Big Mac finds him self in the middle of Winter Wrap Up with mixed feeling for a lavender, bookish, unicorn mare, and a prismatic maned, cyan, pegasus, mare.
Big Macintosh the apple families stoic stallion. The heartthrob of every mare in Ponyville not a filly fooler, has his eyes set on a lavender bookish unicorn mare. Yet in his mind a prismatic mane, a cyan coat and wings, and magenta eyes are clouding his judgment. Still he proceeds to bear his heart to the unicorn, only to have it shoved right back in his face. He strikes up a consoling conversation with the pegasus and over the course of Winter Wrap Up the two draw ever closer. This is a sequel to Soarin's Pink Pie
First hooves beat causing to leaves fall to the ground; secondly costumes come around on a night of nightmares, and finally snow begins to descend around a warm hearth encompassed by friends. Big Macintosh knew he wasn't the smartest pony in Ponyville, yet, he always knew he had received more schooling than either of his sisters had. His sisters seemed to have more friends than he ever did. Big Mac had seen one of his sister's friends in a new light, for a moment when she was hurt earlier that year. He hadn't really thought much about Miss Dash, a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, and magenta eyes, she was a good friend of his sister. While he finished wrapping a gift for a lavender unicorn whom he had already taken a shine to, an image of the cyan Pegasus resting in the hospital with her rainbow mane just across her face was stuck in his mind. The gift he had spent most of his spare time on this year was fixing up a certain lost doll for Miss Sparkle, a lavender unicorn. He thought it would make a great Hearths Warming gift for her, and hopefully lead to something more between the two of them. Still the image of Miss Dash remained on his mind while he was getting the cart ready to go into town.
The wielders of Elements of Harmony, a group of six friends, this group set about to have a big Hearths Warming's Day party with their families in Golden Oaks Library. Twilight had tasked Spike to deliver the invitations she made. Spike had brought Rarity the invitations for her and her family personally first. Her father was likely to complain about the use of taxes for said parties, government issue Timberwolves, and other conspiracies. Twilight's parents were the first to respond and arrived from Canterlot a week early. Even Shining Armor and Princess Cadence said they would be able to arrive from the Crystal Empire.
Next, Spike brought invites to Pinkie Pie and the Cakes. He noticed that there was one pony at Sugarcube Corner not on the guest list. Soarin, the Wonderbolt, had taken the week off to spend the holiday with Pinkie. Spike noticing the problem, quickly took out a quill and quickly added the words, “plus one,” to Pinkie's invite. He finished by giving the twins their invites on the way out Spike smiled, seeing Pinkie move to kiss Soarin under some mistletoe. The next pony on Spike's list was Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash had been throwing herself at her weather duty only to come home immediately when she finished her shift. Stunt-flying just didn't have the same thrill for her anymore seeming to having gone bland for some reason. Rainbow Dash would never admit it, but the thought that her primary Wonderbolt contact was now in love with one of her best friends had taken a toll on her. She would also never say it, but she had lost her parents at a young age it was the reason she usually spent Hearths Warming day alone. This year looked to be one of the coldest she had experienced in a long time. Rainbow was just about to rest and relax, clear her mind with the weather done for the day.
Suddenly, Spike called out her, “Hey, Rainbow Dash! You're invited to a big Hearts Warming Day party Twilight is throwing, with Pinkie's help of course.”
Rainbow sighed knowing she wouldn't get any more relaxation until she answered, she had almost purposely forgotten Twilight had set something big up this year. She responded a moment later. “Yeah, sure thing Spike, I'll be there. Leave the invite in the mailbox and I'll get it later.”
Spike shrugged his shoulders putting the invite in the box, then continuing on his way. Dropping off Fluttershy's invitation was uneventfull. He continued on to Sweet Apple Acres. He slowly approached the fences of the fields and made his way quickly to the front door once inside the farm. He knocked gently waiting to see if there was to be a response from inside. All he could hear was the sound of Granny Smith snoozing the afternoon away. He put the invites inside the screen-door, figuring they would get to Applejack and her family once they finished working for the day. Upon finishing, Spike headed back to the library, starting to think about what he still had to finish wrapping for the holiday.
Big Mac was the first one to find the invites, as a result of finishing his long list of chores before either of his sisters. The invites were really more of a reminder since his sister and her friends had been discussing the party for weeks in advance. He figured the party would only make things easier with trying to tell Twilight his feelings. His father had always told him to make every word count, and he was going to try his hardest to tell her how he felt. Hopefully the gift would just be icing on the cake. The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. This was really the first female who had actually garnered his attentions. Miss Sparkle was bright, kind, and a worrier at times. Big Mac could imagine a great and wonderful life with Miss Sparkle, yet the image of Miss Dash resting in hospital bed returned to interrupt his placid view of the future with Twilight.
~~~~Later~~~~
The party was bright, colorful, and loud. Pinkie had Vinyl Scratch playing all the carols at full blast. There was food in astounding quantities, mountains of presents, and more than a few hanging sets of mistletoe. When the Apple's had arrived, everypony was already there. Big Mac unloaded the cart of gifts AJ had brought, only adding to the overwhelming quantities of boxes inside the library. Big Mac had kept the one he was giving to Twilight in his hooves. The party went on and the sun was just starting to set as they started to open gifts from one another.
As the gift opening wore on, the full boxes were now empty stacked in teetering piles up against the walls of the library. Some still had a few personal gifts they felt would be better saved for last. The first of these special gifts was a golden pocket watch with an inscription on the top that read, “B.B.B.F.F.*” Inside the flip top was an image of Shining Armor and Twilight hugging from their childhood. This gift elicited a big hug from the siblings and an “Awwww” from their parents.
Spike had walked over to a side of the main room with Rarity, when he pulled out his gift for her. The white box wrapped with a purple ribbon, was slowly pulled apart and opened by Rarity's blue magic aura. Inside the box was a sparkling pearly pure white dragon diamond, it was just under the length of one side of the box. The white baguette cut diamond was set in a golden backed pendant, however the remarkable thing was the three brilliantly blue princess cut diamonds set into the white diamond. It gave the appearance of her cutiemark to the already incredible gemstone. Rarity moved in to hug the young dragon holding him closely for a moment, suddenly she realized they were under a batch of mistletoe. She then proceeded to give Spike a very big, slow, gentle kiss on the lips. She didn't let it last too long. Spike fell over when she let go of his body. He had just gotten the best gift ever and he would never forget it.
While Spike was giving his gift to Rarity, Soarin and Pinkie exchanged few personal gifts of their own. Soarin had given Pinkie a crystal balloon shaped pendant filled with liquid rainbow, telling her it could remind her of him while he was away. She was awestruck at the pendant she promised to wear it every day. Their exchange ended when Pinkie handed him a Pink Pie, and told him that he'd get her special gift much later. She finished by kissing him deeply, holding him closely, while he returned the affections of his sweet pink marefriend. Rainbow Dash could only gag at all the mushy stuff happening, primarily a defense against not having someone for herself.
Last but not least, Big Mac moved over to Twilight and handed her a very simply wrapped gift box. She was about to ask what it was for, but he just silenced her gently with a wave of his hoof saying, “Open it, Miss Sparkle.”
Twilight proceeded to do so. Reaching in with her lavender magic she pulled out the small gray doll inside. She couldn't believe it. It was her Smarty Pants doll, yet, it looked brand new. The eye was sewn back into place, the few strands missing from its mane were replaced, and even the patch on its hoof was fixed. Twilight looked down at the doll, and then up to Big Mac saying,“I thought I had lost her after I enchanted her. You... you fixed her up? Mac, I... I... Don't know what to say.”
Twilight proceeded to move to give the big stallion a hug. Mac looked down at her putting a hoof around her shoulder he said in a gentle tone, “You could say you'll be my special somepony.”
Twilight Sparkle was completely shocked at this statement. She couldn't believe her ears, neither could most of her friends and family who had been listening. Big Mac wanted her as his special somepony, Twilight was dazed by the situation before her. Her brain tried to explain the reasoning behind the set of events, yet it just did not add up. She knew she'd have to say something, but what if she said the wrong thing. Would Applejack hate her? She gulped before looking up at the big red earth pony she pulled back from him some saying, “I... This is just so sudden Big Mac. I'm not really sure I'm at a point in my life where I want a special somepony... The gift is a wonderful gesture that you think so highly of my friendship. I just don't think I'm ready for that right now.”
Big Mac had bared his heart in front of a lot of ponies, and she had just cast it back into his face. He turned from her and trotted out into the snow leaving a silence to the party behind him. His heart was beating with pain and anguish as he tore across the landscape leaving the party behind and home in front. He needed something familiar. He ran past the gate he charged full bore at the first tree to the west. He pivoted perfectly, even in the snow and his back-hooves collided with the trunk of the tree, and caused a rift straight across the trunk of the tree. Like a wild stallion he did this in succession heading deeper and deeper into the west fields. He had broken several trees before he was only kicking the snow out of them. Each buck was filled with a solitary thought, 'Nope, not good enough!' He was tiring so when the snow was about to fall on the last tree rather than run out he stayed letting the snow envelop him in a blanket of white.
The snow piled around Big Mac eased the anger in his head and heart. The scene played back in his mind again and again, as he tried to find just went wrong. His anger continued slowly subsiding, as sadness was beginning to taking hold. The snow started to make him feel safe, much like his mother's hooves around his body. He knew he'd likely get an earful from his sister when he got back, but right now he didn't care about that. A single tear slid down his cheek and fell into the snow.
Applejack hadn't heard what was said, as she had been engaged in a heated discussion with Rainbow Dash. After seeing her brother turn from Twilight and move out into the night, Applejack moved over to Twilight. Then Applejack started to yell, “What the hay is going on Twilight?! Why did mah brother just leave alone?!”
Twilight did her best to explain things to Applejack. Twilight was also very upset at how the confrontation had ended, as she was sniffling through her explanation. 'We hardly even know each other. How hard could he have taken it?' thought Twilight. Then she looked down over the gift again taking in the time and care that went into the restoration of the doll. Down to the last detail Smarty Pants had been brought back to her better than she had taken care of it in the first place. She realized that her statements had been more stamping over his heart, than any sort of let's slow down a little. Twilight's explanation to Applejack came to a close with, “It was a really sweet gift, Applejack. I'm just not ready for a relationship. I can't just promise myself to somepony special, even your brother. Not without knowing I'd be able to return the affection I was being given.”
“Who're ya'll trying to convince, Twi?” Applejack looked back at Twilight with a stare that bored into her. While Applejack waited for a response Twilight shifted about nervously, and then darted up to her bed.
The rest of the Party was silent as ponies started to make their ways back home; Spike offered to walk Rarity home. She accepted happily. Twilight, her parents, her brother, and his wife, Cadence, were soon the only ponies left in the library. Cadence went up to Twilight's room in the library using her magic to open the door. Twilight looked over at Cadence who had come to comfort her saying, “W... Was I wrong Cadence?”
Princess Cadence, the Princess of Love and the Crystal Empire, looked down at Twilight Sparkle putting her hoof on her shoulder saying, “You did nothing wrong, Twilight. Rejection by someone you idolize should be something you're slightly familiar with though.” Cadence smiled knowingly as she rubbed her sister-in-law's shoulder.
The scene flashed back through Twilight's eyes as she suddenly realized what she had done. Her doll had been hoof stitched to an almost brand new condition, Big Mac had clearly worked on it in all his spare time just for her. The more she thought about it, the worse she felt about just telling him off like she had. She could have been gentler, but it was too late for that now. She couldn't even go out and search for him. The trail would've gone cold by now.
Applejack shook her head at Twilight's silence. She wanted to make sure Big Mac was going to be alright before morning, so she asked if Rainbow Dash would help her look for him. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the first two out of Golden Oaks Library after Big Mac, following his trail in the snow. Tracking the trail it back to Sweet Apple Acres where it disappeared. There was just too much activity in the snow to accurately follow the tracks around the farm. Noticing this Applejack said,“Ah'll, check the house. Rainbow, go check if you can see any thin' out of the ordinary in the fields.”
Rainbow Dash mock-saluted being given the more difficult job, but from up above the orchard she could see things Applejack couldn't. She noticed something out of the ordinary in the direction of the west fields. There were a set of big trees that were snapped like twigs at the base. Further on there was a larger number of trees in a row that had large snow banks under them. She started to follow the new trail in hopes it would lead her to Big Mac. The cold night air rushed over her feathers, as she moved through the trees with speed and precision. Rainbow Dash finally came to the last tree in the line and didn't see any hoof-prints leaving the final snow mound.
She moved up in-front of it, brushing off some of the snow from the top of the mound, soon revealing the head of the big red earth pony who had his eyes closed. His red coat not yet discolored by the downright near-freezing temperatures. She looked at him, shouting,“Oh!... Big Mac! Wake up! Please, wake up! Wa...”
Her yelling was stopped suddenly by a big red hoof coming up to her mouth. Big Mac opened his eyes. It wasn't Miss Sparkle, it was Miss Dash. It surprised him that she would be the one to find him in his slow steady drawl, he said, “Ah'd have been back at the farm-house within the hour, Miss Dash. Ah just needed some time to myself. Ah'm going to remove my hoof from your mouth. Please don't yell any more. Ah can hear ya just fine. Anyways I'm going to get more than earful from AJ.” He lowered his hoof slowly. The now brokenhearted stallion looking over at the mare who had gave him pause about being with Miss Sparkle. The inner attraction increasing with this time near her.
Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't frozen to death. Lowing her tone, she said gently, “You really had us worried Big Mac, I know AJ is going to give you a hard time about this. I just want you to know, if you need to talk about it; I know what it's like have a crush, crush you.” She let out another sigh thinking about what could have been with Soarin. She looked over at the big red stallion, noticing the strength of his fore-hooves for what seemed like the first time.
Big Mac looked into her magenta eyes with his own deep green eyes, before saying, “Miss Dash, a stallion should always be clear with his feelings, and I'm sorry somepony left you in a world of hurt. Maybe that was the problem with Miss Twilight one part of me always was unsure about her. Ah guess Ah'm really self-defeating at times. Especially when all any pony thinks Ah can say is 'Eeyup', or 'Nope.'... ”
“No pony. Ever thought you were dumb, Big Mac. I certainly didn't. I would ask. Could you just call me Rainbow or Dash? Miss Dash was my mom at best, but I never really got to know her...” She trailed off on the thought. Her dad had told her since she was young that she was the reason her mom was dead. She hadn't seen him in years, because she didn't want to.
