Chapters Chapter 1: The New Kid
I sighed as I stared at the ceiling in my room. It was boring without Applejack, and Big Mac. I miss them so much and it's only been two weeks. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had tryed to coax me out a couple of weeks ago, but to no avail. I just stared at my ceiling, wishing I could go with my brother and sister. Granny Smith had tried to flush me out with the smell of zap-apple pie, my favorite pie of all! Instead, I just turned my back. I did work, don't get me wrong, but I just didn't do it with enthusiasm. I looked out the window, feeling the grasp of loneliness. I look outside to get a little bit of sunshine, and I see a human, a little taller than the five foot fence Granny set up to keep the Timberwolves out.
Humans aren't rare in this world, but not many travel to Ponyville often. Humans are usually in either Trottingham, Canterlot, or even Manehatten. I keep staring at this human as he stumbles his way to the door of the front porch. I run down the wooden stairs in a flash to meet this new stranger who just appeared. I open the creaky, rusty looking door to find a boy almost six feet, almost twice my size. He has dirty blonde hair and leather looking skin. He has a tattered brown shirt and torn up pants on, making him seem homeless.
"Is there something I can help with?" I ask. He looks me up and down before raising his hand.
"Hi," he said tiredly before passing out. I panic and call out for Granny to aid the unconscious stranger. We lay him down on our old couch, putting a cold wet cloth on his forehead. He was breathing steadily, his chest going up and down in a rhythmic sort of way. I sighed as I sit beside him. I've got nothing else to do, so I won't really move.
It's been two hours when the boy yawns, getting up. He stretches his arm, and yawns again, starting to stretch his boney legs. He smacks his lip, feeling dry and looks at me with curiosity. I'm sleeping beside him, snoring softly as he gets off the couch. He looks around at my home, admiring the architecture. I wake up, fully alert. I look at this new person, looking and admiring my home. He sees me and smiles.
"Sorry, you have such a nice house, I just couldn't help myself from looking around," he said. I shake my head.
"It's okay, who are you?" I ask curiously.
"Oh, sorry, my name's Will, or Willy, or Willfer, or even Willby!" He says jokingly. I don't really get the joke, but I chuckle nervously. "So, who're you?" Will asks.
"My name's Applebloom, I'm the pony who's in co-charge of this fine orchard," I say.
"Who's the one officially in charge?" He asks.
"That would be Granny Smith, she's been in charge since Applejack and Big Mac left. They're my brother and sister," I explained. Will nods.
"How old are you?" He asks.
"I'm about thirteen in a half," she replies.
"I'm fourteen," Will said. He comes a over to me, looking around again. He sits beside me on the couch and sighs. "Thank you for makin' me feel better Applebloom," Will said. I nod, smiling.
"It's what Apples do!" I tell him cheerfully. I went over to Granny Smith, who was sitting in a rocking chair in her room. I tell her about Will, until I heard the front door open and close. I run outside to catch up to Will. Will looks at me as I stood in front of him. "What do you think you're doing?" I ask.
"Well, I need to go on, besides, I have to get a job," he said. I didn't want him to leave, he may pass out again! And judging by his tone, I don't think he'll stay if I ask him to. Wait! I have job openings! I quickly told him that me and Granny Smith were the only ones on this orchard and we need help. Will sighs and smiles. "Alright, I'll help out, I have some experience from working on other orchards so I don't think it'll be too different," he says. I smiled, content. I frown when he starts walking away. "Now I just need to find a house," he says. I tug on his tattered shirt and gestured towards my home. He sighs, knowing what I mean. "Fine, I'll waste most of your house supplies," he says smiling.
As I buck the fresh, ripe apples from a tree, I look at Will's work to see he's picked at least five buckets. I only have four. I grunted and bucked into the tree, harder this time, filling up my five and six. I smirk and look at Will. He grins widely knowing what I just did.
"It's on Applebloom," he said. He climbs the tree fast, and I quickly got my attention to work. I bucked a considerable amount of trees, doing much work in the process. I kept checking on Will, who was climbing the trees, and knocking down apples faster.
Before long, we both stopped, panting on how much work we did. I'm sweating bullets as I had my tongue out, making myself feel cooler. Will keeps panting as well, and before I said anything, he falls down. I rush over to him to find out he's fine. He's just tired. We dragged all of our buckets to the barn, and look at how much we did. I was one bucket shorter. I sighed as Will does a small victory dance. I watch Will as he moon walks in a circle before giving a whoop. I took one apple, and threw it at his head. It made him fall down, and be slightly knocked out.
Granny Smith smiles seeing me and Will playing together. It was as if we were siblings. Granny sighs and sits back. She knows I'm gonna feel better about being the only sibling in the house. Granny Smith always knew a good pony when she saw one.
Chapter 2: Official Brother
Chapter 2: Official Brother
Granny watches with annoyance as Will and I fight over who gets the last apple.
"I said dibs!"
"No, you yelled gibberish before I called dibs!"
"Oh that's so mature."
"So is calling dibs."
"So you're immature too?"
"Do I look like a filly?"
"I dunno, you tell me whether or not you're fifty."
"How does that even make sense?"
" Well that's because... That's because... I got nothing," Will says as he gives up the apple. I instantly dig into it, filling my stomach up. Will sighs in defeat and sits there, griping to himself.
It's been about a week, and yet I haven't really found out much about Will. We get out to work for the day, almost like yesterday, except we did not waste time. As we buck and pick apples into the buckets, I start up a conversation.
"So, where is your family?" I ask. He grunts, picking up a bucket of apples.
"Well, let's just say they went on a vacation that doesn't end," he mutters. I cringe a little. "Don't worry, it happened recently up in Manehatten. Dad went to Canterlot to serve for the military and my mom..." He trails off. He slowly stops and sighed. "I dunno what happened to her. Normally I'd tear up about now, but I've already cried enough for her," he said, seeming cold.
"Sorry," I say apologetically. Will smiles chipper.
