Author: TotalOverflow
Description: Big Macintosh seems like a simple pony who keeps to himself and doesn't say much, but there's more going on beneath the surface of this red stallion than it would seem at first glance. After his family urges him to go and make some friends in town, Big Macintosh finds himself meeting interesting ponies and discovering a whole world outside of his farm. But even with these new experiences, old memories and ghosts from the past resurface to haunt him. Big Macintosh finds himself confronted with something he thought he put behind him long ago…All Chapters After the Break!
Fanfiction.net
Macintosh (All Links)
Google Documents
Macintosh Prologue
Macintosh Part 1
Macintosh Part 2
Macintosh Part 3
Macintosh Part 4
Macintosh Part 5
Macintosh Part 6
Macintosh Part 7
Macintosh Part 8
Macintosh Part 9
Macintosh Part 10
Macintosh Part 11
Macintosh Part 12
Macintosh Part 13
Macintosh Part 14
Macintosh Part 15
Macintosh Part 16
Macintosh Epilogue
Macintosh: Aftermath (New!)
Additional Tags: Friendship, Backstory, Character Study, Family, Hardship, Everypony
241 comments:
Aww... That was so tragic. ;_;
ReplyDeleteI knew you were pointing neon signs towards this ending, with Cirro giving up the Wonderbolts to have a family and saying how it's so much better, as well as Rainbow Dash doing the same to stay in Ponyville for her friends and for Scootaloo's sake... but it's still so terribly depressing.
Big Mac had his dreams right in his grasp, but he gives them all up for his duty to his family and friends. He didn't even get a small taste of them like Rainbow or Cirro - Cirro got to fly for the Wonderbolts for a significant stretch of time before settling down. And although Rainbow wasn't a permanent member of the Wonderbolts, she got to be their honorary captain for a night at least. If Twilight had given Mac wings, he still wouldn't have been able to fly around like a pegasus whenever he wanted to and leave Ponyville for good with them... his butterfly wings would be gone sooner or later anyway. Unless Twilight was following him around and constantly re-casting the spell on him, there's no way he could fly off by himself and do his thing all alone.
It feels uncomfortably like he's settling for his lot in life, even though his hopes and dreams can be fulfilled just by asking the pony who lives next door. Personally I found it a little unsettling that Mac felt that Scootaloo was more deserving of being able to fly because she was born with wings rather than that life had stiffed the both of them (by having him born as an Earth Pony and by giving her those congenitally tiny wings) and that it just plain sucks to find out that you can never have what you've always wanted. The way Mac put it on top of the way the story ended, read a bit like Scootaloo was entitled to fly, whereas for Mac it was only a frivolous ambition that would only detract from things that should be more important to him. A troubling message to me but I think I'm reading waay too much into it.
All in all, it was a pretty bittersweet ending. 'Cause even though Big Mac decided that he'd rather keep all four hooves on the ground than go flying off in the clouds with 'em fancy pegasus ponies, he still found happiness or at least contentment with what he already has.
Kudos for the Finding Nemo reference!
Oh, and a bit of a nitpick with Chapter 4. Big Mac's been reading about applied theoretical mathematics, but if he doesn't understand algebra then he wouldn't be able to make heads or tails out of the mathematical theory. An easy enough fix. Just have him say he has questions about algorithms or discretization or something instead of algebra.
Jus' finished chapter 4. I shed many manly tears.
ReplyDeleteJus' finished chapter 4. I shed many manly tears.
ReplyDeleteand just finished the entire thing. A very interesting story, it grossly lacked any serious romance or action. Yet it still threw around many emotions that a ponyfic normally wouldn't.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing which got me was the aftermath. it was apparent that Cheerilee and Fluttershy had feelings for Macintosh. yet, they didnt pursue it as they felt it was a hopeless endeavour. Very sad, but also very true in some cases.
What i would like to know is this: Does Scootaloo ever overcome her 'disability'? It was one of the more striking parts of the story for me.
