Chapter 1:The beginning of a dream
Present day
Mac looked around, his vision had become blurred, he could hear the crowd calling his name desperately as the stallion in front of him was looking smug but with every right.
Big Macintosh had earned the chance to fight the Equestrian Boxing Champ, an opportunity that didn't come very often and it had been all but twelve seconds and he was already down. He looked up, his could still fight, he wouldn't give up until he had given everything he had.
"C'MON YA SLACKER GET UP!" shouted Granny Smith from the corner, waking Mac up from his daze.
"FOUR!" shouted the Ref as Mac slowly began to get up,his breath was heavy, his body felt heavy, it was a miracle he was even breathing after he had taken that counter. He had rushed in quickly landing a quick succession of body blows before the Champ managed to dodge one and use Mac's momentum against him landing a powerful hook to his muzzle.
"SIX!" shouted the ref as Mac shakily took his stance. The ref gave Mac a quick look over before stepping back.
"BOX!" he shouted as Mac and the champion lunged forward ready to fight.
* * *
Past(Or the plot if you prefer)
Applejack slowly walked back to Sweet Apple acres with a cart full of apples, recently they had a bit of bad business with a "company" which had promised them a huge turnout and customer satisfaction, while the customers were happy the family had went bankrupt forcing them to raise the prices of their products which in turn turned away most customers excluding rich snobs who would gladly pay the higher prices just to look better than everybody else.
She had considered asking one of friends to borrow some bits but she was taught to earn her way rather than beg for it, a lesson that Granny Smith had reminded her of several times with many tales of the past, each one a bit more lucrative than the last.
She sighed as she walked through the gate and past her brother who was working away as usual, opening the barn door she placed the unsold apples in some specially made barrels to prevent them from rotting or going bad when they weren't being sold or used. She quickly closed the barn door walking towards Big Mac who somehow was still working since she had left a few hours ago.
"Mac, we need to talk." she said quietly as he picked a basket of apples while indicating for her to continue.
"We've not been making a lot of money since the incident and I was thinking that maybe we should...you know try some other jobs." She looked at the ground nervously as Big Mac dropped the basket of apples he was carrying, he had devoted his entire life to the farm and he had expected the same of any other Apple and their farm, he always felt Applejack was different though, most of the Apple family lacked the education that most other ponies had but because of the requirements of running a business and home they usually made up for it with common sense and a sharp eye for cons, cheats and hustlers....well most of the time.
"Look, I know that you would never even consider leaving the farm but you're the oldest, I'm just saying that it wouldn't hurt if we tried to bring money some other way until we can afford to go back to the way things were." she said almost begging for her brother to listen.
"You've always been strange for an Apple, always trying new things, never accepting you limits and never willing ask for help when you need it." said Macintosh chuckling slightly as he put a hoof on his little sister's shoulder. She looked up smiling at him, even though they had their differences they could tell when the other was agreeing with them.
"Thanks Mac." she said as she hugged him.
* * *
The next day
The town hall was always quiet and usually empty when there wasn't some sort of creature, god or deity trying to destroy Ponyville on a daily basis. The clerk however was more than happy with this, more or less getting payed to sit around and do whatever she wanted to do as long as she wasn't caught by the Mayor when she came in and out of office every couple of hours. Her head shot up from the article she was reading about when she heard the door open, worried she might have not noticed the Mayor leave and through some miracle she hadn't noticed her lying about rushed to tidy up her desk.
"Uh, hello?" called out a masculine voice, relieved to see the unfamiliar sight of Big Macintosh walking towards her desk.
"Hi there, how can I help you?" she asked sounding slightly annoyed that she had got all worked up over nothing.
"I'm uh, looking for a job." replied Big Mac looking somewhat confused at the mare's shocked face. Everypony knew that Sweet Apple Acres hadn't been doing as well recently but she would've have never have guessed that it was so bad they'd be looking for new jobs.
"Hmm, well considering you don't have a recognized education, the only things I have available are manual labor but even then their all looking for people have a decent amount of experience in building." She was going a large list as she spoke trying to see if there was anything that would work the for the red stallion in front of her.
"Have you ever thought of teaching?" she said looking at the very bottom of the list.
"I suppose I could try, what would I be teaching?" he asked sounding slightly curious.
"..Physical education." The two looked at each other for a few moments before the silence was broken with the Mayor's office door opening.
"Sweet Stroke, I need you to schedule a meeting with the head of the anti Lu..oh...hello Big Macintosh, can I help you with anything?" she asked, most of the time when an Apple visited it was Applejack requesting to import something or Apple Bloom and her friends being kept an eye on after one of their "Cutie Mark crusades" failed.
"Well, I'm trying to find a job." as with Sweet Stroke, the Mayor was amazed by the fact he was looking for a job. An idea quickly popped into her head as she went back into her office as Sweet Stroke and Big Mac sat in an awkward silence as they listened to her rummage around.
"FOUND IT!" she shouted as she made her way out of her office placing a poster in front of him.
"Boxers wanted....you can't be serious Miss." whispered Sweet Stroke.
"Oh but I am, besides Mac here is strong and he'd stand a good chance." she replied not bothering to whisper.
"So what do you say?" asked the Mayor looking at Mac. He sat and thought about it, sure it would be a good way to earn some bits and he'd hardly get bored but the problem was if he took any permanent damage. He looked at the Mayor who looked at him almost as she was expecting him to say yes.
"..............I'll give it a shot."
***
Author's notes: Hey thanks for giving this a read if you did, if you liked it hit that little track button and save your thumb down or up for later.
