Afraid to talk about his secret love, Big Mac decides to write a letter expressing his true feelings. After all, it's easier than awkwardly confronting her...
Big Mac has always had trouble expressing his feelings, especially when it comes to love. His pursuits always end in failure due in no small part to his shyness. He decides to write his secret love a letter to declare his feelings, but fear takes the best of him. His sister takes it upon herself to send the letter, but a question remains: who is his mystery mare?
That's what Big Mac told himself when he awoke. The weather team, however, had different plans. Torrential rain made going outside very unlikely, for any pony. Today was to be the day he was finally going to announce his intentions; to tell her how he feels. He could no doubt brave the elements, this was too important after all, but asking her to do likewise would be an unromantic way to start their relationship. In fact, it would probably end it before it began. No, he would just have to wait.
Waiting. It seems like that's all he did when it came to love. The few times he felt he made progress getting close to a mare, he usually just ended up being a "good friend". Why do mares have "friend zones"? he occasionally thought to himself. It made no sense to him. Wouldn't you want your love to also be a friend? No, your BEST friend? And why would one look for love from somepony who was, at best, unknown? Sure, an unsuccessful relationship could ruin a friendship, but rejecting it before it starts can be just as damaging! These philosophical insights were some of the many thoughts constantly going through his head. He just didn't like "blabbering" about his feelings all the time.
Maybe his quietness is what puts mares off? Possibly. It seems like gone are the days when the strong and silent types were appreciated. Now, the most desired stallions must be outgoing and opinionated. They constantly have to stick their muzzles in everypony's business and brag about their status among society. Big Mac actually could speak quite eloquently when he so desired, he just rarely ever had the desire. That is just not who Big Macintosh was and he was not going to pretend otherwise, unless somepony else actually needed him to pretend, of course. Ponies were just going to have to accept him for who he is and, outside of his own family, few did.
It's not like Big Mac was unattractive. He could often feel the stares gazed upon him as he walked through town. He was one of the biggest and strongest stallions in Ponyville. He might, in fact, actually be the strongest as Bulk Biceps' muscles were mostly just for show. All Bulk and no use is what Mac thought of his physique. Still, Biceps was friendly and kind enough that Mac thought well of him. He even shared similar traits in that he rarely spoke. But when he did, he would scream. Usually he would scream something incorrect so everypony would think he was unintelligent. Maybe that is what they thought of Big Mac too as he usually only responded with "EEYUP!" or "NOPE!". Truth was, however, Big Macintosh was actually extremely intelligent, there is just rarely and opportunity to display his fancy mathematics. He wouldn't like to show off anyway.
Big Macintosh always felt he was unlucky in love and, now with the rain, he couldn't help but feel as if the universe actually meant for him to be alone. He let out a sigh of despair as he stared out the barn windows. They couldn't really do any work outside, but he and his sister Applejack could still barrel some cider for the upcoming season; maybe not as much as he could using the treadmill machine outside, but better than doing nothing. He figured he'd better get back to work before Applejack reprimanded him. She, like all of the females in the Apple Family, could be quite overbearing and demanding. He might as well get back to it before she yelled something like "Quit yer daydreamin', Melonhead!"
"Quit yer daydreamin', Melonhead!"
He was too late! Big Mac turned around and walked back to pick up another barrel to fill. "Eeyup," he replied morosely. Applejack could always tell what he was really thinking by the way he said his favorite replies and this was not a pleasant tone.
"Shucks, Big Mac. I was only foolin' around. You alright?" Applejack questioned.
"Eeyup!" he replied, hoping she wouldn't persist.
"Aw, c'mon now big brother. Sounds like somethin's bothering you. Wanna talk about it?"
"Nope!" he said a little louder, clearly annoyed.
"Mac, how many times we gotta go through this? Why can't ya just tell me what's goin' on?" AJ insisted.
Big Mac gazed at the floor. She was right, but he just didn't like opening up and sharing his feelings. Moreover, how could he share his feelings about his failures in love to her. Apart from being an awkward subject, Applejack wouldn't understand. She was one of the most pursued mares in Equestria. Being the ponification of honesty, her problem was telling them she wasn't interested. Still, he knew she just wasn't ever going to let things go.
He acquiesced, "Ah... just don't feel comfortable talking 'bout it... least not with family, that is." He hoped that would be enough to drop the subject and get back to work. Applejack raised an eyebrow with a puzzled look on her face. A moment later she realized what he meant and was hoping to avoid. Knowing him so well, she deduced his problem and quickly wanted to offer her solution.
"So, yer sweet on some filly but feelin' sorry for yourself 'cause ya don't know how to talk to her?" Tact was not one of Applejack's best traits. Mac blushed as she hit the nail on the head.
"Uhh..." he usually didn't say much, but rare were the times when he was truly speechless. Mac simply didn't know how to respond.
Applejack, as usual, responded for him. "Look, I'm no expert in love, but one thing that might help is to write yer feelings down. Write her a letter. Express how ya truly feel and get it off yer chest. It'll make you feel better, even if ya never send it. Who knows, she might think it's romantic. Some ponies like that sappy stuff."
Big Mac looked away in contemplation. It actually wasn't that bad of an idea. He could take his time, gather his thoughts, and express his feelings on his terms. It might be more cowardly than approaching her directly, but if she cares about him at all she would still accept his gesture for what it is. Plus, even if he didn't send it, he might still feel better.
"Eeyup!" He agreed, he would write her the letter. Applejack grinned in approval as the barn door opened.
"Golly! It's really comin' down out there!" their little sister Apple Bloom remarked wearing her rain coat, boots, and hat while holding an umbrella. "Granny says lunch is ready so get yer flanks in there!"
The three of them headed back out the door looking forward to their repast.
"Just remember what I told you. Write a letter and get all yer feelings out." Applejack reminded. Apple Bloom looked quizzically, clearly not knowing about the prior conversation.
Soon after lunch, the weather team commenced with the cleanup of the storm clouds. Big Mac and Applejack took this as a sign to survey the orchard and check for any damage. Taking the greater part of the afternoon, they met up once all the damage was assessed.
"Nope!" Mac used his standard reply. Of course there was some damage, like a few broken branches and some vegetables that didn't make it, but overall he had nothing worth reporting.
"Well, a lighting bolt took out one of the older trees and the wind uprooted another!" Applejack berated. "When I see Rainbow Dash, Ah swear ah'm gonna take one of them branches and knock some sense into her! What was she thinkin', callin' up a storm that size! Ah'm gonna take it outta her cider priv'leges that's what! That'll learn 'er!"
Mac just responded with a stoic stare that seemed to tell her to just let it go. Seeing this, Applejack exhaled a calming sigh. "Yer right... as usual," she scraped her hoof along the ground, slightly annoyed. "No sense cryin' over spilled cider, I'll leave that to Dash!" she snickered. "Anyways, now'd be a good time to write that letter."
Big Mac was hoping she'd forget about that. It may have seemed a trivial thing, but even just writing the words down seemed to fill him with trepidation. Still, he might as well get it over with just to get AJ off his back. She might have been the element of honesty, but even that was second to her tenacity.
"Well..." she shooed waving her front leg. "GO ON! GET!" Big Mac turned toward the farmhouse and lowered his head showing he'd, once again, submitted to his little sister's will. Maybe that's my problem, he thought. I'm afraid of disappointing mares to the point where I just cower to them.
As Big Mac slowly made his way inside, Applejack's friends (minus Rainbow Dash) trotted up to greet her. "Hi Applejack!" greeted Twilight Sparkle. "Ready to go? I'm really looking forward to the play!"
"Play?" Applejack seemed confused. "Oh right! The play about that windy lady..."
"Lady Windermare's Fan," Twilight corrected. "I know you're not really thrilled about seeing it, but I think you might like it".
"Well, we still have to wait on Rainbow Dash, She sent one doozy of a storm earlier," Applejack was still annoyed.
"Well she'd better hurry up," Rarity chimed in, overdressed for the occasion as usual; which in this case was difficult to do. "I'm not going to look this good to only be turned away for being late!"
"Relax Rarity," Twilight reassured. "We still have plenty of time."
After a brief moment, Twilight recalled the scene she observed when they walked up. "Applejack, if you don't mind me asking, what was it you were yelling at Big Macintosh about?"
"Huh?" Applejack looked confused. "I wasn't yellin'."
"It sure looked like you were yelling..." Fluttershy quietly added.
"YEAH!" quickly exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "And not the kind of yelling that's like 'ahhh!' like you're excited to see somepony, but like 'AHHHHH' like you're ready to pounce on somepony and pound them into pieces and then pound those pieces into smaller pieces and those pieces into even smaller pieces until they are nothing but smithereens and then you sweep those smithereens into a box and mail it far away only to have it fall out and splash into the ocean NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAAAAAAIIIIIIIN!!!!!!!"
"Calm down, Pinkie!" Applejack interrupted, " 'tweren't nuthin' like that! He just had somethin' that needs doin' and I was just makin' sure he did it!"
"Well, you could have been a little more Débonnaire about it," Rarity flourished her foreleg and made an attempt to sound sophisticated.
"Oh, C'mon Rares! I've seen you snap at him plenty!" AJ accused.
Rarity gasped. "Moi?! I most certainly have not! A lady does not 'snap'. I merely and calmly correct him when he is late or misses his cues!" referring to their work in the Ponytones.
"Uh huh... and I'm an Alicorn Princess," AJ spoke sarcastically. "No offense, Twi."
Twilight smirked and rolled her eyes. A good natured argument like this is one of the things that made her unique group of friends so special. Finally, as if to put an end to this, Rainbow Dash flew in, still wearing her weather goggles.
"All right girls! Now we can go!" she greeted. "Sorry about the storm earlier, we had a lot of catching up to do."
"It's all right, Sugarcube. You only ruined two of my trees. I'll just take it out of yer cider." Applejack joked as they started walking away.
Dash's lagged behind, eyes widened, "NOT THE CIDER!"
---
Big Mac slowly made his way up to his room. With his sisters out and Granny Smith asleep on her rocking chair, he more or less had the farmhouse to himself. Normally he wouldn't mind being by himself, but tonight he just wanted to go out so as to avoid his current task. Something inside filled him with anxiety at the thought of bearing out his feelings, even if it was to just a piece of paper. He also felt like what he was doing was a mistake; like he needs to just go out and announce his intentions directly, come what may. Part of him also believed what he was doing was cowardly and no good would come from it. However, he implied a promise to Applejack that he would get it done.
Mac entered his room and locked the door to prevent any unexpected interruptions. Clearing a space off his desk, he placed a clean sheet of paper and sat down in front of it. Most ponies would write with their mouths or, if they were unicorns, use magic to write. But Mac hated the taste of erasers, especially after they'd been used. He opened the drawer and pulled out his writing bracelet. It was a simple metal band fitted to wear around his front hoof with a clip so he could attach a writing utensil to it. This made his writing far more legible than other ponies, though still not as good as Spike's. There is something to be said for having opposable thumbs. After attaching a quill and checking the ink, he was now prepared to pour out his feelings.
He sat. He stared at the paper. Then the pen. After all this buildup, he now couldn't figure out what to say. Might as well start with the greeting.
Dear ,
He crossed out her name. Even seeing it on paper filled him with anxiety. He thought it better to leave it out or start with some general greeting, at least for now.
To the sweetest, most beautiful pony I know,
There. That will work for now. But now the hard part. Mac took a few moments to think of the most romantic words to say. He thought maybe he could flatter or charm her with his exceptional vocabulary. But if he did that it might confuse her in that it contradicted Mac's personality. She might be disappointed to find him behave opposite his writing. In the end, he decided to be himself and write from the heart.
My heart can remain silent no longer. Thoughts of you have ensconced themselves at the forefront of my mind. I wake, only to continue dreaming of your radiant image. The Sun and Moon shine brighter as if only to enhance your glory. The birds of the sky are shamed by the melody in your voice. And yet, your beauty is surpassed only by your character. The mere thought of your name can embolden me to conquer the world, yet also to surrender. You make me want to achieve greater; you make me want to cower. Only you can fill me with hope and dismay simultaneously. You deserve no less than the best this world can provide and, if it will not, I will surely take it only to see your smile. My desire is to be near you, to build a love and increase it by a hundred fold the next day, and a hundred fold the day after that until the numbers themselves cease to exist. But if I am too humble, I wish only for someone greater to make you happy. If I am worthy, I steadfastly await your reply to end this torment of uncertainty.
Macintosh
"That should do it," Mac said to himself. He inspected the letter and proofread for any mistakes. Satisfied, he nodded in approval. Opening a drawer to his left, he took out an envelope and folded the letter into it. He kept it unsealed as he still had to write her name if and when he was ready to send it. For now at least, he just wrote the address on the envelope and put it in his memento drawer.
Before closing his memento drawer, he took a minute to go through it. Here he kept treasures from those close to him, should there have been an opportunity to collect. On top was Smartypants as he often took that out to take care of. There was also one of Apple Bloom's bows, one of Applejacks old hats from when she was a filly, a ribbon Granny Smith use to wear in hear mane, a well chewed toy Winona would play with, and a fragment of metal from his first yoke. He also had a few more items he collected from ponies he thought special such as a deflated balloon and bag of confetti from Pinkie, his bowtie from his first time singing with Rarity in the Ponytones, a stone carving from Marble Pie, and a few Cyan feathers left over from when Rainbow Dash would nap in one of his trees. Tucked away in a corner on the bottom was the pièce de résistance: a jewelry box containing the engagement ring he bought for Cheerilee while under the influence of the Love Poison. He spent so much of his savings to buy it and he vowed one day he would use it.
After reminiscing, he closed the drawer and locked it, keeping the key in a secret location under his bed. Satisfied, he yawned and stretched his mighty legs as he prepared for bed. With Luna's moon beginning its ascent, he figured he might as well hit the hay early. He removed his yoke, turned out the light, and crawled into bed feeling as if a tremendous weight was lifted off his chest.
"I guess AJ was right...."
A few weeks later
"Applejaaaaack!" Apple Bloom moaned. "I can't find my bow!" She darted from wall to wall, room to room frantically looking for a bow to wear. "I can't go outside without it, Ah'll feel naked!"
She wanted to meet her friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle in order to find new ponies who needed help understanding or getting their Cutie Marks.
"Where'd y'all leave it? Where's the last place you remember havin' it?" Applejack shouted back.
"I dunnoooo!" Apple bloom started to whine back.
"Well your just gonna have to go without it today! Ah'll have Granny getcha a new one tomorrow!"
Apple Bloom did not want to go out without it. Her bow was a part of who she was. It would be like asking a unicorn to go without her horn or asking Rainbow Dash to forget about her wings.
"I caaaan't! Don't you have any extras?"
Applejack, tired of putting up with whining that could rival Rarity's, finally capitulated. "I think Big Mac has one in his desk drawer!"
Thankfully, Big Mac got an early start to his day so he could miss the latest round of Applejack vs. Apple Bloom.
"The locked one? How am I s'posed to get it?!" Apple Bloom continued.
"LAND SAKES!" Applejack shouted. "It ain't that hard ta figure out! Mac's terrible at hidin' things. The dang key's under his bed!"
Satisfied, Apple Bloom dashed up to Big Mac's room. She never questioned why he would have one of her bows, she was just happy that he had one. She quickly found the key and rushed to open the drawer. Upon opening, she noticed the doll and some other junk along side her bow. As she grabbed the bow, she noticed the undelivered letter Big Mac had written a few weeks ago. She realized this must be the letter Applejack was talking to him about.
Curious, she opened it and started to read. "BLEH!" It was some sappy love letter. Despite wearing a bow (present time excluded of course) Apple Bloom was very much a tomcolt. She didn't like all that mushy lovey dovey stuff. She wanted to gag almost as much as she did when she tricked him into taking the Love Poison. Still, it gave her another idea on what she could do today. She quickly grabbed the envelope and the bow, then rushed out the front door to meet up with her friends.
"YOUR WELCOME!" yelled Applejack sarcastically.
---
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were already waiting for Apple Bloom in their Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse. They had started formulating ideas on where to find ponies who needed their help and strategies on how to help them. Adjusting her newly found bow, Apple Bloom entered the clubhouse. "Sorry ah'm late girls, I couldn't find a bow."
"That's all right Apple Bloom, we were just going over how we're going to help other ponies realize their Cutie Marks!" exclaimed Scootaloo.
"Yeah," added Sweetie Belle. "You ready to go out and see who we could find?"
"Soon enough, Ah've just got one stop to make first," Apple Bloom hoped they wouldn't inquire as to the specifics of their new task.
"Where?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Oh, I just gotta stop by the post office and send out a letter from Big Mac."
"Well, let's get going and get it out of the way!" Scootaloo replied eagerly, excited to start her day.
---
Entering the post office, The Cutie Mark Crusaders were greeted with an enthusiastic wave from their favorite mailmare. She was a gray pegasus with a light blonde mane and eyes that looked in different directions. Apple Bloom approached as she handed her the envelope.
"Howdy Ma'am, can you send this letter?" she laid it on the counter.
"Nooo problem!" the mailmare answered with glee and a salute. "I'll take care of this personally!"
Satisfied, Apple Bloom handed her the bits necessary for postage and started to turn around to be on her way.
"See, Ah told ya that wouldn't take lo- OOF!"
While trying to talk to her friends, Apple Bloom blindly bumped into Pinkie Pie.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Pinkie quickly apologized.
"For what? Apple Bloom's the one that ran into you," commented Sweetie Belle while Scootaloo helped Apple Bloom up.
"Really?" inquired Pinkie "I guess I'm just so use to the being the pony causing accidents that I just apologize out of habit! Isn't that silly..." she added with a grin and a squee.
Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her head as she got back up "It's alright Pinkie. What brings you to the post office anyway?"
Pinkie walked over to the counter where the mailmare was. "Why, I'm sending out invitations for the anniversary of Ponyville's founding next week and I'm going to throw a huuuuuge PARTY! It's not every year Ponyville gets to celebrate an anniversary! Although I guess it does and that's why it's an anniversary. But THIS anniversary is going to be suuuuuper special! I'm going to invite the Princesses, my family, I'm even going to invite The Wonderbolts to perform! And of course, I'm sending out super special invitations to everypony in TOWN!"
"That sounds great Pinkie!" Apple Bloom got an idea. She turned back to the mailmare as she figure how she could get her shy brother to meet his secret love. "Say Miss, can ah get mah letter back real quick. I just wanna add somethin'." She took back the letter and added a single line at the bottom.
If you want to talk, let's meet in town hall during Ponyville's anniversary celebration.
"Thanks Ma'am," Apple Bloom returned the note onto the counter without putting it back in the envelope. Saying their goodbyes, the Cutie Mark Crusaders left the post office to commence their plans for the day.
Pinkie got out her note, decorated with confetti and pictures of balloons, and set it on the counter. "And here's MY invitation. Be sure to send a copy to everypony in town! As well as my family, the Princesses, and The Wonderbolts! This party is going to be AAAAAAWESOOOOOOME!" She inexplicably acquired her party cannon and fired streamers and confetti all over the mailmare, causing both letters to blow onto the floor. "Oops, sorry!"
