Big Macintosh wandered through his hometown as the warming rays of the sun illuminated the filth strewn along the sidewalk. Drunk men shambled into the shadows with unfortunate street urchins, while a small handful of ladies tried to score one last trick before they had to go back to their pimps. For a moment Big Macintosh was disgusted, but he quickly realized that it hadn’t changed that much since he left, he’d just started to notice it now. He was glad, however, that he’d agreed with the girls to meet up at the farm after they’d gone back to Fluttershy’s home to unpack and get a quick nap. A voice from behind him, pulled him out of his thoughts and he quickly turned around:
“Hey stranger, wanna party?”
Big Macintosh stopped for a second, as he could barely recognize his old friend Pinkie. Her hair was a pink mess of both curls and straight hair. The clothes were tight and revealing and parts were stained with crusted fluids. Then he noticed the scar. From the corner of her mouth a nasty scar ran over her cheek as a morbid extension of a smile. Finally Big Macintosh mustered the wits to say something:
“Pinkie? Is that you?”
She was stunned and looked both in surprise and terror at him. She stuttered and took a step away from him:
”Big Mac? I...”
Tears formed at the corner of her eyes, she quickly looked around and then ran away from him. He wanted to run after her, but she’d already rounded a corner and had disappeared. A sigh escaped from his lips, as he continued down the street of the town, he once called home.

Big Macintosh finally made it to Sweet Apple Acres around noon and met the girls, who were talking to another old friend of his, Lyra, by the stables. He came to the conclusion that she’d been looking after the horses after he left, probably due to her obsession with the animal. When she noticed him approaching, she angrily marched over and stopped right in front of him. For a long time, she just stared harshly at him, then suddenly, she slapped him hard and precise. Both Twilight and Fluttershy gasped loudly and stepped forward, but Big Macintosh signaled them to stop by raising his hand. Lyra was far from done, she yelled and cried, hugged him and hit him. She finally stopped and simply leaned against him, whispering:
“You have no idea how much you’ve ruined.”
He pulled her close and just embraced her, letting his memories take him back to a time when the farm shone in the sunlight, when his sisters played in the sun and got in the way of his work. The way Apple Bloom cried, when he turned his back on his family and left, and Applejack simply turned away from him and threw her beloved hat in a dusty corner of the house.
He looked down at Lyra and gently asked:
”Where’s my family?”
Lyra took him straight to Granny Smith’s room, he asked the girls to stay outside, so he could have a moment with his family to talk things over. Lyra remained awfully quiet though as Big Macintosh opened the door and walked in.
The room was dark and humid. Granny Smith was sleeping in a bed opposite of the door. Big Macintosh closed the door behind him and looked around, still puzzled, since his sisters were nowhere to be found. Slowly he walked over and sat down next to the bed and took Granny Smith’s hand.
“Granny? Are you awake?”
Before she opened her eyes, Big Macintosh had some time to study her and get an idea of her illness. Her body looked frail and broken, she had never looked that bad before. Her eyes opened slightly and darted around the room for a while and then centered on Big Macintosh.
“Who’s there?”
He moved closer, so she could get a better look at him.
“It’s me. Big Macintosh.”
Her eyes widened with surprise.
“Mac? No, that can’t be. He left for the big city. There’s no way, he’d come back.”
Then her eyes closed again and she went back to sleep. Big Macintosh lowered his head and tried to suppress the overwhelming feeling of sadness.
“I’m so sorry...”
Quietly he left the room and was greeted by Fluttershy and Twilight. They asked him questions he didn’t hear and offered help, he didn’t need. He simply walked right passed them, making his way over to Lyra, who was at the other end of the hall with an old hat in her hands. She looked up at him and carelessly brushed it clean with the back of her hand. He stopped right by her.
“Lyra, tell me where they are.”
She scoffed at him and continued to brush the hat. At that point, Big Macintosh lost his patience. He smacked the hat out of her hands and forced her up against the wall, holding her by the wrists.
“Damn it, Lyra! Where are my sisters?”
The sudden outburst clearly shocked Lyra, but she still managed to reply:
“The old bar. It’s called ‘Flim Flam Fields’.”
“The old bar?” Big Macintosh angrily replied. “We own that bar!”
Lyra simply shook her head and looked away. Big Macintosh released her and stormed out of the door without saying another word. Fluttershy and Twilight quickly came over to check on Lyra, who’d sat down with the hat in her lap.
“You guys have to help him. That bar is the one place, he shouldn’t be.”
After making sure Lyra was okay, the girls quickly went out to find Big Macintosh.