"It's okay, she wasn't exactly a good mother," he said. "She never cared about me, but as far as I was concerned, she was still family. So, I stayed for as long as I could until she decided to hop onto the next train to Trottingham. I don't mind it as much anymore," he said. He looks at me. "So what's your story about your brother and sister?" He asks. I sighed.
"We had started running out of money when our barn was completely destroyed by a fire started by some snob rich-boy. He doesn't live here anymore since the vandalism, but he was a boy I hope to never see again. Because of the fire, we had to buy new soon with almost every bit we got from the same family of that darn boy!" I yell the last part and bucked the tree so hard, there was a couple of snaps when the tree starts tilting. It tilted at least a couple inches before stopping. Will's eyes wide, then went back to work on his bucket of apples. "Sorry, I get a little angry sometimes," she said.
"Eh, I understand, it can be a real pain in the butt when there's someone who thinks they're better than you," Will said. I giggled a little.
"You know, you remind me of my big sister Applejack," I say. He tips his head with a nod and went back to work. I popped my head up, getting a great idea. "Hey! You said you don't really have a family right?" I ask. He nods with a quizzical look. "Then, why don't you be my big brother!" I suggest. He taps his chin, in deep thought. After a moment, he smiles.
"Sounds good to me lil' sis!" He says happily.
I sighed as Will and I were stacking our buckets up in the barn. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, when I heard tumbling. I was pushed out of the way as five buckets of apples fell over. I look over to see Will groaning in pain as he laid in the bottom of the pile. "Will! Are you okay!?" I ask, yelling in surprise. I heard a moan and started digging him out of the pile of apples. "Lemme go get Granny Smith!" I say, galloping towards the house. Granny and I come into the barn with cold towels and ice packs. As Will laid down, letting his muscles relax, I look at him angrily. "Now what in Tarnation's did you do that for!?" I ask. He chuckles.
"Just to annoy you," he said jokingly. I keep glaring at him.
"Well, he seems fine so far, I'm surprised he wouldn't get any bruises!" Granny Smith says. "It's as if he's Big Mac!" She exclaims. I sigh and smile, nodding. We got Will to the house and started talking about our day while eating lunch. I had an apple sandwich. Will had a small slice of apple pie. I excuse myself to go to the bathroom and leave for the moment. While I was gone, Granny Smith shakes her head, smiling.
"You have a good heart Will," she said. Will shrugs.
"It's what anyone would do," he says nonchalantly.
"Still, it's something any Apple would do to," Granny says. She sits back in her rocking chair and smiles. "I do have to ask something, why did you do it?" She asked. Will sighs.
"It's what anybody would do," he said again. Granny laughs.
"That's not the real reason, I see it in your eyes," she said. Will signs heavily. A moment later, he answered.
"Well, you know how Applebloom told me I could be her big brother?" He asked. Granny nods. "Well, I think I want to keep that promise," he continues. "I dunno what it is, but after a week of being here, I want to be... I dunno, maybe I'm just lying to myself, but I want to be an Apple too," he said. Granny smiles, a smile with only a couple of teeth.
"Well, if you feel that way, it can happen," she said. Will's eyes flew open. He then starts squinting.
"You don't mean marriage do you?" He asked suspiciously. Granny starts howling with laughter.
"No, goodness no, I mean you can be her brother!" She said, chuckling. Will breathes a sigh of relief.
"Alright, how can I become her brother?" He asks. Granny smiles.
"Promise me, promise me that you will not do anything against our family, against Applebloom, and even this property," she said. Will puts his hand over his heart.
"I promise," he said. When I came from the bathroom, just in time, Granny told me about Will being my official brother, and I cheered. From that day forward, I was glad that decision was made.
Chapter 3: To Take Care of Scammers
Chapter 3: To Take Care of Scammers
I wipe the sweat off my forehead and smiled at Will. "It's so good to have a big brother around!" I say, smiling. Will sighs, chuckling to himself.
"To you maybe," he mutters.
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" I say as he starts laughing. We both stop as we hear a machine. Oh no... I thought. I recognize this sound. Will looks at me with a confused look.
"What's going on?" He asks.
"Them Flim Flam brothers," I say exasperatedly. He raises an eyebrow when a familiar train comes up. A red carpet is rolled out by a robotic hand and two stallions walk out of the train. Both of them were lime colored, and had a red and white mane. One brother had a mustache. Both of them had a similar cutie mark. One brother had a whole apple with a piece missing, but the other brother had an apple piece that seems to be able to fit into the other brother's cutie mark. "What do you two want now?" I ask, tiredly. The brothers smile at each other.
"Why, to ask for some apples," Flim said smoothly. Flam nods.
"Mostly for some scam I bet," I continue. Flam mockingly gasps.
"Whatever made you think of that?" He asks, smirking.
"I dunno who you are, but you better get off my lil' sis' farm," Will says, frowning. The Flim Flam brothers ignore Will.
"The apples are for our new and improved Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 7000!" Flim says dramatically.
"What's the difference?" I ask.
"Why, the difference is that the new SSCS 7 can produce cider much, much faster than the old one! But of course, we decided not to keep it," Flam says sadly.
"How should I know it's not a scam?" I ask.
"We'll show you!" Flim said. Flim and Flam instantly glow their horns green, and the funnel starts sucking up apples. Will and I watched closely as the machine starts whirring rapidly, and barrels started flying up. The brothers quickly cut off their magic and then smirked as I stood with my jaw to the ground. Will is stunned as well and rubs his eyes. There were at least twenty barrels stacked, and it only took half a minute. I squinted at the brothers.
"What's the trick?" I ask. The brothers smirk.
"Nothing Bloomy my dear, in fact, we will give it to you for free!" Flim said. I shook my head. I walk to the barrels and look inside to see the cider there, all freshly made. Will sighs as he walks to a barrel as well. I wave my brother over and started whispering.
"Something's up," I whisper to him.
"Yeah, I don't trust these guys," he whispers back. I sigh and look at him.
"Go check out the machine itself, I'll go and divert their attention," I said. Will nods and leaves to the machine, but I go over to the brothers.
"Well, me and my brother are considering it," I said.
