Author's Note

So! This chapter has been a doozy, but a lot of fun to write. A lot happens as I thought I should pick up the pacing just a little more. It’s eleven and a half thousand words, so grab some popcorn for this one.

Hope you enjoy!

Humpty Dumpty

“Fetch me a rope, will ya?” Applejack herded their biggest sow away from the barn’s exit by circling around the swine while pushing headlong effectively only giving her one route of freedom, and that being forward. Her piglets squealed, and they followed after their mother closely so as not to fall in the path of the horse’s trot. Cloven hooves skidded against wet hay like an erratic marching band. Despite it, the earth mare knew not to get too close. A good buffer sat between her circling circle so as not to accidentally trample the livestock and it’s offspring.

Apple Bloom watched as her sister’s mane and tail bounced in sync with each step she took. An even clop, one of heavy hooves, yet she moved weightless as if made of feathers. Focus was on her freckled cheeks. Focus, and a bit of pride, as she managed to get the sow in just the right spot. She circled around, and around, and around like a horse on a carousel. Her tail flicked against her rump and the hair splayed against her apple cutie mark. Like satin draped over leather. Like spread paint bristles on a flat canvas.

And yet the filly had her eyes on what sat between her sister’s legs. Constantly staring. Constantly questioning, comparing, wondering why her privates didn’t look so puffy. And this was a new habit of hers, an unhealthy one, and she could admit that. Apple Bloom couldn’t remember feeling her peach touch the ground whenever she sat—not before. It just didn’t seem right. Sure she could ask about it, but there inevitably would be questions she’d have to answer, and that would inevitably lead to a few tongue slips, and that inevitably would ruin the secret.

“Sugar cube, I’m gonna need that rope,” Applejack looked over her shoulder as she made another turn. Her green eyes met Apple Bloom’s amber, and immediately the filly blushed, got up, and ran to quickly retrieve the item. Something about getting caught staring where she shouldn’t had her heart thumping like mad. A long inhale and a brisk head shake brought her vitals back to stable numbers. It was wrong and impolite. Wrong. Impolite.

A peach different than her own? Apple Bloom didn’t get a good glance, not really. Most mares were masters at concealing what lies beneath, so unless a pony was at their underbelly, or with their snout shoved between cheeks, a full frontal view was hard to get.

Apple Bloom stopped just short of the barricade between two stables. She didn’t see the rope hanging from its usual spot against the wall, so she checked around the wall, and up the wall and down the wall too. She moved tools out of the way, and peeked behind bags of fertilizer, yet she saw nothing. The metal pegboard had a shadow to signify that, yes, there should be a rope nailed to this very specific spot. Like a rock dug out of tender mud, an imprint was left, but with nothing to show for it. The filly turned back to her older sister who was still trying to keep the pigs in line. Catching one of the piglets without something with a good grip was a headache and a half. They were tiny, and quick, and as slippery as a wet bar of soap, and hooves didn’t have the best grip to begin with. “Ah don’t see it,”

Applejack didn’t stop herding, but there was a look of slight annoyance on her face. She sighed and said, “Yeah ‘cause ya ain’t lookin’ for it,” and Apple Bloom swore she said that every time she had to retrieve something for her with no luck, yet Apple Bloom was looking. She was looking with all that she had. The stupid rope just vanished out of thin air, and how was that ever her fault? “If it ain’t there, check the cellar,” a cloth was placed over the sow’s head to keep her calm. “C’mon girl. Yer gonna be just fine,” that was such a lie. They were giving them away to who knows who. The poor creatures were destined to end up on a griffin’s dinner plate.

“The cellar?” Apple Bloom silently repeated to herself, and she repeated it in her head too, and as she repeated it she now looked at the hatch door in the corner of the barn. If basements were scary than the cellar was a spawn of Tartarus. Totally a thing out of nightmares. Definitely not a place for a little pony, such as herself.

A piglet ran past Applejack's hind legs. “Dagnabbit!” The mare swore as she watched the pig squeal, running laps around the barn. “We ain’t got all day, Apple Bloom, lest ya want to spend the mornin’ tryna catch the little fella,”

School was in less than an hour, and Apple Bloom was far from a solicitous student, but going to school meant she was there and not here, and even though she loved here and the ponies that lived here and not there more than, well she supposed more than she could comprehend. There was still better than here since Big Mac wasn’t there, and even though she forgave him, and even though it was so her fault, maybe some distance was good for the both of them? Maybe she still didn’t know. Maybe she just rather get this over with before another piglet slips by Applejack.

The filly gulped.

The cellar pulled her attention towards it like a hooked fishing rod. Just looking at it made her knees buck and this sense of dread shroud over her. Slowly, she approached the door buried beneath the wet hay. Lifting the hatch was like trying to launch a barbell twice the size of her body over her head, that's how heavy it was. At least for her. Big Mac could manage to swing it open like it was made of paper and not solid metal. Applejack could manage to get it with one hoof occupied and two on the ground. Apple Bloom broke a sweat, but eventually some of that earth pony magic—that may exist, may not exist since Granny only mentioned it when she was in one of her delusions—must’ve triggered because instead of getting so red in the face a vein could burst in her forehead, the door steadily opened. If Applejack wasn’t so distracted this part wouldn’t be such a challenge since Apple Bloom wouldn’t have to do it, but a part of her didn’t want the help. Maybe she wanted to feel strong for once. Maybe she wanted to feel grown up. Getting the hatch open definitely made her feel that way despite feverishly struggling.

Like a mouth agape, there was a hollow gust of wind rushing through the darkness. An echo in the cellar. A whistle of a giant. A ghost of a pony from long ago telling her to turn back now, and yet she couldn’t. It was cold down there, and pitch black to the point Apple Bloom couldn’t see much beyond the first few steps. Apple Bloom gulped again before taking the plunge into the sea of darkness. Slowly she descended down the stairs, pushing up against the wall so she didn’t lose her footing. One hoof after the other. Steady, as steady as a pony could get, until she made it to the bottom. The filly felt around for the light switch along the same wall she used as support. It was somewhere, it had to be, and already she was majorly panicking when she could no longer hear her sister and the pigs despite the hatch still being wide open. The entirety of the room was thick concrete buried in ten feet of earth and hidden in a barn some ways off a pathway. Sound proof, and unfortunately she would know since the last time she was down here Apple Bloom had accidentally locked herself in. The filly had to suffer through 20 minutes of torture as she wailed, and she pounded on the door, and she screamed her lungs out for somepony to let her out. No one came. No one heard a thing, and if it weren’t for Applejack needing to store a few bottles of cider, there was a good chance she’d be stuck down there until she was as old as Granny Smith.

The light was finally found, and in a rush she flipped it on and it flickered to life. It took a moment, but soon the room was lit up enough to reveal bottles of hard cider stacked on wine racks and some in crates on the ground. A tool bench was on the far wall and a broom was in the corner. Beyond a drain in the middle of the room it was fairly empty and fairly spacious. Fairly spooky too, but to Apple Bloom’s relief she spotted the rope rolled up and hung from a beam off the far left rack. The filly was quick to run up towards it and climb to her hind legs so she could reach, and reach, and reach. It was still too high for her.

