One stallion has to take a day off of bucking. One mare has one day left for a report. Both need to learn not to let their work overtake themselves.
Big Macintosh has overworked himself and has to take a day off, much to his protest. Twilight Sparkle has to write a friendship report to Princess Celestia by tomorrow morning and she is stressing out over it. Can these two learn to not focus themselves almost exclusively to their work? Can the two learn it with the help of their friends, or by them helping each other?
*This takes place in a sort of alternate timeline (not an alternate universe) during season 2.* **This is my first story, so advice and criticism of any kind is welcome.**
If a stallion’s worth was measured by the sweat on his brow, then Big Macintosh could be considered the richest pony in all of Equestria.
From the perspective of most outside of his family, the large stallion seemed to have spent every waking moment on the family orchards. Never once intending to slack off, the earth pony would put all of his effort to tending the crops; making sure the family would get the perfect produce when it came time to harvest them. When Applebuck season came around, Macintosh would be out there all day bucking the apple trees, plucking the carrots from the ground, picking the grapes off the vines, and pulling the ears of corn off the stalks.
More often than not, the red earth pony would have his younger sister Applejack out there with him, and on occasion his even younger sister, Apple Bloom, would assist her two siblings. However Apple Bloom mainly helped out in livestock, and although Applejack did her fair share of work on the fields, she was more in charge of making the crops ready for the market, leaving Big Mac with the bulk of field work.
He did not mind the grunt work, however. He was always glad to be helping out the family in any way he can. The stallion just so happened to have the large frame and a high amount of stamina that came both from and with working on a farm. Macintosh also appeared to have been born with higher tolerance for getting up at the crack of dawn. The farm pony displayed that tolerance again, waking up before sunrise, putting on his yoke, and going out into the fields to begin harvesting the apples from the numerous trees in the orchards.
The hours passed on as the hard-working horse steadily bucked every tree with one of his hind legs to make every carefully cultivated fruit fell into the buckets scattered around the base of each tree. The farm pony also made sure to pick up any apple that fell onto the ground and placed them into the nearest pail. This continued on throughout the rising of the sun, up until his sister approached him a pair of saddlebags draped over her orange coat and her stetson pushed back to better block the sun.
Big Mac was getting ready to buck another tree until he heard the mare call out to him.
“Mornin’ Big Mac.” The mare greeted.
“Mornin’ Applejack.” Big Macintosh responded as he put his hind hooves to the ground.
“Ah see you're up bright and early.”
“Eeyup.” Big Mac droned, “Gotta get all the apples Ah can get before harvest season ends.”
Applejack gave an appreciative grin before she continued the conversation with her brother.
“Big Mac,” the young farm mare began. “y'are aware of the fact that harvest season started just four days ago?”
“Eeyup.”
“And that we already bucked enough trees to put us three days ahead of schedule?”
“Eeyup.”
“And seeing how the situation allows it, doncha think you should go on and take a couple days off?”
“Eenope.”
“Why not?” Applejack asked, her grin fading into a sterner expression.
“Because Ah can't afford to be slacking off.”
Applejack tripped over her words for a brief moment, tilting her head in confusion as she continued her inquiry.
“Didn’t you hear me when Ah said we was ahead of the schedule by three days?”
“Eeyup, and Ah reckon we should keep the same pace if we gonna be ready for when it’s time to sell the crops.”
Macintosh began to turn around, thinking that was the end of the conversation, only to be stopped by a hoof on his shoulder pulling him back in place so he and his sister were face to face.
“Listen here Mac.” Applejack said in a strict tone of voice, “You’ve been overworking yourself. For crying out loud! You ain't taken any time off since I've known you, and that's saying something!”
Mac just remained stone-faced as he began explaining himself.
“Ah did take a break during last year’s harvest. Isn't that enough?”
“Not when the break was ‘cause of an injury!”
Macintosh sighed at his sister’s stubbornness, the look on his face indicating that his patience was starting to dwindle. Applejack did not take notice of her brother’s disdain, and proceeded to speak.