The large red earth pony moved to give the slightly smaller Pegasus pony a gentle hug. A daunting task given his impressive strength, yet, he managed to make both fore-hooves around the Pegasus feel like just a warm blanket. He said in his simple tone, “Dash, if you ever want to talk about it, you can come to me. Ah know the feeling of losing family members. Ah know it's hard for Apple Bloom sometimes. She never got to know Ma and Pa. Ah can only imagine what it's like being an only child going through that.”
His steady simple tone, the words strong and comforting, with the warmth of his big barrel chest had warmed Rainbow Dash inside and out. So much so that she was starting to blush a bit. Not wanting to spoil the moment she nuzzled her head against his gently, saying,“We should really get back to the farm-house before we both freeze...”
“Eeyup, but AJ can wait a little longer, Ah like being right here with you,”Big Mac held the hug a moment longer before he picked up Rainbow Dash putting her on his back. He knew Pegasi had wing problems in extremely colder weather. In the time they had talked, the night had worn on it was almost midnight and the temperatures were much colder than the start of the night. He brought her back to the farm-house, putting her in the guest room, regardless of her protest.
When he got to his bedroom the light was out. After walking through the door Applejack flicked on the lamp at his nightstand. He sighed and shifted his neck, stretching it out a bit, before saying in an audible whisper,“We've gotta guest tonight, AJ. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom are likely already asleep. So do you think you hold off hollering at your big brother for being a stupid lovesick pony till morning?”
Applejack hated when the truth was used against her, and just stared back up at her big brother saying, “Fine... But ya best turn your flanks around and get to sleeping on the couch until you apologize to Twilight, ya big dummy.”
“Can Ah get my blanket and pillow? Unless o'course ya like smelling like a stallion in the morning.”Upon finishing his statement, he received a blanket rolled around a pillow to the face; which he grabbed before it hit the floor and took downstairs. Maybe he'd leave early to apologize to Twilight so he wouldn't have to hear his sister's loud voice in the morning either. His eyes closed his mind at ease for the first time all night as he drifted into slumber-land.
Dreams over took Big Mac's mind that night. A set of three orange apples and a lavender star were giving him a long speech about the right way to approach a mare for courtship. Suddenly a rainbow came down from the heavens and saying,“Let's get out of here. These two are boring.” He wasn't sure what to do, but since the rainbow was at his feet, he decided to take his chances. He started to run up the steady incline of the rainbow. He was slightly shocked as his hooves ran along the rainbow like it was the ground. Neither the apples or the star could follow. It was like the rainbow was only made for his hooves to run on. Soon he was running through the sky looking over all of Ponyville. It was an amazing view, and now he could understand why Pegasi loved to fly. He was about to ask the rainbow why it helped him, when a batch of storm-clouds over took the two.
Snowflakes melt, the sun starts to shine through the gray clouds, the chill in the air starts to ebb. In Ponyville this means, Winter Wrap-up, will be happening shortly. Twilight and Applejack had since resolved their differences after about month, yet, over the past three months Big Mac had been coming in every evening to the farm-house to sleep on the couch. He hadn't found the time or the words to tell Miss Sparkle he was sorry. Nor did he think he was the one who had to apologize regardless of what his sister said. After all he was the one who got his heart stomped all over, not the other way around. He wasn't the kind of stallion to do that to a mare. He woke up on the first day of, “Winter Wrap-up,” to find an orange mare in a Stetson on his chest. “Ugh... AJ, get off,” Big Mac said with a discontented sigh.
“Nope,”his sister said in a definitive tone.
“Let me guess... If I agree to go straight over to Twilight's to apologize, then ya will get off?” Big Mac said this with as much disdain in his voice as he could muster.
“Eeyup,”Applejack said in a mocking tone to match his normal tone of voice.
“Fine... But I ain't done nothing wrong.” Big Mac just wanted his sister off saying the most appeasing thing he could. He shook his chest his first attempt to throw his sister from him. She just hopped off of him going to start breakfast. He shook his head, 'Mares,' he thought. Slowly heading to the bathroom to get himself cleaned up a bit if he was going to apologize he wanted to at least smell nice. When he was done breakfast was ready and Apple Bloom was awake. Applejack had made some pancakes, the aroma of cinnamon and apples flooding out from the kitchen. She put out four plates on the table. Two which had seven pancakes, and two which had three.
After a wonderfully hearty breakfast Big Mac went to his room, and put on his harness and his goggles deciding to head out into the morning air. The fresh chilly air hit his face, he knew it was going to be a long cloudy day. The crisp clean snow under Big Mac's hooves felt much like it had the night he had bucked the trees down. He walked towards the town at a steady pace, it was rare for him to head off without his family towards Ponyville. His two sisters would be along shortly since Winter Wrap Up took almost everypony in Ponyville to complete.
He passed by the cottage of Miss Fluttershy, a yellow pegasus mare, whom was also a friend of his sister. She was a bit timid so he never really got to see her much and knew less about her than he had either Miss Sparkle or Miss Dash. He did know that, she was usually more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
The closer Big Mac got to the library the more he thought about Miss Sparkle. Apparently she had been refusing guests since Hearths Warming Day. The last she was seen in town was issuing farewells at the train-station the next day. She almost hadn't let Spike back into the library the next day, yet after some major convincing he was allowed back in. Spike had been doing all of shopping around town according to AJ. 'Maybe today was the day to apologize to her,' thought Big Mac.
Soon Big Mac was standing in-front of the Golden Oaks Library the outer appearance hadn't changed much. He used to spend a lot of time here when Ma and Pa were still around. He soon knocked with a steady tap of his hoof which sounded thunderous inside the library. Soon there was a disgruntled baby dragon at the front door. He looked up at the red stallion with a bit of disdain. At the fact he had been run ragged these last few months trying to get Twilight to improve her mood, “You... uh need something, Big Mac?” Spike would never get those few minutes of sleep he had been roused from back today, but if by some cosmic alicorn the red stallion had brought himself over to apologize to Twilight, it would be worth it in his books.
“Ah... Ah need to speak to Miss Sparkle, Spike. If ya could get her Ah'll just wait in the main room.” Mac just looked around slowly at all the books lining the walls, Spike having kept up with Twilight's work load, buying supplies, and organizing a whole library. 'Spike is becoming really independent,' Big Mac thought. He picked one of the more interesting titles from non-fiction, and began reading while he waited.
The stallion reading his book heard a clamor of noise from the upper library room. Soon the sound of hoof-beats was coming down the oaken steps. Twilight came into the room surprised to see Big Mac reading something. She moved over to him and sat down on a pillow beside him where he had just opted to lay on the floor. Looking over his shoulder she could see it was a physics book explaining the basic principles of gravity. This only shocked her even more than the stallion being here in the first place. She quickly asked, “You understand what's in that book?”
He hadn't even really noticed her sitting beside him saying, “It's pretty basic stuff. If Ah had been trying to impress ya. Ah would have gone with that one.” Pointing up at a book a shelf higher than the one he had taken.
Twilight in her lavender aura grasped the book being pointed to, bringing it to closer to her. She examined the cover of the book. It read, “Advanced Aerodynamics of Pegasi.” She was stunned again and could hardly believe her eyes. It certainly would've impressed her to see Big Mac reading that book. The shock of Big Mac being able to follow these books at all was pulling Twilight out of the funk she had been in the past few months. She responded again quickly, “I... never knew you liked reading so much, Big Mac.”
“Well, maybe, Miss Sparkle, if everymare took a chance to get to know me, rather than swooning at my feet as Ah come into town. They might know more about me than they do you. Ah came by to apologize fer running out on Hearth's Warming. But, ya seem to doing just fine. I'm sure running Winter Wrap Up will be good for ya this year.”Big Mac closed the book he had been reading and placed it back on the shelf before slowly trotting back out into the cold morning.
Twilight raised her hoof to try to say something, but he was out the door much like at Hearths Warming when he left. She had been judging him by his cover, just like she had with Zecora after the poison joke incident. What was worse was that she had been doing it unintentionally, and to the brother of one of her best friends. He had every right to trot out both times and she knew that. The only problem was the more he left her in her library, the more she started to realize what a great stallion he really was. Everymare in Ponyville knew he was a catch, but Twilight Sparkle was just starting to understand how much of a catch he really was. She had to get ready for Winter Wrap Up it was going to be her chance to get him back. Quickly she asked Spike for parchment and a clipboard.
Big Mac had moved out into the brisk morning air again it felt good on his coat. His harness around his neck was all ready for the hefty work load he we would likely be under today. He moved away from the library heading towards the town square. There were very few ponies up and about however, coming into the town square Big Mac noticed a rainbow streaked tail hanging down from a cloud floating very low just above the heads of most.
Big Mac called out to the cloud, “Umm... Dash, you awake?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head from the cloud she had been resting in. and looked around the edges to see who called out her. Noticing it was Big Mac she said, “Oh. Hey, Big Mac. Yeah I was just resting my eyes a bit till Twilight gets things started.”
Big Mac nodded knowingly responding, “Yeah, she gets things pretty organized. Dash, do ya think Ah did something wrong at Hearths Warming?”
Looking down at him from the cloud, Rainbow Dash was filled with conflicting feelings. Part of Rainbow wanted to just tell him, “If somepony had done for her what he had done for Twilight, then she would have given anything to be with that pony.” Another part of Rainbow wanted to tell him, “Twilight has feelings, Big Mac. She can't just drop everything she lives for to be with you.” At times like this Rainbow Dash was the kind of pony who liked to live in moment and trust her gut, finally saying, “ I don't think you did anything wrong, Mac, but I don't think that was the best way to start a relationship.”
“Can't disagree with that. Sometimes it just feels like, Ah don't know anypony... anymore, and you're really the first pony who Ah've really had conversations with in a while. It... It's been nice to talk to ya so much over the past few months. So, thank you, Dash.” Big Mac let out a sigh as he glanced over the pegasus mare again she looked great in anything he thought. He noticed his siblings coming to the town square moving over to join them as they waited patiently for Twilight to arrive.
Rainbow Dash wasn't sure how to respond, their conversations had started shortly after Hearths Warming Day. Sometimes it would be nothing big, other days it would be the two spilling out their hearts. It wasn't every day, but it was usually at least both days on the weekend. They had always both felt better after the talks. She smiled saying, “You're welcome. Anytime, Big Mac.”
He noticed a few others of his sisters friends arriving today. Miss Fluttershy came to the town square wearing her Winter Wrap Up jacket for the animal group and the arm badge signifying her new place as the groups leader. Miss Pie was arriving with Soarin and Miss Rarity. Soarin had gotten a few days off to come help out, it seemed he looked for almost any chance to see that pink mare of his.
Rarity had just finished making him a blue weather team jacket, Soarin and Pinkie Pie had just picked it up and decided to head to the town square with Rarity. Soarin and Pinkie Pie kissed tenderly for a moment. The pair of them each had a set of skates around their necks. The last member to arrive of their group as expected was Twilight Sparkle. She was wearing her all team organizer jacket. Spike was actually leading Twilight to the town square a checklist clipboard in his claws.
Twilight who had proven quite inconsolable on numerous occasions, was making her way slowly to the town square. Many ponies didn't expect her to show up this year. Spike being in front of her was a little surprising for her friends. Soon she was standing in front of the podium. Spike having placed the clipboard on the podium, then moved over to stand beside Rarity. Both of them were wearing a tan animal group vest. Big Mac was still just standing beside Applejack and Apple Bloom waiting to hear what Twilight would say. Many of the other able bodied ponies of Ponyville were gathered around as well.
Twilight spoke suddenly to the group in a slightly distracted tone, “ Uh... Greetings everypony. This years Winter Wrap up will be finished over the course of today and tomorrow. If everypony dose there job. It should go quickly and steadily as the last few years I've been in charge. We'll start with: getting the birds nests done and scoring the lakes, then snow plows with seed planters and critter awakening, with the last of the critters awake skies will need to cleared, with any remaining houses or trees of snow, tomorrow the Pegasi will finish guiding the birds back from the south, and finish up tomorrow with watering the freshly planted vegetables. With Spike unable to assist me personally this year, in order to make sure everything gets done right; I'm going to require the aid of somepony to help me cover all the stations. And... I... I think... there is nopony better... to help me out other than, Big Macintosh.”
Winter Wrap Up Continues With White and Purple Bird Nests.
Big Macintosh almost couldn't believe the words that had come out of Miss Sparkle's mouth. He initially remained silent to Twilight's statement. In three months almost whole town knew something about his failed attempt at starting a relationship with her. Big Mac looked around as everypony was starting to eye him with suspicion. The crowd whispering a bit as they waited for his response. Not wanting to wake up with his sister on his chest again, he figured his best recourse was to accept like he had apologized. Big Mac then quickly responded with a simple sturdy, “Eeyup.”
Everypony in the crowd around the podium took his acknowledgment, as though nothing was amiss between the two. Twilight felt like the first part of her plan was falling snugly into place. Big Mac wondered what Miss Sparkle had in mind for him to do. Applejack was unassuming figuring that Twilight and her brother had worked things out, and were now planning on spending some more time together. Rainbow Dash, however was likely the one pony who saw things for what they really were. Twilight was trying to re-capture Big Mac's attentions, while Big Mac was trying to prove he had apologized to his sister. 'The best part is AJ is buying it for now,' thought Rainbow Dash laughing a bit.
The group of ponies surrounding the podium soon dispersed everypony heading to start the tasks that they were going to be doing. Spike and Rarity were soon off to Carousel Boutique together. Spike as it turned out was much better at building bird nests than his caregiver. Pinkie and Soarin were soon off towards some of the smaller of the natural lakes and pools surrounding Ponyville to crisscross and score them by themselves. Apple Bloom and Applejack started to lead a group of stallions back to Sweet Apple Acres to start clearing the snow with the plows. Fluttershy soon had a group of animal team ponies, and was about to start getting them ready to rouse her animal friends from hibernation. Rainbow Dash had since, directed four sets of three pegusai to head south for the birds. Each group moved together so that they wouldn't get lost as per Twilight's suggestion. Rainbow Dash had kept a decent number of the remaining pegusai of Ponyville around town to clear up the skies once Fluttershy gave the signal that all the animals weren't in danger.
