, having missed most of her parent’s later years because of her mission in life. Their parents had never told her to stop pursuing her passion, instead only push on and better herself and others.
----------
Sugar Mac looked up to his father growing up. It was the natural thing to do; after all, he was a big, hard working stallion. The stallion of the farm, in fact, and from when he was too young, he’d have to settle for being the little colt, smothered in mommy and aunty kisses and trying to help when he could. Then, as he grew up, father would give him more work to do, and it made him happy.
It was their pleasure, after all.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- MiraculousDragonMaster · 1.6k words · 29 1 · 2.6k views
- Mockingbirb · 3.6k words · 29 0 · 1k views
- Powderjaggy · 6.8k words · 38 1 · 710 views
- SuperPinkBrony12 · 6k words · 56 2 · 1.8k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.096 seconds
Total duration
883 users online
1,318,782 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Helpful hint. Next time, don't write about Season 9, especially not Twilight's new predicament.
So... Is the implication that they died on the pie-delivering route shown in "Somepony to Watch Over Me"?
Also, I like the idea of ponies inventing TVs post-series... And more importantly, how beautifully you covered so many years in a short amount of words.
10626095
r u ok
Glad i talked to my folks today. I'd have rung them up after this.
10626095
Or at the very least mark stories that are set in season 9. I personally don't like season 9 and prefer to not read stories about it.
10626115
Season 9 killed his parents
I enjoyed the story, but I am kind of baffled by why it's tagged "Tragedy". Are the tag and the quote in the description meant to set up an expectation in the reader that things will go particularly badly, so that the reader is then pleasantly surprised?
Well, it did work in my case, if so. :) (Though, to be clear, I think the story would have worked fine for me without that too.)
10626095
I don't see the issue with writing about S9? And as far as I know it's not a requirement to tag what seasons it is set before/after, unless there's a specific reason such as alternate universe stories. So, as such, "a helpful hint" to not do something, isn't very helpful... or a hint.
10626102
I wanted it sort of open to the idea of that, or really any other reason why they'd travel out there. Also, thanks, glad you liked the TV idea and such.
10626118
It's very easy to take them for granted...
10626218
The fact Fimmy Fic has not seen the need to have a "Season X" filter on the site indicates that it's not been an issue. However, adding such tags would not be an issue, but by now most have seen the finale/S9, so all bets are off.
10626826
So this might be mis-tagging on my end. I don't write the genera often, but I thought it was correct. Should I just change it out for Romance? Or drop it outright?
10626859
I'm afraid I'm not sure, but it seems, at least to me now (though, disclaimer, I'm in a hurry and somewhat hungry) that the story would work fine with just Slice of Life and Sad. (On my end, the genre's a minority of what I read.)
What made you think the Tragedy tag would be appropriate, if you don't mind me asking? A philosophical viewpoint?
10626859 I think Mixmaster is a troll. They have a reputation here and on Equestria Daily.
10626932
Honestly, I just figured the mention of so many bad things, but I'm horrible at tags so I think I'll just drop it. Thanks for the input.
10627116
Honestly, I knew that, but I wasn't looking at their name at the time so I responded. That being said, I still stand by what I said so they can suck an egg for all I care. Anyway, thanks for the comment, and reminding me to pay better attention lol.
10626859
That is understandable, but most people having seen the series finale doesn't mean that everyone liked it. I come to ponies for escapism, and in that escapism, I have my own headcannons that didn't really comply with the end of the show. I'm not trying to push that on everyone else, it's just that I don't want to see or acknowledge any of it, and if there was a tag on stories that are based off season 9, then that would make it easier for me to avoid them. Kind of like how there is a tag for Equestria Girls.
I didn't mean to derail your comment section. Sorry about that.
10626095
Helpful hint: Don't complain about a story just because it's set during or after Season 9. Try judging it by its own merits.
I don’t get it.
Wait, who’s his great grandfather?
His grandpappy was that pear guy, right?
That’s interesting
What does that mean?
Who’s Sugar Mac?
10627347
Except that Equestria Girls is kind of its separate thing. They're not gonna split up the seasons into individual tags because they're all under the same show.
10627347
I understand people not liking particular aspects of the show, I mean, we have a lot of people who protest S3 and alicorn Twilight. But to me, all that's doing is hurting people's creativity and imagination, just saying "wow I don't like this so I'm gonna ignore the rest of the show". Personally, I'm not a fan of the student six, but I still recognize they exist, I mean, what else should I do? Be dumb and blind and ignore them, even when they're in my face? Ignorance can only go so far, and then you have to face up to reality.
But whatever, is what it is. I'm not telling people what they should or shouldn't like, just that when someone says I should tag something so insignificant at this point it really peeves me off.
I'm sorry Flutters...
10627314
Ah, righto, and you're welcome. :)
(But yeah, they didn't feel like the right... kind of bad things for Tragedy, and/or the way they were presented didn't match, I think. I'm not sure how to describe it either, exactly; sorry.)
10628567
Some people take having children for granted, so it was always a "blessing" that you were able to have a child, and it survived long enough to grow up.
I dunno. It's just in reference to family.
It depends on which one is being talked about. I left it loose ended so you could decide if it was Grand Pear or maybe Granny's departed husband who's never been named.
I'm glad you thought so.
It's a pony-ism of the expression "once a man, twice a child", which implies how helpless and watched over children would be, then they'd grow up and be an adult, but then as they aged into their twilight years they once again needed help and watching over.
He is, apparently according to the MLP Wiki, the name of Big Mac and Sugar Belle's son from the S9 finalle.
10629718
I understand you weren't attacking, so all is okay. I was actually more peeved off (why am I spoilering that word?) at other stuff, and seeing the comments about marking or warning about spoilers or even stuff that's happened over a year ago in the show. I will, however, keep that in mind that there is a large base of people who are against S9, much like the S3 people, so for the future I'll try to remember to tag as such (if it's heavily implied).
10632937
How many children do they have? When I was reading the story I think I counted 3.
10634057
Canon wise in the show, we are only shown one. I added two more, although one of them died at birth.
10634988
Ohh. Also, how were you able to cover that up?
10635015
Above the comment box, where you type, is a list of options for said text. One is SP, for spoiler. Make sure whatever you want covered is between the brackets and bam!
10641152
Thanks!
10626095