The Third Date
By: BBPCoo
It had been a hard day. He had been working on the orchard all day bucking apples from the trees.
"Okay, last one Mac." He thought silently, as he stood up on his fore legs and bucked the tree. All the apples in the tree fell down into the buckets he had arranged in such a fashion that every single apple would be caught in one. He had finally finished bucking his section of the orchard. Now it was time for him to load his buckets of apples into his card and head back to the barn. He had to get these apples to his little sister Applebloom, so that she could clean them up for tomorrow. Tomorrow is Hearts and Hooves day. The apple family is always busy on Hearts and Hooves day. This was due to the abundance of shoppers who wanted to get the best apples in all of Equestria for their very special somepony. He was thinking this as he approached the barn with his apple wagon in tow.
"Hey big brother!" said Applejack, as Big Mac came over the small hill that was in front of the big barn.
"H-How did you finish already?" Asked Big Mac with a look of surprise on his face.
"Ah just finished buckin' all my apples just five minutes ago. Now, how did you not beat me?" Asked Applejack.
"Uh-umm. I’m not sure.” Replied Mac with a slight blush on his face.
"Well okay then Mac! I'll let you unload your buckets and then I'll go help Applebloom clean off all the apples." Said Applejack with a grin of pure pride that she had beaten her older brother, she then walked inside to go help her little sister clean the apples. What she didn't know is that the only reason Mac was late was that he was thinking of his crush, Miss Cheerilee. He now thought back to while he was in the orchard, and how he was thinking of asking Miss Cheerilee to be his special somepony. Mac realized what he was thinking and quickly blocked that thought out of his mind, he needed to unload his wagon.
Soon after he finished unloading all twenty buckets of apples, Mac headed inside. It had been a long day and he needed some rest.
"Hey Mac! You going to hit the hay?" Asked Applejack as Mac walked by the kitchen.
"Eeyup" Mac stated blatantly as he started walking up the stairs to his bedroom.
"Okay, just remember you're taking Applebloom to school tomorrow since I beat you!" Shouted Applejack to her older brother.
"Eeyup." Said Mac, once again.
He had reached the top of the stairs and then turned right toward his bedroom. Once inside he gently kicked the door shut and hopped on his bed. As he did this, the bed made a loud creaking noise and bent down a few inches.
"I shouldn't to that again or else my bed might break." Mac thought to himself. He then snuggled up with his gray doll he had acquired after everypony had fought over it because of Twilight's want it need it spell. Smarty Pants was the only thing he could really talk to about his thoughts. Although he didn't have time to talk with his doll because he was sound asleep within minutes of lying down. After he fell into his deep sleep, Mac found himself in a dream. He dreamed that he was taking his sister Applebloom to school. He was escorting Applebloom to her classroom. It was then that he saw Miss Cheerilee.
"Hi Mac! How's the apple family?" Said Cheerilee.
"Uh we are doing well." Replied Mac with a sheepish grin
"Well that is great!" Exclaimed Cheerilee with a wide smile
"Eeyup"
"Hey Mac, can you come here? I need to talk to you about your sister's grades real quick." Asked Miss Cheerilee
"Sure." Replied Mac in a sure and brave tone.
Mac then slowly walked over to Cheerilee. When he came up next to her, she whispered into his ear
"Mac, would you like to go out for dinner later tonight?"
Mac then blushed and replied in joy
"Eeeeeyup!"
"Hey brother, you need to wake up" Said Applebloom
Mac then turned toward her and looked down at her with a questioning face
"But I'm already awake." said Mac.
"Mac, wake up!" shouted Applebloom
Mac then woke from his slumber in an instant. He then looked around his room with a panicked expression and then saw Applebloom.
"I'm going to be late if we don't leave right now!" Said Applebloom in a saddened tone.
"Nnope!" Replied Mac as he hopped out of his bed, put Applebloom on his back, and jumped down the stairs. He then ran past the kitchen where Applejack was plating pancakes for her sister.
"Wait!" She shouted.
Mac grabbed a plate of two pancakes, tossed syrup on them, and then picked up the plate with his teeth. He then burst outside, gave the pancakes to Applebloom, who was enjoying the expense free ride from big brother, and headed for the school at a full gallop.
When he arrived at the school he was panting like a dog and caked in sweat.
"Alright, get down Applebloom." Said Mac to Applebloom
"Okay." She reluctantly replied as she got down off his back.
He then walked into the school, escorting his little sister to her class.
"This seems familiar." He thought silently to himself.
He then arrived at his sister's classroom, where everypony was settling down into their seats and parents were starting to leave.
"Alright sis, have a good day." He said as he started to turn his back to the classroom, but then, Miss Cheerilee walked into the room.
"Oh, hi Mac! I haven't seen you in awhile!" She said as she saw him starting to leave. Mac then started blushing and got very nervous.
"Uh...um." He stuttered as he was trying to think up a clever excuse as to why he had not been around the school much.
