The Workhorse

by Backburner

Burns

Twilight awoke once or twice on the journey, but she could only remember small bits of what happened. The firecolt’s pulling Big Mac and her out on stretchers, being flown on a chariot to Ponyville hospital, seeing the lights pass by one by one as they were rushed through the corridors. It wasn’t until she was settled into a room that she was able to gain a semblance of consciousness back. Twilight found herself tucked snuggly into a hospital bed, the only sound coming from a buzzing light above her. It took her no time to remember what had happened, but the details stayed fuzzy as she ran through them all.

She didn’t move for the longest time as everything filled itself in inside her brain, the last thing she could seriously recall… Twilight turned her head first to her right and then to the left, for some reason that’s when the pain hit her with its first wave, especially coming from the side of her neck as she moved. It wasn’t as bad as she had thought it would be all things considered, but the deep throbs of regular discomfort was enough to make her grimace. Both beds beside her were empty, so Twilight settled back as comfortably as she possibly could and reached beside her for her beds remote. She pressed a button to summon a nurse and was soon greeted by a white pony with a red cross cutie mark.

“You called?” The nurse pony asked in a very concerned sounding tone of voice.

“Is Everypony going to be ok?” Twilight asked in a voice befitting her parched state.

“Well you’re all going to live if that’s what you mean. We recovered three of you from the fire, the dragon will only need some time to rest before he’s back to normal but I’m afraid you and your…companion, are going to need a little more time.” Twilight didn’t like the sound of that. “You’re very lucky, the stallion shielded you from much of the fire but there are some first degree burns on your right side, we had to remove a lot of your coat as it was simply to burnt to-”

“Is Big Mac going to be ok?” The nurse was reluctant to answer.

“In time he’s going to be fine, there is no lasting damage to speak of, but the short term doesn’t look very good.”

“I want to see him.”

“The doctor has advised you…”

“My bits pay this doctor and I can fire him and get a new one when I please, I want to see Big Mac as soon as possible or else I want you to find a doctor that will let me do that.” Twilight almost yelled as the nurse shrank away.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.” The nurse stood in the door for a second and let the room descend into a relative silence. As she started to close the door Twilight spoke.

“Can I get some water please?” The door opened wider and the nurse gave Twilight a sad look.

“Of course. Anything else?”

“No, that’s all…and I’m sorry for shouting at you, I-”

“It’s fine dear, I understand what must be going through your head. I think what you and that stallion tried to do was very romantic, I’m very sorry this happened to you two.” With that the nurse finally fully closed the door and Twilight heard her trotting away to get the water.

“Well,” Twilight said to herself. “At least the secrets out.”

* * *

Turns out as soon as possible was two days, the longest days Twilight ever experienced. Her coat was almost completely gone on one side, although the doctor assured her it would grow back with time and a few magical nudges. The worst burn was on her front leg, which she had apparently wrapped around Big Mac’s neck, a constant reminder of the pain he must be feeling. Standing outside Big Mac’s room, Twilight almost cried. She tried to tell herself it was an accident, that this was just an unlucky twist of fate, but she blamed herself for not thinking of Spike. A hoof placed itself on her shoulder, and Twilight turned her foggy eyes to Applejack.

“What’s done is done Twi, I know your hurtin’ but you have to realize there’s nothin’ you could have done.” Twilight shook the hoof off.

“You know that’s not true.”

“Twilight blamin’ yourself isn’t goin’ to help.”

“Applejack I sent Spike upstairs just before I started the fire, I had a million opportunities to tell him before that and a huge amount of time to explain what I was doing before I started the fire or before he saw it.”

“And how’s thinkin’ about that goin’ to help ya get over this?”

Just then the door opened to Big Mac’s room and both ponies looked to it as the nurse exited and gestured to tell them they could enter. Applejack let Twilight enter first, which she did only slowly after trying her best to wipe away some of the tears. Big Mac looked horrible, his body was dotted with second degree burns and his coat had nearly been completely removed. The only areas that seemed relatively unscathed were his underbelly and a section of his neck Twilight’s hoof must have been covering.

Twilight knew she didn’t look much better, half her head had been shaved clean and her mane looked worse then during her bout with time travel, but it was obvious why she was the one to visit Big Mac instead of the other way around. Twilight carefully made her way over to Big Mac, who smiled at her as she tried her best to keep from crying again.

“We made it.” Big Mac said.

“I…I can’t thank you enough for what you did.” She said. She lifted a hoof to give him a hug, but before she was even close to actually touching him she pulled herself back as she realized she couldn’t possibly touch him without rubbing against one of his burns.