“You're starting to wake up earlier than usual and you're also going to bed later too. You're all frazzled out.”
“What’s your point Applejack?”
“My point is that you never seem to want to take a breather. Ah've been talking to Granny, and she agrees with me.”
“She does?” Big Mac inquired, raising the curious eyebrow.
“Yup. She’s been noticing how groggy y'are during meal time.” The mare explained. “You've been walking all sore-like, you wince every time you sit down, and we all hear you groaning whenever you go up the stairs. Oh, and by the way, it ain't just me and Granny noticing how much your work is taking its toll on you.”
Applejack's words were starting to have its effects on Big Mac as the stallion started to feel twinges of guilt in his chest. These twinges were enough to make the stallion allow his stubbornness to falter.
“Alright, Ah’ll take a day off.” the stallion sighed. “But just one day.”
Applejack smiled upon hearing those words.
“Good! Now, just to be sure you don't do any work, you‘re not allowed to be on the grounds of this farm ‘til sunset.”
“Sunset?” Big Mac asked his head snapping upward to gape at his sister’s smirking face.
“At the earliest.” The proud mare clarified.
Big Mac was so dumbstruck by his sister’s demands that he did not move a muscle. He just allowed Applejack to take his yoke from him and replace it with the saddlebags she had been wearing. The red stallion was then pushed from behind by the orange mare, his hooves leaving four trenches as he was escorted from the premises.
“Now, Ah packed some bits for you to get some lunch.” Applejack explained. “There’s extra bits for dinner if you feel like staying out late. Just a thought.”
Applejack pushed her brother all the way towards the gate of the Apple farm and gently shoved the stallion onto the dirt road leading to Ponyville. Macintosh turned his head to Applejack but his sister started speaking before the crimson pony could retort.
“Have fun Mac! And don’t you waste your day off doing so-called ‘favors’ for anyone in town.” The mare’s expression went from cheerful to harsh in an instant. “Got it?”
Big Mac swallowed some air before turning his head back forward. With that, he slowly made his way down the dirt road. Applejack looked on as her brother disappeared over the horizon. When the stallion got far enough from the farm, the country mare cleared her throat with an audible cough.
“Okay girls, you can come out now.” Applejack demanded. Three fillies soon appeared from behind one of the apple trees.
The filly at the front had her red mane bobbing up and down with each step. She was followed by an young pegasus who scuffed the ground beneath her orange hooves. A small white unicorn trailed behind the other two after she brushed some debris off her mane.
“Alright Apple Bloom.” Applejack addressed the yellow filly. “You, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle follow Big Mac and make sure he don't do anything to get out of his day off.”
“Got it sis!” Apple Bloom stated with a salute before turning to her friends. “Ready y’all.”
“Like we need to be! This'll be a cake walk!” Scootaloo boasted.
“I just hope it’ll lead to getting our cutie-marks.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Course it will!” the farm filly stated. “Now come on!”
“CUTIE MARK SNEAK SQUAD, GO!” the three yelled in unison before charging down the same dirt road Big Mac went down, leaving Applejack alone with just one thought.
“Ah hope that brother of mine can learn to relax.”
As the thought lingered on in Applejack's head, the wind began to blow towards the town of Ponyville, where the citizens were carrying out their day-to-day activities. The town square was bustling with numerous patrons visiting numerous stores. Officials in town hall were handling the usual paperwork and making the usual decisions that came with running a small town. Numerous foals ran wild through the streets, enjoying their weekend away from schooling. From a first glance, it seemed that nopony was thinking too much about this ordinary day.
Nopony, that is, except for one unicorn who was pacing inside the Golden Oak Library. Her expression gave off the impression of deep thought as she walked back and forth to the various bookshelves, only to turn around, without grabbing a single book, and walk towards another shelf in the library.
“Spike!” the unicorn called out, signaling over a tiny purple dragon whose green spines wobbled as he hopped down the library’s stairway.