The startled mailmare picked up the letters and stacked them together. "Nooo problem! I'll take care of this personally! Everypony will get a copy!" She smiled and gave a salute to reassure Pinkie. Happy, Pinkie paid the postage, as well as a little extra for having to add a "Pinkie Surprise".
"And I hope to see you there too!" Pinkie replied before bouncing back out the door.
Apple Bloom just wanted the school day to end. Celestia's Sun was shining and it was too nice of a day to be cooped up in a tiny school house. She had also been antsy to see if Mac's mystery mare received his letter. Was it Marble Pie? Fluttershy? Rarity? Maybe even Princess Twilight! I can't take this suspense! She'd been watching Miss Cheerilee all day for any signs or changes in her behavior. Whoever it is, I bet they'll be so happy! Maybe they'll even ask me to be their Mare of Honor!
Finally, the school bell rang. All the colts and fillies gave a cheer as they rushed out the doors eager to enjoy this beautiful day. Apple Bloom remained behind to question her teacher. "So, Miss Cheerilee..."
"Yes Apple Bloom, what is it?" Her violet-colored teacher replied.
"Have you, uh, gotten any interestin' letters lately? In the mail, Ah mean," she inquired with a forced smile.
"No, although I haven't checked today. Why do you ask?"
"Ohhhh, no reason," Apple Bloom seemed somewhat disappointed. She had always liked Miss Cheerilee and would love it if, maybe one day, they could be sisters-in-law. "Ah gotta get goin' now.... important.... farmin' business!" With that, she too dashed out the doors of the school. Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo were waiting just outside.
"Hey, Apple Bloom!" called Scootaloo "wanna-"
"CAN'T!" interrupted Apple Bloom. "Important farmin' business!" She didn't really have any farming business. She just wanted to search around town to see which pony received Mac's secret love letter. Maybe even the Mailmare was still delivering it so she could just follow her. She had originally seemed disinterested, but in the last few days this romantic mystery seemed to grow on her. Passing by the first few ponies she found, she indeed saw a change in their attitudes. Most were smiling and giggling. Some even appeared to be singing. Confused, she asked the first pony why she was so happy.
"Oh, I'm just excited for the Ponyville Anniversary Party!" responded Sea Swirl.
"The Anniversary?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yeah, I have a feeling it's going to be the most magical, romantic night!" Sea Swirl trailed off with a sigh, lost in her thoughts.
Apple Bloom let her be and started walking away. It wasn't long before she started noticing other ponies behaving in very much the same way. Something funny is going on here... she thought. There's no way I'm going to find Mac's mystery mare with every pony making googly-eyes. It was no use, she might as well go home and see if her friends were doing anything interesting.
Arriving back at Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom saw the gray mailmare just delivering today's letters. She too seemed unusually happy. She tried puckering her lips together in a failed attempt to whistle a joyful tune. Instead, she spit and sounded like she was trying to blow out a bunch of candles. Completed with her current task, she took the air and flew away.
"WAIT!" Apple Bloom yelled, hoping the mailmare could tell her to whom she had delivered the letter. She was too far away however, the mailmare took off to finish her rounds. "Shucks! Now Ah'll never know!"
Apple Bloom walked toward the mailbox to inspect today's mail. She noticed that each member of her family received their own letter. "These must be Pinkie's party invitations," she assumed correctly. She opened her letter, only to have streamers and confetti explode into her face. "Yep..." She took out the invitation and inspected it for the details. "Next week....outside Town Hall....starts mid-morning", everything seemed normal.
A second letter fell out of the envelope. Confused, Apple Bloom bent down to pick it up. "Huh? What's this?" She unfolded it and inspected the words.
To the sweetest, most beautiful Pony I know,
"Uhhh.....?" It was Big Mac's letter, and it was still not addressed to anypony specifically! "Why did I get this unless...uh oh.....WAIT!" She started to put the pieces together. "THIS WAS IN WITH PINKIE'S INVITATION! AND PINKIE'S INVITATION WAS SENT TO THE ENTIRE TOWN! EVEN THE PRINCESSES ARE GETTING THIS! EVERYPONY IS GOING TO THINK BIG MAC IS SENDING THEM A LOVE LETTER!"
Apple Bloom felt as if she was going to faint. She was in SO much trouble when Big Mac found out; worse, when APPLEJACK found out. Poor Mac would probably never be able to show his face again! "What am I going to do?!"
Sweetie Belle approached the farm with an adorable skip in her step and a note in her mouth. Like most young fillies, she had an innocent crush on Apple Bloom's large but gentle big brother. She came to Sweet Apple Acres to see if Big Mac was home before noticing Apple Bloom sitting forlorn on the ground. "Hiiiii Apple Blooooom!" She greeted melodically. "Is Big Mac ho- , what's wrong? While are you sitting on the ground?"
"Sweetie Belle, it's horrible! Remember that letter Ah sent to the post office the other day?"
"Yeah..." answered Sweetie Belle.
"Well it seems the mailmare mixed it in with Pinkie's party invitation and now everypony's gonna think Big Mac wrote them a love letter and it's all mah fault and he's never gonna forgive me and go into hidin' , never to show his face AGAIN!" She started to cry. Sweetie Belle started to approach her friend to console her when Apple Bloom noticed the letter. "SWEETIE BELLE! NOT YOU TOO!"
Sweetie Belle tried in vain to hide the letter. "O-o-o-o-f course not! This... is for something else entirely!" she gave a false grin, though inside was very much disappointed that the love letter was not intended for her. "Come on," she helped Apple Bloom up, "let's see if we can stop any more letters or at least warn Big Mac." Apple Bloom nodded. As they turned around they noticed Scootaloo gleefully skating toward them performing effortless spins and tricks while holding her copy of the note in her mouth.
"Hey Sweetie Belle! Hey, Apple Blooooom!" she greeted with a wink. "What's up!"
"Don't ask!" Sweetie Belle said plainly.
---
Big Macintosh trotted through the streets of Ponyville with a very pleasant disposition. He had a skip in his step despite pulling a wagon full of supplies needed back at the farm. Ever since he got his feelings out, he attacked each day with a fierce determination. He could not remember one day where he wasn't happy to live his life. Applejack's advice actually seemed to work! That letter really did the trick, even though he never had to send it. In fact, all of Ponyville seemed to share in his exuberance. Everywhere he looked, ponies were smiling and waving at him; some even seemed to be giggling. It was a great day to be alive and a great day to be a citizen of Ponyville!
Trotting by a bench, he heard a familiar whistle. Looking around, he identified it as belonging to Twinkleshine. Upon seeing Mac, she would occasionally whistle her approval at the sight of him, to which Big Mac always took as a sign of just being friendly. Close by, he saw Bon Bon staring at him and biting her lip. Sitting next to her was her inseparable friend Lyra, sitting in her awkward position like some strange bipedal ape. She too winked at Mac as he passed by. Those two always seemed to be up to something when he was around, however today it seemed much more overt.
"We gonna see you at the Ponyville Anniversary celebration, Big Mac?" both asked in unison.
"Eeyup!"
Both giggled to each other as Big Mac continued on his way. Must be some celebration they have planned. Everypony keeps on talking to me about it. Continuing his stroll through town, he noticed the stares and smiles from Berry Punch, Flitter and Cloudchaser, the Flower Ponies, even Octavia and DJ Pon-3 noticed him walking by their house and changed the tune they were rehearsing to a romantic serenade. Oblivious as usual, Big Mac assumed everypony was just having a terrific day as well and continued on his merry way.
Coming close to the end of the market area, Big Mac caught the scent one of his favorite snacks. Turning his head he located exactly what he was looking for. Off to the side of the road there happened to be a small cart with an extremely large, white Pegasus with a Mohawk and comically tiny wings. It was Bulk Biceps and today he was making a little extra money by selling freshly roasted peanuts! He even had the costume, complete with an apron, an incredibly tight shirt with red vertical stripes and the sleeves ripped off, and a paper hat that was much too small for his oversized cranium. Mac approached the cart excited to obtain this delicious treat.
"I'll take a pound of nuts." Mac requested.
"THAT'S A LOT OF NUTS!!!" Biceps screamed back.
Mac flinched back. As often as Bulk Biceps screams, Mac will never get use to it. He recovered as Biceps took a bag and filled it with delicious, freshly roasted peanuts.
"THAT'LL BE FOUR BITS BABY!! YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT?!!!
"Nope!" Mac shook his head as he just wanted the peanuts. He paid Biceps the four bits (and an extra one as a tip) and grabbed his snack to munch on his way home. Now that he had to use one of his front legs to hold the peanuts, it made it that much more impressive to see him pull the fully loaded cart with only three legs, all while still making it look effortless. This display did not go unnoticed by the ponies staring longingly at him while he enjoyed his tasty snack, oblivious to the extra attention.
Apple Bloom sprinted through the market area, frantically trying to find her big brother. She split from the other Cutie Mark Crusaders so they could cover more ground. Finally, she came across Bulk Biceps at his peanut cart. "Bulk Biceps! Have you seen mah brother?! It's an emergency!"
"HE JUST LEFT!!! WITH NUTS!!!"
---
When Big Mac returned to Sweet Apple Acres he saw Applejack standing at the mailbox with an expression of disbelief. He smiled to greet his little sister and maybe even share the events of his wonderful day. She returned his pleasant grin with a stern sneer as she marched right over to him.
"BIG MACINTOSH!"
Uh oh, my full name! What did I do now? he thought.
"What in tarnation is the meanin' of this!" she berated, holding a letter.
Big Mac looked confused. He tried to examine the strange letter while Applejack waved it in front of his face. Unfortunately, it was upside-down and he couldn't make any of it out.
"IT'S NOT HIS FAULT!" Apple Bloom came running up the road, finally catching up to her big brother.
"What did you say, Apple Bloom?" questioned her sister.
Apple Bloom still tried to catch her breath as she explained. "It's not his fault. I took the note! I took it 'cause Ah heard you two talkin' 'bout it the other day. Then Ah saw it in his drawer and I thought he'd be too shy to send it. So I did! Then there was a mix-up at the post office and now everypony who's gettin' an invitation to the anniversary party is also gettin' a copy of that letter!"
All the color seemed to disappear from Big Mac's face. He didn't move. His eyes were open as wide as possible at this realization and his body stiffened into a complete catatonic state. The immobility was so complete that it was as if he were directly connected with the ground like a great stone monolith. Applejack tried to stir him.
"You all right there, Big Mac?" but to no avail.
Unbeknownst to them, Granny Smith stealthily dragged herself up to the mailbox. "Oh, lookie here! I got my invitation to the Ponyville Anniversary celebration!"
Spike walked slowly through the halls of Princess Twilight's Castle. In his claws he was going through the mail that had just been delivered. "Bill, bill, junk mail, bill. You'd think being a Princess would be enough to stop the bill collectors. Bill, science magazine, letter from fictitious Griffon Prince asking for bits to free up his bank account, Ah! Here we are!"
"Here's what, Spike?" answered Twilight Sparkle as he entered the library. She was, once again, rearranging the books in her collection; a task she enjoyed so much that she would occasionally disregard the outside world.
"The invitation for the anniversary of Ponyville's founding!" he held it up for Twilight to see.
"Well, open it up! Let's see!" Twilight knew what was coming next. She held her hoof up to her face to hide her snickering from Spike. As Spike opened the envelope, streamers and confetti exploded out and landed all over his head. Twilight erupted in laughter at poor Spike's expense.
"Yeah, real funny," he stoically replied as he spit a confetto from his mouth. As he reached for the invitation, he noticed a second letter in the envelope. "Huh, what's this?"
"What's what, Spike?" Twilight inquired, already returning to her task.
"There's a second note in here"
"Well, what's it say?"
"To the sweetest, most beautiful pony I know," Spike drooped his shoulders. "I guess it's for you," he held the note out for Twilight to take.
Surprised, Twilight grabbed the letter with her magical aura and quickly floated it toward her. Immediately, she started reading the love note.
"I wish Rarity would send me a love note..." Spike sighed as he skipped away to give Twilight some privacy. "Raaaarityyy....."
Twilight became enthralled with the letter. The student in her noticed the grammatical errors, but she could tell somepony was writing from their heart, about her. Nopony had ever expressed their feelings to her before in such a way. The closest she had ever encountered was some blushing and awful flirting from a colt with spikey hair. But this felt genuine. Her heart melted as she felt this pony bear their soul to her. Finishing the letter, she finally found the name of its author.
"Big Macintosh?" she asked disbelievingly. "Applejack's brother? I...I've never even thought of him in that way. I don't know what to think!" She read the postscript. "He wants to meet at the Ponyville Anniversary celebration? What do I do? What do I say?" She started to panic. "How do I feel??"
Rainbow Dash
Rainbow Dash flew to her cloud home after finishing another day on weather patrol. "Another day, another example of me being awesome!" She was indeed great at her job, which mainly consisted of constant napping interrupted by the occasional kicking of a stray cloud. She noticed her mailbox, which was once again knocked over by the mailmare.
"She did it AGAIN! I swear, next time I'll...." she noticed Pinkie's invitation fall out. "Here we go!" She picked up the letter and carefully held it out from her. Knowing what was coming next, she opened it with the top facing away from her and grimaced as if it would lessen the blow. Once opened, she noticed nothing happened. Confident it was a false alarm, she proceeded to brag.
"HA! Pinkie Pie, you have to get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on ol' Rainbow Da-"
POP!
Streamers and confetti flew all over Rainbow Dash's face in a delayed explosion. She sneered, covered in party decorations. "You win this round, Pinkie..."
As Rainbow Dash walked into her home, Tank flew in to greet her while she inspected the invitation. It seemed very standard, as far as Pinkie was concerned. Then she noticed the second letter.
"What's this?" she started to read. "BLEH!" she shared the same reaction as Apple Bloom, "it's some gross, sappy love letter. I mean, I know why somepony would write me a love letter... I AM awesome! But really! Do they think I'm going to fall head over hooves for them?!" Rainbow Dash crumpled up the letter and threw it on the floor as she started to walk away.
She almost entered the next room when curiosity got the better of her. "Still... it couldn't hurt to just look at it...for laughs I mean!" she attempted to justify to her pet. She walked back and picked up the letter, straightened it and started to read. "There! See! It starts out sooo clichéd!" She continued on, "well that's nice..." The further she read, the more she felt as if she were special, and not the regular kind of special she constantly boasted about. She started to feel as if she were truly special, to some other pony! She almost felt a tear coming on as she finished.
"I'M NOT CRYING!" she tried to convince the stoic tortoise. "I just... had some cloud hit my eye!"
She looked down to find the author of this note. "Big Macintosh?! EW!" She tried to act as if she were too cool to be mentioned in the same sentence with the draft pony. "He's so quiet... and boring... and scruffy... and sensitive... and hard-working....." her tone subtly started to change, "...and gentle... and kind... and strong... and loyal... and handsome..."
It's a terrible thing for Rainbow Dash to be in love. It's a far, far worse thing for her to admit it.
Fluttershy
Fluttershy cautiously walked out from her cottage. She was eager to receive Pinkie's invitation, but not eager to go out and get the mail. Usually it meant either listening to the elderly mail-stallion ramble on about stories that never went anywhere, or waiting for the younger mail-mare to deliver it with her usual frightening crash. Fortunately, Fluttershy could tell that the mailmare had already delivered the post today as her mailbox was already knocked askew from an earlier impact. She quickly retrieved her invitation and fluttered back into her cottage.
Fluttershy's woodland friends came out to console her as they seemed to know she did not like her confrontations with the post-ponies. "It's alright, my friends," Fluttershy cooed while opening the letter. "The mail had already been delivered today, there's nothing to be afr-"
POP! The letter exploded sending streamers and confetti flying all over the place.
"EEP!" shrieked the sensitive pony as she jumped into midair, then dropped the note and dove under the nearby couch. Angel Bunny hopped out carrying a wooden spoon with which he proceeded to whack the note several times as punishment for scaring his timid caregiver. Satisfied that the inanimate object had been defeated, he carried it back over to Fluttershy and dropped it at her hind legs, which were sticking out from beneath the couch. Fluttershy turned around and tapped at the note a couple of times to make certain it was safe before forcing an embarrassed smile, to which Angel replied with an annoyed thumping of his foot.
As she started to read the invitation, Angel noticed a second letter still in the envelope. He could not read the strange symbols on the page but he figured Fluttershy should be made aware of it, just in case it was important. "What do you have there, Angel Bunny?" she softly inquired.
As she started to read, a confused look came over her face. Fluttershy had no experience when it came to love letters and didn't even realize what it was until she had almost finished reading. "Oh my," she commented. "Th-there must have been a mistake, this must be for somepony else, nopony would ever write something so nice about me."
The pale yellow pegasus thought the polite thing to do would be to stop out of respect for the pony for whom the letter was intended. Still, her curiosity won out as she continued on. Finally, she identified the author. "I-it's from Big Macintosh!" she quietly exclaimed. That reaction seemed to become more common with every pony reading it. "Oh my..."
Big Macintosh had always been nice to her and she did find him attractive, but Fluttershy had always been shy of the large and quiet farm pony, relatively speaking. Their rehearsals with the Ponytones helped a little, but she was still more or less afraid of him. However, part of her did feel jealous for the lucky pony who was the object of his affection.
"U-u-unless this letter is actually m-m-meant for me..." she trembled as she hid back under the couch.
Rarity and "The Mail-Mare"
The Carousel Boutique was a mess. Fabric and dress-making instruments were strewn about in a random manner. Rarity was already overwhelmed with the amount of orders incoming for the anniversary celebration. Now, ponies were coming in all day requesting alterations and ordering new and fancier dresses. "I'm NEVER going to get caught up with all this! This is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" She had been so obsessed with her orders, she barely noticed the tapping at her front door.
"What? Is somepony there?" she looked and found the gray-coated mailmare, now finished with her rounds. "Yes, yes. Do come in. Have a seat, I'll be with you in a- NOT THERE!" she shrieked as the pegasus nearly sat on Rarity's pin cushion. Thankful her cushion remained undamaged, and possibly the new client for what it's worth, Rarity grabbed the object and held a pin in her mouth as she went back to work on her current dress. "Now then, what can I do for you?"
The pegasus pulled out a torn, shabby looking dress from a then unnoticed clothing box she had brought in with her. "NOT YOU TOOOOO!" Rarity whined. "This is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" The gray pegasus seemed devastated. She hadn't seen this dress in a while and it had been even longer since having any need of it. She wanted nothing less than to look the best she possibly could for the celebration. She started to drag herself back toward the door in dismay.
"I'm sorry, darling." Rarity interjected. "It's not your fault. I've just been sooo backed up with all of these orders that I've just about lost it." She walked over and inspected the dress. "Now, let's see what we can do with your....errrr....dress."
The dress itself was in rough shape. It looked like an old bridesmaids dress for a bride that needed extra help to look good. It was a torn, wrinkled teal-colored abomination with frilly sleeves and a long, wide length reminiscent of an ancient, ultra-formal ball gown. Rarity half expected it to come with a large powdered wig with a fake bird in it. "Well..." Rarity tried to act supportive, i-it's...lovely." Her client seemed to grin with pride and a squee. "But let's see if we can find something a little more....how I can I put this delicately...acceptable!" The gray pegasus looked confused, but soon eager as Rarity added "Let's try on some of my best designs!"
