Catastrophic Charm

Inside the house, Applejack could hear her older brother and someone else yelling.

Whatever the subject was about, there was no telling. The long-haired blond peeked through her room's curtain, for the identity of her brother's 'associate' was uncertain. Suspicion was swelling in her chest - she saw in the darkness outside that Big Macintosh was partially undressed. And suddenly, there was a sickening, flesh-tearing sound.

The blond man was instantly downed.

Immediately, she screamed. He was hurt badly, it seemed. She rushed to get the first aid kit behind her door, not minding the commotion she was causing, since her eyes had saw the oozing bright red blood not pausing - Mac's body was bleeding more. His face was pale. He found it hard to inhale. From the cold muddy ground, he realized he was unbound...

But his hands' freedom came at a cost; for parts of his wrists' skin were lost.

Rainbow Dash was long gone, overjoyed to get a small part of him and so on. She had one of her long overdue goals finally accomplished. At this however, she was barely astonished. But never she minded - now she had something of his own to look at when her feelings for Macintosh had to be reminded.

As he lay bleeding, the light in his eyes were receding.

His thoughts were scattered. Amidst this, clearly he remembered the moments he spent with Cheerilee that mattered.

[>!<]

In a way, it was quite funny.

They first met on a day that was sunny. That same day was the first day they went to kindergarten school together - they were drawn to each other like birds of a feather. The roots of their romantic relationship was simply pure love at first sight. They truly felt something to one another, alright. Not one person could refute that. A logical argument, they would fail to arrive at.

The years wandered pass until they became graduates of Canterlot's only university. All that time, they still held feelings for each other, no matter their lives' diversity. Everyone, including their teachers as well as their parents, preferred to leave them be. Nobody was willing to ruin a happy, yet not full heartedly pursued shy relationship that anyone in love could easily relate to and see.

She was his cute, fair lady, and he was her smiling, gallant knight.

Anyone who disagreed with the fact above had to answer to their friends' combined might.

[>!<]

He was brought back to the world of consciousness.

Mac wasn't sure of it, as he wondered if he had really been unconscious. There was no light of any kind filtering in through the tiniest gaps of his closed eyes. Had Death's cold clutches caught him after his demise? He felt nothing. There was no noise - not even a fly's slightest buzzing. This was getting eerie, he decided. He opened his eyes with the remaining strength his body provided.

He was still lying on the ground. Raising himself on to sitting position, the lack of a stinging pain on his wrists was a sign that he was cured of his unexpected flesh wound. But how? For once, it didn't seem to matter now. What mattered the most was keeping his 'secret' safe and his sanity intact. Still he had to ponder: how much had his family suffered by his new attitude's impact?

He shook those thoughts away; it was better for them not to know than them being dragged into the hidden fray. He had to change from being generally friendly to depressingly cold for their sakes - they knew not how high were the stakes. 'This is for the best', Mac always repeated in his head. Though it still would come as a surprise for anyone to hear that others now wished him dead.

"Brother! What in the Princesses' names happened?!"

Applejack cried as she approached, carrying a first aid kit. Her brother had never seen her this frightened, he had to admit. She rushed to his side, taking out what she could out to ease his pain. Wiping her eyes out of disbelief at the lack of anything bad on his body was something she had to self-restrain. Her mouth fell open. The logical set of actions she would have followed was broken.

"What in the... Where is the blood?! Where are the wounds?! What the heck is going on?!"

Big Macintosh knew she was in a state of horrified confusion, so had to use this fact for an allusion.

"Magic, and a bondage fetish gone almost horribly wrong. That's whats going on."

He struggled up until he was on his feet, ignoring his heart's skip of a beat. He had lied. But he was going to let it slide.

"Wha... What?"

The younger sibling continued to stare. He mentally cursed; he had to find a better excuse next time with great care.

"Just... just don't ask why, okay?"

"Uhm... okay. But who hurt you?"

He put his head down in shame. Oh well, it wouldn't hurt to say a name.

"Ms. Dash."

"Oh, right... wait, what?"

It wouldn't have been easily proven to be true, but whatever she was thinking was perhaps, not good for you.

"Yeah... about that, she's into men that way."

Macintosh shrugged.

"For real?"

Then his mind flashed back to the exact moment he was drugged. Again, he mentally cursed. Of all the things he hadn't expected to be spiked with sedatives, it had to be the bottle of cider he was given and drunk back at the Sugarcube Corner, of course. Whoever spiked his drink took the chance to 'bring' him somewhere safe where nobody could hear him scream.

If his captor hadn't been attacked by his other stalkers, his family would have been forced to assemble a search team.