“Yes, Twilight?” Spike answered.
“Have you been feeling like there’s something…off? As of recently, I mean?”
“Not really.” The dragon replied as he turned his head to focus on some of the books in the library. “Maybe one of our books is out of place?”
“No, I double-checked the entire library, and every book is in its designated space.” Twilight corrected. “I even triple-checked the list of checked out books to see if any were due. There aren’t any late returns and the earliest due date is next Monday at 12:15 p.m. for Trance Dance: Nighttime Exclusion, checked out by Miss Vinyl Scratch. Then I made sure that everything in my lab was in order, making sure all my beakers were organized by shape then size. Then I thought of the minor tear in one of the bedroom curtains, only to check on it to realize that I had already sewn the tear an hour ago. I just don’t know why I feel like something is off. Everything seems to be going normal.”
Spike just stared at his friend with some bewilderment “Yeah…normal…”
Twilight walked to the center of the room and sat down on the floor. She started to rub her chin as she continued to ponder.
“What could I be overlooking?” The puzzled mare said to herself.
“Well maybe Princess Celestia can help you figure out what you forgot.” Spike suggested.
The proposition made Twilight chuckle “Oh Spike, the Princess is a very busy pony. She has to take care of all the major issues of Equestria, not help one baffled unicorn handle a simple, albeit somewhat frustrating, lapse of memory. Why, it’s a wonder how she has the time to read…my…reports…”
The unicorn stared off seemingly at nothing as she slowly came to a realization, her mouth became ajar as her pupils slowly dilated. Twilight’s trance-like state made her assistant uncomfortable as he started to approach the purple pony. When Spike got close enough, he slowly reached out his claw towards his unmoving friend.
“Twilig-“
“I FORGOT MY FRIENDSHIP REPORT FOR THE PRINCESS!!” Twilight shrieked as she jumped five feet into the air. Spike soon fell over, startled by the unicorn’s outburst.
After Spike propped himself into a sitting position, he watched as Twilight ran around the library at the speed of panic.
“Got to write that report. Got to write that report. Got to write that report” Twilight kept repeating as she charged throughout her residence. Spike tried his best to keep the unicorn in his sight, turning his head as much as he could.
“What are you worrying over?” Spike asked the frantic mare.
“My friendship report to the Princess.” Twilight started, still running around the library. “I got to write a report about something new I learned about friendship and send it to the Princess by tomorrow morning.”
“...Twilight.”
“I don’t have anything new to write about.”
“Twilight.”
“And I would never make something up. Even if I would I wouldn't know what to make up in the first place.”
“Twilight!”
Twilight stopped right in front of Spike. The dragon noted with a raised eye ridge her disheveled mane and nervous twitch in her watery eyes.
"Calm down, Twilight." The baby dragon said, looking intensely into the unicorn's eyes. "You've already been through this last month. Remember? When you made everypony in Ponyville go bonkers over a stuffed doll."
The mare looked down at the ground, shuffling her front hooves a bit as she responded.
"...I know"
"Didn't Princess Celestia tell you that it's okay not to send her letters all the time?"
"Yeah, but I haven't sent her any letters since then."
"Because everyone agreed that you needed time to relax."
“Yeah, but that was the problem. Don't you see? I was so focused on trying to heed the Princess' order that I shirked off my main responsibility as her top student. Now I'm in real danger of falling behind, or even coming off like I'm not trying to learn more about friendship. Oh, why did I let myself become so lazy this past month?”
“Well ‘lazy’ probably isn't the best way to put it, Twilight.”
“You’re right. That’s putting it in a nice connotation.”
"TWILIGHT!"
Spike's outburst startled Twilight enough to make the mare refocus her attention on the miffed dragon.
"Don't beat yourself up over this." Spike urged the unicorn, "Just take a deep breath."
The purple mare followed her assistant's advice as she put a hoof to her chest and inhaled deeply. Then she extended her hoof away from her body as she let out all the excess air in her lungs. This calmed Twilight down somewhat as Spike continued giving advice to the unicorn.
