One Fell Out of the Apple Tree

Apple Bloom was miserable. She sat at the kitchen table watching the mystery— nopony cares who she is—mare feed her grandmother cold oatmeal. Applejack told her last night that it was Braeburn’s wife; Beretta, or Bandanna, or Banana, or something or another. Whatever her sister said she couldn’t hear her over her own wailing, and she didn’t care even if she could. The stupid b-word still got the meanest stink eye Apple Bloom could give that morning. She still egged on her stupid cousin, and she still thought she could play her mother despite Apple Bloom not knowing who the heck she was.

A spoon missed Granny’s lips for the third time, and Banana Face got to wiping up the mess, but occasionally she’d glance over at Apple Bloom and give a smile. It wasn’t reciprocated. The bowl of oatmeal in front of the filly wasn’t touched either. Nopony asked this stranger to make breakfast. “You should eat lest it gets cold,” her voice was soft and stupid sounding.

“It’s already cold.” The bowl slid to the middle of the table so haphazardly that it rocked like an ark at high seas and splashed oatmeal everywhere. The filly crossed her arms and glared further, daring the Banana Butt to say something.

Of course she didn’t, and maybe Apple Bloom felt very tough getting to defy her with no repercussions.

The back door shut.

Apple Bloom jumped nearly out of her coat, and as quick as a pegasus could flap a wing, she dropped her folded arms and kept her head low. Big Mac washed her down with the hose last night. The same hose they used to clean Winona with before they had to give her away. The cold water sloshing against her fur only made the sticky goo more tangled. Still she had to sit there and cry until he felt satisfied with the removal of whatever mess he made. He then towel dried her as gently as he always would, but it didn’t feel the same. In fact, it felt wrong.

When they finally got in the house Applejack and stupid Braeburn were drinking coffee and talking about something stupid. It was so obvious they were waiting for her, and instead of comforting the crying Apple Bloom, Applejack thought it smart to say, “we wouldn’t have to spank ya if ya didn’t misbehave,” and boy wasn’t that funny? Her sister wasn’t so quick to slap her unless stupid company was around. Who was Breaburn anyway but a country hick with a disdain for buffalo? Plus he had a stupid face, and a stupid wife, and she hated him so much.

Applejack was wrong anyway. She wasn’t crying because of an imaginary whooping, and she’d scream at her and tell her just how wrong she was if Braeburn wasn’t staring at her the whole time she was getting a scolding.

“Mornin’” Big Mac got a glass of water from the tap. He had his back to her and Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom was praying to the sisters that the sight of him would trigger their grandmother. She wanted the old mare to have another one of her breakdowns just so Big Mac could feel bad about himself and maybe he’d leave and never come back ever again. It was then she noticed an orange bottle of pills on the table and wondered if they had a thing to do with the zombie-like state Granny was in. “Thought Ah’d go on ahead n’ take care of yer chores again,” his voice rattled in her tiny head.

“That is very sweet of you,” Banana Breath had the cheekiest grin on her face. She once again missed their grandmother’s mouth and Apple Bloom really hoped the oatmeal would get all over her lime fur. “Ah understand if yer feeling guilty about the punishment. Ah used to hate em as a filly, but I’m thankful my parents did it. Who knows where ah’d be without a little fire to the tush when ah acted outta line,” again with her mouse squeaks that were supposed to serve as words. She sounded nowhere as quiet as her babysitter, Fluttershy, but it was still below the average indoor voice.

Big Mac left the water running. It didn’t look like he was drinking much. His ears fell flat against his head. “Eyep.” It didn’t come out as monotone as usual, in fact if Apple Bloom wasn’t mistaken it sort of sounded like regret. There was a silent pause before the stallion sighed and turned around to look at her. “Ya fixing for another ride to school?”

Apple Bloom kept her head down and pretended to be clueless. The ridges on her hooves were counted. The number of times it took a second to pass the minute threshold was counted too. 60 seconds made a minute. 180 seconds made three. Her eyes were burning, threatening to get red with tears.

