Sweet Apple Acres
The clouds above the farm parted as a blue blur whizzed through them. The blur skidded to a stop in front of the barn, revealing a blue pegasus with a messy white mane, and a cutie mark in the shape of a shooting star. Applebloom poked her head out of the barn. Once she realized who it was, she trotted out of the barn, smiling.
“Hi Miss Cloudchaser.”
“Hey Bloom,” Cloudchaser grinned, “Working hard?”
“Yep! Since Applejack’s always runnin’ off on adventures, Granny hired Mr. Caramel an’ Miss Lemon Hearts ta help out.”
“…Mac isn’t in?” Cloudchaser’s expression saddened.
“Naw, he’s around, he’s…” Applebloom trailed off, “I’m not sure if I can tell ya.”
“…Oh?” Cloudchaser’s eyebrow rose, “Why not?”
“Well… it’s weird.” The filly looked down at the ground as she rubbed behind her leg.
“Tell me more.” Cloudchaser’s expression grew more intrigued.
“Well… sometimes I hear these weird noises comin’ from Mac’s room. Usually it’s late at night, but sometimes he sneaks off an’ comes back lookin’ all embarrassed.” Applebloom continued.
“…What kind of noise?”
“I dunno,” Applebloom shrugged, “It sounds like he’s talkin’ in a high pitch voice an’ stuff like that.”
“…” Cloudchaser stared at the filly in confusion, “You’re razzin’ me.”
“Nope. I asked Applejack an’ Granny if they heard it too, but Granny didn’t know what I was talkin’ about, and Applejack made up some weird story about where babies come from.”
Applebloom frowned, “I know where babies come from, But I don’t know what that’s gotta do with Mac.”
“…How long has he been doing this?”
“I dunno, I only noticed ‘bout a week ago when I got up in th’ middle of th’ night ta get a drink of water,” Applebloom shrugged, “So it was we-”
“Applebloom,” a yellow unicorn mare with a blue mane trotted over, “Caramel’s stuck again.”
“Again?” Applebloom shook her head, “In where?”
“He fell off the tree,” the mare noticed Cloudchaser, “Oh, hello Chaser.”
“Lemony. Still helpin’ out your coltfriend?” the pegasus grinned.
Lemon Hearts rolled her eyes, “My coltfriend is hard at work in Canterlot. Caramel on the other hand has his head stuck in ladder rungs.”
“Well, like I said Miss Cloudchaser, Mac’s in his room,” Applebloom turned to Lemon Hearts, “Where is he?”
“Just this way…” Lemon Hearts sighed.
“Why was he on th’ ladder anyway?” Applebloom frowned.
“I told him I could get the fruit with my magic, but he said he wanted to do it the old fashion way…”
The two ponies trotted off, leaving Cloudchaser alone.
“…Just what are you up to Mac?”
“Well hello there!”
Cloudchaser spun around and found herself face to face with Granny Smith. The elderly mare smiled.
“What brings you to the farm today, Cloudkicker?”
“It’s Cloudchaser, Granny,” the pegasus corrected, “Just here to see Mac, unless he’s too busy.”
“Mac? He’s been workin’ his flank off lately, so I told’m to take a break.” Granny chuckled, “He’s off doin’ somethin’. Don’t know where, but he didn’t leave the farm.”
“…Alright, thanks Granny.” Cloudchaser nodded before trotting off.
“At least Mac’s going to give me some Grandbabbies soon.” Granny Smith mused, “Just gotta convince ‘jack to settle down with Caramel, an’ everything’ll be alright.”
The mare chuckled as Lemon Hearts and Applebloom returned, levitating an injured Caramel.
“…Now what happened now?”
“Broke two of his legs, Mrs. Apple,” Lemon Hearts replied, “We’re taking him to the hospital.”
“…Lime Hearts, do any of your friends need some bits?” Granny shook her head.
“It’s Lemon Hearts. Dizzy Twister mentioned she needs some bits, so I will go and ask her after we take him to get his legs treated.”
Cloudchaser stopped at the front of the Apple household.
“…No, if he hears that, he’ll get suspicious,” the mare frowned, “…wait, why do I even have to think about this?”
Cloudchaser took off, slowly making her way up. Pausing by one window, she peeked in through the opening: in the middle of the room sat a child’s table with a fake tea set and a ratty old doll.
“…Must be Applebloom’s room.” Cloudchaser muttered to herself as she moved to the next one. Before she could peek into its window, she paused.
