Big McIntosh was nothing if not a hard worker. He'd had to be, ever since his parents had passed on leaving an extensive family orchard and farm to him, his Granny, and his little sisters. There was just so much work to be done – apple trees to tend to and protect from pests; equipment and fences and buildings to repair; animals to feed; crops to grow and harvest for the family's personal use; and of course later in the year there'd be apple products to make, store, and sell. It was a lot for four people to handle, especially since three of them were teenagers and one was an old woman who made it a point to work part-time as a lunch lady at their high school (Granny Smith claimed it was because the food would be inedible otherwise, but Big Mac figured it was because she wanted to keep an eye on her grandchildren).

Luckily, Big Mac was good at – and loved to do – all of it. He'd known that running the farm and orchard was his calling since he was young, and now that he'd graduated from high school he aimed to do just that. Applejack was sure to join him once she graduated next year, and as for Apple Bloom... Well, Big Mac figured she'd wanna go off to college and do something else with her life, or maybe come back here with some fancy-pants new farming techniques that would make Sweet Apple Acres run a little bit smoother. It was hard for him to predict what his curious and energetic youngest sister was gonna do most of the time.

Speaking of Apple Bloom...

“Big brother, can I ask you a question?”

Big McIntosh looked up from the tractor engine he was in the middle of fixing to see his littlest sister standing next to him, a finger on her lip and her face scrunched up in thought. “Err, actually, I guess this is more like a... favor?” she corrected, looking at him with a rather forced sweet smile.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac answered plainly, continuing to work on the engine as he listened to his sister's request.

“Right, so,” Apple Bloom said, “I was wonderin' if, maybe, after all the chores are good an' done, you'd mind drivin' me and the girls around the city for a couple of hours this Saturday.”

He should've figured it would have something to do with her friends; even during summer vacation the 'Crusaders' were just as inseparable as they'd always been. He never understood what, exactly, they were supposed to be 'crusading' for; it seemed to change with each scheme they cooked up. But he figured it all boiled down to them wanting to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives, and that could hardly be a bad thing. In a general sense, at least.

Still, Apple Bloom had never asked him to be their driver before, and while he did like spending time with her it was suspicious enough to warrant some pressing. So he looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“It's not for somethin' bad, I promise!” Apple Bloom said immediately. “It's just, well,” she looked away and started to squirm a little in guilt, “with that Mare-Do-Well woman runnin' around, Sweetie Belle an' Scootaloo an' I thought that maybe we could try bein' heroes too!”

Big Mac stood up straight, his eyes still on his sister. Even with school out he'd heard more than enough of that mysterious costumed crime fighter, from the talk on the news, to Granny complaining about the talk on the news, to Applejack complaining about how her friend Rainbow Dash and some other girl named Trixie had become completely obsessed with her in two completely different and completely annoying ways. As far as he was concerned it was some city problem, and as long as the Mare-Do-Well stayed away from the farm he didn't much care what happened with her.

But he did care about what happened to Apple Bloom, and that included making sure she didn't do something reckless like try and emulate some vigilante. So he put his hands on his hips, and gave her a stern stare.

“We're not gonna do anything reckless!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “We just wanted to, y'know, go around doin' good deeds and helpin' people and stuff. We ain't gonna try an' take down any criminals.”

You won't seek 'em out, Big Mac thought to himself, but that don't mean you won't try to do something if one turns up.

“Look, Big McIntosh,” Apple Bloom said, “I know this is a lot to ask. But I swear we're gonna stay outta trouble, and we're not gonna drag you into nothin' either. Heck, if it weren't for the fact that the city's awful big and none of us are allowed to drive on our own yet, I wouldn't even be askin' you!”

Big Mac raised his eyebrow again.

“Eheheh,” Apple Bloom laughed sheepishly, “I still woulda told you we were goin'?”

Big Mac rolled his eyes and returned to fixing the tractor engine.

“Aww, c'mon big brother, don't be like that!” Apple Bloom said, lightly grabbing Big Mac's arm. “I know this could end up with a whole heapa trouble, but this is somethin' me an' the girls really think we should be doin'! An' besides, since you'd be the one drivin' us you could just take us away if somethin' bad happens!”

This got Big Mac's attention. He reckoned Apple Bloom would still find a way to sneak out and join her friends no matter what he, Applejack, or Granny Smith said, and he'd certainly feel better if someone were there to keep an eye on them. Plus he had been meaning to make a trip to the hardware store to buy some more nails and a few other things, and this would be a good opportunity to do just that...

Seeing her big brother start to think, Apple Bloom looked up at him with big doe-eyes. “Plllleeeease?” she pleaded, her hands clasped together. “Say you'll drive me an' the girls?”

Big Mac took one look at her and looked away, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. If he was being honest with himself, he really did want to spend more time with his littlest sister and make her happy.

“Eeyup.”

He was nothing if not a good brother, after all.

Author's Notes:

A nice little scene between two characters that don't really get any focus in the movies. Though I do question why they made the human versions of the CMC so... old. They really seem like they ought to be, like, 5th or 6th graders, not 9th graders. Them being 15-16 years old is just weird to me, and makes them kinda hard to work with at times. But oh well.

This storyline is loosely continued in Consider it Done, and more directly in Synchrony.