“He’s talkin’ to you, foal,” Banana b-word said, and now Apple Bloom couldn’t help but cry. She wiped at her lids with her hooves over and over again to try to wipe the tears away, but they were flowing freely at this point. “Oh, Deer lord,” the stupid comments weren’t helping. Apple Bloom was sobbing, and hiccuping, and taking in wet staggered breaths between each whimper.

Granny Smith was still just a living corpse, and Apple Bloom didn’t know how much she missed her grandmother’s reaction until then.

“What in tarnations is goin’ on in here?” Applejack entered the kitchen with her cowboy hat on her head and this look of impatience that only reared its ugly face when she had someplace to be and didn’t want to be late. Yet she still stopped to assess the situation. Yet she still spotted the culprit of the chaos. “Apple Bloom what has gotten into you?” Her sister approached, and looked just about ready to tear her a new one, when Big Mac stood in the way.

He grabbed a rag and got to cleaning the oatmeal. “My fault. No need to chew her out,”

Applejack didn’t seem satisfied, more than curious. “Why is she cryin’?” She asked him first, but quickly decided to just go to the source instead. “What's wrong? What’s bothering you?” As Big Mac wiped Applejack lowered her head to try and get a good view of her sister. Her voice was as comforting as warm milk on a Sunday evening, and it made Apple Bloom’s wail simmer down to light sniffles. Her bottom lip poked out as she frowned. “C’mon, sweet pea, you can tell me,”

“Ah think ah hit her too hard last night,” Big Mac quickly interjected, and Applejack raised her head to stare him in the eye.

“You ain’t bruise her did ya? Cause I swear on momma’s grave I’ll kick yer ass if you did,” the farm mare was as serious as a sitting judge. Nopony wanted to feel the wrath of her mighty hind legs. She could likely shatter bone, not that Applejack would ever hurt Big Mac that badly, but Apple Bloom kind of wanted her too. “‘cuse the language, but ya done got me hoppin’ mad. Ah knew I shoulda never let ya do it,”

“Ah ain’t bruise nobody. Yer blowing it outta portion,” Big Mac rolled his eyes, clearly offended by her insinuation that he couldn’t bite his tongue. Despite it, he didn’t move from the table. It was like he became this wall between them. The middle man. The cord between two phones.

“Apple Bloom, did he hit ya too hard? Lemme see yer tush to check,” and she circled around Big Mac to get directly at the foal. The whole time his head followed and he wore a look that could only be described as smothered panic. Itt try was like he was trying not to lose it in front of everypony, but Apple Bloom could see it as clear as day. She wanted to tell Applejack everything, but then there was the fear of other the ponies watching, especially Big Mac, and she didn’t know how he’d react. That uncertainty was very scary.

“Ah know it ain’t my place, but that filly has been nothin’ but trouble since we got here. Y’all spoil her and this is the result,” Banana Belly inserted her dumb opinion in the mix, and Big Mac jumped on the opportunity to wiggle his way out.

“Eyep,” the stallion started. “Ah ain’t hurt her that bad,” He nodded his head. Banana did as well.

Applejack wasn’t buying it. “Ah got eyes, I’ll see for myself. Now c’mon Apple Bloom. If you ain’t feelin’ comfortable we can go upstairs and you can show me in the bedroom,” she offered the filly a hoof, and Apple Bloom was quick to take it.

The sniffling stopped as she made eye contact with her sister. Something about the warm glow on her face made Apple Bloom feel relaxed. “Okay—“

The front swung open and Breaburn came running into the kitchen. “We gotta go now! The cart is loaded but the train leaves in 10 minutes!”

As quick as ever, everypony rushed to get Granny Smith on her feet. Applejack let go of Apple Bloom’s hoof as she took their grandmother’s instead. “We best hurry. Can’t afford to miss that train,” she reminded Breaburn and his wife. The two nodded as the stallion helped with walking Granny Smith to the door. His wife followed after, and they were halfway out when Applejack briefly stopped to yell. “We’ll talk about this later, but don’t ya be late for school, Apple Bloom!” then the front door shut.

The oatmeal was left. The pills were left. The spot they sat at was left empty. They were gone before Apple Bloom could count to 60.

Now she was alone with Big Mac.