A wave of panic surged through her veins as the fear that she’d be trapped down here again caused her to quickly look for a solution. The crates. Of course the crates, but none were empty and most were packed too tightly that she’d have to either waste time plucking bottles one by one or she’d just have to forget it. One crate only had a couple of bottles and Apple Bloom knew it wouldn’t be too heavy to just turn it over and use the backside as a stool, and that was the plan. So as fast as a pegasus in flight, she dashed towards it, pushed the crate away from the others, and tipped it over with the force from her head and snout. Instantly the bottles inside toppled over and shattered, and it poured old cider all over the floor. It didn’t pool, but rushed towards the drain, and left a mess of amber glass in its wake.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Oops,” Apple Bloom whispered as her ears fell flat against her head. Four bottles broken and maybe she shouldn’t have nudged it so hard. The bottles were supposed to roll, not shatter, at least that is how it worked in her head. But what were four bottles to a dozen others? These ones seemed to have gold labels, but that could just mean a different flavor. Maybe it meant they were bad cider? If it were super, duper, extra valuable they would be stacked on the racks. Yes. Yes, that made sense. They weren’t important because they weren’t on the racks.

Shaking her head, the filly decided to stay on track and hurry. Dragging the crate towards the beam, she stepped on top, reached for the rope, and finally snagged it in her teeth. Quickly she stepped down, ran for the stairs, and made sure to dodge the shards of glass. Later on she'd clean it up, or sometime in the far future, or maybe never. Maybe she shouldn’t leave it? Maybe it was a problem for another day.

“Ah got it!” Apple Bloom screamed, presenting the rope in the air like Daring Do after collecting an ancient artifact from a lost temple.

“Now count our lucky stars! I was gettin’ my fair share of excitement tryna keep em all in line,” Applejack raised her neck high towards Apple Bloom signaling for the filly to toss it over.

Apple Bloom threw the rope, and with the sturdy lissomeness only a cow mare could harbor, Applejack caught it and swung it into a lasso before rounding up the scurrying piglets into a stable. “Woah there piggies. Git, git,” Their momma stood inside, head in a trough, enjoying rotten apples. The little ones ran for milky teets and leftover slop. Applejack shut the door then dusted off her fore hooves. “Now that’s a mighty fine job well done if ah ever done seen one,” she placed her fallen hat back on her blonde head. “Thanks for the help, Apple Bloom. Ah really appreciate it,” that same hat was tipped towards her.

With her sister’s praise, her sister’s respect, the little filly beamed with joy. A huge smile spread across her face. “Yer welcome,” and she ran right beside her to see if maybe there was more work to help with. “Why are we sellin’ the pigs?” Apple Bloom asked curiously.

Applejack ruffled the top of her sister’s mane. “Can’t afford to take care of em anymore, sugar cube,” a hint of shame lingered in her voice, but quickly it was smeared with a new question. A change in topic really, perhaps to temporarily forget about their financial troubles. “You never did tell me what was bothering you yesterday. You know if Big Mac spanks you too hard you could always tell me and I ain’t gonna be mad at ya,” the same hoof that messied Apple Bloom’s cherry thatch, now sat at her shoulder. A warm smile shined above her head, and as the foal looked up she slightly sank into herself.

“Big Mac didn’t hurt me,” and it was hard to keep eye contact, so Apple Bloom averted her gaze. It was a really stupid thing to lie to the element of honesty. Applejack had a knack for sniffing out deceit like a bloodhound with a trail. Was it any wonder alarm bells went off as her older sister looked at her more carefully, and she had this expression like she was studying her, and Apple Bloom knew she was.

Applejack kneeled down so they were face to face rather than one towering above the other. “Now you know what Granny Smith tells us about lyin’,”

Apple Bloom stared at her hooves. “It’ll rot yer teeth?” She asked, half hoping that in of itself was a lie.

“No, sweet pea, it’ll come back and bite ya in the tush when you least expect it. I want you to be honest with me, okay?” The tone Applejack used was soft. That warm milk feeling. That comfort. So Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. “Did Big Mac hit you too hard?” And he didn’t. He really didn’t. because he never hit her at all.

So when Apple Bloom said, “no,” it was the god honest truth. It made it easy to look her sister in the eye that time, but hard not to pout, or tear up, or blabber, ‘he touched me and made me feel funny!’. Big Mac was sorry, though, and what they did had to be the secret she held just like Apple Bloom misbehaving, again, was the secret he’d keep.

“You sure?” Applejack asked, and her hoof rubbed her shoulder.

“Yes,” Apple Bloom responded, and she subconsciously tucked her tail between her legs as if to conceal the evidence.

Applejack didn’t say anything for a few short seconds, but it felt like an eternity, and it made the filly nervous. Still her older sister stared and observed and read her body language, and maybe she sensed something, but all she said was, “Alrighty, but the minute he does anything outta line you tell me, and ah ain’t sayin’ this to scare you, ah just think he can forget his own strength sometimes,” and then she gave a brief sigh. Applejack was standing at full height again. Her cow mare hat adjusted more comfortably on her dome.

Apple Bloom didn’t want to talk about it anymore. She didn’t want to ever talk about it. “Ah gotta get to school,” slowly she turned to leave. Applejack trotted beside her. A nod in agreement was exchanged, before she opened the door, and the fresh smell of a spring morning filled their senses. It was hard not to take in a deep breath and bask in Celestia’s sun. A gentle breeze blew through the apple trees. A smile of strong pride was pasted on her sister’s mug.

“You best get cleaned up before you go,” Applejack nudged into her. “Oh! And before ah forget, Big Mac will be picking you up after school. There is something very important going on and nopony can miss it.”

Apple Bloom’s gut dropped. “What kind of thing?”

“Can’t get too into it, but it’s a safety precaution we all gon have to take from now on,”

The bell for recess had all the foals pouring out of the schoolhouse like a living tsunami of rhapsody kissers. Scootaloo galloped, cloots crashed against the sand, and caused a ghastly dust cloud to waft in her friends’ faces. Small wings flapped with vigor, yet they never lifted her chubby body off the ground. A pair of binoculars jolted around her neck, bounced against her orange fur, sat a few sizes too big and looked slightly goofy, and weighed her down. Yet the look of determination never faltered. Yet a colorful smile stil sat on the little pony’s mug. She was heading for the jungle gym.

The farm filly tried to keep up and it should’ve been easy since her deep earthen roots made her more durable and sturdy compared to the other two tribes, yet she was coming in a solid second. She pushed herself forward, picked up pace, and though her legs hurt she still kept going.

“Scoots! Apple Bloom! Wait up!” Sweetie Belle screeched at the top of her lungs. She was huffing and puffing as her legs tried to keep up with both the pegasus and earth pony, but to no avail. Between clenched teeth was a sheet of music. It flapped like a white flag in the wind, her own little sign of surrender.