"Now I know you're worried about falling behind on your friendship research, but getting yourself worked up over it won't solve anything."
Twilight couldn't come up with an immediate rebuttal in her head so she nodded her head as she let Spike continue talking.
"If you need to have something to write about, go see your friends to see if they have something to talk about, but don't try to create a problem, okay?"
Spikes emphasis on that last part of his suggestion was not lost on Twilight as she nodded her head once more. Standing a little straighter, she soon made her way to the front door of the library.
"You're right, Spike." She firmly stated. "You're absolutely right! I'll just visit the girls, see how each of them are doing, and ask them if they have a problem I can help them with."
Twilight opened the door and started to leave her home when she suddenly turned around to make one last statement.
"And even if none of them need my help with something, I can just write a letter to the Princess about how I'm enjoying my time with my friends. That'll be good enough...I hope."
With that the librarian shut the door behind her, leaving the baby dragon by himself with only one thought going through his mind.
“I wish Twilight would stop stressing out over everything.”
For some reason, Big Macintosh felt out of place as he walked through Ponyville. He kept moving his head around, trying to get rid of the tension he felt on the back of his neck. He adjusted the saddlebags, which did nothing to relieve that feeling. No matter what he did, the red stallion thought that his body felt a little too light for his liking.
Mac tried to ignore the discomfort by attempting to interact with the townsfolk. He got some surprised looks from ponies surprised to see the work stallion not at the farm, though that did not faze him. He would receive some greetings from some citizens here and there, which he would respond to with a standard “Mornin’.” Some ponies would remark about how lovely the weather was today, which he would respond to with a trademark “Eeyup.” Some of them even asked how he was doing this morning, which he would respond to with a simple, if false, reply “Fine.”
The one thing the work pony did not hear was something which he would respond to with a sincere “Do you need some help with that?”
It had been two hours since Big Mac was temporarily kicked off the farmland and all he had done was walk, adjust his body a few times, and talk to some of the ponies of Ponyville. This fact was not lost on the three tiny shadows following the wandering pony, keeping out of his sight.
“Ugh! This is so boring.” Scootaloo stated.
“Yeah, Apple Bloom, your brother isn’t a very interesting stallion to follow around.” said Sweetie Belle.
“Ah know, Ah know!” Apple Bloom exclaimed with a roll of her eyes. “But you heard my sis, for the sake of Big Mac actually havin’ a day off, we have to make sure he don’t help out anyone. So boring’ll have to do.”
Sweetie Belle nodded at what Apple Bloom said while Scootaloo let out another groan. The girl’s collective train of thought halted when they spotted someone approaching Big Mac. It was Sweetie Belle’s sister, Rarity, sending a smile to the farm pony.
“Well, hello there, Big Macintosh.” the mare greeted the farm pony.
“Mornin’, Miss Rarity.” Mac responded.
“I say, this is a first, isn’t it?” Rarity stated. “Seeing you without that contraption on your neck. You know, wearing that all the time does not do your posture any favors, darling.”
The stallion said nothing in response as he ran his hoof over the back of his neck.
“Oh, don’t take that as an insult or anything.” Said Rarity. “You’re perfectly fine. In fact, you might be just what I need for an important task.”
The work horse noticed a potential job opportunity and jumped at the chance. “Ah’d be happy to help you, ma’am.”
“Oh thank you, MacIntosh!” Rarity said bouncing slightly in her excitement. “Such a dashing gentlecolt, ready and willing to help a lady in need. Well, no time to waste. Follow me.”
Rarity began to walk toward her boutique with Big Mac in tow. The sight irritated one of the fillies.
“That’s not fair!” Sweetie Belle whined. “I always ask Rarity if I can help her with the Boutique, and she always tells me ‘No’. How come Mac gets to help her out?”
“Never mind that.” Scootaloo stated. “We got to stop Big Mac working for Rarity.”