Apple Bloom tried not to cry again, but she was very afraid. The image of his willy wouldn’t go away, not now, not when she was sleeping last night, not ever. It hurt to sit down, yet it hurt worse to stand, and when she looked at her peach this more it was puffy. Applejack would’ve seen it if Apple Bloom raised her tail. She really wanted her to just so the weight of telling her would be shifted on her body and not her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” Apple Bloom said again, and she hoped it would make him less angry with her.

But Big Mac didn’t make eye contact. He only lowered his head and turned the running tap off. “Ah can take you to school?” He asked again.

Apple Bloom’s bottom lip was still jutted out, but it twitched, and she choked back the need to bawl. Instead she dragged his wet face along her arm, grabbed her saddleback and ran for the back door without saying a word.

“I didn’t even get in trouble,” Sweetie Belle said as she glued a cut out butterfly on her Hearts and Hooves Day card. “Rarity only listened to Princess Twilight go on and on about the importance of language, but when we left she told me that her head got blown all big after she was crowned, so we could ignore her, and then Rarity didn’t even tell our parents,” that got a sole giggle from the young unicorn. In her seat she shimmied a bit.

“So you got off scot-free?” Scootaloo poured half a bottle of glitter on her card. Two ponies kissing was crudely drawn with crayon on the cover. One looked like Rainbow Dash and the other was hard to make out. “That’s better than what I got. My mom was shaking in her boots to see the royal pain,” the foal looked around briefly before whispering, “Then she asked, ‘where the fuck I learned the b-word from?’ And you guys shoulda saw how red her face got,” with another splash of glitter it scattered like a dust cloud. “Me and my daddy started laughing cause it was the funniest thing ever,”

Sweetie Belle sneezed. “…it’s..it’s not cool your parents swear at you,” the unicorn wiped her nose on her arm.

“Yer Ma doesn’t take me as the cussin’ type. Ain’t she like a zookeeper or somethin’?” Apple Bloom added as she grabbed a new crayon.

“No. She’s not a lame zookeeper, and she swears all the time and there is nothing wrong with it. Ponyville is just strange about that stuff, but if you’ve been to Manehatten everypony is throwing f-bombs and b-words all the time,” there was a pause as the filly looked around the classroom to try and spot their teacher. Cheerilee sat at her desk reading a paper to Pipsqueak and very much distracted and out of listening range. “There’s also words like cunt, and shithead, and pussy, and douchebag, and cock guzzler—“

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie gasped as she held a hoof to her friend’s mouth to silence her. “If you don’t stop I’ll tell,”

“Pussy? What does that mean?” Apple Bloom whispered.

Scootaloo shoved Sweetie Belle’s hoof aside. “It means a coward I think,”

“Cock is a chicken, right? Does it mean coward too?”

“No that’s a colt’s penis,”

“It doesn’t matter what it means we aren’t supposed to say it,” Sweetie Belle reminded and she really could be a no good snitch at times. The conversation was dropped, and the three worked on their cards in silence. Somepony yelled at the back of the class and they all turned to look at Snips laughing very loudly. Cheerilee told him to settle down and the rowdiness simmered.

Scootaloo glanced at Apple Bloom’s paper. It had a much bigger pony standing next to a sad smaller one. No hearts. No splash of love. No happiness. “Is that for Hearts and Hooves Day?”

Apple Bloom immediately covered her card. Embarrassment hit her harder than a runaway freight train. “Maybe. Ah don’t know. It’s stupid,”

Sweetie Belle tried to peek over their joint desks to get a look. “I don’t think it has to be love themed. Ms. Cheerilee only told us to make a card,” she got back to cutting another butterfly when she realized she wouldn’t be able to see anything unless Apple Bloom let her.

“I’m gonna change my card too. I think these two can get a little more personal,” Scootaloo smirked as she nudged her earth pony friend. Sweetie Belle only looked at her blankly. Apple Bloom kept her head down. “It's a joke. You guys are such newborns,”

“What makes us newborns?” The unicorn asked in a slight whine. The insinuation offended her so much she had this need to prove she wasn’t a little foal. So now she tried to look at Scootaloo’s card to compare it. “Is it the colors?”