"Wait, the human is your brother?" Flim asks with a raised eyebrow. Flam starts chuckling.
"Yeah, why?" I ask.
"Oh nothing, it's just that humans are usually stupid, in our eyes anyway," Flam says. I give a glare.
"Don't you dare make fun of him," I said. The brothers smirk. Before I could say more, Will comes out.
"Alright, it's clean," he said. The brothers suddenly went pale when they realized where Will looked. "Hey Applebloom, let's let the brothers stay a moment, because since they are so nice, I'll go advertise their Super Squeezy Cider Speedy thingamabob and everyone will know how nice they are," he said, smirking. The brothers tug their shirts nervously.
"N-no need!" Flim says. I give a confused look.
"But of course, you're right, there is no need since it's not even a working machine!" Will continues, yelling the last part. I ran to where he is and gasped when I look at the 'machine'. There was almost nothing in it, except a few empty apple cider barrels and a few worthless gears. The most this thing could do was drive. "All it did was just sit here while the brothers acted it did something by levitating the barrels out of it," Will finished. He crosses his arms and looks at the brothers furiously. "The only truth about this thing is that it isn't worth any money!"
"... Well, Flim did you hear that? I think it's opportunity in the next town again!" Flam said, pretending he hears something. Flim and Flam jumped to their machine and drove off. I grumbled as they left, hoping they won't even show their faces again. Will sighs and turns to me.
"Look on the bright side, they left all their cider," Will said. I smirked.
"Yeah, there's gonna be more cider to go around now!" I said. We both laugh. We brought the cider to Granny Smith and told her what happened, making her laugh. I think today, was an awesome day!
I sighed as I was going off to bed. Today was sure busy, and it was fun too. I look at Will's bedroom door and smile. I'm so glad I have Will as a big brother. Granny Smith and I agreed that Will could sleep in Big Mac's room. I didn't like it really, but I didn't want Will sleeping on the couch. I went to my room, and smiled as I went to sleep on my bed. I think that Will is the best brother I could ever ask for. Beside Big Mac of course.
Chapter 4: Reunions...
I yawn as I wake up, sunshine slowly getting over the hills. I get up and walk down the stairs and trot into the bathroom. Will is up apparently, because I see him brushing his teeth in the doorway, humming a tune to himself.
"Mornin' big brother," I say as I get out my tooth brush.
"Mornin' lil' sis," Will says cheerfully. I start scrubbing my teeth as WIll continues. "I woke up early 'cause some mailmare was beating the door down. I opened it and she said that there was some mail for the Apple family. You got a letter saying something about a family reunion or something," he says. I spit out the toothpaste and stare at him wide eyed.
"What?" I ask. Will shrugs.
"Family reunion," he says nonchalantly. I sped toward the dining room to see Granny Smith packing a bunch of pies in the oven. "What's going on?" Will asks from the bathroom, washing his face.
"We need to start setting up the reunion! I didn't even think it was gonna be this early!" I yell, dragging some tables towards the door.
"Hold on now, you guys are acting like it's today," Will says calmly.
"What day is it!?" Granny asks. Will squints at the calendar beside him.
"It's the twenty fifth of June," he says. I gasped.
"They were supposed to tell us at least yesterday!" I say furiously.
"Well, the mailmare said that there was some sort of problem at the mail post, something about a weird spirit pony," Will says. I groan and face-hoof. I hear a knock on the door, and I rush over to it.
"Hello?" I ask. I open the door to see a yellow bat-pony with red eyes and a brown mane. He wears headphones with the colors red, orange, and yellow around his neck. He looks inside the house and sees Will. He mutters something and smiles.
"Sorry, wrong house, and building," he answered. He looks in a random direction and says, "Sorry, I'm not in this one," and leaves. I sigh as I shut the door. I am not in the mood for surprise guests. Especially that weird one. He seemed pretty strange though.
The day of the reunion is today, and I think I have everything planned. I am not gonna make history repeat itself, and made sure everything is actually fun. I've got bobbin' for apples, apple toss, apple eating contest, apple pie eating contest, the apple-related-works! I honestly don't think I'll figure out why my family likes apples so much. Then again, I like them a lot too. Heck, Will loves apples as well! It'll be no wonder why Will joined the family. I waved as many of my family members trot through the front gate.
"Applebloom! Is that you?!" I hear a familiar voice ask. I turned around to see Babs Seed galloping towards me, wide smiling. We wrap our hooves around each other, giggling excitedly. I turned to Will to see if he's got everything covered. He looks at Babs and nods, smiling. We run off together talking about how our lives are going. Will sighs and turns to the reunion and groans to himself. Then, an orange mare came galloping at him.
"Excuse me sir! Are you lookin' to buy some of our apples?" She asked. Will shook his head.
"Nah, I'm in charge of some of the festivities," Will says. The mare sighs.
"Trustin' some random stranger," she muttered.
"Excuse me, I am no famly stranger here!" Will exclaims a little angrily.
"You ain't no pony boy!" She yells back. I heard the commotion and sped towards the verbal fight to see my sister and brother fighting. Verbally speaking anyway. I went over to grab Will, while apparently Big Mac went over to grab Applejack.
"I'm guessin' Applejack didn't change any huh?" I ask.
"Eenope," he said. I sighed.
Everyone' calmed down enough, and I introduce Will to everyone. Applejack squints at Will.
"Tell me Willm, do you like apples?" She asked. Will shakes his head.
"I don't like them, I love them!" He exclaimed. Applejacks nods slowly.
"Alright, how do you like the Apple Family?" She asked.
"It's the only thing that's better than everything else, even apples!" He said. Applejack nods
"Alright, I trust ya, I can see why Applebloom wants you as her brother!" She says, noogying Will's head.
"Thanks!" He replied cheerfully. Big Mac kind of stares at him in thought, and I grew nervous before he smiles.
"Eeyup," he says. Everyone gathers around as we all shared how everything was going. Thank goodness most of them said fine. When it came to Applejack's turn, everyone was quiet. They wanted to know especially about how an apple so used to the farm is adjusting to the city. Applejack was getting nervous when everyone had quiet down.
