I'll be always by your side
I'll always be by your side
„BigMac? BigMac?“, a familar voice, Applejack´s, asked Big Macintosh.
He startled and looked at his sister, questioningly, sweaty and with indignant eyes. He took a deep breath and replied nervously:”Eeyup?” Applejack grinned and said:” Ya had a nightmare. Dozed off, huh? Are ya alright?” Quiet, as the stallion was, he just nodded.
AJ was still grinning and just said:”Great! Well, then get back to work, brother. The apples do not collect on by themselves”, and left with a smile on her face, to collect, on another warm day with clear blue sky, the juicy, sweet apples. Big Macintosh just stood there in the cold, green grass and watched her. Then he kept up working.
After a few meters, Applejack stopped. She stopped smiling too. Then she sighed sadly. She worried. About her brother. For a long time, for years, he was no longer the funny and woken pony, as in the time when he was a foal. She wasn´t sure, but she got more and more the feeling, as if something very oppress him. Applejack just didn´t know, what. She knew she could trust her brother forever. After all, they shared everything with each other. Sorrow and suffering, but also beautiful moments and memories. They told everything and always trusted each other. She hoped that she only imagines everything. “If something bad happened, he would have told me, hadn´t he?”, she thought. Then she looked back to BigMac. "I should keep an eye on him ..." she thought and kept up work, thoughtfully.
She looked after her brother for days. The orange earthpony cared more about the stallion and neglected more and more work on the plantation. Big Macintosh, which often wasn´t concentrating, didn´t want to talk with anypony when somepony asked him about it. He just worked thoughtfully, quietly and stiffened. Day by day.
He became weird and he seemed to have daydreams, from which he abrupt woke up. It worried Applejack and because she knew, her brother didn´t want to talk, she wanted to distract him.
“Hey, Big Mac! Would ya like to surprise Apple Bloom?”, AJ asked the big, red stallion loudly. Suddenly, he turned around and looked in her face questioningly. “Ah wanna pick up Apple bloom from school, just like old times. Do ya want to come with me?”, she added and smiled, to hide her worry. Big Macintosh smiled distorted and his green eyes twitched. Then he answered quickly:”Eeyup.” He sweated a little.
“Yeeehaaaw! Ah knew, ya will say yes. Then let´s go!”, the mare shouted happily. Inside, she knew that it was all just a facade. Just an illusion. Neither of them was really happy at this moment. Applejack just wanted to do her best to distract her brother.
Both trotted side by side in the town, past the houses, through a small park to the school. During this time, Big Mac didn´t show behavioral problems, what was good for Applejack. But that changed as the two stood in front of the school. While the mare talked with the best friends of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweety Belle, the stallion looked at the playing foals. How they galloped through the grass, bobbed on the swings and talked to each other, made him smile. He looked around and saw a little foal that stood apart from the others. Alone, in the corner. Brooding, he looked at it further. Two slightly older foals came from behind two trees. Like the lonely pony, Big Macintosh startled, when the two began to annoy the younger one. “ Hahaha! Blank flank!”, one foal shouted and pointed with his gray hoof on the small light blue one, whose mane hung in the frightened face with trembling dark blue eyes. Trembling, it made himself smaller and only heard the mocking words and the laughter of the young stallions. Again and again it heard words like:” Blank flank!”, “Loser!” and “stupid pony”...
Big Macintosh saw how depressed it was. Shocked and like frozen, he stood there, firmly on the ground. He wanted to help, to do something. But something stopped him. He could not. Tears came in his green eyes. A quiet sob could be heard. Suddenly, he pinched his eyes together, as hard as he could, and galloped to the Apple Farm. He just wanted to get away.
Applejack and Apple Bloom saw that. “Big Mac!”, Applejack shouted. Apple Bloom looked at her sister questioningly.
“What happened to him?”, she asked.
Applejack just whispered:” I don´t know...”
The filly started to run and said:” Let´s follow him!” Aj nodded and started running too.
They arrived in Sweet Apple Acres, but didn´t see their brother.
Apple Bloom looked around and saw Granny Smith sleeping in her rocking chair. “Granny! Granny, wake up!”, she tried to wake up the old mare. Granny Smith startled and screamed:” Wha...what, who, where, why?! Young filly, what happened? Wha...?”
“Where is Big Macintosh?!”, Apple Bloom interrupted loudly.
Her granny yawned and answered annoyed:” I think, he´s inside...maybe in his room...” The filly hugged her and ran away. Applejack followed her little sister and said quickly:”Thanks, Granny.”
The sisters stood in front of Big Macintosh´s room. The door was closed and they only heard a whimper, Big Mac´s, behind it. AJ knocked at the door, slowly. She asked nervously:” Big Mac?”
Apple Bloom began to cry and shouted:” Big Macintosh! Please open the door! Come out, please!”
“Shhhh! Apple Bloom, be quiet!”, Applejack whispered a bit angry and a bit sad.
Then she heard her brother:“N...nope...”
“Please, Big Mac, talk to me. I´m your sister,” the orange mare began. Then there was silent.
“NO!”, her brother shouted angrily and sadly. Applejacks breath caught.
Then she tried it again:” Big Mac, I´m your sister. You can trust me, forever. You have to tell me, what happened. Please, don´t keep it with you...”
Big Macintosh was sitting in the corner of his room, his eyes twitched and nervously he began to sweat. He just remembered bad things at this moment and he began to cry.
“Brother, please don´t remember just bad things. Remember wonderful times, with your friends, family... with me. Please, talk to me. Share your problems with me, like old times. Remember? I can help you... just tell me...
Apple Bloom still cried. The red stallion behind the closed door just sniffed and cried too. Applejack sat down and leaned against the door. Then she whispered sadly:” If you´re hurtin´, I´m hurtin´...”, and began to cry. For a long time, it was silent, everypony cried. Suddenly the door opened, slowly. AJ stood up quickly, looked at the door and saw her brother. He hugged his sister, she hugged him too. She smiled through her tears.
Now, Big Macintosh plucked courage and told Applejack everything, shared his problems and his sister helped him.
By LupiArts