"I've been really busy working on the farm recently. You know, buckin' all those apples so that our customers can buy them." He said to Cheerilee.
"This is really familiar, I think I've done this before, but I know I haven't." Mac thought to himself.
"Oh well that is always good!" She said with a smile on her face.
"Eeyup!" Replied Mac.
"Oh Mac can you come here, we need to discuss Applebloom's grades." Asked Cheerilee in a happy tone.
Mac knew that he had to have done this before. It was all too familiar. He was trying to think of when this might have happened before, when he was then hit with realization. This had happened in his dream the previous night. This made him very nervous that she might ask for him to her special somepony. He was thinking this as he very slowly approached Cheerilee.
"Your sister is doing really well in school, she is getting all A's and B's! This is by far the best I have seen her perform academically." Said Cheerilee to Big Mac.
"Eeyup, she is doing really well." Replied Mac in an unnerved tone.
"Well, whatever you are doing to make this happen, I'm really glad she is doing this well." Said Miss Cheerilee, who was wearing a beautiful smile.
Scootaloo then walked into the classroom and shouted, "Happy Hearts and Hooves day everypony!"
"Scootaloo, you know we are not to be that loud while in a classroom." Said Cheerilee.
Scootaloo then went to sit down with her friends Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.
"Hey guys! Did you see Mac and Cheerilee? It looks like they're actually taking to eachother! Maybe we should convince Mac to ask her out!" Exclaimed Scootaloo as she sat down in her seat.
"That is a great idea." Said Sweetie Belle to Scootaloo. "Hey Applebloom he’s your sister you should do it.
Applebloom then took a few seconds to think this through and see if it would cause any major apocalyptic events. After about thirty seconds of deep thought, she didn't see any problems with this idea, so she called Mac over.
"Mac! Can you come here for a minute, I need help with something?" She asked her older brother.
Mac then cut off his conversation with Cheerilee, and lazily lumbered over to his little sister.
As soon as he was next to her she said, "Mac, it's Hearts and Hooves day! You should ask her out on a date!"
Macintosh had been considering this while in his little conversation with his crush, but he didn't really think he was brave enough. The fact that his little sister thought he could be brave enough to ask Cheerilee out on a date made him nervous. His sister idolized him for many reasons including his bravery. He couldn't let her down like this.
"Uh...umm...are you sure sis?" Asked Mac
"Yeah, why wouldn't she want to go on a date with you? You two clearly both have crushes on each other! I mean, its really obvious because you two always get nervous around each other, and you both get kind of nervous when you two talk!" Said Applebloom to her older brother while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shook their heads in agreement.
"Uh...ummm...fine." Said Mac
Applebloom then ushered her older brother over to Cheerilee who was waiting for everypony to sit down.
"Umm...Cheerilee?" Asked Macintosh
"Yes Mac?" Replied Cheerilee
"Well...umm...today is Hearts and Hooves day, and I was umm...kind of wondering if you might want to go to dinner with me tonight?" Asked Mac in a very nervous and quite voice.
Cheerilee then answered his question in a very excited tone with, "Of course I would want to go to dinner with you Mac! I've been waiting for you to ask me! Oh this is awesome, I'll dress up in my best!"
Mac was surprised at her answer, he thought that she, well he didn't know what she would do. Mac then asked her what time she should pick her up.
"Will you be able to pick me up around seven o'clock?" Asked Cheerilee
"Uh...yeah, I can pick you up at seven." replied Mac
"Okay!" Cheerilee was extremely excited, but that would have to wait because she had other duties to attend to for now.
"I have to start the school day now. I guess I'll see you at seven Mac!" Said Cheerilee in somewhat saddened tone as she waved to Mac, who was waking out the door. She didn't want to teach because she wanted to go on that date that moment, but she had to.
After Mac left he realized what he had just done. He, Big Macintosh, had just asked his crush out on a date. This meant that he had to head home and finish his work for the day early, because he had a date. Mac then started off toward the farm at a full gallop with a very happy smile on his face.
He had just finished buckin' all the apples off the trees in his section of the orchard. Today he finished way before Applejack would. Mac then unloaded his wagon and headed inside, he looked at the clock, which read six thirty p.m. When he saw the clock he was shocked. Mac had thought it was around five o'clock, he thought that he would have plenty of time to get ready. Yet this was not the case. He then quickly headed up the stairs and turned left to go shower. After he showered, he dried off as quickly as possible. He then went to his bedroom, which was across the hall, and picked his simple black tie and then hurried downstairs, and burst outside. He started galloping but then remembered that he had just showered to be clean, so he reduced his gallop to a quick trot.
"Hey, where ya going?" Shouted Applejack as Mac came across a hill.
"I'm on my way to a date! I'll be back later!" Replied Mac as he continued walking at a quick pace.