The pegasus shook her head, mane bouncing in the process. “Forget it. It flew right over ya,”

Sweetie Belle only pouted, but she returned to coloring. Scootaloo was weird and knew things a lot of other foals their age didn’t. She was probably allowed to stay in the room when the adults were talking, and read more than just kid books, and get to see what they did when they closed their bedroom doors. Scootaloo was so cool. “Did you get in trouble, AB?” the question was asked to muffle the light chatter of their classmates.

“I was wondering that too. Your sister seemed really mad. Did she talk your ear off like my mom does? I wanna put a muzzle on her to shut her up sometimes,” Scootaloo slapped a whole glob of glue on her card. It looked like a mess of confetti, glitter, and clashing colors.

Apple Bloom made sure to cover her drawing with her arm. She was making the big pony angrier and scarier. He was given mean eyebrows and a grimace. She drew a snake between his legs. “Ah don’t wanna talk about it—“

The sound of desks dragging against the floor made for a rough commotion behind them. Foals gasped and moved out of the way as fists were thrown. The three all turned around to see what was going on, and what they found was two classmates in the middle of a coltish brawl. Their classmates wrestled and shoved against each other trying to topple the other. They were yelling and name calling. Kicking, pulling hair, spitting in the bystanders. It was quite the violent show.

“Snips! Snails! Both of you stop at once!” Cheerilee shot up from her desk as quick as a rocket in take off. She got in the middle of the two and pulled their bodies apart. The colts still tried to get at each other even after their teacher wagged her hoof at them. “After school detention, I will be alerting your parents,” whatever they were fighting about the anger suddenly dwindled out as they collectively begged for another punishment.

Apple Bloom, like everypony else, watched with wide eyes. She’s seen them fight before, the two were notorious for it, but never did a fight resonate so well with her. Something about getting a few punches and kicks in didn’t seem like such a bad way to relieve stress. Something about making the pony that hurt her really badly suffer didn’t seem so bad, but then it kind of did, and now she didn’t know how she felt. Now she felt guilt, anger, and sadness all at once. What did it mean not to know one’s emotions? What did it mean to be so lost as if the body she resided in was no longer her own but a stranger’s? What did any of it mean?

“What idiots. Who fights in front of a teacher?”
Scootaloo whispered and Sweetie Belle agreed. Apple Bloom was left speechless.

The final bell for the day rang as the schoolfoals gathered their bags at their cubbies. It was a race to get out of there as quickly as possible for some, and for others they took their sweet time talking to friends. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were among the latter.

“I gotta go guys. I got singing lessons at Rarity’s boutique today,” Sweetie Belle waved at the two before adjusting her saddlebag. She was speed more than Rainbow Dash was speed. “But we can walk home tomorrow,”

“Alrighty! Try not to rupture your sister’s eardrums,” Scootaloo yelled as her friend only rolled her eyes before disappearing beyond the front doors. A hop, a skip, a jump out of the way and now it was just the two. “She can be such a goody-two-shoes,”

“Ah see nothin’ wrong with that. At least it keeps her outta trouble,” Apple Bloom shoved her Hearts and Hoove Day Card in her bag. They were supposed to turn it in at the end of the class. Later, when they were assigned a name, the class would pass out the cards to their pretend special somepony when the holiday came, but Apple Bloom figured one less card wouldn’t hurt anypony. Besides, she didn’t want a soul to see what she drew. When she got home she would tear it to shreds and bury it in the yard.

Scootaloo leaned on her scooter. “I guess, but like Rainbow Dash says, you gotta live life to the fullest, and sometimes that means getting into trouble,” a stick of bubble gum was thrown down her hatch. She started chewing, and chewing obnoxiously.

“Like cussin’ up a storm like yer momma?” Apple Bloom teased.

The pegasus playfully nudged her on the shoulder. “Exactly, and you should do it more often too. I already know you really like the word cock,” her friend whispered with an arrogant grin. Her eyebrows wiggled as she sang a romantic, saxophone-esque, tune.

Apple Bloom’s face turned a beet red. “Ah—ah don’t even remember what it means,”

Cheerilee came out of the classroom with a small bell in her mouth. “Five minutes until the start of after school detention! If you are late you will need to come back tomorrow afternoon too, so let’s get a hop in our step and get going!” Her fore hoof rolled in a huge circle to rush the ponies along.