Big Macintosh stood in front of the old bar and surveyed it. He’d heard of the Flim Flam Brothers in Canterlot. Apparently they had tried to mix with the wealthy and proposed business ideas, but their reputation had preceded them. Nobody would deal with them, since they just wanted to scam and hustle people of their money. But it seemed like word hadn’t reached Ponyville in time.
He stepped inside and was met by a couple of odd stares from around the corners of the bar. Unfazed he walked through the bar and sat down by the counter. The barmaid, a tall blonde with her backed turned cheerfully asked:
“What’cha drinkin’, sugarcube?”
“Top Shelf, please?”
The girl stopped and turned around. She sneered right in his face.
“How dare you come back?!”
Big Macintosh was taken aback by the sight of his oldest sister, Applejack, standing in front of him in a tacky dress with blue and white stripes. He tried to remain calm and talk her down.
“AJ, I’m here to make everything right. I heard Granny was ill.”
She slammed her hands down on the counter, which sent an echo through the bar, hushing the buzz of incoherent conversations.
“Aren’t you a bit late?! Get out, Mac!”
By the other end of the bar the name had reached the ear of a petite redhead, who quickly dropped her tray and ran over to her big brother, holding him close.
“Brother, you came back!”
Applejack remained stern and started to yell at her little sister.
“Apple Bloom, get away from him! He’s not staying here.”
This resulted in more yelling back and forth between his sisters, until he finally slammed his hand down on the counter and shouted.
“Now, you girls calm down and let me tell y’all what’s going on.”
The girls gasped and looked surprised at their brother. But before he could get a chance to explain anything, he heard a smug voice from behind him.
“What seems to be the problem out here?”
Big Macintosh turned around and stared straight into the face of Flam, the older brother.
“No problem, mister. I was just wondering why I still hadn’t gotten that glass of Top Shelf cider I ordered a long time ago.”
Flam grudgingly stared at Applejack sent her over to the opposite end of the bar to care for some other customers. He returned his attention to Big Macintosh with a grin.
“I’m sorry about that. We had to hire some local good-for-nothing girls, I’m afraid they’re not properly educated, you know, being from such a small, disgusting hole in the ground as this. I’ll bet you, if it weren’t for us, they’d be working in the streets,” he scoffed. “Not that anybody would want them.”
Flam turned his back to Big Macintosh and reached up to grab a fancy bottle of cider. He grabbed a glass and placed it in front between them on the counter and started pouring.
“So, stranger, what brings you to our fine establishment, because surely you wouldn’t visit this place for any other reason.”
Flam was about to put the bottle back, when he heard Big Macintosh tell him to leave it. He poured another glass for himself and sat down. Big Macintosh guzzled the cider down and filled his glass again. Finally he continued the conversation.
“I’m working and work brought me here.”
Flam laughed heartily and took a big swig of his own glass.
“Some job you got there, it couldn’t have sent you to a worse place. Unless it sent you to our bar.”
Big Macintosh smiled and looked around for a second to make sure his sisters were at a safe distance. Then he took the bottle and drank straight from it, while at the same time keeping an eye on Flam. He then abruptly stood up and looked Flam straight in the eyes.
“Funny you should say that. It actually did.”
With that he swung the bottle against Flam as hard as he could. It shattered against the side of his skull and the impact sent him to the ground. The sound had rippled through bar and some patrons stood up while others were already headed for the door. The other brother, Flim, came running out of a back room and went straight for Big Macintosh. He stopped for a second and yelled:
“Snowflake! We got a heavy hitter here.”
Big Macintosh looked over his shoulder, just in time to catch a glimpse of a huge man in a white suit charging at him, with a loud battle-cry.
Big Macintosh took a quick sidestep and punched the guy right in the gut, leaving him stunned for a while. Adrenaline pumped through his body and the expensive drops of cider started to do a number on his feet and legs. Then he felt a hand grabbing his shoulder from behind. Acting on reflex he spun around and swung his arm against whoever had gotten too close. First when he had hit his target, the blur of adrenaline lifted from his eyes and he saw Apple Bloom lying in front of him, not moving and with a small drop of blood from her cracked lip dancing down her jaw.
He only heard Applejack screaming at the top of her lungs, before he was overpowered and everything turned black.

Author's Note

I hope you'll be okay with the change from 1st person to 3rd person. I'm still working out the way I want to write the story, but I'm pretty sure I'll stick to 3rd person, unless I'm making some sort of "special" chapter.

I'd still love some feedback from you guys. :)

Next up will be a background story for Pinkie Pie! What's the story behind the scar? Why is she in this situation? You'll find out next time on... Equestrian Noir!