The process seemed to be quite exhausting for both ponies. Rarity couldn't get her client to sit still in any of her dresses and the accessories her client requested made her look much like a rodeo clown. When Rarity would search for another dress, the pegasus would often wander, whether to ride the mannequin or skip-rope with the measuring tape. With the time growing late and Rarity tiring, she finally asked, "if you don't mind me asking, what's so important with this dress anyway?" referring to the teal abomination.
Her client finally spoke up as she looked Rarity in the eye, then slowly drifted one eye away. "It's always been my nicest dress. I just wanted to look nice for the big celebration, it's gonna be a very special night, after all!" Something about the look in her...eye...struck a chord with Rarity. The pegasus had always seemed so inattentive and carefree, but she could now see a glimpse of seriousness previously unknown to her. She wanted nothing less than to help her out with whatever she needed.
"Tell you what," Rarity offered, holding the original dress. "I'll do my best with... this, you just worry about having a the night of your life! I hope you have a wonderful time." She started escorting her client out of the boutique.
"Thanks Rarity!" the pegasus replied. "Oh, wait! you never picked up your mail!" she picked it up and handed it to Rarity.
"No, I guess I never did! I've just been sooo busy today!" Rarity flipped through before finding the invitation. "Well, so long, and I'll see you at the party!" They waved their goodbyes as she shut the door.
"Well, let's look at Pinkie's invitation," she opened it with her magic as the envelope shot out streamers and confetti. Rarity, however, did not react as she stoically grabbed a dustpan and broom with her aura and cleaned the litter into a trash can without so much as diverting her attention from the letter. "This must be one special party..."
She then noticed the second letter and quickly skimmed through. She instantly recognized it as a love letter but still had no change from her stoic expression. "Meh, I've seen better," she commented when finished. One would think Rarity would show some reaction either from the letter or the explosion, but clearly Rarity was experienced with both. It wasn't until she saw the name did she show any emotion.
"BIG MAC??!!"
That was the last pony in Equestria she expected. She'd rarely heard the stallion speak, even though she spent so much time around him with The Ponytones or around Applejack. She couldn't even imagine him saying the words he'd written in the letter. But she still felt her heart leap in her chest at this sudden realization. She had felt this way about Big Mac before. She once had an enormous crush on him; in fact, he was her first crush:
Rarity hadn't even gotten her Cutie Mark yet when she followed her new friend Applejack back to her farm. She did not have much in common with this orange pony, but she liked coming over to play just to get close to her cute brother. When she finally kissed him to confess her feelings... he fled away yelling "eeeewww, cooties!"
It devastated her at the time, but now she can look back on it and laugh.
"I suppose not every pony wants to find their soul-mate that young. Maybe..." she reflected, "maybe he feels now the way I did back then!" She could only hope and wait for the anniversary celebration. "Maybe it will be a magical evening!"
Cheerilee
The school bell rang, sending all of Cheerilee's students out the door, save one. Apple Bloom had been awkwardly staring at her all day and now stayed behind to ask her teacher a question.
"So, Miss Cheerilee..."
"Yes Apple Bloom, what is it?" Her violet-colored teacher replied.
"Have you, uh, gotten any interestin' letters lately? In the mail Ah mean," she inquired with a forced smile.
"No, although I haven't checked today. Why do you ask?"
"Ohhhh, no reason," Apple Bloom seemed somewhat disappointed. "Ah gotta get goin' now.... important.... farmin' business!" With that, she too dashed out the doors of the school.
Well that was weird, even for her! She was used to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' antics and soon she'd put that out of her mind. "As long as she doesn't try to set me up with her brother again," she mumbled alone. "We're just good friends!"
The eccentricities seemed to continue as every pony she passed seemed to have their heads in the clouds. Passing by one, she greeted: "Hello, Nurse Redheart! Beautiful day we're having!"
"Yes... his eyes are dreamy..." she replied, oblivious to the question.
Cheerilee stared in bewilderment. It seemed everypony behaved in a similar fashion. "The entire town must be in love! Oh, why am I the ONLY pony who seems to be alone? When will I find my Princely Stallion?"
She made a quick stop by the market area to pick up groceries before heading home. She chuckled as she spotted Bulk Biceps in a ridiculous Peanut Vendor's outfit yelling, as usual, to some unknown pony at the front end of an over-packed supply cart. Being behind the cart, she gave little thought as to the identity of its occupant as she continued on her way home. Reaching her front door, she tried to unlock and open it while carrying her supplies in the other foreleg and balancing on her hind legs. Finally, the door swung open causing her to fall forward and drop many of her items on the floor.
"OH, TARTARUS!" she yelled, angry at her misfortune. If only I had a big strong stallion to carry these for me she thought, now lonelier than ever. She picked up her frozen dinners and ice cream as she slammed the door with her back leg. She also noticed her mail on the floor, which see inspected after setting her grocery bag down.
"Well, here's my invitation to the Ponyville Anniversary Celebration. Wouldn't call this 'interesting', but it is nice," she commented on her earlier conversation with Apple Bloom. She then noticed the second letter, "well... this is interesting!"
She read the love letter with increasing emotion from each line. By the end, she had her hoof on her heart and tears in her eyes in a near swoon. She finally felt like the most special pony in Equestria! She just might have found her Princely Stallion after all! "Oh, who is my romantic admirer?"
"BIG MAC???!!!" she screamed. "Oh, NO! No, no, no, no, no! Not again!" She started to panic, running in place. "We're just good friends! This can't be!" Confused, annoyed, and in denial, Cheerilie pondered why Mac would do this again and how she was going to respond. He was a good friend and she was afraid a relationship would ruin it.
"I'll just avoid him!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I just won't go to the celebration!" Realizing she couldn't avoid him forever, she decided against that. "No, I should go and let him down easy. He's a good friend and I don't want to lose that!"
Marble Pie
Maud had just returned from acquiring the family mail from the box beside the road to the rock farm. The sisters were gathered at the table while their parents nearly had their supper prepared, tonight they would be enjoying Rock Lobster! Despite the name, it was not actually a lobster, just rocks they trapped from under the water like a lobster.
While the sisters waited, Maud went through the mail. "This must be Pinkie's invitation," she said unenthused about the letter covered in pink and sparkles. Opening it, she ignored the POP while Marble flinched; Limestone just seemed to angrily roll her eyes. Maud quickly read the invitation and moved to the second. Taking about a second to read the entire letter, she monotoned to her sister Marble, "this is for you."
Marble seemed confused as she rarely got any letters, but at least this one should be from Pinkie. Maud moved onto the next letter as she pulled out her pet rock. "Look Boulder, you got a letter too; from your cousin, Sandy." Marble read her letter as a slight blush came to her face. Once finished, Limestone grew jealous being the only pony without correspondence. She decided to intrude onto Marble, "WELL?? ANYTHING INTERESTING??!!"
"Mmm-hmm!"
Zecora
Zecora was beside her hut meditating on a beautiful day. She was relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet when it was interupted with a loud CRASH. Calmly, she remarked,
"Here comes the post, I see,
somepony has written to me."
Before Zecora could greet the mailmare, it seemed the scary mask beside the door to her hut had frightened her away... again. Zecora found but a single letter on the ground in front of her tree-hut.
"Letters for me there is only one,
but still, it is better than none.
From Pinkie this must be; an invitation,
No doubt for the big celebration!"
Opening the invitation, the streamers and confetti seemed to fail to explode. Perhaps Zecora had some Zebra magic forbidding anything from alarming her? Moving into the hut she inspected the letter. She didn't get out much but she still, on occasion, enjoyed the company of others, even though they weren't zebras like her. Hiding behind the unused confetti, she located the second letter.
"What is this that hid from my sight,
it must be a second letter alright."
She quickly read the first line.
"For me this letter cannot be,
for I am not a pony.
But please allow me to intrude,
I intend to be curious, not rude.
A love letter to charm the romantics,
while I can appreciate the semantics".
As she read, she could admire the author and how he expressed his feelings to his secret love. She might be able to write one better, but she was still amused at the imagery and metaphors. Surprising to her was the name at the bottom.
"Big Macintosh?!......i-i-is the name of this bard," she looked around to ensure nopony caught her nearly missing a rhyme.
"Whomever she is, he has fallen for her hard!"
She knew a bit of Big Mac, but most of that was second-hoof information she got from his sister Apple Bloom while teaching her potion making. She knew Mac was strong, loyal, hard-working, and quiet, very quiet. In fact, the only interaction they had, he never said anything to her. However, that was because he couldn't say anything as he lost his voice. Still, she could see first-hoof how big, handsome, and gentle he was.
Her emotions started to stir. She began to realize how desirable a stallion like Big Mac could be, and how much she missed affection. Part of her began to hope the letter had indeed been meant for her and he just wrote "pony" out of habit. She made up her mind, she will go to the celebration and meet up with Big Mac anyway.
"Of the stallions around, Macintosh is best,
I will go meet him, I will take this test.
Ambiguous writing, this note will show,
But if I do not try, the answer is already 'No'."
CaramelTRIXIE!!!
Caramel started to return home from the fringes of the Everfree Forest. He'd been hired to collect wildflower seeds to prepare for the next winter wrap-up. His mind wandered, for he had received a most peculiar letter today with his invitation to the upcoming celebration. It appeared as if his friend Big Mac had sent him a love letter! Caramel knew Mac better than this; there must have been a mistake. The tan earth-pony already had a green pegasus marefriend, and Mac would occasionally comment on wanting a marefriend of his own. When he finished with his chore, Caramel would visit his friend to see if anything was wrong and how he could help.
Shortly after beginning his trek back to Ponyville, Caramel was beset by a ferocious Timber Wolf! Fearing for his life, he dropped everything he had to beat a hasty retreat back into town. Applejack will sure be cross with him for leaving the seeds behind again, but at least he'd be able to escape with his life.
After the tan Earth-pony fled, the Timber Wolf fell to the ground followed by the strings attached at various spots. The master of this lifeless marionette soon revealed herself. "Ha ha haaa..." a blue unicorn appeared from out of the bushes. "Yet another pony proves no match to the magical superiority of The Great and Powerful Tr-r-r-r-rixie!" She trotted over to her newly won prize only to be disappointed by the humble spoils. "SEEDS?! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands a greater tribute for such a clever and masterful illusion!"
Looking away from the litter of seeds, she spotted a note. "Trixie hopes this was important to you, then she can regain some small satisfaction for you wasting her time!" she chided as if the escaped Caramel had any choice in the matter. Reading the note, she began to fill with emotion, that emotion being humor. Rarely before had the showmare laughed so heartily, at least genuinely. "This is, without a doubt, the single most ridiculous thing Trixie has ever read! Trixie is amused!"
After several more moments of hysterical laughter, Trixie began to concoct a most diabolical plan. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will meet this..." she read the name, "...Macintosh in disguise. Then, when he expects his 'beloved', Trixie will reveal herself so he could see what a real mare looks like! Then he'll surely fall in love with Trixie only to have Trixie reject him, leaving him and his mare heartbroken. That will show everypony that The Great and Powerful Trixie is BEST!"
The Wonderbolts
Fleetfoot gathered the mail as she headed into the break room of the Wonderbolts Academy. Spitfire and Soarin' were already there, sort of. They had been training some new recruits and trying to rehearse one of their new routines. The three top flyers could barely drag themselves into service today. Spitfire was hunched over her morning coffee while Soarin' laid back, already snoring back to sleep with his tongue hanging out of his open mouth.
"That today's mail?" asked Spitfire, eyes struggling to stay open.
"Yeah..." replied Fleetfoot. "Looks like more fanmail and an invitation from Ponyville."
"Ugh... Rainbow Dash..." the Captain of the Wonderbolts was in no mood to put up with the obsessive pegasus today. "Probably thinks she can get us to perform now that she's one of us..."
Fleefoot opened the letter with the now routine explosion of the invitation, sending streamers and confetti all over the break room table and startling the expert fliers.
"I AM SOMEPONY'S MOMMY!!!" screamed Soarin', delirious at being awoken so abruptly.
"I don't think this is from Dash," Fleetfoot obviously stated. She took a moment to read the invitation. "But it looks like you are correct. It's an invitation to the Ponyville Anniversary. Naturally they're going to want us to perform."
Spitfire groaned at this news. This meant even more overtime or falling behind on their current duties. "See if you can find some way to get out of this, will you?"
It was then that Fleetfoot noticed the second letter in the envelope. She quickly read through until she noticed the name at the bottom. Her hooves started to tremble as the rest of her seemed to lock-up, frozen in place.
"Fleetfoot? Can you do that?" reiterated Spitfire.
"All the bridesmaids will wear salmon..." Fleetfoot trailed off.
"Fleetfoot? Snap out of it!" commanded her captain.
"Huh? Sorry!" she apologized. "I...uh, think we should do the show..."
Naturally, Spitfire was confused. She looked over to Soarin' for reassurance only to find him hunched over and back asleep. "Wait a sec Fleetfoot, a moment ago you seemed against it like I did. Why the sudden change?"
"Uh... err..." she stammered looking for any excuse. "I... just think it'll be good for morale! After all, it's our duty to perform! Right?" the white-maned pegasus stared back at her captain expectantly, hoping that will convince her.
"Fiiiine!" Spitfire relented. "Let Crash know that we'll..."
Fleetfoot never heard the end of that sentence. She quickly bolted to her private office and made her way to the locker. Opening it revealed a treasury of artifacts pertaining to Big Macintosh. His portrait that she purchased filled the back wall with the custom pony toy Spike made set in front. Her favorite item had to be the plushie modeled after Pinkie Pie which had an oversized head. She remembered how Big Mac destroyed an entire carnival game with his impressive display of power and emotion just to win this for her, or so she thought. Whenever she felt down, she would give this toy an embrace and reassure herself that her one true love was out there.
Now she had a new treasure! A note written by Macintosh himself declaring his feelings for her. Soon she would be able to retire and use the bits she saved up as a Wonderbolt to travel the world seeking adventure and romance with her gallant stallion! Setting the tiny toy aside, she made way for the note to take its position as her centerpiece. She hugged the giant Pinkie as she lost herself in thoughts of fancy.
"Honeymoon in Las Pegasus...."
The Princess Sisters
Princess Celestia eagerly sat in the throne room as she awaited the arrival of today's mail. She knew the invitation was coming, she just wanted to play a quick prank on her younger sister Luna. She struggled to keep her straight face as Luna entered.
"You appear impatient. Is something the matter, my sister?" the blue younger Alicorn queried.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just waiting for today's mail; seeing if anything interesting arrives," she calmly replied. The sisters already let Princess Twilight know they would be attending, but it was still nice to receive a formal invitation.
"Well, the sooner we get out of Canterlot, the better," Luna stated matter-of-factly. "The temporary guard Cadance sent on loan is severely trying my patience!" The castle had a few guards fall ill and Cadance seemed much too eager to send a temporary replacement. "If I have to put up with him much longer, I will have him replace Cerberus! That will strike fear into the heart of every villain in Tartarus!"
"Surely he can't be that bad," Celestia believed all her subjects were good and inherently honorable. There is no way one of her own Royal Guards could fill her sister with such disdain.
"You shall see for yourself!" Luna scoffed. The object of her contempt stood at the doorway to the throne room. He was trying to woo a castle attendant who looked obviously uncomfortable and hoped for any polite way to cease the conversation, to no success. "GUARD!" Luna screamed. "Have you any messages for us!" With the momentary distraction, the frightened attendant fled through the doors as fast as her four legs could carry her.
"Oh, ch- yah!" The pegasus flew over to the Royal sisters. "THE ROYAL MAIL HAS ARRIVED....." he stood in a heroic pose with his foreleg extended.
".........."
He said nothing as he kept his pose.
".........."
The sisters stared at each in awkward silence, disbelieving one of their own personal guards could be this dense. "AND..." Luna finally spoke up, "What IS it?!"
"Oh, RIGHT!" he snapped out of it. The guard pulled out Pinkie's invitation and presented it to the Princesses with a prideful grin. When Luna reached out to grab the letter, the colt gave her a flirtatious wink and bobbed his brow. She retracted her foreleg, rolled her eyes, and grabbed the letter using her magic instead.
Celestia seemed in mild disbelief. "Guard, do you realize that attendant is happily married?" referring to his earlier attempt.
"What about it, Bro?" he seemed ignorantly confused.
"GUARD! THIS IS PRINCESS CELESTIA! SOVEREIGN OF ALL EQUSTRIA! YOU DO NOT CALL HER...'BRO'!" Luna screamed, fed up with the insolent pegasus.
"Sorry Bro! Er, I mean your highness!" he begged.
"ENOUGH! AWAY WITH YOU!" Luna seemed to snap. "LEST WE SEND YOU TO SPEND A THOUSAND YEARS ON THE MOON WITH NONE BUT THE MOST ANNOYING INHABITANTS OF YAKYAKISTAN!"
The terrified pegasus did his best to leave as quickly as able. Celestia looked over at her enraged sister apologetically, "please forgive me, my sister. I should not have doubted you."
"It's all right," Luna calmed down. "Perhaps we can just leave early and be rid of this nonsense."
"Of course," Celestia added as she pointed to the invitation. "Just don't forget to open the mail," still trying to hide her laughter, she waited for her younger sister.
Luna opened the envelope with a startling POP. Streamers and confetti now adorned her regal crown. Celestia couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight of her "Royal Sister".
"Really?" Luna chastised. "Is this how the 'Sovereign of all Equestria' behaves?" She sat up from her throne and started to walk away. "Well, I'm going to go pack, and I'm keeping the letter!" She marched onto her quarters, leaving her sister laughing on the throne.
As Luna stomped into her quarters, she threw the invitation onto her canopy crescent-moon bed. After setting her luggage beside it, she finally opened the invitation to inspect the letter. The princess smiled as she looked forward to the festivities. Sticking out of the envelope was an unnoticed second letter. "There is more?" she asked envelope.
Reading the new letter, her anger seemed to return at the thought of a new admirer attempting to woo the Alicorn princess. "Stallions never change..." She was ready to give up on love altogether until she noticed the signature. "Macintosh," she pondered to herself. "Macintosh... where do I know that name?" It sounded familiar, but she just couldn't place it. "Oh yes! Now we remember!" the joyful princess exclaimed. "Big Mac! The 'Alicorn Prince' who helped me with the Tantabus!" She started to recall other encounters with the shy earth-pony. "We also joined forces at that fair one time! We defeated many rivals! HUZZAH!"
Her expression changed from anger to retrospection. "He seemed a very quiet and sensitive pony, it does my heart good to know that there are at least some honorable stallions out there." Being The Princess, many stallions would vie for her attention, though she ignored them all. Big Mac was a stallion that seemed genuine, if not a little fearful. She liked him, even going so far as to steal a kiss; an action condemned by her elder sister. Luna sighed, "maybe I will go see him..."
"See whom?" Celestia inquired as she entered the room.
