Apple Hospitality

You jolt awake to a loud banging. An old fear of being terrorized by your siblings seizes your heart and you scramble out of bed, stumbling in the dark and slamming your elbow into the end table.

"Ah, fuck! Ugh... wha-who izzit? Whatrya doin?"

A muffled filly's voice calls out, "Anon? Ah heard a bang, y'all okay?"

You take a deep breath and try to calm your racing heart. It's just Apple Bloom. Not your shithead father, not your bitch of a sister, not that asshole Kevin.

You shout back as you struggle into some pants, "I'm... ugh, I'm alright! Just... not a morning person. D'ya have to knock so loud?"

Her reply is barely audible as you pull a shirt over your head, "Well 'course ah tried knockin' quiet first, ain't my fault ya sleep like a rock..."

You heave a great yawn and stretch, then call out as you open your bedroom door, "What time izzit anyway?"

As you approach the front door, you hear her mutter, "Too darn early."

You open the door and rub the sleep from your eyes, "Agreed. So why're you here, then?"

"With Applejack injured, we got way too much work to do. Me n' Big Mac got up early to start workin'."

Apple Bloom sighs and you grimace, "Man, there's that much, huh? So you came out here to bring me to work?"

She shakes her head, "Nah, we need ya to come take care of AJ all day. We don't wanna keep havin' to stop workin' to help 'er up the stairs an' such. Granny's takin' the early train to Appaloosa to try'n get some help so hopefully it'll be sorta back to normal soon, but for now we gotta work our tails off."

"Alright," you say with a sigh, "I'll be ready in a few minutes. Wanna wait inside?"

She nods and you return to your bedroom, closing the door behind you.

A short while later, Apple Bloom was being very quiet on the way back to the farm. Or maybe she's just sleepy. Either way, you really want her to be comfortable around you, so you try to think of another question to get her to open up.

"So... got any plans after your chores today?"

She looks up at you for a second, then her ears droop, "Not really... Mac n' I'll prolly be workin' 'til after sundown today, an' I'll likely be pickin' up some o' the heavier work ah don't usually do, so I'll prolly be exhausted."

"What about school?"

She grimaces, "Well, Granny said she's gonna talk to Ms. Cheerilee, so... guess ah ain't goin'."

"Isn't that a good thing? I thought kids--er, foals love getting out of school."

"Well yeah," she says with a scoff, "But not to do hard work all day!"

"Ah yeah, guess you got a point." You chuckle, then reach down and rub behind an ear, "Listen, I'm sure helping AJ won't take all of my time. You come get me if there's anything I can do to help. Make sure Big Mac knows too. I'll do everything I can to help make this right." Your face turns sour and you mutter, "This is my fault, after all."

Her head snaps up and she veers away slightly, "What!? It's yer fault AJ got hurt? What'd ya do!?"

You sigh and say, "My newest tool, that scythe. I designed it poorly, and when AJ moved wrong it swung unexpectedly and nearly chopped my leg off." Apple Bloom gasps and you continue, "She panicked and flailed to get the blade away from me, which did work, but her flailing made it swing around, catch her foreleg, and slam her to the ground." You stop walking and rub your neck, not meeting Apple Bloom's eyes, "It could've been a whole lot worse. AJ could have easily fallen on the blade instead of the handle." You sigh heavily, "I have to do better... I can't let this happen again."

Her small body suddenly thumps into your leg, startling you into looking down, and you see the little filly hugging you tightly. "Anon... ya can't beat yerself up like that. Ah know it's hard, but everypony makes mistakes sometimes, an' everythin' turned out alright in the end. It ain't yer fault an' ah know you'll do better next time."

You scowl, "Fu--Darn it, Bloom, don't you get it? My mistake almost killed your sister!"

She only hugs you tighter, "But ya didn't! It's alright, Anon!"

You slump, shake your head, and repeat, "I must do better. This can't happen again."

You look again and see her enormous eyes gazing up at you, glistening in the moonlight.

...Man, that pitiful stare should be illegal.

You cave instantly, unable to bear seeing her so miserable. You squat and pull her up onto your knee, returning her hug.

She buries her fuzzy snoot in your neck, resting her head on your shoulders and murmurs, "You'll be alright, Anon. Ya ain't a bad person just 'cause ya made one mistake."

You try to wrest control of your emotions as you stroke her mane. Honestly you still feel terrible, but you do feel better for having voiced what had troubled you all night. You take a deep breath and swallow the lump in your throat.

