The snow lay fresh and powdery upon the land, a quiet, white blanket covering all it touched. All around Ponyville, the wintry blanket brought with it a soft layer of peace and a soft tranquility. Not a creature stirred in this crisp winter scene. All was quiet.
Except at Sweet Apple Acres.
Apple Bloom had been up all night, watching the pegasi push the snow clouds into place. She had been shivering in delight and excitement for the first snow of the year. She loved playing in the powdery stuff, going sledding, building forts and snowponies... she loved it all. Even hockey. A new colt at school, Maple Leaf, had introduced her to the game and she found that she liked it. And when she found out that her big brother had been one of Ponyville's best players, that had settled it.
The youngest Apple sprang out of bed and dashed over to the closet for her signature pink hairbow. She quickly and expertly tied it into place, then ran to the door and threw it open. She raced down the hall, her hooves clattering loudly on the wooden floor, past Granny Smith's room, past Applejack's room, and finally skidding to a stop in front of her big brother's door. She raised a hoof to push it open, a big, excited grin plastered on her muzzle...
Meanwhile...
Big Macintosh had been up for a good hour or so, simply gazing out the window at the picturesque scene on the other side of the glass. He liked winter, it was quiet. There wasn't the hustle and bustle that accompanied the other times of the year. No watering or pruning acres and acres of trees. No tiring hours bucking said trees to harvest the apples that kept the farm afloat. And absolutely no tricky FlimFlam Brothers trying to swindle him and his family out of their livelihood.
Not like he had a problem with those things, save the aforementioned tricky siblings. He actually enjoyed the work that came with owning and operating an orchard like Sweet Apple Acres, it made him who he was. A simple apple farmer. Ain't nothin' wrong with that , he thought with his usual little smile.
He was still thinking about his other favorite season (besides apple season), when he heard scuffling sounds coming from down the hall. Sounds like Bloom's up. It was too quick to be Granny Smith, and too light on their hooves to be Applejack. Besides, AJ's still buckin' lumber, so it's gotta be Bloom., he chuckled to himself. Mac's ear swiveled when the sound got closer, and before he knew it, the clattering of hooves was right outside his door. He quickly dropped onto his side, shutting his eyes and evening his breathing, as though he was still asleep. The two siblings (but mostly Macintosh) played this game every winter when the first snowfall came. Apple Bloom would try to wake him up, and when he would finally stir, they would race downstairs to make breakfast for the other two members of the family.
His little sister shoved the door open and galloped to Macintosh's bedside. "Mac!" she whispered loudly. A pause, then another "Mac!" She stood up on her hind hooves and leaned on the bed, shaking the mattress and trying to jostle her brother awake.
It was all he could do not to crack a grin at their silly game, instead sufficing with a (hopefully believable) grunt. "Wha'?" he muttered, hoping to the Princesses that he actually sounded still half-asleep.
"Mac!" came the loud whisper again. "It's time ta get up, ya lazy bag o' bones! It snowed last night! Come on, get yer carcass outta bed!" Apple Bloom leaped up on the bed, landing next to Macintosh. "Ya said that ya'd teach me more o' them hockey tricks! Now let's get movin'!" She lowered her head against his shoulder and pushed. "Come on, we're burnin' daylight here!"
She'd have better luck pushin' a freight train, he thought with another barely-hidden smile. He was nearly two or three times her weight, but she had determination, he'd admit to that. "Sun ain't even up yet, Bloom. Ah'm bettin' Celestia ain't awake this time o' day," he muttered, seemingly in his sleep. "Go back ta bed, would ya?"
The littlest Apple sibling huffed and stopped headbutting her brother. She stood still for a few moments, planning her next course of action.
She's schemin' up somethin', Macintosh thought. Ah can hear the gears in her lil head turnin'.
He felt the mattress shift as his sister moved back and forth ever so slowly, surely sizing him up for... something. "Well, Ah was gonna do this all civilized-like, but since ya r'fuse ta co-operate..." Bloom drawled, the sneaky smile on her face creeping into her voice.
She wouldn't dare...
Macintosh lay stock-still, the eye that his sister couldn't see wide open as his brain spooled up, trying to prepare for what was surely coming. The mattress shifted as she moved back up toward his head, stopping by his shoulders, and taking in the biggest breath that her lungs could hold.
She would dare.
Bloom suddenly pressed her muzzle to her brother's back, right square between his shoulder blades, and let loose with the biggest, most flatulent raspberry that she could blow.
The vibration ripped up and down Macintosh's back, from the base of his tail to the top of his head, and all points in-between. He jumped up instantly, with a half-laugh, half-yelp of surprise as his littlest sister found one of his two ticklish spots. He leaped up in such a hurry that he vaulted out of bed, his legs tangling in the covers, and up-ending him square on the cold wooden floor. He groaned at the rude awakening.
Looking up at the bed with one eye, he saw his sister poke over the edge of the bed and peer down at him, making sure that he was okay. When she saw that her brother wasn't in pain or any trouble, she snickered, quietly at first, before it turned to a hearty fit of laughter as she rolled on his bed, gasping for air.
Untangling himself, he remained prone on the floor, a plan for revenge already formulated. He looked up at his sister with his usual half-grin. "That wa'n't fair, sis," he pretend-groused.
"All is fair in love and war," was her reply.