Surprised, Luna tried hiding the note, "NOPONY! I-I-I meant to say her...Twilight, I mean! Maybe I will visit Twilight Sparkle!" Luna was a terrible liar.
"Sister," Celestia started to lecture, "I know what you are planning. I followed shortly after you to apologize. But we both know we can not become involved with our subjects. The pain would be too great with their inevitable death."
"I know," Luna lamented, "but I spent so much time alone. And now that I'm back, I can enter everypony's dreams, see their thoughts and desires yet still not become involved unless absolutely necessary. I feel lonelier than ever!" She began to sob in a state of self pity.
Her emotions were not lost on Celestia. "You will always have me, but I know that can not always be enough. It's a blessing to live so long, but also a curse." She paused for a moment of self reflection. "Very well," she relinquished, "Let us at least meet with this stallion and hear what he has to say!"
Luna leapt as she gave her elder sister an approving hug. Celestia was still uneasy as she too knew of Big Macintosh. He was more than Applejack's brother or an integral cog of the economical infrastructure of Equestria. He was a deep, sensitive, and intelligent pony worthy of any mare, including a princess. Part of her grew jealous with Luna's sudden infatuation of the large earth-pony.
After all, wasn't the letter was addressed to both of them?
Big Mac needed to take his mind off the humiliation of the entire town receiving his love letter. The best way to do that was to keep working out in the fields. Fortunately there were plenty of trees to buck and lots of cider to make. With Applejack inconveniently called away with Pinkie Pie for another friendship problem...again, Mac had to work the entire farm by himself...again.
Mac was alone. Apple Bloom was still playing with her friends and Granny Smith napped in the farmhouse. Still, Big Mac got the feeling like there was somepony else there; like he was being watched. He would occasionally take a break from applebucking to look around only to not see anypony there. Every time he bucked a tree he could swear he heard heavy breathing or movement in a distant tree, yet he could not find any cause. Perhaps it's just nerves getting the better of him; the embarrassment from the letter might be causing some paranoia. He just needed to get back to work to take his mind off things. However, no matter how hard he tried, he had trouble focusing on his chores.
If he couldn't get it out of his mind, he might as well think of what he is going to say at the festival. Deep down, he knew no pony would be there (who would be interested in a simple, quiet, and "boring" farmer?), but he should still compose something to say just in case. With his mind focused on the festival and his body going through the routine motions of harvest, Mac became oblivious to the world around him.
"See! There he is!"
Luna pointed toward the red stallion working in the orchard. She and her sister were not but a short distance from the hard working stallion, but their concealment spell made it impossible for him to notice them. Celestia nodded as Luna's gazed was fixed on the earth pony.
"I told you he was handsome!"
"I did not doubt you", Celestia acknowledged her younger sister, "I just think it is still unwise to take an interest. Applejack's brother is an important part of the Equestrian economy; he can't leave to live with you in Canterlot."
"Then maybe, perhaps, I shall move here!" Luna protested. It was much too soon to consider moving in together. She didn't know why Celestia would bring it up, but the thought of rebelling against her sister's commands always thrilled the Alicorn princess. Luna didn't want to overthrow her sister this time, but she still found satisfaction in the idea of the scandalous, forbidden romance. She continued to stare at the working farmer in admiration under Celestia's disapproving eye.
Mac lined up to buck the next tree. Most of the fruit was already at peak ripeness so it shouldn't take that much effort to knock most of them down; a single leg kick should suffice. Baskets surrounded the tree ready to catch the falling fruit. He lifts his leg and releases a powerful kick to the trunk of the tree.
THWACK!
Apples fall into the perfectly placed baskets with only a few rolling to the ground. Just after, the branches above begin to snap as something large falls from the canopy. Mac turned behind to see what caused all the commotion when he noticed he just bucked a pegasus out of the apple tree. The light blue pegasus now hangs on top of the bottom branch to avoid the painful fall to the ground with an apple in her mouth. Who is that? Mac thinks to himself. Light blue, Wonderbolts uniform, is that Rainbow Dash? No, wrong color mane. I know, it's...
"You alright, Miss?" he politely asks.
The Wonderbolt spits the apple out, "uhhh...yeah! Just Fine, heh heh. I was just..."
Mac inspected the apple now rolling on the ground and noticed several bite marks, but no actual bites taken out of it. Perhaps this was the reason for the muffled breathing he had heard earlier; she had been using it to forcefully silence herself and remain unnoticed. But why was she up there in the first place? What was she doing and why did she lose focus when he came over to harvest the tree? He wasn't getting any answers as the shocked mare landed, stuttered, and panicked to think of an excuse where she could salvage her pride.
"FLEETFOOT?!"
Another apple tree nearby began to shake as a second light blue pegasus leaps and glides down toward the scene. Mac instantly recognizes this one as his sister's good friend Rainbow Dash. She lands and marches straight up to her fellow Wonderbolt with a determined sneer on her face. Okay, what it SHE doing here? Mac continues pondering. Did AJ schedule some Wonderbolt convention without asking me?
"Fleetfoot, what in Tartarus are you doing here?" Dash stops inches away from her face.
Mac wondered why Rainbow Dash sounded angry; after all, she was also trespassing on his land. However, Dash usually sounded intense when he was around and he felt it best not to add to it. Besides, Dash was known for taking naps in his trees, so seeing her around while doing chores is a common sight. She stared intently as Fleetfoot desperately tried to find an excuse.
"Well, Crash...I mean, uh... DASH..." Fleetfoot was used to being Dash's superior but currently she felt it best to maintain a respectful tone in her situation. "You said...this...AHA! You said this place had the best napping trees! Yes! That's it! I was just napping!"
Mac apologized for waking the frightened mare, "Geez, Ah'm sorry, Miss-"
"Hold on!" Rainbow Dash stuffed her hoof in Mac's face, "I never told you about this! Why are you really here!"
Fleetfoot looked around to quickly try to find another excuse. "The...APPLES!" Technically, she wasn't lying. At most it could be a double entendre. She picked up her apple, "I came here for the big...juicy...delicious...RED apples!" She took a succulent and seductive bite as she gazed into Big Mac's eyes.
Rainbow Dash could be thick-headed, but she was no fool. She stomped her front hooves into the soil and huffed out her nose in jealousy as she watched Fleetfoot make come-hither eyes at her prize. Why would Fleetfoot take an active interest in her stallion so soon after Dash herself came to realize her own feelings? She wasn't having it; Big Mac is HERS! Dash pressed her muzzle straight into Fleetfoot's as Big Mac recoiled, fearful at the awful tension. Before either made a move, a quiet sneeze emanated from yet another nearby tree.
All three ponies snapped their attention to this new interruption. Dash was the first to realize that they too weren't alone.
"All right! Who's there!" she whipped around to the source of the noise and displayed an aggressive stance, "SHOW YOURSELF! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!"
A yellow head with a pink mane cautiously crept out of the canopy.
"FLUTTERSHY?"
"A-a-a-a-h-h-h!" Fluttershy screamed silently, trying to retreat behind the leaves.
They're everywhere! Mac thought to himself. If only he knew about the Alicorn Princesses observing the spectacle behind a magic spell.
"Fluttershy, get down here!" Dash commanded.
The shy pegasus fluttered down to join the others. She still hid behind her mane, too embarrassed to make eye contact with anypony, especially Big Mac. She blushed from humiliation and being in the presence of the kind, gentle, and attractive stallion. She had rarely expressed romantic intentions and certainly lamented others discovering her forbidden desires. She wanted to dig into a hole and never come out, but she knew Rainbow Dash would dig right on after her and pull her up until she explained herself.
"What are YOU doing here, Fluttershy?!" Rainbow Dash asserted.
"I...I-I...was just..."
"Huh?!" Dash spoke forcefully.
"I was just... enjoying the view..." Fluttershy tried explaining as quietly as she could.
"WHAT'S THAT? SPEAK UP!" Dash overcompensated the volume of her voice.
"ENJOYING THE VIEW!" Fluttershy yelled, unable to control her volume, "I was enjoying the view!" She clenched her eyes as she dropped and covered her hooves over them. Her shame was too great and she didn't want anypony to see her like this, especially Big Mac. She started to sob from the embarrassment as Mac stepped forward to console her, oblivious to the true meaning of her words.
Dash understood the meaning however. Why were multiple fillies suddenly interested in her stallion? Why was one of her best friends suddenly interested? Finally, how was she going to react? One was her superior with the Wonderbolts and the other was a lifelong friend; she shouldn't just erupt and fight them. Then again, she had never felt so strongly about any stallion as she had now; she didn't even know if she was capable of it. Love was for frou-frou lady ponies like Rarity, not the awesome Rainbow Dash. Fleetfoot, however, knew how to respond as she has had to literally fight for Big Mac before.
Fleetfoot had loved Big Mac for a while now. Ever since she crashed into him at that one festival and hallucinated the romantic fantasy, Fleetfoot had been smitten with the large farmer. Now there were not one, but multiple rivals for his affection. These others also had the luxury of proximity. They knew where Big Mac lived for years but did nothing, Fleetfoot knew she had the right to pursue him if she only knew exactly where to find him. Now she knew, and nopony was going to separate her from her love. Once again, she knew she would have to fight for him!
Fleetfoot stepped toward Fluttershy, "I hope you mean you were enjoying the flora, and NOT the fauna!" She stared down Fluttershy with a sneer. The yellow pegasus trembled as she feared the aggressive Wonderbolt.
Rainbow Dash stepped in to defend her friend, but also to relay her own intentions. "Hey! Leave Fluttershy alone! Besides, both of you don't have a chance! He's MINE!"
That's when it finally hit Big Mac: the letter! This was all because of that humiliating letter! He started to step back as he just wanted to flee this embarrassing situation. They knew about his hidden affections and were about to fight over them. Most stallions would be proud and enjoy the spectacle, but Big McIntosh was not like that; he was a Gentlecolt. Still, the humiliation proved too much to bear as he found himself retreating from the inevitable altercation as he cursed himself for being a coward.
"There! See?! You scared him off!" Rainbow Dash berated Fleetfoot, "and right when I was going to tell him how awesome I think he is!" That's probably as close as Rainbow Dash would come to professing love.
"Me?!" Fleetfoot snapped back, "I've wanted him for a while now! If anything, it's YOU that messed everything up!" The two Wonderbolts now stared each other down ready to fight at any moment.
"Well..." Fluttershy quietly added, "I think...I have the most in common with him. Maybe...I'm the one who should have him?"
None of them backed down when Big Mac fled back to the safety of the farmhouse. It wasn't until the two Wonderbolts crouched to pounce at each other did Princess Celestia reveal herself. She wasn't going to have three fillies she knew very well tear each other apart in her presence.
"PEACE, My little ponies! This is no suitable behavior for three esteemed pegasi such as you!" She landed in the middle of the altercation. To her surprise, they all seemed hardly fazed by The Princess landing in their presence. They all still stared each other down while trying to maneuver around the giant tetrarch. She clearly underestimated the effect this stallion had on the eligible mares in Equestria. Fleetfoot found an opening and lunged by Princess Celestia right at Rainbow Dash. Before she could tackle her, a blue magical aura enveloped her and halted her progress.
Luna stepped forward and separated all pegasi from each other. Nopony was going to fight in her presence, and especially not over her stallion! "That is quite enough! There shall be no more violence displayed today!" She turned back to face the orchard. "If there are any more interlopers, make thyself known lest we drag you from the trees ourselves!"
Over a dozen trees and bushes started to shake as various uncorns, pegasi, and earth ponies emerged from their hiding places. Many were recognizable such as Cloud Chaser and Tealove, oh did Fleetfoot remember Tealove, but the one that caught the Wonderbolts' attention was the fire-maned yellow pegasus that was their captain, Spitfire.
"Spitfire?!" Fleetfoot exclaimed, "what are you doing here?"
The Wonderbolt captain quickly shrugged off the initial timidity as she forced her usual authoritative tone, "we found your letter... OUR letter that you hid in your locker when we needed to know the details about the performance. I came by to make sure you didn't do anything foolish again! That was before I noticed..."
"Not you too..." lamented Fluttershy. She hated competition, but now it appears she must compete with many of the greatest mares in Equestria for the heart of Big Mac.
"Well he IS attractive, he has a lot of land, a respected and renowned family, he's a true gentlecolt, and that letter..." Spitfire sighed in admiration, "which was addressed to US, by the way!"
"Oh no you don't...ma'am!" Nopony, absolutely NOpony was going to come between Fleetfoot and her stallion; not even her captain. "Big Mac is MINE!"
"ENOUGH! It appears gentle McIntosh has many admirers, but none of you know of his desires," Luna assumed she was the only one who received the love letter. She figured Mac would make his intentions known at the upcoming celebration and all she had to do was wait until then. "If any of you want to know his true intentions, then we shall wait for him to make them known; then we shall see!"
"Yes..." Celestia added while peering sideways at her sister, "then we shall see..."
---
"But Granny, Ah don't want to! It's so humiliating!"
Big Mac pleaded with his grandmother. He was standing outside the front door to the farmhouse protesting his latest chore as it meant traversing straight through town to get more supplies and an ointment for some sudden and mysterious malady Granny was now complaining about. Working in his own fields was bad enough, what would it be like if the entire town behaved in a similar fashion? What if there were upset stallions he had to contend with? And why was Granny being so uncharacteristically unreasonable... even for her?
"Tough beans!" Granny Smith responded, "I have a sore foot an' Ah need some salve to cure it! Now get yer keister down to dat there hospital b'fore Ah whip ya sumthin' fierce! Yer never too big to put over mah knee!"
Granny Smith immediately slammed the door in Big Mac's face, demanding he get on with his job. In truth, she had nothing wrong with her foot, she just wanted to force Big Mac to go through town. She understood what had happened and what was going on in the fields, but rather than pity him, she found it amusing. She WANTED Mac to trot through town being chased by hungry lovelorn fillies; it might actually do him some good.
"Maybe then Ah can finally get some great-grandfoals!"
Mac cautiously pulled the wagon, always keeping an eye out for trouble. The streets of Ponyville were curiously empty. Most stallions in town made the effort to keep their mares inside until all this business blew over while the fillies vied for a favorable position to spy on the object of their affections. Mac couldn't see anything, but he got the feeling like he was walking into an ambush. He glanced side to side, building to building hoping nopony would notice him and leave him to his shame.
He looked to his left. Whew! Nopony there. Maybe he will actually get through this unnoticed! When he turned back to his right, that's when he noticed the light green unicorn walking right beside him staring deep into his eyes. Sweetcream Scoops had once again manage to sneak right up to Big Mac with a look of desire in her eyes that always seemed to freak him out. Mac had always been such a shy colt and the overt flirtations she always displayed made him uncomfortable. Mac picked up the pace, hoping to trot away from the amorous unicorn. His efforts were in vain however as there was no was he could outpace her while pulling his supply cart. Glancing back to his left he noticed he had picked up two more followers in Lyra and Bon Bon.
"Hey there, hot stuff! Picking up anything special for our celebration? Anything we can do to help?" Lyra questioned while Bon Bon involuntarily bit her lip again.
"N-n-nope!" he nervously responded.
He picked up the pace a little more, it was then he realized that he had attracted three more followers. They all seem to be coming out of the alleys and various hiding places to ambush the terrified stallion. He hardly noticed when he started running at a full sprint; the cart bouncing and crashing into nearby obstacles. The poor cart finally met its end when a gray pegasus slammed down onto it from above, causing the wheels to break and collapse the front end. When Big Mac turned in startled reaction, he saw the crooked eyes of the mailmare with a chewed bouquet of flowers in her mouth that she had intended as a gift.
Now strapped to the destroyed cart, Big Mac had little hope of escape as the group of mares closed in around him. Salvation came by the magical energy of a dear friend. The harness attached to his chest glowed a light blue aura as they loosened and fell to the ground. The ponies directly in front of him, which were Twinkleshine and Bon Bon, also emanated a blue glow as they were cast apart giving Big Mac an avenue of escape. He bolted through the opening straight into the shop of his rescuer.
"Quickly, Big Mac! In here!" yelled Rarity.
He jumped through the frame as Rarity slammed the door in front of the pursuing mares. Mac lay on his back for a few moments struggling to catch his breath as she bolted the door and came over to check on his condition.
"Big Mac, are you alright? What ever is going on out there?!" she stroked his mane to comfort him. "Never mind! It doesn't matter. The important thing is that you're here now!" She turned away to her design table to grab her measuring tape.
Mac took a look around the Carousel Boutique. Normally she kept it in organized chaos, but today it seemed far more chaos than organized as it usually was. Ribbons, papers, gems, and all sorts of decorations and tool were strewn about in no particular order. It was as if Discord was her housekeeper. He got up to inspect her designs closer and look at the schematics of her current creations. They sure are really fancy this time; even by Miss Rarity's standards. He tried examining the closest design paper in greater detail when he felt her hoof on his foreleg. She stretched the measuring tape to get an exact number of its length.
"Now hold still, darling. This will only take a few moments!"
He's heard her say it plenty of times before, but there was something off about they way she said "darling" this time; as if she truly meant it for the first time in her life. It seemed far more...affectionate than the casual way she phrases it. Could it be?... the realization finally hit him as he figured that she too must have received a copy of his letter. Starting to panic, he scanned the room again for evidence supporting his assumption. He saw papers with ideas of dresses and suits, unsent order requisitions for flowers and decorations, a stack of invitations, and finally, two mannequins; one in a tuxedo coat the other in a jeweled white dress with veil. Not only had she gotten the letter, she was already planning their wedding!
This was too much; too sudden. Mac started hyperventilating. He needed to get out and get some fresh air! With Rarity distracted by measuring, and taking far too much time on his flank, he recommenced his flight from an over-infatuated mare. He barged back through the front door, shattering it into pieces and splinters, as he prayed the gathering was not still outside. As his luck has proven recently, of course they'd still be there. In fact, a few more joined in the group as to see what was going on, then stayed when they realized it was their beloved Big Mac. The two things Mac had on his side were his size and the element of surprise. Most jumped out of the way as the large stallion crashed through, but rejoined the chase when realizing it was Mac trying to escape. Now, there was one more; Rarity chased too, still holding the measuring tape in her mouth.
"McIntosh! You get back here! Everything MUST be perfect!"
---
"Alright, Cheerilee, you can do this!"
The violet mare kept reassuring herself as she decided to confront Big Mac today so as to not ruin the Anniversary celebration. She had received his love letter declaring his intentions, but she saw him only as a good friend and that's all he could ever be. She rehearsed her speech over and over in preparation for the compassionate rejection she would be forced to give.
"Mac, we've always been friends, good friends, but I'm sorry; I just don't feel the same way as you do and I don't think I ever will."
She looked up the road to the top of a gentle hill to notice a small cloud of dust growing larger. Then she noticed the red stallion crossing into sight as he sprinted his way toward her.
"Okay, Cheerilee! It's time to do this; be brave!" she took a deep breath in preparation. "Mac! We need to ta-..."
Her mouth remained agape as she saw the horde of infatuated fillies pursuing him. She wondered if Mac was in trouble; did he break the law? It took her a moment to notice they were all female and all had love on their minds. Within seconds, Mac sprinted by her.
