You are my Hero

Big MacIntosh pushed the stairs and climbed up, silently wishing they won't crush under his weight. Again. Once he reached his destination he looked at the whole mess of things that the Apple family had accrued over the years. Boxes full with old clothes, broken toys, used furniture, empty lampshades and padlocked vaults. After looking at all that jumble he could only say one thing.

“Eeeeyup…”

Defeated, he began to sort through the garbage, looking for that old can-opener Granny Smith had insisted on using, despite having a brand new earth pony adjusted one in the kitchen.

He smiled when he found a picture of his family from a few years ago, back when his parents were alive. They took that picture of their sons, the big colt holding the newborn foal while his little sister smiled.

He put the picture away and then noted a big box, sealed with duct tape. He opened it and found a familiar purple costume. After playing that mean prank on Rainbow Dash (Big Mac had understood the reason but didn’t approve of their methods), the girls had explained everything to the Mayor who came up with the story that Mare Do-Well had moved to Manehattan to help the ponies in there, leaving the town in the capable hooves of Rainbow Dash. A lie was a lie, even if it was a white lie, but at least the foals won´t feel betrayed with that story. For what he knew the girls had returned the costumes to Rarity, whose designer heart prevented her from destroying any piece of fabric even the ones she didn’t liked; so he wondered why Applejack had kept hers and lied saying, her costume had burned in an oven related accident.

An idea came to Big Mac, about why her sister may still want to be the masked heroine…

“Eeeenope!”

It was a silly idea. He found the can-opener and went down the stairs.

****

Applejack made sure that nopony had followed her. She opened the door of the barn and then took another look around, just to make sure. Once she had shut the door, she let out the air and smiled. She prepared the stage, placed the record on the player and changed into the costume.

The barn went silent for a moment while the needle just scratched the empty part of the record…

“Oh no, there´s a terrible manticore is threatening Ponyville!”

“Fear not citizens! Mare Do Well is here to save you!”

Mare Do- Well fought against a monster made out of hay and pillows, easily defeating him. She finished too early and had to wait for the record to reach the part of the cheering.

“You saved us, Mare Do Well! You are a hero! Three hoorays for our savior! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!”

In an uncharacteristic moment, Mare Do Well cheered as well, hugging the mannequins dressed as her friends and saluting a cardboard of cheering ponies.

“Ejem!”

Applejack rushed to stop the player and turned back. Coming from behind a pair of boxes, Big MacIntosh was looking somewhat sad.

“B-b-big mac? This isn’t a-ah mean…”

Applejack had removed the hood, almost on the verge of tears.

Big MacIntosh, being the big brother and substitute father he was, slowly approached her and drove her into a tight hug.

“You don't need to do all this.” Applejack looked up at his gentle green eyes. “You are my hero.”

Applejack finally broke in tears and hugged his brother back.

That night, the Mare Do Well costume went to its rightful place. A trash can.

(Personal Note: At first, Applejack was Worst Pony on my list, second only to Fluttershy. But since the producers had completely forgotten about her on season two and some portion of the fandom started to hate her for no reason, she has moved on my list. Now she is almost best pony, second only to Rarity. Show some love for Applejack.)