After the group from the podium dispersed the only two ponies who hadn't moved yet were Twilight and Big Macintosh. Twilight had stepped down from the podium, slowly made her way over the crimson stallion. Big Mac was still a little confused by what he was going to be doing for the lavender mare. Twilight Sparkle just came up to him, her clipboard in her magic aura, as she said, “Ready to help me out, Big Mac?”
“Eeyup?” He said looking back at her questioningly.
“Good, Now our first stop is Carousel Boutique. We're going to do a quick check and make sure everything is going along steadily. Rarity usually likes to get things done herself. With Spike's help she should be fine, but we still want to make sure everypony has things going smoothly. Big Mac, I just know you're going to love helping me out today.” Twilight's eyes shimmered with hope looking into his eyes.
Conflict was in his heart as he looked back at the lavender mare who had basically told him she didn't have time for him. He understood that his sudden attraction might have been an unwarranted affront to her personal opinion of her self, but he felt she at least deserved the chance that he never got. “Alright, Miss Sparkle. Let's head over to Carousel Boutique then.”
Unbeknownst to them Rainbow Dash had stayed almost in place on her cloud while she ordered sets of flight teams for the beginning of Winter Wrap Up. She had very little to do until she had to lead the clearing of the skies later today. She had heard the entire short conversation and figured she could follow them around for now. Sinking into the cloud she had been resting on, started to follow the pair of ponies she wanted to see if Twilight was going to make another bone-head move with Big Mac. Rainbow had taken steps to improve her stealth tactics since Pinkie caught her snooping on her and Soarin.
Soon stallions were bringing carts full of hay, sticks, and ribbon up to front of Carousel Boutique. There was a large long rectangular table set up in-front of the large roundabout building. Sitting behind the table on Rarity's chez lounge, were Rarity and Spike. Upon the table beside each of them was a bale of hay, a bundle of sticks, and three colors of ribbon. The materials had just arrived so there were only two bird nests were done by each so far. Twilight and Big Mac approached the table steadily looking over the current production numbers Twilight was a little underwhelmed. Twilight focused on Rarity, “Hello there, Rarity. Are things going alright here?”
“Oh, Twilight, darling I didn't even notice you arriving. Spikey and I are doing just fine here. We only just got the materials, and Spike really cuts down on the work I have to do. I honestly can't imagine doing it without him any more. Oh, you know if you see Lyra and or Twinkleshine have them come over after lunch. They're such a help putting the nests up.” Rarity beamed a bit moving to start working on nests again. In the time she had taken to tell Twilight all that, Spike had finished three more nests he was quite adept at it.
“We're fine here, Twilight. I'll send you a note if we run out of materials before our target. I'd kind of like to get back to the conversation Rarity and I were having about gems.”Spike said quickly as continued to work on his nests glad to just sit next to the ivory mare of his hearts desire.
“Oh, OK then. Well, Big Mac, they seem to have things handled here. I'm sure we can find Lyra and Twinkleshine before lunch. We do have sometime before we need to go check up on Pinkie. Why don't we go get a snack,” Twilight smiled. She had set up last year that some of the eating establishments should have a few stands in the market during Winter Wrap Up. Normally set up by some who couldn't help too much with the physical labor requirements for some parts of wrap up. This way they could still use their talents to help out the others.
Big Mac just nodded and proceeded to follow Twilight Sparkle, as she led on towards the market square. Spending more time with Miss Sparkle would've been a dream come true about four months ago, but it felt forced and a bit awkward for the big red stallion right now. Still he moved with her at a steady pace. He couldn't help but get the feeling someone was watching them. He swiveled his head looking around, but he didn't notice anything unusual. Shrugging it off he soon took a sample from the Sugarcube Corner stand moving to sit with Miss Sparkle. He had to admit spending time with her like this just sitting there gently eating a few snacks was nice. Twilight soon asked, “Big Mac... Why did you want me as your special somepony?”
“Miss Sparkle, my Pa always told me, 'There are things a stallion has to know. I want ya to learn everythin' ya can boy. When ya find that special somepony in ya life it will be some kind of smart mare.' Now Ah know a great many things, but Ah feel like there is just so much Ah missed out on because he's gone. Ah had to quit high-school to help on the farm when pa passed. Ah had to stop seeing my friends when Apple Bloom came along with Ma's passing. All Ah really wanted was a chance, Miss Sparkle. Ah'm not even sure Ah deserve one.” Big Mac looked down at his snack and finished it quickly. Not wanting to say anymore.
Twilight Sparkle was flabbergasted by the words that came out of the stallion's mouth. Their parents had always been a tender issue for both elder siblings of the Apple family. She didn't know what to say to his response since she hadn't expected much of a response at all. She just looked back at Big Mac saying,“Everypony deserves a chance Big Mac and I didn't give you one. Thank you for giving me one Big Mac.”
Big Mac just looked back at the lavender mare with almost empty eyes. 'It isn't that easy to just restore yourself in my heart Miss Sparkle,' thought Big Mac. Here they were enjoying a snack, and spending time together like he had always imagined, but it wasn't right something was off. It wasn't a happy afternoon of a couple spending time together, it was a frosty morning sharing a snack with someone who had stomped over his heart only three months ago.“Ah'm giving ya a chance, Miss Sparkle, but It's hard to really enjoy my time with you now. It's like we're oil and water right now, Miss Sparkle. Instead of a simple chemistry with somepony I was hoping for...” He just trialed off not really sure he had much else to say on the matter.
“Well let's just see where we're at by the end of the day.”After Twilight said this he just nodded as the two took their snack wrappers to the waste-bin and tossed them in. Soon the pair of ponies were just walking again in silence. Twilight was never sure where to start a conversation with the stallion. She hardly knew if he had interests outside of the farm before seeing him reading some the more advanced books in her library.
Rainbow Dash just watched and listened from her cloud the bit about his parents was something She had expected to hear from him in response to why he liked her. He had talked to Rainbow a lot about his parents and she had in turn told him a few things about hers. They had shared a lot over the previous few months knowing a lot about each other. So far Twilight hadn't made any new mistakes but part of Rainbow Dash wanted Twilight to mess up. If Rainbow interfered at all Big Mac would just comfort Twilight and she would lose her chance. 'No, if I even stand a chance at ending up with that kind, strong, smart, stallion. He's got to come to me,' thought Rainbow Dash. Soon the two ponies below were on the move again.
Rainbow Dash had only moments to follow with her cloud cover her wing-beats almost silent, while she moved to follow the two ponies below. Her eyes and ears focused on their every movement as they made their way through Ponyville walking together and making minor bits of marginal conversation. The pair of ponies passed by several houses as they continued towards the lakes. Twilight was making some suggestions to some of the ponies they passed along the way each nodding in agreement as they continued about their task. Rainbow came to a stop again seeing Twilight and Big Mac stop, Twilight beginning a conversation with Lyra and Twinkleshine.
Twilight and Big Mac were standing just across from two unicorn mares. The first was a mint green unicorn, with a straight light blue mane and tail both containing a white streak, a pair of golden eyes, and a golden lyre as her cutie mark this pony was named Lyra Heartstrings. The second was an eggshell unicorn, with a flowing curly light pink mane, a pair of icy blue eyes, and a set of three blue stars for her cutie mark this pony was named Twinkleshine. The pair of unicorn mares were laying on a bench taking a short break from hanging bells around some of the animal burrows and dens. Twilight approached confidently to say in a casual tone, “Hey there, you two. After lunch I want you to head over to Carousel Boutique and help Rarity and Spike in putting up the bird nests...”
“Gah, bird nests? Again!? Really? At least hanging bells feels like we're being useful,”said a semi-disgruntled Lyra Heartstrings. Whom this year had, had enough of the animal team. The weather team got all the glory during Winter Wrap Up. It only made her more upset one of her best friends Bon Bon had been on the weather team for as long as Lyra could remember. Bon Bon was an earth pony she should be on either the plant team or the animal team. Lyra was upset she had to spend all day with Twinkleshine on animal team activities, when she could help Bon Bon with some of the snow moving around the town.
Lyra offered the same complaints last year and Twilight had half-expected them again this year. “Lyra, you know you're useful. Everypony is doing their best to make sure winter wrap's up on time this year. I know Bon Bon would be glad to know you did your part to help out. With everypony doing their part, then we can get everything done on time, and everypony will be able to spend more time with their friends after.”
“Eeyup,” said a slightly disinterested Big Mac.
Letting out a loud sigh Lyra just looked back at the two ponies in front of her saying,“Fine, come on, Twinkleshine, we have to finish hanging a the rest of those bells before lunch. Maybe Bon Bon and I can spend some time together then.”
Twilight watched them move off to resume their current duties leaving her and Big Mac behind before saying, “I'd like to have them work together like she wants; but Lyra is just over enthusiastic when it comes to the weather work, and that usually results in some pony getting hurt by that enthusiasm.”
Big Mac just nodded he had seen Lyra's attempt at aiding the weather team last year, which almost brought down half the trees at Sweet Apple Acres. 'Miss Sparkle is pretty good at problem solving, even if she isn't the best with ponies in her own life,' thought Big Mac. He made a motion for them to continue since Twilight had seemed to want things to progress smoothly with him around.
The two ponies below were on the move again, from the cloud cover Rainbow Dash continued to follow them. By their movements she could tell that they were heading for the lakes likely to rendezvous with Pinkie Pie. She had been dreading this part of following the pair of ponies but it was time to see if her improvements to her stealth flying had worked, or if Pinkie would just alert them to her presence. Rainbow knew it was pretty hard to fool Pinkie, but she could only hope that Pinkie wouldn't get a chance to tell them with Soarin keeping her occupied.
Rainbow Dash still hadn't thought of a way to get Big Mac to notice her as more than just a friend. She didn't want to just let him slip through her hooves like Soarin had, but she couldn't really make the first move without being a disloyal friend to Twilight. The whole situation was really giving her a headache. She might have a better chance of thinking straight after a nap, but she didn't have time to take one to let things sort themselves out. 'No, I have to wait, watch, and follow,' thought Rainbow Dash with a sigh, 'I really hate waiting.'
Winter Wrap Up Continues With Pink and Blue Ice Cubes.
Ice skates cut through the ice of ponds and lakes around Ponyville. With such a large number of them there were now five groups of two to three ponies that would handle scoring. Five to seven of the smaller lakes and pools with all five groups followed by lunch, then, all groups would tackle Saddle Lake together. The leader of the lake scorers was a tan stallion with a brown slicked back mane and tail, a pair of green eyes, and a cutie mark of a quill and a sofa; his name was Davenport. He had divided up the lakes shortly after Twilight had told everypony to get started. The job was never very fulfilling for some, but for one bright pink earth pony it was one of her favorite parts of Winter Wrap Up. Pinkie Pie had always loved skating, however, getting to skate with her special somepony this year only made the experience all the more enjoyable.
Currently, Pinkie Pie and Soarin were having some fun at Saddle Lake just enjoying the other pony's company, skating gracefully about in a semi-private pony skating ballet. They had finished their lakes, quickly criss-crossing them with sharp straight lines. Soarin had to help keep Pinkie on task. The two of them went together on skates even better than they had on the ground. They were just having fun making light grooves in the ice right now, knowing until the rest of the teams caught up to them for the actual scoring of the lake they could have some simple wonderful fun together.
Twilight Sparkle had received a list of lakes that Pinkie and Soarin were supposed to score from Davenport. Big Mac and Twilight had been checking off the list of them for about an hour. Each of lake had been crossed perfectly, ready to break apart when the sun shone down. Pinkie had never been this efficient with her skating, soon Twilight and Big Mac reached the last lake on the list. They noticed an off-white pegasus mare with a pink and green striped mane. She had a pair of blue eyes, and her cutie mark a pair of pink flowers. Twilight managed to call out to the mare recognizing her from Tornado Duty as Blossomforth, whom was just making slow circles over the lake. She came down in a slow spiral to land in front of Twilight, soon asking, “What do you need, Twilight?”
“Did you manage to see where Pinkie and Soarin went after scoring this lake?” Twilight looked over at her hopefully; she didn't want to have spend another thirty minutes looking for Pinkie.
“Actually I saw them right as they were leaving. They headed in the direction of Saddle Lake. They're likely waiting for the rest of the lake team,” Blossomforth responded.
“Thanks, Blossomforth. Let's get going, Big Mac.”Twilight offered a wave before she started to head in the direction of Saddle Lake.
Big Mac just shook his head thinking, 'If Miss Sparkle had thought about it more, she would've realized they would be at Saddle Lake waiting for the others.' He just started to follow her not wanting to be left behind. After all, his job this year was assisting Miss Sparkle even if she had decided it no matter what. Big Mac still had to act dutifully as her assistant, after all he wouldn't let it be said an Apple didn't help a friend in need.
Rainbow Dash had seen them fail to find Pinkie Pie or Soarin at every stop, upon approaching the last stop she saw Blossomforth. Rainbow Dash maintained her distance in ear shot not wanting to spoil her cover. She heard them talking about going to Saddle lake, and flew over to the lake with her cloud cover much quicker than it would take the pair she was following. In doing this she was given a sight of Soarin holding Pinkie in his hooves as they danced on the ice with only their back-hooves like it was a ballroom floor. Rainbow Dash soon came to a stop at the edge of the icy lake. Looking down at the happy couple, she could feel there still wasn't anyone for her. Rainbow Dash had mixed feelings about the pair of skaters below and thought, 'You better not hurt her like you did me, Soarin.'
“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” said a particularly happy Pinkie pie. While Rainbow Dash had been lost in her thoughts Pinkie Pie had uncoupled her self from Soarin moved right under the cloud that was just off to the side. “On another spy mission? Oooh, can I help you this time? Who is it Applejack, Thunderlane, Twilight?”
“Pinkie, calm down. I... I guess you can. Just don't tell Twilight or Big Mac I'm following them,” Rainbow Dash said this and soon the pair of ponies stated were starting to come over a slight incline at the edge of the lake. Pinkie gave her friend a gentle nod of her head and a wink.
“Hellooo, Twilight!” said Pinkie Pie as she skated back out to Soarin. He caught her pulling her into a tender kiss after which they did a dizzying spin on the ice. Pinkie broke off from the spin skating right up in front of Twilight and Big Mac. Pinkie then said, “I'm sure you can see we're ahead of schedule. Having pairs of ponies do sets of lakes all over Ponyville and then do our biggest lake last all together is one of your best improvements to Winter Wrap Up. Twilight, I'm sure the other teams will be meeting up with us just after lunch. Oooh, that reminds me. Hey, Soarin, What Do You Want For Lunch!?” She shouted the last bit as Soarin had skated over to the side of the lake with the cloud with Rainbow Dash was on.
