Big Mcintosh looked around at all the buckets of apples he had filled up. It took quite a while and a significant amount of his energy, but his time out in the orchard was almost done. Though he knew that he wasn’t nearly done working yet.

He hefted all the buckets onto his back, carrying the weight with ease, but struggled to keep the half-dozen bucket stack balanced. Eventually he found his balance and went back to the barn, apples in tow.

It was a quiet, peaceful day of work for Big Mac. With Applejack currently away in Canterlot and Apple Bloom going to Manehattan for the day, that left him with all the chores and responsibilities that needed to be done. It was hard work, but not impossible. And a day to have his thoughts to himself suited him just fine.

Plus, without any prying siblings at home, he could take the time to make some preparations. He didn’t need to buck any more apples for the farm, but this crop was going to serve a different purpose…

“Oooh, big pony working today!”

The sudden new voice made Big Mac jolt in surprise, causing the stack of buckets to nearly topple over. It took a lot of stumbling and wobbling before he was back in balance and could see who had decided to join him on the farm.

“Oops, sorry!” Yona winced with worry. “Is Big Mac ok?”

Big Mac looked up to make sure the stack of buckets was still stable. “Eeyup.”

Yona looked up, seeing the higher buckets wobble and sway. “That a lot of apples! Must weigh a lot…”

“Eeyup…!” He’d have put the buckets down in the barn by now, but since he stopped to chat with Yona, the weight was making his hooves tremble just a little.

“Yona bet it really difficult to carry…”

Big Mac immediately straightened up, brushing his chest and trying to pretend he hadn’t been struggling. “Nope!”

Yona excitedly leaned against the fence, making it creak under her weight. “Really? Wow, apple pony sooooo strong!”

“Feh, you call that strength?”

Seemingly without any sort of prompting, Tirek strolled on the farm with a condescending grin on his face. “I’d hardly call that impressive by any metric.”

Big Mac instinctively took on a defensive stance, letting all the apples and hard work he put into harvesting tumble to the ground.

Yona also became wary at Tirek’s appearance. “What Tirek doing here?”

“I’m free to go wherever I please,” Tirek scoffed. “Anyway, you were prattling on about being strong or whatever?”

“...Eeyup.”

Without asking for permission or forgiveness, Tirek flicked his wrist. Magic shot from between his horns. In seconds, all the apples were back in their barrels and stacked up once more. With one arm, Tirek lifted the stack effortlessly, making a show to yawn and cover his mouth with his other hand. “And you consider this heavy?”

Big Mac responded with a snort as he turned his head upwards.

“What? You’re not impressed?” Tirek raised an eyebrow, dropping all the apples to lean down in front of his face. “You think you can match me in pure power?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said with conviction.

The corner of Tirek’s lip turned up to a smirk. “Very well, I suppose I can use the distraction. Name your game, you little runt.”

Yona felt so conflicted, but her heart was starting to beat faster in her chest.

Big Mac wordlessly walked back into the barn, and came out with a rope, tossing one end at Tirek’s hooves.

Tirek immediately understood, grabbing his end of the rope, using his hoof to draw a line in the dirt. “Rather crude, but effective.” He wrapped the rope around one hand and pulled it taut, confidently folding his other arm behind his back.

Big Mac gripped his end of the rope in his teeth. With his brows furrowed in determination, he started pulling backward.

Tirek felt Big Mac’s effort, but it barely tugged his hand anywhere.

Big Mac’s hooves pressed into the dirt, trying to get any backwards momentum, straining as he clenched his teeth tighter.

As Big Mac grunted with effort, Tirek simply mimed checking his watch. Any sort of pull he felt, he could simply pull his hand back with ease.

Big Mac was sweating. He was already exhausted from work, and now he was pushing his body without any sort of payoff. It would be so humiliating to concede defeat without making a little headway, but what other choice did he have?

Yona was worried for Big Mac. Maybe all he needed was a little bit of encouragement. “Come on! Yona thought big pony strong! Pull, Big Mac, pull!”

Big Mac’s ears perked up. Yona’s words felt revitalizing. Even if he couldn’t win, he could at least try his hardest! With a new spark in his eyes, he started pulling harder.

Tirek was ready to end this farce of a competition right away, when he felt a sudden tug that nearly sent the rope flying out of his hand. He gripped onto the rope, surprised at this new outburst of strength. He found himself now needing to actively pull back with his arm.

“YES! That’s it, Big Mac, PULL! PUUUULL!” Yona cheered, finally seeing more of Big Mac’s strength in action.

Big Mac let out a strained grunt. His muscles were aching, but after kicking up piles of dirt, he managed to take a step backwards. It wasn’t much, but it was progress.

Tirek’s eyes widened when he had to concede some ground and took a step towards the center line. But he was far from upset, he was excited that Big Mac was giving him the challenge. He pulled back harder with the rope, wanting to see if this pony could force him to use both arms.

Big Mac’s eyes shut tight, trying to put his all into pulling and tugging the rope. He could feel himself going backwards step by step, and the mental image of beating Tirek was enough to keep him spurred on.

Tirek was being dragged closer and closer towards the line. But before he got close enough to cross it, he grabbed the rope with his other hand. “Not bad, now let’s see how you fare when I actually try…”

The shift was almost instant. All the progress that Big Mac had made was immediately lost in seconds, and now he was getting dragged to the center. His hooves scrambled into the dirt, trying to regain his ground.

Yona let out a huge gasp. It seemed like Tirek was showcasing his immense physical strength, just like Big Mac. “Go, Big Mac! Give rope heave-ho! Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!”

Big Mac’s muscles were aching, but he still had fight left in him. With one mighty tug, he managed to halt himself and work his way back a little.

Tirek dug his hooves in, trying to lean back as he pulled, feeling some actual strain in his arms from this game.

The two were now seemingly at a stalemate. Neither one making any progress backwards. Seeing the amount of strength on display was making Yona almost as red as the duo pulling.

Though Big Mac and Tirek were exercising an impressive amount of strength, the rope they were using was showing its weakness. The fraying was subtle at first, but the longer the two remained at a stalemate, the frays got bigger and the rope got thinner, until eventually, it snapped, sending the two flying backwards.

As Tirek and Big Mac got back up on their hooves, Yona was breathing just as heavily despite not exerting herself.

Tirek dusted himself off, walking up to his opponent. “Well, I must admit, I didn’t expect that ending. Still, your level of strength is…impressive.”

Big Mac looked up, smiling at Tirek with a bit of respect. “Eeyup.”

“Well, if you’re not too exhausted…” Tirek stacked the empty buckets up-side down, putting his elbow down on the bottom of the barrel. “How about a round two?”

Big Mac met Tirek’s challenge, putting his hoof in Tirek’s hand. “Eeyup!”

Yona watched intently as Big Mac and Tirek went right into the arm wrestling, all three of them trembling.

Author's Note

This chapter was specifically written for one person only.