Apples'n'Wrenches

Apples N’ Wrenches
By The Write Bros.

Chapter 9: Where we left off...

“Hello son. It’s been a while.”

Ficksitup couldn’t believe it. He absolutely could not believe it. At first he hoped his eyes were playing tricks on him or that maybe he was just hallucinating. Anything was better than accepting that the individual standing before him was his father. The bespectacled stallion casually stepped forward, to which Ficksitup quickly backed away in response.

“What- what is this?” Ficksitup demanded in a harsh tone. “Yer jokin’ right? This is all some sort of sick joke, right?

The solid blue stallion gave him a puzzled look before speaking, “Why do you seem so surprised to see me, son? I thou-”

“Don’t you ‘son’ me, Addemup!” Ficksitup interrupted, pointing a hoof at his father who was now stunned by his sudden outburst. Ficksitup then turned his attention to his uncle. “Plank! What in the hay is he doing here?”

Hammerplank stood up, annoyed by his nephew’s imputations. “Watch your tone, kiddo.” He warned, “Don’t get snippy with me, alright? I didn’t say anything ‘cause I thought ya knew he’d be showin’ up.”

“Why would I know if he’d be coming down here?” Ficksitup hissed. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have even let him in the house.”

Hammerplank ignored his comment and continued. “Well that’s kinda’ why we’re all surprised that you didn’t tell us he’d be showing up.”

“That makes no sense. No sense at all.”

“Look kiddo, I only assumed ya knew about it because of the letter.” Hammerplank responded, shrugging his shoulders, “When you didn’t tell us anything, I just figured that you were okay with him paying a visit.” He then furrowed his brow in thought of his previous statement, “That, or ya just didn’t wanna talk about it.”

“Letter? What letter?” Ficksitup asked, raising his voice again.

“Ya’ mean ya never got it?”

“What letter?” Ficksitup shouted, his patience running thin.

“Hmm, I guess I should have assumed that things had gone awry when he never wrote back...” Addemup quietly added. Without anypony really noticing, he had been standing in the corner of the dining room, almost pretending to be invisible. He was waiting for the opportune moment to re-enter the conversation. Apparently, it was as good a time as any.

“Yeah, but I highly doubt he would have been inclined to do that anyway.” Hammerplank whispered back.

The two older brothers nodded to each other. “I suppose that’s true.”

Ficksitup’s already thinning patience finally ran out as he forcefully stamped his hoof on the floor, the sound echoing throughout the entire house. “WHAT LETTER?!” He screamed.

His outburst made the room fall silent. Nuttanbolt, who had been watching from the doorway of the kitchen, was starting to tremble slightly. As long as he’d known his older brother, he had always been able to look up to Ficksitup as the kind of stallion to keep a cool head in any situation. For the last ten years, Ficksitup had never had an outburst. Even after the trouble Nuttanbolt had caused at his school recently, he still remained relatively calm throughout the entire debacle. But this... he had never seen his brother this angry before, and it scared him. Nuttanbolt wanted to do nothing more than run upstairs and hide in his room until everything had settled, but he was too petrified to move. All he could do was cover his ears to try and block out the yelling.

Hammerplank waited for Ficksitup to calm down before he continued.

“Well, as yer father had just explained to me prior to ya’ comin’ home rather early…” Hammerplank began, giving his nephew another cold glare, “He sent you a letter a while back to let ya know he’d be comin’ down to visit you n’ Nut. We both assumed that you’d gotten it, but decided not to tell anypony.”

“I don’t- that doesn’t even make sense- I never…” Ficksitup trailed off as he began racking his brain for any hint of him receiving a letter from his father. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Nothing was coming up. As far as he could tell, the day he left his father was the last time he’d ever had or wished to speak with him.

Suddenly like a flash of light, a memory from almost a week ago flew into his mind. That third night since he had returned to Ponyville, he received an envelope that was addressed to him. The return address in the top left corner, the name was…

“...Dammit.” Ficksitup swore under his breath. His legs were now trembling uncontrollably. He had completely forgotten about that night. When he received the letter, all he had done was crumple it up and throw it away, not giving it a second thought. Apparently it had now come back to bite him on the flank. Hammerplank could see the expression in his face and sat back down, satisfied that his nephew finally understood.

“So you see so- I mean… Ficksitup?” Addemup began, “I thought you knew I’d be coming down to see you again. I’m sorry that this came as such a surprise to you.”

Ficksitup reeled around, angry once again. He stared at his father in disbelief, his eyes burning with rage.

“Why the hay wouldn’t I be surprised? Ten years, ten long years after mom died and you didn’t give a damn about either of your sons, you suddenly show up, acting like everything is all hunky dory!”

“But that’s the thing...” Addemup quickly tried to explain, “The reason I’ve come down here is because of your mother.”

“What?” Ficksitup interrupted once again, “Did ya’ come all the way down here to tell me that ya’ finally gave her a funeral? You didn’t bother to do that for her ten years ago either!”

“No that’s... that’s not it, Ficksitup. Please, just... hear me out.”

Addemup sounded like he was nearly on the verge of tears. He was trying to do everything he could to reach out to his son. Yet it felt like no matter what he did, Ficksitup wasn’t willing to listen to him. At all. Like he was just filtering everything in one ear and out the other.

“If you’ve got something to say then say it, old man.” Ficksitup quickly snapped.

Addemup decided to risk it, “Please... I know you’re mad at me and you have every right to be. But honest to Celestia, I really am trying to be here for you. Both you and Nuttanbolt. I’m only trying to make up for all those years of neglect. Can’t you at least give me one cha-”

“Have you lost your mind!?” Ficksitup exploded, “What kind of world exists where I would ever give ya' another chance to ruin my life?”

Addemup could practically feel his heart shattering as his son turned away from him, he put a hoof out in one last attempt to reach out to him. “Ficksitup... please.”

“No! No, not tonight, not right now! Absolutely not! I’ve got enough goin’ wrong in the world without you of all ponies just decidin’ to randomly waltz in like you own the place!” Ficksitup shouted, brushing past his father aggressively. “And if there’s any common sense left in ya, then you’d better be gone by tomorrow!”

“Ficks! Calm do-” Hammerplank said, trying once again to get his nephew to settle down. But Ficksitup’s head snapped to his uncle and he was stopped mid sentence.

“I appreciate what you’ve done for me so far Plank, but right now I haven’t got time to deal with this manure and you ain’t got a say in this either!” Ficksitup scolded as he started up the stairs. His uncle’s hoof on his shoulder stopped him. Ficksitup’s head whipped around, his gaze meeting his uncle’s.

The look on his uncle’s face, was one of short patience, and an obvious attempt to get Ficksitup to think straight. But the rage in Ficksitup’s eyes quickly overcame his uncle’s look of concern. The pure hatred, as well as the unmistakable hint of sadness Hammerplank could feel, made the old stallion ease up, and let go of his nephew.

Turning his head, Ficksitup continued to walk up the staircase, uninterrupted this time. “Nut... Get ready for bed. Now.” He said, continuing to trot upstairs. Not ten minutes ago, Ficks was in shock over what happened tonight. Now... All he felt was anger. Anger he hadn’t felt in years. From probably what he considered to be the worst first date, to his neglectful father showing up without warning, it was all too much. He didn’t want to deal with any of it anymore.