"Um, well the city's fine I guess, but the apples are selling at the speed of a bull! As soon as a couple of ponies tasted some apples, they grew by the number everyday! I even saw Babs come and buy a couple, saying she's still not used to them," she said, grinning at Babs' blush. I giggled a little and stopped when it was my turn.
"Well, everything's going fine, surprisingly. It was even better when me and Granny Smith took Will in! He's always working hard, giving a few jokes, and he even fixed our water shoot! Wait, where is Will?" I ask, looking for my brother. As soon as I heard a clatter of buckets, I knew whwere he was. We all turn our heads to see Will, bucket on his head, wandering around. "Did I mention he can be clumsy at times?" I ask. Will takes off his bucket-helmet, and smiles at everyone.
"Hi, my name's Will, nice to meet ya'll!" He said, waving. He takes his seat beside me, smiling brightly as everyone almost instantly accepts him. I sighed with relief. I was really worried about whether or not he'd be accepted.
"Hey Will, where did you come from?" Applejack asks. Will frowns.
"I hate to disappoint ya'll, but I don't want to talk about that," he said firmly. Applejack frowns, and smiles shyly.
"We aint gonna judge ya sugarcube, we just wanted to know, I'm sure everyone wants to," she said.
"... All right, well, I was from Trottingham, fresh off the train," he said. Everyone gasped. "I know it seems like a long way and it also may be confusing why I don't have a nammy pammy accent, but I had some trouble over there," he said. We all waited for him to continue before realizing he won't. We all dug into our food on the table. Apples are everywhere in the food from pies, candy, custards even! It was all delicious none the less. We all finished up and we ended it all off with our hugs goodbye. Big Mac comes up to Will, and smiles slightly.
"I don't usually talk, but you're alright in my book partner. You better be a great big brother," he said. I think that's the most talking he's ever done to someone he almost never met! He nods his head in respect as Will wishes him safe travels. I hope Will likes them, and I hope they like him. I'm just so glad it's over now, hope they don't call another reunion anytime soon!
Chapter 6: Colt Crush
Will sweeps the floors of the barn, gathering up all the hay and dirt. He has been doing this for hours, keeping an eye on me as I stare dreamily at a certain colt. He has orange fur, and purple-ish blue mane! And the best part, he dances! We practice every weekend, but this weekend we practice at my house! Will silently sneaks over beside me to see what I've been staring at. He looks at me and scoffs.
"You got a crush!" He says. I turn beat red and swiveled around.
"No! He's just a friend! Not like one of you colts can understand it anyway," I say, turning around.
"I'm not laughing at it, I just think it's cute that my lil' sis has a crush. Now, just do me a favor and never talk to that pony again okay?" He asks. I look at him with a confused look.
"Why? He's not a bad pony," I say. Will scoffs again.
"Please, I don't know this guy, for all I know he's a serial killer in a bakery or something!" He exclaims.
"A bakery? Really?" I ask. He nods,
"Yep!" He says.
"Well, his name is Tender Taps and he's cool!" I say. Will stares at me.
"Tender Taps? Is he like a massues or something?" He asks.
"No, he dances! He's a great dancer and you don't even compare to him!" I yell getting angry at my adopted brother. He stares wide eyed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean any offense," he said.
"Then you should have thought better!" I exclaim. Will sighs, leaving the room.
Will sits on his bed, trying to figure out what to do with this situation. He's the big brother, he should worry about this! Will sighs again, trying to think of a complicated way of getting me to forgive him. He smiles suddenly, hatching a terribly planned idea.
I sweep swiftly along the barn after Will left to plan out his, well, plan. I wonder if my dream colt likes me too! I bet he doesn't even remember my name. Tender Taps is so like able, from his adorable shyness to his awesome dancing. After I was done in about ten minutes, I look out the window in time to see said pony, leaning on the frame of the window, waving.
"Hey Applebloom!" He said. I yelp, jump, and hit my head all at the same time.
"Owww," I said, rubbing my sore head. "H-hi Tender Taps, how's it going?" I ask, trying to keep my cool.
"Well, I met your big brother Will, and he said you would like to talk to me," he says, smiling. "So, what do you want to talk about?" He asks. I felt my stomach do a complete flip. My idiot brother just told my dream colt to talk to me. I smiled nervously, trying to think of a conversation when I saw Will in the background, holding a card up. It said, 'Tell him now.'
"Well, I was wondering what shoes we need for the next dance rehearsal," I said. Will face palms and picks up another card. 'Just tell him.'
"I think we're supposed to wear the same shoes as always?" He says questioningly. I start sweating a little. I can not believe my brother is doing this to me. "Anything else?" Tender Taps asked. Will gets another card that says, 'Do it do it do it do it do it'. He quickly changes it with a card that says 'Don't let your dreams be dreams'. He switches again 'Yesterday you said tomorrow'. He switches again, 'SO JUST DO IT!!!'
"Well, I was wondering if you, um," I look around quickly for an excuse. I see a poster stapled to the wall and I ran over to it. "Come with me to do this!" I said quickly. Tender Taps stared.
"I thought you said you hate roller coasters," he said. I look at the poster and tried not to scream when I saw that the carnival was coming here next week. As well as the scariest roller coaster ever. The Dropper of Doom. As cheesy as the name is, it's true to its word.
"Well, I can be very dangerous when I want to be, you know, dangerous," I said awkwardly. Tender Taps smiled brightly.
"Wow, you're brave! Braver than me! Normally I wouldn't go on roller coasters like that one!" He said. I mentally sighed in relief. "But since you're asking, I'll go with you," he said. I mentally screamed. "Uh oh, I got to go, my parents don't like it when I stay up too late, bye Applebloom!" Tender Taps said, waving bye. He trots out the door of the barn and down the dirt road, smiling. I stood still for what seemed to be hours when Will walks over.
"What mess did you get into-" he pauses looking at the poster. "Oh wow, this is funny!" He says.
"No it's not," I said. He scoffs.
