It was a beautiful midsummer afternoon on the Apple family farm. The birds were singing in the apple trees and the sky was filled with white, puffy clouds which kept the sun at a perfectly warm temperature; not so clear as to make the heat oppressive, yet not so cloudy as to make the day a dreary one. In the distance, Apple Bloom could make out the vague sounds of the barnyard animals--the clucking of the chickens in their pen as well as the cows and sheeps far out in the field. Winona’s yipping was nowhere to be heard, as the family dog had gone off with Big Mac into the orchard fields, just in case anything were to happen to him and he needed help.

But Apple Bloom trusted her brother to take care of himself out there. He knew what he was doing, after all. He’d been bucking apples longer than she’d been alive, if Granny was to be believed, and he had the muscles to prove it.

Actually, she was counting on him not having to unexpectedly come back from the fields.

As she peered out from the front door of the house, she felt rather silly as she darted her head to keep an eye out for anyone who might catch her sneaking about--she was the only one out on the farm at the moment. Applejack and Granny wouldn’t be back for days, and with Big Mac out in the fields, it meant that Apple Bloom was the only one at the house.

Then she remembered how her siblings had the infuriating knack of catching her in the act of something whenever she least expected it, and she took several more wary looks just to be sure.

Convinced that the coast was clear, Apple Bloom quickly darted out the door and made her way around to the back of the house, where the cellar door lay locked. Locked by her older siblings because they still thought she was some little filly who had no business even thinking of going down where they kept the family’s precious spirits.

But she was a fully grown mare now, and as such was legally recognized by Equestrian law to partake, for crying out loud! Were AJ and Big Mac really so obstructive that they told her she couldn’t go down there and drink with the rest of them?

She still remembered their oh-so-responsible expressions when she’d asked to finally have a taste of the family’s apple-based spirits, hardly two days earlier.

“Not ‘til me and Twi get back from the trip, sugarcube,” AJ had chided her.

“It’s not like Ahm tryin’ to get mahself plastered or nuthin’!” She had insisted. “I just wanna taste summa the scrumpy, is all!”

“We get it, Apple Bloom,” Her brother said, his tone a bit softer. “Y’er a grown lil’ mare, but we gotta clear stuff outta that cellar first. There’s stuff in there you won’t wanna be imbibin’. But, between mah workload and AJ and her friends goin’ off for a bit, we just ain’t got the time to get down there yet.”

“Ya’ll are so unfair!” She pouted, her fists clenched at her side, feeling so insulted.

“Just hold yer horses and be patient!” Her sister huffed in retort, an increasingly annoyed look having crossed her face. “If yer a grown mare, ya can do at least that!”

“Once this is over, we’ll all share pints together, Bloom. Imma promise ya that.” Her brother gave her a smile. “You just wait for a little while longer, ‘kay?”

To her brother’s smile, all Apple Bloom had done was puff out her cheeks and stick out her tongue in petulance.

“How can they still treat me like Ahm still the baby of the bunch...?!” she muttered “Ah ain’t a filly no more! Ahm a mare! And Ah should have just as much a right to be down there as they do!” She reached into the back pocket of her daisy dukes, fishing out the key she’d been given. She sighed as she held it in her hand, looking at it. “At least Granny understands...”

Granny had gone off to Las Pegasus for her usual get-together with her friends not but a few hours ago, and wouldn’t be back for the rest of the weekend, leaving Apple Bloom and her brother alone on the farm for the time being. But before Granny had left, she had pulled her aside and slipped her the key with a knowing smile.

“Much as yer brother an’ sister got their reasons fer doin’ what they did back there,” The wizened matron of their family began, her tone soft, “It ain’t no lie yer a grown mare now, sugarcube, not a filly to be pampered. Yer healthy, ripe, beautiful, and ye got our family’s fine genes. That means you got yerself new freedoms to enjoy... and new obligations you need to fulfill.”

