Slow to Realize

Part 1

Rainbow Dash was sitting on a cloud, glaring down at the ponies of Ponyville with jealousy.

Today was the day she hated the most among any other day of the year. Today was the day where everyone who had a special somepony would gather together and do all this romantic crud and tell each other how much they love each other, making all single ponies writhe in jealousy.

Today was Hearts and Hooves Day.

In the past, Rainbow would just spend the day with her friends, just hanging out and not talking about the fact they had no pony to spend the day with. This year, however, it seemed like each one of her friends had found some special pony to spend the entire damn day with.

With a snort of aggravation Rainbow Dash looked down at the town, trying to find somepony or something just as miserable as her today, but, instead, all she was greeted with was the romantic situations of the ponies down below.

She saw Rarity and Fancy Pants walking down the streets together, walking next to each other very closely that they could have been glued together. Suddenly, the pair stopped at the end of the sidewalk. In front of them was a puddle from the storm Rainbow had managed the day before. The pair could easily walk around it with no inconvenience to their date, but Fancy Pants thought differently.

He put his foreleg in front of Rarity and proceeded to take off his jacket and, with a gesture that Rainbow Dash could call idiotic and over the top sappy, placed his jacket over the puddle so Rarity could walk across it without getting her hooves dirty or wet.

Watching how Rarity’s face turned from stunned to utterly beaming with joy as she walked across the puddle filled Rainbow with even greater jealousy. Rarity had a stallion that would sacrifice the clothes off his back literally just to make her life just the smallest bit better. This just earned a growl from the rainbow mane mare as Rarity gave the stallion a kiss on the cheek for his action.

Rainbow took to the air after this, trying to find anyplace other than there to mope about her day. Rainbow’s dark mood was just not because all her friends seemed to have gotten dates for the day, but also because of the fact she actually tried this year to get a stallion to ask her out!

Yes, the tomcolt Rainbow Dash, who always said she was too awesome and cool to need a stallion, was, in fact, lonely. Yes, she had her friends to keep her company, her loyal fan Scootaloo, as well, and even Tank provided some company from to time, but she needed something more at times.

With a sigh, she found another cloud to rest upon to gaze at the love stricken town. She had really tried to get a certain stallion to ask her out, one she had a secret crush on for a while, but no matter what she did the stallion didn’t seem to take notice of her. Why did she have to crush on the most non-talkative pony to ever walk the earth? Yes, she had fallen for her best friend’s older brother Big Macintosh like so many other mares in town.

She didn’t know what made her fall for Big Mac so hard. His strength? Yes, he was the strongest stallion in all of Ponyville, for that case, maybe all of Equestia! The stallion could pull a plow, buck apples and carry barrels of cider all day long and never look tired.

His looks? With all that pulling and bucking, he had a great physique to say the very least. Almost no mare in town, except for his sisters and grandmother, would deny that they had stared at the stallion’s body longer than they should have.

Those piercing green eyes? Those eyes were so unfair, just one look from the stallion could make any mare’s heart skip a beat, it was as if those eyes could look right into one’s soul.

Or was it his loyalty? As the Element of Loyalty, she did look for that in a stallion, and so far she had never seen anyone as loyal as Mac was to his family. He seemed willing to give up everything for the sake of his family, even his personal happiness, if it meant that he could support them.

Rainbow just gave a sigh as she reflected on what she had done to get the stallion’s attention. Weeks prior to this dreaded holiday, she had started to practice her flying above the farm anytime he was out, trying to impress him with her athletic ability or her determination. But anytime she would look down to see if that stallion was watching, he was always working, focusing on the task in front of him than at her.

The only pony to had seemed who notice this was Applejack, who found it quite funny that such a proud mare like Rainbow Dash was trying to impress a simple farmer like her brother. Luckily for Rainbow, she could remind Applejack how she would spend hours baking the perfect pie for a certain Wonderbolt and would blush a shade of red close to her brother’s coat when that certain Wonderbolt told her it was the best pie he had ever had.

Applejack, even though angry, did decide to help Rainbow with her little quest, saying it would be good for Mac to have a serious marefriend. So, for a few nights after that, Rainbow Dash would be invited for dinner and would always be sat next to Big Mac during meals. Dash would always try to make conversation with the stallion, but his limited responses and stoic expression gave the mare little indication if he was interested in her even a little bit. Telling Applejack of her frustrations, the cowpony came up with another idea: to help Big Mac on the farm.