“No wait, Applebloom hates that kind of thing.” Cloudchaser’s frown grew as she peeked back in, “It’s not Applejack’s room either, and they don’t have any guest over.”
As the door to the room creaked open, Cloudchaser quickly ducked out of sight. As the door slammed shut, the mare peeked through the window.
Big Macintosh placed a real teapot on the table and poured some into the doll’s cup. He filled his own cup before taking a seat across of the doll.
“Sorry about that.” Big Macintosh apologized to the doll, “Hadda help Applebloom an’ Miss Lemon Hearts hook up th’ cart so they could take Caramel to the hospital.”
“Caramel?” Big Macintosh responded in a higher pitched voice, mimicking a female voice, “Why, what did that big oaf do now?”
“Got himself into another accident, Miss Smarty Pants,” the stallion responded in his normal voice.”
“Another one? Why I’m shocked that he’s still standin’.”
“He’s made of tough stuff,” Big Macintosh chuckled.
“…What the hell is he doing?” Cloudchaser muttered to herself.
As she stared at the scene in a mix of confusion, disgust and utter bafflement, Cloudchaser unconsciously moved upwards, moving into the window.
“Y’know Smarty Pants, I’m beginnin’ to think that I should talk ta Chaser more,” Big Macintosh shrugged, “I feel a bit guilty about keepin’ this from her. But then again, what’s she gonna say once she finds out her coltfriend keeps playin’ with a filly’s toy.”
“Why Big Macintosh, if she really loves you I reckon’ she won’t care,” ‘Smarty Pants’ responded.
“I reckon s...” Big Macintosh trailed off as something caught his eye. His eyes widened in horror and he dropped the teacup as he realized that Cloudchaser was at the window. The two ponies stared at each other in awkward silence, as minutes passed. Eventually, Cloudchaser slowly lowered herself to the ground as Big Macintosh continued to stare at the window in horror. His expression never changed as the front door slammed open, and somepony whooshed through the house. Big Macintosh’s door flew open as Cloudchaser entered. As she slammed the door shut, Big Macintosh finally broke out of his trance.
“I can explain!” the farmstallion sputtered, “This isn’t what it looks like!”
“Mac, You’re sitting in your room, having a tea party with a raggedy old doll,” Cloudchaser deadpanned, “If that isn’t what this is, I don’t think I want to know what it is.”
Big Macintosh turned bright red, “…It’s exactly what it looks like.”
“What, you talking to a doll about us?” Cloudchaser rolled her eyes, “This is like something Flitter would do.”
“…”
“Mac, if you want to talk, let’s talk,” Cloudchaser sighed, “I’m not going to bite your head off….
Well I’m not likely to.”
“...”
“…You know what, wait here.” Cloudchaser trotted out the room. Big Macintosh began cleaning up the mess as Cloudchaser flew past the window.
“…What am I getting’ myself into?” the stallion sighed as the cleaned up the shattered porcelain, “Bet she’s off gettin’ someone so they can laugh at this…”
A blue blur caught his eye; Cloudchaser appeared with something in her hooves. She tapped at the window, motioning to be let in. Big Macintosh opened it, allowing the mare in.
“See… Mac, you’re not the only one with secrets,” Cloudchaser gave him an embarrassed grin.
Cloudchaser placed the covered item on a chair next to Smarty Pants and pulled off the blanket on it. Big Macintosh stifled a grin.
“Ain’t that a…”
“Yeah, it’s a Plushie Pal.” Cloudchaser blushed, “It’s a Seaweed the Otter. Got it when Flitter and I were… must have been before we got our cutie marks. She got a Digger the Crab.”
“And you still got it?”
“Flitter still has hers,” Cloudchaser responded, “I… I keep mine hidden. It’s kinda embarrassing.”
“Why?”
“I mean… hey; I got a reputation, Mac. It’s not as bad as Dash’s, but… still.” Cloudchaser motioned to the stuffed otter, “I still like it.”
“As we can see, I ain’t gonna be the one to judge ya,” Big Macintosh chuckled.
“Yeah…” Cloudchaser agreed.
“Why are you here anyway?” the stallion changed the subject.
“Well… I came to see what you were up to. Bloom and Granny mentioned that you had the day off, so… Lunch?”
“Lunch sounds fine.”
The two headed out of the room, leaving the two dolls out.
“By the way, you need to be more quiet,” Cloudchaser informed him as Big Macintosh closed the door, “Bloom hears you when you play with the doll. She thinks its preeeetty creepy.”
“… I reckon so.”