"That's where you're wrong, Granny Smith isn't gonna come because she has to go shopping that day, and I always take someone with me to the carnival!" I said in a sing song voice. Will loses all the color in his face as I told him. Next week is gonna be a wild ride.
Chapter 7: Life Is like a Roller Coaster
I look up in horror at the huge roller coaster. It looms over most of the circus and fair grounds. The very peek of the ride is nauseating to look at. Will stands beside me and Tender Taps as we look at the menacing ride. It's almost six in the evening, the park is open from five to one in the morning. Turns out it was supposed to open six hours ago, but the manager had some problems with the rides. Will looks over to me. "Applebloom, I think we should skip this one," he said. I shook my head, not directing my gaze anywhere else except the roller coaster.
"Nope, we got this far," I reply.
"We walked at least two feet," he counters. I gulp loudly. We didn't take our eyes off the coaster as if it was a mechanical monster, waiting to kill us. Will and I reluctantly went over to the coaster with Tender Taps. Me and Tender Taps sat at the front with Will sitting behind me. Tender Taps and I wait in anticipation, facing forward. Will on the other hand, was about to poop his pants. When the roller coaster started, I closed my eyes.
As we all stepped out of the coaster, Will was running to the trash can, and I was about to join him when Tender Taps stopped me. "That, was way too fast," he said. I nodded in agreement, not able to speak. "What next?" He asked. I slowly look around. One ride caught my eye, a Ferris wheel! I smiled and pointed. Tender Taps nods and looks at Will. "Is he afraid of heights?" He asks. I nodded. We looked up in time to see the roller coaster photo. The ride was dipping down, my yellow coat looked like it was gonna peel off and my pupils were pin pricks, my big bow was amazingly still on. Tender Taps had his hooves in the air and his mane looks like a flimsy piece of paper in a way. My brother, though, was the most hilarious. His hands covered his face like a scared little filly and he was in the middle of screaming, his hair was everywhere. I giggled a little before laughing as Will finally looks up from the trash can before blushing. Tender Taps joins me before we drag Will towards the Ferriswheel. The color of his face drained as he looked up. The carts only had walls and railings to protect him from falling off. Tender Taps and I sat in our cart right after Will's. It was hilarious, Will was sitting at the top when the wheel stopped. He's yelling down at me.
"You better hope I don't ever get down when you do! I'm gonna get you back for getting me here!" He would shout. I kept on giggling and laughing uncontrollably, loving every moment. Will keeps mumbling to himself as the ride continues, and I keep chatting on with Tender Taps.
"You know Applebloom, you have a cool brother," he said suddenly. I tilt my head before I saw what he was staring at. At the end of the ride, Will is standing, cracking his knuckles. "He's keeping his promise," he said chuckling. I chuckled a little. "You know, I had the best time tonight so far! Do you think we could hang out more often?" He asks. I smile brightly and nodded.
"Heck yeah!" I said immediately. I draw back at my own language and smile sheepishly.
"I mean, yeah sure, that's totally cool," I said, trying to sound like the cool filly.
After many rides, Will finally had it with us, saying we kept going on the scary ones on purpose. The sad part was, it was true. As we walked home, down the dirt road, we had to wave bye to Tender Taps as he went back to his own home, Will kept looking at me. "So, how was he?" He asks.
"He was awesome! He asked me to hang out with him even more!" I said excitedly. Will laughed at my enthusiasm.
"That's good, I was worried I was the only thing making you laugh," he said. I chuckled a little. "I'm glad you had a great time, I also hope you're able to get up at four in the morning because tomorrow is gonna be our last day of working until spring. Autumn came up fast," he said. I felt my inside just freeze.
"Wait, what time is it?" I ask.
"Just about Midnight," Will answers. I started running like a road runner I learned about once and darted down the road. Will stays back in a normal pace, smiling to himself like a devil. I burst through the doors of my room and slid under the covers as fast as lightning. Unfortunetly, I should have checked my calendar to see that we were done picking apples until spring because we woke up four in the morning today to do it. Will was amazingly fast today after accidentally drinking coffee. Will walks into my room, looking at the calendar, chuckling to himself as he knows I will be mad in the morning. "Worth it," he says to himself as he walks out of my room. Will tucks himself in and starts snoring away the hours.
I wake up, the sun shining on my face through the window. I sat up in my bed groggily, stretching my limbs. I got up and walked down the stairs while smelling a beautiful scent. I sat down in my seat in front of Will as he chomps into his pancakes with apple syrup. I start eating mine when I noticed that Granny Smith wasn't at the table with us. "Morning Will, where's Granny Smith?" I asked.
"Oh, she's off to pick up a few things she forgot to get yesterday," he said. I scratch my head.
"Strange, usually the shop doesn't open until nine," I said, taking some more bites of my pancakes. As soon as I bit down on my fork, I realized what time it was. "Oh no! We got to go get the apples off the trees! Quick Will! We got to go!" I said as Will starts laughing when I called out. I tilt my head at him while he keeps laughing. "Why are you laughing! This is a serious matter!" I said loudly. Will keeps laughing while pointing to the calendar on the wall. I look over to see that the last apple picking day was yesterday. I look over at him with my unamused look. "I hope you're proud of yourself," I said while getting my fork to eat pancakes. I paused as I look at the syrup and butter and pancakes themselves as I noticed the distinct flavor. "Did Granny make these pancakes? They taste a lot like Applejack's or Big Mac's," I said. Will shook his head.
"No, found a recipe for pancakes and decided to experiment a little," he said. I smiled widely.
"They taste great!" I said. He smiles brightly before continuing with his food.
I yawn as I got up, rubbing my eyes with my hooves. It's the second week of school, Will's first day was okay, but snips and snails almost scared him to death. I walk down the stairs with my saddlebag until I look at the calendar to see today is a Saturday. I yippeed so loudly, Will runs down the stairs and looks around. "What's the wrong?! Did somebody get hurt? Applebloom! You okay?" He asks. I nodded and pointed to the calendar, he follows my hoof and hugged me into the air cheering as well. Granny Smith calmed us down with her sage-like voice.
