One Shot Stories

Apple Bloom sat dejectedly on the swings, slowly rocking back and forth. Nothing had gone right that morning. She had been looking forward to the Sisterhood Social with Applejack and now AJ had told her that she was going to be too ‘busy’ to go with her. Apple Bloom didn’t buy it for a second. There wasn’t any extra work to be done at Sweet Apple Acres. Macintosh certainly hadn’t mentioned any. Rarity wasn’t too busy to go with Sweetie Belle, and Sweetie Belle told her that Rarity had gotten a large order of dresses recently.

Apple Bloom got off of the swing. Come to think of it, Applejack had been acting strange for a while now. Well, stranger than usual, anyway. Something was up, but Apple Bloom couldn’t tell what it was. Maybe it was some of that ‘Adult Stuff’ they wouldn’t tell her about. Apple Bloom decided to find Sweetie Belle. They could swing around, grab Scootaloo and do something. Even getting covered in tree sap again would be better than anything else that had happened. At least her friends would be there with her.

Sweetie Belle was at the boutique, helping Rarity out. “Hey, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie called. “Wanna help out? Rarity’s finally letting me help out with her dresses. It’s mostly sorting and stuff, but at least she’s letting me do something. She wants to be ready for next week at the Social.”

“Not really,” said Apple Bloom. “I was hoping that we could get Scootaloo and go play.”

“Can’t today,” Sweetie said. “Hey, maybe tomorrow we can go practice for the Sisterhood Social? We could race and stuff and… what’s wrong?”

“I’m not going to the Sisterhood Social,” said Apple Bloom.

“Well, why ever not?” said Rarity as she came into the room, using her magic to carry several bolts of cloth. “Organize these, will you please, Sweetie?”

“Applejack said she’s going to be ‘busy,’” said Apple Bloom, making air quotes with her hooves. “She won’t tell me what it is, and she’s been avoiding me all day.”

“You know, Apple Bloom,” said Rarity. “You’d think that, after you two didn’t get to race together last year, she’d be eager to go with you this time. Perhaps if we went over and talked to her, we could find out what all this is about.”

“Thanks,” said Apple Bloom. “But I don’t know if it will work. You know how she is when she’s made up her mind.” The other two ponies nodded. Apple Bloom went back home, alone.

Rarity came by early the next morning and had brought the others as backup. Apple Bloom took them inside. “Applejack?” called Twilight. “Are you here? There’s something we want to talk to you about.”

A mumbled reply led them to the kitchen. Applejack was facing away from them and didn’t seem to want to look at them. “Applejack,” continued Twilight. “We’re starting to get worried about you. You’ve been avoiding us and Apple Bloom says you can’t go to the Sisterhood Social with her.”

“I told her I’m busy,” said Applejack. She still didn’t turn around. “I’m sure she can borrow one of you girls, like how Sweetie Belle borrowed me last year.”

“That is simply preposterous,” said Rarity. “I am quite busy as well, and I still have the time to go with Sweetie Belle.”

“And will you please look at us, AJ?” said Twilight. “Seriously, you’ve been acting weird for a while now. What’s going on?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, all right?” said Applejack. “It’s… personal.”

“But we’re your friends, Applejack,” said Pinkie. “You can tell us anything.”

“Not this,” said Applejack, finally turning around. “Please, girls. If you just give me till after the Social, everything will be back to normal. And why are you getting on my case about this? Rarity didn’t want to go to last year’s Social and none of you went after her for it.”

“This isn’t just the Sisterhood Social,” said Twilight. “It’s other stuff, too. You skipped Pinkie’s last party. You turned down that spa invitation with Rarity and Fluttershy. I know you like those, no matter how much you deny it. You’ve never avoided us like this.”

Applejack was silent. “I… I can’t tell you,” she finally said. “You’ll hate me if I tell you.”

Twilight walked up and put a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “We would never hate you,” she said. “Please, Applejack, just tell us what’s wrong.”