“It’s ok, I’ve missed you.” Big Mac said slowly while stretching out his hooves. Twilight hesitated again, but was urged on by Big Mac’s gentle smile. Leaning in with her good hoof, she wrapped it around his neck and Big Mac squeezed her tight against himself. Twilight couldn’t take it any more and cried on his blistered shoulder as she tried her bast not to squeeze him back and heap even more pain onto what must already be a torturous embrace for her partner.

“I’m so sorry, I should have known this was a bad idea. I should have gotten Spike out of the library. I should have gotten out sooner. I’m sorry.” Big Mac squeezed her even tighter, Twilight could tell it hurt him to do so but she couldn’t pull away.

“Don’t be sorry, I’d do it again right now if I had to.”

“Big Mac, I can’t believe this happened, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go.” Big Mac lifted Twilight’s head off his shoulder and looked her in the eyes.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the course of my life, it’s that nothin’ goes exactly the way it’s supposed to. You just pick up the bits after every setback and use them to build up to the next goal. I’ve waited a long time to find a mare like you and unless you tell me to go I’m not leavin’ your side over something like this. I don’t care whose fault it was, if you still want me here, I’ll be here.” Twilight wiped away her tears.

“I hate to interrupt this touchy moment, but I’ll give you two some privet time after I say what I need to.” Applejack said from the corner of the room. Big Mac and Twilight both turned to see her.

“What ya need sis?” Big Mac said.

“You’ve left the farm pretty low on horse power, but this is a good time for you to be out of commission, or at least it’s better then it could be. Applebloom want’s to see you when the weekend rolls around so expect that soon. Everything is going fine on the farm, so you can just relax and get better. On another note though, everypony in town knows what happened, how you two tried to do the big reveal. I may have figured out what you were trying to do out loud, and it spread pretty quickly. Needless to say it’s one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen, even given what happened here.” Twilight and Big Mac blushed. “I hope you two enjoy each others company.”

Applejack exited the room and left the two alone together when she closed the door. Twilight turned sheepishly back to Big Mac, who had refused to take his hoof off her while Applejack spoke. She rubbed the side of his face with hers, there exposed skin raw and foreign to each others touch. Big Mac ran his hoof through what was left of her mane, carefully avoiding her burns.

“You’re all I thought about when I woke up.” Big Mac said. “They wouldn’t tell me how ya were doin’, I thought maybe somehow by holdin’ you under me I had squashed the life out of ya. It’s good to know your ok.”

“And what about you? You risked your life to save me and I couldn’t come to see you till today. Every possibility ran through my head about what could have happened to you. Seeing you alive and well is just so relieving.” Twilight had never felt this way about anypony before. When one of her friends was sad or hurt she would worry about them and comfort them like any friend would, but the thought of seeing Big Mac hurt, especially after what he did, was too much to think about let alone see with her own eyes.

Twilight found herself crawling into the hospital bed next to Big Mac, whom made no objections to the advance. The couple shared an embrace that Twilight wanted to last forever as she completely disregarded the shocks of pain that would wash over her when she moved the wrong way and touched one of her more delicate burns against something. She had been sure she would die in that fire, If it weren’t for Big Mac and the hooves that held her now she very well could have. Twilight looked into the stallion’s eyes, and felt safer and happier then she thought possible.

“You’re a very pretty mare Twilight.”

“And you’re a very handsome white knight.” Big Mac pressed his nose against hers causing it to scrunch up. Twilight felt her heart race as she closed her eyes, and then he kissed her. It was a soft, comforting kiss, so gentle it was hard to know exactly when he pulled away. When Twilight opened her eyes he was looking at her with a smile that melted her even further into his embrace.

“Any more requests?”

“We’ve got to get some new lines, these are romantic but I’d hate to think we’ve run out of material already.”

“I ain’t much good with words.” Twilight smiled as she kissed him again. A harder kiss then before, but still with a very gentle loving touch.

“Then I’ll have to help you.”

* * *

It was two weeks later before Big Mac was released from the hospital. Twilight came for an hour each day to talk with him and tell him how the farm was doing. He didn’t trust Applejack to tell him because he knew she would sugar coat it, something he hated. The Library had actually faired very well upon Twilight’s inspection, not a single book was even slightly charred from the heat. However the walls and floor all bore huge scorch marks and her bedroom was all but embers. The loss of her bed was the greatest blow but that was replaced before Twilight did anything else to restore her home.

Spike apologized all the time for not controlling his coughing, he felt worse then Twilight did before talking to Big Mac. Even as Twilight walked with Big Mac out of the hospital he still stayed behind her, his head held in shame. She had tried to make him feel better as best she could, but this was something she figured would only heal with time.

