Double

by Jack of a Few Trades

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Big Macintosh, Sex, Sugar Belle, Cheerilee, Applejack, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 5401

Applejack tries to figure out how in the world a pony like Big Mac could become a cheater.

The calm certainty of the Apple family's morning routine is shattered when Sugar Belle pays a surprise visit, only to find Big Mac in bed with another mare. But that doesn't make any sense to Applejack, and she takes it upon herself to answer the question on her mind.

How could a shy, sensitive pony like Big Macintosh even get into a position to cheat on two mares?

Edited by Curify, MissytheAngle, and Wand3r3r3.

An entry in FamousLastWords' contest: "A Two-Faced Charade"

Published 2018-02-26 23:20:06 UTC
Last updated 2018-02-26 23:20:06 UTC

The worst, filthiest, rottenest liar there ever was.

“Somepony just left an empty sack of flour in the cabinet? Seriously?” said Applejack. She pushed the old bag to the side, revealing one fresh bag hiding at the back of the cupboard. “Thank heavens.” She pulled both the empty and fresh bags out, dropping the old one in the trash and tearing the new one open carefully with her teeth.

Apple Bloom. It seemed like it was every other day that she found some mess that the filly left in her wake. Griping at her about it didn’t seem to have much effect at helping her remember to pick up after herself either. “Maybe if I started puttin’ all the trash she leaves around in her room…”

No, that’s a terrible idea. The only thing that’d do is attract rats.

Applejack grumbled under her breath as she leveled off a cup of flour with the knife, dumping it into the mixing bowl where eggs and milk were already waiting. She reached across to where the whisk hung on the wall, but was stopped short by a knock at the door.

“Hmm,” she muttered, cocking an eye towards the door. It was still predawn outside, just a faint glow of sunrise starting to creep up over the hills to the east. She couldn’t quite make out who it was standing there in the dark, but she could see a faint outline of what looked like curly hair against the horizon.

She walked over and opened the door, and then she immediately lit up with a smile. “Well, I’ll be.”

“Hi, Applejack!” said Sugar Belle, stepping forward and offering a foreleg for a hug, which Applejack reciprocated with enthusiasm.

“What’s got you all the way out here this early?” Applejack asked, motioning for Sugar Belle to follow her inside.

“Oh, I was in Las Pegasus for a confectioner’s convention yesterday. Ponyville was a stop on the train ride home, so I just planned to stop here and catch the next one out this afternoon. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. It’s great to see you again! How long has it been since you got out here last?”

“It was late summer, I think? It really has been a while,” Sugar Belle said, her gaze floating over to the ingredients sitting on the counter. “And is that breakfast I see?”

“Yep, I figured I’d have it ready and waiting on everypony else this morning.”

“Well, gimme just a minute, and I’ll help you with that. I picked up a couple of ideas at the convention that should really make those pancakes zing! Just gotta go give somepony a quick wake up call,” she said with a devious smile. Applejack chuckled and waved her off, and then Sugar Belle disappeared up the stairs.

Applejack returned her attention to finalizing the preparations on the pancake batter. She started pouring the batter out onto the pan, but mid-pour, a loud slam snapped her attention away from her work.

She whirled around to face an empty room, the door lazily drifting back towards its home. The sound of hoofsteps at a full gallop faded away into the darkness. Cautiously, Applejack stepped over and peered out the open doorway, but whoever ran out was long gone.

She closed the door gently, pressing it home and ensuring that the latch caught. Upon inspection, she found a small divot in the wall where the knob had slammed into it. Granted, it was a small one considering that the wall was made of actual wood and not drywall, but the paint was also chipped. That would need fixing.

“Was that Sugar Belle?” she asked aloud, casting another quick glance out the window, but again, she couldn’t make out much more than the faint silhouette of the horizon. “Hmm.”

She walked back over to the counter slowly. Could that have been anypony else? Likely not. Nopony in the family would have run out the door and slammed it open without even acknowledging her in some way, so that only left Sugar Belle. But why was she off in a hurry? Did she forget something at the train station?

Is Big Mac okay? Applejack cocked an eye towards the stairs and bit her lip. What if something was wrong with him? Did it spook her so bad that she would have run off like that?

“No, that’s silly. If something like that happened, she would’ve screamed or something.” She forced herself to focus on her work, digging in the drawer for matches to light the stove, but she couldn’t stop the pang of dread. What if something was wrong? What if he needed her help?

