Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, everyone. A huge "thank you" to all of you who are still paying attention to this story, in spite of my unannounced two-month hiatus. Without further ado, have some more story!

Macintosh's gallop slowed to a dejected march when he had put the stadium far behind him. What a fool he had been, reacting like that. He had never realized that he had it in him to hit somepony without a darn good reason. But then, he had never felt jealousy like that. In a rare moment of self-indulgence, Big Macintosh wandered the streets of Canterlot and felt sorry for himself.

With no destination in mind, he was surprised to see that his hooves had carried him to the coffee shop Twilight Sparkle had suggested for their meeting. The lamps on each table threw cheerful light through the windows that made up the majority of the building's front. Mac thought it looked crowded, though he didn't really have a point of reference. At a table towards the back of the open room was a familiar purple unicorn.

The bell above the door gave a jingle as he pushed it open, and Twilight looked up. A smile blossomed on her face when the stallion made his way to her table. "I'm not too early, am I?" he said, taking up a spot across the table from her.

"Of course not, Macintosh," Twilight said. She waved to the unicorn behind the counter, who nodded and levitated a cup of coffee and a saucer over to the table. Mac took a sip and relished the bitterness of the brew.

"How'd he know I take it black?" Mac said.

"Cappie is really great at getting a feel for somepony and what they like," Twilight explained. "I don't know if it's magic or if he's just good at reading ponies, but I've never seen him get it wrong." She sipped her own drink, and an uncomfortable silence fell across the table. Mac looked around, taking in the unfamiliar setting.

Ponies occupied most of the tables; some played cards, some stood by themselves and scribbled away at scrolls, some read books, and some just seemed to be soaking up the ambience. His eyes fell back upon Twilight, who smiled again. He tried to match her expression, but he couldn't manage much enthusiasm. Her smile fell away when his pitiful attempt came to an end.

"Is something the matter?" she said.

Macintosh sighed and took a sip of his coffee. He thought about lying. It would be easy to tell her everything was fine, and he knew she'd drop the subject. He also knew she wouldn't believe him for a heartbeat. "It's a bit of a long story," he said.

"We have plenty of time before I'd expect the others to show up. Applejack and Fluttershy were having a pretty in-depth discussion with the palace groundskeeper when I left, and even Pinkie Pie will take a while eating her way through all the sweets in Canterlot." She giggled at the thought.

"Well… truth be told, Rainbow Dash and I had a bit of a fight," he said, deciding to jump right in.

"Oh no!" Twilight put a hoof to her mouth. "I'm sorry, Big Macintosh. What happened?"

He told her his side of things, leaving nothing out. Not even his out-of-line reaction, tempting as it had been to forget that little detail. "So I ran outta there before it could get worse," he finished, staring at his cooling coffee. "I just thought it'd take more than some flashy Wonderbolt to mess up what Rainbow and me had."

"Well…" Twilight said. There was hesitation in her voice. "I really don't know if it's so bad."

Mac just shook his head. "I appreciate you tryin' to make me feel better, but I know what I saw."

"Is there any chance that it could really just have been a friendly gesture?"

"You didn't see the look on his smug face." Mac drank the rest of his coffee in one long pull. It had cooled more than he liked, and he grimaced a little. "The way he looked at me when I walked in. Like the cat that ate the canary."

"I think it might have just seemed worse than it was because you were upset," she suggested.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he said. Twilight flinched. "Aww, I'm sorry, Twilight. It ain't right of me to go snappin' at you, just 'cause I'm upset." He looked away, guilt on his face.

"It's okay, really," she said. She bit her lip and glanced around. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anypony?" He nodded and she continued. "Before the show started, Dash and I were talking about… well, about you. It was nothing bad!" she said, when he looked up with a jerk. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but Rainbow Dash is scared."

"Her? Scared? Of what?" The thought of Dash being scared of anything didn't mesh in Mac's head.