Soarin called out a response over the distance, “I thought you said, you had a Pink Pie ready and waiting for us at Sugarcube Corner, Pinks.”
“Oh, Yeah! Sorry about that, Twilight. You always make Winter Wrap Up go down without hardly any mistakes any more. The only delays we get are when somepony gets hurt, but everypony knows their jobs so well there are hardly any injuries either. I'm sure AJ's got more of a progress report than I do Twilight. Make sure she doesn't overexert herself, Big Mac. Now back to my regularly scheduled special somepony.”Finishing the statement quickly. Pinkie skated back to the middle of the lake and beckoned Soarin to follow her lead, and soon the blue and pink pony had resumed their spectacular ice ballet. One spectacular pair together every motion in unison right down to gentle kisses shared in between the more difficult tricks.
Twilight just smiled as Pinkie skated off to have fun with her special somepony. 'I'd already have a special somepony, if I didn't mess it up.' thought Twilight. She sighed a bit and turned back from the lake saying, “Lets go see your sister then. I guess this must be terribly boring for you.”
“She musta had a fit with ya taking me away from helping the farm. Could be worse though, Twilight, not like any Timberwolves are around.”He said with a chuckle remembering when his sister tried to take care of an entire applebuck season by herself. 'Come to think of it Miss Sparkle and Miss Dash had been there to help sis out when she had gotten in over her head. Now that I think about it more Miss Dash was the only one to come by after and tell me to feel better.' Big Mac thought. Soon they started to head towards Sweet Apple Acres.
Big Mac could only put one hoof in-front of the other as he made his way with Twilight towards his biggest challenge of the day. Applejack was going to ask if he had apologized to Twilight. Right now he didn't know what to tell her and then a plan started to form in his mind. He'd have to show her he apologized. There would be only one way to prove that to his sister and it wouldn't make Dash too happy. 'Could I be certain Dash wasn't there...' Big Mac began to think, 'No, Dash never had much to do till the clearing of the skies since Twilight took over. Dash could be anywhere up there right now.' He sighed a bit to himself uncertain about what was going to happen at the farm today.
Rainbow Dash continued her air surveillance of the situation, following behind the two slowly in her cloud. She could tell Big Mac was starting to feel disturbed but the thought of upsetting AJ didn't exactly sit well in her mind either. The two below had to go through the entire town again just to get back to the road to Sweet Apple Acres. So Rainbow knew she could follow them easily and see what they did from her vantage point high above.
The pair seemed to stop again around the snack carts, this time the both grabbed a few bottles of water before taking a short break on a bench. Twilight pointed her hoof over at a group of three ponies. The first was a beige coated earth stallion, with a dark brown spiky mane and tail, a pair of sky blue eyes, and an hourglass shaped cutie mark. The second was a deep bluish gray coated pegasus mare, with a flowing light blonde mane and tail, a pair of golden eyes which were slightly off set, and a set of bubbles for her cutie mark. The last member of this trio was a light purple coated unicorn filly, with a flowing blonde mane and tail, another pair of golden eyes, and no cutie mark just yet. To most of Ponyville these three together was not an uncommon sight. Time Turner, Ditzy “Derpy” Doo, and Dinky Doo were almost always at the center of some kind of gossip or another. Whether that Derpy always calling Time Turner, “The Doctor,” or the controversy of who exactly Dinky's father was.
No matter what word around town was it never seemed to splinter the group. Twilight was pointing over at them since they were one of the groups working on knocking down snow and carting it off from the trees. Twilight soon beckoned them closer to converse a bit. “How goes the snow-cart hauling this year Time Turner?”
“Well... miss, uh, Sparkle was it? Might go a bit faster after lunch. Steady going all morning though. Feel free to mark that on your checklist. Always glad to have the help of the brilliant, ladies Doo. Pleasant company as always and during my favorite time of year, here in Ponyville. Such a quaint and enjoyable custom I dare say a lot of other planets in the universe would be better off if they shared it,” responded a very happy Time Turner, whom in all honesty couldn't imagine having the day go any better.
“Yes it is Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle as a matter of fact. You do seem to get along better with Ditzy than almost any pony else. Most tend to find her rather clumsy, but you two get along like best friends so I hope you didn't mind working with her this year,”said Twilight in a matter of fact tone. She had heard Time Turner speak of other planets and the universe as a whole before. So as normal she just ignored it since she could never get him to tell her anything more on the subject.
“An absolute joy to work with her, Twilight. Most don't realize just what a special mare she really is.” Time Turner shook his head at this saying quickly, “Bonds of mother and child are always beautiful. I don't think I've seen one quite as strong as theirs in a while.”
“You say that like you can see the bond as though it were a tangible force.”said Twilight with an eyebrow raised as she looked over at him.
"With those two there are times where even a mare like yourself could see it. I'm sure the ties that bond us all together must be of some importance to your friendship studies. Though I imagine the Princess has had you learn all about them," he said rather nonchalantly .
While Twilight and Time Tuner continued talking, Big Mac had taken to smiling and picking up the filly onto his back. Soon starting a conversation with her mother. “Howdy, Miss Doo. Having a good day so far?”
“Sure am, Mac. Nothing's gone wrong today so far. The Doctor has really built my confidence. He's also always so kind to me.” Derpy responded to Big Mac very politely he was one of a few ponies around Ponyville who had always not let her mistakes cloud who she was.
“Momma, really likes him, Mister Mac,”said an overconfident Dinky Doo from behind Big Mac's Neck.
“Dinky! Well I guess that's true, yet, It's really hard to get through to him. I'm just glad to have him call me his brilliant assistant.” Derpy had started to blush a bit at this last statement.
“Well he's pretty lucky to get to spend so much time with the both of ya. Ya'll a very special set of ponies. He'd be quite foalish to not want to spend all the time he could with ya. Well Ah think Miss Sparkle wants us to get going. So have a good day,”while Big Mac said this Twilight had motioned to him for them to get going. He just smiled letting Dinky off his shoulders, giving her a gentle nuzzle before letting her get back to her mother.
Soon Twilight and Big Mac were back on the route to Sweet Apple Acres. A cloud with wings still following them from behind. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smile at how Big Mac had handled the situation she had just seen. He was a big strong tenderhearted stallion. 'He's more than almost any mare deserves in a stallion' thought a slightly bemused Rainbow Dash. She continued to follow them along the trail to Sweet Apple Acres. Just as they were nearing Fluttershy's House though Twilight noticed another pair of lake-scorer ponies stopping to converse with them as well.
The first pony was an orchid coated earth mare, with a flowing blonde mane and tail with curled tips, a pair of forest green eyes, and a cutie mark of an hourglass. The second pony was a light aqua coated unicorn mare, with a flowing spiky two toned mane and tail the top tone a light bluish gray the bottom tone a deep sapphire blue, a pair of ocean blue eyes, and a cutie mark of an hourglass as well. This pair of ponies were called Romana and Minuette respectively, both were carrying their skates around their necks and moving towards their next target for scoring.
“Hello, Ladies. How have you been doing with your lake scoring today?”Twilight said as both sets of ponies slowed to converse for a moment.
“Oh it's been going fine. Hasn't it Minuette. We should be ready for scoring up Saddle lake just in time.”Romana waved her hoof like it was the easiest thing in the world.
“Sure, I love skating. I just hope Pinkie won't be late like last year.”said a slightly frustrated Minuette who had earned a cold from waiting around for Pinkie Pie last year.
“Should be no problem with that this year Minuette. In-fact Pinkie and her partner are already finished and having some fun. Free skating on Saddle Lake.”responded a very factual Twilight Sparkle.
“Eeyup,” stated the stoic stallion in his regular fashion.
Minuette suddenly had a shocking realization that Pinkie was already finished saying.“Come on Romana shake a hoof we don't want to be the late ones this year.” Upon saying this Minuette picked up the pace and her partner moved to match her strides leaving the other two behind.
Twilight and Big Mac both shook their heads and continued their trek towards Sweet Apple Acres. There wasn't much further to go now and Big Mac was starting to dread more and more what his sister would do when she likely found out he hadn't apologized to Twilight. Every thought filled with unfortunate disaster in his immediate future. Big Mac just moved forward at his regular pace though he wasn't going to back down from his sister. He had told her many a time he didn't have to apologize to Twilight, and he had no intention of stopping now that she thought he had. After all she was the one jumping to conclusions.
Rainbow Dash watched as Twilight and Big Mac continued to move towards the Apple family orchard. She still followed the duo diligently steadily to make sure they never suspected a thing. The lines of dirt and snow noticeable from the sky that AJ had been working the stallions on the farm pretty hard to make sure they got things done proper. Rainbow Dash couldn't really tell how much they had done. It did look like they were working on schedule though it wasn't really her job to know if that was the case. She did however feel the sheer amount of boredom Spike must have felt being Twilight's assistant for last year. 'At least if you're working one the jobs you feel like you're doing something. As Twilight's assistant you're just following her around listening to her check up on the ponies on her checklist. Big Mac must be bored out of his skull,' thought a slightly concerned Rainbow Dash. 'Maybe I can help him out with talking AJ down. She's going to to have a fit when she finds out he hasn't apologized to Twilight.'
Winter Wrap Up Continues With Orange Snow Clearing
So far everything had been a bust for Twilight, her attempts to reignite Big Mac's passions for her were all small flickers. She just was putting small dents in his impenetrably thick hide. Twilight had made a few points towards her cause but nothing overwhelming, she could only hope she would get a word with Applejack alone for some help. Twilight still felt like he was somewhere far away, as they trotted together not more than a few feet from each other. Heading towards Sweet Apple Acres likely didn't bring him much joy right now. 'Applejack is going to be upset at me, for stealing Big Mac away for the day. On the bright side, though, Everypony is getting everything done on time by the looks of it.' thought Twilight.
Big Mac had been in another galaxy as far as he and Twilight were concerned for the time being. He looked up at the sky, and he could tell there was still about and hour till lunch time even with the cloud cover. Some solid food would put his mind at ease, the sweet snacks from the stands around town didn't help ease his mind. The water had been a nice bit of relief, but it didn't put his mind on any less of an edge. He was about to watch a slow motion train wreck with him on the front of the train, at least that's how he felt. 'Please, AJ, don't be too inquisitive!' was the primary thought on the stallion's mind right now.
Rainbow Dash on the other hand had no qualms about the time, as she followed the pair of ponies. She only cared for the stallion she followed there. Her friend, whom was walking with him, was the furthest thing on her mind at present. The dreary atmosphere somehow accentuating his form to her, the muscles of his forelegs as he walked, the muscular torso that held his head high, the slow motion of his flank as he followed Twilight. 'I'm totally not looking at his flank,' thought Rainbow Dash.
Completely unaware of the approaching set of ponies, an orange earth mare in a stetson called out across the fields before her in a loud tone of voice, “ Caramel, Don't ya'll dare drop those seeds again! Lucky Clover, Keep yer plow steady! That's it Creme Brulee, Show'em how to get'er done! Coco Crusoe, Watch your pace, Can't have ya knocking anypony over! Noteworthy, Careful 'round the tree's that's our lively-hood 'round here!”
Fast approaching the orange mare from behind were, a cloud with sky-blue wings, a lavender unicorn mare, and the steady red earth stallion. It was Twilight, whom first acknowledged the orange mare as Applejack calling out to her, “Hey there, Applejack. How's the snow clearing on the farm going?”
“Well, shoot if it ain't, Twi n' Mac. A little slow going, but I think we'll be on schedule for sure. Caramel hasn't even lost the grass seeds, yet. Told ya, Big Brother, he likes your flank more than mine.” Applejack's voice trailed off at the last sentence saying it more directly to Big Mac, while hitting his shoulder playfully.
Mac just shook his head as he whispered back to his sister, “Well, if'n that were the case AJ. He'd still have lost them since so few stallions can tell you're a mare,” adding in a playful hit of his own. The raising his voice to say, “Looks like, Creme Brulee, is at least doing a fine job in mah place though.”
“Yes it dose, Big Mac. Looks like he might even get the job done a little quicker,” said the unassuming Twilight Sparkle, where as a nearby cloud couldn't believe it's ears.
'She just insulted him to his face,' thought Rainbow Dash.
With the uneasy tension levels raising Applejack had one last question for the pair of ponies standing before her now,“ Soo y'all two love bird enjoyin' the day so far? Seein' how y'all 'ave kissed and made up?”
Time seamed to freeze as the question hung in the air. Then time was in slow motion as Twilight was about to speak on the issue, suddenly Big Mac brought his lips to Twilight's. He slid his tongue into her mouth, making the kiss very deep and passionate. The stallion, unwilling to give up the charade of being with, Twilight as it would invoke his sisters wrath and he wasn't ready to face that not alone. At first the bookish mare was taken aback, but was soon putty in his fore-hooves which had moved to hold her.
Up above Rainbow Dash had known that Big Mac was going to have to do something to try to placate his sister in her assumptions, yet, she had never expected that he would go that far. It was like a buck to her teeth from the strong stoic stallion, as she looked down at him she let out a soft whimper. Soon her cloud was a fine mist, she didn't need to follow them anymore he had made his choice. A rainbow trail was seen streaking through the skies over the orchards towards Ponyville.
Big Mac knew this might be the biggest mistake he made today, but if it kept AJ off his back for now it was slightly worth it. When he finished the kiss the only thing Twilight could say in response to Applejack's question was, “Eeyup.”
Big Mac had also decided that now was the perfect time to leave the farm, yet, as he turned his head to the exit he saw a faint rainbow trail heading off in the distance back towards Ponyville. 'Well now Ah've ruined things with two mares,' thought Big Mac. Continuing to lead the now dazed lavender mare away from his sister before either could say anything else.
Big Mac was still keeping the lavender mare moving forward with him, upon nearing town he had realized they had skipped out on lunch with his family. Moving on into the outskirts of Ponyville he lead Twilight towards a restaurant he had gone to with Rainbow Dash for many of their talks. After putting Twilight in her own seat, the large red stallion had a realization that he might not be having any more of those conversations with Rainbow Dash. This thought shook him to his core and it showed to anypony who might have been glancing in the direction of the two. Soon though a waiter arrived and asked for an order. Big Mac asked for his usual telling the waiter that the lady would be having a daisy sandwich.