Apple Bloom slowed down. The need to win didn’t override her willingness to stick by her friend, so she turned to face Sweetie Belle. “Sorry. Scootaloo said the first one to the jungle gym gets to use the ‘noculars,” which was now not gonna be either one of them. Scootaloo already made it to the finishing line.

“But that’s not fair since you guys already know you're faster than me,” Sweetie Belle slugged to a drag. Sweat fell from her forelock. She was already sucking in deep breaths, and they couldn’t have been running for more than a few seconds.

Apple Bloom approached her and wiped the sweat from her friend's cheek and dome to help to cool her down. “But ah thought you didn’t wanna see through em?” Her wet hoof was rubbed in the dirt. Sweetie Belle’s sweat was lukewarm, and that was okay if it didn’t feel all weird and sticky. She had no idea why adults did this to each other; wiping sweat from foreheads. Then again Applejack did a lot of gross stuff, like grooming Apple Bloom’s pelt with her tongue sometimes. Sweetie Belle didn’t seem to mind, but rather cleared away the same rivulets running down her face.

“I don’t, but I also don’t wanna be left behind,” The pearl filly combed out wet kinks in her cotton candy mane. “Plus, Diamond Tiara just hates us more than ever for whatever reason, and I just know she’ll pick on me if you guys aren’t around,”

Apple Bloom chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck. Should she break the news or keep that push from yesterday to herself? Being honest sounded like the right thing to do, but also a pretty pointless thing to do. It’d likely get out sooner or later on it’s own, plus it wasn’t like it was any other pony’s business—

“Guys! Guys! Hurry! You’re gonna miss it!” Scootaloo was climbing the bars much quicker than any foal could possibly accomplish. Whatever she wanted to show them had to be exciting—and more than likely Rainbow Dash related. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle watched as their friend hastily made it to the flat top. Her fore hooves went up in the air as a sign of victory. The farm filly giggled and started towards her again, when the unicorn stopped her.

Sweetie Belle whispered, “something is going on today,” and her eyes darted around. “Rarity had a talk with me about, um, well…” Her cheeks blushed a deep red. “…about stranger danger,”

Apple Bloom looked at her a bit confused. There was really nothing embarrassing about that topic. Everypony knew not to talk to strangers, so she shrugged and said a casual, “so?”

“I mean not just stranger danger, but what could happen if you don’t listen, and then she showed me a few news articles,” Sweetie Belle’s face burned even deeper. “And, well, it’s scary, and also bad touch is very real and also it happens in real life, like not just as a warning, but like foals get taken and they get touched and taken far away to never ever see their families again and—“ Sweetie Belle hadn’t took a pause or a breath. She kept going and going and getting faster and more panicked as she did. At that rate she was bound to tire herself out.

“Ah don’t understand,” Apple Bloom shook her head. It didn’t sound real, not completely. More like an exaggeration that adults tell to keep foals from misbehaving. “Why would they do that? Where would they even take them?”

“They do it so they can, um, they do it to..” Sweetie Belle held a hoof to her chin. The sheet of music dropped from her mouth as she tried to rustle through her mind for what her sister told her that morning. “I think money, no, wait…yeah. I think money, and I think to places far, far away,” she already said that. What does far far away even mean? As far as Las Pegasus to Fillydelphia? As far as the Bad Lands? As far as the Everfree forest?

“Why can’t we tell Scootaloo?”

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle let go of Apple Bloom.

“You told me to wait and then you whispered, so ah guess ah thought it’s supposed to be a secret between us?”

“Oh yes, Scootaloo doesn’t have a big sister like we do, and her parents say swear words, so she might not understand it too well, and I don’t wanna scare her or expose her to the realities of the world,” That was pretty funny since Scootaloo was more mature than the both of them combined. Her parents traveled all over the world too, so it was likely she knew how far away far far away was. Sweetie Belle picked up her sheet and started towards the cubed jungle gym.

Apple Bloom followed her. “Right,” then again, maybe Scootaloo didn’t know about the bad touch yet. It was very likely, and the stranger danger talk was very scary and only big kids would understand.

As if Sweetie Belle read her thoughts, she added, “Scootaloo only knows swear words, but she doesn’t know about the bad of this world, and that is what Rarity told me—not about Scootaloo, but like I guess in general?”

When the two foals got to the structure they stared up at their winged companion. Her purple mane dangled while her neck was craned upwards, her head was shoved in the binoculars, and she watched the sky. Apple Bloom used a hoof to shield her eyes from the sun. “I’m gonna climb up. Are you gonna too?”

Sweetie Belle found a nice comfortable spot on the ground and sat. “Nah. I gotta practice this,” her body laid on its side as the sheet of music was stretched out and ironed in front of her. Before long she prepared her voice with a steady hum.

Apple Bloom gave a brief nod before hooking her first hoof on a bottom bar. Slowly but surely she made her way to the top. Like traveling down the cellar steps, she took it one foot at a time so as not to fall. So as not to break her neck. So as not to crack her head open. Scootaloo was getting closer and closer by the minute. Her purple tail reflexively swatted a fly.

“Look! If you stare closely you’ll see the Wonderbolts coming straight for Ponyville!” The binoculars were offered to Apple Bloom.

The filly took it and placed her eyes against the lens. Immediately they locked on and zoomed in at a train-shaped cloud. Apple Bloom pulled her head away in disbelief. She gave her eyes a few blinks to get them adjusted to the odd sight. “Woah, how’d it do that?”

“They are enhanced with magic to make them more precise. My mom got them at a flea market in Rainbow Falls,” the sound of rabid wings flapping thumped against the earth filly’s eardrums. Scootaloo was pointing at a small dot in the sky. “Oh my Celestia! Look! Look! There they are!”

“Where? What am I lookin’ for again?” Apple Bloom was trying to keep up, but the bizarre spectacles made everything too zoomed in at times, and too far away at others. She pointed it in every direction; like at Scootaloo which made her look like she was about a mile away despite Apple Bloom feeling the warmth from her body heat, or the very fine detail of a rooftop that probably was a mile away, but looked as close as the tip of her snout.

“You can’t keep swinging them around like that. Just focus on that small point in the sky. See it? It’s the only thing moving right now,” The tone of voice her friend used was condescending. At least in Apple Bloom’s ears.

She sassed her back. “It’d be easier if these things weren’t so difficult to see through. They are useless if nopony can use them,” right after she said it, the spot in the great blue sky was spotted and focused on. Suddenly her sight advanced and she did in fact see the Wonderbolts. Five colorful pegasi in navy blue jumpsuits flew in a v-position with a golden mare in the forefront. They zipped through the sky, a blur to the naked eye, and impossible to keep up with—only the binoculars somehow managed it. They also managed to follow the jets of speed in a near break-neck fashion. Apple Bloom had the biggest smile on her face when she spotted Rainbow Dash, and she flew overhead, and she left a trail of chromaticity at her feet, only she was going so fast that her whole bottom half merged with the stroke of rainbow. The sound made a loud rumble on the ground below. They cut through wind, sliced past clouds, and left lines of condensation behind. The colorful mare gave a cocky grin as she saluted at the foals from all the way up in the air. How she ever managed to see them from so high was any wonder for the earth filly.

“Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Oh my bucking goodness! Did you see her wave at us? Did you see it!? Did you freaking bloody—oh no! Oh no I’m gonna die!!” Scootaloo was shaking Apple Bloom now, and screaming, and getting so flustered that she was so going to faint. Apple Bloom’s brain was rattled in her skull, yet she still giggled.

“How’d you see her from that far?” The question was asked through tears of laughter. Scootaloo was fanning her face and really acting like the biggest fanfilly in Ponyville. It was like she didn’t get to hang out with Rainbow Dash all the time and technically be classified as her unofficial, unrelated, awesome little sister. “Plus how’d you know she’d fly by today?”

Scootaloo was still on cloud nine. The biggest smile known to ponykind was carved across her face. Her head was up and it followed the fading streaks of rainbow on the blue beyond. God, wasn’t it gorgeous. “Your party,” she was going to need a moment to recover. Apple Bloom had never seen her this way; so enamored, and sure, Scootaloo had always really liked Rainbow Dash, but never this much. “Did you see her uniform!? It looks so cool on her,”

“Yer drooling, Scoots,” the filly giggled.

Her friend dragged a hoof across her chin. “I don’t ever get to see her after she joined the Wonderbolts,” then she went quiet. The hypersonic band of flyers had long gone, yet her neck still strained, and it still looked at the spot that was once vibrant with rainbow. “You don’t think she moved on, do you?” There was a weaver in her voice.

“Nah, I think she just got caught up with her new job. None of my sister’s friends really hang out with her much either. Life gets busy, that’s what AJ says,” the binoculars were given back to Scootaloo. Apple Bloom placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “You still got us—“

“I’ll just have to talk to her today at the thingy,” Scootaloo smiled in response to the affection. She shook her head as if to shake away the dreadful feelings.

“Thingy?”

“Yeah, the thingy my daddy was telling me about this morning. After school we have to go to, like, a speech or something. Princess Twilight and the Element Bearers will be there, and there's a good chance some soul suckers from outer space are invading Equestria and we are all gonna die painfully,” Scootaloo said casually.

Apple Bloom panicked. Soul suckers? That sounded worse than brain eaters. “What!?! What? Wait! No way that’s real!” She nudged at her friend, but half of her hoped it was just a joke and not the reality of Equestria’s fate. The seriousness in Scoot’s demeanor said otherwise.

Well, until a devious grin crept across her face.
“Hehehe, nope. They are as real as walking, talking, hairless monkeys,”

“Those aren’t real!” Apple Bloom playfully tried to balance on the bars and got on her back legs. She fell on top of Scootaloo to wrestle, which the pegasus eagerly accepted.

Apple Bloom had her by the waist and her muzzle buried in her furry back. Scootaloo flapped her wings against her, tickling her wet nose, and causing her opponent to reel her head back slightly. “They so are! I swear I saw it in a comic book,”

“Guys stop! You aren’t supposed to do that on the playground equipment!” Sweetie Belle called from the ground below. She no longer held her sheet music, but watched on nervously. A few foals also gathered as they stared at the two fillies roughhousing. “You’ll fall!”

Both fillies ignored the warning of their friend. It was brushed off like most of the times Sweetie Belle was being too cautious for her own good. Scootaloo stuck her tongue out at her, and Apple Bloom placed her in a light choke hold. Now it was a show of strength. Air versus earth, and when it came to the physical it should’ve been a no brainer who would win, but again Scootaloo was pretty agile and flexible. So even when Apple Bloom would pin her against the slippery beams, she’d manage to squirm, and bend, and wiggle out of it, and suddenly she would be on top. The earth pony tucked her hind legs against her stomach before bucking her opponent off and once again standing on hind legs to try and collapse down on her. Both girls were laughing, but also super focused on getting the upper hand over the other.

Suddenly another rumble fell from the heavens. This one was louder, heavier, closer, and it shook the foals to the core. Apple Bloom stumbled backwards, unable to keep her balance on only two legs. There was no grip on the top of a cylinder, so it was easy to go down, and go down quickly. The panic of falling over came her as she realized there was no surface for her to land on but the incoming ground. Scootaloo rushed to grab her quickly slipping hind leg, and she held on with all her might. She too had no grip, but under tizzy desperation her wings managed to carry her. It struggled but Scootaloo refused to let go and let Apple Bloom fall. The wings wouldn’t be able to keep the two from tumbling forward and crash landing, they could only prolong the inevitable.

“Miss Cheerilee!!!” Sweetie Belle was shrilling.
Apple Bloom’s smaller frame swung in the air. It moved like a wrecking ball, and it was quickly coming closer to an impact zone. Scootaloo tried flying backwards, but it only caused the swinging to grow worse. Before the back of Apple Bloom’s head slammed against a metal bar the last thing she heard was Sweetie Belle scream for their teacher.

A loud dink rang in her skull like a rang bell. They were falling, but the pain was numbed with a cacophony of colors violently exploding in the small filly’s vision. The world became a cruel mockery of fireworks and the abstract. It blended all at once, mashed together, an aggressive hotchpotch. And it was unforgiving, and it was overbearing, and it was more tousled than a bad case of bed head. Messy. Scary. Beautiful.

Then everything went dark.

So there she was.

Under the stars. Under the canopy of the Apple trees. A ceiling of dark navy sprinkled with light. A streak flew across the sky and her mouth moved to say, “look—!” But before she could get the rest of the words out, she caught up with her mind.

She was on the back of Big Mac. His blonde mane draped over the hooves that held him for support. The warmth of his body was beneath her, and again, she felt his muscles expand and contract. He was trotting towards the treehouse, and Apple Bloom knew what would happen next. Play by play, it was happening again. The smells, the view, the pit in her stomach—though that was a new sensation.

Apple Bloom tried to say something, she tried to prevent it this time, but found she no longer had access to her voice. Nothing came out no matter how much she tried. No matter how much her throat ached. A cork was lodged deep, so she swallowed, but still nothing.

Big Mac broke into a light clop, slowly moving towards their dreaded destination. The old tree looked more ominous this time. It lacked that spark, that charm, and now all the good memories she held of the place were swapped with the pain of her brother trying to rut into her. Apple Bloom was filled with chilly panic. She told herself she wasn’t afraid and that she wouldn’t cry, but she was. She was very much afraid of Big Mac. With no voice to tell him to stop she’d be forced to take it again, but as they got closer and as her mouth grew dry Apple Bloom had to live with the knowledge that it probably wouldn’t matter if she yelled or screamed or cried, he would have his way with her anyway.