Being able to relate to a few areas of the story, i had very emotional bouts all over the place, and thats rare for me. 5/5 and probably the best fanfiction ive ever read
Holy crap. Just spent four and a half hours reading this. I'ma be honest, I've read a lot of really heart-wrenching sob stories and a lot of good fan fiction but this - when Big Mac cried, I cried. I finished "Where the Red Fern Grows" without so much as a snuffle, but this story made me cry. Then it made me laugh. Then cry some more. My only regret - and it is a surprisingly small one at that - is that it did not end with a FlutterMac shipping. But what the hay, I like surprise endings. If this guy has any more MLP stories on the Web, somepony let me know, cuz I'm about to download them all right now.
ReplyDeleteTo the immediate previous commenters:
ReplyDeleteThis ending is not bittersweet. This is the story of a pony who had thought that to care for his family he had to give up all his hopes and dreams, only to discover that the life he had wanted all along was right in front of his eyes.
This is the story of a pony who finally learned, through the help of new friends and the love of his family, to cast off the burden of hate the he had held for an abusive parent for so many years.
This is the story of a pony who learned to reach beyond the perceived limits of his education and social awkwardness to discover the blessings of true friendship and perhaps the beginnings of true love.
This is the story of a pony who saw the struggles of a little pegasus with a crippling disablity and chose to forgo his own selfish wishes to do everything he could to help her achieve her dreams.
DEPRESSING?! I think not!
Oh, and if you had paid attention you would indeed have noticed that Scootaloo did in fact learn to fly, thanks to Princess Luna granting Big Mac's wish.
ReplyDelete@RainbowDat:
ReplyDeleteWow, four and a half hours? Thanks for that response! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! That was a pretty good summary, lol.
It was a hard story to write: one that dealt with a lot of themes and issues that one would not immediately associate with pastel, talking ponies. Big Macintosh had always fascinated me, even from the first time he appeared onscreen. I hope I was able to do his character justice.
I'm not sure if you read my author's notes (after the epilogue) or not, because I actually do mention my first story 'Opposites' in there, as well as a couple other points of interest.
As for 'Opposites,' it was the first fanfic I'd done and the first story I'd written in a loooong time, so there are issues with it, but I learned a lot from the experience.
http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/05/story-opposites.html
I find it interesting how you paired off Big Macintosh with Daisy when throughout the story, there weren't many (if any) hints at a possible relationship between the two. I personally would've preferred it if he started one with Cheerilee due to their history, but I felt pretty sure that you would have had him end up with Rose. By changing the formula you made these types of things unexpected which in reality, they are.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I really enjoyed your story. I don't usually read fan fiction as most of them seem to make me cringe, and therefore, I tend to stick to novels. Your story on the other hand, was so well written and engaging that it meets and even surpasses some of the novels I have read.
Heck, I even believe that if you wanted to, you can become a successful professional writer.
I'll definitely be on the lookout for your next story, and in the meantime, I'll be reading Opposites.
It's like if Lauren Faust had worked on Clannad. Great story. Even if I'm pretty sure you misused the term "canter" a lot. It's a separate gait from walking, and faster as well. Still, that's just a nitpick on an overall very cute fic.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those stories where, despite really liking it, I can't think of anything to say.
ReplyDeleteI really want to give some feedback on this story, but I just simply don't know how to do so.
@RainbowDat
ReplyDeleteYes, there is sweetness. But Mac completely gives up even the idea of ever being able to fly, even though it's entirely possible. *That's* bitter. That's what bittersweet means.
Oh, and if you had paid attention you would have indeed noticed that nowhere in the previous review did it say that Scootaloo never learned to fly. Just that the idea of her not being able to fly was depressing.
Heaven forbid that two different people can enjoy a story and come out with their own interpretations of it!
Damn you for making me cry so much!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChapter 5: "Don't you dare fucking cry, Noah."
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely sure how to word this, so I'll just start off saying thank you for such an amazing story.
ReplyDeleteI have never cried this much, for any reason, but this story made me cry more than ever; for every reason a person would cry. Whether it was tears of joy, tears of laughter, or tears of sorrow, I had a lot of them. More than I would've ever thought possible from anything outside of my own personal life.