"Is everything okay, Big Mac?" she asked concerned, but already knew the answer.
"NOOOOOOPE!!!!"
The crowd rushed past her. She contemplated why every filly was suddenly enthralled with her good friend. Mac's a nice stallion, but he's certainly no Prince Charming, she would occasionally tell herself. She was hoping and waiting for somepony like Prince Blueblood, whom she had never met, to come sweep her off her hooves for a life of romance; the kind she always read about in her trashy romance novels. Mac was always nice, and she wanted him to continue doing nice things for her, but he was just a friend and that was where she wanted him to stay.
So why is she becoming jealous watching all these fillies pursuing her Mac? Maybe she stopped trying to fool herself or maybe she hated seeing him potentially claimed by another mare. But she finally, at least subconsciously admitted her desires for the quiet stallion. "You thieving hussies," she remarked to the herd in pursuit, "get your hooves off my very special somepony!"
At last! The hospital is finally in sight! Mac sprinted the last few paces before barging through the front doors and barricading the entrance with what ever desks, chairs, and other assorted furniture he could find. He collapsed onto his flank in exhaustion as he struggled to catch his breath after the lengthy pursuit through town. The lone hospital worker at the time slowly approached to greet the stallion and offer any assistance if needed.
"Why, hello Big Mac," Nurse Redheart seductively greeted, "fancy seeing you here before the celebration. Is everything all right?" She wrapped her tail around his neck and stroked his cheek with her hoof, "Did you come here for a... check-up?"
"N-n-nope! F-f-foot medicine!" he shrieked nervously, "Granny sent me to pick up her foot ointment!"
"Ointment?" Nurse Redheart asked confused, "Granny Smith didn't ask for any ointment!"
Of course! Mac thought, this was her plan all along! Make up some fake injury just to have me chased by all these crazy mares! I've got to get out of here! But how am I going to get back home safely?!
Redheart continued her advances. She was alone in the hospital with her special stallion and nopony would be able to come in. Perhaps sealing off the hospital entrance was against code, especially if somepony needed medical attention, but it left the two of them with a window of time where they wouldn't be interrupted. She would make the most of this opportunity luck had granted her.
"Come on, Mac, It's just you and me. Let's have a little preview of our romantic night at the Anniversary celebration!" She leaned in to start kissing his cheek and neck.
Mac's heart raced as he could see why this was a fantasy of every stallion; why they all wished to be him. It's nice to be desired by every filly and mare. But Mac wasn't every stallion; he is a classically chivalric stallion. He wants to do things right with the pony he loves. His intentions are only honorable, even if that causes him to be ridiculed by his friends who just want to have a good time. He could not see any way out of this short of using his strength and forcing the misguided nurse off.
A lavender flash of light appeared from the left of Big Mac. He opened his eyes to see what threat this new sorcery posed as he saw the defiant figure of Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes scowled in determination as she used her magic to forcibly remove Nurse Redheart from Big Mac.
"Mac, come quickly! There is an emergency at Sweet Apple Acres!" She then grabbed him in her aura as she transported the both of them all the way back to his farm.
Reappearing back at Sweet Apple Acres, they had landed in front of the barn with no other pony in sight. Mac was relieved to finally be rid of this pursuit, but now he had concern over this new emergency of which Twilight spoke. After getting his bearings, he looked back at her to find out what was going on.
"I'm sorry, but I lied about the emergency. I saw you being chased by all those mares and then barricade yourself in the hospital. I was worried about you." Even though she just tried to help, she still felt guilty for lying. She stared down to the side, afraid to make eye contact.
Mac responded by hugging the surprised Alicorn, "Thank you, Twilight! I owe you!"
Relieved the stallion was not angry, she patted him on the back in appreciation until they finished the hug. It was then she made up her mind, "Anytime, Mac! But I think I'll redeem it now..."
She quickly leaned in and planted a full kiss right on the shocked stallion's lips. She had contemplated the ramifications and potential of a relationship, but when the time came, she just went with her instinct; and was it ever right! After what seemed like a blissful eternity, she finally broke the lip-lock as Big Mac remained in shock. Twilight blushed profusely as she concluded she had made the right choice. Staring at the paralyzed stallion, she smirked as she teleported back to her castle in preparation for the newly discovered romance waiting for her at the celebration.
Big Mac just continued to stand outside for a time, jaw dropped and motionless from the shock of the events that had just transpired.
Big Mac spent the last few nights isolated in the farmhouse of Sweet Apple Acres. With all the crazy mares pursuing him, he couldn't get around to doing his chores and the farm was falling behind. Today was finally the day of Ponyville's anniversary and now he was expected to give a speech professing his love in front of the entire town. His friend Caramel stopped by to check on him and to inform him that the Town Hall has been set up so every mare could hear first-hoof for whom Mac's letter was really intended.
Pinkie Pie and his sister Applejack have also returned from their quest to Yakyakistan, where it was their duty to build and open a comedy club to bring laughter and cheer to the humorless and short tempered inhabitants. Upon return, Applejack made it her personal mission to berate and discipline her elder sibling for the lack of production during cider season.
"Consarn it, Mac!" AJ yelled at her brother, who was still carrying their luggage inside. "We're now days behind 'cause yer scared of a few fillies!"
Mac stood under the doorframe to the kitchen, still holding the bags with one in his mouth as she never told him where to put them. Their younger sister Apple Bloom also came to greet the return of the hero of Equestria, but eventually found herself defending her brother from Applejack's tirade as she still felt it was mostly her fault.
"Ease up, Applejack. It weren't just a few fillies; it's the whole town!"
"That's no excuse!" Applejack snapped back. "He's a strong stallion; he needs to learn tah take care of 'imself!"
It might have been the long trip or maybe some of the Yaks' attitude had rubbed off on her, but Applejack was laying into her brother far tougher than normal. She was always the vocal and dominant one, but now she acted so aggressively that it made Pinkie hide in the next room under the couch cushions.
"Ah'm gonna have to work triple-time jus' tah make up for yer cowardice!"
Apple Bloom would speak up for Big Mac, even if he wouldn't for himself. "Well, what'd you WANT him to do?! Start beatin' up every pony in town?! They wouldn't leave him alone! Even here on thah farm!"
Big Mac continued holding all the luggage while his sisters went at it. Pinkie still hid in the couch, and Granny Smith slept right through the routine shouting match of the sisters.
"Then call Twilight, or Rainbow Dash! They'd get rid of 'em sure 'nough!" the orange sibling ignorantly roared.
"It WAS Princess Twilight, and Rainbow Dash, and Rarity, and Fluttershy, and every single mare in town!"
That turned Applejack dumbfounded, if only momentarily. Her friends have mentioned the attractiveness of her brother, but have never openly expressed an interest...except for Rarity, but that was years ago. Her sister must have been mistaken; Applejack had a bone to pick with Big McIntosh and was determined to find the fault with him.
"Well, he must 'a done sumthin' , 'cause the girls Ah know wouldn't be interested in the lout!" she pushed Mac to the side and headed past Granny Smith and the hiding Pinkie Pie as she stomped toward the front door. "Now Ah'm gonna have to fix everythin' again!"
"Nope," Mac dropped the bag to finally speak for himself.
"Don't you 'nope' me! Ah'm gonna..."
"NO!"
She stopped right in her tracks and spun back to the unwavering stallion. The angry look on her face instantly changed to one of worry and confusion. Apple Bloom slightly recoiled and Granny Smith instantly jumped from her nap. Even Pinkie popped up as she knew this was something unusual. It wasn't his request or the volume of his voice they reacted to, it was the word. Instead of his routine "nope", he simply used..."no". The large stallion, whether from anger or fear about how she would act, finally grew enough confidence to stand up for himself. All eyes in the room stared in stunned silence, waiting for what the large pony would say.
"Ah'm not gonna have you apologizing for me! Blunt honesty can be a great, but this requires more tact than stomping around and insulting me. Ah'm not blamin' anypony, 'cause we all had a part in this, but goin' 'round and telling them all to 'buzz off' just ain't the right call. Ah'm gonna do this my way; on my terms! And yer just gonna have tah let me do it!"
---
The Ponyville Town hall had once again been set up for a ceremony, only this time it was for Big McIntosh's announcement and not a wedding ceremony. Most ponies now knew about the postal mix-up, but still attended for the hope of being Mac's special somepony. Some stallions had also arrived, but most were just to ensure their own mares would remain unnamed in his proclamation. The entire day was a joyous celebration; Pinkie had once again outdone herself. But the highlight of the night would surely be Big Mac declaring his love to the luckiest mare in Equestria.
Silver Spoon entered the town hall. Many mares and fillies were already here in anticipation. Like many fillies her age in Ponyville, she had an innocent crush on Apple Bloom's older brother. She snuck away from her family after the normal celebration in the tiny hope of hearing Big Mac romantically professing his love. She'd never vocally admit it, but teasing the Cutie Mark Crusaders behind Diamond Tiara was sometimes just an excuse to get near and catch a glimpse of the hard-working stallion. She walked through the hall, avoiding eye-contact with the more mature mares already there until she found a seat next to another filly roughly her own age.
"Silver Spoon?!" the pink filly screeched.
Silver Spoon popped up at the very familiar voice of her best friend Diamond Tiara. Both eyes widened at the shock of Silver Spoon being discovered with romantic feelings for Apple Bloom's brother. Her head lowered as Silver Spoon pointlessly attempted to hide her shame from her dominant best friend.
"Silver Spoon, what are you doing here?!" Diamond Tiara mocked. "Don't tell me YOU'RE here to make googly-eyes at Apple Bloom's brother like all these stupid mares here!"
"Well...I-" she had trouble explaining. Even though they were all getting along now, it still wasn't easy trying to speak well of the Cutie Mark Crusaders with her friend. Often they would slip back into petty insults behind their backs until they had to catch themselves from being mean.
"I knew it!" Diamond Tiara pounded the seat of her chair. "You like that big gross stallion too! Is that why you always wanted to tease them at Sweet Apple Acres? Is that why you always played nice when he picked them up from school? Is that why we're even friends, because making fun of them and saying we're better was just a way to get close and impress him?!"
Silver Spoon remained silent in shame. For all her rambling, Diamond Tiara was right on most points. She did like Mac and getting close to Apple Bloom meant also getting close to him. Diamond Tiara sure called her out correctly...a little too correct.
"Wait a minute, Diamond Tiara..." Silver Spoon accused, "why are YOU here?"
The rest of the ponies shortly took a seat waiting for the stallion of the hour to make his entrance. Giddiness, despair, anger, confusion, all emotions filled the room as the ponies sized up their competition. Many remarked on how three Alicorn princesses were also in attendance, though most incorrectly assumed it was just to keep order. Rarity had fulfilled her promise as the mailmare wore a simple, sleek, but gorgeous altered teal dress. The commotion subsided when Applejack entered the room, followed by the object of all the fillies' desires.
"HA HAAA!" a blue unicorn triumphantly jumped up from the crowd to be noticed, "The Great and Powerful Tr-r-r-rixie has arrived! Behold and gaze upon the visage of what a true mare looks...like......" she fell into an awkward silence as the only reaction she received were the sneers and raised eyebrows from surrounding mares. She lowered her head and sat back down, hoping to avoid the notice of any more ponies. At least her display wasn't noticed by the red stallion, who she admitted was alarmingly handsome, as he silently walked his way to the fore of the audience.
Big Mac made his way to the podium, trying to avoid eye contact with the attentive crowd. His sister stood beside and slightly behind him, a supportive and compassionate expression on her face opposite to the one she greeted him with earlier that day. He took a quick look around the room to see who all was here, and most of the town did not disappoint. He saw many friends, some acquaintances, some strangers he doesn't remember meeting, and some faces who clearly surprised him as he had no idea of their interest. He also saw the one; the pony for whom his letter was meant. His heart leapt as he choked on a hiccup in his throat to realize that his love, at the very least, is interested enough in his affections to hear what he has to say.
He had a whole speech prepared, though now that he was here he wanted to speak from the heart and not the impersonal words from a piece of paper; that's what got him in enough trouble already! He pushed the sheet aside as he looked out into the audience of eagerly waiting mares.
"Ah'm sorry for bringing all of you into this. My heart was in the right place, but my head was not. I did not intend for that letter to get out and Ah certainly did not want the entire town to get it. I'll forever have to live with this humiliation and the guilt of building up the hopes of so many fillies of whom I do not deserve, only to inevitably disappoint them. It was foolish of me to pretend my desires could be satiated by a letter and not making them known explicitly. Unfortunately, it appears some of you might suffer for my shameful action, and for that I apologize. It is an honor to know many ponies, both friends and those from unlikely places, think so well of me to hear me out. I am greatly and undeservedly flattered. However, I cannot profess my love this evening, even though the pony for whom the letter was intended is here. In time, perhaps Ah will come to you and declare mah feelings honorably, but for tonight all I can ask is to be left to my shame."
A hushed murmur filled the room as many hoped to be called upon presently by the gentle stallion. Some audibly answered "no" in quiet objection while others began muffled sobbing. Big Mac's heart sank to see he was already causing such despondency, but he felt it better than singling out his love in front of jealous and powerful rivals.
"Please do not feel disappointed. The fault is mine and Ah would be lucky to have any one of you. In time I will work up the courage to ask the one I love properly; this Ah swear it! For now, I wish you all a pleasant evening and offer one last apology: good night and please forgive me!"
Big Mac dragged his hooves as he trudged from the podium toward the back room with his sister Applejack. He thought it best if he were to let the congregation disperse before he made his way back home so there would be no disturbance. In time, his sister would check to see if the streets were clear enough to leave.
The crowd slowly filtered through the doors of Town Hall as they all made their ways back to their respective homes. A quiet somber was shared with each filly hoping to hear their name chosen, but Mac was right, this is better than jealous conflict filling the streets. After about a half hour, each pony respected Mac's wishes and left the area giving him a clear path back home.
The Apple siblings momentarily left the building as they made their way back to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack lead the way while her brother lagged behind, lost in his thoughts.
"You okay there, Big Mac?" the concerned mare asked her brother.
"Eeyup..."
"Ah'm sorry for the way I acted earlier," Applejack apologized, "Ah'm also real proud of the way you handled it. Didn't know you had it in yah!" she nudged his chest hoping to lighten the dismal mood.
He showed no response. He kept living the events over in his head and shamed himself for the distress he caused. He just wanted to be alone. Maybe eventually he'll share his feelings, but for now he just wanted to be left to himself.
Applejack knew her brother well and picked up on this without having him talk. "You wanna be alone fer a while?" she asked.
"Eeyup."
"All right," she acquiesced. "Ah'll meet yah back at the farm."
She trotted off ahead, leaving Big Mac alone to contemplate his actions and what he would do now.
Choose Your Own Ending #7: Black and White and Red All Over
Zecora searched through her cabinets, trying to find the last ingredient she needed.
"Ah! Here we are!
This will make it better, by far!"
She grabbed the bottle in her mouth and walked it over to Apple Bloom. The tiny yellow filly had made significant progress in her potion making. In fact, she would now voluntarily come to Zecora to help hone her skills. Zecora set the bottle on the nearby table for Apple Bloom as she gave the eager filly one last instruction.
"Very powerful, this ingredient does taste,
use only a drop, or else all is a waste."
Apple bloom picked up the bottle and very carefully added a single drop to the small mixture being heated in the pot. She made an effort to lean back, just in case the concoction exploded or had another undesirable effect. Once added, the mixture did nothing other than smell nice. Confused, the Cutie Mark Crusader looked back at the Zebra, wondering if she did something wrong.
"Zecora," Bloom asked, "what kind of potion is this? Nothing happened!"
The Zebra chuckled in response, "A powerful potion this was not meant to be, for you have only made our tea."
The zebra delicately poured the mixture into a teapot and walked it over to the table where she had already placed the settings while Apple Bloom was preoccupied. She took a seat filled both cups with the relaxing brew, inviting the tiny filly to join her. Still perplexed, Apple Bloom slowly made her way over, asking why she spent the effort on just making simple tea.
"Ah appreciate you teachin' me and all, but shouldn't we have tried something a little more advanced than jus' tea?" she sat and swirled the tea around her cup.
"Calming tea can be a potion too,
it really is a wonderful brew.
The relaxing outcome is quite effective,
after all, is that not the objective?"
It was hard to argue with that. Though it was too simple a formula, Apple Bloom acquiesced and took a sip. It did seem to have a quick effect as her body relaxed and she slouched down in her seat. Perhaps this wasn't so much a lesson as much as what both equines really needed after the events of the past few days. The entire town still seemed to be recovering from the Anniversary and Big Mac had never even left his farm. Today would be his first venture out so he could escort Apple Bloom home without her trying to brave the Everfree Forest alone. Applejack brought her here, but she had a delivery to make and couldn't return until tomorrow.
Now a little more relaxed, Apple Bloom asked a question that she always wanted, but was too afraid and polite to do so for fear of insulting her teacher.
"Zecora, why do you always rhyme? Ah mean, it's not weird or anythin', but is that how all zebras talk?"
After finishing her sip, Zecora responded as she often does: with an ambiguous and confusing riddle.
"If the only zebra you have met speaks in rhyme
does that mean we do it all the time?
Do you think it can be exotic
or maybe you assume I'm just psychotic?
Or what if the rhyming is just for show?
whatever it is, you'll never know."
That's no answer; but Apple Bloom didn't want to argue. She took another sip and dropped the issue. After a few minutes of enjoying their tea, their time together would soon come to an end as her brother knocked on the door. Apple Bloom jumped off her chair and rushed over to let her big brother in. Zecora also stood up to formally invite the stallion into her home. This was the first time she had seen him since his humiliation at the celebration, but her heart still fluttered at the sight of the large stallion. She nervously offered him a snack as she welcomed him.
"Welcome, Big McIntosh,
may I offer you a treat: an apple or squash?"
She cursed herself for sounding so stupid; he's an apple farmer and has no need for apples. As he made his way over to the table she quickly thought of something else to recover from the lapse in judgment.
"Or how about some tea... or an orange!
It's sure to...uh...taste better than a... door hinge?"
Oh, the humiliation! Not only did she foolishly fail at a rhyme, but she did so to the stallion she desired. Her black and white face flooded in a sea of red as she recoiled in shame. She wanted nothing more than to repeatedly bash her head against a wall. Zecora turned back to her cup and timidly took a sip in a feeble attempt to hide her embarrassment.
Apple Bloom watched in confusion as she had never seen her teacher behave so uncharacteristically. Zecora had always been so confident; so in control. To see her behave like Fluttershy was disconcerting. She had to help.
"Uh, yeah," she tried to lighten the mood, "nothing like a rusty door hinge!"
Big Mac and Apple Bloom chuckled at each other, though it actually made Zecora feel worse and more humiliated about her linguistic error. She held her cup and looked away, desperately hoping to change the subject. Now she was too petrified to speak, much less speak in rhyme. She wished for them to leave so she could hide under something and never come out.
Big Mac finally noticed the flustered zebra and fell silent, fearing he insulted her while she offered him hospitality. Once again, he felt he acted ungentlecoltly and hurt the feelings of a beautiful mare. Not this time; he was going to make it right!