Realizing that the verbal battle was over, Nuttanbolt uncovered his ears and slowly inched his way into the dining room where the two older stallions now stood in silence. Nuttanbolt stared up at Addemup, who could only return his gaze with a look of grief. The small colt then turned towards his uncle, who at the moment was furrowing his brows in deep thought. The feeling of two small eyes upon him, made Hammerplank end his train of thought and look down at his nephew. He flashed a small reassuring grin and then flicked his head in the direction of the staircase, encouraging Nuttanbolt to get a move on. Nuttanbolt nodded his head before quietly shuffling up the stairs towards his room.

Hammerplank looked at his brother in disbelief. “Well that could'a gone a whole lot better.” He said in a frank tone.

Addemup looked to his brother and slumped into a nearby chair before speaking in a barely audible, but nonetheless, broken tone, “I should have seen this coming. I’m a complete idiot. I knew to expect that my reception might be cold, to say the very least and yet I still took the risk to come down here. And now it’s like he hates me even more...” He let his head sink until it hit the table.

Hammerplank was even slightly unnerved at how badly Ficksitup’s verbal onslaught had practically broken down his younger brother, piece by piece. It was like Addemup had been reduced to an empty shell, completely devoid of any emotions besides utter depression. He hadn’t seen him in years, but Hammerplank had a vivid memory of when there was a time that the stallion in front of him was once abundant with emotion. All because of her.

“Look don’t let it get to ya’ a whole lot.” Hammerplank said, putting a hoof on Addemup’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, “From what I can tell, it sounds like he’s had a rough night, even before you showed up.”

Addemup only grumbled in response. Hammerplank frowned at his unenthusiastic reaction but continued anyway.

“I’m sure after a bit of sleep, that stubborn kid will be a more than willin’ to sit down n’ have a chat with ya.”

He wrapped his arm around his younger brother and grinned excessively. Addemup looked back at him in silence for what felt like several minutes before nodding. He took a deep breath and exhaled before a miniature smile appeared on his face. Hammerplank could no longer hold his cheshire grin. He’d finally managed to pull a small shred of emotion out of him.

“Alright then ‘Plank, I’ll take your word for it.” Addemup responded quietly.

“That’s the spirit, Addem.” Hammerplank chirped, leading his younger brother into the living room. As the two of them passed the staircase, Hammerplank quickly glanced up, his smile disappearing for a moment as he muttered, “But I still ain’t too sure he’s gonna’ take the truth very lightly...”

***

Nuttanbolt crawled into bed as was the usual routine, though tonight, with a little less energy than he normally did. In a way he felt scared and confused about the entire situation but at the same time, a little excited. This was, in fact, the first time in five years that he was finally able to see his father again. He had so many questions he wanted to ask Addemup. Like where he had been all this time or why he was finally visiting them now. Nuttanbolt knew, however, that his questions would have to remain unanswered at the moment as his brother silently strode into his room and next to his bed. He looked up at Ficksitup, who was trembling silently. To Nuttanbolt, he looked like he was in pain. Like something or someone had physically hit him and he was now trying to recuperate from his wounds.

“Ficks?” Nuttanbolt quietly asked.

“Yeah?”

“You alright?” he asked, looking with legitimate concern. Fickitup’s eyes shifted away, and back to his little brother.

“I’m fine, Nut... Don’t worry about it.”

He didn’t believe Ficksitup any further than he could throw him, in other words, not at all. But he knew that pestering him about it wasn’t going to get anything out of him, so he eased up, pausing for a few seconds before speaking up again.

“So... is that really our dad down there?”

“What? He didn’t tell ya himself,” Ficks snarled. Nuttanbolt, shocked by the harshness of the response, looked away from his brother.

“I didn’t even really get to talk to him all that much. I was just listening to Uncle ‘Plank and him talking to each other for awhile. He was about to come and talk to me but then you came home. So I didn’t say nothing to him, honest.”

Ficksitup realized that his little brother was answering merely out of fear in hopes of calming him down rather than just answering his question. Upon that revelation, Ficksitup exhaled deeply before putting a reassuring hoof on Nut’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, I understand, and I’m sorry for gettin’ angry at ya.”

“It’s fine.”

Ficksitup pondered for a moment whether he wished to explain to his little brother at all about the dilemma he was facing with their father’s unexpected arrival. But he was already exhausted from the series of events that had ensued throughout the day and going into detail about a serious family matter this late at night with his sibling would only rob him of what little strength he had left. Plus he didn’t want to send Nuttanbolt to bed with such heavy thoughts on his mind. No child his age should have to deal with or even think about these kind of problems. Ficksitup only wished he could have had the same luxury when he was younger.

Turning his attention to Nuttanbolt again, Ficksitup noticed that his little brother still appeared to be expressing a substantial amount of concern for his older sibling. The way his amber eyes seemed to peer right through him as if they were saying, “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?” made Ficksitup’s whole body swarm with guilt. He hated leaving him out of the loop, but he was only doing this for his younger sibling’s own good.

Nuttanbolt’s seemingly hypnotic stare was broken when the both of their attention was drawn to floor after hearing the barely audible clatter of miniature claws across the wood floor. Looking down, they could see Nuttanbolt’s ferret, the infamous Oddball, scurrying across the floor at the foot of the bed. Using his snout to investigate, the ferret stopped every few inches, his nose quivering at lightning speed as he quickly snatched up a crumb that he’d managed to find. He eventually stumbled upon a rather impressive pile of crumbs that looked like leftovers from some cookies next to one of the bed posts. Oddball practically dove into the pile, almost squeaking in delight over the new spoils he’d discovered. Using this as a chance to change the topic, Ficksitup quickly looked up to give his brother a devious grin. Nuttanbolt responded with his own innocent smile, realizing that he’d been had.

“You’ve been sneakin’ food into yer room again, haven’t ya?”

“It was just a few midnight snacks, honest.”

“Plank is gonna have a fit if he finds out. Ya know how much he hates havin’ food upstairs ‘cuz of the ant problems n’ everything.”

Nuttanbolt flashed a smug grin, “Well he isn’t gonna’ have to find out.”

“Oh?” Ficksitup asked, rather curious as to how his mischievous brother could possibly escape a verbal lashing from their uncle.

“That’s right.” he said with utmost confidence, “Because I’ve got my very own portable vacuum cleaner.” He gave a wink as he glanced down at his furry companion, who at the moment had just finished clearing away the cookie debris from the floor. If one had looked close enough, they could have probably seen a small whiskered grin appearing over the weasel’s face. With that image and his little brother’s rather smart alecky remark, Ficksitup couldn’t help but break out into a small fit of laughter.

“Alright ya got me there, Nut.”

A small giggle from his little brother made Ficksitup crack another half-mooned smile. As much of a normally unimportant topic of discussion as it was, the little tid bits of humor that they were sharing right now was helping to ease some of the pain that Ficksitup was still feeling in his chest. It was a welcoming distraction.

However the ever lingering feel of fatigue was finally pushing its way into Ficksitup’s body as he let out a heavy yawn.

