Big Macintosh gave a final glance at his former home, and wondered if what he was doing was right. Everypony had to leave home at some point, right? And Granny Smith had always taught him to help ponies in need...that's what he was doing, right? Helping other ponies? And yet he just couldn't push that look in Appleblooms eyes out of his head. Those wide eyes that had convinced Twilight Sparkle to stay for brunch when she first arrived; the eyes that had gotten him to go on a second real date with her teacher, miss Cheerilee. Those eyes were a weapon Applebloom had perfected...but Braeburn had perfected it more. He had even gone so far as to include a picture of himself, staring, with those same eyes, in the letter he wrote asking if his ol' pal Big Mac could come to Appleoosa to farm a plot of land that had just opened up. It would be many, many years before Applebloom got as good as Braeburn at guilt-tripping.
The train whistled. In a seemingly distant and far away land, a conductor yelled "All aboard," bringing Big Mac back to reality. There was his old house, in the distance, and here in front of him was his family.
"We're shore gon' miss you, Big Macintosh," Applejack said, giving her big brother a tight hug.
Applebloom eye's teared up. "Are- are- are you sure you cain't stay, jus' a little bit longer big brother?" She pleaded.
"Eyyup," Big Mac replied, bending down and giving his youngest sister an affectionate nuzzle.
"Well? Go on! Git" Granny Smith shouted, trying not to look at her grandson, not daring to show him the tears in her eyes.
Big Macintosh turned and began to walk away from the group.
"Eh, who'm I kiddin'? Come over here and give your ol' Granny a hug, kiddo!" Granny Smith said very suddenly, turning back towards Big Macintosh, who cantered quickly over to her and hugged her.
"Ah'll miss you, Granny," he said, attempting to hide his tears from her.
"Ah'll miss you too, ya big lug. Now be careful, ya hear? Ah've heard them buffalo are a sneaky bunch, and hard to deal with." Big Mac could hear Applejacks sigh of exasperation in the background, and grinned.
"Ah understand, Granny."
"All right then! Now git!" Granny shouted one final time before smacking him with her walker. "Git Ah say!"
Big Macintosh smirked. "All right, Granny. Ah'm a-goin'." He backed away so he could see his family in it's entirety. They waved their final good-byes and Big Mac cantered onto the train.
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His first night on the train, Big Mac cried himself to sleep. He'd never been alone before, and it had only just started to hit him that he wouldn't be seeing his family for a very, very long time. Apple orchards took a long time to grow, and you had to be there every step of the way to make sure they were growing right. Big Mac remembered family reunions where some...maybe half of the family didn't show up because they were settling a new place, and they weren't ready to leave their trees alone yet. That's how it was when Appleoosa first got settled, if he remembered right. They didn't even have a family reunion that year. Big Macintosh wouldn't be seeing his family for a year...maybe two if the pegasi at Cloudsdale weren't able to hold off the winter blizzard.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Big Mac woke up, as did everypony else in the compartment. Probably everypony on the train. Slowly, he stumbled out of his bed and onto the floor. As his overlarge front hooves hit the floor, Big Mac was grateful Granny had made sure he got a bottom bunk. The dents in the floor were bad enough as it is! At the end of the car there was a conductor ushering everypony outside. It must've been two or three o'clock, and the sun hadn't even risen yet. Outside stood the head engineer, about as big as Big Mac himself, with a red scarf and a strange sort of hat on. Big Mac, like many other ponies assumed that the engineer knew what was going on, and headed towards the ever growing circle surrounding him.
"We're very sorry for the disturbing your sleep, everypony," the engineer said in a very pronounced Fillydelphian accent. "but I'm afraid we're not going to make it to Appleoosa."
A buzz of conversation broke out. Not make it to Appleoosa? Why? What were they going to do? Was the train broken? Was it the buffallo? What was going on?
"Quiet!" The engineer shouted over the buzz. "Please!" The crowd silenced. "Thank you. Now I'm afraid the track is...well...it's missing. There was a storm or tornado or some such a couple days ago and it destroyed a very large section of track. I've contacted the nearest station, and they will be sending a letter notifying Ponyville station of our predicament. I have requested they send an engine that can take you all back to Ponyville. If you are absolutely desperate to get to Appleoosa, you may take the Canterlot route, though I believe that would take several weeks."
The muttering continued. This sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen anymore! Near the back, Big Mac looked at the crowd...the muttering, upset ponies around him. He recognized many of them, others he didn't know at all. But they were all upset. None of them could understand how a track could suddenly go missing like that!
"Excuse me," Big Macintosh pushed his way to the front of the crowd, near the conductor and "Ah think ah can help."
The engineer looked at the tall, strong pony skeptically. "The track is gone, friend. How can you possibly help? My team of six isn't strong enough to pull the train across rough terrain. You think you can do better?"
Big Macintosh examined the missing track. It was about 50 feet of rocky terrain. He understood why the draft horses would have trouble...they were used to pulling the train across nice, even train tracks. But Big Mac was a plowpony. Heck, he pulled Berry Punch's house once! The train was a lot bigger though...
"Ah'll need two of your strongest ponies sir. But yes...ah think ah can do better."
"That'd be my seconds, Heave and Tug, I guess." The head engineer said. "If you truly think you can pull the train..."
Big Mac nodded the affirmative
The horse sighed. "All right then." He turned to face two other engineers who looked almost exactly the same as one another. "Heave, Tug! Breaktime's over. This here pony thinks he can pull the train."
"Pony thinks he can what now?" One of the stallions looked up with a smirk on his face.
"Ain't nopony's what can carry this train." The other stallion continued.
Big Macintosh cantered over to the two horses. "Ah can...with yer help." He said.
"You fer real?" The first stallion, who Big Mac assumed was Heave, asked.
Big Mac nodded. "Eyyyyup!"
"All right then!" Tug said. "Let's get goin!"
_________________
Big Macintosh examined the harness the had been strapped to his back. It wasn't to different from the one he used to pull the plow back home...but it still felt weird. The material was wrong. It was clear somepony else used this harness more than he did. It had shaped to another ponies back, and it was weird.
"Hey feller, you ready?" Heave shouted at Big Mac.
Big Mac turned around to look at the engineer. "Eyyyup!"
"All right then, it's your count mister." Tug said.
"Okay." Big Macintosh took his stance, and steeled himself up for the hardest pull of his life. "One...two...pull!"
Together, Heave, Tug, and Big Macintosh began to pull the train. The rest of the engineer team, as well as the passengers looked amused. These three ponies thought they could pull the Appleoosa Locomotive across hard ground all by their selves. And it didn't seem to be working. The train wasn't moving.
But then the wheels started to turn. Slowly at first, but steadily faster. The first car's wheels left the tracks and landed on the ground. Then the second. And the third...the fourth...the fifth! The train started to slow down as the wheels hit uneven and bumpy terrain. Heave and Tug were both sweating harder than they had ever sweat before. Big Macintosh felt some dampness on his brow, but he ignored it. He was a plowhorse. He was used to rough ground.
Screeeeeechhhhhhh. The first wheels of the engine scraped themselves, battered and bruised, onto the track again. The pulling became easier. The screeching started up again, then stopped. The second set. And so it continued, until the whole train was back on the tracks. From his position at the front of the train, Big Macintosh smiled. He had done it. He had pulled a train.