I better go up and check on him. She dropped the matches on the counter, but as soon as she turned around, the sound of hoofsteps at the top of the stairs turned her right back around. She decided to feign ignorance. If he needed to talk about anything, he’d talk about it on his own.

She struck a match and tossed it into the stove with a ball of old newspaper, watching carefully as the flames took hold and grew, quickly spreading to the kindling she’d already loaded in. Satisfied, she closed the furnace door and looked up to see—

“Cheerilee?” she asked. She didn’t quite believe her eyes.

“Hello, Applejack,” Cheerilee said, her voice uncharacteristically flat. Her mane was an absolute wreck, and based on the bags under her eyes, she hadn’t been doing much in the way of sleeping lately. She was still in the process of securing her saddlebags to her back, giving the strap a tug before letting it fall into place.

Oh. Applejack bit her lip again. Two mares in the same house, at the same time, almost certainly to see the same stallion. This is gonna be awkward. Keep with the innocent act. Applejack put on a smile. “Well, uh, I wasn’t expecting company this morning, but I can whip up a little extra batter for you,” she offered.

“Oh, no thank you. I really need to get going.” Cheerilee started for the door, her steps hasty.

“Well, alrighty then. Good to see ya, Cheerilee!” she said, almost a little too sunny.

Cheerilee didn’t respond, shutting the door quickly behind herself as she left.

Slowly, Applejack turned around, her gaze locking on the stairs.

Oh.

For a minute or two, she just stood there, eyes frozen, the gears in her mind turning at breakneck speed, but not quite making the connection she was looking for. One thought kept rolling through her mind repeatedly, though.

My brother’s a cheater.

Finally, the cogs meshed just a little bit. Her face grew hot, feverish pressure building at the base of her skull, and the anger coursed through the rest of her body in an instant. But she was still frozen in place, not quite sure what to do with herself.

My brother’s a filthy, rotten cheater! Cheating went against everything the Apple family stood for! I’m gonna tan his hide! Yes, right now, that stallion needed a solid kick in the rear. Or two. Or however many it took to calm her down.

Her presence of mind found once more, she immediately grabbed the flyswatter off the wall and made for the stairs, but the instant her hoof touched the first step, she froze. The boiling lava running through her veins flashed to ice, and she looked up towards the upstairs hallway.

Big Mac. Cheating. She frowned. Big Mac… cheating? Using those words together made about as much sense as lipstick on a pig. How in Equestria would somepony as shy and sensitive as Big Mac ever wind up cheating on two mares?

But that still didn’t make it right! She gritted her teeth and took another step, only to halt in her tracks once more. The sudden shifts between fire and ice began to balance out, and Applejack took one last look up the stairs before she deflated.

I bet he just went through something downright nasty. He may not deserve it, but he’s gonna need a minute. She slunk back into the kitchen and dropped the flyswatter back onto its hook. She went back to her work with breakfast preparations, giving the pancake batter a quick stir before she placed the griddle on the stove. The fire inside was crackling away, an already appreciable amount of heat coming off of the stovetop.

Big, heavy hoofsteps thunked through the ceiling above her. He was up and around, so they hadn’t murdered him before they left. That was good. Now I’m the pony that gets to kill him.

She chuckled under her breath, shaking her head. Whatever he’d been up to, he had a lot of explaining to do. If he does it, she thought. Unless somepony forced him to talk, he probably wouldn’t. He was good at that.

A few minutes passed in stifling quiet. Applejack kept an ear cocked towards the ceiling, listening for more signs of life from Big Mac, but she didn’t hear much more activity until the stairs started creaking under a heavy set of hooves. When he walked into the kitchen, he stopped dead in his tracks. Though he did his best to keep a stone face, she could see the faint flickers of nervousness in his eyes.

“Mornin’, Big Mac,” she said, flipping a pancake over. The uncooked side sizzled quietly as it hit the pan.

“Mornin’,” he returned, ambling his way over to the kitchen table. He more or less threw himself into the seat, letting out a sigh as he did.

“You’re up early,” she said, keeping her attention on the cooking.

There was a long pause before he answered. “E’yup,” he muttered, resting his head on the table. Silence took over the room once more.

Just like I thought. He ain’t gonna say a word to me unless I pry it out of him. She snuck a glance at him. He was sitting there with his head down, staring aimlessly at whatever spot his eyes decided to fall on. He looked pitiful, like he was ready to cry but steeling himself against it. Ears laid back, hair matted down on his neck and head with a few cowlicks sticking up here and there.