"If Ah have offended you, I must apologize,
I meant to be polite, not demoralize!"
He rhymed in her style to show humorous sincerity, something she appreciated as she cracked a smile while looking back at him. He continued on:
"You missed a rhyme, but you should feel no shame
for you are the best at playing that game.
Of all ponies Ah know, you are unique,
is it any surprise I am drawn to that mystique?"
Zecora raised her brow, her heart quickened at the compliment. She wondered if he was saying what she hoped he was saying as he finally conveyed his feelings directly to her.
"Fear kept me silent, but it shall no longer,
in your presence I must become stronger!
It is you that I love, these words I speak true,
this confession is surely long overdue!"
Humiliation gone, Zecora now sat in shock as the giant stallion suddenly laid his deepest feelings and desires right out on the table in front of her. Her heart raced in a mixture of trepidation and serendipity. It WAS her; she was the "pony" for which his letter was intended. Before, she found herself unwilling to speak; now she was simple unable. She could only stare as the stallion concluded presenting his heart to her.
"Your heart and your mind I do admire;
you alone are the object of my desire.
Mah previous actions have torn my feelings asunder,
but will you take a chance on this poor farmer, I wonder?"
Apple Bloom sat amazed; she would have never thought his hidden love could be Zecora. But now she was here, witnessing her brother declare his love for her potions mentor. She grinned as she glanced back and forth between the two, hoping she could still be an indirect catalyst for their relationship. Perhaps she will be a mare of honor after all! She just had to find out what Zecora's response would be.
The zebra sat in stunned silence as the tension built in her hut. She would have never imagined to find love in a distant land; and with a pony no less. However, here sat the most attractive and sincere stallion she had ever come across, from any race, and he was bearing his feelings out just for her. How could she not be intrigued? She finally admitted her true feelings using the only thing she could say:
With the last item thrown indifferently into her wagon, Trixie slammed the door shut, eager to get out of Ponyville as quickly as she could. She's had enough of this Podunk town and all the ponies that constantly disliked her. The humiliation at the Anniversary celebration was the final straw.
Starlight Glimmer sprinted toward her hoping to catch her friend before she abruptly left town.
"Trixie! Wait!"
Trixie turned her head, but kept her scowl as she continued preparing her wagon for departure.
"Trixie! You're leaving already? Just like that?" Starlight asked.
"Sorry, Starlight," Trixie responded, "I just need to get out of here! I'm done with humiliating myself in this one-horse town!"
"Well I never...!" a large horse mare turned up her nose as she walked by, insulted by what she overheard.
"Sorry, Miss Henrietta!" Starlight apologized as she grinned and waved. She turned her attention back to the blue unicorn, "but you just got here; what was so bad that you have to take off so suddenly like this?"
Trixie groaned. Her friend was not going to drop it until she came clean. But how was she going to admit her embarrassment while still sounding Great and Powerful?
"Some stallions just can't recognize a good thing even if it slaps them in the face! I thought there might have been somepony great and powerful enough for me, but obviously I was wrong." She walked over to the front of her wagon to get ready to pull it.
"So you're leaving just because some stupid stallion rejected you?" Starlight queried.
"And I'm never coming back too!" Trixie added.
The news came as a shock to Starlight Glimmer. She has always had trouble making friends, was she now about to lose the first one she made since growing up? She couldn't accept that; she had to insist and convince Trixie not to leave.
"Trixie wait! You can't just leave forever because of a single pony!"
"It's not just him," Trixie admitted, "It's everypony, he was just the last I could take. Every time I come here I end up humiliating myself and everypony ends up hating me. I've had it with all the indignation; The Great and Powerful Trixie deserves better!"
"But if you leave, I'll never see you again!"
Trixie turned back. Starlight was the first true friend she has made in a while and she had no intention of deserting her. She rested her hoof on Starlight's shoulder to console and reassure her. "Sure you will! You can still visit me somewhere else; I'll even perform in that town you came from."
Starlight scraped at the dirt as she had no intention of leaving Ponyville just yet. She was preoccupied with Trixie's leaving that it took her a while to put two and two together and realize which stallion Trixie was referring to: it must have been Big Mac. She heard about the fiasco but couldn't understand why everypony was interested in the dull farmer. Sure, they only spent limited time together, but Starlight felt she knew enough about him to make a decision and move along with disinterest in the silent stallion. Still, she had to ask Trixie why she was inexplicably interested in Applejack's mute brother.
"Wait, is this about Big Mac?"
"Ugh!" Trixie sighed, "please don't say his name!"
"Why were you suddenly so interested in him?"
Trixie walked back to her wagon and attached the straps to pull it hoping Starlight would drop the issue.
"I mean, he doesn't talk!" Starlight continued, "he's so...so BORING!"
Trixie halted her progress. She wanted to forget about him, but she still didn't like hearing him insulted even if it was from her closest friend at the time. She turned back again to finally set the record straight and convince Starlight why she suddenly felt that way about Big Mac.
"Originally, I didn't care; I only went to mock him and his 'true love'. Once I got there, I saw just about every filly in town vying for his attention. So I figured I'd reveal myself and make everypony jealous because I thought he'd instantly fall for me. That didn't work and I just ended up making a fool of myself...AGAIN! When I finally saw him, of course I thought he was attractive; he is one of the most ruggedly handsome stallions I've seen. But what I admired was his honesty and sincerity; how he faced everypony and owned up to his mistake, putting his ego aside and asking forgiveness from all who were there. He's a good stallion; one I never thought I'd like; one I will never deserve. I don't care that he never talks; he let's his actions speak for him and they speak volumes more than mine. That's what got me thinking; thinking about my actions, my intentions, and my life. That's why I'm ashamed."
"Then let us be ashamed together," the large red stallion added from behind her.
Trixie quickly spun around to find Big Mac had snuck up behind her, even without Starlight noticing. He really is one quiet pony! The draft pony stood slouched and nervous at finally confronting his hidden love.
"I'll...give you two some privacy," Starlight trotted off avoiding eye-contact with the new arrival. "I hope he didn't hear me call him boring," she told herself under her breath.
"Big Mac! W-what are you doing here?" Trixie uncharacteristically lacked confidence in her query.
"Ah promised I'd find you. Now Ah'm here to finally make my intentions known properly."
"But...why me? All I've ever done is bully the town and humiliate myself. Surely, you don't mean me!" Trixie pleaded.
"Miss Trixie," Mac explained himself, "you've made mistakes, to be sure. But what drew me to you was your spirit; the way you constantly wouldn't accept to be less than the best. I could tell that you are a fighter; you wouldn't accept any adversity life threw at ya. No matter what may have happened, you make your own destiny and refuse to just submit and take it. Ah suppose I envy that spirit when Ah had mah own troubles. Ah don't agree with many of the choices you've made, but I'm enamored with the tenacity and determination you show when you make them. Life hands you bad cards but you refuse to fold, if anything you stack the deck."
"Yes, The Great and Powerful Trixie is a clever one..." she jokingly bragged about herself.
"Ah don't know if we'd be right fer each other or we'd be polar opposites, but I'd love to get the chance to find out...if you reckon you'll stay for a bit."
Trixie paused as she thought for a moment. A short while ago she didn't really know the silent farmer, now she has the opportunity to have a relationship with one of the most desired albeit quiet stallions in Equestria. Ordinarily, he wouldn't be her type and she wouldn't even give him a second thought, but maybe him being so different is a good thing. She hadn't had much luck so far in her life whether it's dealing with romance, fame, or even friendship. Maybe this change of pace would be a good thing. There's only one way to find out.
"Very well," she threw off the straps to her cart, "The Caring and Affectionate Trixie agrees with her Great and Powerful Stallion!"
Big Mac woke early to get a head start and make up for the time he missed to his letter fiasco. Well, he didn't so much as "get up early" as "never got to sleep". A light fog covered the orchard as the cool autumn air filled his nostrils. Hopefully since giving his impassioned speech, he could at least work on his own farm with no more interruptions. He approached the first row of trees to begin the days work.
Applejack was justified in being cross with him. Maybe not to the maximum extent she displayed, but justified never the less. Many apples have already fallen off the trees naturally and now litter the ground; bugs and other vermin destroying any chance of them being sold. Mac will have to clear them lest the critters find their way to the fresh fruit in the canopy. The first fruit he would harvest today would be the rotten apples so they don't spoil the bunch. At least he could use them for compost and pig feed. Bringing his cart along, he got to work bending down and picking up the fruit carefully by the broken stems. Since Earth Ponies have neither magic nor wings, he is forced to do so manually with his teeth.
Mac finished the first row of trees before turning to the next. A few trees in, he noticed a rotten fruit stuck between two branches. He always hated these; they have to be removed immediately and precisely so as to not ruin the others. He made an educated guess through years of experience to determine how much force he would need to buck this one out of the tree but not any of the others. He lightly tapped it with a single foreleg: only slight movement. A little harder: it moved a little more. Frustrated, he gave a sharp thwack, dislodging the undesired fruit and a few fresh ones with it. He picked up the fresh ones to pile up for when he would return to harvest the tree.
From the canopy, he heard the familiar sound of leaves rustling and branches breaking as another large blue mass came crashing to the ground. This time, instead of landing on a branch, the trespasser landed on Big Mac himself. The surprising impact knocked Mac onto the ground with the intruder lying on top and facing opposite, her white tail covering Big Mac's face.
At the sudden realization that she had been found out, Fleetfoot jumped to the air and hid behind the nearest tree hoping that her love hadn't identified her yet. Unfortunately for her, Mac remembered the blue coat with white mane as this was not the first time she crashed into him. He got to his hooves and simply followed the airborne dust behind the tree where she had been trying in vain to hide. Once around the tree, he found Fleetfoot coiled in a tight ball desperately trying to hide. She peeked up with a single eye to find the imposing figure of Big McIntosh looking down at her; the horror and humiliation sending her emotions over the edge as tears started running from her eyes.
"I'm so sorry!" she pleaded. "I know I shouldn't be here, but I just had to see you one last time! Please, you're not going to have me arrested, are you?!"
Mac raised a brow, confused at her plea, "N-nope!"
"Oh, thank you!" she jumped to give the farmer a thankful hug. "I was worried you thought me some crazy stalker and would have me thrown in prison!"
Mac blushed at the intimate contact the Wonderbolt bestowed to him; a reflex that thankfully went unnoticed by the preoccupied pegasus and the fortuitous color of his coat. Coming back to her senses, Fleetfoot quickly jumped back realizing he did not feel the same way about her.
"Sorry...again!" she rubbed the back of her head. "I swear, I'm not normally like this!"
"N-nope," Mac nervously agreed again.
Fleetfoot decided it was time to finally come clean and formally admit her feelings. "You see, growing up in Cloudsdale, the only stallions I've ever known were smaller, more svelte pegasi. Being a Wonderbolt, most of my squad-mates are females as the lighter body makes for faster, more agile fliers. Apart from Soarin', who has his eyes set elsewhere, most of the stallions I come across are all flashy with egos the size of an Ursa Major! When I crashed into you...uh, the first time...I was instantly struck by the rugged, thick frame and the flowing, unkempt hair of such a handsome Earth pony." She blushed, matching the color of Big Mac's coat.
She looked away in humiliation as she continued her confession. "I might have been concussed, but I instantly fell in love and imagined a full life of romance and adventure. Then you started giving me presents and, well, I just haven't been able to get you off my mind! I'd occasionally ask Crash...er, Rainbow Dash about her friends hoping she'd mention you, only to listen to her mock you for dressing up as lady to help your sister. But it was then I knew you were the one for me; you'd do anything for the ones you love. If only you felt the same..." she trailed off as she choked back her tears.
Big Mac stepped forward to wipe away a tear, "But Ah do..."
Fleetfoot jumped back, her wings spread wide in astonishment. Was she dreaming again or did the stallion of her dreams actually confess his love?! "B-but...I thought..."
"Miss," Mac interrupted. "I'm a very shy pony; I'm always afraid to talk to pretty fillies liker yerself. When you followed me around that one day, I noticed you. It's always nice to be desired by pretty fillies, especially ones that are Wonderbolts. But ya did come on a little too strong, so I panicked! I pretended to ignore you and Ah'm sorry fer that. Later, I researched a little 'bout ya. I became intrigued; how could a great Wonderbolt such as yerself ever be interested in a simple farmer like me? I tried moving on, failing at more potential relationships, but when I saw you on my farm, I panicked again and ran! Ah might think you crazy, but only in that you have any interest in me. I'm really the crazy one; my dream is to one day have wings of my own, or a horn so I could use magic. Then perhaps Ah can be good enough to deserve your attention."
Fleetfoot put her hoof on her heart. Her entire world just turned upside-down. Not only had Mac noticed her, but he's the one who really wanted her attention! Now it was Mac's turn to look down in shame as Fleetfoot would console him.
"But Mac, I love you for you! I don't want some flashy pegasus or stuck up unicorn; I want the real and honest farmer I fell in love with!"
"Really?" Mac sniffled.
"Yes, and if you really want to fly, I've seen your unicorn friend fly with magic wings... as long as you don't mind looking silly with pastel butterfly wings attached to your large back!" she joked, hoping to light the mood.
"Ah don't care; as long as Ah get to fly with you."
As if his mood couldn't be dampened enough, the rain once again kept Big McIntosh indoors and unable to resume his farm work, which was already dreadfully behind schedule. Wasn't the rain also the cause of all his frustrations? If it hadn't rained, he would not have composed that awful letter and his current misery wouldn't consume him. He told himself without the rain he would have been brave enough to tell his love how he felt. However, then as today, the rain kept him sidelined and wallowing in his own self-pity.
No!
Not today!
Big Mac was GOING to go outside and complete his chores! Today the elements were going to yield to HIS will and not the other way around! He put on his rain slicker and hat and marched out the doors of the barn, slamming them shut as a sign of his determination. Getting sick is preferable to having Applejack berate him again for falling further behind, and surely better than focusing on the horrible events of the previous day. Rain or not, those trees are getting bucked!
The work passed by surprisingly fast. Mac had already filled and emptied a few cart loads of soaked but still high quality apples. However, try as he might, he couldn't keep his mind off the humiliation. His secret love attended his speech, but she probably thought him to be a fool. How could he keep his word now and approach her directly? She'll most likely attract somepony more awesome anyway; he'd always wondered why she hadn't already. Eventually, Mac began to silently thank Celestia for the rain; nopony would be able to see him start to shed a tear.
Big Mac lurched forward, then immediately launched both hind legs backward in a mighty buck. The impact with the tree caused almost every apple to fall into perfectly placed baskets. Of course, a few fell onto the damp grass but they are easily retrievable. Mac scoured the ground, picking up the few stragglers and placing them into the baskets. While picking up the final apple, he found himself oddly dry. He looked around to find it still raining all around him, but the spot where he stood remained curiously clear. He looked up to ascertain what strange oddity could be causing this when he noticed a perfect hole in the clouds just above him, keeping himself free from the downpour.
"Hey, big guy! You look like you wanna catch a cold!" the rainbow maned pegasus remarked from the branches of the now fruitless tree. Rainbow Dash reclined sideways on the branch, her weather goggles still on and her chin resting on her hoof in another attempt to look 20% cooler. Most fillies gave Big Mac the time alone to contemplate his actions and decide how best to handle it, but Rainbow Dash is not most fillies. She HATED waiting, and she was going to confront Big Mac on her terms!
"Thank goodness I was here; no stallion of mine is going to get sick under MY watch!" she lifted her goggles as she leaped off the branch and glided over to the alarmed farmer.
Mac stepped backward in stunned silence as the assertive pegasus marched in to confront him. After a few paces, Mac hit another tree, halting his futile effort away from the approaching mare. Rainbow Dash didn't stop until she was face to face with him, close enough to where he could feel her warm breath on his wet muzzle.
"C'mon, did you think I was going to wait for you?" she rested a hoof on Mac's chest as he leaned backward against the tree, terrified of how strong she was coming onto him. "Admit it: you could only write that letter about the most awesome pony you know! That's Me!"
Mac's heart raced as the confident Rainbow Dash pressed the issue. His voice failed him as he couldn't respond, leaving an awkward silence. Rainbow Dash pressed further.
"Don't play hard to get; I always get what I want! And I want YOU! All you have to do is say you wrote it for me 'cause I'm the pony of your dreams!" she smirked, hiding the fact that she too was nervous and anxious for his admission. When he still remained silent, she pressed even further, commanding him to respond.
"JUST SAY IT! SAY HOW MUCH YOU LOVE ME AND CAN'T STOP THINKING HOW COOL I AM!" her smirk started to change to a sneer as she began to lose patience.
"N-n-n...E-e-y..N-n-o.." Mac stuttered, making Dash uneasy and impatient.
For the first time since reading that letter, Rainbow Dash began to doubt herself. What if it actually was NOT meant for her? What if her overconfidence was now making a complete fool of herself again? What if she actually fell in love with a stallion only to have him not love her back? Her tone changed again as she felt the emotion she hated the most: insecurity.
"Mac...please?" her shoulders lowered and grip loosened as she stared desperately into his averting eyes.
Mac still avoided her gaze, not wanting to confront the emotional and uneasy pony. Once again, fear and shyness kept him from sharing his feelings at the expense of a pretty filly.
Rainbow Dash backed up, dropping her hoof from his chest as she stared at him in despair. Her heart ripped and shredded into thousands of pieces as she slowly retreated from this humiliating situation. She wanted to go home and cry into her pillow and never see Sweet Apple Acres again, even if that meant avoiding her friend Applejack. Before leaving, she was going to give him a piece of her mind and regret ever rejecting the awesome Rainbow Dash.
"FINE! I DON'T NEED YOU! I DON'T NEED SOME STUPID FARMER! I'M RAINBOW DASH! I CAN HAVE ANY AWESOME PONY I WANT!" she fought to hold back her tears as she turned around and prepared to take flight.
Mac's emotions swirled. He feared sharing his feelings with the emotional filly, yet he also feared being the cause of such anger and disappointment to her. The battle raged in his heart and mind, neither side winning until HE would make the decision and force a response, whether for victory or tragedy.
Dash choked on her tears in a final attempt to verbally wound the conflicted farmer. "You're going to regret it! I'm going to find the most awesome stallion and..."
"N-NOPE!" Big Mac finally stepped forward and forced something out, yelling his discontent at his actions and the consequences from it.
Rainbow Dash swirled back around, shocked at the sudden command from the frightened earth pony.
Mac continued, his nerves still handicapping his attempt to stop her, but not destroying it. "Nope, yer not! Ah... won't let ya!"
Dash stepped forward and raised a brow as she leaned an ear in to hear him better. "What do you mean? Are you gonna-"
Mac interrupted her. "Ah've always been shy; you know this! A-ah'm afraid to admit mah feelings to you, but Ah'm more afraid to lose you!" His legs shook in terror as he finally declared his feelings...to the awesome and confident Rainbow Dash!
Her eyes perked up at this starling revelation. "You mean...the letter really was for me? You really DO love me?!"
"Ee-eeyup!" the weight finally lifted off his chest, but he still closed his eyes and shook from the tension.
