"Supper!" Granny Smith called from the porch. Big Macintosh had been out, bucking apples as always; though he didn't need to be called in, he had already finished the day's work.
Big Macintosh was walking towards the farm-house, coming in from the apple-fields. Granny Smith was standing on the porch, waiting for him.
"Hurry it up slow poke!" She called teasingly as she walked back in to the house.
Big Mac smiled to himself. He got to the porch and opened the door, Applejack and Applbloom were already sitting at the table.
"Hay Mac," Applbloom said when she saw him, she had spent the day with her friends. Cutie Mark Crusaders Mac thought they called themselves.
Mac smiled at her.
"How many trees ye'd get?" Applejack asked,
"More than you," Mac said playfully.
Applejack was about to retort when Granny said. "Don't you two start, Applbloom, help me with the food." Applbloom got up and went to help Granny with dinner.
Applejack and Big Mac went back to their argument once Granny turned her back. "Like heck ye' got more than me," Applejack said in a hushed tone.
"Sure bout' that?" Mac said simply. This was his usual way of winning arguments, just one line and most disputes were over; it made Applejack visibly angry every time he did it, which only made Mac smile.
"Soups on!" Applbloom said, placing a big Apple-casserole on the table. "Dig in!"
Applejack forgot about Macintosh and took a huge piece of casserole, "Starving," she said as she placed it on her plate. Mac got a good sized piece for himself.
"So how was your day Applbloom?" Granny asked,
"Fantastic! First, we tried mountain climbing, then when we got to the top we tried making a map of everything we could see."
"Sounds fun," Granny said, "been wanting to go climbing recently, which mount did y'all climb?"
As Granny and Applbloom continued their conversation, Applejack and Macintosh started one of their own. "Which field ya hit?" Applejack asked.
"North," Mac said,
"How many trees did you buck?" Applejack asked seriously, Mac only smiled. "Oh darn, ain't gonna tell me are ya'?"
"Nope," Mac said. To be honest, Mac hadn't gotten very many trees at all, he was too busy thinking. He was getting worried about Granny. --though he didn't want to mention his worries to anypony just yet-- Granny was getting weaker and weaker by the day. Even if she didn't want to admit it, Mac could tell it was getting harder for her to do everyday tasks. And with Granny's increasing age came Mac's other worries, ones he's had for a lot longer.
"So how was y'alls day?" Granny asked Macintosh and Applejack, snapping Mac out of his thoughts.
"Excellent," Applejack said, "got a lot more of the west field done today, I'd say only bout another weeks worth of bucking and it'll be cleared."
"Perfect!" Granny said.
Granny then looked at Mac, "Good," he said simply.
Applbloom entertained them for the rest of their meal, telling them of her stories with her friends. After they had all finished, Granny asked, "Mac, can you help me with the dishes tonight?"
It was normal for Applbloom to help with the dishes, while Applejack and Macintosh put the animals in the barn. But recently, Mac has helped with the dishes more often. Applbloom looked annoyed at having to get the animals again, but knew better than to argue with Granny Smith. "Eeyep," Mac said in his signature way.
Macintosh brought his, Applejack's, and Applbloom's plates to the sink while they got up and left to get the animals. "Come on you," Applejack said as she and Applbloom left, "we've got to put the cows away tonight." Applbloom sighed and followed Applejack outside.
Macintosh put the plates in the sink as Granny walked up next to him with her plate. Macintosh turned the water on and began washing; Granny pulled a towel out of a drawer next to the sink, prepared to dry what Mac washed.
"Mac," Granny said hesitantly, not in her usual 'I'm old and I don't need your help' kind of way. "Have you thought about our last few conversations?"
Mac nodded in reply. The last few conversations had been about Granny's increasing age.
"Mac," she said, her tone becoming quiet and soft, "you're going to have to take charge once I'm gone. You're going to be the new head of this family. They're going to look to you when they're in trouble. They are going to need you to be more than a big brother."
Macintosh knew all of this of course, he knew he would have to be the leader, the head, the father--once Garrny passed.
"I'm afraid I'm getting worse," Granny continued, "I'm not sure how much longer I have, these old bones are falling out from under me. But I don't want a word of this breathed to Applbloom nor Applejack, understand? I don't want to worry them, they don't need to know."
Macintosh nodded.
"Good, then give me that brush and you go on to bed, long day of Apple-bucking again tomorrow."
Mac gave the brush he had been using to wash the plates to Granny, and headed upstairs into his bedroom. He climbed into bed and shut his eyes, he tried not to think.
The next day went as normal as always, Macintosh got up, ate breakfast, and headed out to the apple-fields. Once he was out there, all alone, he couldn't help but start thinking about his talk with Granny, and about all his talks with her.
