Family Fun
By: Michael A.
The sounds of laughter and the stomping of hooves echoed within the red barn.
“Come here, Applebloom!” Big Mac chuckled as he ran after his little sister.
“Yer gonna have ta catch me first!” Applebloom replied, her voice just as cheerful as her brother’s. The young filly ran as fast as she could, her tiny legs somehow managing to outrun her brother. Turning her head, Applebloom noticed that her brother was hot on her tail, and gaining fast. “You’ll never catch me,” she panted out.
Big Mac just chuckled as he trotted after his sister, seeing that she was starting to tire out. He had learned from experience that it was best to let her tire herself out first, then go in for the tackle. And soon, as predicted, Applebloom collapsed from exhaustion, and Big Mac took the opportunity to catch her.
“Gotcha!” Big Mac announced as he pinned his younger sister, only needing to use one hoof to hold her down, but making sure to only apply enough pressure to keep her held down.
“Ah! Let me go!” Applebloom giggled as she squirmed like a worm under his hoof, trying desperately to escape.
Big Mac was about to release his kid sister before an idea popped into his mind. A smile slowly grew on his face as he stared at his sister under his hoof. Applebloom tilted her head in confusion and was about to speak when her brother leaned down and blew a raspberry into her stomach. Applebloom immediately began to laugh as her brother continued his assault.
“S-Stop!” Applebloom squealed out, gasping for breath.
“Nope,” Big Mac replied as he began to tickle her with his front hooves.
Applebloom burst out laughing even harder and she pressed her hooves into her stomach, trying to stop her brothers, but it was no use. Finally, after Applebloom had started to turn a little purple, Big Mac stopped. Helping her to her hooves, he pulled her into a hug. After their parents had... passed, Big Mac had become somewhat of a father to Applebloom, having to pretty much raise her, and had developed a sort of fatherly instinct for the young filly. So moments like this meant the world to the proud stallion, though he would never show it.
“Uh, Big Mac… Can you please let me go? Yer kinda squishing me…”
Big Mac blushed, though it didn't show with his red fur, and released his sister from his bear hug. “Sorry… Got kinda carried away,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof.
“It’s okay,” she giggled, the sight of her brother was absolutely hilarious. For a huge stallion, he could be a real marshmallow at times. But Applebloom’s smile soon faded as she bowed her head and began to draw circles on the ground with a hoof. “Uh, Big Mac?”
“Yes?”
“Ah was wondering if you could, I don’t know… Teach me how to buck apples?” she asked, looking up expectantly at her older sibling.
Big Mac put a hoof to his chin, Applebloom was old enough to start learning about how to work around the farm…
The sun hung low and cast an orange glow over Sweet Apple Acres. The usually lively farm seemed dormant during this time, the only signs of life came from inside of the big red barn that sat in the middle of the Apples’ land.
“Are you done yet?!” groaned Applebloom. Earlier in the day she had agreed to help Big Mac move some hay bails into the barn, but she had ended up being too weak to move any of them. So, she had ended up just sitting in the barn and watching her brother do all of the heavy liftings… it was really boring.
“Not yet, Applebloom, still have a few more to move before we can call it a day,” Big Mac replied, chucking a hay bale onto the pile.
Applebloom groaned and slumped onto her back. “This is boring!!!”
Big Mac chuckled as he pulled another hay-bail onto his back, continuing his work.
Applebloom suddenly had an idea pop into her head, something that would cure her of her boredom. Slowly and quietly, Applebloom sat up and trotted over to her brother, who still had the hay bale on his back. “Tag! You’re it!” Applebloom yelled as she tapped her brother with a hoof and ran away.
Big Mac turned around and looked at his sister, a smile spread across his face as he dropped the hay bale. “Come here, you!” he replied, running younger sibling.
“Eek!” Applebloom cried as her brother leaped at her, only missing her by an inch.
“I'm gonna get you, sis!” Big Mac called.
“Not this time!” Applebloom said as she slid under a nearby table.
Big Mac tried to follow his sister and slides under table… but ended up getting stuck.
Applebloom smirked at his brother, and called, “Catch me if you can!”
Big Mac returned the smile. “Oh, I will!” he said, throwing table off to the side and running after his sister out of the barn.
Applebloom ran through the rows of apple trees, looking for a place to hide.
“I know you're here,” echoed Big Mac’s voice.
Panicking, Applebloom climbed up the nearest tree.
Meanwhile, Big Mac trotted through the rows of apple trees. He made sure to kept his pace slow enough so he can thoroughly check the surroundings. As he walked, he could hear the soft earth crunches beneath his hooves.
Applebloom held in her giggle as she watched her brother search for her. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a swarm of fruitbat flies towards her. “Ahhhhh!!!” she cried, falling out of the tree.
Big Mac spun around to see his sister falling from the tree and, without thinking, dove to catch his sister. “I got you!”
Applebloom landed safely his her brother’s hooves. She shook in his arms, panting with her face painted with terror.
Big Mac held her close and runs a hoof through her mane. “There there,” he began, his voice as honest and as soothing as ever, “It's alright, I got you.”
“I…is…it gone?” she asked, still shaking from the fall.
