Chained to the Plow

by daOtterGuy

Releasing the Warden

It was the morning after. Big Mac and Applejack sat alone in the kitchen. Thunderlane had been long gone since he’d dropped Mac off at home last night, and Apple Bloom was handling the chores without them to give them time to talk.

Applejack had only arrived an hour earlier as she had opted to stay at Twilight’s house the night prior.

Mac didn’t blame her.

He tapped his hoof lightly on the table at a steady rhythm while Applejack stared at a single spot on the table.

He half expected the table to ignite.

“So,” Mac started.

“So,” Applejack replied.

They both fell into silence, broken only by the rapping of Mac’s hoof.

“I-”

“I’m sorry,” Applejack interrupted.

Mac stopped tapping his hoof. “What for?”

Applejack’s head came up to look at Mac directly. “A lot. Yesterday. Everything.” She hung her head. “I’ve been acting like a git.”

“You have.”

“I have,” Applejack agreed. “I talked with Pinkie Pie yesterday.”

“Oh?”

“She wanted to talk with me after I pummelled a boulder into pebbles on our way up to deal with the dragon. I had apparently been crying while doin’ it.”

“Oh.”

Applejack fidgeted in her seat. “She talked me through a lot of stuff. Namely, that I don’t really understand you. She said I should ask you if I wanted to fix things between us, so, Mac.” She looked up at him. “Why’d you take over the farm?”

Mac took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he mulled over his answer.

“You remember the day we got the news that our parents and Granny had died?” He started.

Applejack flinched. “Yeah, I do.”

Mac nodded. “Prior to that, I was at a job interview to become a banker in Ponyville proper.”

Applejack furrowed her brows. “A banker?”

“I liked to work with numbers and the pay was good. More than enough to support anypony I cared about.” Mac sighed. “More than enough to hire farmhooves.”

“Farmhooves?” Applejack furrowed her brow. “Why did you want to hire farmhooves?”

“To give you and Apple Bloom options.” Mac leaned forward in his seat. “I had a talk with Pa when I was younger, some few years before their death, and he told me the state of things. He said that if we wanted to leave the farm we were goin’ to have to figure that out for ourselves.”

“He said that?”

“He did. Pa loved us, make no mistake ‘bout that, but AJ, farms don’t make jack.” Mac leaned back with a sigh. “We’re better off than most, can afford more than basics mainly due to Rich, but we’re poor and Pa figured it would be better if we resigned ourselves to being farmers.” Mac snorted. “Had the first of a lot of fights with Pa.”

“You fought?!” Applejack shouted.

Mac smirked. “That’s good to hear. If you didn’t even realize it, then we hid it well. Yeah, we fought. Frequently. I didn’t like that Pa wouldn’t try harder for us and Ma was on his side.” Mac’s smirk grew wider. “But Granny was on my side. She got me the interview at the bank. If I got the job, I could bolster the family’s finances. Give you and Bloom the choice to choose the farm instead of being forced to.”

“But they died.”

“But they died.” Mac nodded his head. “Timing couldn’t have been worse. I got the news while I was waiting just outside, and I rushed over to check on Apple Bloom. Spent the next few days gettin’ everything in order.” Mac sighed. “I wasn’t going to let our family’s home be sold off or taken over by strangers.”

“So, you took over cuz of pride?”

“I took it over for our family. I wanted you and Bloom to still have our home and I didn’t want to lose either of you since you were all I had left. It’s why I stood my ground when our extended family kept trying to stick their nose into everything.” Mac scowled. “There’s a reason the reunions have been gettin’ smaller and it has everything to do with the malackery they spouted about me as a caregiver for Bloom.”

“What did they say?” Applejack asked.

Mac’s expression turned darker. “You don’t want to know, AJ and I don’t want to tell you how I responded either.” Mac shook his head. “Anyways, I’d gotten everything in order, we were set to continue as we had before, but...”

“I ran away to Manehattan,” Applejack stated bitterly.

“You ran away to Manehattan,” Mac agreed. “I spent all that time keeping our home for us, you, me, and Bloom, and then you left. I hadn’t had any time to grieve with what was happenin’ and I had to keep it together for both your sakes. I was hoping with you there to ease the load after everything settled I could have that time, but you left.” Mac felt bitter tears form in his eyes. “It hit me real hard. I almost ruined everything with my darn stubbornness. Wouldn’t accept help from Rich when I badly needed it because I wanted to prove I could do it myself. But I needed help. If Thunder and Rich hadn’t been there for me, I don’t think you would have had a home to return to.”

“So, you hate the Acres?”

“No, I hated that I didn’t have a choice. I hated that I couldn’t give you and Bloom what I wanted to. When you said what you said in the market, I’d thought-”

“That you’d failed,” Applejack finished. “That you’d done to us what had been done to you. That we were stuck here.”

“Yeah, I did.” Mac wiped his tears away with a hoof. “It hit me really hard thinking I’d ruined your lives.”

“But you didn’t!” Applejack slammed her hooves on the table. “I shouldn’t have said that. I told you that cuz I was being stupid. I just-” Applejack took a ragged breath through a sudden onset of tears. “I resented you.”

“Why?”

“Because you did what I wanted to do. You saved the farm,” Applejack said mockingly. “All I saw was my loud mouth older brother being so much better than me and being the big darn hero. I resented it.”

“I didn’t do much of anything, AJ.”