I can relate to Big Macintosh in almost every way. Everything I did, I buried myself in it to keep social contact to a minimum. I would almost always try to avoid any situation involving more than the people already close to me. Even if it meant missing out on something, I would try to avoid it if it involved any real social interaction. In that respect, I think this story actually might have saved me from myself. Seeing another(yes, even a pony) going through what I was going through, and then overcoming it like this inspired me to do the same. I never had expectations of things going as well for me as they did for him, but the way his life just turned around like that made me feel like I was missing out on more than I thought. Everyone always told me I should get out more, and there was more to life than staying at home, but their words never meant as much to me because they couldn't relate to what I was feeling. But this story was different. I never had the rough childhood, and both of my parents are alive and well, but in every way other than that(and physical strength, and awesome accent), I can easily imagine myself as him. If it weren't for this story I might never have taken a chance and gone for what I wanted with my life.
I've read fan-fiction that made me cry before, but nothing I couldn't hold in when I wanted to, but even when I was tired, sweaty, and frustrated after a long day at work, I could pick a moment from this story, think about it, and it feels like everything is better, and I can just smile through the crap.
And on to the writing, it was just brilliant. The fact that almost everything, had a noticeable effect was amazing. I mean, even the tinniest details could eventually have an effect many chapters after they show up, and I just love that in a story. All of the characters were believable, the descriptions were detailed enough to let my mind form a good mental image without overdoing it. And it just had that perfect, and I mean perfect, mix of comedy, sad(really, really sad) stuff, and amazingly deep uplifting stuff. Everything about this story was as good as can be to me.
There's more I want to say, but I feel like I should stop with what I told some people on a forum who were also reading it. This story means so much to me, and has effected me in such a way, that it doesn't just deserve a spot on my top fan-fic list, or in the forefront of my mind, but it deserves a special place in my heart.
I did not mean for this to come out nearly as sappy as it was, but it's how I feel, so the words just kind of flowed, anyway, thank you for such an amazing story, and sorry for the gigantic comment.
^That.....that is bigger than it looked in the preview box.
ReplyDeleteOh, and one more thing, I really, really wish I would've commented on how I felt after each chapter, because I probably could've made a comment about that long after every chapter.
ReplyDelete@MintBerryCrunch
ReplyDeleteI knew you could do it.
@MintBerryCrunch
ReplyDeleteThis totally made my week. I'm so glad I was able to write something that you enjoyed so much. I'm not really sure how to reply, but thank you!
It really, really means a lot to me to hear you say all that, and you've inspired me to work harder on my next project.
A lot went into the writing of this story. I was afraid, for a while, what people would think of it, if they would reject this characterization of Big Macintosh, or were turned off by the fact that its a character study and not an adventure flick, not to mention its total lack of shipping, lol. But the fact that it was able to garner such an emotional response from people was more than I could have hoped for. Hearing that it was able to help you in such a personal way...well, that really made the whole thing worth it. So thank you.
Thank you for reading and commenting! If you do have any further comments on individual chapters or whatnot, I'd love to hear them. I'm always eager for a chance to learn and improve.
Oh, and don't worry about the size of the comment. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you again for such a heartfelt response!
Does anybody have one big file with all the chapters in one, that I can download? Even individual chapters, I guess? Or would I have to copy-paste it all into Word, or something?
ReplyDeleteI suppose I could upload a single big document if you wanted, but in Google Docs there's actually a "save" or "download" button in the top left I think. If it doesn't work for you, let me know and I'll link to a full upload.
ReplyDeleteHere's the whole story, Prologue through Epilogue in one massive document! Only the Aftermath is excluded, so you'll need to read/download that separately.
ReplyDeletehttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZftL2HMrf8N4ZJneWYPxgl4ssKNawlm_76uQKVA_11s/edit?hl=en_US
Um. Wow
ReplyDeletejust read everything in 1 sitting
Im not great with words, but I gotta say this
this is, in my option, the best fic on the site
I've read progress...past sins...fallout:E
Most every 6 star story on the site even
this. Is the best
its just beyond words
Fuck you "option" be opinion like your supposed to be
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I was hoping him and Twilight would end up together, but meh, I loved the story nonetheless. They just seem like a great match in this story is all.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is one of the best stories so far, so thank you to the author!