Apple Bloom had blinked at her enigmatic words, not understanding what exactly she had meant. “New… obligations? Whatcha mean by that, Granny?”

“Oh, ye’ll see soon enough, Apple Bloom,” Granny said with a shake of her head, before she hugged her close and whispered in her ear. “Ye’ll find the Triple B in the back of the cellar. It’s in the black box with the lock. The key’ll open it fer ya, sugarcube. If yer gonna drinkin’ anythin’ outta there, I’d recommend… nah, I insist you try it. Just one swig of the stuff’ll make you feel like yer on cloud nine in a jiffy.”

True to Granny Smith’s word, the key popped the lock loose. As she opened the bulkhead doors and climbed down into cellar, her chest swelled with excitement; that devious, heart-pounding trepidation that could only come from doing what one was told not to do. The cellar was pitch black, but Apple Bloom just had to feel around for a second before she felt a chain hanging from the ceiling. And with a tug the entire cellar flickered to life, revealing rows upon rows of barrel-laden racks lined the room; Sweet Apple Acres’ famous brand of hard cider, brandy, and whisky.

Apple Bloom could just as easily have cracked open any one of those barrels and had a taste, but she was going with Granny’s suggestion and headed for the back of the cellar, keeping her eye out for the black box she’d been suggested to look for. It took more than a little searching, but she eventually eyed it tucked away in a dark corner--a black mahogany box set with a heavy padlock. There was an almost ominous air to it as the key slid into the keyhole, causing her to feel goosebumps as the lock popped open with a loud click! When she lifted the lid, she found a singular bottle inside. Gingerly pulling it out of the box, Apple Bloom studied it, curious. The bottle itself didn’t seem to be the kind meant for alcohol, as instead of being dark and translucent, the glass was a cloudy, hot pink color. Yet, upon inspecting the label, she found it blank… save for three letters: ‘BBB’.

“The Triple B, huh…?” Apple Bloom vaguely remembered stories of the mysterious liquor.
Apparently, the Triple B was the rarest and most delicious alcohol the Apple family had ever produced. Granny had once told her that, back in her day, it was used to help out the family when it was on hard times to get by. She never quite specific what that entailed, simply saying that it was suppose to taste like heaven on the tongue, and was said to be particularly strong for mares--leaving them in such a state of bliss that they apparently had their entire outlook on life change after imbibing it.

Big Mac and AJ, though, told her a different tale. She recalled how they said that the three b’s meant something. “Was it… buxom bimbo bootleg… or somethin’?” Her siblings said it was a dangerous drink; They claimed that, when imbibed by mares, the concoction would would warp their minds and bodies into sex-crazed, brain-dead sluts whose only use in life thereafter could be to please stallions and be made into broodmare housewives, consigned to a life of being permanently barefoot and pregnant.

Apple Bloom’s eyes furrowed at that. “They’re just fibbin’ to scare me away from it,“ She huffed. “They really must think Ahm a filly if they feel some bullshit excuse like that’ll work!”

With every intention to defy her fantasy-forbidding siblings, she popped the cork to the bottle. As she lifted the the bottle to her lips, the aroma of the bottle wafted up to her nose. It was an overpowering, almost sickeningly sweet smell, like peaches, strawberries, and rose petals all blended into one. Yet… as she smelled it, Apple Bloom felt a euphoria fill her chest as the smell entered her lungs.

Granny was right… She said with a smile forming on her face. Ah ain’t even sipped it, and the smell makes me feel all kinds of good… She inhaled the smell again, feeling her chest rise and fall with each whiff she took. The longer she did so, the more foggy her thoughts became, until the only things she could register in that cellar were herself and the bottle in her hands. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. An unfathomable, unquenchable yearning began to burn within her; some deep and primordial part of herself craved and wanted and needed to drink this Triple B.