Later, Mac neared the schoolhouse. He didn't know exactly where Cheerilee lived. He should have found that out before he left. He did however know that she lived in the general vicinity of the schoolhouse. After a few minutes of looking around he spotted her waiting at her door wearing her hair back in a bun. Mac quickly approached her, and when he did, he noticed how cute she looked all dressed up in a simple dress and her hair in that bun.
"Mac, its six thirty." Stated Cheerilee.
"I'm sorry Cheerilee, I had so much work to do and I had to take a shower." Replied Big Macintosh.
"It's fine Mac! I understand that you work on a farm and have loads of jobs to get done, I was actually expecting you to be late this evening." Said Cheerilee to Mac in a respectful manner.
"Oh, okay. Do you have any place you want to go for dinner?" Asked Mac
"Yes, yes I do. I was thinking that we could go to that new fancy restaurant near town hall." Replied Cheerilee
"Sounds good to me!" Said Big Mac in a excited tone.
They soon came to the front doors of the fancy restaurant, to which they entered.
"Table for two?" Asked a waiter.
"Yes please." Cheerilee answered.
"Right this way then." Replied the waiter, who then lead them around the restaurant looking for an empty table. Tonight being Hearts and Hooves day, the restaurant was packed pull of ponies. The waiter finally found a two-seat table in a corner.
"Is this alright for you two?" Asked the waiter, he didn't like disappointing lovely couples on this holiday.
"Yes, this will be fine, thank you sir." Answered Cheerilee.
Mac and Cheerilee then sat down and started talking while looking at the two menus the waiter had given them. The two talked about their day and how they were both busy for quite some time. So much time that the waiter had finally made it back to their table to ask them what they would like to order.
"So, what would you two ponies like for dinner tonight?" Asked the waiter.
"I'll take the hay with applesauce." replied Mac.
"You just can't try something without apples can you Mac?" Said Cheerilee.
"Nnope!" Mac replied to Cheerilee's quesiton.
"What might you want for dinner ma'm?" Asked the waiter, yet again.
"I'll take what my date is having." She said with a little wink to Mac, this made him smile. Big Mac always loved it when Cheerilee made him smile. It was normally hard to get Mac to smile, but Cheerilee could do it with ease. Cheerilee also loved it when he smiled. It added character to Mac and made him look cute.
"Hey Mac, I'm going to be honest, I really don't know what to do or talk about on a dinner date." Said Cheerilee.
"I'm not sure that I know what to do either." Answered Mac.
"Well then...umm...Oh! I know, lets just be honest with each other. Sound good?" Asked Cheerilee.
Mac really liked this idea because they would get chances to know each other better then they already did.
"Eeyup, that sounds like fun." Replied Mac.
"Okay, what is your favorite food?" Asked Cheerilee
Mac then replied, "Well, apples of course!"
Cheerilee then smiled to cover up her embarrassment, how did she not know that based off how he works on an apple farm and how he is a member of the apple family.
"What are your favorite flowers?" Asked Big Mac.
"I really like daisies, I like them because they are simple, that one of the many reasons I like you Mac." Replied Cheerilee with a small smile and a giggle.
Mac blushed, and then went to reply, but the waiter cut him off.
"Here are your meals." Said the waiter, who then presented the couple with their hay and applesauce. Both the mare and the stallion almost immediately started eating their dinner.
"This is amazing! I should really come here more often." Stated Cheerilee.
Mac took note of her comment then ate a spoonful of applesauce and smiled. The applesauce was made from the apples that he had picked earlier that day. One of his many jobs for today was to get a bucket of apples to this restaurant. He was glad that he was able to get this done in time or else the cooks would have to use the apples from two days ago. All this was going through his mind as he ate. Cheerilee was also impressed with the quality of the apples.
"Mac, are these your apples?" She asked.
Mac replied with a simple, "Eeyup."
They then both continued to eat and talk about their feelings toward each other. Sadly for both the mare and stallion, their plates were nearly clean.
"I'll pay for dinner Mac." Said Cheerilee
"No need to do that Cheer, I've got it covered." Replied Mac.
He then put some bits on the table, and then the couple got up and ready to leave. They then both left the restaurant, Mac escorting Cheerilee home like how he took Applebloom to school earlier that morning. They both soon arrived at Cheerilee's house.
"That was really fun Mac. Do you think you’re up for another dinner date this weeked?" She asked.
Mac replied with a simple "Eeyup."
"That's great! How about I come pick you up on Saturday at seven?" Asked Cheerilee.
"Sounds good to me" Mac replied with a very happy tone.
"Well I need to go inside now and grade all these homework assignments from my class." Said Cheerilee with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Okay Cheer, I'll see you around." Said Big Mac as he started to turn around.
"Wait!" Shouted Cheerilee, "Mac...I love you." She said this as she placed a soft kiss upon his cheek. Mac was surprised and froze in place. Cheerilee then giggled and said goodnight to him. Mac then slowly started walking home. He then started gleefully trotting back to his home, Sweet Apple Acres.