Together the pair ate in silence once their food had arrived. After Big Mac had paid for the meal it was time to brake Twilight's trance. To do so he put a hoof on her shoulder, looked into her eyes, and said in an overly loud tone, “ Twilight, where are we going next.”
Twilight remained in her stupor for only a moment more, the stallion's loud voice had shaken her from her dream like state. She had almost fallen off the seat she was on but caught her balance just in time. She shook her head for a moment coming back to reality she said, “Oh. Umm... Right AJ's doing fine. So let's see...” she took a moment to look at her clipboard that had managed to survive following her despite her trance like state then continuing with, “Ahh yes Fluttershy and the critters. She should be getting close to signaling Rainbow Dash by now.”
The mention of Rainbow Dash's name only served to further confuse Big Mac his mind and heart in a terrible disagreement. Twilight and Big Mac started to head towards one of the larger fields surrounding Ponyville. Their progress was almost immediately halted by a pair of Pegasus ponies who looked a little distressed. The first was a powder blue Pegasus mare, with a blonde fluffy curly mane and a blonde straight tail, a pair orange eyes, and a cutie mark of two lightening bolts, who was known as Sassaflash. The second was a light lavender Pegasus mare, with a messy fluffy curled dual toned pink mane and tail, a pair of scarlet pink eyes, and a cutie mark of a simple rainbow, who was known as Rainbowshine. In unison the pair of ponies shouted down at Twilight, “Oh my gosh, Twilight! Have you seen Rainbow Dash?!”
“No pony has seen her since your speech,” said a very concerned Rainbowshine.
“If we can't find her in time we might get off schedule clearing up the sky this year,” said an equally concerned Sassaflash.
“Calm down girls. I'm sure she's around and will be ready in time to clear the skies. Have you checked her house? Sometimes she goes there to really relax before it's time to clear the skies. Besides it's just past lunch and there are still about two hours till we really need them cleared for tomorrow. You two keep looking. We'll join the search once we check in with Fluttershy,” said a very confident and resolute Twilight Sparkle. Very unaware that the friend who was missing needed the most attention possible right now.
“Alright, Twilight. We'll keep looking, but we just left her house and she wasn't there,” said Sassaflash before her and Rainbowshine took towards the skies again.
The girls finished their conversation with a short set of goodbyes. Big Mac had been a little disinterested in the conversation, yet still, overhearing most of it being about Rainbow Dash. He wagered he knew where she was, and that the pair of pegusai had missed her on the way back to her house. The big red stallion couldn't help but feel responsible for sending her there. Maybe after they caught up with their final stop he'd be able to depart from Twilight, and see if he couldn't find the prismatic maned mare himself. 'Here Ah am with mah dream mare, and Ah can't even focus on her all. All Ah can think about is Rainbow Dash. If she's alright, if Ah completely ruined our friendship, the beautiful color of her mane... wait... the toned curves of her flank... Ah said Wait!' while Big Mac thought all this at the end he shouted out, “Wait!”
Big Mac's shout had rang throughout Ponyville causing almost everyone in town to come to a stop at what they were doing if only for a moment.
All three nearby ponies turned to face the stoic stallion's outburst. Twilight being the closest was the first to respond. “What is it, Big Mac? Do you know where Rainbow Dash might be?”
“Ah... Ah... Don't know. Ah just need to clear my head a little Twilight. Let's get movin'.” Big Mac shook his head still trying to martial his thoughts together.
Rainbow Dash at the moment his shout had rang out, was standing in her shower about ready to turn it on. Part of her didn't want to care that he was in pain for some reason, yet deep down part of her did care and wanted to rush to his side to help him feel better. 'Ugh!... Why am I so conflicted over all this mushy stuff. I know he was kissing Twilight to keep things from going down hill with AJ fast, but did he have to kiss her.' Her nose wriggled in revulsion at kissing Twilight Sparkle. 'If only I had helped him say no to Twilight this morning... He might have been kissing me... Did I just think that?' thought Rainbow Dash. Soon though the image popped into her head of Big Mac kissing her like he had kissed Twilight. Her cheeks had turned a bright red she felt glad that no one had been around to see it.
“Well, I'm not going to get him moping around my house. That's how I lost the last one. I need to shower and be ready for clearing the skies this afternoon. Then I'll talk to him after that. Things will only go up from there.” With her mind made up Rainbow Dash bucked the rain cloud in her shower above her cloud tub. The cool water rushing down over her body gently, was relaxing flexing her wings under the gentle stream of water helped clear things out. She wasn't one for primping or preening, yet proper preening for a Pegasus pony was a key to flying better than any other. Today she wanted to fly her best just show off her best quality her stunning aerial prowess. If she was going to show off her primary quality she'd have to make sure she even did a short warm up routine. Soarin had been kind enough to show her a simple one most of the Wonderbolts did during one of his visits to Pinkie. Rainbow Dash now hoped that Big Mac would be watching when she lead the tornado to clear the skies today.
Winter Wrap Up Continues With Yellow Bells Ringing
Lunch was over now everypony was back at work accomplishing their tasks. The bird nests were finished, and being hung throughout the cleared trees. All the lakes throughout the town were scored, and those finished with this task were relaxing. Snow clearing was about half way done from what could be done on the ground. Soon the animals of the forest who had hibernated all winter would be waking to the sound of gentle bells at the entrances to their den's and warren's.
A lavender unicorn mare and a red earth stallion were seen coming over a raise to one of the fields filled with an assortment of those burrows, dens, and warrens. Twilight was rather impressed as bells had been hung with care around the entire field. Looking over the field she soon saw the yellow pegasus mare with a straight pink mane and tail having several lengths of rope laid in-front of her. The pair of ponies were fast approaching the yellow pegasus. Twilight was once again the first to announce their presence. “Hello there, Fluttershy. How are things going on your end will your critters be ready for the skies to be cleared today?”
“Oh... Hello Twilight. Umm... Hello, Big Mac. I... I... guess so, Twilight. But I'm still waiting on one team of ponies to finish hanging their bells. I don't want to have the delay be on my end again. Everypony has done great this year, but I always seem to have a little bit of trouble with some of my ponies slacking off...” said a fairly nervous Fluttershy.
Big Macintosh just nodded at Fluttershy's greeting. He did know she was skittish so he felt his strong and silent treatment worked best in these situations. Twilight on the other hand was starting to get a bit worried about the schedule. It was getting close to two in the afternoon which would be the optimal time to leave the sun in the sky to finish off the ice in the lakes. Twilight soon asked “Which team is holding you back, Fluttershy?”
“Umm... well... the only team who hasn't reported back with a rope so far has been Twinkleshine and Lyra Heartstrings,”said Fluttershy in her light airy tone.
Twilight couldn't believe her ears bringing her her hoof to her face. She did such a good job of putting a fire under Lyra when she had left them. It was at this moment another yell went throughout Ponyville this time it was Twilight's voice booming across Ponyville. “LYRA HEARTSTRINGS!”
Across town a mint green unicorn mare gulped audibly, while an eggshell unicorn mare with a pink mane standing next to her chuckled. The second mare had figured something like this might happen since they took another break before returning to Fluttershy.
Together the pair of unicorns bolted with their rope towards the rendezvous. Leaving an extension of rope running throughout parts of town. Soon the pair of Lyra Heartstrings and Twinkleshine were coming closer and closer to the group of Fluttershy, Twilight, and Big Mac. The Pair of late ponies were now out in-front of those who were their accusers.
“H... H... Hey, Twilight. Were we late or something?” Lyra said this dismissively and continued on nervously while slightly panting. “We were just on our way here weren't we, Twinkleshine.” Lyra gave her friend a gentle nudge in the hopes that she would back up her story.
“Oh... Umm... Yeah were were. I did tell her we shouldn't take break before returning to Fluttershy, Twilight.” Twinkleshine said this with a smile, while Lyra shot her a look of daggers.
“Oh that's ok girls...” said Fluttershy in her light airy voice.
Fluttershy was abruptly cut off by Twilight's voice trampling over the rest of Fluttershy's statement. “ Have you girls even put up one birds nest yet? Lyra, this is exactly why you're not on the weather team with Bon Bon. The weather team needs to be 'on time' with all their assignments or somepony could get hurt!” Twilight spoke with an increasing thunder in her voice with each statement.
It suddenly occurred to Big Mac that he had never really seen Miss Sparkle lose her temper before. Big Mac brought a hoof to her shoulder which snapped her rage in half like a twig. Then he spoke in his deep thick powerfully calming voice. “Miss Sparkle, everypony is fine, and the job is complete. I think Miss Shy is ready to ring the bells and have things ready for the clearing of the skies.”
Big Mac statements had calmed Twilight Sparkle, while she looked around she saw that she had been scaring everypony present save for Big Mac with just the tone of her voice. “Oh my gosh ladies. I... I'm so so sorry. Everything was just going so well and... I thought you'd be done early after talking to you before. You're ready then Fluttershy?” Twilight said this in a much calmer tone of voice, with a slightly crimson blush on her face.
“Yes.” came the squeak of an answer of Fluttershy.
Fluttershy slowly stepped back into the circle of her ropes with the addition of Lyra's rope the circle was complete. Futtershy soon started to pull the ropes with steady simple tugs causing a heavenly symphony of bell chimes to start at the entrance to every critters home. She pulled the ropes like they were some bizarre musical instrument, and the light gentle rings of the bells could be heard clear throughout the town as if it stopped to listen to the sounds of the bells gently ringing. The soft sing song sound of the bells was soon followed by the sound of critters who had been dormant all winter raising to the the almost ready spring.
Twilight was enraptured by the sound and the movements of the critters almost like everyone else at present, however, it was the stoic stallion who broke the silence of voices from the group of ponies around Fluttershy saying, “Umm Miss Sparkle... Don't we need to get back to finding Rainbow?”
“Oh my gosh, you're right, Big Mac. Fluttershy, why don't you go check her home. Lyra and Twinkleshine please meet up with Spike and Rarity. Big Mac and I will... Big Mac?” Twilight looked around and the red stallion was gone from the scene.
“Um... Twilight, Big Mac already left to search, he...” Fluttershy had been about to continue.
When Twilight interrupted her again. “ What?! Where did he go? Excuse me Fluttershy I have to go try to find two missing ponies now.” Twilight began moving away from the clearing very absorbed in her own thoughts at the moment.
“Oh... Um.... Ok then. Well he went in the direction of Rainbow Dash's place. I... I guess I'll just go check it out then.” Fluttershy's voice was barely heard by Lyra and Twinkleshine who were still standing next to her, so it was no surprise that Twilight Sparkle continued on as if her friend had said nothing.
After his declaration that Rainbow Dash was still missing, Big Mac had pulled his goggles on, and took off at a full gallop towards her house. Big Mac was a stallion of few words because he preferred to let his actions do the talking. Sitting around talking about it didn't get things done on the farm, nor would that get things done in a search party. He also needed a moment away from Miss Sparkle something about her was just so different now it was like she was a whole different pony to him now. She broke down so easily over the slightest thing right there. This really made Big Mac question if she was the right mare for him, so much so it almost caused him to run past Rainbow Dash's cloud mansion.
Big Mac looked up at the cloud structure from the ground, as he did he realized she must have put a lot of hard work into it to get it just the way she wanted it. He had been by the structure before but some reason now as he looked over it he could tell that there was just so much attention to detail. He had read about Pegasi construction before but he was flabbergasted by the amount of different techniques that were truly used on her home. In taking the time to admire her house of clouds he almost forgot why he was there. Soon Big Mac called out to the house, “Rainbow Dash, are you home? It's Big Mac I think we need to talk.”
Rainbow Dash had finished preening her self early, so she was stretching out her wings when she heard the stallion's voice calling out in a loud slightly worried tone to her from below her house. She sighed figuring everypony in Ponyville was likely looking for her now. She put her set of flying goggles on, having decided she'd at least reveal herself to him.
Rainbow Dash moved in stunning loop dashing out of her bedroom window, proceeding to land just before her front door. She was standing a few feet above Big Mac on her cloudy doorstep. Looking down at him she said, “No time for that now, I've got a job to do. Those cloudy skies are calling my name. Macintosh, I'll meet you here once they're clear.”
With that Rainbow dashed to the stormy clouds punching a hole where went through. On the edge of her hearing she heard a simple statement from the red stallion below, it made the prismatic pegasus smile.
Big Mac yelled out to catch her ears before she was gone, “Be Safe, Rainbow!”
There was one pony who had witnessed the scene, a butter yellow pegasus who had been too scared to disturb the unfolding events in-front of her. Fluttershy now had to find Twilight before blowing the whistle for Rainbow Dash to start clearing the skies.
Winter Wrap Up Continues With Clear Skies and Falling Rainbows
Rainbow Dash was on cloud nine, gracefully back-stroking through the sky awaiting the signal to start clearing the skies over Ponyville. Big Macintosh coming to wish her well before she took off made her think she didn't even have to worry about Twilight anymore. The big red stallion had come by wanting to talk, and asked her to be careful while she was doing her job. That was pretty much all the prismatic maned mare needed to hear to think he really wanted to be with her rather than Twilight.
Suddenly as Rainbow Dash looked up at the bright sun above her she got an ominous feeling. ‘What if Big Mac had only wished me well so that when I got back we could talk about his renewed passions for Twilight. Ugh, this is a disaster... I can't even go back to check with him, because I run the risk of not being ready for my job, and I don't want to stress Twilight out anymore than normal.’ thought the suddenly troubled pegasus.
Her unwavering loyalty had left her with few options, and being without options were situations she hated the most. ‘Stay cool, Dash, stay cool. Big Mac didn't say what he wanted to talk about just that we need to talk,’ continuing her thought process Rainbow Dash tried to settle herself. Moving through the sky she started to make sure the other peguai of Ponyville were ready for clearing the skies.
Somewhere below the clouds a red earth stallion stood on the ground only to have his head up in said clouds. Big Mac's mind wasn't at ease though, because of the fact that he knew Rainbow Dash had seen him kissing Twilight. The fact that Rainbow Dash wanted to talk also didn't bode well in the stallions mind, for the worry she might just push him away saying he meant more to her friend. Big Mac moved around the ground beneath the impressive cloud structure in a circular pattern. His body a bundle of nerves keeping, yet his sights were set on the sky. Rainbow Dash would be coming back from an opposite direction than she left.