With that, the Cutie Mark Sneak Squad slunk their way towards the Carousel Boutique. They hid themselves inside a bush in front of one of the shop’s windows before peering into the storefront. Big Macintosh was placing his saddlebags by the front door as Rarity started to speak.
“Now, you’ll have to forgive the state of things; I left some fabric on the floor so watch your step.” Rarity pointed out. “Now, onto the task at hand: an out of town client wants me to make a tailored suit for him. While my expertise lies in dresses, I absolutely relished the idea of putting my special touch on a stallion’s suit. Now I need you to model some prototype suits I made so that I can decide which design would look best on my client.”
The work horse was at a loss for words. He looked around the room to take note of the multiple suits of various materials and hues before refocusing his attention towards the unicorn, puzzled at what was requested of him.
“Putting on…clothes?” Macintosh asked.
“Exactly.” Rarity said with a polite smile.
“…That’s it?”
“What else were you expecting?”
“Ah have to be honest Miss Rarity, Ah was expecting a job that was more…hard labor. If that makes any sense.”
“Are you implying that modeling is not as worthwhile compared to a job that requires ‘hard labor’?”
Big Mac held his tongue once he noted the irritated edge in the designer’s voice.
“Macintosh,” Rarity began as she stood her ground, “I’ll have you know that there is a lot of hard work that goes into being a model. Not only do you have to maintain a certain standard of beauty, but you also need the poise needed to walk down the runway. The stamina to endure sessions that could last many hours if need be. And perhaps the most vital requirement of any model, the mental fortitude to withstand the critique of the fashion elite. So I ask you; does that not pass your standards of a worthwhile profession?”
The crimson earth pony started to curl up slightly, surprised that the unicorn before him could get so intense in her way of speaking. The fashionista’s rant was not lost on the three spying from the bush outside.
“…Geez, didn’t expect her to go off on such a hissy.” Said a surprised Apple Bloom.
“Well, she’s a little…sensitive when other ponies insult the fashion world.” Sweetie Belle responded.
“Guess so if she’s willing to defend a pointless job like modeling.” Scootaloo stated.
The unicorn filly gave her friend a harsh glare, but the brash Pegasus just shrugged her hooves in response.
“Just saying.”
Inside the Boutique, Big Mac managed to let out some words to appease the offended mare.
“Ah didn’t mean to insult you Miss Rarity.”
Rarity took note of what just transpired, and she shifted her posture back to her usual casual elegance before letting out a sigh.
“No no, I should not have lashed out like that. Ugh! How boorish of me to do such a thing.”
“You don’t have to apologize ma’am.”
“Yes I do, Macintosh.” The unicorn corrected the stallion. “I should’ve realized you wouldn’t be familiar with the world of fashion before verbally accosting you like that. So please, accept my sincere apology.”
Mac knew at this point that it would be best to put the moment behind the both of them, so he just nodded his head towards Rarity as a means of accepting her apology.
“Okay then, back to the situation at hand,” the unicorn said, shifting her attention to some mannequins, each sporting a loosely stitched suit, “I have a client in Manehatten who requested me to tailor him a suit for a gala his wife is hosting, and you need to help me choose one.”
“Wouldn’t he be better off to decide the kind of suit he needs for himself?” Mac inquired.
“Actually no, and he’ll be the first to admit as much.” The clothing specialist said. “You see, my client is more of a ‘blue-collar’ pony, like yourself. He’s also near your size. He’s not as big as you are, but he is surprisingly close, given he lives in the city.”
"So Ah reckon’ you want me to wear these here suits so you can decide which design will work the best?” the farm pony guessed.
“Precisely!” Rarity exclaimed. “Now, this will probably take some time. Is that alright with you?”
The stallion nodded his head in response to the question while the three fillies outside shook theirs.
“Excellent!” the unicorn exclaimed before turning around “Now, I need to get some sewing material, in case your large frame causes one of these suits to split apart. That’s not me making fun of your size. I just don’t want any of my creations being damaged.”