“Well, alright then fearless raider of the pantry, it’s getting late and you’ve still got school in the morning.” Ficksitup said, stretching his back in the process. It seems only now, that it felt sore. “I ain’t gonna be responsible if ya can’t focus in class.”

“Okay then.” Nuttanbolt answered, obediently. He quickly shuffled his body deeper under the covers until he was flat on his back and his head was resting against the pillow. As if this was his cue, Oddball quickly scurried up one of the bed posts and began kneading at the covers near the end of the bed before making a few small rotations around the spot he had picked out and then finally curling up in a ball. He’s only a hyperactive furball when he wants to be... Ficksitup thought.

With that, the two of them exchanged their goodnights as Ficksitup killed the lights and then finally shut the door as slowly and as quietly as he could.

Outside Nuttanbolt’s room, Ficksitup stood there for a moment, a million different things rushing through his head, all too fast for him to give any specific thought more attention than the others. With that, he decided that this was as good a sign as any that he was officially too tired to think straight and therefore should head up to bed.

He quietly trotted his way up towards the attic steps. As far as he could tell, there were no sounds coming from downstairs on the first floor. To that, he gently nudged the attic door open with his hoof and stepped into his room.

Ficksitup was greeted with silence and pitch black darkness. The small round window in his attic usually provided an excellent source of light at night, since the moon would shine right through it, providing a luminescent glow in his room that was soothing to come home to after a stressful day. Though tonight, the thick dark clouds that were splattered across the sky also blotted out the moon, leaving his window without a source of light and his room... an empty void.

Trying to maneuver his way to the bed across his room, Ficksitup didn’t bother trying to find the lamp to turn on. The darkness was rather welcoming to the mood he was in. Besides, he would have had to turn it off again when he went to sleep.

Feeling his front legs hit the edge of his bed, he stopped and let out a long sigh, like he was exhaling all of the days events. He slowly lifted his arm up to remove his hat before succumbing to the bed’s welcoming escape into dreamland, but as he felt his way across his head, all he felt was the tussled strands of his messy charcoal black mane.

“Oh... that’s right.” he mumbled.

Like a train, all the memories of what went wrong on his date with Applejack slammed back into his head. The pain that he felt because of it had also returned, uninvited. The wave of emotions now swarming through him combined with his already increasing fatigue made Ficksitup finally collapsed onto his bed. He immediately buried his face into the covers, practically begging the mattress to swallow him up. When that didn’t work, he just shut his eyes and tried to block out everything. Slowly beginning to drift deeper and deeper into slumber, all he wanted was to fall asleep and forget everything. Or maybe he already was asleep and now he was just hoping to finally wake up from this nightmare.

I just can’t ever get a break...

***
With the arrival of morning, light pierced the attic window and straight onto Ficksitup’s face. Feeling the warmth of the sunlight peering into the room, he slowly opened one eye and then both. Turning his head away from the direction of the light, he let out a low guttural groan before pulling the covers over his face. The amount of rest he’d managed to get last night was hardly enough to qualify as sleep and it was showing through the amount of soreness he was feeling all over his body. His legs felt like jello and his head was throbbing slightly from a rising headache. His mind was practically screaming at him to to not get up. Ficksitup had half the heart to listen to his own advice but he knew that lying in bed all day wasn’t going to accomplish anything.

Still groaning like an old stallion with a bad back, he clumsily rolled out of bed. One of his hind legs was still wrapped in the covers which resulted in him toppling face first onto the floor. He would have screamed in agony had he not been so groggy. Though he did feel different. Now his forehead was hurting even more than it did when he first woke up. Using the nightstand next to his bed as support, he pulled himself up. An unfortunate mistake.

As he pulled his face up to the nightstand, Ficksitup was met with the small frame that held the photo of him and his mother smiling carelessly at the camera. The face she was wearing in the picture almost felt like his mother was laughing at his expense for not being able to even wake up properly.

“Oh... don’t look at me like that.” he whined.

He quickly turned away from the photograph and lazily made his way to the attic’s hatch. As he reached down to pull it open, he glanced down at his arm that was slightly covered by a ruffled white sleeve. It was then that he realized that he was still wearing the collared shirt that his uncle had lent to him last night. He was too fatigued to take it off so he just slept in it. Though it probably would have saved him the trouble of how he was feeling now that he noticed it.

Ficksitup was immediately thrown back into the memories of everything that had happened last night. It was a complete recap. From the first moment that he had arrived at the Apple Acres to get Applejack for their date, to the unforgettable kiss they shared on the ferris wheel, and of course... the entire debacle that took place in the library. He simply could not fathom how what was going to be a perfect night of bliss and romance, could spiral out of control and turn into a complete nightmare. There were no words to describe it. The only thing he could feel was regret. Regret for even remembering it.

If only they had decided to stay on that ferris wheel a little longer...

If only they they hadn’t bothered to follow Twilight back to the library...

If only he’d forgotten about that stupid hat...

Maybe then he wouldn’t be in this situation and maybe then he wouldn’t be feeling like the unluckiest individual in the world at the moment. Mustering what little strength he had, Ficksitup aggressively tore the shirt off of his chest. Hearing a few small rips, he was fairly certain that he pulled off a button or two. He didn’t care. He tossed the shirt onto the bed and opened the attic hatch, stumbled down the steps before slamming it shut.

Making his way downstairs, he made a quick pit stop in the bathroom on the second floor in high hopes that his uncle might have some pain relievers stashed away in there. He pushed the door open and strode into the depressingly small lavatory. With the bathtub, toilet, and sink taking up most of the already small amount of space, there wasn’t really a lot of standing room. Not to mention the fact that the dark olive colored wallpaper that covered all four walls was anything but attractive. It was, overall, a rather ugly bathroom. Then again, as far as Ficksitup could assume, his uncle wasn’t exactly keen on interior decorating. Though one could never tell with how well organized he kept his own office.

Mulling over that rather perplexing thought, Ficksitup stopped in front of the sink before raising his head and glancing into the mirror that hung directly over it. It was then that he realized how much of a toll that his exhaustion had taken on him. Potato sack-like bags hung underneath his eyes. His mane was sticking up in every direction, making him look like some sort of deformed porcupine, and for some reason, his cheek was smudged with dirt. He was a complete wreck and his still throbbing head wasn’t making it any better. Remembering what he had come in here to do, Ficksitup pulled open the mirror, which also served as small door for the small medicine cabinet that lay behind it, and scanned the contents inside. Thankfully, he found a small tube filled with pain relievers and removed it from the shelf. He popped two pills out of the tube before throwing his head back and swallowing them in one gulp. He turned on the sink and took a quick slurp of water to wash them down, using this also as an opportunity to wash his face. The splash of cold water on his cheeks and forehead felt unbelievably soothing. He scrubbed at his cheeks several times, making certain that he got rid of the dirt stain. Once he was satisfied, he turned the faucet off and grabbed a nearby towel, drying his face. So far, the sensation of cold water and soft cotton on his face were the only good things to have happened to him this morning. He hung the towel back on the rack and continued his trip downstairs.

When he finally reached the kitchen, all he could think about was filling his antsy stomach with food. That was where he was confronted with problem number two of his seemingly dire situation of an overall terrible morning. Sitting in a chair at the far end of the dining room table was his bespectacled father, Addemup, who at the moment, was busily scribbling numbers down on a piece of paper. Sensing his son’s presence, Addemup looked up from his work and flashed him a small cautious smile.