"Thanks Apple Bloom. I... I needed that." You pull back and look into those big sad eyes, "You're pretty good at this counseling stuff, y'know." She smiles and sniffs, and you rub a tear from the corner of her eye. "I'm sorry for making you upset. I feel a lot better now."

She boops your nose with a hoof, "Just promise me ya ain't gonna beat yerself up over this."

You sigh, "I've always been bad about doing exactly that, but... I'll try."

She shakes her hear urgently, "Nuh uh! Promise, Anon!"

When you don't respond, she latches onto your neck again, "Ah ain't lettin' go 'til ya promise!"

You stand abruptly and she hangs off your neck, letting out a little shriek as your supporting knee drops out from under her. She squeaks as her hind hooves scramble against your belly and her tail waves wildly.

"Hey, no fair!"

Chuckling, you swing an arm under her, folding her tail against her rump and supporting her weight on your forearm, then you start walking again. To your surprise, she stays like that as you walk, her fetlocks hooked around your neck, the side of her head pressed against your collar under your chin, and her hind hooves pressing lightly into your belly. You continue walking in silence, just stroking the back of her head.

As you enter the farm, Apple Bloom finally releases your neck, twists around, and drops nimbly to the ground.

"Ah better find Big Mac an' get to work. Applejack's still in 'er room. Ah oughta see ya at dinner tonight, right?"

You smile and nod, and she canters away through the rows of crops. As you walk up to the farmhouse, the moon smoothly lowers into the horizon and the sun rapidly rises to replaces it. The sudden change from night to day still weirds you out about Equestria. Squinting hard against the abruptly sunny day, you open the farmhouse door.

"Hey, Applejack?" You call out, "You there?" When there's no response, you sneak up the stairs and gently knock on her bedroom door. "Applejack?"

You hear a groan and rustle, then a mumble for you to come in. You enter and see she had kicked the blanket mostly off and her injured hoof is now thoroughly wrapped in a cast up to just below her knee, holding her fetlock slightly bent.

Her hat is hanging on the wall nearby and you realize this is the first time you've ever seen her without it. She looks... incomplete.

Ignoring that, you kneel at the side of her bed and murmur, "So, what did the medical pony say about your hoof?"

She opens one eye at you, then rolls it and closes it again, "Hairline fracture in the cannon an' one hay of a sprain in the fetlock. Doc says I oughta be able to walk on it in a day or two when the fetlock's swelling goes down, but I can't trot or buck or do darn near anythin' till the fracture heals."

"So how do you feel?"

She groans and pushes herself up onto her... elbow? Her foreleg's knee? ...Who'd have guessed horse biology would be so important in your future.

"Bored as hay," she says.

You raise an eyebrow, "But you just woke up. How're you so bored already?"

She scoffs, "Ah been bored ever since I laid down in this apple-rotting bed yesterday. I ain't got up 'cept to relieve myself and eat, an' I needed Mac's help for both." Her ears droop and she closes her eyes, "Never felt so ashamed and embarrassed in my life."

You grimace and lay a hand on her good hoof, "AJ, please don't feel bad. This is all my fault."

"What!?" Her eyes snap open and she sits up and glares at you, "How the hay is it your fault I tried dancin' with a buckin' blade strapped to my chest an' darn near cut yer leg off?"

You groan and rub your face, "If I had designed the scythe better, this never would have happened."

"Oh ponyfeathers, your scythe is great, Anon. It ain't your fault I was bein' foalish with it."

"You could have died, AJ! If that scythe had twisted just a little more as you fell--"

She interrupts you with a click of her tongue and reaches over, setting a hoof on your cheek and turning your head to meet hers. She doesn't say anything, just stares intensely into your eyes. You immediately feel awkward and try to avert your gaze, but she twitches her hoof on your cheek to draw your attention back to her. So you just sit there, staring into her big green eyes.

Eventually, she smiles and taps your cheek, "Anon... I know this is tearin' ya up inside, but ya gotta forgive yourself. It ain't your fault, really. That scythe has to be dangerous--if you'd tried to make it perfectly safe, you'd'a just made a scythe that didn't work."

Still holding your cheek with her hoof, she leans even closer, her expression earnest and caring, "Your scythe really is great, promise. It's my own darn fault for bein' a dumb foal an' messin' around while wearin' such a dangerous tool. I been 'round plenty of dangerous equipment an' I shoulda known better."

She closes her eyes and presses her forehead against yours, murmuring, "Please Anon, I ain't just sayin' this to make ya feel better. I'm the element of honesty for Luna's sake. I just hate to see ya beatin' yourself up over somethin' that I know ain't your fault."

You close your eyes, sigh, and try to calm your racing thoughts, taking comfort in the gentle touch of her fuzzy head and hoof. After a moment, you pull back and meet her gaze.