"Would you darn kids please keep it down! I know you're not supposed to love school but jeez," she says. I giggled as Will laughed at Granny's joke. We started having breakfast when Will looks at the calendar. His smile turns into a rock-bottom frown. I tilt my head to look at the calendar and see that it isn't marked.
"What's wrong Will?" I ask. His frowning face broke and went back smiling.
"Nothing's wrong sis, just a totally unimportant day on this completely unimportant weekend, your breakfast is getting cold go ahead and eat it," he says extremely quickly.
"... It's cereal Will, it doesn't get cold..."
"S-still! Eat up," he says. Good Luna, he's about as good of a lyer as Big Mac. That's saying something.
"What. Is. Wrong?" I ask. He sighs in defeat.
"It's my birthday," he says. I grin widely in excitement.
"Congratulations Will! You're fifteen now!" I say. I didn't know his birthday was so close to mine, next week is my birthday!
"It's not that exciting," he says. "Don't worry too much about it okay?" He asks. I shake my head.
"No, it's your birthday, and I will respect it!" I say. He sighs.
"Fine, but nothing fancy!" He says. I smirk, smile and tilt my head.
"Okay!" I say mockingly. I suddenly, have an idea. "Will! You know how you like Scootaloo right?" I ask. The color on his face drains.
"What? What do you mean?" He asks.
"You know, Scootaloo, the pegasis with the small wings-"
"They're not small, just undergrown, and growing!" Will corrects. I give a smirk as Will just backed himself into a corner. He realizes this and I think his heartbeat skipped. "T-that doesn't mean anything," he stutters, blushing madly while crossing his arms.
"Scootaloo and Will, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-"
"Shut up," Will said, his blush lessening. I kept giggling to myself as I see him feel super uncomfortable about this.
"What's wrong Will? Should I plan a date for you two?" I pressed on. He grumbles something as he keeps going. "Ya know I just gotta return the favor somehow," I say sarcastically. I keep talking in a sarcastic tone as that while we walked to school.
After school, Will waved bye to Diamon and Silver, and looked at Applebloom with a slight glare. "Did ya'll really have to sing the birthday song all of a sudden?" He asked me and the gang consisting of Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo. I give an evil smile and clap my hooves together in a menacing pose.
"Reasons," I say, giving a little evil laughter in the end. He raises an eyebrow. "Anyway, hey Scootaloo!" I say smiling brightly. Will's face reads 'oh snap' as I talked. "So Will was wondering about whether or not you're free on Saturday," I say. Will face palms, trying his best not to blush, and instead looks like he wants to die.
"Yeah I am! So what're we gonna do Saturday?" She asks Will. He tenses up.
"Well, I was thinking maybe a um," he looks around wildly. I take out a poster I grabbed earlier. "A uh, movie! Yes, a movie! You a fan of horror movies?" He asks. I look at the poster, which had a symbol of the trotting dead.
"Yeah I am! What're we gonna watch?" She asks as Will and her start walking down the dirt road together. Their conversation fades off as Sweetiebelle looks confused.
"What happened?" She asked. I sighed.
"Poor naive Sweetiebelle, I just gave Will a taste of his own medicine," I say as the duo started looking excited. Sweetiebelle tilts her head, but shrugs anyway.
Will and I reach the house in about an hour, Scootaloo and Will apparently couldn't shut up about how scary the movie they're gonna see was. "I am so excited for Saturday! I bet we'll love this movie! Also the popcorn there is awesome, so-" I shut him up by putting a hoof in his mouth.
"Please shut up Will, we're home."
"Oh alright," he says. He opens the door and the room lights up with Granny Smith holding a cake.
"Happy Birthday Will! I'm so glad I was able to celebrate this with you! I got ya a cake!" She says. Will smiles widely and takes the cake.
I'd say today was a good day, Will certainly enjoyed himself. I still don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to celebrate their birthday in the first place.
Chapter 9: A New... Acquaintance?
It's another bright and sunny day on the farm, Will's date is gonna be in six days, and he's still pumped. I regret doing that, he just won't shut up about it. We're sweeping up the dust in the barn when I hear a voice. "So this is the Sweet Apple Acre Barn? So common," a boy's voice says in a Canterlot accent. I leaned over to look at a boy who had an expensive suit, shoes, and hair style. His hair literally shines in the light.
"Ahem, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, my name is Will, and this is my lil' sis!" Will say through smiling gritted teeth. The boy looks over and sneers at us.
"Oh my, a farm boy with a farm pony? Are you a slave?" He asks. Will groans.
"No, as I have just said, I'm this girl's big brother, adopted anyway," he says. The boy laughs.
"I wonder how messed up your family was," he says in an annoying tone.
"Are you deaf or stupid, either way, please shut up, we're actually doing something for the community while you probably laze around all day eating the apples we produce for you. If anything, you should be shining my shoes if I made you," Will says with a whip in his voice. I look down and keep working, knowing that if Will has this kind of attitude, it will only get worse if I step in. Thing is, I rarely ever see him like this.
"Oh please, I wouldn't touch your apple with a ten foot pole," rich boy says.
"That's right, you pick it up with your hands and chew with your mouth, now you're learning your first steps to being a normal person," Will replies with a smirk as he keeps sweeping. The rich boy scoffs in annoyance.
"Well, I hope I don't see you in the ghastly school of what's-her-name, but I doubt I will since you seem to be dirt poor," he laughs in the annoying Canterlot way as he walks off. I see Will's smirk become fake and weak as he is resisting the urge to punch. I can actually feel his anger coming off him.
"Will, let it go," I say. Will sighs, looking down, and turns to me smiling reassuringly.
"Eh, he's not really worth hitting anyway. Why, you may ask? Well-" He stands up straight, pinches the air with all of his fingers except his pinkie, and says with a whiny, Canterlot accent, "He's got Fancy things to do and mundane problems to solve!" I almost double over laughing at the accurate impression. I stop laughing, held my head high with a serious face.