"Your relationship isn't like anything she's had before," Twilight explained. "She's gone out with other stallions before. Some mares, too, but she told me that it's never gotten so intense so quickly. It's scary for her and she doesn't know what to do, so she's been acting more forward than she might otherwise do. You know, more, um… aggressive." Twilight's cheeks turned red.

Macintosh was about to answer when the bell above the door range. He and Twilight looked towards the door to see a visibly shaking Rainbow Dash in the doorway. "You," she said, jabbing a hoof towards Macintosh. "Outside."

He swallowed hard and glanced at Twilight, who gave him a weak smile, then walked towards Rainbow Dash like a pony on his way to execution. And, he figured, he'd probably deserve it. The pegasus led him around the side of the building and into an alley, then laid into him without ceremony. "What gives you the right to pull a stunt like that?" Mac didn't have an answer, but she didn't wait for one. "Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was? I won't be able to look the Wonderbolts in the eyes ever again!"

She paced back and forth. "And what got into you, hitting Thunderbird like that? The Macintosh I met that night out at Sweet Apple Acres never would have done anything like that." She poked him in the chest with one hoof, hard. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

The jealousy bubbled back up and Mac's mouth was moving before he was aware he had anything to say. "Well excuse me for gettin' upset, seein' some other stallion touchin' you like that," he said. "Maybe I overreacted, but he was way outta line! Look, if you'd rather be with him, I ain't stoppin' you." he said. His voice was thick with emotion.

"It doesn't matter what he does!" Rainbow spun away from him and growled. "It doesn't matter what anypony does but me. Thunderbird can flirt with me all he wants, but that's no reason to get jealous unless you think I'm some gullible little filly just waiting to get swept off her hooves. That's the worst thing about this! Sure, you acted like a jerk, but what really hurts is that you didn't trust me." She groaned in frustration. "This is pointless. I need space."

"Dash, wait," Mac said, but the pegasus took to the sky and vanished before he could get a sentence out. "I'm sorry." The words fell on empty air.

"I guess that didn't go well?" Mac looked up to see Twilight Sparkle standing at the end of the alley. "Sorry, I wasn't listening in. The windows rattled when Rainbow took off, so I thought it might be safe to come see what happened."

"She took off, is what happened," he said, his voice low. Everything had been fine that morning and had fallen apart as the sun dropped to the horizon. Thunder rumbled from somewhere above them, and Mac almost laughed at how appropriate a storm would feel. Something to blow through his life and leave him feeling cold.

"I'm so, so sorry," Twilight said. She walked up to Macintosh and gently pressed against him. The first drops of rain fell on their backs.

"I reckon it'll be okay," he said, though his voice lacked conviction. "No sense worryin' about me."

"Don't be silly," Twilight murmured. She pressed harder into his side for a moment, a pressure as comforting as it was brief.

"It's over, and there ain't no sense in letting it hurt me."

"That's what love does, Macintosh." The words surprised him, and he glanced at Twilight in confusion. Tears rimmed her eyes and mixed with the building rain as it ran down her cheeks. "Sometimes you care for somepony, and it hurts for whatever reason, but that doesn't make it bad. It hurts because it's real. Because good things that don't come to be hurt. You can run from the pain but that just tarnishes what you had. Or what you wish you had." She gave a wistful smile, and Macintosh put it together.

The way she had come out to see if he wanted to talk, after the blow-out between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The crestfallen look she got when he told her he was seeing Dash. The way her smile never arrived quicker than when her eyes found him. Twilight liked him. Her talk of love, and what she wished she had, made sudden sense.

Without a single thought, he leaned down and kissed her. It wasn't deep, or passionate, or long. Twilight pulled back with a sigh after a brief moment. "You didn't mean that," she said. Her voice was sad. "It was nice, but I'm no foal. You're hurt, alone, and I guess it's no real secret that I had a crush on you. Have." She smiled. "I'm not the mare you want to kiss, and we both know it."

Mac's face burned. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over… I don't know why I did that," he said. "I'm so, so sorry. It was a mistake."