With that, Rarity left Mac to wait in the main room, with nothing but a group of well-dressed mannequins to keep him company. Outside, the three fillies, still hiding in the bushes, started to deliberate amongst themselves.
“Now what?” Scootaloo asked her two friends, “Big Mac’s gonna spend all day trying on silly suits, and I don’t think that counts as a day off Apple Bloom.”
“Ah know.” The farm filly responded, “If only that fella from Manehatten didn’t ask Rarity for a suit.”
“Wait!” Sweetie Belle interjected, “What if he didn’t ask her for a suit?”
“Ah’m pretty sure he did though.”
“No! I mean, what if we write a letter, pretending we’re the stallion who asked for the suits, and cancel the order? Then Big Mac wouldn’t need to model suits.”
“Sounds great, but we don’t even know the stallion’s name.” Scootaloo stated bluntly.
“Yeah, but since this order is from out of town, there’s probably an order form inside that desk.” Sweetie Belle said as she pointed inside to the desk by the staircase. “The form will even have the address and other little details we can put in the letter to make it more legit.”
“That’s some smart thinkin’ there, Sweetie Belle.” Said Apple Bloom. “Now we just need to distract my brother, so you can get that order form before Rarity come down them stairs.”
The three fillies pondered for a while until Scootaloo noticed something in Sweetie Belle’s hair - a hair clip covered in what looked like tiny diamonds.
“What about that hair pin?” the orange pegasus asked.
“Oh yeah.” Sweetie Belle responded as she took the pin from her hair to show it to her friends “I borrowed some jewelry from my sister before coming to the sleepover yesterday.”
“We can use this to reflect the sunlight into the boutique, like when Miss Cheerilee taught us last week.”
“Making my brother curious as to what’s making a light shine in the place and he’ll have to check the window, keeping his attention away from the desk.” Apple Bloom finished.
“Exactly.” Scootaloo exclaimed as she took the hair pin from Sweetie Belle. “So get yourself to the door, Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom will let you know when you can go inside.”
The young unicorn saluted her friends and proceeded to crawl out of the bushes and towards the boutique’s front door. As Sweetie Belle made herself ready, Scootaloo held the hair pin towards the sky and adjusted her hoof until she saw sunlight bounce off the pin and into the boutique’s window.
When the light entered the boutique, it shined in a place that Big Macintosh could not possibly miss - right into his eye.
“What in tarnation?” the farm stallion cried as he shut his eye. The crimson pony started to make his way to where the blinding light was coming from, keeping the one eye closed.
“I think he’s coming over.” Scootaloo whispered, letting the farm filly know to give the signal to their cohort at the door. Sweetie Belle saw Apple Bloom gesturing her to proceed inside and she turned the doorknob slowly and quietly.
Meanwhile, Big Mac was walking towards the window. However, he did not manage to notice some cloth on the ground and the stallion stepped on the loose piece of fabric.
The scrap slipped out from under Macintosh’s hoof, throwing him off balance and making him stagger towards the window. He tried to regain stability by leaning backwards, but that only made him stumble to the mannequins. Before he knew it, Big Mac fell over some of the figures, making them fall over and causing the rest of the statuettes in the work room to collapse onto one another like dominoes.
One mannequin fell onto a sewing machine, knocking the contraption onto the ground with a loud bang. Some of the figures fell towards the boutique’s mirrors, shattering some of them in the process.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked on in terror of the disaster playing out before them. Sweetie Belle did not even look inside her sister’s workplace. All she could do was shut the door in front of her and she walked back to the bushes, trying block out the sounds of everything inside crashing into each other and breaking.
When the commotion settled down, everything became completely silent.
“What in the world was that noise?” the sound from upstairs made the three fillies outside hearts skip a beat. The feeling of dread was worsened at the sounds of hooves coming down said stairway. “Are you alright Macinto-!”