Before he could open his eyes again, Rainbow Dash jumped forward and flew as fast as she could across the short distance between them. He felt a sharp impact as she tackled him and sent the both of them rolling on the ground until she landed on top of him and immediately started to plant kisses on his now wet and dirty cheeks. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU!" she cheered, pinning her stallion to the grass.
"Eeyup!" Mac responded, his hoof wiping away a tear from Dash's face.
Once again, Rainbow Dash tried playing it cool, like she was above those "girly" emotions. "I-I wasn't crying; some rain just fell on my eye!"
Mac looked up, showing her that they were still under the hole in the clouds she had made and no rain was falling on the new couple. He then looked back at in her eyes, "Don't ever change!"
Rainbow Dash rested her head on his broad chest, just happy to be with her new stallion. They both just lay there for a while, watching the clouds and rain fall around them and enjoying the sudden rays of the sun warming their damp bodies. There was only one thing that could make this moment better:
"Y'know, AJ threatened to not let me have cider after destroying two of her trees..." Rainbow Dash hinted.
Mac chuckled in response,
"Any mare of mine can have all the cider she wants!"
Twilight Sparkle picked up the pointy, miniature figurine of the stallion farmer and placed it in front of the assembled congregation. Using her magic, she turned every figurine to face toward the rear as the miniature version of herself walked down the aisle to be wed in a fantasy ceremony.
Since Big McIntosh's speech at the anniversary, Twilight sequestered herself in her castle for the past three days. She had originally assumed his letter was sent only to her. However, the scores of eligible fillies attending the speech proved that theory false. She thought back about that night and the events leading up to it until she remembered planting a big kiss right on the lips of the frightened farmer. Humiliation and regret consumed the Alicorn as she realized that the odds his profession was meant for her were very low. Still, she foolishly kissed him all the same thinking they were meant to be. How could she confront him now knowing the high statistical probability that she forced herself onto a stallion who most likely does not feel the same way? How could they even remain friends? How can "The Princess of Friendship" serve Equestria when somepony she knows very well will now refuse to be her own friend?
The only action Twilight could think of was to hide; to conceal herself in her castle until when, or if this whole mess blows over. She barely ate or slept and refused to groom herself apart from basic hygiene and a lot of cold showers. She once again started to lose her grip on reality as she constantly talked to herself and replayed the previous events with her toy pony collection; this time to more favorable results. Her disheveled mane, twitchy eyes and ears revealed how far she already fell into the depths of insanity; an attribute she possesses whenever she believes her life to be falling apart. She feared all of Ponyville would soon find out about her unwanted advances and her reputation, her crown, as well any possible future relationships would be destroyed.
In this deranged mindset, Twilight controlled what little she could as she marched a miniature replica of herself down the aisle. She had recreated a royal wedding ceremony with herself and Big McIntosh as the bride and groom. In her reality, Mac professed his undying love and they were now to be married inside Canterlot Castle in front of the mass of family and royalty. She had even painstakingly garbed every pony in the appropriate attire while giving "herself" a long, flowing white dress with veil. Every detail was made to be perfect as she united the bride and groom in front of the miniature altar.
"Princess Twilight, you look beautiful!" Twilight mimicked Big Mac's deep voice as best she could.
"Thank you, my love!" she responded to herself. "Everything is perfect; my family and friends are all here, the ceremony is beautiful, and I'm getting married to the most handsome and amazing stallion in all of Equestria! I can't thank you enough for confessing your love to me and making all my dreams come true!"
"Then kiss me, Twilight!" she once again mimicked. "Kiss me because I love you and wrote that letter for you and not some other filly because I love YOU!" She giggled maniacally as she made the tiny figurines kiss.
"Uh, Twilight? Everything OK?" Spike crept in, unnoticed by the demented Princess.
"HIIIIII, SPIIIIIIIIIKE!" Twilight cocked her head to the side as she opened one eye wide as possible with the other twitching. "You're just in time for the exchanging of the rings! Do you want to be the ring-bearer?"
Spike took a cautious step back, "n-no thank you... I... just wanted to see if you were feeling any better."
"I'M A-MAY-ZING! I'M GETTING MARRIED!" she presented the figurines of Mac and herself to the tiny dragon. "SEE?!"
"Twilight!" Spike tried to snap her out of her fantasy, "This isn't real! You have to go outside! We're all getting worried about you!"
"Don't worry about meee... I have my one true love! Worry about all the other fillies that can't have him! Besides, we can't go outside, that's where...HE is!" she turned back to her toys and resumed the ceremony. "Big McIntosh, do you take Princess Twilight Sparkle to be your lawfully wedded wife?" she impersonated Princess Celestia.
"Eeyup!" she answered for the red farmer.
Spike groaned in disapproval. He's seen her in a bad way before, but never quite to this level. It's hard enough trying to reason with her during her "normal" bouts with psychosis; it's going to take drastic measures to get through to her this time. There's only one pony who can make this right; one pony who's responsible for this. Fortunately, this pony is one of his best friends. Spike left the castle and made his way over to Sweet Apple Acres.
---
"C'mon, Big Mac! You have to!" Spike pleaded with the large farmer. "It's even worse than last time!"
"Nope!" Mac responded. He hadn't left his home either since the anniversary and felt too ashamed to show his face around town. How could he possibly confront The Princess of Friendship? If she were truly delusional, he'd fear for his own safety!
"But she really needs to hear from you; whatever you have to say! Surely you can't ignore a friend in need?" Spike reasoned.
Mac contemplated in silence in front of the doors to his barn. He had been occupying his time with whatever busywork to take his mind off how hectic things have been lately. However, Spike is right; he can't just ignore a friend when she needs him the most. Before he could agree and respond, Spike upped the ante in desperation.
"And if you don't go there, I'll tell her about your little secret and she'll fly right over here to get it back!"
That sealed it. There was only one embarrassment Mac would put up with today. He nodded in agreeable defeat as Spike led the way back to Princess Twilight's Castle.
Inside, Twilight was still playing with her dolls. This time the happy newlyweds were celebrating their honeymoon in Caballo San Lucas. As Spike thrust open the door to the room, Twilight hid the figurines from sight, hoping her assistant didn't catch them doing anything inappropriate for a baby dragon to see.
"Good news, Twilight!" Spike cheered in greeting. "I've brought the one pony who can help finally bring you out of this funk!"
Twilight's jaw dropped in horrific shock as Big Mac walked into the room with his head hanging low. This was actually the one pony she had hoped to never see again, yet also hoped to spend the rest of her life with. Spike had deliberately gone against her wishes and brought the reluctant farmer right into her self-imposed exile. However, part of her still considered all this to be a hallucination as she still desired to return to her fantasy life.
"No, NO!" she panicked. "This cannot be; he doesn't love us!" she turned back to face her toy ponies.
"Twilight, I assure you this is real!" Spike exclaimed. "Big Mac is here to make things all better; aren't you?" he sneered at the earth pony.
"E-eeyup!" Mac replied, confused as to the situation.
"But he doesn't love us! He loves somepony else! Only THIS Mac loves us!" she waved around the red doll.
Mac stepped forward and grabbed the toy likeness of himself from Twilight. He then crouched down to her level and proceeded to play along with this facade. If they couldn't get through to her in the real world, maybe this silly idea would succeed.
"Of course this Mac loves you," he attempted a poor imitation of himself, "and so do a lot of ponies that worry about you right now."
Twilight focused her attention on the toy McIntosh being played by the real McIntosh as she controlled her own self. "No he doesn't! Why would he love me?"
"What's NOT to love? Twilight Sparkle is beautiful, extremely intelligent, friendly, helpful, nurturing, caring, strong, magical, everypony likes her, she can defeat any threat, solve any problem." Mac turned his attention from the toys to look Twilight in her tearing eyes. "The question is not why this pony loves her, it's why she would ever love HIM."
"It's not...that is...I can't..." Twilight started to stutter and sob as she couldn't remain in control of her emotions anymore. She fidgeted as she began to panic. She had not been able to think clearly ever since receiving that letter and now it was all coming to a head. The pony she never knew she loved faced her and finally admitted his feelings to her through himself as proxy. But was it his feelings or his tiny representation's feelings? Was he just telling her what she wanted to hear? Is this actually happening or is it all an elaborate hallucination? She trembled in fearful confusion, not knowing what to do next or how to respond.
Sensing that it was all up to him, Big McIntosh dropped the doll of himself and stepped forward at Twilight. As she stuttered, Mac pressed his lips into hers in a prolonged kiss; one more deliberate than the one she shocked him with a few days prior. All confusion left Twilight's mind as she dropped her own figurine; a visual manifestation of all the doubt and uncertainty leaving her body. She reached up and wrapped her forelegs around Big Mac's neck as the two finally shared their first passionate, official kiss as a couple.
" 'Bout time!" Spike remarked. In his mind he always figured his best guy-friend and the pony he saw as his sister would get together, even if they never saw it. He exited the room satisfied as he let the two have their privacy. "Took 'em long enough!"
Princess Luna knew she was not meant to snoop; she was only supposed to observe certain ponies in their dreams and guide them if need be. She hesitated as she stood in front of the door leading to Big McIntosh's dream realm. Though she could not sense any distress, she did feel a sense of restlessness emanating from his dream. That feeling seemed to be common among the population of Ponyville ever since Mac gave his speech, but it is best to give them their privacy when it comes to romantic matters. Still, Luna's curiosity ate away at her as she herself could have been the object of his affection.
Pacing back in forth in front of his door, she argued with herself the reasons for going and for leaving him to his privacy. She could observe what was making him so restless... but that would just be an excuse to justify her spying. She could forget about this and move on to the next... but then she might never know his true feelings. Since no other pony seemed to be having an emergency and she was already here, she figured she might as well go in...for official duties. Yes, that's it... she told herself. She opened his door and walked into his dream.
Upon entering, Luna found herself on the edge of a vast green field. In the middle, she found Big McIntosh sitting in silence wearing a white martial arts robe with a red belt matching his coat. He seemed to be meditating in peace and gathering his thoughts for some upcoming event. Luna crept forward and created an inconspicuous shrub for her to hide herself while she observed what Mac's dream had in store.
Once she settled in, a large puff of white smoke burst forth in front of Big Mac as a dark, ominous pony materialized. This apparition had a villainous appearance with his black robe with hood and dark blue belt that was meant to oppose Mac's attire. Clearly, this was meant to be Mac's nemesis in the dream to come. The enemy stepped forward to Mac, who still rested in meditation, and mocked the hero of this dream.
"MWA-HA-HAAA!" the villain cackled, although the words did not match the movements of its lips, "you shall never see your true love again! Die now in sea of regret and sad time!"
The horrible translation and dubbing was supposed to give the effect of a classic martial arts adventure, though perhaps Luna had not come across any since her return from banishment. She continued observing in confusion, but with increased interest as this might reveal his true love.
A dozen more puffs of smoke appeared as numerous ninja henchponies in dark blue robes surrounded our hero. They slowly crept in, ready to pounce and eliminate the humble farmer.
"Any ending words you wish for?" the master villain dubbed in literal translation.
Mac stood up while keeping his eyes closed and a sprig of grass in his teeth. His mouth moved, indicating he was speaking though no sound was yet heard. After what seemed like five seconds and a lot of words mouthed, his response was finally audible.
"Nope"
The mob pounced. First, the henchpony directly behind him tried to sneak attack him, but Mac jumped to the side and took him out with a spinning back kick as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then two from opposite sides rushed together in a pincer, to which Mac ducked to the ground in a perfect leg-split as they stabbed each other and vanished. Mac slowly ascended back up, closing his hind legs to elevate and keeping his fores in a defensive posture. The gang stared at each other in hesitation after seeing how effortlessly Mac reduced a quarter of their number. Eager to resume the fight, Mac motioned the rest to attack.
Letting out a scream, all nine attack in unison, hoping their numbers could overpower our hero. Mac performed a back hoof-spring and landed on the one closest behind him, sending the enemy away in another puff of smoke. He picked up the dropped spear and launched it, taking out two more with a single throw. Another enemy tried to sneak from the side, but Mac dodged and took him out with a spinning back-forehoof punch. One ninja managed to grab onto Mac from behind in an attempt to incapacitate him, but Mac flipped him over and threw him onto two others, causing all three to disappear.
Two now remained. However, one knew he was outmatched and attempted to flee that battlefield while screaming. Mac picked up a nearby stone and hurled it across the field to hit the target on the head before he too vanished. The final, toughest hench-ninja brandished dual katanas and flourished them as he closed the distance, trying to impress and intimidate Mac. One he got close enough, Mac turned and apple-bucked the enemy right through the spinning blades, sending shards of metal exploding outward as the final opponent dematerialized.
All that remained was the boss, slowly clapping his hooves in mockery. "Bravely, you have fought well. But...AVAST!"
The scene quickly changed around Luna as she now found herself aboard a pirate ship. The villain now adorned a long, black coat and a mask covering his heavily bearded face. A hook took the place of one hoof while a cutlass was placed in the other, showing this confrontation will be a duel on the high seas.
Big Mac's appearance also changed as he wore a loose, white shirt purposely unbuttoned to show off his muscular chest. His now long, blonde mane flowed from his head much in the style of the male hero in most trashy romance novels. Luna herself blushed as Mac brandished his own rapier sword, ready to do battle with this dastardly knave.
"Y'ARR! A long sleep awaits ye in the cold, briny deep of Pony Jones' Locker, says I" the villain taunted as they scratched swords in preparation for the battle.
"HAVE AT THEE!" the villain thrust in attack first, to which Big Mac easily parried the blow away. Numerous swipes clanged back and forth as the two dueled across the deck of the rocking frigate. Naturally, the pirate tried any dirty trick he could think of, such as dumping a bucket of loose nails in Mac's path or cutting a line causing a sail to fall, but our hero prevailed through them all.
The battle waged throughout the ship, from bow to stern. Mac's blade once got trapped in the helm, to which the evil captain gloated in victory. Mac spun the wheel and back-flipped to the other side to retrieve it and continue the battle. It wasn't until the fight reached the entrance to the fo'c'sle did the enemy waver. His strength left him as he began to tire. He stumbled backward, desperately trying to fend off Mac's relentless barrage until he reached the end of the plank overlooking the water, which every clichéd pirate story needs.
In a final act of anguish, the coward pulled out a concealed pistol and aimed at Big Mac. Before he could fire, Mac stomped on the plank, causing the villain to fall over and splash into the salty brine.
Moments after the enemy fell in, the sea began to churn as the waves circled into a maelstrom. Slowly, the water changed form again as it turned into a swirling mixture of grass, stone, and earth. The ship changed from a wooden vessel to an outcropping of boulders overlooking a barren rocky valley. The ground in front of Mac erupted as our villain burst forth, revealing his final, terrible form.
First, a giant pony head shot from the ground, blue flame forming its mane and eyes. Its wings and tail resembled a dragon's as it flew into the air. The long, muscular legs mirrored Mac's in shades of dark blue as it landed and grinned with sharp, dragon teeth. The great beast was a hybrid of pony and dragon; fortunately for Equestria, this is but a dream. It gave a mighty roar at McIntosh as it took to the skies.
Big McIntosh's attire had also, once again, changed. He was now clad in black and gray armor with a matching helmet and horns that curved downward. A large sword lay in its scabbard along his back. Before the monster could escaped, Mac gave chase. A heroic battle-chant accompanied the fight as a soundtrack to the dream.
Luna had to switch from hiding to her concealment spell so as to not alert either party as she followed the action, thoroughly entertained with the adventure, random as it may be.
After catching up below the dragonpony, Mac gave a scream.
"JOOR ZAH FRUL!"
A blue light burst from his mouth and surrounded the flying gargantuan. It started to stutter, then slowly fell to the ground. The monstrosity turned back toward Mac and fired a plume of blue flame at the defenseless pony. Mac recoiled, waiting for the end to come.
Though it was a just dream and Big McIntosh would indeed wake up unharmed, Luna instinctively created a defensive shield to protect the earth pony from harm. Mac looked, expecting to be immolated and wondering why he wasn't only to see a wall of magical energy dispelling the fire away. Once the flame ended, Luna panicked to come up with a reason that Mac will believe as to why he was saved. She quickly remembered a previous dream incarnation in which he had a unicorn horn, so she hastily created another and hoped he would believe he had created the shield wall. She sighed in relief as he did the same to continue the battle.
The Dragonpony turned in an attempt to fly away, but not before Mac could jump in its back. It took to the air, Mac still hanging on and kicking in hopes of bringing the beast down again. After nearly being shaken off a few times, Mac remembered he could now use magic with his inexplicably acquired horn!
Using his best guess at whatever magic he could do, Mac summoned a great apple tree directly in the path of the dragonpony. The beast slammed right into it and stumbled about in flight with Mac desperately hanging on. Mac summoned another with the same result. After a few more, it finally succumbed to the arboreal onslaught and crashed to the ground leaving a long trail of devastation behind. Big Mac was thrown and rolled, but quickly recovered his way back to his fallen enemy.
The mighty dragonpony shrank back to his original size and form. Curious, Mac removed the hood to finally look his enemy in the face. Both he and Luna recoiled to find the image hidden behind.
"W-what are you?!" Big Mac ordered, frightened and alarmed at this sorcery. The blue face looked up, staring at its own discolored and mirrored image.
"I'm you!" the doppelganger gloated. "I'm your confidence, your assertiveness, your loquacity!" He started to laugh in mockery, "I'm everything you wish you were, but aren't! AH HA HA HA!"
Big Mac could take no more. He raised his front legs and smashed them down onto the face of his dark self. The head shattered as if it were made of glass, sending shards in every direction in defiance of gravity. Underneath where the demon was felled, he finally found his love buried inside what was the wreckage. She was still unconscious, for now.
"My love!" he whispered loudly.
Luna peered forward hoping to finally catch a glimpse of what all this mystery was about. Her heart jumped when she saw...HERSELF! She was his true love! She was the one he fought for! What she had desired had indeed come true: Big McIntosh loved Princess Luna!
The version that lie before Mac soon started to wake. An eye opened, looked around, and identified Big Mac.
"Are you alright, my love?" Mac asked the recovering captive princess.
"Love?" she questioned, "What dost thou mean 'love'?"
Her tone changed to childish mockery as she began to insult her rescuer.
"Do thy thoughts perceive affection twixt yonder serf and nobility? How amusing!"
Bearing no consideration for his feelings, Mac's dream-Luna steps forward, slowly transforming into Nightmare Moon.
"HA Ha Ha Haaaa! To think: a GODDESS with a peasant! You FOOL! Thou are not even worthy of licking my Royal shoes!"
Her size continued to grow.
"Since you amuse me, however, I will make your end quick and relatively painless!"
Her form changed to that of the Tantabus that terrorized her dreams. Mac fled away from the leviathan, but it seemed he was going nowhere as a giant leg followed, soon to crash down onto him.
Before he was finally squashed, the real Luna stepped forth and blasted the leg with her magic. The energy followed up the body until the entire nightmare was destroyed. Mac lay prone on the ground in terror at this new Luna and what terrors she could bring.
"Peace, McIntosh!" she gently greeted. "For I am the real Luna; thou art safe now."