Scootaloo put her helmet on her head. “I best get going too. I am technically grounded,” She got on her tiny vehicle and started to propel herself forward. Apple Bloom quickly put her saddlebag on her back before she chased after her. They got to the door and Scootaloo turned to the earth filly before they both could get past the archway. “Looks like your brother is here to pick you up. I’m gonna try to get my dad to do that,”

“Wha?” Apple Bloom frozen got a moment. It didn’t register what her friend said until she peeked over her shoulder. Lo and behold, she was right. Sitting under the shade in the near empty courtyard was Big Mac. When Scootaloo pushed herself out of the door he spotted her and got up.

Apple Bloom hid then.

She heard the two greet each other and she heard Scootaloo say something along the lines of ‘She was just behind me,’ and Apple Bloom felt lightheaded. Her heart was thumping in her chest, and she really wanted to throw up. Spots danced along her vision. Her knees felt wobbly. She was scared, and she didn’t know why.

The small bell rang again. “One minute until detention!”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were in deep conversation. The two quickly approached the door along with a few remaining foals behind them. Everything was moving so quickly. There was no time to think.

The bell rang again. “Let’s go! Let’s go!”

The two fillies looked at her. They stared and they expected Apple Bloom to move out of the way. The ponies behind them stared.

Cheerilee rang the bell.

Diamond Tiara flipped her mane back. “Excuse you—“

With all her might, Apple Bloom pushed Diamond Tiara to the ground. There was a loud thud as her pencil case and textbooks scattered out of her saddlebag. The foals around them gasped. The shocked filly stared at her in disbelief. Diamond Tiara couldn’t get a word out fast enough. It didn’t matter. None of it did.

Cheerilee saw the whole thing.

“Apple Bloom! In here now!”

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” During detention each student had to write an apology letter to either their parents, classmates, or to themselves. It had to contain what they did wrong and what they will do differently in the future to improve. Cheerilee would then read it over and sign it, and in the morning they needed to bring the letter back with a parents signature. Apple Bloom only wrote two sentences. “You are usually so well behaved. I would never expect this kind of behavior from you,” on the other side of her desk Cheerilee shook her head. They were the only ones left in the schoolhouse. Even Snips and Snails went home. She didn’t think they were idiots anymore. At least they weren’t as dumb as her.

Apple Bloom lowered her snout to the ground, and didn’t she feel silly. “I’m sorry,” and she was, but she needed to avoid a big problem. At the time it seemed like the best solution. “Ah won’t do it again,”

“I can see that is all you wrote. You had an hour to write more, Apple Bloom. This isn’t acceptable,” Cheerilee got up and she motioned for Apple Bloom to follow her. “I will need to inform your sister about this,”

Despite the threat, inside the filly’s head was just static. Half of her dreaded Applejack’s reaction, while the other half didn’t care. Maybe she saw it as a necessary evil. Maybe she no longer cared about anything. Apple Bloom just didn’t know. Everything just felt so strange.

Cheerilee locked the classroom and when she had her rump to her Apple Bloom tried to peek behind her tail. She wondered if their peaches looked the same. If it was supposed to be swollen and uncomfortable. If it was supposed to hurt when she peed.

The key clicked. The mare turned around. “Come on. Let’s be on our way,” The long walk from the hallway to the door felt like the plank towards her demise. She held in a breath and prayed that maybe he wouldn’t still be there—

“Macintosh?” Cheerilee’s face lit up when she spotted the stallion. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears, before she cleared her throat to attempt to come off as serious as possible. Apple Bloom was still trying to hide behind the grin door, but she was nudged out and pushed forward. “It’s great you’re here, I mean, well, now I can just discuss what your sister did without having to journey down to Sweet Apple Acres,” the mare stopped just short of the stallion. She looked up at him with the most obvious blush on her cheeks. “I hate to trouble you with this,”

“Ain’t no trouble at all, Ms.Cheerilee,” his voice was that flat tone again. No excitement, no dash of emotion, just a dead southern drawl.

“Apple Bloom pushed a classmate today, totally unprovoked.”