To everyone’s surprise, Applejack started to cry. Nopony had ever seen Applejack cry. “I can’t go with her,” she said, “because she isn’t my sister.”

“She… isn’t your sister?” asked Twilight, confused.

“What?” asked Pinkie. “Is she adopted or something? ‘Cause that’s not something to be ashamed of. We could even have an ‘Adopted’ party for her, like a birthday party. And maybe you could still borrow her, like you suggested that we do. Wait, can you borrow your own sister? Who would you return her to?”

“No, no,” Applejack shouted. “She’s not adopted! She's not 'something!' She's not anything like that! We’re not sisters at all!”

“Then what are you?” asked Fluttershy.

Applejack lowered her head. She was crying harder now. “I'm not her sister,” sobbed Applejack.

“I’m her mother,” she whispered.

There was total silence as everypony stared at Applejack. They couldn’t believe what they heard. Apple Bloom was the first to break the silence. “You’re my mother?” she gasped.

Applejack could only nod. “But, but Mom and Dad,” Apple Bloom continued.

“They’re not your real parents,” Applejack said. “We all just said they were so that it would be easier.”

“So what would be easier?” asked Twilight. “How did this happen?”

“I was so young when it happened,” Applejack continued. “You all know what it’s like, the first time you go into heat. How confusing the emotions and urges are. I was too scared and confused to ask for help. Apple Bloom’s father was the only one who noticed. He’s the one who helped me out.”

“So, who is my father?” asked Apple Bloom.

The other horseshoe dropped. “Macintosh,” said Applejack, quietly. “Macintosh is your father.”

“Your brother?” gasped Rainbow Dash. “Your brother is Apple Bloom’s father? Oh, my brain hurts so much right now.” Applejack winced. She sometimes wished Rainbow Dash had gotten the Element of Tact, rather than the Element of Loyalty.

“He helped me out the only way he knew how,” said Applejack. “He could see what I was going through, but he didn’t understand. Not totally. He helped me with my physical needs, hoping that he could also satisfy my emotional needs at the same time. And then, one day, we made a miracle. A miracle named Apple Bloom. After we found out I was carrying, we decided that I would live with family in Manehatten until I gave birth. When I had Apple Bloom, I would come back with a brand new little sister. We wanted Apple Bloom to have a normal life, and we felt she could only have that if she were our sister. We were afraid she would suffer if everyone knew she was our daughter.”

“Were you ever going to tell me about this?” demanded Apple Bloom.

“We were going to tell you when you were older,” Applejack replied. “We argued a lot about how we were going to do it. We wanted to do it gently, so we could help you through it. I’m so sorry, Apple Bloom. I didn’t mean for it to happen this way. And this Element of Honesty hasn’t helped matters any. As long as I could avoid referring to you as my sister, I could avoid it. But when the Sisterhood Social came up, I just couldn’t live with the lie anymore. Last year I got around it when I was supposed to run with Sweetie Belle, but this year I couldn’t. And we’ve been pretending for so long, I just can’t reconcile them anymore, not with my Element trying to make me tell the truth. I wanted to keep pretending that you’re my sister, but I just can’t do it anymore.”

Everypony was silent for a while. Applejack and Apple Bloom were both crying now. “Are you all right?” Twilight asked Apple Bloom, putting her hoof on the filly’s foreleg.

“No!” yelled Apple Bloom. “I’m not all right! I just found out that my whole family has been lying to me for my entire life! The ponies I thought were my siblings are my parents! How could I possibly be all right?” She smacked Twilight’s hoof aside and ran outside.

Macintosh walked in. “What the hay just happened here?” he demanded.

Applejack started crying again. “They know,” she said. “About everything. Us, Apple Bloom, all of it.”

Macintosh walked up and began to comfort his sister. “We’ll get through this Applejack. We’ve gotten this far, we can get through the rest.”

“And we’ll be here for you too,” said Twilight.