The orchard was darker now. The trees no longer lit in moonlight. The berm grew narrower. This couldn’t happen, so Apple Bloom pushed herself from his back. She tumbled, rolled, came to a blunt stop just shy of the path of his hefty legs, and Big Mac stopped. His neck craned in the rear of her form and his bulk followed after. Her body was covered in scrapes and bruises, and her legs hurt, but she still struggled to stand up. Pain, nothing but fiery agony, shot up her spine, the filly thought to run. She thought about getting back to the farmhouse and under the safety of her sister, but when she looked behind her all she saw was a void of darkness like whoever was currently holding this reality together no longer bothered with what lied behind her. Like the areas unseen and undrawn in a comic book. The darkness wasn’t so much as scary as it was a nothingness.

Apple Bloom put weight on her hind legs and immediately they went down as a surge of pain told of the extent of her injuries. She wanted to yelp, but found she couldn’t.

“Oops. Looks like ya fell,” Her bigger brother got closer, and Apple Bloom dragged her beaten body away while still attempting to face him. She looked into his eyes, and what she saw wasn’t the usual soft emerald orbs, but two crazed balls both reptilian and goat-like in appearance. Somehow they were a blend of the natural and supernatural, and somehow the sizes of their pupils didn’t sync. The left sat greatly dilated, and the right as small as a pinprick. What should be white was a bitter yellow and it glowed in the dim light.

“Why don’t you climb back on, my sweet girl?” his country accent all but vanished. His neck stretched longer, pulled taut, before it coiled, and it curved, and it shaped into a swan-like ‘s’. He was getting closer and now she couldn’t move at all; not to run, not to drag, not to get away. She lay on her back, and his neck got longer, and it got even longer, and it pulled so long that it alone was approaching her with puckered lips.

Apple Bloom tried to turn her head away, she tried to do something, anything, but her gaze was locked onto this strange beast. He didn’t blink, he didn’t smile, he just came, and he came, and he kissed her. His tongue spread her lips apart. It lapped at the small muscle in her jaws and shoved its way down her throat. Over and over again it thrusted it deeply into her. He sucked, and slurped, and tried to get as far in her guts as possible.

It hurt so badly.

Apple Bloom couldn’t breathe as her chest felt so tight and her heart beat erratically in her shrinking rib cage. She felt the strange appendage wiggling around in her stomach as Big Mac’s hoof was no longer a hoof but a clawed hand. It grabbed the side of her head and forced her to stay steady and upwards. Their lips were forced together again, but this time she didn’t feel that softness of flesh, but something hard like a unicorn’s horn, but curved in an odd way. Apple Bloom couldn’t breathe and she couldn’t struggle, but she was starting to feel so very cold.

So very sleepy.

“One and two and three and four…” someone started counting rapidly. It sounded neither like Big Mac nor the voice of the monster driving a kiss through her lips. It was unrecognizable. Loud. Oozing with strong authority. She felt a new pain in her chest, a steady pressure. This pain was pumping against her, the rhythm following the counting, matching it and aching her heart. The kiss was no longer a kiss but a blow, and it filled her lungs, and it forced her chin up, and it pinched her nose tightly. Her chest felt so bare suddenly. It was like a patch of fur was ripped from its rightful place. The chilly night air rushing against her pricked skin. Apple Bloom closed her eyes shut so not to have to stare into the yellow pools in his face. She was a whimpering mess—

“We got a green light. Positioning the pads. Hit her with 3000 volts.” That scruffy voice was flat. It ceased the chest compressions and she felt something stick to her chest. It burned brittle like frostbites.

A very familiar voice grew louder as it got nearer. It was trying to hide a tone of panic with a mask of confidence. “You guys need anything? Like some help? What do you need? I mean, I can generate a stronger electric flow than any horn—“

“Step back, please step back, ma’am. Clear the area and let us do our job,”

“I’m powered up. Administering the shock,” a lighter voice said from her left. It too sounded vaguely male if not on the more ambiguous side. “Clear!” Before Apple Bloom could begin to understand what any of that meant, a surge of high electricity pulsed through her body. She clamped up, muscles as tense as a board, before her chest jolted and her back arched. The pain faded when the rapid thrumming in her chest came to a halt. No longer was there a steady heartbeat but rather a spasm as the organ struggled to reboot. She fell back, heavy and limp, as if suddenly made of liquid.

Then the kiss happened again. “One and two and three and four…” They were counting, scruffy, sore like a frog was in their throat. Masculine and bearish. More chest compressions. More blows. More counting, and blood was manually forcing its way through her dying veins desperately feeding her organs.

“I’m losing her pulse. Try to keep her head straight,”

“Come on, Apple Bloom. Stay with us,” Another kiss. Another series of counting and pumping into her chest. A cold force held the sides of her head even. They were talking again and she was having a difficult time keeping up. The pull of sleep returned. It was hard staying conscious when everything was cold, and comfortably so. The ground no longer felt like the ground, but unstable like a wave.

“Green light. She needs another shock,” Apple Bloom had goosebumps. Feelings were no longer feelings but tingles, and her body was okay with that. It was scary but it no longer hurt, and she was okay with that. She was okay with this. There was a sense of peace. Tranquility. And she decided she would fall asleep—

“Clear!”

The filly’s eyes shot open. Her body lurched. Brightness. What she saw was pure, white, brightness. It both burned but filled her vessel with molten magma. Like a snowman on the beach, she was melting, and melting quickly. Again, her muscles clenched and they didn’t release their hold until the magic stopped shocking her system. Soon the brightness started to take shape and she saw two silhouettes. Two heads. The shining horn of a unicorn, and a beastly beak.

She gasped, and her diaphragm flattened to allow her chest cavity to expand and pull in air like a high powered vacuum. Tears swelled in her eyes as she inhaled, and it hurt again, but it also felt so nice like whatever lock that restricted her lungs from enlarging had finally broken away.

“That’s it, there you are,” the rough voice cooed as he held one of her hooves in his talon. Beyond him she saw beating wings, blue and majestic. They nearly blended with the clear sky. She wanted to reach out for them, for their rainbow mane and familiar face, yet felt she couldn’t. Whatever force that held her in place didn’t let up even when Apple Bloom started to squirm, and spaz, and violently shake, and she had no control, no way of stopping her body from convulsing. The wail of a siren was somewhere in the background. It was more white noise if anything. “She’s having another seizure! Release the restraints…”

Apple Bloom was underwater now. Words were no longer words. Faces no longer faces, but they had no meaning beyond being smooth waves, blurs, motions. A soup of colors and creatures cascading into utter chaos.

And then it stopped.

And again, the world went black.

“…her heart rate is stable, and the hermetic scans reveal no injury to the spinal cord. She had a brain hemorrhage, which caused the seizures and ultimately threw her into cardiac arrest, but she’s lucky they got to her when they did.” There was a brief pause. “The damage to her brain appears to be minimal—meaning there is no dead tissue and the internal bleeding has been hampered, but unfortunately we won’t know the extent of the effects on her mental and motor functions until she regains consciousness,” again with the familiarities in the voices, this one Apple Bloom recognized well as it was the same one that initially got her into trouble on her birthday. Right now it spoke much more quietly, more stern, and she was reminded of a boring teacher giving the most boring lesson in history. “I ran a few scans of my own, and her cerebral reactions are spot on, so, as of right now, I can safely say she isn’t brain dead,” a few hoof taps broke the sound of her inhale. “Knock on wood, but I have no reason to believe she won’t have a stable recovery,”

“This filly, ah tell ya. When will she wake up? I got a few choice words for her for that dumb stunt she pulled,” the next voice, on her right it appeared, was clearly Applejack. Apple Bloom wanted to gulp but found she was unable to.

