Standard disclaimer in which I profess no claim of ownership for any of the following characters, settings, etc.
The light of the setting sun bathed the hills in red and gold, deepening the green leaves and casting long shadows from the trees of Sweet Apple Acres. Big Macintosh gave a languid sigh and smiled. The day had been hot and bright, but it took more than a little heat to give a staunch pony like him pause.
Mac had been plowing fields since the rooster's crow, and he could feel it in his back. He stretched the sore muscles and looked around. Apple Bloom and her little friends were off running through the orchard. "I wonder if those girls are gonna get a cutie mark 'bout trying to earn a cutie mark?" he said to no one in particular.
A faint voice drifted over the farm, accompanied by a ringing triangle. "Soups on, everypony!"
Big Macintosh's smile grew a little wider. Applejack was growing up into a fine young filly, and he was proud as all get out. He slipped back into the plow harness and pulled it back to the barn. His legs ached in a great way. Nothing satisfied him quite like a hard day's work.
As if on cue, his stomach rumbled. "Nothin' works up an appetite like it, neither," he said.
"You talking to yourself again, big brother?" He turned to find Applejack poking her head into the barn.
"Eeyup," he said. He didn't see any reason to elaborate further.
"Well, quit gabbin' at the air and come inside," she told him before vanishing back around the barn door.
"Be right in, little sis," he said. He took a deep breath of the barn air, savoring the smells of hay, wood, and metal tools. The best smell on earth. Then he turned and walked up to the house to join his family for dinner.
Tired as he was, Big Macintosh couldn't seem to get to sleep. Something had him on edge and, no matter how he tried, he couldn't seem to find a comfortable position in his bed. The moon was high in the sky when he picked his way carefully through the sleeping home of the Apple Family and stepped out into the night air.
The cool breeze lifted his spirits immediately. Whatever was bugging him, he was sure it wasn't anything a good, long walk through the apple trees couldn't fix. He picked a meandering route and started putting one hoof in front of the other. There was nothing in the world like feeling the dirt beneath him.
Sweet Apple Acres was quiet at night, and Big Macintosh liked it that way. He could breathe in the silence and let his brain scratch at whatever was keeping him awake. He pondered it. It felt almost like he was… homesick, or something. But that was ridiculous – his home was behind him, filled to bursting with ponies he loved. He missed Applejack sometimes, when she was off running about, but he was happy Applejack had such good friends. Still, a brother was allowed to miss his little sister now and again.
His reverie was broken when he heard a noise in one of the trees. Leaves rustling, the creak of a branch. He tensed up. Nobody went sneaking through his orchard at night without answering to him. "Who's out there? I'm warnin' you, if you're lookin' to steal some apples, you'd best get on outta here before it gets ugly," he called into the orchard. He didn't raise his voice much, but he never had to. When he spoke, ponies heard him.
Then he heard a branch snap just above his head and had enough time to look up in surprise before a falling shape knocked him to the ground, crying out in a high, squeaky voice the whole time. He shook his head clear and looked around to find a Pegasus pony in a heap in front of him.
He felt his mouth go dry as he took her in. He had seen her around town before, of course, but not like this. The moonlight painted stripes on her light blue coat, the rest darkened by shadow. The bright colors in her tail and mane were subdued by the low light, and made all the more beautiful for it.
He shook himself. Heck, that was Applejack's friend Rainbow Dash he was thinking about! He felt a blush creeping up the back of his neck and was thankful that it probably wouldn't show through his crimson coat. "S'that you, Miss Rainbow?" he said, keeping his voice level.
She laughed and pulled herself to her hooves. "Yeah, it's me," she said. "Sorry for the rough landing, Big Macintosh." She gave him a sheepish grin.
"Weren't nothin'," he said, and tried to rise. Pain seared across his back and he grimaced. He hoped in vain that Rainbow Dash wouldn't notice.
"Oh man, are you okay?" She was at his side in an instant, helping him to a standing position. He gritted his teeth against the pain as he stood, but managed to hold himself up.
"Reckon I pulled something," he said. He worked the muscles in his back and felt them scream in protest. His knees almost buckled, but he tried not to show it. "Yeah, shouldn't be too bad."
"Road apples," Rainbow Dash said back. "You look like a heavy breeze could knock you over."
His blush came back in full force. "I've had worse."
"Well I'm not going to let you tough this out, not when it's my fault."
"You don't need to blame yourself," he said, and gave her his usual half-smile.
"But… but it really is my fault," Rainbow Dash replied, looking down. Big Macintosh had never seen her look quite so vulnerable.
"Just what were you doin', lurkin' in the trees so late at night. It must be close to midnight," he said. He was darn curious, now that he thought about it.
"Oh that," she said with a weak chuckle. "Yeah, I, uh… I bet Applejack that there would be a… um… rainbow apple! Yeah, that's it, a rainbow apple out here in the trees so I…" she trailed off with another uncomfortable laugh.
