Witnessing the rise of the morning sun bristling across the tree tops of the apple trees, Applejack felt delighted to see such an occurrence. She watched as the wind moved through the leaves, the apples swaying to and fro, juicy and plump in the morning breeze, ripe for the picking. She set off to the task of bucking the first tree. Apple bucking season was nearing its date, and she knew there would be much work to be done. Big Macintosh had been sent to make a delivery and, though she needed the help, Applejack was fine in completing the task by herself despite Apple Bloom insisting she could help her older sibling.
Deciding that she had spent enough time standing idly under the first tree, Applejack began her work for the day with a resounding kick to the trunk of the apple tree. Apples fell into the baskets sitting ready to catch them. She waited for the apples to fall into the baskets, picking up those that didn't make it in, then quickly trotted over to the next tree in the line, repeating the process and going on down tree after tree, and was just about to move down to the next row when she heard her little sister calling out to her from the wagon from which she sat with an expression of utter boredom written clearly across her face.
Apple Bloom sighed. “Big sis, why can’t ay help?”
“Because yer too little, and ay don’t want ya to get hurt bucking these apples.”
“I ain't gonna get hurt. Besides, yer not making that much progress.”
Applejack was about to say something before turning around and noticing that, in fact, she wasn't making any progress considering the many acres of land that were on the farm. She let out a chuckle. “Ay guess not. Still, Apple Bloom, ay’ll get this done in due time. Why don’t ya go play with the other crusaders?”
“Scootaloo is spending time with Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle is being forced to wear dresses by Rarity. You know, ay don’t think ay’m ever going to get mah cutiemark at this rate especially having nothin’ ta do with an overprotective sister that don’t trust her younger sibling.”
“Apple Bloom,” said her sister, “I know you ‘ave yer heart in the right place, but you see, I need to get this here field bucked an’ it ain’t needin’ buckin’ from you so if you could just skedaddle on ove-”
“Applejack! Ay can certainly buck this here field and help you out, it ain’t like I haven’t done it before.” Applebloom protested.
“Look, why don’ you find somethin’ excitin’ to do while I work?” Applejack said, turning back to her precious trees.
“You don’t know anythin’!” shouted Apple Bloom storming off back to the barn.
“Oh, ay hope ay didn’t hurt her feelings too bad…” said Applejack, but remembering the work to be done, went back to bucking the trees all down the rows and rows spanning the acres of the farm.
Entering the barn, Apple Bloom promptly went to the nearest haystack and fell into it. She stayed for a while entirely bored. “Fun, she says.” She rolled around the haystack completely annoyed by her sister’s disregard for the younger sibling’s desire to help. After all, she didn't have anything to do for the time being. There was a rope hanging down from the upper rafters that Apple Bloom decided to playfully bat at before accidentally getting her hoof tied in it. She struggled for a bit, getting herself further entangled.
Apple Bloom, now with two hooves entangled in the rope, dangled off the ground sighing to herself. “Maybe ay can get a cutiemark in uselessness. Applejack don’t care none. You know, I’m not going ta do nothing. We’ll see how long it takes for her to see mah pred - predic - oh, what’s the word? Whateva, Miss Cheerilee would probably think mah verbah skills are useless, too.”
She dangled there in the air trying not to fall asleep noticing the minutes pass away and the sunlight move from one side of the barn to the other. Apple Boom was not surprised to notice that Applejack never noticed her younger sibling’s situation while concerned with the day’s work. She tried to free herself at this point but found it useless - like her. She was also becoming aggravated that her older sister had yet to come find her. Perhaps Granny Smith or Big Macintosh would be able to find her soon enough.
Deciding that trying to extricate herself again wouldn't be so bad now that she had nothing to amuse herself with, she began looking around for a potential tool to pull herself free. After a small bit of searching, she discovered a moderately-sized rake that seemed close enough to grab and began reaching out for it. She swung back and forth swinging her legs in a mad attempt to grab the tool until she finally made contact, and knocked it over. “Confound it.”, she muttered, looking down at the offending rake like it had said something awful about her grandmother. Resigning herself to the prospect of hanging there until somepony found her, she slowly dozed off.
Apple Bloom dangled from the rope lightly snoring until an audible snap broke the silence followed by her abrupt plummet to the ground. She grunted lifting herself up, rubbed her eyes, and noticed that the sun had lowered itself to the horizon. Grumbling to herself, she headed back to the farmhouse where Applejack was searching around the building before spotting her younger sibling.
“Apple Bloom, where have ya been? Ay’ve been worried sick!”
“Is that what they call irony? ‘Cause ay’d been in the barn the entire time. Ya never even bothered ta look there.”
“That was the next place ay was goin’ ta go.”
“Really now? ‘Cause the way ay see it, ay coulda hung mahself in that rope, and ya wouldn’t of noticed until yer work was done!”
“Hung yerself?! Look lil sis, ay’m sorry. Ya know how ay get caught up in field work, but Apple Buck-”
“-Ay offered ta help! Everytime ay do, yer always turning me away like ay’m gonna get hurt. But there’s a chance I’ll get hurt by not helping. When are ya ever going ta trust me?!”
“Look here sis, if ay wanted you ta help ay would have asked, but ya see, this here farmwork is very dangerous and ain’t for little fillies like you. Maybe when you’re all grown up.”
“You never ask me ta help you an ya never will!” Applebloom said before storming off to go sulk inside the house.
Maybe ay am being too ‘ard on her… thought Applejack, looking at the filly as she slammed the door behind her causing a rudely awakened Granny Smith to tumble out of her chair with a shriek. Applejack ran to her side and helped her up. “Are you okay Granny Smith?”
“I’m fine Applejack, but I don’t think Apple Bloom is”, she replied with a concerned expression “you aren’t bein’ hard on her again are ya?”