“Well, um,” the princess started. “I can’t say for sure. It could be this evening, or tomorrow, or a few days from now. All we can do is wait,”

Another voice entered the conversation. This one she recognized from earlier when she was out of it. “She’s a fighter.” It was much more quiet than usual. There was no high-paced spunk, no highhandedness, rough edges. “Started shaking in my hooves when I caught her. I couldn’t stop it. I…she just wouldn’t stop shaking,” the mare took in a staggered breath. “I could’ve resuscitated her better than those chumps, and I could’ve done it without cracking the kid’s ribs,”

“It was a good thing you were there to catch them, Rainbow Dash. Otherwise Scootaloo could very likely have more than a sprained wing, and I imagine the fall would’ve been more severe,”she then cleared her throat. “But don’t underestimate the proficiency of the first responders. Without their work it is very likely Apple Bloom wouldn’t be with us right now,” there was the sound of shuffling as something on her left moved. “I’m sorry, Applejack,”

“I-I am too. I mean, when I circled back around I saw them…I saw them falling—I saw it the minute Scoots was struggling to stay airborne with Apple Bloom in her hooves, and I was going as fast as I could. I was just—I was just not fast enough,“ Rainbow Dash’s voice wavered but she didn’t cry. Instead she made a gulping sound as if to choke back a barrage of feelings. Apple Bloom imagined her head hung in shame. She imagined she was unable to make eye contact with her older sister.

“Ain’t nopony’s fault. Accidents happen,” the deep drawl of her brother had Apple Bloom tensing up in her sleep, only she didn’t physically feel herself tense. She was reminded of the kiss, and of the strange creature that stole the form of her brother, or maybe it was really Big Mac. Maybe he was a monster all along.

“The girls are outside, and I know Cheerilee and half of Ponyville are sending their love and support. A lot of ponies are here for you two,” the princess’s voice went very soft as if to comfort. The image of her stroking Applejack’s back was as clear as the red of her back eyelids.

“And the Wonderbolts have you covered, specifically me, but you aren't alone in this. Apple Bloom will be fine. The little bugger opened her eyes, and she looked at me and I swear for a few seconds she was conscious and she was aware. And I think… I think she’ll wake up soon. I just feel it,”

As low and as deadpan as a creature with a pulse could get, a voice spoke. “When ah got the call ah thought it was Granny. I’ve been dreading the day but ah knew it would come sooner or later. We all gotta expiration date,” if Apple Bloom didn’t know any better she would think it was a stranger speaking on her sister’s behalf, but it was very clearly not. “Now ah wish it was Granny,”

“Applejack,” The princess whispered.

“No, ah mean that. With Granny Smith ah knew it would happen and ah was prepared for it. Ah was prepared both mentally and emotionally and… But with Apple Bloom,” she inhaled. “If she don’t wake up y’all might as well get two caskets,”

Suddenly the sound of hooves slamming on a hard surface raised the tension. “Don’t you say that! Don’t you dare just give up like that! Didn’t I just tell you your sister is going to bloody wake up?!” Rainbow Dash was screaming and it must’ve shocked everypony in the room since no one stopped her. “What about us!? Your friends?! Your brother and grandmother!? All of Equestria?! Since you know, you do hold a goddamn element! Your sister isn’t going to die, but even if she did—“

Twilight tried to interject then. “Rainbow Dash let’s please calm down—“

“Even if she did! I need—we still need you…”

“That’s enough! This really isn’t the time nor place to discuss such awful subject matter!” The alicorn raised her tone and it made the metal constructing her bed rattle. “And Applejack I really do hope you aren’t saying what I think you are,”

“Twilight, you can wake her can’t you?” Applejack completely brushed over the shouts, and the insinuations, and specifically Twilight’s question. Her voice still came out cold. “With magic? I’m sure there is a spell out there that could easily fix this problem,”

“I can’t. To trespass into another pony’s subconsciousness would require dark magic. She isn’t in a medically induced coma, Applejack. There is nothing I could physically heal, the surgeon took care of that. Sometimes brain injuries, no matter how small, can just…” the sentence was trailed off and not finished. “Look, the best course of action is to wait. She’ll wake on her own, but we must be patient,”

There was silence.

Nopony said a thing or moved a muscle for a while. Apple Bloom imagined they were staring at her. She imagined they were in deep thought, or maybe they thought of nothing. Either way she counted and she got to 64 before she heard her sister’s accent. “Guess we just gon have to wait.” That strong cow mare spirit returned as she sounded warm again. “Hey, ya wouldn’t mind breaking the news to everypony in the waiting room? Bet they’re worried sick,”

“I got you, AJ” The windy drift generated by Rainbow Dash’s wing strokes made the fur around Apple Bloom’s ventilator sway like blades of grass. It tickled, yet the filly couldn’t scratch the itch. “I’ll make sure they know it’s no big deal,”

“Well, not no big deal,” Twilight corrected her. The way the volume in her tone tempered signified that she too got up. “But she will wake up soon,”

Apple Bloom didn’t know when she fell out of consciousness again. There wasn’t much of a sense of time behind the curtains of her mind. For some reason she couldn’t open her eyes, or talk, or signal that she was there and she was still alive. For some reason she was trapped.

But was she alive? Or was her soul just lingering around her corpse refusing to move on? Was this what the afterlife was supposed to be? Would the Grim Reaper find her soon and whisk her off to the great beyond?

The steady beep of her monitored heartbeat, and the mask that pumped air through her mouth and nostrils, reminded her that she was still anchored to the living world. No ghost felt the sensations she did. No ghost knew the smells, nor touch, nor taste, nor sounds. The only thing is she couldn’t state these feelings—this awareness—to the world.

“Wake up,” A harsh whisper drew her attention to the right of her. Normally this would cause her ears to perk and face the noise, but right now they too were paralyzed in place like the rest of her body. It sounded like Applejack when she’d command her to clean her room or do the dishes, only with more fraught. “Wake up,” she whispered again, this time closer.

“You’ve been sayin’ that for the past two hours. Ain’t nopony gonna wake up to that,” Big Mac, who appeared to be on her left, chuckled. There was a creak like he leaned back in a chair. “‘Wake up, sugar cube!’ Say it like that,” despite the drowsiness in his tone, he used a silly voice to mimic the farm mare, and Apple Bloom wanted to giggle.

The warmth from Applejack pulled away. Apple Bloom imagined her sister raising her head to give Big Mac an irritated glare. She imagined her cutting her eyes at him, and she imagined he had a goofy grin on his tired face. “Why don’t you come here n’ try then?”

