Chapter 5

“Look, Scoots. Before I tell you, you need to know something,” he says, looking down at you with a serious tone in his voice.

“Sure… what is it?”

“I… well, Applejack and I… we had a bit of a relationship. Nothing too serious, but it’s important to the story,” he says, looking to the apple in his hand.

“You… and Applejack?”

“Heh, hard to believe, isn’t it?” he chuckles, wiping his forehead. “What can I say; I’m a sucker for Southern charms… Anyways,” he says, taking a bite from it. “The two of us were going steady for… I want to say somewhere around six months. Looking back, I’m surprised it even lasted THAT long,” he sighs.

“Why? What happened?”

“Guess you can say I love Southern charms, but there’s a limit to that affection,” he says, taking another bite. “Applejack wanted to take our relationship further than I was ready for. I refused, and she, well…” he swallows the bite, “She hates me for it.”

You scratch your head in confusion. Why would Applejack hate him for that? Sure, if he stopped being her special somepony, she’d be mad, but you never thought it’d be like this…

“Why does she hate you for it, though? It’s been a long time since then, hasn’t it?”

“I’m not entirely sure myself, Scoots. All I know is—” he begins, but he’s interrupted by the sound of another mare coming out to the two of you.

“Scootaloo! Anon!” Applebloom called out from the hill as she galloped down, finally reaching the two of you. “What’re y’all doin’? We gotta get this buckin’ done, an’ quick!” she exclaims, looking around.

“Relax Applebloom, we were just taking a little break is all. We’ve been at this nonstop, after all,” Anon smiles down at her. “You’re here to help us, I assume?”

“Eeyup! Mah big sis’ wanted y’all t’ do it on yer own, but ah couldn’t jus’ leave y’all out here alone without any help!” Applebloom exclaims, smiling back at him.

“Well then, let’s hurry and get this done; the faster we do, the more time we’ll get to rest,” Anon grins, cracking his knuckles, his eyes fierce with determination.

You smile and hold out a hoof to them. “All for one, one for all!” Applebloom nods and smiles, pounding her hoof against yours. Anon does the same, clenching his hand into a fist and pounding as well, completing the triangle.

“Let’s go!” he yells, and immediately the three of you begin spreading out, collecting as many apples as your hooves (or in his case, hands) can get a hold of. During this time, you slow your pace every so often to look back at Applebloom. Every single time you do, you catch her stealing looks at Anonymous while she bucks at the trees…

…Could she…? No, she couldn’t be; her sister would be completely opposed to—

…

THAT’S WHY APPLEJACK HATES HIM SO MUCH!

You are screaming to yourself on the inside; no wonder she holds a grudge! Her sister has a crush on Anon! It’s the only explanation you can come up with, it must be!

But… she’s your friend. You won’t ask her about that now, with him within earshot. You’ll wait until tonight, pull her aside and ask her then. This may very well be the reason behind Applejack’s hate for Anon; if it is, you could mend the relationship between everyone! And Anon, he’ll… he’ll thank you for doing it, you know he will!

It’s settled, then! Tonight, you finally get this all straightened out.

“And a-one, and a-two, and a-three…”

You really do love having hands. It makes for so much more convenient apple-picking, in your case. Kicking trees is effective at times, but you figure you managed to collect enough apples to warrant your legs a good rest. You look up at the tree; looks like there’s two apples left on this one, but they’re especially high up…

Nothing you can’t handle!

You squat down and leap high into the air, snagging both apples at the same time, before crashing down to the ground, apples in hand, mission accomplished.

“Nice one, Anon!” you hear Applebloom call from across the orchard. You turn and wave at her, tossing the apples into the basket. Looks like there’s not too many trees left…

You look around for a clear path to one, and see a perfect spot.

Time to get a running start.

You sprint at the tree, making sure to get as much speed as possible…

Go!

You bring your leg up against the tree, and use the momentum to shoot upwards, grasping for a branch to support you.

Bingo! Got one. You climb into the tree, shaking all of the branches, sending apples toppling down and landing softly on the grass.

Yeah… this is a much easier way to get apples than kicking the tree…

That is, until you hear a cracking noise under your feet.

…Looks like you’ll have to get better at choosing branches to support your weight.

The branch gives way, and you fall rather clumsily to the ground, right into the branch. A few cuts and bruises, but other than that you feel just fine. The tree on the other hand…

You look to the branch you broke off, and to the tree…

Yeah, that was a good third of the tree you just broke off. Way to go, smartass. You should probably stick to the ground from here on out…

It’s been about an hour since the three of you split up, and since then you’ve cleared what was left of the orchard. All of you meet up at the end, and kick the last tree in unison, causing all of the apples to fall at once.

“That was awesome!” Anon shouts, pumping his fist into the air.

“And just in time too!” Applebloom smiles, looking at the sunset. “Looks like it’s almost nighttime now. Let’s all head inside, Applejack said you both can stay for dinner!” she exclaims, running off toward the barn, leaving just you and Anon behind.

You wipe your head with a hoof. Wow, that was a workout…

“Hey, Scoots?”

You look up at Anon; a smile is on his face.

“Thanks for the help today, you’re a pretty awesome mare, y’know that?” he says, holding a fist down to you. His eyes… they’re that same calming abyss of color that you remember from the other day.

Your eyes widen, and a light blush hits your cheeks. You turn your head away and smile, bumping his fist with your hoof. “You’re pretty cool too, Anon…”

“C’mon; let’s go get some food. I’m starving!” he laughs, running off behind Applebloom.

…

He thinks you’re awesome?