“Good morning, Ficksitup. Sleep well?”

Ficksitup gave him a short glare before stifling out a cranky ‘no’. Addemup’s smile faltered for a moment before returning to its original shape. He had a feeling his son wouldn’t be too idle for conversation in the morning, but for whatever reason, he felt a little more confident about talking to him now then he did last night.

Ficksitup made his way to the fridge, not making a sound the entire time, and pulled open the heavy metal door. As his son was rummaging through the contents, Addemup decided to use this as chance to start up the conversation again while he was distracted.

“So uh, Hammerplank filled me in a little last night.” He began, clearing his throat. “He told me you had a date with that mare from the farm at the edge of town.”

Ficksitup slammed the refrigerator door shut, making his father jump slightly. Addemup assumed that was the only answer he was going to get out of him, and from the sound of it, he could tell he had hit a touchy subject. As his son took a seat at the other end of the table, his makeshift breakfast laid out on the table, Addemup merely gave him a look of pity.

“I guess that didn’t go too well...”

Ficksitup gave him a sharp look. For a moment, Addemup regretted making that last remark.

“Gee how’d ya know?” Ficksitup asked with bitter sarcasm.

Deciding to play along rather than go against it, Addemup cleared his throat again before responding, “I had a hunch.”

“Wow you must be some sorta’ super genius if ya’ figured that out all out on yer own, Addem.” Fickistup sneered, refusing to let up on the sarcastic comments.

Apparently, playing along wasn’t going to work.

“Well... if it’s any consolation, I am sincerely sorry that it didn’t work out, Ficks. From what Hammerplank told me, this Applesmack girl sounded like a really nice catch for you.”

“Her name is AppleJACK!”

“Right. Applejack. Sorry. Still not too good with names it seems...”

“I don’t recall when ya ever were.”

So much for small talk... Addemup thought regretfully. He put his pencil down and removed his glasses. He pulled a small handkerchief out the pocket of the black pin-stripe vest he was wearing at the moment. As he began polishing his spectacles, he took the moment of silence to recollect his thoughts. On the bright side, at least his son wasn’t pressing on the matter that he was still here since he vividly recalled Ficksitup’s extremely threatening demand to leave last night. Addemup quickly considered if leaving would have in fact been for the better. Sleeping on the sofa in the lobby was certainly no easy feat. He just as easily could have gotten a room in the nearby hotel. But doing that would have just been a bigger temptation to leave town without getting through to his son at all. At least staying here in the shop gave Addemup more incentive to try and talk things over with Ficksitup. After all, he did have a very pressing matter of information to disclose to his son. It was just getting him to listen that was going to be the real challenge.

Noticing that company was rather scarce at the moment, Ficksitup began looking around curiously. It didn’t seem like anypony else was in the house at the moment.

“Where’s Nuttanbolt?” Ficksitup quietly asked.

“Already at school.” Addemup responded, still polishing his glasses.

Looking at the clock, Ficksitup grumbled at this new revelation. It was nearly noon, meaning that he’d slept in far longer than he had anticipated. Reading the negativity in his voice and facial expressions, Addemup gave a small forced chuckle.

“Hammerplank, was going to wake you up originally, but decided to let you sleep in instead. From the look of it, it doesn’t seem to have done you a lot of good anyway.”

“Where is he anyway?” Ficksitup asked, ignoring the last comment.

“In the shed around back. Said he was working on some old projects... Oh speaking of work.” Addemup said, his eyebrows perking up in remembrance, “Your uncle told me to make sure you got these...”

He got up from the table and grabbed a stack of small envelopes sitting on the kitchen counter. He gently placed the stack in front of his son. With a mouthful of food, Ficksitup inspected the stack of letters in front of him. There were a lot of them, which meant a lot of repair requests. Which meant of course that he had his work cut out for him today. Ficksitup shuddered at the last thought. He then gave his father a cynical look that seemed to say ‘Did you have to give these to me now?’

Sensing that his son was anything but impressed by the sudden workload dropped in front of him, Addemup merely shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess work never stops for heartbreaks, eh?.”

Ficksitup quickly gave him another sharp glare.

“Ya really are an ass sometimes. Ya know that, Addem?”

With that, Ficksitup got up from the table and stormed out of the dining room, not even bothering to clear away the mess he’d left from breakfast. Meanwhile, all Addemup could do was smack his own forehead in frustration. He didn’t mean to let that last comment slip, but it sort of came out anyway. If he was honestly trying to get his son to not hate him at the moment, he was failing miserably.

A few minutes later, Ficksitup came back into the dining room, now wearing his orange workers vest and his tool bag hanging on his back. He grabbed the stack of letters and stuffed them into one of the pockets before making his way towards the back door near the kitchen. As he was heading out, Addemup quickly made one last attempt to try and comfort his son before he headed off to work. The least he could do was try to give some fatherly advice about relationships. He’d been down that road before.

“Listen Ficksitup. I know you’re still upset about whatever it is that happened last night with this girl, but please... don’t let it get to you while you’re at work today. Just try to concentrate on your job or something and let this whole date thing go. I’m sure there are plenty of mares out there that you can date in the future. I guess this one was just a bad apple-”

Addemup slapped a hoof over his mouth, his eyes becoming as wide as saucers as he realized the unintentional pun he just made. 'Oh boy, here we go...'

Ficksitup reeled around, his entire face flustering with absolute rage. His cheeks were puffing out as he struggled to contain his anger. To no avail, he exploded in a flurry of words at his father.

“Ya know what, Addem? You can go jump off the nearest cliff for all I care! I don’t give one piece of manure about what you think!”

“Ficksitup. Please, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to say th-”

“No! Enough of yer damn apologies. I don’t have time for this. I have work to do.” Ficksitup shouted as he began storming out the door before he quickly turned around to make one last remark, “And yer one to talk about work. Seems to me like ya’d still lug yer work around rather than think about what yer gonna say before sayin’ it!”

Addemup gave him a perplexed look before he realized what his son was implying. He looked down at the small piece of paper that was still sitting on the table. He then turned back to face his son to attempt to explain.

“No, Ficksitup. That’s not work, that’s just a-”

Ficksitup slammed the door in his face before he could finish. Addemup let out a heavy sigh as he took another glance at the Sudoku puzzle sitting on the table. The eighty one square grid on the piece of paper was half finished with several single digit numbers littered across it. In a way, Addemup could sort of see why his son would have mistaken it for work. But in truth, it had nothing to do with his work profession at all. It was just a pastime of his that he enjoyed doing since he was a small colt.

Alas, it appeared that once again, Addemup had royally screwed up in trying to make even the most simple of conversation with his son.

“This is not going to be easy, is it?” he rhetorically questioned to himself.

***

Out on the groves of Sweet Apple Acres, the entire land was bustling with activity. With the Fall Harvest Festival finally over, the entire family was putting their noses to the grindstone, fully aware that the actual harvest was just around the corner. Between maintaining their reputation and overall devotion to the business, the Apple family made very sure to draw a fine line between work and play. Everypony knew full well that they would need all the help they can get to get the harvest done on time and in an orderly manner. Which was why the farm was teeming with energy as the apple workers scattered around like ants scavenging an abandoned picnic. Looking seemingly disorganized at a glance, they were in fact very robust and focused on their objective with only one thing on their minds. Apples.