Applejack frowned. How am I gonna get on him when he looks like that? A few more minutes passed, a couple of rounds of pancakes passing through the griddle before she figured out anything to say to him.

“Hey Mac, can you come over here and scramble the eggs for me?” Well, it wasn’t exactly the impactful sort of thing she wanted to say at the moment, but it was something. At least it got him up from the table. He went to his work in silence, his focus still elsewhere, cracking the eggs and beating them with robotic, careless motions.

“It’s looking like we’ve only got a couple hours worth of chores to do today,” said Applejack, trying again to goad him into conversation. “Should be done before noon. Uh, got any ideas for anything to do this afternoon?”

“Nope,” he said, still not looking at her.

“Well, I was thinking we could—”

“You saw them, didn’t you, AJ?”

Applejack froze in place, averting her eyes from him. She listened as he walked back over to the breakfast table. He sat down and assumed the same position as before, head down, shoulders slumped, ears flat. For the life of her, she couldn’t think of anything to say. Finally, after a minute or so, Big Mac was the one to break the silence.

“Well, ain’t you gonna tell me all about it, too?” said Big Mac.

“Uh, tell you what?” she asked.

“That I’m a terrible pony? That I’m the worst, filthiest, rottenest liar there ever was?”

“Mac, don—”

He snapped his head up, finally looking her in the eyes for the first time since he came downstairs. “AJ, you never could tell a lie to save your life. I can see it in your eyes. You’re pissed off and ready to jump down my throat just like they did.” He flopped his head back down on the table. “Just go ahead and get it over with.”

The invitation was on the table, and Celestia knew she still wanted to get right up in his face and give him a piece of her mind, but she just… couldn’t. It wasn’t there anymore. The outrage she’d been fueled by earlier had dissipated. He looked miserable, like he’d been kicked in the stomach.

You know, that might have already happened. Who knows what those mares did before they left? She pulled the griddle off the stove and set it aside, walked over to the table, and took a seat across from Big Mac. “I’m not gonna yell at you, Big Mac,” she said, making sure to use a calm, gentle tone. “I just wanna talk about it, if you’re alright with that.”

Big Mac glanced up at her briefly and then back down again with his blank stare into the table.

No protest on his part, so she continued, clearing her throat. “I just want to know why. That’s all.” Big Mac let out a deep breath, but remained silent. Applejack reached across and patted him on the shoulder. “You ain’t gonna feel better if you don’t talk about it, Mac.”

“Says you,” he muttered. “I don’t think I could explain it if I wanted to.”

“You could just start at the beginning?” she offered.

“I guess,” he said. “It all started when I got together with Sugar Belle about six months ago. You remember me going all the way out there to that town she lives in just about every chance I got?”

“How could I forget?”

Unamused, Big Mac continued. “Everything was great. She was far away, but we were making things work. And then one day, I was out in the orchard when Cheerilee showed up…”

The ground shook ever so faintly as Big Mac delivered a thunderous kick against the tree, the ensuing cascade of apples falling into his perfectly placed baskets on the ground without a single spillage.

At this point, he was practically on autopilot. He picked up the first tote and carried it the short distance over to the wagon he had waiting. The only thing he needed to give any thought to was the exact placement of his bucks, the rest of his labor simple enough that his mind was free to roam elsewhere.

It’s getting on towards sunset. Figure I’ll get one more cartload in before dark. He swung the tote into the cart with a grunt, letting it slide across to its place in the back corner. On to the next one. If I’m up early enough tomorrow morning, I can finish this section out before lunch. And then I’m free for the weekend. A corny grin spread across his face as he thought about exactly where he’d be spending that time.

If I leave out right after lunch, I can get to Sugar Belle’s by sundown. And there it was, that airy warmth in his chest. Suddenly, those massive totes laden with mountains of apples didn’t seem so heavy. He hoisted the next one skyward, paying little mind to how heavy it was. He heaved it up, sliding it neatly into place next to the first one with a single, precise swing of his neck.

He turned around for the next one, but stopped when his eyes settled on the next row of trees over. Stepping around one of the massive trunks was a mare with a magenta coat he’d recognize anywhere. And she was walking towards him.

Cheerilee? What’s she doing out here? Maybe Apple Bloom got in trouble today? He started walking towards her to meet her halfway. As he approached her and could make out more details, he noticed that her face was set with what looked like determination, eyes focused and lips pressed tight.

Yep, it’s definitely Apple Bloom.