Heh… get ahold of yourself, Scoots! You’ve gotta keep your head on straight!

You speed off behind the two of them, to what you hope to be a good, apple-related dinner with your best friend, her family, and…

…him.

You could cut the tension in the room with a butter knife, and even THAT wouldn’t be enough to cut through it.

You casually reach over for a slice of apple pie, everyone sans Big Macintosh eyeing you as you cut a slice and put it onto your plate.

…Damn, this is awkward. Like, even more than that one time in Manehatten… and THAT was awkward…

“So, um… Anon, what’s it like bein’ so tall?” Applebloom asks, chuckling a bit awkwardly as she tries making smalltalk at the table.

You smile and take a bite of the pie, swallowing it and sighing happily before answering. “It’s not as interesting as you might think, really. All that’s different is you can see above everyone’s heads, that’s all.”

“But yer able t’ pick apples right out of the tree like it’s nothing!” she exclaims. “Don’ tell me that ain’t interestin’ t’ ya!” You chuckle. Even after all these years, she’s still got that younger sister aura about her.

Applejack decides to cut in. “Yeah, Anon; apples ain’t interestin’ enough for ya?” she asks, her words icy cold and her green eyes like daggers in your skin. You go back to eating without another word. You prefer keeping your bones intact where they are, thank you very much.

“So, um… Anon,” Scoots mutters from across the table, “That was so cool how you were able to leap up and pick those apples from the top of the tree!” she exclaims, chuckling a bit nervously. “It was… awesome to see…”

“You saw that?”

“Well, yeah,” she scratches the back of her head with her hoof. “I may have heard you running and turned my head to look, and then I saw…”

Oh shit. She’d better not blow your cover; you managed to hide that branch back in the tree as best you could.

“What’s she goin’ on about, Anon?” Applejack asks, once again her eyes piercing through you. Even Granny Smith has her eye on you now, and it’s not something you particularly enjoy when your elders have that kind of expression on their faces.

“Well, I… ran up to the tree…”

“Yeeeah?”

“Kicked up into the air from the trunk…”

“Mmmhmm?”

“And grabbed the apples from the top, before leaping back to the ground.”

“Mmmhmm,” Applejack rubs her chin with her hoof. “Now, tell me this; how’d ya do it without gettin’ all cut up from th’ branches?” she asks, looking at your arms. “Y’all can’t expect me t’ believe those little things are from a stunt like that.”

…Well, shit.

“It’s true, they are!” Scootaloo chimes in, “I saw him do it myself, he was really careful, that’s all!”

Applejack’s gaze leaves you for a moment, allowing you reprieve, as they turn towards Scootaloo. “An’ what’s stoppin’ ya from lyin’ t’ me?”

Scootaloo sinks back in her chair. “Well, um…”

“Sis, it’s true!” Applebloom responds now. “We all saw him!”

Please work please work please work please work please work…!

“…Well, alright,” Applejack sighs. “Just this once.”

Oh sweet merciful CELESTIA thank you…

You breathe a sigh of relief, taking another bite of your pie. You have to admit, despite the fact that she completely hates you with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns, Applejack and her family can make some damn good apple pie.

The rest of the dinner goes off more or less without any more hiccups, smalltalk between Applebloom and Scootaloo as to what they were planning on doing this summer, among other things.

At last you stand up from your dinner, picking up your plate. “I’ll be happy to help clean the dishes if you like—”

“Jus’ get outta here, Anon,” Applejack looks upon you with scorn. “Y’all did yer job, don’t do anymore than yer asked t’ do,” she says, her eyes never leaving you.

You slowly set the plate back down, the light clinking of the silverware resonating through the room as you look around. “Um… alright, so I’ll just…” You begin your slow retreat to the door. “…be going, then?”

Opening the door, you take one last look at the group before smiling nervously. “Thanks for the dinner. It was great. Really, it was.” That’s the last you say before walking out of there, hands in your pockets, breathing a heavy sigh of relief that you managed to get through that without any major injuries…

You look down at your arm.

…Maybe a few bandages are in order. Don’t want these to get infected with something.

“Sis, why d’ya gotta treat him like that?” Applebloom looked up to her sister. “He’s just tryin’ t’ help, an’ ya just throw him out like trash!”

“That man is no good,” Applejack replies, taking another bite of her apples and apple accessories-filled dinner. “Ah don’ want ya goin’ after him like ah did, it’ll jus’ end in heartbreak for ya.”

“Yeah, maybe!” Applebloom stands up from the table. “But that doesn’t mean ya gotta treat him like trash just ‘cause he didn’t buck ya like ya wanted!”

Applejack’s eyes widen and her pupils shrink a bit, before they glance at Applebloom. “Go t’ yer room, Applebloom. Y’all get no dessert t’night.”

“Ah am a grown mare, Applejack, an’ that means ya don’t have any say in mah choices!” Applebloom cries out, before running out the door in hysterics.

“Applebloom, y’all better get back here, or I’ll—” Applejack begins, standing up from her seat as well, but is cut off by Big Mac placing his hoof on her shoulder.

“That’s enough, Applejack,” Big Mac states flatly, in his deep, calming voice. “Give ‘er time, she needs t’ be alone fer a while.”

Applejack sighs, sitting down and looking up at her brother. “Alright, ah’ll trust ya on this one…”

Both you and Granny Smith simply sit there, continuing to eat your dinner in silence.

End Chapter 5

Author's Note

Wow! Things really are beginning to heat up now... And we finally have some background as to why Applejack treats Anon the way she does. Now... where did sweet little Applebloom run off to?

~Wuten, the King of Spaghetti