“Been singin’ to her all night. Voice is hoarse,” Apple Bloom wanted to frown. Did she really miss that? Did she miss the chance to hear his lullaby? Big Mac had a beautiful voice, one of the best in Ponyville, and she wasn’t awake to hear it? When was the last time he sang for her? Apple Bloom couldn’t even remember. Her eyes wanted to burn with tears, but again, nothing happened. Again, she was just a pony stuck in a statue of a useless, stupid, body. Why did this pain hurt more than the physical pain?

“Just try one more time. One more time, and ah know she’ll hear it, and ah know she’ll wake up,” Applejack sounded more desperate to hear his song than even the little filly. This was hopeful, this was good, since Apple Bloom currently couldn’t voice her desires. Right now she wanted this more than ever. “Please, Mac. I’ll sing with ya,”

They were quiet for a while. Apple Bloom heard somepony sigh, but she couldn’t place if it came from the right or the left of her. She imagined her siblings facing each other, Applejack giving Big Mac the puppy dog eyes, and Big Mac relenting. Eventually his low, steady, voice told her, “Nope.” And Apple Bloom was crushed, until she realized the ‘nope’ was in regards to Applejack joining, and not a refusal to sing. “Won’t know this one,”

Then it started; a melody of deep sorrow, and at first Apple Bloom was reminded of a funeral, and at first she couldn’t help but feel like it was a goodbye. But as she listened to his lyrics, and as her brain started the tedious task of deciphering his psalm, it became clear that it wasn’t a goodbye at all. It was a call home, a plea for her safe journey back to them, and a prayer that she’d open her eyes. Big Mac serenaded, only this song wasn’t a declaration between lovers, but a different sort of love. A love that ran deeper, and she heard her brother struggle to keep going, and she heard the strain in his voice, but he persisted.

Apple Bloom wanted to tell him it was okay, and right now she tried with all her might to get the words out, and she fought against the prison that her mind became, but she just couldn’t do it. She was shackled and left to only see the light shining against her eyelids and the sounds around her. She was useless. She was no good. She was causing her family so much pain.

The warmth of her sister came close again. Applejack rested her snout next to her cheek, and she nuzzled into her, and she cried as Big Mac sang.

“…Breaburn needs the bits for Granny, and she needs her written prescriptions,” Applejack was talking to somepony somewhere in a corner. To pass the time on the rare occasions she’d regain consciousness, and when nopony was talking, Apple Bloom like to imagine the layout of the room. In her head she saw a shoebox, maybe a smaller box in the shoebox, and maybe this small box was shoved in the corner and in this box was a bathroom. So really the room would be ‘L’ shaped, but that was only in her head. It could look totally different for all she knew. It wasn’t like sound could paint a precise picture.

“Don’t worry about it,” Big Mac yawned. “It’s gon work out,” and his voice was as dull and casual as always.

Applejack made an irritated grunt. “Ah wish you’d stop sayin’ that. ‘It’s gon work out,’—that’s a load of fucking hogwash,” she snapped, not particularly loudly, but it didn’t make her words any less harsh. “You gonna wave a magic wand and make all our problems disappear? Cause if you got it get goin’ and fix this,” and the shuffling of a stack of paper replaced her grumbles. They both went quiet, and Apple Bloom imagined her brother backed off for a moment to give her the chance to cool off.

Then the stallion sighed, but said nothing further.

The room returned to silence for a solid minute. The tick of a clock, seemingly to her left, helped to distract her mind. It played in tandem with her ventilator and with her heartbeat. A more creative pony could’ve made a mediocre song out of it. For now she only paid it any mind to have something, anything, besides the silence to focus on.

Apple Bloom counted again, and she got to 267 before Applejack said, “You can’t go to Appleoosa. Granny would just have a fit, and ain’t nothing gon get done that way,” still her voice was low. Still it was cold.

“Eyup,” Big Mac said, a little more gibe than usual. “Best you go then,”

“Ah ain’t going nowhere until Apple Bloom wakes up,” Applejack turned a page.

“Granny needs her meds,” they were clearly playing some sort of game to get under each other’s skin. Apple Bloom couldn’t wrap her head around it. What would either one of them get from taunting the other? “You ain’t being rational, AJ,” He sounded peeved now, a tone all too foreign for a gentle giant like Big Mac.

“Shhhush. Can’t think straight when yer yapping,”

There was a pause, and if Apple Bloom could she would’ve held her breath.

“Best get goin’. The farm ain’t gonna run itself. Been three days since the apples were bucked,” Big Mac, as kind as he was, would much rather distance himself than lash out. The filly recognized it since it was a lesson he’d often teach her. Now whether Apple Bloom listened was another question.

Anypony would expect Applejack to just let him go without much word, but instead a sob fell from her sister’s lips. “Why are you always tryna leave? You don’t wanna be here when she wakes up?” The emotional whiplash wasn’t an attribute of Applejack, at least not one she’s ever seen. If anything her head appeared to always be screwed on straight even under the threat of death or the destruction of Equestria. Now she was deteriorating into a weeping mess.

This had to melt her older brother’s heart as she heard him get up, walk a short distance, then sit again. In her head she imagined he was wrapping his arms around Applejack in a warm embrace, but that didn’t sound like him. Pressing his neck against her own or resting his chin on the top of her head sounded more natural. They didn’t say anything afterwards, but Applejack’s sobs were now muffled as if held against his chest.

There was a knock on the door. Quick two taps, and it didn’t wait for a response before barging in. “I know you guys probably have, like, a healthy diet or whatever, but I got fried oat burgers with salted hay, and I swear this is great comfort food,” the feeling of wings flapping to a halt circulated a breeze through the room. “Stuff my face with this shit after a hectic day of being awesome, and well, needless to say it works like a charm. High speed flight burns carbs like firewood, so the more I eat, the more fuel I have in the tank,” Rainbow Dash then landed hooves to tile, and what sounded like the messiest, greasiest, paper bag was rummaged through. She didn’t address the crying, perhaps not mentally willing to. “I got the giant double decker burger for you Mac, seeing as you’re a growing colt you’ll need all the protein you can get,” another rustle. “The cheese burger is yours, AJ. Got it extra cheesy, but I can scrape some off if you don’t like it,” she then balled up the paper bag and it appeared she tossed it somewhere. “As for me I got the god of burgers himself; the triple oat and barley deluxe with extra ketchup, two pickles, and no mayo,” then she took a messy bite and moaned like it was the best goddamn thing in Ponyville.

Applejack sniffled. “We appreciate this, Rainbow,”

“No need to thank me,” she swallowed, and her voice no longer held its pluck, “I’ve been on edge all night…” another chew. “…and I couldn’t sleep.” She swallowed. “I just kept thinking about what you said, and I guess I just…” Rainbow Dash sucked in a breath. “…I just want you two to really see it in action; see that you aren’t alone. To see Apple Bloom wake up is at the top of my priorities too!” And then it returned, her boisterous confidence and this strong need to serve for the greater good of her friends. “You bet your bottom bit she won’t go another week in dreamland,”

Her siblings went quiet, so quiet that even Applejack’s cries went mute. The filly imagined they were stunned. Rainbow Dash had a way of doing that to ponies. At first Apple Bloom was a bit intimidated by her, but soon she saw a lot of the same qualities she shared with her sister, and it was easy to warm up after that. Plus Scootaloo idolized her and Scootaloo was the coolest foal Apple Bloom knew.