She scarcely noticed the intense fluster which burned so red on her her cheeks, it made her pale, light grayish olive skin look feverish. Her panting, open mouth and lolling tongue scarcely registered to her. And she did not see how her eyes seemed to glaze over, as though she were in a trance.

“S...so… thirsty...” She shuddered… before she placed the bottle to her lips and dipped it down into her mouth.

The moment that the deep, violet-colored fluid that cascaded out hit Apple Bloom’s tongue, her eyes widened; the glassiness that had left them looking so vacant a moment before evaporating as they came fully back into focus.

It was the most delicious thing Apple Bloom ever tasted. Despite having been down in the cellar for Celestia knows how long, the drink felt like a warm cloud on her tongue. It was a racy blend between sour and sweet, delightfully tart and rich on the tongue, but not overpowering in its intensity. She could taste a bit of apple in the brew, but just as the smell had told her nose, she could also taste strawberry and peach, even a pinch of pineapple and cherry. Yet the strangest taste of all was also the most subtle--there seemed to be slight traces of rich, almost buttery milk which blended all the flavors together. The flavor of the milk, despite being the most discreet in the blend, felt oddly satisfying, filling her with a warm contentment she couldn’t quite place her finger on. As though the liquor was helping her fulfill a long-deprived yearning which she never even knew she had.

By the time she eased the bottle from her mouth, and gave a wonderfully contented ‘ahh’ as she breathed in deeply, she realized she had drank just about half of the entire bottle. She could feel the drink’s warmth already spreading through her body, causing her to feel like she was laying out in the sun on a warm spring day, or in front of an open fire in the midst of autumn. She felt… content. Happy, even. Her anger and negativity towards Big Mac and AJ simply faded away like a whisp on the wind. As if drinking this Triple B had been the right choice for her all along. And yet, despite having having imbibed so much drink, she didn’t feel the slightest bit tipsy.

“Good gravy, why don’t we sell more of this stuff? It’d go out like hotcakes!” Apple Bloom shook her head. As she looked back towards the stairs leading back outside, she figured she’d been down long enough. Big Mac would probably be coming back in a short while, and she didn’t want to get caught red-handed down in the cellar. She took one more look at the bottle. “Triple B, huh…?” She smiled. “Maybe Ahll get to share this with AJ when she gets back. Ah certainly gotta thank Granny for lettin’ me have some of this.” She placed the drink back in its box, resetting the old padlock that had secured it, and it back right where she had found it. Making sure to turn off the lights as she left, she climbed back up the stairs, before closing and locking the bulkhead doors behind her. She sighed in relief when she saw no sign of Big Mac, and made her way back inside the house.

Completely unaware of the mixture of chemical and magical reactions that were subtly beginning to activate inside her body.

Author's Note

Whelp, here we go. First clopfic I've ever actually committed to writing. I'll admit, I'm still pretty nervous about publishing this. The last time I wrote smut--looong before I came to FimFic--it was a complete and utter fustercluck of corny dialog, poor mood setting, and sub-optimal pacing. Ever since, I've been too scared to write smut again, despite the fact I've been told that I have pretty solid ideas by some very talented writers on this den of depravity I wholeheartedly call my home away from Spacebattles.

Then I saw the cover image drawn by the Great and Powerful Elzzombie. Apple Bloom has always been best pony for me, and seeing her drawn by his glorious hand just lit me on fire with a +6 to inspiration; the urge to write simply became too strong for me to resist. (Hope this inspires you to draw, Elzz!) Aside from his influence, I must also thank Some Leech for listening to my endless drivel over on Discord and proofreading my work. It did my confidence a great deal of good, hearing him say he not only liked my ideas--he loved them. I've also taken more than a little inspiration from a few of his own works for this fic, as well as from the equally talented Sterlit's fic, Girly Girly Rainbow Dash, a personal favorite of mine.

Whelp, let's hope I don't buck this smut up. And I REALLY hope my fans over on FF don't find out I'm skipping off time from ASiW to work on clop. Those guys'll straight up murph me.