Twilight Sparkle was now asking anypony she could if they had seen either Rainbow Dash or Big Mac. Starting with her faithful assistant and the mare of his dreams, only to find that not even Pinkie Pie and Soarin had seen the pair. ‘If the sky doesn't get cleared on time, then Ponyville won’t be ready for spring on time, then the mayor might think that I've been slacking off in my duties, then the Ponyville won't want me to organize it next year, then they might hire somepony new as all team organizer...’ Twilight's thought process was as dizzying as ever. So much so that she didn't notice immediately when a hoof touched her shoulder.
“Excuse me, Miss Sparkle, but I think you dropped this clipboard a ways back.” The voice was deep like Big Mac's, but feeling the light clipboard put back into her hooves she noticed it was not.
“Um, yes... Thank you. I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met.”Twilight said to the earth stallion standing before her. If she didn't know better she'd almost think she was looking at Big Mac. Though this earth stallion was a light hue of caramel, his hooves were a bright yellow, his mane and tail were a dark brown in the same cut as Big Mac, his eyes were even the same sap green, and his cutie mark was three blue horseshoes.
“Oh, I'm sorry. My name is, Creme Brulee. Is everything alright, Miss Sparkle? You were looking a little more stressed than you were on the farm earlier today.”The deep voice coming out of this stallion seemed to have the same calming effect on Twilight's nerves. Both just looked at each other for a few moments as he awaited her response and she was a little unsure of her answer.
“Well, umm... It's just I can't find two of my friends, and I need their help to finish Winter Wrap Up.”Something about the stallion's presence made her relax and completely. She got her thought out simply and directly. She was a bit shocked at how well she had articulated all of her worries into one statement.
“Maybe I could help. I did find your clipboard after all,”Creme said with a gentle smile. Soon the new pair set off to resume the search for Twilight's friends.
Fluttershy had take off from her hiding place once she was certain that Big Mac wouldn't see her. She started to cut back through the town looking for Twilight. Fluttershy was flapping her wings to keep her just above the ground, moving at a steady speed past several ponies performing certain tasks; the ponies she past getting their jobs done for the sake of bringing Winter to a close on time. Fluttershy bobbed and weaved through the townsfolk eventually finding it very hard to continue forward at almost any pace.
Finally Fluttershy did something that she rarely ever did which was take off into the skies around Ponyville, starting to search through the air frantically for some sign of Twilight Sparkle. Searching even by the height of most average buildings she still didn't see her lavender friend anywhere from the sky. It was almost impossible; Fluttershy was certain Twilight had to be somewhere in Ponyville.
Fluttershy continued to look for the lavender mare despite her initial failures, using her new height to start checking any open windows on any level. She didn't want to ask anypony if they had seen Twilight; after all she, had been around town all day, almost everypony will have seen her at one point or another. Suddenly a gentle soft rumble came from the stomach of the yellow pegasus who soon realized she had missed lunch in all the commotion.
It was perhaps serendipity then, that Fluttershy decided to come into the main room of Sugarcube Corner. There was a small line with Pinkie and Soarin working the same register almost in tandem. The pair did the work effortlessly, however it was not this pair that was currently drawn in by Fluttershy's eyes. She saw a few ponies in-front of her were Twilight and Creme Brulee standing in line together. Fluttershy moved forward to speak to them.“Oh, Twilight, I'm so glad I found you. I found Rainbow Dash, and Big Mac. They were both at her place, but Rainbow is now likely waiting for my signal.”
“That's wonderful news, Fluttershy. You'll please excuse me, Creme, I need to get going. Why don't you pick something up on my tab. Fluttershy, why don't you signal Rainbow Dash to start. I'm sure she'll be almost begging to do it by now. She usually gets so bored doing all that waiting.” Twilight did not give Fluttershy, or Creme a second thought. She instead headed out of Sugarcube Corner to find Big Mac, not really quite registering where Fluttershy had said he was.
“Umm sure...” said the now marginally confused stallion. Creme knew she was looking for her friends, the least she could have done was relaxed a little more. He slowly turned his attention to the pair of ponies at the register as they were starting to insist that he was next.
Fluttershy soon turned to leave Sugarcube Corner; she wasn't sure what was going on with Twilight, and the stallion she was with. Fluttershy felt it would best be left behind for now, making her way out to the center of town. She blew on a whistle as the birds were not back yet; this would alert Rainbow Dash to start clearing the skies above Ponyville. Fluttershy continued by blowing her whistle in five key points all over Ponyville just to make sure every pegasus heard her. When she finished she realized again she had missed lunch returning quickly to Sugarcube Corner.
To properly clear the skies with a tornado as the Ponyville weather team had been doing for the past few years, it took a full five minutes from start to stop. The lead pony had to be in sync with her wing ponies at all times. Rainbow Dash had worked very hard to get her team to be able to accomplish this feat; it would take an average weather team ten or more minutes to calm down a tornado of this size after starting one. If the lead pony spun out or lost control it could mean disaster for the team, however, most on the Ponyville weather team knew what to do if the leader got thrown to keep in control in the skies.
Rainbow Dash heard the whistle signaling that they could get things started. She had informed those she had found she wanted today go smoothly today. Much as it had in the past two years, so she could get her primary part of Winter Wrap Up over and done with. The team Rainbow Dash was leading was soon galloping across the sky of Ponyville. They were using their wing-beats to create a large spiraling wind vortex to pull in, and neutralize the winter clouds. From below the sky line a lavender unicorn mare, a red earth stallion, and an orange earth mare, all watched the twister as it pulled in the dark clouds and left the bright blue sky behind it.
With over half the sky clear Twilight Sparkle's absentminded walking one direction and looking another direction caused her to collide at a steady trot with Romana and Minuette. In turn causing both mares to fall forward with their skates flung forward through the air. The Doctor, Derpy, and Dinky were sitting near their last full snow cart for the day when all four ice skates struck the back of the perfectly balanced snow cart sending it careening down the near by hill. The Doctor soon said, “Derpy, didn't you put the brakes on the cart?”
“We had brakes for the cart? I've just been balancing it perfectly all day,” the cross-eyed mare said a bit delighted with herself.
While The Doctor just face-hooved and thought. ‘There is little I can do to stop it now. hopefully no pony will get hurt.’
Not far from where snow cart was rolling down the hill, a currently very focused Lyra Heartstrings was building and forming her magic into a cloud clearing spell instead of hanging birds nest. ' I'll show them all I can help the weather team,' was the primary thought on the unicorn mare's mind. She wasn't listening to Twinkleshine telling her to pick up the pace, or to Spike and Rarity who were discussing current fashion trends. This spell had to have every last ounce of concentration she could muster otherwise something could easily go wrong.
Rainbow Dash was leading the Ponyville weather-team to another successful Winter Wrap Up. She could see the end of the clouds and the other-side of the clear blue sky waiting for her finish. She urged everyone to pick it up a notch while continuing forwards at a quicker pace. ‘Mac's waiting for me just on the other side of those clouds,’ Rainbow Dash thought as she raced ahead.
The rolling snow cart reached the bottom of the hill and the front end planted into the ground and sent the contents flying through the air soaring towards the cleared trees where several bird-nests had been hung. The large snow ball from the cart smashed against one side of the massive trunk causing all the nests hung in the tree to fall, half of them landed on the large snow ball the other half landed on the flank, back, and horn of Lyra Heartstrings. This caused her to fire two bolts from the tip of her horn immediately. The first bolt was sent flying faster than light and proceeded to hit an intended cloud target mere inches before Rainbow Dash was going to hit it, however, the desired result from the unicorn was not what happened. Instead of clearing the cloud it made it more dense, and caused Rainbow Dash's hooves to strike a cloud filled to the brim with lightning. The feeling was like running into a wall only to get electrocuted. Needless to say the pegasus began to fall after colliding with the dense cloud structure. Her team were helpless to save her as they now had to control the twister and burn it out before helping.
Big Mac had been on edge since Rainbow Dash had left and was now watching the twister on his hooves from under the cloud mansion. He knew something went wrong immediately with the shift in the funnel size, and the sudden descent of a falling pegasus.
Before Big Mac knew it his legs were moving. Time seemed to slow down. His legs were pounding under him, as he moved towards the falling pegasus. Every second the stallion was getting closer to the falling pony, his legs were tearing across the landscape to make it in time. The clock ticking as every second the pegasus drew closer and closer the ground, the red earth stallion pushing his body to it's max. Big Mac's eyes and brain were processing the expected landing zone, her rate of descent was steep he'd have to jump to make in time. Dashing across the landscape, only a few ponies understood even what was going on, as the big red earth stallion bolted up one side of a bridge kicking off the bridge for maximum height and velocity. His fore-hooves were outstretched as he practically flew through the air and caught the falling pegasus pony.
As the pair tumbled to the ground together they ended up with Big Mac holding Rainbow Dash in his fore-legs looking down her. He shook her gently trying to get a response, saying in his deep voice. “Rainbow, are you alright? Please... please... please wake up.”
The unconscious Rainbow Dash wasn't exactly home as the red earth stallion called out to her. She was in a deep almost trance like state the magical lightning had done possibly more to her than originally thought. In her mind though his deep voice seemed to resonate and she woke up in a place with her hooves on an empty white floor. Rainbow Dash looking around her surroundings the entire place was a bright white saying,“Whoa... What the hay is this place?!”
Suddenly there was a copy of Rainbow Dash who appeared before her. The only difference was the copy's entire body was a blue the same hue as from her mane. “This is your subconscious, but I'm not sure you'd get that. It's the part of your brain that helps you process things while you sleep.”
The real Rainbow Dash just looked over at her navy duplicate raising an eyebrow. “Okay, but doesn’t that mean I'm not supposed to be here then?”
“Normally but that cloud you hit had special properties due to it being infused with magic. If you wake up it's unlikely you'll even remember you were here. If I had to guess it's something sappy like you need true love's kiss to wake up now.” her navy copy frowned briefly as she spoke of what little she knew..
“Ugh, I could be here forever then!”shouted Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, don't be so sure of that, darling.”said a pure indigo Rainbow Dash who had a perfectly combed mane and tail in curls. “After all, isn't that the stallion you love who just saved you from weeks in the hospital?” Upon finishing this question, one side of the white room lit up with a view of the waking world; Big Mac was holding her in his fore-hooves and trying to resurrect her. His head pressed to her chest checking for a heartbeat. It was present yet she was still inexplicably unconscious.
“Yeah, but he really likes Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash in a crestfallen tone of voice.
Another Rainbow Dash appeared, and this one was canary yellow and had her mane brushed to cover one half of her face. She suddenly responded to her statement. “That's just your fears talking, and I should know. Did he rush to save Twilight from falling to her possible death?”
“No, but he kissed Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said this while shaking her head the image of that kiss still trying to get that image out of her waking mind.
“Psh. She's not the right pony for him, and if you're too much of a 'Flutter-cry' to make him see that then maybe you should just stay here forever.” This brash statement was made from a pure red clone of the prismatic pony whose mane was spiky and short.
Rainbow Dash was finding her arguments held very little weight as she went over them in her unconscious mind and said, “I'm no Flutter-cry, and you better watch how you talk about my friends. I do love him, but that doesn't mean he'd kiss me, guys.”
“That's about the most honest statement ya've made to yourself in a while. It's good to see there is still some backbone in ya. When ya wake up, ya'll need that to make up with him. Especially if ya don't want Twilight to have a chance.” This statement was issued by a solid green copy of Rainbow Dash with a stetson on her head.
“If I wake up soon, I'll make sure there is no question how I feel about him,”said the ever more confident original Rainbow Dash.
“Aww, Yeah! That a girl. I knew you'd be back to normal in time to wake up,”a solid orange Rainbow Dash said. She zoomed around the upper-parts of the white room. Coming down and offering the real Rainbow Dash a hoof-bump.
The real Rainbow Dash hoof-bumped with her duplicate and had been about to say something when a bright light filled the white room. Her time there had felt like it had taken over thirty minutes yet in reality it was far shorter.
As she flicked her eyes open gently she saw Big Mac holding her in his arms and gently kissing her lips. She had been unconscious far too long for his liking even at two whole minutes in his arms shaking wasn't working. It was the only thing he could think of. Rainbow Dash seeing he hadn't noticed her eyes open moved her hooves around his neck and kissed him back deeply as he had kissed Twilight.
Neither of the pair broke the kiss for another few minutes, and Big Mac was now very glad he had tried something from a storybook. As he looked down at her the pair both started to say something, “I... I... love you.”
Both had said it at about the same time and as they looked into each others eyes they knew this is what real love was. Moving their lips together again, it just felt natural; nothing forced or unwanted. It was just after the first kiss that Twilight Sparkle had seen the pair in each others hooves and witnessed their admission of love. She just ran from the scene before seeing any more towards Golden Oak's Library, Twilight needed something and somepony before confronting the pair.
Twilight Sparkle is a bookish unicorn mare one who rarely partakes in excessive physical activity, as such it is unlikely that one would find her dashing through the streets of Ponyville. The sun was beating down from the clear blue sky that only the pegasi of Ponyville had been able to enjoy until today. Today, Twilight was running, scared. Her heart was beating like drum. Her eyes were focused, every step bringing her closer to the tree-library she called home. She was in a trance like state as she dashed through Ponyville. Her body moving to avoid every obstacle in her path like it was never there, a straight stretching path leading her to the home she had lived in for the past two years.
Reaching the Golden Oaks Library, the sun gracefully soared along it's daily path like Celestia was hardly moving at all, yet for Twilight Sparkle, the gears of the sun clock ticking over the beating war drums of her heart were like thunder. She opened and closed the door, locking herself inside to erase the memory of what she had seen. Her heart and brain not wanting to register the view of one of her best friends and a stallion whose heart she thought she was winning back. Her hooves seemed to stop moving inside the library.
Twilight's eyes looked over the main floor of the library like she had never seen it before. Her brain was processing the room again; the table where she had enjoyed a short breakfast with her faithful assistant, the book Big Mac had been reading when she had approached him, the stairs that lead to her bed, each thing taken in during each step as she crossed the main room heading towards the stairs.
The stairs were taken a step at a time by Twilight, feeling like an unrelenting endless set of stairs much like the ones she had faced in the process of defeating Sombra. There were only about twenty in her way, but each step seemed to take an eternity so much so that as she stepped onto the upper floor, the sun was now looking like it had started to sink in the skyline.