Now Rainbow Dash had helped on the farm before during apple bucking season so she felt she was a pro at it now. That thought was quickly shot down when she had to get up at four in the morning to get to the farm at five just in time to help Mac with his chores. Rainbow let out a groan as she remembered just that first day of work.

She had touched down a few feet away from the barn before slowly making her way over to Big Mac, who was just standing there looking out over the orchard. The sun was just barely shining light upon the world but the rest of the world was still dark and most ponies including herself would still be asleep. Rainbow started to whip the sleep from her eyes trying to remember why she was up so early.

“Mornin,” Mac said to her in his normal draw as he chewed on the piece of wheat in his mouth as he looked in her direction. Even with the limited light it was not hard at all to make out those bright green eyes, they were unfair in Rainbow’s opinion. No stallion should have eyes like his that made a mare heart skip a few beats. She was suddenly glad for how dark it was for it hid her blush.

“Morning Mac,” she replied with a grin trying to sound more awake than she actually was as she trotted towards him. “So what are we doing today? Bucking apples? Fixing the roof? Feeding the pigs?” Rainbow asked trying to sound excited as well but the idea of spending a day working on the farm actually sounded like a form of torture.

“Eeyup,” was the red stallions reply as he started walking towards the open barn door. Rainbow’s expression fell as she watched him walk away.

“Wait, you mean we are doing all of that?!” she shouted in disbelief. There was no way they could get that all done in one day, could they? No all she ever saw him do was plow whenever she was to come over the farm.

“Eeyup, also got to plow the right field, feed the cows, and mend the east fence.” Mac added as he entered the barn. Rainbow stood there in disbelief. She knew that farm work was not exactly easy, but this seemed impossible! She was still standing there when Mac came out with the plow attached and a stack of empty baskets on his back. He saw her expression and gave her a smile.

“Won’t be that bad,” he said as he started to walk past her. “We will do the easy ones before breakfast. How about you get the slop for the pigs out for me?” Mac asked as he started to walk towards the west field to place the plow for later that day. Rainbow just shook her head as she looked out at barn.

“You can do this Rainbow,” she said to herself as she walked over to the barn to find the slop for the pigs. “Just remember, if you impress him he will ask you out,” she said with a smile as she looked at the buckets of slop and gagged on the smell. “Just remember, he’ll ask you out,” she said with a groan as she began to do her chores.

For most of that day, Rainbow didn’t feel like she impressed Mac much or at all. It seemed like no matter what she did, she did it wrong or in a way that would make him laugh at her. Well, not laugh, but gave a soft chuckle that made her blush before showing her how to do the work properly or telling her to take a break.

At first, Rainbow hated the fact that he was making her take breaks as if she was too weak to do the same work he did. Though the breaks did have their advantages because she was able to watch Mac work, which was nothing short of impressive. Without having to perform tricks to hide the fact she was watching him, she could take in the wonderful sight of the stallion working. Being an athlete herself, she was quick to notice how well toned and developed Mac’s muscles were. Every step he took while pulling that plow was nothing more than ‘awesome’ as she would put it.

Rainbow was interrupted of her reflections of the stallion’s working body by the sound of giggling under her cloud. Looking over the side of her cloud, Rainbow could not help but feel her blood boil even more.

Below her, the Egghead, Library Shut In, and all around nerd was on a date! She was walking around with some orange pony she had never seen before, He had a blue mane and the cutie mark of a shield. Twilight seemed to be enjoying her, ‘date’ giggling and laughing at jokes the stallion said. The stallion, however, looked nervous about something because he kept looking over his shoulder. Rainbow followed his line of sight and had to bite her lip to suppress laughter.

Following a small distance away was Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, also on a date. Shining was glaring daggers at the orange stallion, looking for any reason to blast him with magic. Cadence, on the other hoof, looked as though she was trying hard to get her husband to focus on anything else; but when it came to his baby sister ‘Twi,’ nothing could distract him. She had heard that Shining was a bit over protective of Twilight but seeing how the Captain of the Guard was acting now she would have to think he made the orange stallion’s life hell in the guard.

Rainbow could only watch this show for a little while before being reminded that she had no one to spend the day with and, again, took to the air, trying to find somewhere else to lounge about and try not to reflect on a certain red stallion. Again, this became increasingly difficult due to the fact it was still Heart and Hooves Day and everyone was on a date except her. Looking down, she saw a brown stallion walking down the street with a familiar pink mare hoping next to him.