Mac slowly stood up, confused. He hoped Luna didn't just see him fight for his love. How embarrassing that would be!
"Forgive me, but I have been watching in curiosity," Luna cautiously admitted. "We never knew thou felt that way about us...uh, I mean about me."
Big Mac's coat couldn't conceal THIS blush.
"Do you truly think this?" she waved toward where her dream-self had been, "That thou are not worthy?"
"E-eeyup..." Mac mumbled, too humiliated to enunciate properly.
" 'Goddess and peasant'; 'tis a silly thing to worry about. No pony should ever believe themselves above nor beneath another. All that should matter is the quality of a pony's actions and character. Big Mac, YOU are the desirable one!"
"Eeyup?" he questioned.
"Indeed! And if we are not too forward, I shall like to get to know thee a lot better... if thou thinks I am worthy?"
Apple Bloom came home from school and said Cheerilee wanted to talk to Big Mac. Could this finally be the moment he has waited for? After years of friendship and hidden feelings, Mac would finally profess his love to his very special somepony...WITHOUT the Love Poison! He vividly remembered seeing her when he gave his speech, but he just didn't want to call her out in front of many powerful rivals. But she knows him so well, she must want to be the first to talk and save him from an awkward admission. She wants to meet at the cafe in town; most assuredly their first true date as a couple!
He hastily made a feeble attempt to straighten his unkempt mane before rushing out the door. As fast as he trotted into town, it still seemed to take forever; his mind fixated on what to say and how to respond to any possible statement. Mostly, however, he just felt like he could fly...or at least leap tall bounds while towing a house. Focused on his goal, he paid no attention to the mares staring longingly at him. Many still hoped he would confess his love to them, but Mac only had eyes for one mare as long as he could remember.
And she wants to meet him!
Cheerilee waved as Big Mac approached the cafe. She had found a table outside, yet still in the middle of the busy patio area during the evening rush. She stood up to give Mac an affectionate, albeit friendly hug. Mac reciprocated and pulled out her chair to sit back down before taking his own seat; as a true gentlecolt would.
"I already ordered my plate: the arugula and kale salad with truffle oil! What are you going to have?"
Water, apparently! Mac commented in his head about her expensive choice. No matter; today is worth the celebration!
Folding the napkin in her lap, Cheerilee got down to the business at hand.
"Never mind. Mac, we need to talk..."
Sure. Talk. Whatever it was Mac assumed it could only be good. After all, she knows about his feelings and must feel at least a little curious herself. Why else would she have been there for him at his speech?
Cheerilee swirled the wine in her glass, hesitant to express her well-rehearsed lines. "We've been friends for a long time, right?"
"EEYUP!" he enthusiastically replied.
"We've had some great times too," she avoided eye contact with the jubilant stallion. "It's just..."
She took a large breath as her expression turned sympathetic and melancholy.
"I don't want to lose that. Do you?"
"Nope," Mac now started to grow confused. Of course they will still be friends; BETTER than friends!
"When I saw you being chased by all those desperate fillies, well, I guess something snapped. I got jealous. Why did they all want somepony I knew for so long? It was like they were trying to take you away from me!"
He didn't want to win her through jealously, but as long as he got her it didn't matter. So far things are going well.
"But Mac, I've come back to my senses. I hope you can forgive me for acting so foolish!"
Wait, is she...?
"You're a good friend, Big McIntosh, and that's the way I want to keep it."
Mac's heart ripped harder than he ever thought it could. After all that, all the humiliation, all the torment and hoping, she went back to the "good friends" excuse?! What is wrong with him? Is he not attractive enough? Is he too nice? Too quiet? Why do good stallions always seem to find themselves in the friend-zone while flashy, cool colts never do? Are fillies really that self-destructive?
"It's not like I haven't thought about it," she continued. "But I'm afraid if it didn't work out I'd lose you as a friend!"
You might lose that anyway! Mac thought to himself, though he knew he'd never do it.
"I just wish one day I'd find a stallion like you!" she lamented, pitying herself to her once again good friend. "Most colts I meet seem cool enough at first, but they always just end up being jerks, and then look for the next filly to take advantage of. Why can't I ever find a GOOD stallion? Looks don't matter; I just want a good guy for a change. Why aren't there any good stallions out there?!"
RIGHT. IN. FRONT OF. YOU! he wanted to scream.
"Is it too much to ask to just find ONE good stal-" she stopped mid sentence as she looked out onto the streets of Ponyville. "Who is THAT?!!"
Mac turned his head to figure out what Cheerilee was talking about. Walking by the outer tables of the patio area, a pegasus walked by that Cheerilee had not seen before. It was indeed the royal guard Cadance had lent to Celestia and Luna when they had a shortage. This pegasus had earned so much ire from the royal sisters that they, in turn, had sent him to clean up after the anniversary celebration. With the day winding down and work complete, he was heading out to see what good times he could find among the local population.
"HE'S CUTE!" Cheerilee quietly squealed to Mac.
"...'yup..." Mac sternly and angrily agreed; he knew where this was going.
"He looks so cool too; do you think he'd like a girl like me?!"
Mac grunted a disapproving sigh, "...'yup!"
"He looks like a bad-colt too! Oh, I hope he doesn't already have a mare-friend!"
Somehow, I don't think that would matter Mac wanted to say, but his shyness and politeness once again kept him silent.
"I'm going to do it! I'm going to talk to him!" Cheerilee rose from her seat and proceeded to trot to the exit. "You got the check?"
"...Yup..." Mac groaned, leaning his face on his hoof.
"Thanks! Wish me luck! Oh, and you're taking me shopping tomorrow, right?"
"YUP!" his further disgruntled agreement was lost on the oblivious mare.
"You're such a good friend!" she waved as she ran to catch up with the cool-looking colt.
Mac could just hear the introductions being made not far outside from the patio area.
"Hey, babe!" the pegasus greeted Cheerilee, "Like what you see? I know I do!"
Mac found himself alone in the nice cafe. He was hoping the mare of his dreams would finally admit her own feelings back to him, but instead she just ripped out his heart in this public setting so he would not make a scene. He looked in disgust as the waiter presented the expensive salad dish to the now empty placement where Cheerilee was supposed to be; an expensive dish HE would have to, once again, pay for. It seemed the "friend-zone" was just an excuse for him to fulfill all the obligations of a relationship without actually being in a relationship.
"Why can't I just find one good mare?" he spoke in self pity.
If he would only just look around, he would see all the sorrowful, heartfelt expressions from the sympathetic mares surrounding him. Alas, he was too preoccupied in his own self-loathing and regret to notice. One day, he might find the one who would actually make him happy; one that would actually want to be with him. But for now he sat alone, barely keeping in the tears and trying not to publicly cry.
It's a brand new day. The Sun is rising, the air is crisp, and Big Mac is the first Apple up... well, except for Granny Smith who is already in her rocking chair for her early morning nap. With the chaos of the Ponyville Anniversary behind him, at least for now, Big Mac is ready to seize the day and catch up on some sorely needed farm work. AJ should be up soon as well and it'd be best to get a head start before she becomes a taskmaster; a strategy which he learned years ago.
The timid, pale yellow pegasus crept up the path to the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse. She had not been able to sleep that night and through sheer, uncharacteristic bravery or, more likely, severe mental exhaustion, she forced herself out very early so she could talk with the silent stallion and admit her feelings. If only she had a good excuse she could use as an ice-breaker. She carried on her back a small pack containing various items she could possibly use for just such an occasion.
"Okay, Fluttershy! You can do this!" she whispered, quietly motivating herself. "You've rehearsed this all night! He's going to love me!" She paused momentarily as her self-doubt once again interfered. "But what if he says 'no'? Oh, that'd be terrible! I'll have to hide, I couldn't be friends with Applejack, I'd have to move away and be lonely and miserable until I die a sad old hag with nopony as a friend while feared as a hermit or a witch by the locals!!!"
She shook her head and stamped her hoof to tear her away from her uncertainties, "NO! He's going to LOVE me!" She exhaled a calming sigh to once again assure herself. "After all, we have so much in common: we're both kind, shy, quiet, polite, courteous. We both oddly love singing. We love helping and protecting others. We're fine with doing the hard work while others get the attention. And we both really love nature: he loves the plants and I love the animals; it's the perfect marriage of flora and fauna!"
She marched herself right up to the front door, confident, albeit slightly delirious, as she felt she has ever been.
"HE'S. GOING. TO. LOVE ME!!!"
She raised her hoof, ready to take the final step and knock on the front door. Before she actually did, the door swung open, revealing the large stallion just on the other side. Fluttershy froze. She stared deep into his emerald green eyes, afraid to move or speak. It took a moment for her to register that...he probably heard what she just said through the door!
"EEP!" she jumped into the air before beating a hasty retreat into the nearest bush she could find in a feeble attempt to hide. Big Mac slowly walked up to the shaking shrub, blushing and flattered, curious to see exactly what the shy filly meant. Realizing hiding was a futile effort, Fluttershy popped back out, hoping to save face.
"Oh, HEY therrre Big Mac!" she used her poorly acted attempt at confident flattery, "fancy seeing you here..."
Mac stood there in unbelieving silence before responding, "...Eeeeyup?"
Stupid, stupid, stupid! she scolded herself in her head. He LIVES here! Quick, think up some excuse!
"Um, I just came here to..." she paused, thinking on her next move, "see...if...Angel Bunny ran over here again! Yes, that's it!" she perked up, cheerful at her cleverly perceived ruse. "You haven't seen him, have you?"
"Nope."
"Really? Are you sure?" she smirked, insisting on the deception. "Did you look in that vegetable garden over there?" She pointed behind him, turning his attention and distracting him momentarily.
She quickly removed her pack while his head was turned. Opening it, she took out the tiny rabbit, who was still sleeping, and plopped him on the ground between the two ponies. Angel hit the soil with a soft thud before turning back and sneering at his caretaker. The tiny nightcap he was wearing fell off in the throw, so he picked it back up and slammed it once more onto his head to visually voice his displeasure.
"Ooh, sorry baby. Mama will make it up to you later, I swear!" she whispered to her ill-tempered pet.
Mac turned back around, confirming that the bunny had indeed not been in his vegetable patch.
"Oops! Look! There he is!" Fluttershy now pointed to the bunny that crossed his arms between them. Mac looked back up at her, cocking a brow in disbelief, to which Fluttershy grinned as wide as she could, desperately hoping to sell the fib. "Well, I'm glad we solved that mystery!"
Angel hopped to a nearby pile of straw, rolling around and curling up to continue the slumber that had been denied him all night with his caregiver's rantings.
"Now that we got that out of the way," Fluttershy continued, "are you doing anything special today?"
Mac put his hoof to his chin, pondering his list of things to do. "Nope."
"Oh, just more farm work?" she added.
"Eeyup!"
"Anything after that?"
"Nope."
"Do you think we should..." she looked for anything they could do together, "...rehearse our parts for the Ponytones?"
Mac thought about it. "Nope," he genuinely thought, thinking their parts were fine until the next rehearsal.
"Oh, okay..." she looked for some other way to ask him out. "How about...gardening? Will you be able to help me plant new vegetables?"
"Nope!" he quickly shot back. After all, it is harvest time and it would not make much sense to plant a new garden with winter approaching.
"Well then," Fluttershy started to panic, "how about I help you with your chores?"
"Hmmm, nope," he countered once again. It's not that he didn't mind the help, it's just that he'll be doing a lot of bucking and heavy lifting today and she wouldn't be much use. It wouldn't be polite having her work only to end up getting in the way.
Fluttershy began to tear. While Mac thought he was just being polite, it really came across that he didn't want to be with her. Her tiny heart started to break as it became apparent he did not return any feelings toward her. She hoped for so much and practiced all night for this interaction only to now find it all for naught. In desperation, she threw one last, overt attempt.
"Can I at least buy you dinner after you finish with your chores?!" she recoiled and shut her eyes, waiting for his reply.
---
Granny Smith awoke in her rocking chair. Just outside the front door, she could hear some filly trying to converse with Big Mac to no success. It took her a moment to identify the soft voice as Fluttershy's, AJ's timid little friend. She never thought that frightened little filly would ever work up the courage to ask a stallion out, much less a big stallion like her McIntosh. Granny Smith always wanted him to find a nice mare, she even set him up for disaster with the fake foot ailment just to expose him to the amorous affections of the town's lovelorn females.
But Fluttershy?
It sounded like she was having trouble; everything she asked, Big Mac was simply denying it. Granny Smith knew he liked one of his sister's friends, she just didn't know which one. Could it be her? Whatever the case, it sounds painful to listen to. Either he didn't like her or he was oblivious to her advances. Whatever the case, this is embarrassing and intolerable!
"Fer the love of... somepony's gotta put a stop to this!" She jumped from her rocking chair with an annoyed grunt and hobbled the best march she could over to the front door. Opening it, she interrupted the awkward exchange.
"Can I at least buy you dinner after you finish with your chores?!" Fluttershy recoiled and waited for his reply.
"NO YOU MAY NOT!" Granny Smith yelled, stomping from the front door. The order snapped the attention of both ponies as well as rousing Applejack from her sleep, who listened in while continuing to awaken. The elderly mare marched right in between the two ponies to separate them before turning her attention to her grandson. "Big Mac, I don't care if you like 'er, you got chores to do an' ya ain't finishin' 'em 'til yer done!"
Fluttershy blushed as her heart jumped. Did she just say he liked her?! Perhaps she wasn't just making a fool of herself. She couldn't help but crack a hopeful smile at this new information. The feeling was quickly extinguished, however.
"And you!" Granny spun to the interloper. "Just what makes you think yer good enough to court an Apple?!" She picked up one of Fluttershy's forelegs, showing the lack of muscular development to Big Mac. "This one's so weak, Ah bet she wouldn't be able to pull her own weight, little as it is! Ah'll be dead an' spinnin' in mah grave before I let somepony like you have mah great-grandfoals!" she threw her hoof to the ground, showing disdain for the pegasus.
Fluttershy instantly began sobbing at the horrible insults spat at her from what she thought was a good friend. Granny wasn't finished as she barked one last order at Big Mac.
"Big Mac, I don't want you seein' anymore of her! AH FORBID IT!" she stuck her nose in the air and marched back toward the farmhouse, but not before slapping Fluttershy across the face with her tail, which had not yet been groomed.
Fluttershy lost all control of her emotions, crying in hysterics as she quickly turned and sprinted away, straight into the forest of trees bordering Sweet Apple Acres. Mac stood in stunned silence, amazed that Granny had treated the shy filly they knew so well with that much contempt. When Granny reentered the farmhouse, she was greeted with a stern expression from her granddaughter Applejack, who hastily put on her hat as she ran through the house to eventually catch up with her hurt friend.
"GRANNY! HOW COULD YOU!" Applejack attempted to pass by her to the front door. "That was Fluttershy! One of our best friends and-"
"Wait fer it..." Granny slammed the door and stopped Applejack's progress with the other hoof. They peeked out the nearby window to find Mac struggling to make a decision. After a moment, he turned and sprinted in the direction of Fluttershy's escape, but not before Angel Bunny hitched an unnoticed ride on back of the pursuing farmer.
"There he goes!" Granny exclaimed. Applejack looked back at her with a confused look. "Sorry for the big spectacle," Granny explained. "Ah feel turrible treatin' Shy that way, and I'll make it up to her. But I needed to light a fire under that clueless grandson o' mine!"
"You mean that was all for Mac? You knew he would chase after her?" Applejack tilted her head as she asked.
"Sure as shootin'!" Granny Smith exclaimed. "He might be thick-headed, but he's still as stubborn as any Apple! You tell 'em he can't do sumthin', he's gonna go right ahead and do it!"
---
Mac followed the path of Fluttershy's escape as best he could. Unfortunately, after a while he found himself unable to track her any longer. It appears as if she stopped running and took to her wings; there will be no way he can follow her now!
Unexpected help hopped along the back of Big Mac as Angel made his way up to Mac's mane. Clearing a spot on the crown of Mac's head, Angel grabbed two handfuls of hair and attempted to coax the stallion into moving toward the left. Mac jerked his head back at the sudden alarm of the rodent atop his scalp. After identifying it as Angel, he figured the tiny pet might know best as to where Fluttershy ran off. He turned to the left and let Angel guide him toward the direction of one of his owner's favorite spots.
Coming into a clearing, Big Mac and Angel Bunny found Fluttershy crying on a large, flat rock overlooking a pond. On the left side of the pond, the water roared in from a waterfall originating in a large creek above. This is one of Fluttershy's secret nature hideaways where she can clear her mind or recover from a stressful event, and right now she really needed it.
Mac crept in, hoping not to startle the upset pegasus. His presence was given away, however, as Angel Bunny hopped off to give his caregiver a consoling hug. Shortly after, she noticed the large, red stallion for which she harbored affectionate feelings.
She did not want to get him in anymore trouble, but more importantly, she didn't want him to see her like this. "Big Mac! Please! Leave me be! This weak pegasus is no good for you!" she cried a little harder now, knowing she was not meant to have him.
Big Mac slowly and quietly crept toward her, trying to work up the courage to finally speak. He found his voice failing as he involuntarily remained silent, causing further distress upon her.
"Mac..."
"I-it weren't for y-you..." he quietly forced out.
"What?" she choked back another sob.
"Granny... what she said; it weren't for you," he tried explaining.
"W-what do you mean?"
"She said that... to motivate me, not insult you."
"But," she sniffed, trying to clear her voice. "Why would she say something so mean?"
"She wanted me to... for the pony I..."
Big Mac's words were failing him. He was so nervous and shy that he just couldn't force the air past his lips. Here he was, trying to confront his shyness and console the fragile mare, only to find that he couldn't express his voice; talk doesn't seem like it's the answer.
Luckily he has a choice...
He took a deep, calming breath and commenced singing a slow, passionate serenade.
Fluttershy, please don't cry!
Every tear makes me want to die!
Yes, I confess it's true;
My love was written just for you.
Only you are what I desire,
your kindness makes my hopes fly higher
Only you can make me so bold,
with you, I'd like to grow old.
So I beg: please don't cry!
My love, my hope, my Fluttershy!
Big Mac finished and waited for Fluttershy's response. The emotional pegasus sniffled and wiped away a tear. She looked down to Angel for reassurance to find the bunny closing his eyes and nodding his approval.
"You... you really feel that way... about me?"
"Eeyup!"
"I never knew! How long did you feel this way?"
"Since you fell from the heavens," he confessed surprisingly easy. He might be shy and completely nervous, but he was sure of one thing: he loved her, and always had.
"Oh Mac!" she rushed toward him and buried her face into his chest as they embraced. She started to cry again, only this time they were tears of joy.
Big Mac couldn't help but join her as he displayed his own liquid pride. He finally confessed his feelings to his one true love and she now returns his affections. What was the most terrible, uncertain time of his life is now the most joyous. He just wanted to sit there with the mare he loves and enjoy her company in one of her most special places. The hum of the falls and tranquility of the water provided the perfect romantic setting to begin his relationship with the most beautiful, kind, and special pony ever to grace Equestria.
"I'm so happy, I don't know what to say," commented the love of his life.
"Then let us just sit here together, even if nothing need be said."