Crossing the floor to her bed, Twilight almost crushed Spike's basket in the process. She almost wouldn't have cared, due the way she was feeling at the moment. She slowly used her magic to pull her covers off her bed, revealing the gray stuffed doll she had been looking for. Twilight moved it up to her face and gave the doll a gentle nuzzle. She then put her fore-hooves around the doll bringing it into a gentle big hug and then collapsed to the floor. Holding the doll tightly, Twilight's tears started to stain the fabric a bit. She shook her head again and regained some of her composure as she stood back up, grasping the doll in her magic as she started to head back down to the front door.
It took Twilight less time than it had taken her to get up the stairs than it did to get down them. Her plummet to the floor had taken more time than she had anticipated though, as there was an orange hue to the sky as she started to head towards Sweet Apple Acres.
Twilight was dashing past many of the mares and stallions she had passed earlier in the day. She had her body and mind focused on reaching the destination. She had to, otherwise she might break down again and without help from one of her friends, she wasn’t sure she wanted to let that happen. She crossed the path past her friends cottage leading her to closer and closer to the farm. Twilight was a bit astonished to find that as she came over one of the hills that here was very little left of the snow that had cluttered the fields when she had left. Winter Wrap Up was almost over with the sun above the horizon threatening to dive below with each tick of her internal clock.
Twilight soon found herself in front of the door to the main farm house of Sweet Apple Acres. She gently brought her hoof to the door, gently knocking. She didn't know what she’d find on the other side of the door but she only hoped it wouldn't be Big Mac. Part of her couldn't face him quite yet; she needed the consolation of a certain orange earth mare at the moment. Twilight's prayers seemed to be answered as an orange mare in a stetson opened the door and said, “Twah-light, How dare you keep mah brother out so late... Hang on a sec, where is that big red moron you've had draped over your shoulder all day?”
“I... I, don't know, Applejack. I do know that he's likely with, with R-Rainbow Dash where ever he is.” It was all Twilight could get out before she slumped on the porch, starting to cry profusely.
“Woah there, sugar cube, Rainbow Dash?! Easy, Twah, now come on. Let’s get you something to eat inside and we can talk about it.” Twilight didn't seem to want to move and remained on the porch whimpering as Applejack started to continue, “ Don't worry, Twah we'll make him set things right. After all he's my brother and I can help him see what's right for him,” said a very upset Applejack.
'Darn it Big Mac, why can't ya just be happy with the first one ya picked. RD ain't no kind of mare for you. Ya aint no pegasus and she needs a flier. Yer setting ya both up for major heartache. Ah'm gonna show that lug nut a thing 'r two when he gets home,' Applejack thought.
@%@%@%@%@%
Most the pegusai who had seen Rainbow Dash fall and the incredible run Big Mac had done to save one of their own. The pegusai there congratulated him on saving her life, many claiming it was the most incredible thing they had seen for a fall save. The pair just smiled, heading past them after a few simple nods and waves going into Ponyville.
Since Twilight had taken over the whole of organizing of Winter Wrap Up, she had decided that in the afternoon there should be activities for those who'd like to unwind after their work. Big Mac and Rainbow Dash decided to start with some a few of the carnival games. Being a slightly competitive pair they tried their luck at water squirting game, where ponies would push one of their back-hooves down on a water pumping device using their fore-hooves to aim a spay nozzle, thus attempting to beat every other pony playing to bring a ball to a certain height before the time limit. Rainbow Dash appeared to have the upper-hoof in this event as applying the right amount of pressure in addition to proper aim was required, while Big Mac found that pressing too hard only seemed to get his sprays on the pony hosting this game.
The second game was a strength test; that the pair of Big Mac and Rainbow Dash came around to, while the sun shifted slowly in the sky. Ponies would kick their back-hooves into a target causing a chain reaction of sending a ball up to a certain height along a track. Rainbow Dash took her turn on this game first, and her attempt brought the ball up to a marker which read “Wonderbolt.” Big Mac watched her attempt with interest and was surprised to see her get the ball up to the third lowest mark, he however would not be deterred from his own attempt kicking the target as hard as he could. He sent the ball skyrocketing up to ring the bell where the marker read “Super Stallion.” The top of the game didn't stop the ball; Big Mac had kicked though sending it flying off the bell to hit the target on the dunk tank. Earning him a round of hoof stomps from the crowd as well as a choice of a prize, Big Mac chose a Spitfire Wonderbolts poster for Rainbow Dash.
The sun had slowly slid across the sky while Big Mac and Rainbow Dash played several of the games set up around the market area. They came up to one last stand as the sky started to change to a glimmering orange hue. The sign on the stand read, “Bottle Topple. 3 balls for 1 bit. 1 Topple = Nothing. 2 Topples = 1 bit. 3 Topples = Grand Prize.” One of the two sales ponies who was running the booth came up to the pair saying in a sing song voice. “Step right on up, everypony! For the most challenging, once in a lifetime game, that you've never seen before.”
“Well you've got that right, brother of mine. No pony, will believe their eyes when they see how simple it looks.” The second sales pony seemed to pick up right where the other left off. With his statements, however he moved to pick up three balls from the counter tossing the first at the bottle pyramid with the number one on them. The entire pyramid fell over as the bottles tumbled to the ground. He tossed a second ball at the second pyramid sending it to the ground like child’s play.
The small crowd waited with baited breath to see if he would knock the third pyramid down. The sales pony drew the final ball tossing it towards the final pyramid, and sent it tumbling to the ground. Reassembling them with his magic the secondary sales pony said, “Now who wants to win a grand prize?”
The whole spiel had taken little under five minutes; Big Mac and Rainbow Dash watched a few other sets of ponies try their luck first. There were only a few who managed to even knock the second pyramid down with all three balls, then Rainbow Dash took her turn sending the first pyramid down with one throw. Her second throw knocked all of the second pyramid down as well while her last ball looked like it hit a solid brick wall rather than a stack of bottles. She couldn't believe it she had thrown the ball just as fast as the others.
Big Mac stepped up and put three bits on the counter wanting nine balls. He grinned a bit and took the first set of balls holding them with care in his fore-hooves, almost judging each ball as he picked them up. He then took his first throw, knocking over the first pyramid like so many before him, following it up with a secondary crash of bottles to the floor. Everypony looked on with anticipation for his third toss. He sent it towards the final row of bottles and sent them crashing to the ground just like the others. Big Mac then proceeded to repeat this process for the remaining three sets of balls. “So, do I get three grand prizes then?”
The pair of yellow unicorn stallions just stared slack jawed and wide eyed at every pyramid that fell to the red earth pony only using their green magic to reassemble them. When he asked about three grand prizes they let out a slight unified gulp before one stated, “W-well, good stallion you would be correct.”
“H-however we only have one grand prize to give,” the second stallion finished.
Big mac heard their statements and said in his slow steady tone, “Well if ya can't uphold your obligations, then Ah think ya should return everypony's money.”
Everypony around the booth who had played the game only to lose nodded in agreement. The unicorn brothers levitated the grand prize to the red earth stallion, then started to pass out bits back to the crowd. Big Mac looked over the grand prize, it was a pair of box seats reserved for the Equestria Games. While the location was to be announced, there were a few reserved seats that were up for grabs before regular seating went on sale which was usually determined by the host city.
Moving away from the booth, Rainbow Dash faced Big Macintosh. “How did you beat the game, Big Mac?” she asked.
“Each ball was weighted differently. So Ah threw the lightest at the first set, and the heaviest at the last set. Which, is likely what they did in their demonstration.” He grinned and gave Rainbow a wink as the pair continued away from the booth both of their stomachs let out a gentle rumble. They both laughed and decided to stop by Sugarcube Corner since it was very close by.
The interior of Sugarcube Corner was alight with the remnants of the the holiday season with several fruit cakes adorning the walls, two for one candy canes, and gingerbread men by the dozen. Pinkie Pie had been waiting for this moment all day after Rainbow had told her about following Big Mac all day. Big Mac and Rainbow Dash were sitting together while Pinkie slowly brought out an hot warm apple pie along with her party cannon. Shooting it off above the pair a banner came out with the confetti plastered to the side of their booth that read, “Mac & Dashie's first pie.”
The pair smiled, so happy to be near each other. Mac letting Dash have the first bite of the pie. Today had been magical even with the routine and boring events of the morning. It seemed a shame that it might have to end with returning to Sweet Apple Acres. After finishing the pie they started to wander back through Ponyville, then the big red stallion had a good idea of how to end the day.
Big Mac beckoned Rainbow Dash to follow him to one of the side fences of Sweet Apple Acres, leading her towards a hilly overlook of the land. He brought her closer and closer to the the orchards before slowly came to a stop on top of a barren hill save for two small memorials and as the sun started to turn the horizon red, he looked into Rainbow’s eyes and said, “Ma, Pa; Ah'd like ya t’ meet my marefriend.”
Rainbow Dash was a bit taken aback by Big Mac's words. They had talked about the loss of their parents on multiple occasions, she never expected that his were still on the farm. She had never really looked at the ground as she flew over the farm. As the two stood there in each others hooves, she spoke, “Big Macintosh, is a very special pony to me and I wouldn't like you to feel like you'd lose your son. I just couldn’t imagine anypony else to be with.”
Big Mac just smiled and kissed her again tenderly. “They said ya'll make a fine apple.” He winked at her before continuing, “Lets just enjoy the sunset.”
Setting in the western sky, the sun transformed the orange atmosphere to red and the more they waited, the more it turned into the blue night sky. The moon slowly starts to climb on it's nightly rounds and, before the pair knew it, they were staring at the dark horizon. Just gently nuzzling close to each other, enjoying the cool of the night their bodies just close to each other. The pair of ponies could have stayed there all night long, however the large red stallion didn't want his new marefriend to sleep on the ground.
The pair of earth stallion and pegasus mare made their way to the main farm house where the lights were off. The big red earth stallion had the well toned sky blue pegasus resting against his back as he slowly opened the door, both were giggling a bit entering the darkened living room. The stallion started to head towards the staircase figuring only one pair of hoof-beats would be less conspicuous.
Only to have the lights clicked on menacingly by an orange mare. “Well, well, well, looks like you two sure made a ball out of the rest of the day and evening,” said the orange mare with her father's stetson just above her brow.
Big Mac just looked over at her and noticed there was a huddled purple mass that could be called a unicorn on the couch where he had called his bed for almost three months. He looked in-between the two then directly at Applejack saying, “AJ, sometimes things happen slowly, other times they happen quickly. We have a lot in common much more than Twilight and Ah do. Ah love Rainbow Dash, and not like a lovesick puppy.”
A purple mass on the couch seemed to groan at the sound of Big Mac's voice saying he loved Rainbow Dash, meanwhile Rainbow Dash climbed down from his back to look up at Big Mac with happy eyes putting a wing along his back gently. He proceeded to move a hoof down to gently hold her with one of his large hoofs around her shoulders.
“How can ya know, ya've only known her about a day. What with ya saving her from a life of eating out of a tube for two weeks. Which Ah say she deserves for trying to break ya and Twi up.” The orange mare was on her hooves and glaring back at her brother for any sign of weakness in his voice or his eyes but he stared back at her just as intently.
“Heh, you'd be wrong there, AJ. Mac and I have been hanging out after his shift a lot since Hearths Warming. Had a whole scorned lover's thing going for a while. But after we got past that we really started to talk about anything and everything. We just really didn't admit it till today that we... loved each other,”said an uncharacteristically lovey-dovey Rainbow Dash.
Applejack shot one of her best friends a look that could kill, stomping her hooves on the floor, “No nuth-ing do-ing. I'm not gonna allow you two to be so pleased about this with Twilight a full train-wreck.”
No pony had noticed it soon, Twilight was raising herself up from the couch like a zompony. Having heard the banter so far she walked just around the backside of Applejack. A certain gray toy now resting on her back, her eyes red and filled with sorrow stating in a slow even tone that seemed to raise with each statement. “ W... was everything you said at Hearths Warming a big lie? Why would you even give me a kiss so deeply and passionately if you didn't love me?! Where was she, when... when... you... were lost that night!?”
Unknown to most of the ponies present the last of Twilight's outbursts had made one mare from upstairs very angry. She hated to be woken up in the middle of the night especially if it was because of her own kin. She could hear the increasing volume of the discussion down starts and slowly made her way to the side of her bed and put her hooves down on it firmly making very little noise.
Big Mac turned his face to Twilight's and spoke in his strong, deep voice. “Miss Sparkle, it was never mah intention to lead you on, however, if today was any indication of our relationship. Ah don't think we would make good partners anymore. It's been three months since Hearths Warming and things just aren't the same as they were when Ah gave ya that gift. We're just too different now just like oil and water.” Big Mac paused, attempting to let it sink in before continuing. “ Just take good care of yer-self and ya will find someone one day.”
His words were solid and comforting; somewhere inside her Twilight felt the truth in them. She didn't know what to say as she stood there the weight of loss now actually hitting her like a cart. It was then that Applejack stepped up putting her face in her brother’s and stomped her hooves on the floor again saying. “No ya don't, Macintosh Apple! You're not getting out of this that easy—”
Applejack was interrupted by the sound of hooves on the stairs and the sight of a green elderly earth mare who had her mane in a net. When she reached the bottom of the steps and shouted. “What, in name of zap apples, is going on here? Somepony, anypony, care to explain what ya'll are hootin' and hollerin' about?!”
The entirety of the room fell silent at the unexpected awakening of the the Apple family matron. She stared around at all the ponies who were still in the living room giving each of them a hard gaze before she spoke again, “Well! Tha cat git yer tongues?”
The group was still quite silent despite the demand for a response. Big Mac had caused a row with his sister over his choice of mare, Rainbow Dash had been trying to allay the concerns of her friends that she had stolen him from Twilight, Twilight had been depressed about realizing that she had missed her opportunity for a relationship with a really strong and smart stallion, and Applejack had been trying to make Big Mac apologize for being a playboy with the hearts of her friends, still none of them could speak.
Just as Granny Smith was about to speak up again demanding an answer, it was Big Macintosh who broke the silence. “Ah'm sorry we woke ya, Granny. Ah was trying ta explain ta mah sister and her unicorn friend. That Ah think Ah've found somepony special to be in mah life. Who likes me for who Ah am and not just what Ah am.” He finished his statements with slowly moving a hoof around Rainbow's neck.