Twilight gave a sad laugh. "You don't have to apologize to me. I had thought about what it might be like, kissing you. But it's sort of like you told Rainbow Dash: if you're going to kiss me, it should be because you want to, not because you feel alone and you can tell I want it." She took a few steps away from him. "Now get out of here. Go find the mare you really want to kiss right now." She nodded to the end of the alley and gave him an expectant look.

"I don't deserve a friend like you," he said.

"Friends aren't something you deserve, they're something you earn." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Actually, that could make a good letter to the princess. Now why are you still here? Go after her!"

The rain was pounding down around him as Macintosh ran through the streets of Canterlot. "Rainbow!" He shouted the name at the top of his considerable voice. "Rainbow Dash, where are you? Please, I need to talk to you!"

He stopped to catch his breath under the glow of a streetlight. "Somepony is going to call the guards if you keep on like that," said a voice from above him. He jumped and looked up to see a soaking Rainbow Dash perched on top of the light. She floated to the ground next to him. "What's all the screaming about? I thought I told you I wanted space."

"You were right," he said.

"Huh?"

"You were right about me bein' jealous," he clarified. "I was such an idiot, I never should have assumed anything."

"You're darn right you shouldn't have! Loyalty is kind of my thing, Macintosh. It's my Element of Harmony, for crying out loud. When you get jealous, it's like you're saying that you think I'm not going to stay true to whatever we have here."

"I never thought about it like that," he said. "You've gotta believe me."

She sighed. "Look, if I didn't want to be with you I never would have gotten into anything with you. I'm just asking you to trust me."

The full force of his guilt finally hit Macintosh in his gut. "I do trust you, Dash. But you can't trust me half as much."

She eyed him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

It came out in a rush. "After you flew away, Twilight came out to talk to me, and she was tryin' to make me feel better, and it didn't mean anythin' but I… I kissed her." He expected to catch a hoof across the jaw, but Rainbow Dash only stared at him. "It was stupid – I was stupid. I just felt so damn alone, and hurt, and she was there. I'm sorry. I really, truly am."

"I can't believe you," Rainbow said, her voice soft. "After everything you did out of jealousy, you turn around and kiss my friend?"

"I know, there's no excusin' it. This is all so confusin'."

"It really is. And there really isn't." That was when the sucker punch came. Her hoof caught him on the right side of his face and drove his head to the side. He staggered to keep his balance and felt a twinge in his back that he knew would catch up with him later. "That's for kissing Twilight." Then she put a hoof on either side of his face and pulled him into a kiss. "That's for coming clean."

"I don't understand," he said. His jaw ached, and he figured he'd have a heck of a bruise.

"Don't think for a second that you're in the clear," she said. "I'm pissed, and we're gonna talk more about this." She gave him the first smile he had seen her wear since the show got out. "There's more to trust and loyalty than never messing up. You fessed up. You admitted you were wrong and that you had no excuse. Taking responsibility like that is a good first step down the long road to getting back on my good side." She kissed him again, softly. "Come on, you big idiot, let's go meet up with our friends. You can show me how sorry you are later."

There were a thousand things Macintosh wanted to say as he and Rainbow Dash walked, side by side, back towards the coffee shop. He wanted to apologize over and over again. He wanted to tell her how grateful he was that she'd give him another chance after everything he had done. He wanted to swear up and down that he'd never make another mistake so long as he lived. He wanted to tell her that he cared for her, that he might love her one day, and that he'd always do his best to make her happy.

Instead, he settled on, "Eeyup."

Author's Note

And that's a wrap, everybody. Some of you might be disappointed with this resolution. You might feel like I let you down, and if you do, I'm sorry. But damn it, you all deserved an ending. Thank you so, so much. Seriously. Thank you. Everyone who wrote a review, everyone who added my story to their favorites, and everyone who read two sentences and decided they didn't like my story. It's been an honor and a privilege.

Yours in friendship,

-Quill Inkwell