“You did more than me,” Applejack spat out. “I got scared. Ma, Pa, and Granny died. Things were all over the place with you and Bloom, and I didn’t want to deal with the aftermath.” Her face fell. “I was a coward. I came back because I couldn’t live with the regret and misery I made for myself. Then the rainbow happened and I used it as an excuse to come back.”

Applejack laid her head down on the table. “I was mad because I felt guilty. You had figured everything out, did what you needed to stay afloat, and all I could think about was how I skipped town and left you and Bloom to face it alone. I fought against you because I was ashamed of the choices I made. Then I resented you for doing better than I did.”

“I didn’t-”

Applejack sat back up and slammed a hoof on the table. “Stop. Just stop. I get that you aren’t the type to boast, but you did everything right. You sucked up your pride and did what had to be done. I screwed up, took it out on you, and it took ten years to realize how badly I managed to do that.” She hung her head. “You didn’t deserve my horrible attitude, or insults, and, ugh, neither did Thunderlane. I should apologize to him later.”

Mac furrowed his brow. “Why do you hate Thunderlane so much?”

“Because he did what I should have been doing.” A fresh bout of tears formed in Applejack’s eyes. “Being there for you and Bloom.”

They trailed off into silence that was broken shortly by quiet sobbing from the living room.

Mac sighed. “Come on in, Bloom.”

The small filly trotted into the kitchen. Tears were running down her face.

“I’m sorry, Big Bro,” She warbled. “I didn’t mean to make you choose me over your banker job.”

“Aw, Bloom, come here.” Mac got out of his chair, faced Bloom, and opened his forelegs wide for her.

Apple Bloom charged forward. Mac wrapped her in a big hug.

“If there was anything ‘bout this I never regretted, it was picking you.” Mac nuzzled Bloom’s mane.

“I love you, Mac.” Bloom sniffled.

“Love you too, Bloom.” He turned to look towards Applejack who stared back with a morose expression. “Hey, AJ?”

“Yeah?” Applejack asked tentatively.

“How ‘bout we clean the slate and just try better from now on?”

“I don’t deserve that.”

“I don’t rightly care, sis.” Mac held one of his forelegs open. “Get in here, ya brat.”

Applejack trotted carefully forward and let herself be wrapped up into Mac’s hug with her sister.

They stayed together, holding each other as time carried on, ignored. Not everything was fixed; it would take more time before things would be okay again. Mistakes would still be made.

But at that moment, it felt okay.

Applejack sniffled. “You know. If the Acres feel like a prison, maybe you should try makin’ it feel more like a home.”

“And how do I do that?” Mac asked.

“I always liked Birdy,” Apple Bloom said.

Mac was quiet.

“Mac,” Applejack looked directly at him from within his embrace. “Look, we’re all here together and that’s how it’s going to be. Can’t fix what happened. We just gotta do better moving forward.” She jabbed Mac in the chest with a hoof. “And doing better means taking the chance and asking out that darn Pegasus you can’t stop being around.”

“What if he says no?” Mac asked quietly.

“Then I kick him in the face,” Applejack replied.

“I test my catapult on him,” Apple Bloom mumbled.

“What was the rule about death machines?” Applejack and Mac said in unison.

“Don’t. But I reserve the right to test them on ponies that hurt my family!” Apple Bloom pouted.

“Best answer we’ll probably get from you.” Mac sighed. “Even so, I can’t just-”

“Mac, ask him,” Applejack interrupted. “He’s in the market today. I guarantee that he hasn’t been doing everything he does for you because he’s ‘just your friend’ and has been waiting for you to ask him.” Applejack buried her face in Mac’s fur. “We’re still here, and we’ll be here when you get back. Be selfish for once.”

Mac took a deep breath. “You both mean more to me than anything in the world.”

Both sisters held Mac tighter. “We know,” They said together.

Both sisters let their brother go and watched as he charged out of the house towards Ponyville.

Because when Mac has a goal in his mind, it’s best to just stay out of the way and let it run its course.

Comments

[Aldon]

awesome family moment you really nailed the exchange of an awkward topic and I really loved when they all held together it was so damn good

[Bicyclette]

“You fought?!” Applejack shouted.

and oof! very nice to have Big Mac and his parents’ relationship being more complicated than one would think being revealed to Applejack at the same time as it’s being revealed to us

“I took it over for our family. I wanted you and Bloom to still have our home and I didn’t want to lose either of you since you were all I had left. It’s why I stood my ground when our extended family kept trying to stick their nose into everything.” Mac scowled. “There’s a reason the reunions have been gettin’ smaller and it has everything to do with the malackery they spouted about me as a caregiver for Bloom.”

does explain why we hardly hear of the extended family in this story! 

Mac furrowed his brow. “Why do you hate Thunderlane so much?”

“Because he did what I should have been doing.” A fresh bout of tears formed in Applejack’s eyes. “Being there for you and Bloom.”

aww! all of these unspoken issues interlocking like this throughout the whole story! just very well-done!

“I’m sorry, Big Bro,” She warbled. “I didn’t mean to make you choose me over your banker job.”

noooooo!

Applejack sniffled. “You know. If the Acres feel like a prison, maybe you should try makin’ it feel more like a home.”

“And how do I do that?” Mac asked.

“I always liked Birdy,” Apple Bloom said.

hehehe everyone knows!

“Don’t. But I reserve the right to test them on ponies that hurt my family!” Apple Bloom pouted.

aww, but at this point Thunderlane is already part of the family!

Because when Mac has a goal in his mind, it’s best to just stay out of the way and let it run its course.

so true! and great to see everything come together like this!