Rarity stopped dead in her tracks, the unicorn magic holding some thread and a sewing needle dispersed as the designer looked at the her boutique; her mannequins toppled over, equipment on the floor damaged in various ways, pieces of glass that were formerly from the mirrors on her wall scattered throughout her shop, and in the center of it all, a larger than average crimson stallion who was still squinting his eyes as he propped himself up.
When Big Mac opened his eyes, his jaw fell as he got a good look at the damages his tumble caused. He turned his head to the unicorn seeing the distraught look on her face.
“My mirrors…my clothes…my store…” was all Rarity was saying as the earth pony tried to approach her.
“Miss Rarity.” The guilt-ridden stallion called out, “Ah’m very, very sorry for what happened, but let me explain.”
“How did my store get into such a state of disarray?” Rarity did not display any emotion in her voice.
“Ah didn’t mean for this to happen. Honest!”
“Now I got to spend the rest of the day cleaning this mess…maybe I can salvage some material from the other suits to make something for my client…if I have the time that is.”
“Listen, Ah can help out as much as you want me to. Just tell me what you need me to do.”
“Just go, Macintosh.” Rarity said without looking at the stallion. “Put that sign on the door as you leave. My mind is in a state where that it may not be able to stop me from saying things that I wouldn’t take back. So just leave Mac…I need some time to myself right now.”
That was all Rarity said as she steadily made her way back up the stairs, trying to maintain her poise while doing so. Big Mac wanted to say something, but he knew that anything said now would only make things worse, so he did as he was told and made his way out of the boutique.
The stallion did his best to step over the debris made from his accident. He put the saddlebags back on his back and picked up the sign with his mouth before exiting the disorderly store. Big Mac placed the sign onto the boutique’s entrance and he looked at what was written on it;
Sorry darlings, we’re closed for the time being.
The work horse let out a sigh as he turned around and slowly trotted towards another part of town with his head hanging down.
Three tiny heads popped out of the bushes in front of the boutique, watching the sad stallion walk away.
“I’m dead.” Sweetie Belle stated as she left the bushes with her accomplices. “I’m so dead.”
“Well Mac was the one that got caught. Not you.” Scootaloo nervously tried to correct her.
“Fine. Then I’m dead on the inside. Happy now?”
“…No…”
“Okay y’all.” Apple Bloom interjected. “Ah know we promised my sister to make sure that my brother actually takes his day off, but we can’t just leave Rarity to clean up our mess by herself.”
“I’ll stay.” Sweetie said somberly “I’ll explain the whole thing with Mac’s day off and how we didn’t mean any harm to Rarity. Hopefully she’ll understand.”
“You sure you don’t need us with you?” Scootaloo asked. “It’s fine. Rarity’s my sister and I need to help her.”
With that, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo gave their friend a nod of respect before they went on to where Big Mac was headed. Sweetie Belle headed towards the front door of the store. She paused to collect herself before she opened the door, entering the boutique.
After Sweetie Belle went inside, Twilight made her way to the store. She stopped when she saw the sign on the front door saying that the establishment was closed. Twilight was about to ignore the sign and head inside until she heard some noises from an evidently upset Rarity. Twilight took that as a cue to back away from the boutique.
“Okay…so Rarity might not want to be bothered right now.” the unicorn said to herself. “That’s alright. I’ve still got four other friends to check on.”
Before Twilight could even go through her mental checklist of friends, the sound of rushing wind caught her attention. She looked up towards the sound to see that Rainbow Dash was flying above her.
“Speaking of which.” Twilight said as she began to follow Rainbow’s path of flight.
Rainbow Dash soon landed softly on a comfy cloud as she pulled a book from her saddlebag and began to read it. She was getting lost in the novel until she heard someone call out to her.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash!”
The pegasus pulled her attention away from the book long enough to look down and see Twilight. Rainbow jumped off the cloud and she flapped her wings while she lowered herself down towards the unicorn, still holding the book in her hooves.
“Hey, Twilight.” Rainbow greeted. “What’s up?”
