A late night in Ponyville was interrupted by a surprise thunderstorm that had been orchestrated last minute by the weather team unleashing its contents; the residents of the quiet little town were safely indoors, away from the surprise thunderstorm. The storm sent heavy rain beating down all over the place, even more so at Sweet Apple Acres; while the weather provided water for the apple trees, it was rattlling to a little earth pony filly.
Applejack was the little filly's name. She had emerald eyes, a blonde mane and tail, orange fur, and she had just recently gotten her cutie mark, a trio of apples, for realizing that her place was on her farm, with her family. Currently, she was in her bed, shivering under her blanket from the weather outside; the wind picking up quite a bit, the heavy pitter patter of rain against her bedroom window and the roof of the farm house, and the lightning and thunder going off all proved too much for her to quell her worries.
She jumped up when she heard a loud Crackoom!, and landed on her rump on the side of her bed; the impact against the wooden floor, and the roaring storm outside made her start to sniffle as she got up and walked towards her door. Applejack knew she wouldn't be able to sleep without somepony to help her, so she opened her door, closed it, and walked down the short hall towards her big brother's room.
When she reached the door to Big Macintosh's room, she reached up with one hoof and fiddled with the knob until she pushed it open and went inside, being sure to close the door. Once she was inside, a big Boom! made her yelp out, rousing her brother from his sleep.
The big, red colt, with the same color green eyes as his sister, a sliced-in-half green apple cutie mark, and an orange mane and tail, mumbled tiredly, "Mm... whazat?"
"Big brother?" Applejack asked timidly.
Big Mac just sat up in his bed, a flash of lightning going off as he did, causing his little sister to quiver. "Yea, AJ?"
"C-Can... Ah... sleep i-in yer... bed with ya? Ah'm a mite scared." She said, awaiting his response.
Big Mac just climbed out of his bed, trotted towards his sister, and knelt down so she could get on his back. "If'n this storm's scarin' ya, sis, 'course ya can bunk with me."
Applejack let out a shaky sigh as she got on her brother's back, nuzzling into the fur a bit as thunder boomed across the air once again.
Once Mac made it back to his bed, he dislodged his sister from his back, laid his head on his pillow, and turned himself over so he could wrap his hooves around her and calm her down. The action was much appreciated, as AJ snuggled into the embrace and flipped over so her back was against her brother's chest.
With both of them comfortable, they were ready to sleep, until another flash of lighning streaked across the sky, causing Applejack to shiver once more.
"It's alright, AJ, it's just some lightnin'." Big mac assured her, holding her a little closer.
Applejack whimpered, "Ah-Ah'm sorry. It's just that this storm is really scary t' me."
The red colt just kept up what he was doing and said, "Y'know, before we lost Ma and Pa, Ma used to tell me somethin' 'bout storms."
"What?" The orange filly asked out of curiosity.
Mac just looked at his sister. "She told me that the storms we get are the pegasi sharin' that gift'a theirs with us; them bein' in charge'a the weather and the clouds. It's like us earth ponies usin' our gift to help with tillin' the land or lendin' some muscle, or the unicorns usin' all of them fancy spells and other magic stuff that they know. It's even what the princess does; lowerin' the moon and the sun is her gift to all of us."
"Ah never thought of it like that, Ah just thought those pegasi made the storms to scare us." Applejack spoke.
"Ah know it might seem scary, but it's just how they spread their gift." He said.
AJ didn't say anything, instead she just shut her eyes and yawned. "Ya know, big bro?"
"Eeyup?" Big Mac asked.
She turned over in his hooves so they were face to face. "Ah'm not scared anymore."
"Well, that's good, little sis." He affirmed.
"And you know what else?"
"What?"
"Ah'm just glad Ah've got mah family; you, lil', baby Apple Bloom, and good ol' Granny Smith." She sighed contentedly.
The red colt just chuckled. "And you always will, little sister. We best git some shut eye, unless we want Granny yellin' at us fer bein' late fer our chores tomorrow."
The filly just giggled and pecked him on the cheek. "Good night, big brother. Ah love ya."
"Goodnight, little apple. Ah love ya, too." Mac said as he kissed his sister's forehead, threw his blanket over the both of them, and drifted off to sleep.
Applejack opened her eyes once more and looked at the window, lightning flashing again. This time, she wasn't scared. She just smiled.
"Thanks fer the gift." She whispered as she finally fell asleep, content that her brother helped her through this challenge, and she knew that her brother would always be there for her, even if she didn't want him to be. Within seconds, all that could be heard in the room was the sound of light snoring as the siblings snuggled against one another.