"You're right, of course. I just... when you fell and cried out, I was so scared it was the blade that got you." You close your eyes and shudder, "All I could imagine was Big Mac and Apple Bloom standing over your dead body, blaming me..."

You take a long, slow breath. Just as you open your eyes, Applejack leans forward and boops your nose with her muzzle.

You jerk back slightly, surprised, and she blushes and looks down.

"Just... please don't blame yourself, Anon. I can't stand seein' ya hurt from the inside like that."

You've no idea how serious of a gesture that muzzle boop is in pony culture. Eventually you just decide not to overthink it.

"Alright AJ, I'll try. Just for you."

She shuffles awkwardly, "So, uh... anywho, we've been talkin' about this too long. I gotta get downstairs and, uh... take care of a few things."

You nod and smile awkwardly, extending a hand to help her out of bed. The 'few things' turned out to be taking her daily dose of herbal medicine for her heat--which looks like a murky brown tea--then going down to the river to... relieve herself. Thankfully she doesn't need help for that, so you just stand a distance away and turn around to save you both the embarrassment of being present for that.

Honestly though, you were a bit curious. You'd noticed long ago that most pony homes don't have bathrooms. Is that what the river running through Ponyville is used for? ...You make a mental note to never bathe downstream.

Applejack calls out, so you turn around and start walking back. She hobbles toward you on her three good legs, but just as you come near, her good forehoof catches on a rock and she stumbles with a yelp. You lunge forward and grab her around the chest, supporting her weight as she instinctively reaches out with her injured hoof.

She sits and shouts, "Buckin' Tartarus, ah can't do nothin' myself!" She neighs angrily and shakes her head in frustrating, flicking your face with her mane.

You slowly release her as she settles on her good hoof and brush her mane out of your face, "C'mon girl... it's only for a day or two. Let's get to the barn. Maybe you can't work but you can still think. Let's work on improving another tool."

The day was frustrating for both of you. You must have drawn up fifty different designs for a dozen different machines, then threw each of them away. Every time you gave AJ some excuse about structural support, or having a better idea, or some random engineer-ish jargon you threw together to try and sound like you knew what you were doing. But really, you just kept imagining how each machine could hurt Applejack.

Meanwhile, she kept fidgeting with various stuff around the barn, hobbling around and messing with this or that, then eventually tossing it away in disgust. She would often come back to you and sit heavily beside you, sighing heavily. You'd try to make conversation from time to time, but she was in such a sour mood it never went very well.

Finally, her ears perk up and she turns her head, "Anon, I think I hear Granny!"

You turn away from your latest hypothetical AJ-killing maching and try to grin, "Alright! Let's see who she brought to help."

You grab her cast as your stand and you both hurry outside. You see Granny walking toward the farmhouse. Only Granny. You get a sinking feeling in your gut.

"Hey Granny!" Applejack calls out, "How'd it go!?"

Granny turns and scowls deeply, "Nopony! There ain't nopony! Them hay-brained appleworms 'parently can't even spare on Tartarus-lovin' pony t'help out. Whole darn town o' Apples an' not a one o' them can be spared to help m'little farm 'ere!" She stomps a hoof and snorts before continuing, "Weeeeell we'll see if'n any of 'em can make it over 'ere next family reunion! Why, if ah see even a one o' them, they'll be turnin' tail an' gallopin' away 'fore ah got halfway through what ah gotta say to them buckin' selfish lil--"

"Granny Smith!" Applejack, shocked by Granny's vehemence, finally found her voice and sharply cuts her off, "Good gravy, what's gotten into you? I ain't never heard ya say such awful things!"

The old mare just snorts and turns to walk away.

Applejack looks to you, "Go find Mac an' Bloom. I'm thinkin' the whole family needs a talk, an' I'll be darned if I can't walk this short a way myself."

You nod and release her cast, watching as she carefully waddles a few steps on three hooves. She seems to have learned her lesson at the river and is watching her good forehoof's placement very carefully. She's incredibly slow, but at least she's capable of short distances alone.

Satisfied, you hurry up the nearest little hill and, from your heightened vantage point, you are able to spot the bright red of Big Mac's coat and Apple Blooms points in a nearby field. You jog over and both their heads turn to you, immediately worried.

"Don't worry, AJ's fine." They relax visibly and you continue, "Granny's back from Appaloosa but it seems something went wrong: she's downright furious. AJ sent me to find you two, said the whole family needed to talk."