"So, it's war, is it? Well, if'n that's the case... th' rules dictate... counter-strike!" Lithe as a jungle cat, despite his massive build, Mac pounced from the floor, landing heavily on the bed next to his sister. Apple Bloom squealed with laughter as she was launched into the air, squealing louder as Macintosh snatched her smoothly from flight, hugging her close to him and giving her a noogie.
Bloom could barely breathe from laughing so hard, trying to plead for Macintosh to stop roughing up her mane. "Ah-ah-ah, Ah give, Ah give, Mac!"
"Ya submit?"
"Yeah, Ah do!"
She was still gasping for air when Mac finally ceased the noogie, but kept her hugged close. "A'right, Ah accept yer surrender." Still holding her, he jumped off the bed, landing sturdily on his other three hooves. He gave her a brotherly nuzzle and set her on the floor. "Lemme jus' get mah collar on quick, then we'll go whip up breakfast. How's that sound?"
"Sounds like a plan, Mac." Apple Bloom ran a hoof over her mane, trying to straighten it a bit after the morning rough-housing session. "So, what were ya thinkin' of fer breakfast?"
"Well," Macintosh drawled, putting a hoof to his mouth and rolling an eye to the ceiling, pretending to be deep in thought. "Ah was kinda thinkin' 'bout... biscuits 'n gravy. Them real buttery biscuits, with th' gravy thick as mud. Maybe some hash browns, topped off with a cinnamon roll 'n a good mug o' coffee."
"Oh, really?" Apple Bloom returned her brother's drawl, "cuz Ah was jus' cravin' a big ol' stack o' pancakes, half drownin' with maple syrup, with the hash browns, a bowl o' fruit, 'n all chased down with some nice cold apple juice."
The eldest Apple sibling lowered his head so he was eye-level with his youngest counterpart, and gave her a smile. "Ah say biscuits 'n gravy."
Bloom returned her brother's smile, "And Ah say pancakes."
"Biscuits 'n gravy."
"Pancakes."
"Biscuits."
"Pancakes."
Macintosh liked these friendly little bickering matches with his sister. They never devolved into anything nasty, just two siblings doing what siblings do. Plus, once the match got started, as long as he kept his head, he could emerge triumphant. Macintosh stood up straight, looking down at his sister, still wearing a smile. "So, yer hungry, are ya?"
Apple Bloom nodded, silently wondering about her brother's question.
He ever-so-slowly turned the littlest bit toward the door. "Well, that's good, cuz ya can... eatmydust!" In a red blur, almost too fast to achieve with his build, Macintosh had turned and bolted for the door.
"Hey!" Bloom yelled after her retreating brother, and she took off in hot pursuit, laughing at the impromptu race. She rounded the corner, and immediately slammed into Macintosh, who had skidded to a halt in the hallway. Looking around him, she saw Applejack standing directly in their path. Her tail was in its usual hairband, but her mane was still flowing loose, and her Stetson was nowhere in sight. She wore a displeased expression on her features.
"What in tarnation are y'all doin', poundin' yer hooves on the floor like a herd o' stampedin' buffalo, when the sun ain't even up yet?!" Applejack demanded of her siblings.
Stepping around Macintosh, Apple Bloom looked up at her sister. "We was jus' headin' t' get some breakfast. Mac wanted t' race, so he could fix up what he wanted."
Applejack fixed her siblings with a steady, somewhat curious look. "A race t' make breakfast, huh?" She looked from one sibling to the other, and back again. For a few moments, she didn't speak, but when she did... "It'll be a tie," she said with certainty.
Mac and Apple Bloom looked at each other, puzzled.
"Yup, a tie," the middle Apple sibling repeated, before slowly beginning to turn, as if she were headed back for her room. Suddenly, a wide grin broke out on her face, and she lightly whapped her two siblings across the muzzles with her tail. "A tie for last place!" she threw over her shoulder as she dashed down the hall, skidding around the corner, Mac and Bloom hot on her trail.
Meanwhile, in Granny Smith's room...
Granny Smith heard the exchange in the hallway. Even though she was half-awake, she had to smile and shake her head. Her grandfoals always were a rowdy, rambunctious bunch around this time. Like the snow does somethin' t' their heads.
"Ah'll tell ya one thing," she muttered to herself, "if'n Ah didn't have such a hitch in mah giddy-up, Ah'd show those three whippersnappers a race." Granny chuckled quietly, and closed her eyes again. "Yep, Ah'd show 'em. If'n this bed wa'n't so warm..."
Zzzz...
Author's Note
Hey, everyone! Red Cap here, and I'm hoping that you enjoyed the first chapter of Mac Frost!
I've had a bit of a headcanon, since Brotherhooves Social, that Macintosh and Apple Bloom rekindled the bond they had in their younger years, and now are closer than ever. And the first snow of the season just seems like a good time of year to be excited for, don't you think? Rough-housing with your brother, blowing raspberries in the ticklish spot on his back, and playfully racing with him and your big sister to make breakfast. Sounds like a Hallmark moment to me.
(Psst, another headcanon of mine- Big Mac is ticklish right between his shoulders. Apple Bloom knows this, and exploits it whenever she can.)
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and continue to like what I'll be (slowly) turning out. Working the full-time graveyard shift does things to you, man.