“Granny Smith needs somepony to—“ Big Mac started talking before he was elbowed in the gut. He humph, then promptly went quiet.

“Wait, why’d you just do that?” Rainbow Dash asked, face full of food. By the sound of it she was talking with hay shoved down her pie hole.

“Do what?” Applejack said, and even with eyes forced shut, Apple Bloom could see her lie as clear as day.

“There you go again with the darting eyes. Just tell me. It’s not like I’m going to shoot it down,”

“That’s exactly why ah can’t tell you,”

“Fine. Keep it a secret, but know nothing gets past Rainbow Dash. I’ll know sooner or later,” She took a final bite of her burger. “Like your grandmother needing something shipped to her. Bet I’m in the ballpark, huh?”

“Just hit a home run,” Big Mac commented.

“It’s nothin’. I’ll go eventually to take care of it,” there was silence again as the three chewed on their food. The aroma made Apple Bloom’s mouth water, but all she could do was give a slight nose twitch. Real food would be a dream come true right now. This was tortuous.

As if to move the conversation along, “Mac, you think you can sneak us some cider?” Applejack said, and she was sniffling again. This time she was whispering in fear of any nurses walking by and overhearing.

Nopony made any objections. “Buck yeah!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with a mouthful of hay. “Get the hardest stuff you guys got,”

Big Mac kissed Applejack on the forehead, and Apple Bloom could tell by the way his snout blew loudly against her fur, and the sound his lips made with a smooch. He’d often do the same with her. Sweet, wet, kisses that filled the body with tingly warmth. He was very skilled at that; being that blanket to snuggle up with. Now she was having a hard time remembering why she feared his touch. “I’ll be back,” he promised, and Applejack made an ‘mmmph’.

It wasn’t until the door shut did Applejack start talking again. “Ah feel like a foal again watching my Ma die from late stage melanoma,”

“I’m really sorry, AJ,”

She needed to take a pause to swallow back another series of tears. “My Pa died a year later. Big Mac found his body hanging. He wasn’t the same after she died, and Granny never did let us read the note he left behind,“ another bitter stillness took over for half a second.

“Geez, AJ. How could you ever threaten suicide in front of your brother?” The pegasus had the slightest bit of anger in her voice. It gave the impression she was trying to smother it down in fear of breaking feelings, yet it was clearly something she hadn’t done often with this particular friend, so the tone just came out wrong.

Applejack was choking on her sobs now. “It wasn’t a threat. Ah meant it,” she was sucking in broken breaths. “Ah can’t handle another one…ah can’t do it…”

“What about Macintosh? If you kill yourself where does that leave him?!” That need to muffle and smother all but dwindled, burned up and left in a pile of nothing. Rainbow Dash was barking her words as if the brewing rage would knock some sense in the farm mare’s head. “What about your sick grandmother!?”

“Ah don’t care. Ah don’t..” Another sob. “…Ah just can’t do it anymore,” never would Apple Bloom think she’d live to hear the day her sister would break down the way she did. The filly wanted to open her eyes, she wanted to tell her that she was still alive, and everything would be okay. She wanted to hug her. She wanted to apologize for being so reckless. She wanted to take it all back.

“Stop saying that! Apple Bloom still has a pulse!”

“What does it matter if she’s a vegetable?” Applejack was delirious at this point. “Everypony says she’s fine but she won’t open her eyes. It’s been days. Why won’t she open her eyes? Why won’t she come back to me? Why won’t she-“ she gasped as if out of breath. “Why won’t she come back?”

Days? Days have passed? Apple Bloom fought with herself, she struggled, she tried to get her subconscious mind to catch up with her consciousness, and tried to get her body to behave. It refused and she didn’t know why. She was trapped in a fleshy box. She had no control. Not of her breathing, or her tears, or her senses.

“Twilight could easily get her to. She could easily wake my sister up, but ah…ahaguess she ain’t a princess ssosheee ain’t worth it,” Applejack was slurring her words now, some of them coming out mashed together, chaotic, jumbled. “We ain’t worth dadirt on her hooves… why’d she wanna… wanna help us?”

Apple Bloom could practically hear Rainbow Dash’s eyes roll. “Now you know that is a crock of bull! Twilight is our friend! Besides she’s the last pony to push that elitist crap. It’s against the law, and as Equestria’s monarch do you really think she can just bend the rules?”

“Yeah, why not? Why not?” She was gasping again, over and over, and it sounded wet and sloppy.

“Because it’s wrong—“

Applejack cut her off as she was getting more flustered. Apple Bloom could only imagine how red her sister’s face got, how red her eyes became, and how puffy the two were. “Ah don’t wanna hear it. Okay, ah don’t. Life ain’t black n’ white like that. There ain’t nothing wrong with reviving a filly from her own head,”

“I’m sure there’s a reason it’s illegal. We just gotta trust Twi knows what she’s talking about considering she was a skilled unicorn before she became the element of magic.” Rainbow Dash put a strong emphasis on the word. “Makes her more of an expert than either one of us,”

Applejack said nothing. In fact she got so quiet Apple Bloom wondered if her sister was still in the room and not magically kidnapped by an ancient evil wizard.

Then she heard Rainbow Dash sigh. “I read somewhere that if you talk to your loved one sometimes it helps to coax them out of it,” and her tone was hopeful.

Still nothing was said. Her sister wasn’t the type to manipulate. She was honest in all aspects of her life, so imagine the frustration a pony would feel if given the silent treatment from Applejack. Imagine how awful and downright bizarre that would feel.

“We can try it. Who knows, maybe she will wake up,” Rainbow tried to spread optimism to her friend.

Again, nothing was said.

“We can do it now,”

And nothing.

“Oh come on, AJ. Don’t be that way—“

The door opened and the sound of hooves clattered against the cold floor. “Somepony got in the cellar. Damn near broke all the good bottles of Granny’s golden apple cider. That’s twenty-five hundred bits down the drain,” a saddlebag was dropped on a hard surface. He got out a bottle and from the sound of it, three shot glasses. “Tell me when to stop,” Big Mac poured, and Rainbow Dash rapidly tapped the table after a few seconds. The scent of rich pulp permeated her nostrils. It smelled of honey, home, and a high quality fermentation of the best apples on the orchard. Apple Bloom wondered if cider tasted similar to apple juice. It definitely smelled very different. Maybe tastier, she thought. Maybe it was tastier, it definitely had ponies acting strangely after a few sips. “AJ, you gonna tell me when to stop?” Big Mac’s deep voice rumbled, low, like rolling thunder.

Applejack said nothing, but she also tapped the table eventually.

“Yer more quiet than me,” he downed his drink then poured another glass. “Cat got yer tongue?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “I’m just happy the booze is here,” the words were mumbled, and she too downed the cider. “Hit me with another,”

Applejack continued to say nothing.