Thankfully, amidst their fighting, he had woken up and escaped. But seconds later did he chillingly realized that he nearly was going to get raped. His missing coat, footwear and unzipped jeans were proof of it. His peaceful night out drinking alone had become something that was beyond the level of shit.

This was way past getting out of hand, although the idea of being wanted viciously by women to other men was grand.

"You know what? Forget about what happened and what I said. I need a damn cold shower."

The wind rustled the countless leaves in the trees. It was followed up with a cold breeze.

"Look, I'm not sure if I have any idea on what's going on, but I need answers, Mac. We need to talk inside. Now."

He sighed, though it sounded better than staying outside.

"Fine. But let's not talk about this ever again."

Now Mac had to limit how much of the truth he would have to spill. Otherwise, Applejack probably might fall ill.

[>!<]

Big Macintosh had finished his side of the ranch, while Applejack was close to finishing hers.

After several hours of non-stop full apple crate managing, the eldest walked to the truck, revving it up then driving towards the road that led to Ponyville without a word. Looking over her shoulder discreetly, Applejack could see that Mac had glanced at his wristwatch, before he picked up the truck's usually slow pace.

To her surprise, he then sped off without wearing a seatbelt. Disregard for safety meant that it was important.

"Where's he going?" Applejack asked herself whilst noting it, before returning to work.

The dots were slowly connecting in her mind.

One thing was for certain - a woman was involved.

But... was that it?

Inside the house, Apple Bloom was peeking at Applejack through her slightly closed windows. Seeing such tension between the two of them was something she didn't see everyday - and it troubled her. Why did her eldest brother, of all the people she never disliked, had to turn downright distant, even to his family?

Barring her thoughts, she picked up her walkie-talkie.

"Sweetie Belle? Are you there?"

There was silence for a few seconds, then her friend responded.

"Yes, I'm here. Are you okay, Apple Bloom?"

"I'm fine. Things have gotten worse at the farm, though. My older brother and sister fought again... I think."

"That's not nice. Why don't you ask your sister to let you have some fun? Me and Scootaloo will pick you up."

"Uhm... okay. But I'm not sure if she's going to agree. I'll see you later, then. Hopefully."

She put it down as doubts began to form in her mind. Better to ask her older sister if she could hang out with her friends for a while than to get out and do that without her permission, thought. Just as she was going to leave her room to get herself some water, there came a new, unexpected voice from the device. It was Rarity.

And she sounded really, really eager.

"Hello? Apple Bloom? Are you there?"

The little girl rushed back to pick it up.

"Hello, Ms. Rarity. Why are you using Sweetie Belle's walkie-talkie?"

"I was going to ask if Big Macintosh is there, deary. Or... is he out of the farm at the moment?"

Apple Bloom's eyes narrowed. The seamstress never called her before. Why now? What did she want from him? Sure, he had become distant, but Mac was and always will be her loved older brother; there was always time to make things right between them all, and Apple Bloom still wanted him to be with her teacher, Cheerilee, not with anyone else.

So she had to lie, not wanting to take any chances of romance between Rarity and Mac.

"No, Ms. Rarity, he's here at the farm working on the apple trees, but I reckon it'll take him another hour or two to finish up. He can't talk to anyone right now, he's got his hands full."

"Oh, I see... Well, can you call me back when he's free?"

She sounded disappointed. But there was a kind of tone in her voice that Apple Bloom couldn't put a finger on.

"I'll try. I'll talk to you later then, Ms. Rarity."

Rarity went off and was replaced by an excited Sweetie Belle.

"Apple Bloom, we'll be there in ten minutes despite whatever your sister will say. See you soon!"

"Okay! But where are we going to hang out, anyways?"

"The Sugarcube Corner! Last I heard, Ms. Pie was going to make an apple cake. We could help her bake it! It'll be loads of fun!"

The redhead grinned for the first time in days at the good news, feeling excited.

"Sweet! I'll get the right to take a slice out of it first!"

"Not if I can help it!"

Both giggling because they knew there was much fun to be had later, they put the line down at the same time.

Apple Bloom hadn't forgotten about Rarity's earlier call, though.

It had put the youngest Apple in a state of suspicion. She knew she had best keep an eye on her for now. Now she wanted to ask her friend Sweetie Belle if she noticed anything different about her older sister lately. It seemed like things weren't as they appeared to be at first glance...

As she walked outside to ask her sister about her upcoming visit to the Sugarcube Corner, her gut feeling became active.

For some reason, Apple Bloom believed that somehow, something far away was not going to end well.