Rainbow didn’t know if Pinkie knew she was on a date but it was clear that Carmel thought she did. He just nodded and listened to the pink mare ramble on about anything she wanted to. The odd combination of the two was something Rainbow Dash couldn't see working out. Carmel was quite, clumsy, forgetful, and really just an unimpressive stallion for a farmer. In fact, compared to Big Mac, it would be comparing a dragon to a flea in strength. Pinkie, on the other hoof, was more random that a school room filled with fillies and colts on a sugar high. How Carmel even asked Pinki on a date was beyond the racer. But Rainbow was reminded of her own situation on how opposites seemed to attract, at least in her case.
She was a racer who was living life at a hundred miles per hour, always looking for a new challenge or thrill to improve her flying. She should be looking for a Pegasus that fit those needs, like a Wonderbolt at least. No, she had fallen head over hooves for Big Mac, a slow, thoughtful, and steady stallion whose only thoughts revolved around farming and family. She gave a sigh of defeat as she took off towards the forest and away from Ponyville. Why was she hanging around in a town that could only remind her how alone she felt that day?

As she flew through the air, her thought thoughts slowly went back to working on the farm with Mac. Even though the work was hard and sometimes seemed impossible, it was all worth it because she got to spend time with Mac, as sappy and stupid as that sounded to the best flyer. Sure, he didn’t talk much, but he did listen to her as she told him about the Wonderbolts, new tricks she was wanting to try, tricks she did try, and the tricks that landed her in the hospital again. The only indication that he was listening to her and not tuning her out like other ponies did when they got tired of hearing about her flying was he was nodding and asking questions. The questions were simple ones such as asking who was in charge of the Wonderbolts, why she tried a trick, or if she could show her a few of the tricks sometime. That last question always sent a flutter through her heart. To have Mac ask her to perform a trick for him was like being asked to perform a trick for the Wonderbolts.

She would always take to the air after he asked and would do the trick as close to perfect as possible with the idea of impressing him. He would watch and nod, saying that it was a neat trick before getting back to work. Though it wasn’t the cheers or complete astonishment she was expecting, such as she gets from Scootaloo, just knowing that Mac was focusing on her and no one else was all she needed.

Once again, Rainbow’s thoughts were ripped from the farm when she heard what sounded like uncontrollable laughter and pleas to stop. Stopping in mid-air she looked around for the source of the laughter, she was high over the Everfree Forest, so it was hard to make out where the noise was coming from. Flying lower and just above the trees, she was able to find the source of the laughter and almost fell out of the air with shock. In a small opening two yellow ponies were chasing one another laughing. One was her best friend in flight school Fluttershy who was red in the face and was laughing harder and louder than she had ever heard her laugh, she was currently running away from another yellow pony who wore a Stetson hat and brown vest and had a feather in his mouth.

“St-stop it Br-Braeburn!” Fluttershy wheezed out as she tried to outrun the Earth Pony. The Earth Pony didn’t stop his attack however as he kept chasing her.

“Why Miss Fluttershy, who would have known you were so ticklish,” he laughed as he got in close and tickled her side with the feather that sent her into a fit of laughter. This sight drove Rainbow Dash almost to the brink of insanity with jealousy. Braeburn was Big Mac’s cousin cousin, who was almost the same in size and strength but more talkative by far. Seeing the two together was almost a hoof to the face seeing that she, like Fluttershy, was was a Pegasus trying to get an Earth Pony but she had succeeded. She had beat Rainbow Dash!

Looking around the small clearing her jealousy grew even more fearsome. There was a blanket set out with a basket and plates of food and two glasses of what looked like cider. The food was all apple themed from apple fries, apple pie, apple fritters, and just plain old apples! It was almost all too painfully obvious that it had been Braeburn who had prepared the picnic for the two.

The sight was too much to bear and with one strong flap of her wings, Rainbow was airborne again and trying to find another place where she could just get away from all the couples who were on amazing dates while she was all alone. She thought about just going home and sleeping the rest of the day, hoping that she could just escape the pain of the day. The only thing that could hurt her there was if the red stallion she had been so hopeful to have spent the day with her appeared in her dreams. Just as she began to change course for her home, a blue blur passed by her.