ReplyDeleteany plans for a new story spent my last 2 todays reading this and I loved it
ReplyDeleteThis is the best fic I've read in this fandom, hands down. This is a big story, but the fact that it really is tied to one single character, and examines him so deepy keeps it feeling intimate. And despite the size, and the relative lack of "action," it really, really moves (I, like many others, read it in one, complete sitting. Then immediately started recommending it to friends, even ones who have nothing to do with ponies.)
ReplyDeleteThe way you handled some very tough issues, abuse and regret, it's simply masterful. No easy answers or heavy-handed moralizing... just total honesty (well, he IS Applejack's brother...) You've taken a character that's more or less a blank slate on the show and pretty much established a firm fanon for him, and it makes sense.
Oh and for the record? I would have loved to seen him shipped with Fluttershy, and Twilight would have perfectly wonderful too, but... I think you made the right move, at the end. It fits the story, shipping preferences be damned.
Six stars, all the way.
A little late, but whatevs :P
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great comments! I am working on a new story but I don't have much done yet on it. I have slipped in a few hints as to what it will be about in the end of this story...And maybe a red herring or two ;)
That was amazing, I loved all of the mini-plots like Pinkie Pie being mean, and Fluttershy's large wings, and it just had to all come together perfectly too :D. Definitely my new favorite fanfic.
ReplyDelete"Applied Theoretical Mathematics"
ReplyDeleteI've only gotten that far. You know, when people use science and math to make someone seem smart or unsmart or to make a joke, usually I groan. But this? This earns much love.
**OBVIOUS SPOILER WARNING FOR YOU GUYS**
ReplyDeleteYou know, it's things like this fanfic here that make me honored to be a part of this fandom. It might be because I beasted this whole story in one sitting and it's now almost 2a.m., but I can't find words to describe this fic. My favorite line was from the list chapter during the Summer Sun Celebration. "Pinkie, how many sweets have you had tonight, anyways?" "Nowhere near enough if I can still see straight!" Oh, and did you go on Dictionary.com and press the random button for Ditzy's lines? XD The drama bits were really well done, and even added to the cannon stuff rather than make me question continuity. I found the origins of AJ's bite in her hat to be weird, but not in a bad way. Just that in pointing it out it seemed like it would have some backstory somehow but really it was just the nervous father being extremely nervous. The hat, Big Mac's harness and Apple Bloom's bow suddenly seem incredibly significant to the show and you crushed several shippings for one that I bet no one saw coming :D gotta love that! XD Seriously, I had a list of 5 possible ponies Macintosh was going to get with in the end cuz I could see that ending a mile away from all of the hinting, but of all them it was the one who I saw no hints for, but at the same time I could accept that after reading the story. It's no wonder why this fic was given a rainbow 6-star tag; IT WAS FREAKING AMAZING! All my money, hats, harnesses, bows, flowers, cupcakes, crumbles, muffins, dresses, tuxes, trophies, logs (no, not logs actually), apples, cutie marks (don't ask), and everything else I could possibly offer to you! I can't wait to come upon more of your work. You're writing makes me jealous and I will make sure to use this as a reference in my feeble attempts at story-writing! Thank you very much for providing the internet with this and thank you Seth for approving it in the first place!
Should have been rose...
ReplyDeleteshould have been fluttershy and big mac, but then that kinda spoils what the had together, that feeling when fluttershy comforted big mac. But i still think it was either that, or perhaps with rose. I guess daisy is ok, but i expected either fluttershy, rose, or cheerilee. but at least Mac has someone =D and he forgave his father, he finally understood EPIC DAWWWWW
ReplyDeleteAwww I just read it for the first time. I absolutely loved this fic.
ReplyDeleteAn absolute classic. This should be the standard of MLP fanfiction.
ReplyDeleteLol, well there is gonna be an MLP episode near valentine's day where the CMC's try to make Big Mac and Cheerilee fall in love...
ReplyDeleteBut f-yeah this is the best fanfic i've ever read, for-real.
Love the story up to the end, The Aftermath not so much. It felt too dating-sim ending like, as if you took it straight from a Rune Factory game or something of that nature.
ReplyDeleteBesides that, I loved it.
At the end! I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!!!!! lol
ReplyDelete