Apple Bloom didn’t know how long she had been running. All she wanted to do was get away from them. They had lied to her. They had all lied to her. Apple Bloom could still hear the words echoing in her head: “I’m her mother. I’m her mother. I’m her mother.” What kind of mother would lie like that to her own child?

She passed Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “Hey, Apple Bloom,” said Sweetie Belle as she passed. “How’d things go with your sister?” Apple Bloom didn’t answer; she just kept running. Things didn't go with her sister. Things went with her mother. They weren’t the same thing. They weren’t the same thing at all.

She finally found her way to the playground. Fortunately for her, it was deserted. She climbed up onto a swing and started crying all over again. It didn’t take long for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to find her. The playground was a logical place to look. “What happened?” asked Scootaloo, who had been briefed about the coming altercation by Sweetie Belle.

“Maybe you should ask my ‘Mom,’” said Apple Bloom.

“But your Mom’s dead,” Sweetie Belle said awkwardly. Nopony liked bringing that subject up.

“Then maybe you should ask my real mom and not the pony who only claimed she was my mom,” Apple Bloom returned. This set off another round of crying. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle didn’t know how to react. Apple Bloom crying was like Applejack crying. Nopony ever saw her do it.

“What do we do?” Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle.

“I don’t know,” answered Sweetie Belle. “Maybe we should ask Rarity. Or maybe Twilight. She always knows what to do.”

“Good thinking,” said Scootaloo. “Um, you ok without us for a while, Apple Bloom?” When Apple Bloom didn’t answer, they prepared to leave.

Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight and the others were still with Applejack and Macintosh. “And you're still ‘together?’” asked Twilight.

“Yes,” said Applejack. “Part of it was for Apple Bloom, but part of it was for us. I don’t expect it to make sense to any of you, but, over time, we found that we completed each other. I suppose we’ve been fortunate not to have any other children, but I wouldn’t have changed anything if it meant giving up Apple Bloom.”

Macintosh was silent through all this. Applejack was always better with other ponies than he was. It was hard for him. He couldn’t even imagine how it must be for Applejack, for the Element of Honesty to give birth to a child and then feel compelled to lie about it because she felt it was in Apple Bloom’s best interests. He didn’t want to hurt Apple Bloom. He had agreed to keep the secret because he, too, felt it would cause fewer problems than revealing the true nature of their relationship. But now he felt that maybe they had been wrong.

“This needs to get resolved,” said Twilight. “Any idea where Apple Bloom could have gone?”

“Well,” said Rainbow Dash. “There’s the clubhouse, Rarity’s, does anypony know where Scootaloo lives?” This one elicited blank looks from the others. “Ok, hopefully not there. She could even be going to Zecora’s for all we know.”

“All right,” said Twilight. “We’re going to split up into groups of two. Meet back here every hour with your progress, but if you find her, don’t bother waiting. Just find the rest of us as quickly as you can and try and keep Apple Bloom from leaving.”

“Stupid, stupid Element of Honesty,” Applejack said to herself. “Why couldn’t you just let me pretend!”

In the end, it didn’t take long for them to find Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, in their attempt to find Twilight, found Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie outside of Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie had insisted on going there first because she figured that if eating cupcakes helped her feel better, then maybe Apple Bloom would do the same. From there, it was not difficult to locate the others and have them meet at the playground. Fortunately, Apple Bloom didn’t seem to have much motivation to avoid them anymore.

Applejack and Macintosh went into the playground to talk to Apple Bloom. Macintosh stopped the others from going in. “This is something we have to do ourselves,” he said. “And it’s probably better that we do this alone.” The others agreed.

“What’s going on?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo. “Apple Bloom’s crying and she said we should ask her ‘real mom’ for answers.”

“I know that this will be hard for you to hear,” said Twilight. “But I suppose that you’ll find out eventually. Applejack and Macintosh aren’t her siblings. They’re her parents. They’ve been keeping it a secret from all of us, including Apple Bloom. We just found out and the poor dear is devastated.”

“Really?” asked Sweetie Belle, her mind trying to reason things through. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed so wrong. “If AJ and Macintosh aren’t Apple Bloom’s siblings, then are they not each other’s siblings then, either? I mean if they aren’t telling the truth about being Apple Bloom’s siblings, then are they not telling the truth about being each other’s siblings?”

“No, Sweetie,” said Rarity. “I’m afraid that they are really siblings. It’s hard to believe, but that’s how it appears to be.”

“Ewww,” said Sweetie Belle. “They are siblings? How does that even work?”

“Not so loud, Sweetie,” shushed Rarity. “We need to give them time to talk without being disturbed.”

“They’re going to need a long time to heal,” added Twilight. “But, hopefully, they’ll be able to get the process started.”

Applejack sat on the swing next to Apple Bloom. Macintosh stood nearby. “There’s no easy way to fix this, is there?” asked Applejack.

Apple Bloom sniffed. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to call you. Do I call you Mom now, or do I keep calling you Applejack?”

“I was hoping you would call me Applejack,” Applejack said. “Even with you knowing that you’re my daughter, it still doesn’t feel right to have you call me ‘Mom.’”

“Why couldn’t you have told me?” asked Apple Bloom. “Even if you didn’t tell others, you could at least have told me.”

It was Macintosh who answered her. “I suppose that, once we got used to keeping the secret from everyone, it was just easier as time went on. It seemed like we could put it off forever, and we’d never have to deal with it. I’ve never talked much, especially about personal things, but I probably should have a long time ago in this case. And now we’re all paying for it now.”

“I’m so angry at everyone right now,” Apple Bloom said. “You two, Mom and Dad. I suppose that Granny Smith has been in on this too, hasn’t she?” Macintosh nodded. “It seems like everyone knew but me, and I needed to know most of all.”

“You have every right to be angry at us,” said Applejack. “There were a lot of things that we might have done differently. And a lot of those things probably would have hurt as much as what we’re doing right now. But hopefully we can forgive each other and start moving on. We’re still Apples and no matter who your real parents are, we still love you.”

“I… I want to forgive you,” said Apple Bloom. “But I don’t know if I can do it yet.”

“We can wait,” said Macintosh. “We can wait as long as it takes for us to heal and be a family again.”

“We will still be a family, right?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Always,” said Applejack. Applejack and Apple Bloom got off of their swings and the three of them hugged. “Now let’s go home. I don’t know how things will go for us, but we’ll do it together.” The three began to head back to Sweet Apple Acres. Regardless of what would happen in the future, they were still a family. A broken family, maybe, and one in need of healing, but still a family.

Author's Note

The conclusion to Apple Family Relationships. As always, I appreciate any comments and cricitcism.