Twilight and Big Mac had been given special salves to promote hair growth after being told to shave their coat and manes. It was an odd sensation being almost completely hairless, but the salves worked quickly and Twilight was covered in a new (if short) coat of hair after only a couple days. When she and Big Mac walked outside, everything seemed new and open. She had a new short cut mane, a room to be redesigned, and a coltfriend by her side to help her through it all.

“So, what do you want to do first now that you’re out and about again?”

“How about I take you on our first date? We’ve been together Two weeks and a day and I haven’t done anything to earn the affection of a pretty young mare like you. Name the place and I’ll spare no expense.”

“Big Mac I said the first thing, we’re hardly prepared to go anywhere looking like we do.”

“Then we’ll have to find a place to prepare, I’m not the sort of stallion that lets his somepony go unappreciated. I owe you a date and I plan on delivering.”

“You know you’re impossible to argue with don’t you?”

“Eeyup.” Twilight thought it over for a moment, trying her hardest to think of a place fitting for there first public appearance since the fire.

“Why don’t we just go to the park. That way I don’t have to go fetch my saddle bags.”

“Ya sure ya wouldn’t prefer a romantic breakfast?”

“I could help with that.” Spike chimed in, eager for something to do that would make up for his mistake.

“Actually that’s not a bad idea.” Twilight said. “You could bring us a lunch later today. Why don’t you go to the market and start collecting ingredients?”

“Yes Twilight, you won’t be disappointed.” Spike rushed off toward town, eager to get on his task.

“Shall we?” Twilight said, gesturing toward the dirt path leading to Ponyville Park. Big Mac and Twilight walked side by side, turning heads throughout their short journey. As Applejack had told them everypony in town knew they were together now, Twilight had been asked several times while Big Mac was recovering how he was doing from ponies she had barely ever spoken to. In a small town like this nopony was a stranger, but it was still weird to have everypony watching out for her like that. When the pair reached the park they found a nice bench to sit on and considered what to do next. Twilight cuddled next to Big Mac and let him wrap a hoof around her shoulder.

“So what do ya want to do?” Big Mac asked.

“This is nice.” Twilight responded.

“We did this all the time I was in the hospital, you’re the one who wanted variations in my sweet talk.”

“That’s different, certain lines can get old eventually, but I’ll never get tired of you holding me.” Big Mac squeezed her tight for a second and then turned to look at her.

“If you say so, I’m happy with anythin’ that makes you happy.”

“Well you know what would make me really happy?”

“I have an idea.” Twilight closed her eyes and kissed her companion. Each touch of his lips sent a new wave of warmth from her chest. Big Mac broke the kiss after a moment and started rubbing his cheek against hers. “You never told me everypony would be watchin’ us.” He whispered into her ear.

“Well it’s not like much happens here, two lovers nearly killing themselves in a fire is bound to be talk of the town for a month or two.” Twilight replied.

“Ya know, that gets me think’n” Big Mac said as he took his head from Twilight’s cheek to look her in the eyes. “Does the princess know about us?”

“Not exactly, when I was admitted to the hospital they sent a notice to Canterlot to tell her what happened. Then I sent a letter to her saying I was doing fine and would be back on my hooves soon. My friendship report this week was about how you saved me, although it didn’t say your name. Celestia might have been able to put it together but I haven’t outright said we’re a couple. Why do you ask?”

“You’re an important mare Twilight, being the royal apprentice is no small thing. I’ve never had the honor of meetin’ Celestia face to face and I’ve heard only good things about her from Applejack, but I can’t help but think a workhorse like myself wouldn’t be to impressin’ to her. There’s a very real possibility one of these day’s there going to call you off to someplace and should I go with you I wouldn’t want to hurt your reputation there.”

“Big Mac,” Twilight replied with a warm smile. “That’s just silly. Canterlot may not have the best reputation when it comes to accepting non-unicorns but that doesn’t mean there are none there. My parents live right next door to an earth pony couple and they don’t have any problems getting along.”

“Well that may be, and I’m sure if you were an earth pony we wouldn’t have any trouble, but how do you think that couple would do if one of them was a unicorn? Ponyville is a small place and we don’t have much to bicker with each other over, but in the big city…I don’t know how acceptin’ they’d be.”

Twilight had never really thought about that. Back in Canterlot everypony she had ever known was a unicorn. (With the notable exception of the alicorns Celestia and Cadence.) So what few relationships she saw were strictly of the unicorn clan. Since moving to Ponyville she had met several bi-clan couples and hadn’t really considered how they would be received back home. Canterlot was a very old city with very old traditions. Most of the families there (including hers) date back to when the clans first founded the country. Big Mac might have a point here.

“I’m sure the princess will understand. There wasn’t a problem when Shining Armor got married. I would think he’d been dating Cadence for awhile before he proposed and I never heard him talk about any problems. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.” Big Mac looked out into the park and Twilight made herself content to watch the wind blow through the grass.