"You were out here to paint an apple?" He fought to keep a straight face. The way those two competed with one another made him laugh, but he wanted to give her a stern face. "Well, don't you worry 'bout it. Just don't go cheatin', you hear?"
"Now you listen to me, Mac," she said, shoving her face in his. He froze. "It's 'cause of me you got hurt, so I'm gonna help you get better. Now you're coming with me, and that's the end of the discussion."
He swallowed. "Uhh, yes ma'am, Miss Rainbow." The moonlight in her lavender eyes was hypnotizing him. In that moment, he would have done anything she asked. He'd follow her to the ends of the earth, or into a dragon's lair. He'd help her with her stunts, congratulate her whether they were good or not, go back home with her and nuzzle up by a fire with mugs of cocoa…
"Did you hear me?" Rainbow Dash's voice derailed that train of thought before he could start thinking thoughts a gentlecolt didn't think about his little sister's friends.
"Sorry, guess I was a mite distracted," he apologized.
"I said, 'Cut it out with the Miss Rainbow stuff.' Just call me Rainbow, or Dash, or whatever."
"Sure thing, Mi- uhh, sure thing, Dash," he said.
"Now let's go already. It's sort of a long hike, but it's totally worth it. This is the most awesome place in all of Ponyville."
"Where're we goin', exactly?"
"You'll see when we get there. I don't wanna ruin the surprise." She pressed her flank against his and helped him hobble forward. Her wings felt impossibly soft, the feathers silken against his side.
He scolded himself. Sure, he was only a couple years older than Applejack and her friends, but he still didn't feel right fawning over a filly like Rainbow Dash. She was going on about something, but Macintosh didn't really absorb any of it. He just let the sound of her voice flow over and through him as she helped him hobble off towards the woods beyond the orchard.
They walked for the better part of an hour, each halting step sending a new wave of pain through his back. He hoped he wasn't making it worse, but figured that if it was really so bad then he wouldn't be able to walk with it at all. The trees grew tall and dark around them, but Rainbow Dash led him with the confidence of a pony who had done this plenty of times before.
Eventually, they came to a clearing set against a small hill. There was a pile of boulders against the earth wall and at their base, he saw a pool. The water moved gently, but he couldn't see any sort of stream lending it current. "What's this place?" he said.
"It's a hot spring. I saw it from above when we were bringing birds back during the Winter Wrap-Up," she said. "Take a dip in there and it'll get the pain right out of your back." She flashed a wicked grin. "I come here to celebrate after I finish a race."
"Don't you mean 'win a race'?" he said. He thought he knew where this was going, and smiled when she proved him right.
"For me, it's the same thing." She flew up into the air, gave a holler, and let herself fall into the pool. Water splashed over Big Macintosh, a welcome heat against the night air.
He laughed at her carefree antics. The filly loved to have fun, and she was darn good at it. He limped over to the pool's edge and lowered himself into it. The water was shallow enough that he could sit down and still keep his head above water.
It was heavenly. The warmth seeped through his skin and relaxed his muscles, soothing the pain in his back. He noticed half-a-dozen smaller aches that hadn't even registered until they were gone. "That is good," he said, stretching the last word.
"Isn't it just the best?" She backstroked her way over to him, wings spread languidly around her. She gave him an impish upside-down smile. "Hey, I just realized, but we've never really hung out."
"I suppose not," he agreed.
"Why is that?"
"Well," he drawled. "I suppose it's because I'm usually workin' the farm while you're off gettin' my little sister into trouble." He surprised her, and himself, when he splashed a little water into her face.
She spluttered and righted herself. "Ohh, so that's how we're gonna play it, is it?" she said, and splashed him back. He chuckled and gave her another, bigger splash. She started to giggle, and their water fight continued. She used her wings to send a wave crashing over his head and he came back up, laughing and shaking the water out of his mane.
His laugh faded away when he realized how close she had gotten while he was disoriented. "I never noticed before, but you've got freckles." Her eyes were trained on the dots just below his own. The water had plastered her rainbow mane to her skin. It almost seemed to be running like water itself, the way the strands fell down around her face. "They're cute."
She sounded like she was as surprised to be saying it as he was to hear it. "Uhh, thanks, Rainbow," he said softly. She stayed close to his face, her eyes flicking up and down and left and right, as if taking in everything for the first time. He could saw something in those eyes he had never seen on her before: hesitation.
Then, as suddenly as the encounter had begun, it was over. The spell broken, she moved to sit beside him. She barely sat high enough in the water to breathe. "Um… how's your back?" she said, not looking at him.
He moved experimentally. The heat had done wonders, and it barely hurt. "Nothing a good night's rest won't fix. Speakin' of which, it's later than I care to think 'bout."
"Yeah, I guess we should head back, huh?"
"Eeyup."
(I know that seems like an ending, but I'm not done with this story just yet. Stay tuned for more!)