Macintosh wasn't ready to take charge, he thought of having to lead his family, and, it scared him. He thought of all the things Applbloom would need, she was still a filly, she still had so much to learn, so much that Macintosh would have to teach her.
And Applejack, she was no doubt catching on to Granny's weakness, just as Macintosh had been for the last few weeks. Applejack was probably worrying plenty on her own. She would probably be angry with him for keeping Granny's condition a secret. But he made a promise to Granny not to tell.
It was too much pressure, Mac couldn't take it, he had thoughts of just running away, not too serious thoughts though. Being in charge, leading a family, that was a lot of work. What if he did it wrong? What if he was no good at teaching Applbloom? It scared him more than he would ever admit.
Macintosh didn't get much Apple-bucking done that day either.
That night, when Macintosh and Granny were doing the dishes again, he expressed some of his fears to her, "But what if I can't? What if I just ruin everything? I don't know the first thing about fillies, what am I supposed to say when, Applbloom asks me a question? And, Applejack's old enough to realize I'm no good at this stuff, what will she say?" He said, staring at his hooves.
Macintosh talked more in those few seconds than he had in the last few months, though Granny was hardly surprised by it.
"Macintosh look at me, you'll do fine, you'll be the best leader this family has ever had, the best father. Applejack won't criticize you, Applbloom will learn from you, you will do fine." Granny said reassuringly.
Mac looked up at Granny, "Yeah, You're right," Mac said, just to stop Granny from worrying; but she wasn't buying it, she stared at the sink thoughtfully, but didn't say anything. More then a minute passed before Mac said, "I'm gonna head up to bed now, Granny."
She seemed to snap out of a daze and looked at Mac, "Sleep tight big-colt, you're gonna need it," she said with a wink. Mac didn't know what she meant by that, but nonetheless, he went up to his room and got in bed.
'I'm gonna mess up, I just know it,' Mac thought to himself once he was in bed. 'What about all those times I messed up before?'
He recalled various memories through his life: Once when Macintosh was barely old enough to buck apple- trees, Granny had asked him to try and make dinner. Granny had been supervising him, but when she left to deal with Applejack's misbehaving, Macintosh had nearly burned the house down by not watching the pan on the stove.
Another time, when Applbloom was just a newborn filly, Macintosh was watching her all alone in one of the barns while his parents were making plans for a new barn. He turned his back on Applbloom to watch the cows, when he turned back around, Applbloom was standing on the edge of one of the water buckets that the cows drank out of. The bucket was plenty big for Applbloom to drown in, and she was still too small to swim. Macintosh quickly ran over and picked her up just as she was about to fall in.
Macintosh worried he would mess up like taut again. What he was going to do about it he had no idea, he had to lead, it was only a matter of time until Granny was gone and there would be nopony left but him to take charge.
Macintosh closed his eyes and tried to sleep, though it took a long time to come.
Macintosh woke up to something small loud and annoying jumping on him, he opened his eyes to see Applbloom bouncing on top of him. "Spending the day with Big Mac, spending the day with Big Mac," she was singing.
Macintosh coming to his sense, had had enough of Applbloom's jumping, he grabbed her and pulled her down to the bed, pinning her there. Macintosh put his mouth to her belly and pressed his lips on it. He blew out, making a fart noise along with tickling Applbloom.
"Ahh, stop no!" Applbloom struggled against Mac's counter attack, but to no avail. Macintosh made sure Applbloom had been sufficiently punished for the crimes she had committed, he then took his head away and stopped blowing on her. Applbloom could barely breath from the tickle-torture, she rolled off the bed and landed with a soft thud as she hit the ground, still giggling.
Macintosh turned his head to see Granny Smith standing in the doorway of his room, the leader of this attack. Macintosh got out of bed and went over to talk to her.
"Hope you don't mind, volunteered you to spend the day with Applbloom." Granny said. Then she leaned in close and said in a hushed tone, "Just watch, you'll be great at this."
Macintosh was thankful for Granny trying to cheer him up, it gave him some confidence about leading. Maybe he won't do so bad, maybe he and Applbloom will have a great day.
'He'll do fine' Granny thought to herself, looking at Macintosh help Applbloom up. 'This'll show him he can take care of this family, it'll do him good.'
"What do you wanna do first?" Applbloom said excitedly, looking up at Big Mac. Macintosh shrugged. "Perfect," Applbloom said, taking Big Mac's hoof and walked him out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the house. Macintosh had no idea where they were going, but knowing Applbloom, he trusted it would be something fun.