Applejack looked at her brother with murderous intent, but still was unable to say anything as Granny Smith spoke up first again as she brought her spectacles to her face and re-examined the mare who her boy had fancied. “Hmph, Ya'll that loudmouth pegasus who helps ‘round here sometimes?”
“Yes, ma'am. I could help out a lot more, my weather duties leave me a lot of free time,” Rainbow Dash said in a confident tone.
“We'll see come Applebuck season. Macintosh, careful wit' her sometimes pegasi can be trouble. Now why don’t ya and her go get some rest.” Granny said with a smile at her grandson.
Applejack couldn't believe the words coming out of Granny Smith's mouth.“Wait a minute, Granny. That ain't fair. He's gone and brought her into our house, after pledging his love for Twah here.”
“Applejack Apple, Ah'm an old pony. Ah also kno' the difference between being twitterpated, and when a stallion really loves a mare. Iffen yer friend there is any kind of a good mare, she can pick herself up and continue on. Macintosh never once complained about sleeping on the couch, but it won't do him no favors come time we need him most. So you're going to tell him yer sorry, and yer friend is gonna go on home for now.” Granny Smith looked at her eldest granddaughter with a look that would make a timberwolf turn back into twigs.
“Ah'm s-o-r-r-y, big brother,” Applejack said, glancing over to her best friend. “ Twah, ya’ll best go on home. I'll talk to ya tomorrow. I'm sure Spike's waiting for ya.” Applejack lowered her head with a shake, disgruntled and downcast as if nothing made sense anymore.
Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh were already half way up the stairs as Twilight turned her head looking up at him one last time. She had already been forgotten as he was keeping his eyes focused on Rainbow Dash. Twilight had missed her chance with Big Macintosh. She walked home alone to the Golden Oaks Library that night, and no matter how much she didn't want to think about it, one question kept coming back to her: Would anypony ever care for her?
The happy pair of Earth and Pegasus Pony were on the way to Big Mac’s room. Closing the door behind him, Big Mac approached his bed and allowed Rainbow to slide off onto it. Turning back to the door Big Mac locked it, he turned around to climb into the bed, wrapping his hooves around Rainbow. Placing his lips tenderly against hers, Big Mac slid the covers over the dup as they enjoyed the other’s company.
Applejack was tired of lovesick ponies. First Pinkie Pie and now, her brother and Rainbow Dash. After Applejack helped Granny Smith back up to bed, her mind started to wander, keeping her awake in bed. 'Why don't anypony ever seem to like me. Ah'm at least twice if not more hardworking as Rarity. Ah'm just as good if not better looking as Twi. Ah'm at least twice as strong as Rainbow Dash. Ah can out bake Pinkie Pie. Why doesn't some stallion want to spend their life with me?'
While Applejack was brooding on her bed of broken dreams, Twilight Sparkle was walking home in the marginally crisp cool air. The sky was a mix of blues, purples, and blacks with simple stars littering the sky and a waning crescent moon. The road to the library was long and lonely; she let out a deep sigh as she recounted the night. 'Granny Smith had certainly cleared the fog in the room. I'm a proper stand up mare, am I not? I should be after being taught by Princess Celestia. I made my choice and it was foolish to try to take him back after he was so clearly over me.’ Twilight glanced up at the stars, a subtle grin on her face as she found a resolve. ‘I'm going to find the stallion who's just right for me, and I know he'll be the one I want to be with.' Picking up her pace Twilight was back to the library before she knew it.
(#)(#)(#)(#)(#)
The whole of Ponyville seemed to sleep well that night, all except one perturbed orange hued apple farmer who fell asleep to have placid dreams of broken hearts of every mare and every stallion in town at her beck and call. Whereas a red hued apple farmer arose in a foggy dreamland. Standing on a field of white clouds, across the way from him was a light blue Pegasus Pony. Upon noticing her the red earth pony ran across the clouds in her direction. The blue Pegasus ran back to him they came together in a hug and rolled around in the white clouds, looking into the other’s eyes, peppering the other with kisses. As the two held each other in the dream, the serenity suddenly broken. A large bulge appeared in the abdomen of the mare’s stomach. Immediately after the red stallion felt his footing vanish as he plummeted through the clouds. As he fell, he started to call for help. The same blue Pegasus, known as the fastest flier in all of Equestria, attempted to respond. She failed, always a hoof length away.
A wail of denial sounded out through the farmland the next morning and the first thing Big Mac realized was that he was on the floor, groaning. The duo had a unison of dreams and upon composing themselves, they attempted to explain the dream to no avail.
“It was just a dream. We made it through that storm last night, Ah know we can make it through this.”
Big Mac notice Rainbow’s flickering eyes, twitching as tears threatened to spill over her cheeks. He leaned in nuzzling her cheek to reassure her. The words and motion managed to breach her sorrow allowing her return the nuzzle, and attempt to smile. Shortly after making the bed, Big Mac once again propped Rainbow up on his back as they went downstairs just as breakfast was finished. Upon entering the kitchen, all eyes were on them in regards to the shouts earlier.
“One bad dream,” was all he could muster. After a moment he decided to add on. “Time to finish Winter Wrap Up.”
With that everypony there shrugged it off just like the stallion had, save for Applejack who had a subtle grin on her face. The rest of the day went off without a single hitch: The birds had come back to several waiting and ready bird-nests; The lakes and ponds all around Ponyville were no longer icy; The woodland critters who had been hibernating were now all well rested and fed ready begin their own search for food; The planting had gone swimmingly with the readdition of Big Mac. Upon conclusion, Mayor Mare declared the Winter in Ponyville wrapped up on time.
“Winter's wrapped up on time party, everypony!” shouted a very happy Pinkie Pie as she started to bounce her way back to Sugarcube Corner.
Everypony at the assembly seemed to follow everypony's favorite party mare in the hopes of some relaxation after a hard day's work. Only one pony failed to attend the ensuing antics and her absence was only noted by Pinkie Pie who wondered why for a moment before getting a pink pie to the face.
The rest of the party went on for the better part of that evening everpony seemed to enjoy themselves: Spike had managed to get a dance from Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Soarin were ever the happy couple playing party games all night long, and Fluttershy and Twilight entertained themselves discussing proper care of owls. In their own private booth Big Mac and Rainbow Dash had been discussing books; it turned out that they both enjoyed the Daring Do series, and several other adventure/fantasy selections. Rainbow's list was significantly shorter yet Big Mac had managed to encourage her to read some of the other books he liked from the genre. The pair couldn't stop talking or taking a moment here and there for a kiss.
As it got later into the night, Big Mac and Rainbow Dash left Sugarcube Corner together. Before she parted, Rainbow Dash and Big Mac shared a passionate kiss. She hovered off the ground briefly, smiling down at him.
“See ya tomorrow, Mac,”
Big Mac smiled in response, waving goodbye. “You too, Dash.”
His heart soared along with her as he cantered towards his home. Stepping into the old building quietly, Big Mac didn’t so much as step on a creaky floorboard as he entered his room, locking the door behind him. The click of the tumblers the only noise he had made.
Turning the lights on, he surveyed the room to see that nothing was out of place and his sister wasn't secretly hiding under the covers. He unlocked a secret compartment of his desk, pulling out a diary. The book was expertly bound and the pages were made from apple tree paper, the binding worn with age yet still holding together. The front of the diary was on display showing a message in paint: “To our first little Apple; dream big. Love Ma & Pa.”
Big Macintosh took out a pencil, turning the book to a blank page. Although an Earth Pony, he managed to master penmanship.
“Dear Diary, Ma, and Pa, I'm very lucky to be with the athletic cyan pegasus who soars throughout my heart and mind. Right now the future is foggy for both of us. Both of us have big dreams, and I hope they wont keep us apart. I get the feeling everything will be alright as long as we're together though. Always, Macintosh Apple.”
One month had passed since Winter Wrap Up and Ponyville seemed to be going back to that simple calm that everypony loved about it. One thing had certainly changed for two of residents Ponyville who had fallen in love. They never showed it that much but if anypony saw them in the town together, it was easy to tell. They didn't need mushy names for each other, they didn't need excitement and party games; they just needed each other.
The morning air was brisk but not overly so. The early morning twilight was sublime to watch, especially from the room where the pair of Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash had spent the night. He had been very happy to move mostly out of his old room as Granny Smith had suggested and into the master bedroom of the farmhouse just on the nights when Rainbow Dash could stay. It had seen very little use since his parents had been the ones to sleep in that bed.
Rainbow Dash was gently leaning up against him as the sun started to come over the horizon. They had not had a repeat performance of the almost terrifyingly real dream when they had first shared a bed. Having little nuances when they slept, they easily learned to tolerate them. Hers was snoring which Big Mac was all too glad to ignore. His own wasn't something he was proud of yet Rainbow never seemed to mind.
Glancing up, Rainbow smiled at her lover.“I'll likely be gone for the next week. My acceptance to the Wonderbolt Academy is coming today.”
Big Mac smiled back down at her and rubbed his muzzle over hers gently before opening his own mouth, “Ah love ya, Rainbow Dash. Ah’m not gonna tie ya down, so knock'em dead up there.”
Rainbow Dash tossed her hooves around his neck and gave him another big kiss. Parting, she stared into his eyes love-struck. After a few moments, she averted her gaze as the inevitable thoughts came to to light.“I wouldn't be able to without you, now,” she whispered. Glancing back up, her eyes met his once more. “You're always in my heart, Mac.”
“Pa, used to tell me a story that Earth Ponies created rainbows you know.”He said with a wink and smile. Moving towards the bed, he laid out on his back, allowing the Pegasus to rest on his chest. As she did, he put a hoof around her, gently rubbing the crux of her wings as he had many times before. “Said we made 'em promise to always have two sides on earth as a reminder to 'em who gave 'em the Id-ear. Ah don't care how long you're away, Dash, as long as you're still willing to be with me when you're tired of the skies.”
“Ya big lug, trying to make me cry again?” The pair looked into each others eyes and held each other very closer and kissed very deeply again only to be broken by a loud shout from the kitchen.
“Soups on ya, love birds. If ya don't hurry ya'll get none.”To the couple’s surprise, the voice was from Apple Bloom, not Applejack.
~~~~~~~Later~~~~~~~
The middle of day was now underway and waiting underneath Rainbow Dash's cloud mansion was a group of seven friends who were assembled to see if her Rainbow Dash would be accepted into the Wonderbolts Academy. Twilight Sparkle was laying under the umbrella to the far left. Rainbow Dash was standing to the right of Twilight near a table they had set out for a picnic. Rarity was standing to the right of Rainbow Dash wearing her most fashionable sunglasses with a glass of water on the table. Spike was to the right of Rarity and was gently fanning the fashionista and giving the other two a gentle breeze as well. Applejack was laying to the right of Spike and was rolling her eyes at his unyielding devotion to not miss a chance to see her. Fluttershy was the furthest to the right, and was also laying as politely as possible. Pinkie pie on the other hoof was bouncing about nervously and could hardly wait for the news.
She bounced past the group once and then came back, lightly tapping her hooves on the spot. “Ooooooh, I wish the mail pony would just come already. I can't wait another minute to find out if Rainbow Dash got in or not.”
Twilight blinked, chuckling as she spoke, “Pinkie Pie, you're more nervous than Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash waved her hoof dismissively and said, “I'm not nervous at all. When I get into the Wonderbolt Academy—”
Pinkie Pie using her fore-hooves pushed up against Rainbow Dash and started to shake her, saying, “If you get in! If you get in! Don't jinx it.”
Rainbow Dash pushed Pinkie's hooves away gently. “I'm telling you it's in the bag.”
Pinkie Pie came back even harder. “Don't jinx it!”
Applejack took a bite out of her apple, rolling her eyes briefly. “She is th’ best flier in Ponyville.”
Rainbow Dash, flew hastily past Applejack and Fluttershy up to a nearby cloud. Then Rainbow spoke again. “In Ponyville?” Zipping through the skies with her trademark speed and grace, she crafted a slide out of cloud leading towards her friends. “I'm probably the best flier in all of Equestria!” She slid down the soft ramp back first, flapping her wings as she flew upside down, past the group below her. “ I wouldn't be surprised if they just went ahead and made me a Wonderbolt on the first day.” Upon finishing her statement she collided with legs of the mail pony.The red maned male Pegasus pulled out a letter from his bag, addressing the group. “Got a letter here for Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash tore it from the mail pony's hooves and ripped it open. She started to read it, flapping in the air in front of her friends. Her eyes scanned the parchment, a crestfallen expression over taking her face as she averted her eyes, blankly staring towards her friends. “I didn't get in.”
The group gasped, shocked at the revelation. Yet, before they could move to comfort their friend, she turned the paper around and chuckled. “Gotcha!” Her friends sighed in relief, a few of them irritated from the joke. “Heh, you guys are so gullible. Like I wasn’t going to get in.”
Pinkie Pie proceeded to tackle Rainbow Dash out of the air, tumbling on the ground before they were sitting upright, the latter squeezed in a tight hug from the former. “ I'm soooo, happy for you!” Pinkie squealed.
Chuckling, Rainbow weakly coughed in response. “ Uh, Thanks.” Pinkie Pie maintained a bright wide smile as her grip tightened on the rainbow Pegasus.“ Pinkie Pie, I kinda need to get going.”
Pinkie kept her bear hug up for a few moments before she suddenly detached, grinning. “ Ok, I'm done.”
Flexing her wings, Rainbow stretched out after Pinkie’s bone crushing hug before zipping into the air, performing a quick loop.“Sooner I get there. Sooner I get to show 'em my stuff.” Spike and Rarity held up Rainbow Dash's bag, as she dashes by catching it flawlessly on her back. and gets it on her back. Tearing into the skies she gave one final shout; “See you guy's in a week!”
“Good Luck!”the entire group shouted in unison.
“Won't need it!” Rainbow shouted back, the group becoming harder to see the further she left. Her eyes instinctively glanced towards Sweet Apple Acres, one final thought in her mind. 'I'll be back, my love.'
Pulling out a megaphone from her apparently slip-space pocket, Pinkie Pie took a huge breath into her mouth.
“DON'T FORGET TO WRITE!”The ground shook around them from the sheer sound perturbing all present at the scene. Putting the megaphone down Pinkie Pie turns to her friends, unsure.“Do you think she heard me?”
Her friends, momentarily shocked, gently nod in response as the cyan Pegasus vanished into the skies.