Preparations needed to be made, teams needed to be formed to divide the labor evenly, equipment needed to be set up, and of course, the apples needed to be tested for ripeness. Of course those were just the actions that were being done as a prelude to the harvest. Picking, or in this case, bucking all of the apples was going to be the real challenge.

Far off on a hill near the far corner of the acres, Applebloom was lazily lounging in an apple barrel underneath a tree, attempting to catch a quick nap. Since the Apple Family had requested help from everypony, a few strings were pulled to excuse her from school for the week. Cheerilee, her teacher, made no objections of course in allowing Applebloom to cut school for several days based on family matters. Though she made certain that Applebloom didn’t shirk on her schoolwork either, sending her trotting home with a hearty stack of homework to do in her absence.

Though even with Applebloom now readily available to do her part, at the moment, there wasn’t anything she could do. She was too small to handle the heavy equipment, her organization skills were severely lacking to allow her to help with making the checklists or other related things, and she still wasn’t strong enough to buck apples on her own. Since she had no desire to do any of her assigned homework so early in the day, boredom was the only thing keeping her company.

She was jolted awake from her little snooze as she heard a loud crack emanate from the tree she was lying under. Another loud thud pierced her eardrums. She let out an irritated groan and pulled her bow down over her ears, trying to plug them up and drown out the sound. Another crack, hard enough for Applebloom to feel, rang out, echoing across the acres. A small apple shook loose from the tree and plummeted towards the ground. Missing its target, the red fruit hit Applebloom square in the face.

“OW!”

As she began gently caressing her throbbing snout, her sister, Applejack, poked her head out from behind the tree, smiling at her apologetically.

“Sorry ‘bout that ‘lil sis.”

Applebloom looked up at her, glaring, her nose now slightly red from where the red missile struck her.

“Do ya have to do this right now?” Applebloom asked, “I’m pretty sure they said the apples ain’t even ready to be harvested.”

“I know that” Applejack responded.

Applebloom began flailing her arms around, “Then why in the heck ya doin’ it now?”

Her older sister gave her a determined look before turning back to the tree, remembering what she was doing a moment ago.

“I’m just gettin’ in some practice” she said, giving the tree trunk another swift kick.

Applebloom merely rolled her eyes, “Yer always practicin’. Don’t ya ever get tired?”

“Nope”

The truth was that her legs were probably the sorest they had ever been in her life. Applebloom couldn’t see it, but from her hips all the way down to her hooves, Applejack’s body was quivering in agony. All the walking around she had done the previous night, combined with past few days that she had spent bucking trees the entire time, had pushed her body to its limits. The lack of sleep that she got also didn’t contribute too much in reducing her pain. Though of course, that was only one factor to her currently stressed out state...

Hanging the front of her body over the edge of the barrel, Applebloom let out a long sigh as her sister continued to buck relentlessly at the tree, obviously not getting the hint that she wanted peace and quiet. Letting boredom get the best of her, Applebloom decided to strike up conversation since a nap was now out of the question.

“So how’d the date with Ficks go?”

Applejack was so staggered by the question that she accidentally kicked the tree slightly harder than she had intended, causing some of the bark from the trunk to shatter before chipping off onto the ground.

“I uh... what?” she sheepishly asked, “Didn’t quite catch that.”

“I said...how did yer date with Ficks go?” Applebloom repeated.

“Why ya wanna’ know so badly?”

“Ya didn’t really say much about it when ya got home last night. Just thought I’d ask now.”

Applejack snorted in frustration, wishing that her younger sister hadn’t remembered the whole ordeal from last night. When she came home, she was doing everything she could to maintain her composure without completely breaking down in front of her family. They were eager to ask her about the date, but she quickly dismissed their questions by telling them she was tired and didn’t want to talk about it. Applejack figured that her grandmother and siblings knew there was more to it than that, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to be alone. It wasn’t until she finally made it to her room, quickly shutting the door behind her, that she finally collapsed on the floor before bursting into tears. Through blurry and soaked eyes, she realized she was still holding her grandfather’s old hat. The one she had given to Ficksitup. The one that caused this whole mess. Tossing it angrily across the room, she started weeping heavily again, burying her face in her arms.

Applejack couldn’t recall how long she stayed awake, sobbing into her pillow, but she was certain that she eventually cried herself to sleep. Quickly shaking her head in attempt to forget about all of it, she snapped back into the present and gave Applebloom an expressionless look.

“It was fine.”

Applebloom raised an eyebrow, a little put off by her older sister’s curious answer. She knew that she was lying. Everypony in the house that night could hear her in her room, crying for Celestia-knows how many hours. Applebloom was going to knock on her door and ask what was wrong, but her brother, Big Mac, stopped her at the last minute. He put a hoof on her shoulder and gave her one of those looks that he always makes that tells somepony exactly what he means without any need for words. The look he gave her that night was to leave Applejack alone and let it go. With any common sense, Applebloom assumed that bringing it up now would still be an inopportune moment. So deciding to be more cautious but without completely giving up her investigation, she decided to choose her questions a little more carefully.

“So is Ficks still gonna’ be helpin’ us out with the harvest this year?” Applebloom asked.

“I’m not sure.”

“Why not?”

“I told ya, I don’t know.”

“But I thought ya said he promised to help us?” Applebloom mock-whined.

Applejack jerked her head towards her little sister, glaring in annoyance. She was more than fed up with Applebloom’s pestering, “Well I guess he changed his mind!”

Applebloom flinched slightly, but was still satisfied that she was getting on the right track in finding out about what happened last night.

“So the date didn’t go well.”

“Whaa? I didn’t say that!” Applejack snapped, stunned by Applebloom’s conclusion even if it was true. Though she wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of having her figured out so easily.

“Then how come Ficks isn’t comin’ to help us out now?” she asked, knowing full well what she was getting into. She added one last question to help drive Applejack over the edge. “What did ya do to upset him?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Applejack shouted

Applebloom simply shook her head, giving her sister a look of false concern. “It was yer cutie mark, wasn’t it? He just didn’t like yer cutie mark.”

“That ain’t it! If anything, it’s all his fault!” Applejack finally yelped.

“Aha! So ya admit it. The date did go badly!” Applebloom jeered victoriously.

All Applejack could do was give her sister an unforgiving glare. She hated how nosy Applebloom tended to be sometimes as well as her uncanny ability to find out about the truth, no matter how hard somepony tried to hide it. Children did seem to have that sort of ambition when it came to getting involved in things that had nothing to do with them. An ambition, that Applejack had become all too aware of in her little sister’s case.

“Fine. So maybe it did. Doesn’t mean I wanna’ talk about it.”, Applejack finally responded.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t, Applebloom. And because it ain’t any of yer business.”

“But I wanna’ know what happened.” Applebloom whined. She was certain that she could get a few more tidbits of information if she pressed a little harder on the subject.