Applbloom held Macintosh's hoof all the way to Ponyville, he didn't mind it though. She brought Macintosh to Sugar Cube Corner, they both stepped inside to see Pinkie Pie standing at the front desk.
"Applbloom!" Pinkie shouted excitedly as they walked in, "Ready for your cake?"
"Yep," Applbloom answered with a grin, letting go of Mac's hoof and running up to the desk to get a small white box with a cake inside, that Pinkie had just set down.
Applbloom picked up the box and set it on her back. She turned around to face Mac, he stood there, surprised that Applbloom had taken the time to prepare a cake for her and him. And it obviously showed on his face, "Yep, just for us," Applbloom's said as she walked passed him. Macintosh reached out and grabbed the cake as Applbloom passed and set it on his back, carrying it for her.
"Have fun!" Pinkie said as Mac fallowed Applbloom out of Sugar Cube Corner.
He followed Applbloom back out of Ponyville, he was at a complete loss as to what Applbloom was planning. He followed her up a small hill on the outside of town, overlooking the town on one side, and a huge field on the other. Once atop the hill, Applbloom layed down and patted the ground next to her, inviting Mac to lay there.
Macintosh looked at Applbloom, "This it?" He asked with a huge smile on his face. Sitting atop a hill and eating cake with Applbloom sounded like the perfect way to spend a day.
Macintosh turned his head around to grab the cake off his back, as he did, his head clipped the edge of the box and it fell off his back and landed top down in the dirt, frosting splattered all over the ground.
Mac's eyes shot straight to Applbloom, her face fell in disappointment, then, noticing that Macintosh was looking at her, she seemingly forced a smile. "Oh it's fine," Applbloom said, trying to convince herself as much as she was Big Macintosh.
Mac looked at Applbloom with shame, "I'm so sorry Applbloom--"
"It's okay," She cut Mac off, she looked more confident, she apparently did convince herself, "what matters is that I'm here with you."
Mac smiled, he felt incredibly guilty when he saw Applbloom's face; he wasn't sure wether or not Applbloom truly got over the smashed cake or not, but she clearly didn't want Mac to feel bad about it, so he tried not to.
"C'mon Mac," Applbloom said, inviting him to lay next to her, "we've got a whole day together so let's get started."
Mac smiled and joined Applbloom.
Later that night, after they got home and Applbloom had fallen asleep, Granny came to talk to Mac.
"So? How'd it go?" Granny asked.
"Good," Mac answered.
Granny got a sly smile on her face, even though Mac hadn't said anything, he guessed that she guessed that he was feeling better about being the leader, which was mostly true.
Granny walked away, leaving Mac by himself, Mac walked up the stairs and got into bed. He had really enjoyed his day with Applbloom, and her attitude towards the cake showed Mac that maybe he wouldn't have to do all the leading once Granny was gone.
Mac closed his eyes and fell asleep.
It was less then a month later that Mac stood at Granny's funeral. He was standing over her open coffin, Applejack and Applbloom on either side of him. The service had ended over an hour ago, but the three Apples stayed near Granny. Applbloom's and Applejack's friends had attended, but they left soon after it ended, leaving the Apples to be alone with each other.
Applbloom was curled up on the ground, leaning against Mac's leg. Mac looked down at her, she was so small, so fragile, she looked like no more than a yellow pile of fur. Applejack was standing on the opposite side, she stared emptily at Granny; looking weak, as though she would collapse under her weight at any second.
Mac was looking back and forth from all three of them, deciding what to do next. They all stood there for another ten minutes before Mac took action. He decided to help, he couldn't worry anymore, he had to step up and accept responsibility for his family.
Mac reached out and put one arm around Applejack and pulled her close to him. He picked up Applbloom in the other, holding her close to his chest. None of them said anything.
Mac's arms were beginning to go numb from how hard he was holding his sisters; but he didn't care, he needed to let them know he was there for them.
Mac was bucking apples near the house when he saw Applejack walking up to him out of the corner of his eye, she looked angry. When she was getting close to him she said angrily, "Mac! What do yo think you're doing?!"
"Applejack," Mac said, knowing what the problem was.
"Macintosh you're supposed to be there--"
Macintosh cut Applejack off with a quick hug, "I am here Applejack, you only need to ask."
Applejack started to cry, burying her face in his shoulder. "She's really gone," She said in between sobs.
"I know, I know, but I'm here Applejack." Applejack had been doing this a lot lately, it had been almost a month since the funeral, but she still needed daily comfort from Mac.
Mac had fully accepted the challenge of being in charge of the family. It had been a shock to him in the beginning, but he adjusted and made it work. And he will continue to make it work, until the day that Applejack would have to take over; but until that day, Mac enjoyed this simple moment of holding Applejack.