"Oh I don't know about that Willy boy!" I mock in the same accent. "He's sooo important, I don't think he has commoner problems like walking and, Celestia forbid talking to other commoners!" It was Will's turn to laugh as he swept the floor. I can still feel a tinge of anger from him, but it was less serious than before so I let it go.
Granny Smith and I watch Will with concern as he sets up the new television we got. "Are you sure you-" I start asking, only to stop when he raises his hand to me.
"Yes." I look at Granny Smith for help, only to get a shrug of puzzlement in return. "I almost got this set up," Will says, grabbing a screw driver.
"That's what you said three hours ago," Granny Smith says.
"Well, I mean it this time," Will replies, yelping in pain as the sound of a zap follows.
"I think he's beaten Applejack's record of stubbornness," I whisper. Granny Smith nods. "I would even go as far to say he's even more stubborn than you," I continued. Granny Smith almost nodded, but she realized what I said and thump the side of my head.
"Alright, it's done!" Will yells, scaring us from the sudden joy.
"Yippee!!" I yell, grabbing the remote. The screen replies with static until a clear image of the Flim Flam brothers appear. My mood changed immensely, and said, "Boring," and changed the channel. A human with a grey beard and shades stood in a room filled with doors.
"Hey there folks! You ever get tired of opening a door and it turns out to go somewhere? Well come on down to the renovated Quills and Sofas to get the brand new line of Real Fake Doors!" He exclaimed. I was about to change the channel when Will stops me.
"Hold up, let's see where this goes," he says. We turn back to the commercial.
"That's right everyone, you can get real fake doors see!" The man goes to one and tries to open it, only to pull out the handle. "Won't open! That's right! Fake Doors! So come down to get half price in person/pony for some fake dooooooooors!" He says. He frowns and walks out of the set and into a parked car.
"W-wait is this still the commercial or a mov-" I started to ask.
"Again, hold on, let's just see where this goes," Will says, mildly interested. We watch as the man drove to a red light and honked at a someone.
"C'mon move! We got places to be! Celestia..." He drives into a drive-way.
"I guess that's his house?" Granny asks. I shrug in sync with Will. The man goes into the house and starts making a sandwhich.
"... Is that Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwhich? Cool I guess..." I fall silent as the man starts moving. to the right.
"Hey everyone! Just got home, made myself a sandwhich," he says, walking into a room full of doors. "Still selling Real Fake Doors!"
"Holy cow it's still the commercial!" Will says.
"That's right everyone! Just get down here, no worries, no hesitation and-" he stops to think about his line as Will sighs.
"Okay changing ch-"
"Hold on, maybe there's more?" I says. He nods.
"And don't even give it a second thought! See our slogan on the bottom... There's also another slogan, like w-wha-what're ya worried about just go get fake doors!"
"Okay, yeah never mind you can change it," I say. The channel turns to static before a clear image of a green haired man, shouting and screaming in a game he is apparently playing. As soon as he says a bad word, Will changes the channel.
Author's Note
I am so sorry this is soooooo late. I had a little kerflufle with life and life hates me.
I groan to myself as I blankly stared at the chalk board while Mrs Cheerilee writes the math problems out. While she blabs on, Will nudges me from the right. I look over at him and he points with his thumb at another certain human. I follow his thumb to see that rich uptight boy from the other day, writing something out on a small paper. He giggles to himself like a schoolfilly and keeps writing. I look at Will with a puzzled expression. He writes a note and passes it to me while Mrs Cheerilee isn't looking. I look at all the scribbles he made: I have a real bad feeling about him. I look at my adopted bro with a puzzled look again. He sighs quietly and twirls his index finger, and holds up three fingers. Earlier we set up a little code system in case we need to say something, or in case we need to talk or do something. He just said we should talk after school. While there are a handful of codes, they contain phrases that are important. It's made of two hand gestures at a time. Twirling your finger/hoof means time, and the amount of fingers you hold up or times you tap your hood say when. I nod understandingly and turn back to Mrs Cheerilee. She finished writing out the problem and looked at all of us students.
"Alright class! Anyone want to take a crack out of this?" She asks with a cheerful attitude. I can tell by Will's expression, that he took one look at it and gave up. I look at it. It says: x+2•7-10=39. Before I could even begin thinking of the answer, I hear Arthur yell.
"Five!" He yells out, making every pony around him jump in surprise.
"... Thank you, Arther, for yelling out the answer instead of raising your hand," Cheerilee says.
"No worries teacher," he replied. I can feel tension in the room rise. Cheerilee looked at the clock and sighed.
"It's three everyone! Get plenty of rest for the quiz on history tomorrow!" Cheerilee says as everyone packs their bags. I follow Will as he leads me out of school and to the road leading home.
"... Hey Will? What was it that got ya worryin' about that rich boy, Arther was it?" I ask. He nods.
"I heard that he was gonna do something to someone tonight. I figured that we should get home and try to find him to keep an eye on. At any rate, I might have just misheard, but I think he said something about an alley," he says. We stop as a sudden noise hit our ears, like soft breathing, getting louder and louder with running steps. We see one of our classmates gallop past us, a scared expression plastered on his face. I quickly realize that it's Featherweight, and he was being chased by Arther and what appears to be his new lackeys. They shove past us, and Will gets knocked down. "Alright that does it!" He says, getting up. He makes a break for the chase and I run off to a store nearby to get help.
Me and the Sofas and Quill's store clerk arrive to an alley, hearing a fight full of punching, and yelling. We found the corner to see Arther and Will on the floor, Will struggling to keep Arther down while Arther's lackeys just keep yelling at Arther to get up. "Will!" I yell out, galloping. "They're over here! Come on!" I yell out to the clerk. The lackeys grab Will by his arms and threw him off, getting Arther to his feet. Before he left, Arther spun around, spat down at Will and made a break for it. We come running up to Will, making sure he's okay before getting him up. Will wipes off the saliva on his cheek before gritting his teeth, staring up at the sky.