Big Mac releases his grip a little bit and looks Applebloom strait in her terror filled eyes. “Yes, it's gone. And I promise you that I won't let anything happen to you… As long as I'm around, I'm not gonna let anything hurt you.”
Applebloom looked up at her brother, then buried her face into his chest, and began to cry.
"There there," he began, nuzzling her head, "big bro's here."
“Ah wanna go home!” Applebloom cried into his chest.
“Okay,” he replied, putting his sister onto his back and began to head back towards the house.
Suddenly, the sound of running hooves echoed through the orchard, and not before long Applejack came into view. "What the hay happened? Ah came runnin’ as soon as ah heard Applebloom's scream.”
“Applebloom saw some fruit bat and fell out of a tree,” he replied, “and ah was lucky enough to catch her before she hit the ground. I'm gonna go and take her inside—it's getting late anyway.”
Applejack’s mouth hung agape. "Fruitbat!?” she began. “But it ain't the right season for them critters"
“Ah know,” Big Mac said, nodding his head. “You go take a look while ah go and put Applebloom to bed.” Applebloom yawned once, before wiping her eyes. "Eeyup, time to bring her to bed," Big Mac chuckled. He nodded to Applejack before heading inside of the ol' Apple homestead. The interior was rustic and showed it's age, but every nook and cranny of the building showed the love that was given to making it. The building was cozy and had a good "welcome home" feel to it.
Big Mac continued to walk in past the living room (which had a fire burning brightly in the fireplace) and headed up the stairs located opposite the front door. The walls of the stairs were covered with old family pictures of the entire apple family, Big Mac smiled as he trotted up the stairs, the view of his family was always something that brought a smile to his face. Applebloom rested peacefully on his back, gripping his midsection tightly, for both physical and mental support. As he reached the top of the stairs, he say the only remaining picture of his parents. A tear fell down his cheek. After they had...passed, he had ended up raising Applebloom by his self, with Granny Smith being too busy with the "adult work". She had become somewhat of a daughter to him, and he treated he as such... he had learned to become the stallion of the house from an early age... too early. Wiping the tear from his eye, he continued down the hallway of the upper layer to Applebloom's room. He punched the hooved carved door (one that he had carved himself) out of the way and trotted up to the bed that lay in the center of the room. He pulled back the covers and placed the tired Applebloom onto the bed and pulled up the sheets.
"Big bro?" Applebloom said looking up at Big Mac with pleading eyes.
"Yes?" he responded.
"Will you read me a story?!" she begged.
He looked over at the clock hanging on the wall. "Okay, sis. What do you want me to read you?"
As soon as she heard his response she perked up. "The one about the magic apple!"
"Okay," he sighed as he trotted over to the corner of the room and to a shelf that hung on the wall. Next to the bookshelf was a small window that allowed natural light into the filly's room. The big stallion looked out the window, chuckling as she saw his other sister being chased by a large, and seemingly angry, swarm of fruit bats. He shook his head, deciding to let Applejack deal with the critter on her own this time. Big Mac returned his attention the task at hoof, located the book he was looking for, and trotted back to his sisters bed. He lightly nudged Applebloom over so he had room to fit on the bed next to his sister. He opened the book and turned to his sister. "Ready?"
"Ready!" she squealed.
"Okay," he began. "A long time ago, right after Ponyville had been founded, there lived an apple farmer named Buck. He was a happy apple farmer, and his fields of apple trees were always enough to provide enough apples to eat and sell. But, one year, Buck started to notice that his trees were holding less and less apples. Curious, Buck set out one night to see what could be the cause of it. He checked all around his orchard, and when he thought that he saw nothing wrong... he heard a noise. Turning to see what the cause was, he saw a flock of fruit bats swoop down and eat all the apples off of his tree. Scared, he ran inside... He had figured out the cause of his shortage. The next day he traveled all across town, asking people if they knew how to take care of fruit bats... nopony had any idea. He was about to give up, when a wise, old stallion said he knew how to rid him of his infestation. The old stallion talked about a magical apple that was located deep within the Everfree Forest. The apple had the power to teleport anything that bit into it far away.
"He travels through the Everfree forest, fights some monsters, gets the apple, comes back, learns some lessons 'n' stuff, blah, blah, blah...
"Having the apple now, he placed it in the middle of the orchard. He watched as each and every bat took a bite out of the apple, and was instantly enveloped in a cloud of Magic and "poofed" away. He lived happily ever after the end."
Big Mac looked down to see his sister stir the slightest bit. The large stallion's eyes filled with joy at seeing his sister sleep happily. He leaned down and kissed his sister on the forehead. Waking up from the kiss, the little filly sprung up and hugs her brother tightly around his neck.
"I love you, big bro," she whispered in his ear.
A smile spreads across his face. "I love you too, sis... and I always will." Kissing her on the forehead once again, Big Mac began to get up off of the bed, when Applebloom stops him with a forehoof.
“Uh, big bro... could I... sleep with you tonight? I'm still a little scared…”
“Okay, little sis,” he said, leaning back onto the bed and wrapping his arms around his sister, who fell asleep in his arms.
Big Mac closed his eyes and smiled once more, before falling asleep.