“Dangit, Applebloom!” Applejack finally snapped, “I told ya it’s none of yer business and that’s final!” She spun around and gave the tree another swift kick in the center of its trunk. With a loud thump followed by a long groan, the tree tilted slightly. There were now two hoof-shaped dents implanted in the trunk where Applejack kicked it. The tree was also bent to the side from the impact. Another sharp kick like that and it was sure to break.

Applebloom cowered back into the harvesting barrel. Perhaps she pressed a little too hard. Her older sister stood there silently, her breath heavy, and beads of sweat now running down her forehead. That last kick as well as finally snapping at her little sister had consumed the last of Applejack’s energy. She was completely worn out. She angrily brushed past her sister and stormed down the hill. She’d done enough work for today. All she wanted now was to rest her legs and regain a fraction of the sleep she had lost last night. Though Applejack doubted she would be very successful in getting any sleep now. Applebloom’s rather ill-timed reminder of the date had put her in a funk that wasn’t going to be very easy to liberate herself from.

As she made her way to the bottom of the hill, Applejack was suddenly overshadowed by an enormous figure. She reeled around to see her older brother, Big Mac, standing at her side and giving her a curious look.

“Not now, Big Macintosh.” Applejack glumly sighed. She attempted to brush past him, but he stuck one of his massive red hooves out in front of her, blocking her path. He gave her another concerned expression.

“Come on sis. Tell me.” Big Mac gently commanded.

Applejack became flustered with agitation again. She was officially fed up with everypony being concerned for her and asking stupid questions about the date. “I already told Applebloom about this n’ the same thing goes fer you brother. I... don’t... wanna... talk about it.”

Big Mac merely let out a small sigh. He forgot time to time how stubborn she could be. In this situation, she was no different. However, he had his ways of bypassing her seemingly impenetrable wall of obstinacy.

“Alright then...” he said, tilting his head until several of the joints in his neck cracked loudly, “ Guess I’ll have a talk with Ficks myself. Sure he’ll be willin’ to tell me what’s goin’ on.”

Applejack detected the threatening tone in his voice and felt a pang of fear and concern for Ficksitup. For a moment she couldn’t tell if he was joking or actually being serious. For as long as she’d known him, she’d never seen Big Mac raise a hoof at anypony. But when it came to protecting his little sisters, she figured that rearranging the anatomy of somepony else was fully within reason.

“No wait! Big Mac, please. Don’t hurt him.” Applejack yelped, pushing herself towards him, trying to prevent him from walking any further. Big Mac looked down at her, giving her a quizzical look.

“What’s the problem?”

“I... I don’t...”

Even Applejack was slightly taken aback by what she just said. She had every reason to hate Ficksitup right now, even Rarity too. Afterall, it was the two of them who had been gallivanting behind her back. At least that’s what Spike had said. As much as she didn’t want to believe anything that dragon had to say, the evidence still seemed to point towards the same conclusion. Or at least it had when she was in the throes of some fiery, disputable and unknowable paranoia. But when her brother threatened most likely to bring physical harm to Ficksitup, she still couldn’t help but express general concern for him.

“You... what?” Big mac asked.

“I... Ya’ don’t need to do that.” Applejack finally stammered.

Big Mac let out a long sigh, “Alright then.”

She exhaled in relief, slightly assured that her older brother wasn’t about to go on a mini-rampage throughout the town to find the blue stallion. Still, she could tell that Big Mac had questions. Questions she would rather have left unanswered. But at the same time, these were questions that Applejack didn’t know whether she could answer honestly herself. Judging her previous statement as well as the obvious fact that she was currently conflicted with herself, Big Mac spoke up again.

“So y’aint mad at him?”

She was a little taken aback by the question, “Wha? Of course I am. I mean...” she hesitated slightly with her answer, “I mean, why shouldn’t I be? He’s the one who was goin’ behind my back and doin’... Celestia knows what with one’a my best friends.”

Big Mac stood there, silently brooding over his sister’s answer. He didn’t show any expression of somepony in deep thought, just standing there with a blank face while he stared out at nothing. It was one of the things that frustrated Applejack about her brother, immensely. She knew when he got like that, Big Mac was thinking hard about something, but she could never guess what it was.

Eventually he spoke again, “Sounds t’me like ya don’t have the whole story.”

Applejack opened her mouth to interject, but stopped herself once the words had really sunk in. Maybe she didn’t know the whole story...

“I’m just not sure what I can believe right now Big Mac.” she replied dejectedly.

He nodded before continuing, “Then ya oughta think it over before ya cause irreparable damage.”

“What’re ya’ say-”

“He may be a mechanic sis... but there are some things that even he can’t fix.”

Those last few words hit her the hardest. Applejack was suddenly swarming with a mixture of doubt, guilt, and fear. Doubt that the accusations from Spike were in fact, not true. Guilt that she may have been the one who caused all of this. And fear that she may have lost, not one, but two of her best friends.

She was so lost in thought, that all she could let out was a barely audible, “Okay.”

Applejack then trotted away towards the house, leaving Big Mac with a shred of satisfaction that he may have actually helped his sister with her emotional turmoil. That, or he just made it worse. He couldn’t tell. What he did know, as he began making his way towards the front gate of the acres, was that there was still one last thing he needed to handle... personally.

***

Ficksitup left the house of his last customer, wishing them a pleasant afternoon as he shut the door. As he counted the last few bits from the payment, he let out a long sigh of relief.

“Finally done.” he muttered as he tossed the bits into his saddle bag.

The sun was well on its way to setting in the distance, leaving little time before nightfall. The number of jobs that Ficksitup had been given today hadn’t been exactly any sort of challenge and could have easily been finished much sooner. But he had decided to take certain precautions that inevitably caused delays. Ficksitup had made sure to stay clear of the marketplace as well as not even looking in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres. He had taken extra care to stay clear of Rarity’s boutique. He had no desire to speak to her today and was certain that the feeling was mutual. Among the stack of envelopes, Ficksitup had even received a letter, requesting volunteer assistance towards helping to break down and deconstruct the rides and attractions from the festival, which he kindly declined. The last place he wanted to be was at the fairgrounds.

Ficksitup’s body had been worn out by the day’s labor, if the physical strain wasn’t enough, the emotional and mental strain of Addemup’s presence in the shop made his hooves feel like they were encased in cement. He could take pride in one thing though; that he had put in a good day’s work, and that was enough to put a smile on his face.

His plan was simple, to get from the door to his soft warm bed without too much distraction and fuss. The thought of being able to unload the day’s stress as his body hit the bed put a small smirk on his face, and a little spring in his steps.

With his new goal in mind, Ficksitup began to proceed towards the shop. Confident that nopony would halt his progress, he rapidly picked up the pace until he was in full gallop. Darting past the houses in town, everything was a blur as he hastily closed the distance between him and his abode. He could see the roof of the repair shop appearing over the horizon. It wasn’t much farther.

“Almost there,” Ficksitup wheezed. A few seconds more and he’d be home free. As he climbed over the horizon, he could see that familiar shop come into view. What he didn’t see, however, was the large figure that stood in his path. His eyes dilated, and he dug his hooves deep into the dirt road in a feeble attempt to slow himself down. It wasn’t enough.