“That wasn’t exactly the best thing to bring up on the first date was it?”

“We were going to need to think about it eventually, this is as good a time as any. We haven’t exactly been taking things slow either.” Big Mac dawned a look of confusion as he turned to the pony he had pressed beside him.

“What ya mean by that Twilight.”

“Well we did kiss before our first official date. Not to mention how much time we spent cuddled up beside each other in the hospital. I’ve barely had the chance to get anything done between the time I spend with you and the repairs to the library.”

“I’ve been meanin’ to ask you how that was going, nothin’ was to badly burnt was it?”

“Nothing I couldn’t replace. Spike feels awful about the whole thing though, it doesn’t help that he’s worried about me.”

“Worried about you? Why?”

“Well it didn’t go unnoticed to him when I took trips to go see you. Back in Canterlot Spike and I spent a lot of time on my studies, just the two of us. When I first took in Owlowiciouse he, well he kind of lost it. I don’t know how well he’ll adjust to having to share me with somepony else.” Big Mac thought that over.

“Ya know that doesn’t help to calm my nerves.”

“You know I may be paranoid about some things, but I don’t know a word to describe that sentence, and that’s coming from a librarian.” Twilight said with a smirk.

“Miss. Sparkle, I want to be with you, but I don’t want to mess with your life unless I can make it better. Maybe I am paranoid, but it’s only because I’ve seen enough things fall apart to know not to mess with em to much.”

“Turning philosopher on me now? And I told you to call me Twilight.” Big Mac said nothing as he looked into her eyes. Twilight’s smile and Big Mac’s emotionless expression saying more then words possibly could. The breeze picked up and ran through their short manes blowing them to the side. Like a scene from a romance novel Big Mac turned and let Twilight look up at him as he watched the horizon.

“Can I tell you a secret.”

“You know the answer to that question.”

“Every mare I’ve been with, what few I have been with, it’s always been the same. One day just like the next, just like the one before. Everythin’ went the way it was supposed to. But with you, I’ve nearly burned to death, spent countless hours lying motionless in a hospital bed holding you, and now all I can think about is how this could go wrong, all that in such a short amount of time. I care about you a lot Twilight, more then I think I know yet, and this has been the craziest relationship I’ve ever gotten in to. And I’ve got to tell ya, I wouldn’t trade a moment like this for anything” Twilight felt her heart melt, that was by far the sweetest thing anypony had ever said to her.

“Truth is,” He continued. “The real reason I wanted to take you on this date is because I don’t want ya to go. I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as I am when you’re with me. I’ve never felt like this before, but I’d imagine this is almost what it would feel like to be in love. Maybe I’m just grateful you came to be with me or just foolin’ myself with all this but I want to be with you as much as I can from here on out. The thought of that however makes me wonder how much time that really is given who you are.”

Twilight rubbed her head against his neck, and he pulled her in tight. Twilight couldn’t help herself and wrapped her fore hooves around his neck surprising him. The two sat there in a tight embrace as Twilight felt her heart beat a million miles a minute.

“I’ve never had anypony like you before Big Mac,” she said. “I’ve met a lot of stallions but you’re the first one I've ever really felt anything more then a casually crush towards. There’s no need to worry about anything because unless these feelings change I don’t care what anypony in Canterlot says about us. As for Spike-”

“Yes Twilight.” Came Spikes voice as he stood in front of the bench looking up at the couple. Twilight hadn't even noticed he’d arrived. “I got the picnic ready like you said, I set everything up not to far from here.” Big Mac stopped squeezing Twilight as she released her hold on his neck. Giving each other a hesitant glance, the two stood to follow the baby dragon.

Author's Note:

This chapter just barely made it on here today, my laptop cut out the internet this morning so I had to wait till now to post. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter as I absolutely loved crafting it. Most of all the part when it's just the two of them in the bed. (Ha ha, that could be misinterpreted.) The next chapter is very special to me, in fact it contains a scene that I've been struggling to get perfect for a week now that I can't wait to show you, hopefully it will go over like I expect.

Comments

[Ninjayorkshire]

Twilight if they don't like Big Mac, just kill them, Killing haters makes everything better, and i would start with blueblood if i were you
I want to see moar i want drama, action, daaaw scenes, nobles getting schooled I WANT MOAR please

[ThatBronyWithTheClipOns]

Another fantastic chapter! MORE MUSTACHES!

[Backburner]

1938835
Killing parasprites only turns you into one, and i for one think Blueblood is simply a product of his society and i an unfortunet case of peer presure, he's salvegable if you do him corectly.

1939664
MORE!?! But, but I... *sigh* there's got to be somewhere around here I could put those.