“Did she? Now why would ya go n’ do that?” Big Mac addressed her and the filly felt cold chills. It was hard to hear them with her heart pumping so loudly.

“Ah don’t know. I’m sorry,” she whispered. To look either one of them in the eye was a task too difficult.

“We gon have to do better from now on. Ya understand?” the scolding barely sounded much like a scolding. He still sounded monotone, like he didn’t care, but he wanted to please Cheerilee enough to get her to leave. “We best get. Apple Bloom will have a whole lotta work to do to make up for it,”

“Yes. That might be for the best,” Cheerilee cleared her throat again as she ceased her gawking. There was this awkward silence. Apple Bloom was counting again. She got to 34 seconds before her teacher turned to face her. “I will see you in the morning, but promise me you’ll do better,”

Apple Bloom couldn’t make such a promise, yet she still nodded, and she still held her breath. The looming darkness she had in her gut all but derived from the presence of her brother. Again with the uncertainty. Again with the fear. By the time Apple Bloom pulled herself out of that dreadful hole she realized Cheerilee was no longer standing next to her. It was only Big Mac and the quickly setting sun. There wasn’t a chance to make a promise, but perhaps that was for the best.

The flick of his tail pulled Apple Bloom back into reality. He lowered his neck to offer her a ride, but she shook her head. To be touched was the last thing she wanted, so to prevent him from continuously offering, Apple Bloom started walking. Not too quickly, but the filly didn’t want to drag behind him. She could hear his footsteps as he followed after.

They moved in silence for a while. Neither saying a word. Only the sound of hooves on stone and the ambiance of a late evening in early spring. It was still so early in the year that ponies were winding down sooner than in the summer months. Birds still chirped, and a pegasus, or two, still flew overhead, casting shadows on the ground below.

Big Mac trotted beside her when they got closer to the farm. “Ah got you somethin’” he said as he cut right in front of filly to get her to pause. They were pretty secluded, that was the first thing that came to mind. It was then Apple Bloom noticed he had a saddlebag on his back. Reaching into it he pulled out a stuffed kitten. “AJ still wouldn’t take the real thing, but ah thought this would do for now,” the teddy was dangled in his jaws and made to dance.

Apple Bloom didn’t take it. Regardless, she said, “thank you,” to be polite.

The dancing stopped. Big Mac placed the stuffed animal next to her. “Ah been, uh,” he sounded nervous, genuinely nervous, like Apple Bloom was the big scary meanie and not him. “Ah been wanting to apologize. What ah did to ya…” he couldn’t finish the sentence. Instead he hung his head in shame and fell to her hooves. “I’m a bad pony,” his voice cracked and she felt the tears runoff from his cheeks.

Immediately her heart melted. To see her big brother cry was something Apple Bloom never expected in a million years, and she definitely didn’t want to be the cause of it. “Yer not a bad pony,” she assured him because the filly was sure he only hurt her because she misbehaved. It only made sense, and in that case she was the bad pony. A very bad pony. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry,” she nuzzled against him and he raised his neck to allow her to cuddle underneath it. Apple Bloom was nothing but trouble. She should be ashamed of herself. She was no good, and he had every right to punish her.

“Ya mean it? Yer not mad?” Softly he laid his head on her curled up body. Apple Bloom had the stuffed kitten in her hooves, and she shook her head slowly, still uncertain, but now with this desire to make her brother feel better. He had to feel better even if it meant she had to ignore her own feelings. “Then we gotta keep it a secret between us. Not a soul can know. Not even AJ,”

Apple Bloom tugged on the toy kitten’s ears. She felt it’s soft black fur. She imagined all kinds of names for him. She counted the padding on its paws, she counted it’s eyes, she counted the amount of times she clenched onto it. When Big Mac told her to keep the secret she nodded.

“And ah won’t tell her about today. That’ll be the secret ah hold,” he kissed her tiny thigh right on the spot where her cutie mark should’ve been. It felt tainted, but Apple Bloom told herself it was okay. Her brother only did it once, and he’d never do it again, not if she behaved. She only had to be a good filly. “Ah love you more than life itself, Apple Bloom,” he kissed her again and she held onto her kitten tighter.

“Ah love you too,”