For a moment, he believed that he’d impacted a brick wall. That guess wasn’t far off, at least comparing how hard his hit was, or that light shade of maroon. However, Ficksitup realized it wasn’t a wall when it heard breathing heavily. Adjusting to the low light, he look upward at what he just hit. When their eyes met, his heart stopped. Big “Mac” Macintosh. The cold, unwavering glare that came from him was enough to drain the color from Ficksitup’s face.

“Oh no...” He gasped, still trying to catch his breath.

“Get up” Big Mac’s booming voice commanded. His voice bellowed through the air and even vibrated through Ficksitup’s smaller frame. Ficksitup cowered and backed away, visibly shaking. Big Mac intensified his stare, “I said... get up.” the red pony commanded. How he was able to have such a loud commanding voice without yelling, Ficksitup will never understand.

In an instant, Ficksitup snapped to attention even though his body was still visibly shaking, he dare not move an inch.

Big Mac nodded in approval as he took a step closer, Ficksitup couldn’t move, his hooves felt as though they were bolted to the earth below.

“You’ve got a lot of explainin’ to do,” Big Mac proclaimed, leaning down leaving his face not but an inch and a half from Ficks’. The combined size and done of the larger stallion was more than enough to intimidate Ficksitup, and he was barely able to croak a response. “O...Okay.”

‘One leg’ Ficks recalled. That memory of the halved oak tree, felled by none other than the maroon pony that stood before him at this moment. If he could do that with his hind legs, there was no telling what would happen to Ficks, if Big Mac was given the chance.

When Big Mac’s retracting hoof was sighting, Ficks shut his eyes to keep from seeing the pain that was about to be inflicted upon him. Instead, he shaked a bit, and opened a single eye to see Big Mac had slammed his hoof down on the ground beneath them. “I guess you’re here t’make good on that promise, ain’t’cha Big Mac,” Ficksitup said in a rather defeated tone

“I’m here to hear the whole story ‘fore I do anythin’.” Big Macintosh said in a calm and collected tone.

“You... Wait, you what?”

“Applejack wasn’t too keen on tellin’ anypony what went wrong, and I know y’aint dumb enough to do somethin’ that bad. She can be, and is, a mite stubborn at times. What happened?” he questioned.

“So... You’re not here to-”

“If I were here to hurt’ya, I’da done it by now, wouldn’t I? Don’t think I ain’t willing to do to you what’cha did to m’little sister’s heart. An’ if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s Applejack bein’ in some sorta distress. She don’t cry unless it’s somethin’ well worth cryin’ about.”

“Wait, cry-... I... shoot... I deserve a punch just for that alone...” Ficks said glumly, hardly able to make eye contact with his all but adopted big brother.

“Just come out with it, Ficksitup.” Big Macintosh said, setting a hoof on his shoulder. Ficksitup did not expect that motion of comfort.

“...Y’ain’t mad..?” Ficksitup asked, truly baffled.

“Heck yes I am Ficks. But I’m willin’ t’hear your side of the story.” Big Macintosh said in his ever comforting, contemplative tone.

“Last night... last night was frankly the best night’a my life...until the end, that is,” Ficks began. “We held hooves, played a few games, and, well, we kissed. You ever kissed a gir- silly question, don’t answer. But’cha know? You get kinda’ lost in that.” It hurt saying that, having to recall their embrace, a feeling of pain...but also one of pleasure. No matter what happened, no matter what was said, it was a memory he’d never dare to forget.

“Mac, I treated her to the best night I possibly could. I...” Ficks said, stopping himself.

Big Macintosh raised an eyebrow, as if to inquire further. Ficksitup gave his next few words some serious thought. If he said the wrong thing again, it could end up going even worse than last night. If he said the right thing, it may still go poorly. ‘...No... Ain’t a doubt in my mind about that...’ Ficksitup thought, finally deciding what his next few words would be.

“I love her, Mac. I swear on my name and by Celestia, I love that girl. She can think whatever she wants’a me but I love her. I didn’t realize it at first when I came but after that party thrown at Sugarcube Corner. After... after that night I couldn’t think of anypony else and I didn’t want to.” It was hard to tell, but Ficksitup could almost see a softening in Big Mac’s furrowed brow.

“...Then tell me honestly Ficks. Did’ya go behind her back with somepony else?”

Ficksitup stared Big Macintosh dead in the eyes with the straightest expression he could muster.

“...No. Course not.” Ficksitup said earnestly.

There was a short, tense silence between the two stallions. Big Macintosh sighed as he put a hoof to his face before slowly dragging it down.

“You better not make me regret this, Ficksitup. Y’got one last chance. One. Last. Chance. My sisters are all the family I got, and I’d put m’self in front of a train rather than let’em get hurt. But you understand, don’cha?” Big Macintosh commented, making an obvious remark regarding Ficksitup’s duty to Nuttanbolt.

“Yeah, I get that... Thanks for that...and for not breakin’ my legs.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Big Macintosh said with a grin, maintaining a serious tone. He turned his back, and walked back to the farm.

Oddly enough, it didn’t hurt as much to see the farm anymore. Granted, it wasn’t the most pleasant sight, and he was going to avoid it...but still. It didn’t hurt as much. Ficksitup gathered enough courage to finally walk back home and face his father with what he needed to say. It wasn’t very long before he was at home once more. As he entered, Ficksitup removed his vest and attempted to remove his hat before he realized it was, again, not there.

‘...That ain’t the only thing I’mma try to get back...’ he thought, proceeding into the kitchen. Once again, he was met with his father’s rather overbearing presence... but it wasn’t just him. Hammerplank was also patiently sitting with an... Unreadable expression.

Trying his best to avoid the company currently occupying the dining room table, Ficksitup made his way for the stairs. Even with the recent conversation he’d just had with Big Mac still running through his mind, the desire for sleep still prodded at his aching body. Shuffling quietly across the floor, he was an inch away from the staircase before he heard a voice call to him from the kitchen.

“Ficksitup?”, the voice gently asked.

He halted before he could even place a hoof on the first step. His right ear twitched slightly as he heard a chair sliding across the ground and the shuffling of somepony getting up as well as hoofsteps marching towards him. Turning around slowly, Ficksitup watched as his father, Addemup, came striding out of the kitchen and pausing right behind him.

Wanting to ignore him but still too tired to simply object, Ficksitup let out a small, lifeless answer.

“Yeah?”

“Uh, how was work?” his father asked eagerly.

“Fine.”

“Oh... well, that’s good then. Glad to hear everything went well.” Addemup said meagerly. The impression that his son wasn’t in the mood for talking to him was fairly clear but he still felt obligated to try conversing with him.

“If you don’t mind, Addem, I’m really tired so I’m going to bed.” Ficksitup said, letting out a yawn to emphasize, “We’ll talk tomorrow or somethin’.”

“Yeah that’s... fine.” his father responded glumly, “Hope you get some well deserved rest.”

Ficksitup merely nodded in response as he began making his way up the stairwell. Addemup turned around looking at Hammerplank, who was peering from the doorway of the kitchen. He gave his brother a puzzled look, wondering what had happened. Addemup lowered his head before shaking it disappointingly. Hammerplank slapped a hoof over his face and sighed heavily. He then gave Addemup a determined look, brows firmly folded over his eyes, as he pointed a hoof at his brother and then pointed it towards the stairwell. Addemup shrugged in confusion, one eyebrow raised. Hammerplank hung his head over his shoulders, letting out another exasperated sigh. He almost wanted to slam his forehead into the wall because of how daft Addemup was being. He then repeated the motion with his hoof, more sharply than before. Again, Addemup simply shrugged in response, completely unaware of what his brother was trying to imply.