“No! Well yes, ay guess” Applejack said, looking guiltily at the ground.
“Now see here, yer sister may be small, but she can still help you with the chores ‘round here. All ya gotta do is give her some trust.”
“I’m not sure, but ay guess I could let ‘er ‘elp bring the rest of the apples in.” Applejack said.
“That’s the spirit!”
“Alright, thanks Granny Smith.” Applejack turned and opened the door slowly glancing around. Not seeing Apple Bloom anywhere she called her name and began walking up the stairs to check if she was in her room.
“Apple Bloom! Ay’m sorry ay was ‘ard on ya! Please come out!”
Getting no reply she walked up to the door to her sister’s room and knocked on it, waiting for an answer. Receiving none from the younger sibling, she knocked again waiting for a response. “Apple Bloom, ay-”
“-Go away, big sis! Ay’m not coming out! Ya don’t need mah help, anyways!” There was a scrambling inside the room, and she was noticed at this moment with an attempted turn of the door knob that Apple Bloom had locked the door. The orange-coated mare stayed outside the door, scratching her head until hearing a thud-like noise. With growing panic, she burst into the room almost busting the door off its hinges noticing the window was wide open with a makeshift rope made of blankets tied to the bed post.
Applejack ran to the window and to her horror realized that Apple Bloom was nowhere to be seen outside, yet there was a steady noise below that sounded like the movement of a wagon. It was Big Macintosh coming back to the farm after his delivery. She called out to him asking if he’d seen Apple Bloom, but he shook his head in response.
“What in tarnation? Ay didn't think she’d react that badly to not being asked ta help...” Applejack said scratching her head in confusion. Quickly galloping out of the farmhouse, she glanced around at the surroundings below Apple Bloom’s window trying to figure out where the younger sibling had gone but there was no sign of the small filly.
Applejack stood there in silence as the sun gave way to nighttime. There was a slight breeze blowing through the trees giving her a slight chill. “Apple Bloom! Where are ya! Ay’m sorry! Ya can help if ya want!” The only response was the silence of an oncoming night.
Standing in that silence, Applejack let out a long sigh. For a while, there was nothing until the steady creaking movements of wheels could be heard to her left. She glanced over to the noise to see Apple Bloom pulling three carts full of apples back to the barn, struggling of course but, nonetheless, able to complete the task. She had a glowering expression on her face and offered no explanation even when Applejack called out to her.
The orange-coated mare galloped over to her sister receiving the same silent treatment as all three carts full of apples were pulled into the barn. “Apple Bloom, ay’m sorry. I can see yer capable of lifting heavier loads than ay previously expected. I understand now.”
Apple Bloom took off the harness, looking away from her sister. “No, ya don’t understand. When a sister wants ta help, they ought be able to. Not pushed away again and again. Ay ain’t ever going ta get mah cutiemark. Just ain’t going ta happen. Now ay have ta have an overbearing protective sister that don’t let me do nothing. Ya see, you don’t understand big sis...you never will...”
With a lowered head avoiding the bigger sister’s gaze, Apple Bloom walked past her out of the barn. She stopped a short distance away with a light sniffle, rubbing her eyes. “Shouldn't the bigger sister be there for the younger one? Isn’t that what ma and pa wanted? Don’t ay deserve some kinda respect?”
Applejack attempted to say something but found the words caught in her throat with her only expression being a raised hoof.
“Ay thought so...can’t even say something when ay need it most...” the little filly said starting to slowly walk back to the farmhouse. “...ya do understand ay get hurt everyday at school, right? Called a ‘blank flank’ by the others. There are more ways than one ay can get hurt, but you’ll never know that, big sis…”
Apple Bloom attempted to walk further along to the farmhouse, but the oncoming tears made it difficult to see where she was going resulting in her accidental introduction of her head with a nearby pole. Applejack took this opportunity to slowly approach her.
“Ya know, Granny Smith never trusted me none with the farm work when ay was a little fritter. Had ta prove mah worth for a while before she’d even let near one of them apple trees. So...ay understand, Apple Bloom. Tomorrow, ay’ll let you do as much work as ya want, okay?”
Her words did little to help the younger sibling which compelled to Applejack to move in front of her sister, lowering herself, and wiping away some of the tears. “Ay didn’t know ya were getting hurt at school. Seems like there are times a big sis can’t protect her little sister. But ay still love ya no matter what and, though mah attempts to keep ya safe didn’t help much, ay’m willing to let you do more from this day forward. So, please don’t cry anymore. Ma and pa wouldn’t want that. Ay don’t want that. If ya want me to trust ya more, then ay will.”
Apple Bloom stood there sniffling trying not to cry as her sister brought her into a hug. She simply nodded her head hoping the older sister would have more trust in her from that moment forward. Applejack picked up her younger sibling, carrying her into the house and upstairs to her bedroom. She said some comforting words, tucked the filly into bed, then lightly kissed her on the forehead. Apple Bloom didn’t say anything, only showing a half smile before drifting off to sleep.
The next day, Apple Bloom woke up bright and early expecting everything to turn out the same; Applejack not letting her do anything to help out with the farm work. However, to the younger sibling’s surprise Applejack backed up her words by letting Apple Bloom work to her heart’s content. She certainly wasn’t able to do as much as the older sister but, regardless, her efforts in performing the day’s menial labor helped out a great deal.
Checking the progress of their combined efforts, along with Big Macintosh, Applejack could tell the apple family was right on schedule for Apple Bucking season to be completed in time while the harvest was good and ripe. The older mare stared at the calendar for a while realizing something she should had noticed a long time ago. When ma and pa left, there was plenty of room left empty in the family. It was only right to make room for Apple Bloom.