"I can't believe the nerve of that thug! He was gonna mug Featherweight, Applebloom! He was just gonna beat him up just because he said he wouldn't give Arther anything! Featherweight's not hurt, but still! I'm gonna give that wriggling rat a piece of my mind if I ever so much as-" I hug Will, making him stop. I sob as I hug him, trying to hug tighter to make sure he doesn't leave.
"Don't do that again, please?" I ask. He sighs, hugging back. The store clerk made sure he was okay with a quick impromptu check up, and says that he'll probably get quite a few minor bruises. We came home a little later, Granny Smith gave us both an earful of pulling a stunt like we did, but she hugged us both, still thankful we were alright. We sit in the dinner table as Granny Smith talks about her day. She gets out some letters and passes one to me, and then passes one to Will. I eye his envelope. I shrug and open mine, it was from Applejack.
Dear Applebloom, me and Big Mac have been doin' well over on our end. We heard of Will's little 'date' with Scootaloo and wish him the best of luck! We hope you're don't okay without us.
Love, AJ and Big Mac.
PS: I kinda figured Will would like Scootaloo, just make sure that they don't bang their heads together to see who's more hardheaded.
I chuckle at the end of the letter, and eye Will's letter. "Hey brother, who's the letter from?" I ask. I look up at Will to see his grim face.
"... No one," he says simply, and gets up to walk to the fireplace. He lights it and throws the letter into the fire. Granny and I stare at the fireplace with jaws open. We exchange glances before looking at Will, who just stares into the fire. We had a silent agreement to not talk about it by merely staring at the fire.
It's about midnight, nothing's happened yet, and I'm tired. I go ahead and head off to bed, just before I hear Will mutter, "I'm home now Dad, manehatten is not my life anymore." I reel back to his room, seeing him on the bed, curled up slightly, facing the wall. "I said no, Dad go away," he mutters. I sigh, knowing he's got nightmares. I tug on his shirt and he wakes up slowly. "Huh?" He turns to me. "... Applebloom? What're you doing up?" He asks.
"Ya'll were mumbling in your sleep and you kept pacing," I say, my fatigue starting to show. He sighs, scratches his head and nods.
"Thanks, I guess. Now go to bed, tomorrow's Saturday and don't we have chores to do?" He asks. I shake my head.
"We did them yesterday remember? You gotta date with Scootaloo," I tease. He takes a pillow and puts it over his head groaning.
Chapter 5: Introducing Scootaloo
Chapter 5: Scootaloo
I wiped my sweat off my forehead, and smiled at today's work. Will was really, really helpful today! He was almost better than Applejack! Again, almost. I hugged him as he sighs in relief. "You know brother, I bet you're cutie mark's apple-pickin'!" I said. He tilts his head in thought.
"Hmm, maybe, speaking of cutie mark's, what does your cutie mark mean anyway?" He asks.
"Well, I'm good at helping others find their talent! Do you have a cutie mark?" I ask.
"No, humans usually don't. I think we just usually do what we think we're good at," he answers.
"Hmm, what do you think your talent is?" I ask. He shrugs.
"I don't know really, maybe it's just picking apples?" He says. I look up in thought. When you really think about it, to be good at apple-picking, you just have to get into it.
"No, maybe it's something else," I say.
"Like what?" He asks. I sat down a minute.
This is going to be really hard, thus why I called the elite! The masters! The champions upon champions of finding talent! That's what I call ourselves anyway. Scootaloo looks in awe at my brother, smiling excitedly. Sweetiebelle kept looking at his hands quizzically. "You look so cool!" Scootaloo says.
"I thought you guys knew what I look like?" Will says.
"Brother, you never really come out that much, you usually just pick all the apples, get some lunch or dinner, and go back out to the field," I said.
"Oh, well, Scootaloo was it? I'm not exactly the coolest, but yeah I guess I'm cool," he says, rubbing the back of his head. I take a good look at my brother. He has on some slightly ripped jeans, a short sleeve, red and black plaid collared shirt, sandals, and a straw hat was strapped to his back. His skin had tanned a little more, and his eyes were still ocean blue. In my eyes, he's cool! Scootaloo was problably more in awe, because she was looking at him as if he was Rainbow Dash.
"Are you kidding me? You're almost cooler than Rainbow Dash!" She said. I chuckled. I've told Will about my sister's best friends: Pinkie Pie (Who is her cousin), Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy. He smirks, kneeling.
"Well, I've been told by some sources that you're pretty cool yourself, can you perform some of those impossible tricks Applebloom's talked about. She doesn't really go into detail, she just says you do a trick, and that it's completely ridiculous," Will said. I chuckled nervously while Scootaloo gives me a glare. "I want to see what kind of nonsense you do," he finished. I nodded quickly. Scootaloo huffs and nods as she heads out to get her scooter. As we all wait for Scootaloo to come back, Sweetiebelle started a conversation.
"So, do you like singing?" She asks. I groaned, because Will is the worst singer ever.
"Why, yes I do!" He says.
"No you don't! You sound like vuiltures digging into a chalkboard with their claws!" I said.
"So? Sometimes you sound like a heart broken goat!" He said back.
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yeah-huh!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!" Sweetiebelle groans as she realizes she started a brother sister war.
"Scootaloo, please get back quick!" She mumbled as Will and I start throwing insults at each other. Sweetiebelle groans furiously as we don't stop bickering. She levitated me and Will away as the argument started to escalate. "Can you two calm down!" She squeals. We both stop at Sweetie's sudden outburst. "Thank you, now let's have some peace and quie-"
"Alright I'm back!" Scootaloo says as she flies through the door into the room. Will looks at the scooter in awe.
"Woah, that is so cool! I bet you can do awesome tricks!" He says. I smirk at his enthusiasm. Scootaloo nods, and smiles in pride.
We all watch as Scootaloo jumps off the ramp with a burst of speed and started to do tricks and flips galore on the wooden trail she had built. I stare with no amazement, but Will was the exact opposite. He was staring in awe, watching Scootaloo do her stunts. I just shake my head. It all looks so dangerous. I bet that Will and Scootaloo will be great great friends, seeing how well they are together.