“Hi, Big Mac!” she called, slowing her pace as she closed the last of the gap. The steely look evaporated in an instant, replaced with a more cheerful expression befitting of her namesake.

“Howdy, Cheerilee,” he said.

She brushed her mane with a hoof, catching a few strands that were trying to escape with the breeze. “Whatcha up to?” she asked.

“Working,” he said, nodding his head towards the buckets of apples behind him.

“Huh, how about that?” She giggled, punctuating it with a tiny little snort. “Seems like all I ever do anymore is work.”

“E’yup,” he said.

A lull formed in the conversation, but Cheerilee quickly jumped into it.

“So, nice day out here today, huh?”

Okay that’s just weird. Maybe he could have let it slide if it was somepony else, but Cheerilee knew him pretty well. So she was making cheap, generic small talk with him? She was pretty good with words, so something was obviously up. He chose not to reply, simply cocking an eyebrow.

She got the message almost instantly. “Can I start over?” She scratched the back of her neck and turned her eyes away from his. “I had a rough day, kinda needed somepony to talk to.”

There it was. “Sure. Wanna sit over by the tree?” he offered.

Cheerilee smiled. “That’d be nice.” She followed his lead over to the tree he’d just bucked. He plopped down on the grass, while she took a more measured approach, seating herself carefully against the rough bark of the trunk, shifting around in an attempt to find a good position. “I still can’t get used to how uncomfortable these trees are. How do you sleep up against them all the time?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. Just never bothered me all that much.”

“I think I’ll stick to my mattress,” she said, pausing for a moment before she sighed. “Do you ever feel like your life is just… stuck?”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess… sort of like…” she bit her lip, stumbling over the phrasing. “Like you’re never going to do anything different?”

“E’yup,” he said, turning his gaze up to the sky. “Don’t bother me much. Not a whole lot else I’d like to do.”

“Yeah,” she said, trailing off. She scooted down and stretched out on her back, settling her attention on the sky as well.

“Don’t tell me you don’t like teaching no more,” he said.

“Oh, I still love my job, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes I can’t help wondering where I’d be if I’d decided on a different career,” said Cheerilee. “What if I’d become, oh I don’t know, a florist instead?”

“Like Roseluck and them other two mares?”

“Yeah, like them. Where would I be? What other ponies would I know? Would I like my life any more or less than I do now?”

“But then you might not know me, so things would be worse for sure,” he said, shooting her a sly grin.

She giggled. “You got me there.” Another long pause took over the conversation, both ponies staring intently at the clouds, which drifted lazily overhead, gradually straying from the positions the pegasi had put them in that morning.

“Remember those dates we went on after the potion incident?” Cheerilee asked.

The question caught Big Mac off guard. “E’yup,” he said, shooting a sideways glance at Cheerilee. She was doing the same thing to him, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

“Why did we ever stop?” she asked.

“I dunno,” he said. “Just got busy, I guess.” A twinge of nervousness coursed through his gut. Why was she bringing this up now? Was she trying to pick up where they’d left off nearly two years before? His thoughts shifted to Sugar Belle. Better be careful. Just don’t play along if she presses the issue.

“Yeah, life happened,” said Cheerilee. “I had to run the school, and I think I remember you told me something about apple maggots attacking the trees that year?”

“E’yup, those little suckers had me out there fifteen hours a day trying to save the crop.”

“Not really a good time to be thinking about that sort of thing, huh?” she asked.

“Nope,” he said.

“Yeah.” Cheerilee shifted a little, sighing. “Sure is a pretty day,” she muttered.

Silence took over the meadow for a few minutes, neither pony making much effort to further the conversation. For his part, Big Mac felt a bit of relief. He’d just gone back to being mostly monosyllabic, and that seemed to do the trick for dispelling the exchange from going where Cheerilee obviously wanted it to go. She wasn’t pushing it anymore, at least.

Cheerilee sat up suddenly and yelped, scooting away from her spot quickly and towards him. “Goodness, would you take a look at the size of this beetle in the grass?”

Big Mac sat up, looking towards the spot she’d just vacated. “I don’t see no beetle over there.”

“It’s kind of down in the grass. Look a little closer,” Cheerilee said, pointing a hoof at it.