The blur kept on flying, oblivious that it almost had ran right into her. Rainbow was about to give chance when she saw that blue blur was heading towards Sweet Apple Acres. There were only two blue blurs that ever headed there: herself and Soarin. Soarin was probably racing towards the farm to pick Applejack up for their date as well. She remembered hearing Applejack about how excited she was for her date with the Wonderbolt. That was all she could talk about, even when she knew her friend was suffering because of love issues.

Applejack did try to help Rainbow get Big Mac’s attention. She had told her how she would talk to Big Mac at night trying to pry anything out of him about what he was looking for in a marefriend, if he had his eye on any mares, and trying to turn the conversation towards Rainbow. But with any conversation with the red work pony it was only answered by ‘Eeyup’ or ‘Nope’. Finally, after two weeks of trying to get his attention doing chores, she finally gave up and stopped showing up. It was doubtful that the stallion noticed she was gone.

Watching the blue blur of Soarin disappear, she had to wonder how Soarin even got past Big Mac to ask his sister out. Then again, Mac didn’t get much of a say in the matter, seeing that it was Applejack who had ask, Soarin out the first time and met him at the restaurant so Mac couldn't get his hooves on him. That was when inspiration struck her.

Who said it had to be Mac to ask her out? She was Rainbow Bucking Dash! She wasn’t going to let her life be dictated by a stallion who couldn't tell she was interested. She was going to fly down to that farm and ask him out herself! Then, if he couldn't give her a response better than ‘Eeyup’ or had the nerve to say ‘Nope,’ she was going to tie a rope around his neck and drag him on a bucking date! With this new resolve, she dove into the orchard in search of her prize.

Once in the orchard, she remembered how large it was and that even though he was a bright red pony, it would still be difficult to find him among the trees. She was determined, however and began to speed through the orchard looking for him. She weaved between trees, over hills and fields searching for her target. How hard could it be to find a big red stallion in a field of green? He would stick out like a red apple in a basket of green ones. Laughing at her own little joke, she kept flying and searching.

Rainbow gave out a deep sigh as she looked around the orchard one last time. She had been looking for the giant red stallion for what felt like hours, but he was nowhere to be found. She didn’t know how a stallion as big as him could be hard to find. With a sigh, she spread her wings and looked up at the sky. Maybe she was just destined to spend Hearts and Hooves Day alone. Maybe there wasn’t a Mr. Right for someone like her and that she was going to be the only single pony among her friends. Just as she got ready to flap her wings to take to the sky, the sound of gasping and galloping reached her ears.

Turning around, she was startled to see Big Mac galloping towards her at what looked like his top speed. As he got closer, Rainbow could make out he was wearing a saddlebag and what looked like a bouquet of flowers in his mouth. As he came to a full stop in front of her, she saw that he was sweating profusely and was gasping for breath as he stood there looking at her. The bouquet of flowers in his mouth looked like they were once very beautiful flowers, but now looked more like weeds with most of the petals missing.

“Mac?” she asked looking at the stallion, who was still breathing hard as he sat down in front of her.

“Ah ha-have been lo-loo-looking for y-you,” Mac said between gasps of breath as he placed the flowers on the ground and reached around for his saddlebag and pulled out a heart shaped box. As he turned around, Rainbow felt her heart beating faster as she tried to process what was going on in front of her. The stallion she had been crushing on had been looking for her and was now pulling out gifts for her. As he placed the box down in front of her as well and looked into her eyes with a blush that not even his red coat could mask.

“Ah was looking for you today,” Mac repeated trying not to look directly into Rainbow’s eyes. She noticed that the normally strong and steady stallion was shaking a bit as he tried to form words. He kept looking up at her with his mouth open but closed it and looked away, trying to figure out what to say. “We-well Ah was loo-looking for yea becau-because y-you see Ah wa-wanted to ask yea so-some-something.” Mac stuttered out as he kept shaking like a leaf in a storm and stuttering like a colt.

Rainbow, who was still trying to process what was going on, watched him as he tried to speak. Everything about him was so contrary to what she had seen in him for the last few weeks; heck, this was the most he had talked in the weeks she worked with him. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she just nodded.

“Yea?” she said, her voice higher than normal, and sounding like a filly that was talking to the colt she had a crush on.

“Wo-would yo-you like to go to th-the He-Hearts a-and Hoo-Hooves…” Mac trailed off, mumbling the last few words and looking down at the ground, kicking the dirt with his hoof. Rainbow again stared blankly at the stallion till her brain was able to process everything that had just happened.