“Not much.” The unicorn answered falsely as she eyed the book the pegasus was holding, wondering which Daring Do novel her friend was reading this time. Twilight was disappointed when she saw the title of the book that her friend was preoccupied with.
“What’s with the glare, Twi?”
“Nothing. I’m just not a fan of that particular book.” Twilight said pointing to the book.
“What’s wrong with the Sergeant DeadEye series?”
“What’s wrong is that those books are filled with gratuitous levels of violence and a disregard for ethics, centered around a borderline psychopath.”
“That ‘psychopath’ is actually a real pony. The books are based on the stuff Sergeant DeadEye actually did in Baltimare, like twenty-five years ago.”
“Believe me, I know about the officer and his abhorrent record of breaking the rules and regulations of police conduct.”
“Because those pencil pushers with their comfy desk jobs wouldn’t let the guy do his job. So the Sergeant has do the job using his own rules.”
Twilight was about to rebut Rainbow’s remarks until she remembered that she was allowing herself to get upset. The unicorn took a deep breath as a means of calming herself down before she started speaking.
“Never mind that. I actually wanted to see if you had any problems right now?”
“Other than dealing with ponies who don’t know how to appreciate an awesome loose-cannon cop story, nope.”
Twilight decided to ignore the snide tone of that response as the pegasus continued speaking.
“You know, it would’ve been cool to see DeadEye and Daring Do team up for an adventure. Shame that they won’t publish the story about DeadEye’s last case. You know, the one he solved before he-! Wait…why do you want to know?”
Twilight was hesitant to answer Rainbow Dash’s question. The nervous silence made Rainbow more curious.
“Twilight?”
“Well…you see…I haven’t written to the Princess in a while…”
“Oh no.” the weather pony was already putting the pieces together in her head.
“Before you jump to conclusions,” the defensive mare forestalled, “I’m just asking you and the other girls if any one of you has an issue that I can help with.”
Rainbow Dash just looked at Twilight Sparkle with one eyebrow raised, not responding to her explanation.
“Also, if all of you say that there aren’t any problems in particular, then I’ll just write a letter to Princess Celestia updating her on what’s happening since I’ve talked to her last month.”
The pegasus lowered herself down so she was nearly nose-to-nose with Twilight as she stared into her lavender eyes. Twilight felt uneasy at Rainbow Dash’s unfaltering look.
“You sure that’s what you’re gonna do, Twilight?” Rainbow asked.
“I promise nothing will get out hand.” Twilight raised a front hoof in the air. “You have my word.”
“Well, okay.” Dash said as she started giving the unicorn some space. “I trust you, Twi, but I gotta be sure we don’t see a repeat of last time.”
“There isn’t going to be a repeat of any kind, Rainbow Dash. I learned my lesson.”
“Long as you’re sure.” The Pegasus hesitated for a second before she started to flap her wings to gain altitude. “Like I said, I don’t have any issues going on right now. Maybe one of the others could need your help.”
Twilight nodded her head with gratitude. “I will. Thank you for your time, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash waved goodbye before she flew to the cloud she was laying on. She gave the unicorn one last look of concern before she went back to reading her book.
As Twilight started to turn around, her mind was fixated on one peculiar sentence she said to her friend.
“I learned my lesson, right?” Twilight’s eyes moved left and right as she felt a lump forming in her throat. “Of course, I learned my lesson! I mean, I’m definitely not going to cause trouble for anypony in town, no matter how much I want material to write a report about. Never going to happen…again.”
Twilight continued to walk towards where another one of her friends would probably be. She trotted two steps forward before stopping to continue her one-mare conversation.
“And besides, the Princess taught me a very valuable lesson on not forcing myself to write my letters. That’s a very useful lesson. I simply wouldn’t just forget a lesson taught by the wisest Alicorn in all of Equestria. I definitely learned my lesson…right? Yeah…yeah I did! I mean, what kind of student would I be if I didn’t take one of the Princess’ lessons to heart…right? Yeah…right.”
Twilight continued her trek to her next friend as conflicting thoughts swirled around inside her head.