Big Mac nods, deftly unhooks the cart he was hauling, and immediately canters away. You and Apple Bloom try to follow but he easily outpaces your jogging and her in a full gallop. Soon you're both panting heavily and slow to a walk before you even approach the farmhouse.

As you draw near, you hear muffled raised voices and gesture for Apple Bloom to stop, saying, "So, uh... I know she said the whole family needed to talk, but now that I think about it, you might wanna keep away for now."

Her tail lashes angrily, "What, why? I'm family too!"

You grimace, "I know, but Granny was using some, uh... real colorful language earlier. From the sound of things, she hasn't calmed down yet."

The filly snorts and looks like arguing, then stops and listens to the muffled shouts. Finally her ears droop, "Oh, ah 'spose yer right. Ah prolly couldn't help much anyhow."

"And I'm not even family, so I'd just be intruding."

You both wince at a particularly loud shout from Applejack. You take a step back and Apple Bloom turns to follow.

"So..." she asks, "what'll we do?"

You shrug, "I dunno, any chores I can help with?"

She shakes her head, "Nothin' ah can do without Big Mac's help."

The shouting behind you fades as you slowly walk down the farm trail.

"I guess that means technically you don't have any chores right now."

"Yeah..." she says noncommittally.

You walk over to a nearby stump and sit down. Apple Bloom sits nearby, seeming uncomfortable, and you say, "And you said you don't have to go to school either, so I guess you have some free time until they sort out whatever they're sorting out."

"'Spose so..." She says, just sitting there and staring at the ground.

"Figured you'd be more excited."

She shrugs her shoulders without looking up, "Ain't much for me to do without Scoots an' Sweetie. They're still in school."

You wait silently, getting the feeling she has more to say. Sure enough, after a moment she paws at the ground awkwardly.

"Ah learned that the hard way after we got our cutie marks."

"You... wanna talk about it?"

She glances at you out of the corner of her eye, "Um... nah. Hit me pretty hard back then, but the three of us talked it out an' ah don't feel so bad about it no more."

She's clearly still uncomfortable, so you let out a soft chuckle, "You sure about that?"

Her ears droop and she breaks away from your gaze. You scoot off the tree trunk and sit cross legged right next to her, gently rubbing behind an ear.

"Look, Apple Bloom... it's alright if you still feel bad about it and you just don't want to talk about it. I won't pry, promise." You hook her chin with a finger and gently turn her gaze back to you, "But don't lie to yourself and pretend you're okay when you're really not. Bottle up bad feelings like that and eventually the bottle will just break and you'll explode with all that pent up emotion. It's best to just let it out when the feelings happen."

Apple Bloom tries to sigh, feigning disinterest, but her breath catches in her throat.

"Really, Bloom, if you don't want to talk about it, just say so and I won't push." She yelps in surprise as you snatch her up in your arms, "But I'm still gonna give you a great big hug."

You place her in your lap, wrap an arm around her tiny body, and press her close to you. She immediately twists around to face you, buries her head in her forelegs against your chest, and begins crying softly. You just hold her silently, stroking her mane and waiting for her to either say something or cry herself out. Her gentle sobs do eventually fade, but she doesn't break the embrace, so you just sit there and continue stroking her mane.

It is like this that Big Mac finds you. He walks up so silently you'd never have even noticed if you didn't by chance happen to be facing the right direction. Even Apple Bloom, with her more sensitive pony hearing, doesn't seem to have heard him approach.

He stops as soon as he sees you two and your eyes meet. His expression is odd: a bit happy, a bit sad, a bit concerned. You gesture with your free hand for him to approach, then look down to Apple Bloom and realize she actually fell asleep.

Very carefully, you shift her around and slowly stand up, trying not to wake her. Big Mac walks up and you whisper in response to his questioning look.

"We agreed probably neither of us should intrude on your, uh... discussion. She realized she had some free time but apparently feels she has nothing to do without the other crusaders. She didn't explain further but she looked terrible, so I talked to her a bit, gave her a hug... then she broke down crying and I just held her 'til she fell asleep like this."

Big Mac nods, "Thanks. Come on back. I'll go ahead."

He turns and walks away silently, then accelerates as he gets some distance between you so the sound of his trotting doesn't disturb the sleeping filly. After a moment, you walk after him, stepping as gently as possible.

When you arrive at the farmhouse, Applejack is standing on her good hoof waiting for you. She sighs and lets out a little "Aww" at Apple Bloom's tiny form curled against your chest, but when you get close enough, she whispers at you.

"Cute as she might be, we can't let 'er sleep."

"Why not?"

She grimaces, "No help from Appaloosa, an' way too much work to be done 'round here."