Big Mac scooted over closer to where the beetle was supposed to be. He squinted, trying to spot it, but he still didn’t see anything. Maybe it was hunkered down in th—

A hoof wrapped around his shoulders, and before he could even register what was happening, Cheerilee was there in front of him, eyes closed, soft, inviting lips planted firmly on his. Tingly, burning electricity shot through his limbs as his heart threatened to beat its way out of his rib cage. The world faded from view for a second, but he quickly regained his senses. He pulled back, separating himself from her as quickly as he could, scrambling backwards a few feet.

“What was that?” he demanded, mouth agape and eyes wide. “Why’d you do that?”

“I was trying something new?” she said, breathing heavily, apparently in a little bit of shock herself. He wasn’t the most well-versed when it came to mares and romance, but he knew exactly what her face was telling him. Underneath the trepidation and thrill at the surface, there was hunger in her eyes, pleading with him to give her another taste.

He could feel his heartbeat in his ears, thudding with incessant desperation. “Look… look here, Cheerilee, you can’t just…”

“Big Mac,” she said, giving him a smirk.

“What?”

“You kissed me back.”

He fell back onto his haunches. “I did what?”

Cheerilee giggled, but this time, instead of the light little chuckle he’d heard earlier, there was a sultry, enticing air to it. “Took you about ten seconds to pull away from me.”

“I-I did…” he stammered, words failing him. Oh Celestia. What’s Sugar Belle gonna say when she finds out about this?

But did she have to know? What if he could just sweep it under the rug, pretend like it never—

“Big Mac,” she called. Her voice sent his pulse into the stratosphere, the butterflies in his stomach working doggedly to beat his insides into a pulp. “You felt it, too, didn’t you?”

He just averted his eyes, grimacing.

“I know you did,” she said, sidling over to him. She stood over him, gazing deeply into his eyes. “We’ve both wanted this for a long time. Why don’t we see where it takes us?”

He took a couple of short, sharp breaths, his eyes searching for anywhere else to look but still locked with hers. Heat rose deep in his chest. More tingly bolts of lightning shot down his limbs.

He wanted this.

He wanted her.

To hell with Sugar Belle.

Big Mac rose to meet her height, leaned in, and with the fire of passion burning bright, he kissed Cheerilee.

A shudder coursed through Big Mac, his breath catching in his throat. “I just didn’t know how to tell her no,” he said, hanging his head low. “I knew there was something there after the potion fiasco. I felt it. I guess she felt it too. I don’t know how it went there so quick, but we wound up making love out there that day.”

“T.M.I, Mac,” Applejack said, a blush lighting up her cheeks.

“You asked,” he said. “Ever since then, me and Cheerilee were meeting up when we had the time. Somehow I convinced her to keep it a secret. Told her this baloney about how it’d be weird for Apple Bloom to know or something. For some reason she believed me and went along with it.”

“And so you two were sneaking around like two teenagers?”

Big Mac snorted. “Not exactly sneaking, but alright. We were sneaking around since a couple of months ago.”

A little bit of anger bubbled up to Applejack’s mind. “What were you thinking?” she asked, almost shouting, accusation running deep in her tone.

“I thought you said you weren’t gonna yell,” said Big Mac, hiding his eyes behind his mane.

“You’re right,” she said, deflating. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” he said. “I guess I deserve as much.”

“I’m not gonna reply to that,” said Applejack, biting her tongue. “So, what happened next?”

“I figure there ain’t a lot else to say. Everything was alright for a couple of months, and then you know what just happened.” Big Mac paused, keeping his gaze down, eyes hidden behind what bangs he had available.

Forcing herself to keep her inner fire at a low smoulder, Applejack took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Why’d you do it? Was it the thrill? Having two mares at the same time?” Despite her efforts, she couldn’t help the little bit of acid that found its way out on the last question.

Big Mac didn’t mention it, but he seemed to wince a little as she said it. “I hated it.” He lifted his head and looked her in the eyes. “I wanted out of it from the start. Every time I saw either of them, I felt terrible about myself. I tried to end it so many times.”

“So why didn’t you?” asked Applejack. A long pause developed while Big Mac mulled something over.

“I couldn’t choose. I love both of those mares, AJ. Every time I thought I’d made up my mind, I chickened out. Kept thinking about everything I’d be missing if I let one of ‘em go.” Tears streamed down his cheeks. “You ever feel like you’re trapped? Like any decision you make will be the wrong one?”

“Mac—”

“I couldn’t choose, and now I lost ‘em both.”

Big Mac dropped his head down to the table, hiding his tears from view. He cried quietly, his shoulders shaking faintly with each shuddering breath.