He had just asked her to the dance. Big Mac had just asked her to the dance. Big Macintosh the strongest and most loyal pony in Ponyville just asked her, Rainbow Dash, to to the dance! Every year at the end of Heart and Hooves Day there was an annual dance to end the day. A smile crept across her face as she looked at the stallion, who kept looking up at her with his green eyes like a puppy who was expecting to be punished.

“Are you asking me to go to the Hearts and Hooves Day dance with you as your date?” she asked, unable to hide her smile as the stallion just nodded his head yes. At that, Rainbow threw her forelegs around his neck and wrapped him in a tight hug. “Buck yea!” she shouted, hugging him tightly.

She felt Mac stiffen under the hug, obviously not expecting this reaction. Hearing him swallow a lump in his throat. “Re-Really?” he asked, a note of disbelief in his voice. Rainbow looked up into his unnaturally green eyes and nodded.

“Eeyup!” she replied as she let go of his neck, taking a step back, a light blush covering her face. She watched as Mac’s face turned from disbelief to smile then a tooth grin as his eyes widen. The two ponies sat there blushing for a few moments, unable to form words or keep eye contact longer than a few seconds before turning away. Mac looked down at the box and the ‘flowers’ and gave a sigh.

“Ah know you’re not the type of mare thats fer romantic gestures, but Ah thought…” Mac trailed off as he lifted a hoof to the air and just waved in a circle to indicate to the mostly destroyed flowers and the heart shaped box. Rainbow looked them over with a smile as she lifted up the flowers.

“Just fancy weeds,” she said with a grin as she opened up the box. No mare in the right mind would turn down chocolate; it was a secret weakness to most mares that even Rainbow had. She opened the box up only to start laughing at the contents of the box, making the poor stallion hang his head in shame.

The box of chocolates looked as though it was originally very neatly organized, with the different chocolates labeled and organized into a large heart that got smaller and smaller. The box now had heavy dents in it from being tossed around in Mac’s saddle bag and most of the chocolate was melted, since it was in the bag with the sun beating down on it. Rainbow looked up to see the stallion hanging his head in shame and felt a bit guilty that she just laughed at him.

“Thanks Mac,” she said dipping her hoof in the melted chocolate and brought it to her lips. She licked the small portion of chocolate off her hoof before grinning at Mac. “Still tastes good, want a lick?” she laughed holding out her hoof. Mac just blushed harder, unable to hide it behind his red coat.

“U-uh n-no thank you Dash,” he said his eyes darting between her hoof and her eyes nervously. Rainbow just laughed at the expression he had made, knowing full well that such an act might be a bit too much for the simple farmer. She finished the chocolate off her hoof before turning to Mac again.

“So what time do you want to meet at the dance?” she asked smiling as she let the reality of going to the dance with Mac sink in. The idea that they would be going to the dance together was filling her with such excitement that she thought she could perform a double Sonic Rainboom because of it.

“Well, Ah think the gentlecolt thing for me to do is to pick you up and escort you there,” he said with a shy grin as he spoke. This was just another reason why so many mares had a crush on the stallion, he would always think of others needs first before his own and try to act a gentlecolt whenever possible.

“True,” Rainbow said, giving the stallion a mischievous smile. “But I doubt you would be able to get to my cloud house to pick me up,” she reminded him as she watched him. His face fell a bit as he remembered the fact he was stuck to the ground without the help of a potion or spell. Seeing this, Rainbow, on impulse, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, a very un-like Rainbow Dash thing to do. “But it was a sweet thought,” she said after this kiss. A sweet thought? When did she start talking like Rarity?
Big Mac however just grinned from ear to ear after this kiss, his face turning another shade of red deeper. “We-well how about we-we meet at five?” he asked with a few stutters.Obviously, the kiss was building up his confidence, but still did a number on his nerves. Rainbow just nodded as she gave her wings a powerful flap, getting her airborne.

“Sounds good to me, I will see you then...stud,” she added with a laugh before flying home. If Rainbow was to turn around to look at the stallion, she would have seen his face get even redder. But Rainbow was flying without a care in the world. All the weight on her heart of jealousy and anger had been lifted and now she was going on a date with the stallion she had been crushing on for so long. Now all that was left to do was get ready for the date.

Author's Notes:

Part 1 of this little story. Part 2 will be out...hell if I know. The Farmer and the Beast is almost done, just have to fill in some blanks.