"Well... I don't think she was all that sleepy, she just cried herself to sleep. She ought to be fine."

"Big Mac told me what you said. We really gotta find that filly somethin' to do outside o' the farm."

You nod, then look down and stroke Apple Bloom's mane, muttering, "Apple Bloom? Come on, wake up."

She stirs slightly and you tickle her ear, making it flick. A few more flicks and she opens an eye at you, "Quit it, 'Non..."

"Sorry girl, but you gotta wake up. Your sister's cracking the whip--time for more work."

Applejack whinnies in mock outrage, "Crackin' the whip? I'll show you crackin' the whip!"

You give her a wink as you kneel to set Apple Bloom down, who gives you a little nicker, then stretches with a high pitched squeak. You stand and give Applejack a sly grin, noticing her faint blush, then change the subject.

"Alright, so what's going on?"

Applejack sighs heavily, "Apparently Appaloosa is too busy to spare even one pony to help. Some big festival for the princess or somethin' I dunno. Granny didn't want to talk much." She shakes her head sadly, "So we got too much work and not enough hooves, and Big Mac's the only one who can do any heavy lifting. There just ain't no way we're gettin' everything done in time, so some of our crops'll over ripen, some might even die."

"Can't we ask anyone--er, anypony from town for help?"

She shrugs her shoulders, "Maybe with simple stuff, but unless anypony is gonna help full time and stop whatever they normally do, we just can't waste the time teachin' them to do any more'n hauling carts around."

"But can't we have Twilight or some other unicorn help with magic?"

"Nah, not really. Twilight helped once before, but that was just for a couple hours. This'd take days, maybe even weeks of constant work. I'm sure Twilight'd help if I asked, but she's way too busy for how much work we got." She shakes her head, "Ain't no way I'm trustin' nopony else to use magic 'round here. Gotta be gentle with these apples to get our kinda quality. nopony else has Twilight's fine touch."

"I thought her student was just as good? Starlight something?" Applejack Snorts and Apple Bloom giggles beside you. "...What?"

Applejack says, "Starlight Glimmer sure is powerful an' talented, but she's about as gentle as a yak. I'd sooner have Rarity fussin' over my trees than her."

You shrug in defeat, "Alright then... what can I do to help?"

"In a bit you'll head on over to the main orchard an' help Big Mac. He'll give you instructions but honestly you'll probably just be carryin' baskets back 'n forth. Apple Bloom, head on over to the carrot field an' help Granny harvest."

The filly nods and trots off as you ask, "And you?"

Applejack's ears droop, "An' I'm gonna lay in bed after ya help me up the stairs an' try not to die o' boredom." You open your mouth but she cuts you off, "An' don't you apologize, I told ya it ain't your fault."

You close your mouth and slump, holding out your hand for her foreleg.

Inside, you start helping her up the stairs and Applejack nickers quietly, "It ain't all bad. Couple o' the girls are comin' by later. Twilight's gonna bring some books she thinks I might like."

"Oh, you read much?"

"Nah, not really... I gotta few books in my room, but I usually ain't got the time. 'Course, now I got nothin' but time, so I figured I'd give it a shot."

Suddenly you ask, "Hey, I just had a thought: aren't there healing spells or something? That seems like something unicorns would want to figure out."

Applejack pushes her bedroom door open, "Oh there are, they're just expensive as hay."

"Twilight can't do them?"

You help her hop up into bed as she replies, "Nah... I don't know the details, but apparently they're so difficult it takes years o' study at a school in Manehatten that focuses on just medical spells to get good enough to risk using 'em on ponies."

"Ah... so they're expensive 'cause hardly anypony has the skill?"

"Exactly. Payin' a Medicorn to travel--"

"Medicorn?"

"Medical Unicorn, trained for years in Manehatten like I was sayin'. Anyway, gettin' a normal Manehatten-ite to travel to this 'quaint' little village is already a pain in the rump 'cause they're so darn snooty, so the rates Medicorns ask for comin' out here are just absurd." She shakes her head in disgust, "Hay, we could hire somepony full time for the next two weeks while I heal then fire 'em with full compensation afterwards, an' it'd probably still be cheaper than a buckin' Medicorn."

"Wow... we had stuff like that back on Earth but I never expected it here."

Applejack starts to ask a question, then stops herself and her ears droop. "Much as I'd love ya to stay an' keep me... uh, from gettin' bored, y'all should really go an' help Big Mac."

You sigh, "Alright. You want anything before I go?"

She mumbles something.

"What was that?"

"Uh... nothin'."

You wait a moment more, then shrug. "Well then, I'll see you tonight at dinner."