What do I say? Applejack’s mouth twisted. Could she say anything? He obviously regretted what he’d done, but did he deserve comforting from her right now?After all, he was the one at fault here. Those two poor mares were probably bawling their eyes out and wondering why they weren’t good enough for him, and they didn’t have anypony’s shoulder to cry on.

With few other options, Applejack just let him be for a few minutes. She sat there and watched him sob, the heartbreak finally taking center stage and demanding that he let it out. The intensity of his crying subsided after a minute or two, and he finally sat up.

“I gotta go after them,” he said, standing up from his seat.

“Mac, no.” Applejack said, but it didn’t matter. A red blur shot across the room, threw the door open, and tore across the yard at a full gallop. “Uh, oh.” Applejack jumped out of her chair and sprinted after him.

For such a big, heavy stallion, Big Mac was fast. By the time Applejack had cleared the chicken coop, he was already halfway down the path towards the main road. She didn’t have much time to stop him. She grunted as she put in an extra burst of speed. Given her more lithe frame, she started gaining on him, closing the gap slowly but steadily.

Before long, it became evident that he was starting to tire. Not that it was a problem for her; he was better suited for short sprints, not distance running. She caught up to him just as the last of their path ran out. She latched onto his tail with her teeth, tugging on it with everything she had. He wasn’t expecting it, and he stumbled, his rear end sliding out from behind him as he collapsed, rolling a few times before he came to a stop. Applejack tripped over him as he fell, and she, too, came crashing down just in front of him.

“Gah!” she screamed, the gravel scraping her side as she slid to a stop. “Mac!” she shouted. Before she had much of a chance to react, he was already scrambling to his hooves. She didn’t have time to waste. She hopped back up and, again, tackled him just as he was getting his balance back. This time, however, things went a little better for her. They landed in the grass, and she maintained control of him throughout the tackle, landing on top of him so she could more easily keep him pinned.

“Get off me!” he yelled, grunting as he struggled to find purchase with his hooves. “Let me go!”

“As soon as you sit still!” she replied through a grunt, taking hold of one of his forelegs. “Quit squirming or I’m gonna twist!”

He grunted a couple more times, struggling against her grip just a bit more before he complied. “I have to find them, AJ! I have to make it up to them.”

“You listen to me, Mac.” She got right up in his face, her glare boring deep into his eyes. “Do you have any idea what you’re gonna do if you go after them two right now?”

“I can fix it. There’s gotta be a way,” he said through gritted teeth. He averted his eyes, giving another buck against her hold, but all it did was make her follow through on her hoof twisting promise. “Gah, easy!”

“See? I told you I’d twist it.” Big Mac glared daggers at her before he finally settled down, allowing Applejack a second to relax. “Mac, you’re just gonna make more of a mess than you already have. You wanna know why?” Applejack asked. He started to reply, but she didn’t give him the chance. “You betrayed their trust, Big Mac. You went behind their backs. You think they’re gonna believe a word you say now?”

“But—”

“No buts! You can’t just go back and fix it. That ain’t how this works, Mac.”

His eyes fell towards the ground, and a few more tears escaped, streaming down his cheeks. Big Mac took as deep of a breath as he could, given the mare pinning his ribcage to the ground, and he let it out with a shuddering sigh. “Okay,” he mumbled.

“What was that?”

“I’m done,” he said. “You can let me up now, AJ. I promise I won’t do anything.”

She hesitated, but she let his leg go and stepped off of his back. He picked himself up, inspecting some of the scrapes on his side from the first tumble he took and brushing off some of the grass and dirt.

“Big Mac?” asked Applejack.

“E’yup?”

“Are you gonna be okay?”

He didn’t respond immediately, mulling the question over. “I dunno, AJ. I really don’t know.” They both started walking back towards the farmhouse side-by-side. “I got a lot of thinking to do.”

“Well, I’m here for you if you need to talk,” she offered.

“Thanks, AJ. I appreciate it,” he said. “Can I just ask one favor of you?”

“What’s that?”

“Please don’t tell Granny.”

Applejack laughed. “You got it, Big Mac.”

Author's Note

This was probably the least comfortable I've ever been writing a story. A difficult story about a difficult subject. Did I do it justice? I'd love to hear what you think, so hit those comments up, guys!

Thanks go out to the ravishing Curify, the lovely MissytheAngle, and the dashing hunk of a man known as Wand3r3r3 for their help with the editing!

Oh, and thanks for stopping by and giving this a read!