Hammerplank finally stomped his hoof in anger.

“Go talk to him, ya moron!”

Addemup reeled back, slightly startled by his brother’s outburst. But Hammerplank was right; he had something he needed to talk to his son about, and allowing Ficksitup to delay it again and again like this wasn’t going to get it sorted out any sooner. Giving Hammerplank an adhering salute, Addemup stumbled up the stairs to go after his son.

He reached the attic door and stopped for a moment. He took a few deep breaths before he lightly tapped his hoof on the door. Ficksitup’s weary voice bellowed through the attic floor.

“Come in.”

Addemup pushed the door open with his head, almost brushing his spectacles off in the process, and stepped into the attic. Ficksitup was standing next to his bed, having just tossed his orange vest and tool bag in a corner.

“I’ve never actually seen your room here. Hope you don’t mind the intrusion.” Addemup said, stumbling with his words. It still felt like being in the house at all was intruding.

Ficksitup would have minded, but he was still too tired to object. He merely gave his father a quick glance before continuing on with whatever it was he was in the middle of doing. Addemup took the opportunity to take in his surroundings. The room seemed so small for a stallion of Ficksitup’s age. It reminded him of the previous living conditions that he had endured himself during his early days in Manehatten. Cramped, dark, only a few bits of furniture, and next to no sources of light. The only room left was for the few personal affections that one would have brought along.

On that thought, Addemup’s attention was drawn to the small nightstand next to the bed and the contents resting upon it. The frame containing the photograph of both Ficksitup and his wife as well as the pot of jasmines sitting next to the frame. Addemup couldn’t help but let a small smile form across his lips.

“Heh, I remember the day we took this.” Addemup proclaimed as Ficksitup turned around to see what he was looking at, “You were so excited that day because it was the first time we took you to that park.”

Ficksitup concentrated on the small frame, vividly recollecting the memories from that day. Since he’d been born, he had never left Manehatten before. It had been his first chance to actually leave the city. The park was on the outskirts, where it lay among a vast open field of grass and trees. In the middle, past several park benches and a small playground, was a large oak tree on small hill. That was where they had decided to pose for the picture that now nestled in the wooden frame.

“Yeah, I remember that.” Ficksitup murmured. A delicate smile flashed across his face, unable to resist reminiscing in a positive manner over the fond memories of when they had all been an actual family. “You planned that picture, or was it just spontaneous?”

“What? You think I just carried a camera around with me all day for manure and giggles?” Addemup responded, letting out a light chuckle.

Ficksitup smiled and replied, “No, I guess not.”

It was at that moment that something had happened, something that hadn’t occurred in a very long time. A moment where father and son could share a fond memory together and even enjoy the humor from it. It was a brief moment, but nonetheless, a moment that made Addemup feel ten times happier than he’d ever been.

Addemup turned his attention towards the nightstand again, more specifically, towards the second object resting upon it. The small pot of jasmines.

“Ahhh, I see you still remember these were her favorite.” he said, bending his neck down so his face was level with the pot. He inhaled deeply, letting the sweet scent of the small white flowers flow through his nostrils. The scent was still very strong, meaning that they were fresh and therefore couldn’t have been bought more than a few days ago.

“I could never forget.” Ficksitup replied, almost taking pride in his devotion to preserve his mother’s memory. “I picked those up while I was getting the flowers for Applejack.”

Addemup could sense the bitterness in those last few words. He casually placed a hoof on his son’s shoulder before giving him an empathetic look.

“You two really were an item, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, we were...”

There was a slight pause before Addemup continued, “Listen Ficksitup, I really am sorry that things didn’t work out for the two of you. From what your uncle told me, you two were becoming practically inseparable... and I know that’s what makes it the most difficult.”

Ficksitup merely nodded, feeling particularly indifferent about the entire thing now because of the conversation he’d just had with Big Macintosh. As it stood, the situation between him and Applejack was no longer in dire jeopardy. Still, he had to take into account that he’d only figured this out recently and couldn’t expect his father to be caught up just yet. At least Addemup seemed to be actually caring for once...

“Hmm now that I think about it...” Addemup muttered. He began pondering, rubbing a hoof under his chin. Like cogs and gears clicking and turning in his head, he was brainstorming for just the right thing to say.

“Relationships...” he paused again, “Relationships are kind of like combining like terms in an algebraic expression.”

Ficksitup did a double take, completely thrown off by what his father just said.

“I’m sorry, what?” Ficksitup asked.

“Yeah.” Addemup continued, “You see, in order to combine two like terms in an expression, those two terms need to have matching variables. Therefore, if the variables match up, the terms can be combined to form a new term, which creates a new simplified expression.”

Ficksitup could feel his left eye twitch as he continued to stare at his father in bewilderment. Addemup stared at him enthusiastically, ensuring that he was still paying attention. Like a professor in lecture, he adjusted his spectacles and cleared his throat before continuing.

“Now, however... if the terms do not have matching variables, then it is impossible to combine them, meaning that the terms are simply non compatible.”

Addemup finished his explanation with a satisfactory grin upon his face. 'There isn’t a problem in the world that can’t be explained with mathematics', he thought to himself happily. It wasn’t just the fact that he had confidence in the trade that pretty much made up his entire life since colt-hood. It was also the plain and simple fact that he had no other way of expressing himself in a better way than with numbers and equations. Either way, he was sure of himself that his rather uncanny explanation of his son’s situation was enough to show that he did indeed care.

Ficksitup was at a complete loss for words. He didn’t understand a single thing that Addemup had just said.

“What the hay does any of that even mean?” he stammered.

The smile faded from Addemup’s face. Every now and then, he had the tendency to forget that not everypony had a critical understanding of mathematics like he did. His son was no exception. It still frustrated him that Ficksitup wasn’t getting it, but he was not about to give up.

“What I’m trying to say...” Addemup began, “...is that you and Applejack may have come together to form an expression, but your variables didn’t match up. Which means you two simply weren’t compatible together.”

“Do you mean...?” Ficksitup faltered.

“Yes, you and Applejack just weren’t meant to be together.”

Ficksitup had humored his father by listening to him this long, but with that final remark, he was in no mood to listen any longer.

“Just who in the hay do ya’ think you are, tellin’ me who I am or ain’t meant to be with?” Ficksitup demanded in the same hostile tone that he’d used with his father the previous night.

“Ficksitup, wait. I didn’t mean t-” Addemup attempted to respond, but Ficksitup wasn’t going to let him finish.

“No. This is exactly what I’m talkin’ about.” Ficksitup began, “Ya’ disappear from our lives for several years and then ya show up and act like ya know everything about me... like ya’ actually care.”

“But son, you and Nuttanbolt left me all those years ago. Remember?” Addemup corrected, attempting to insert a little logic into the conversation.

Ficksitup put a hoof up, about to retort with another snappy remark before he hesitated, realizing that his father wasn’t wholly wrong.

“Yeah, that may be... b-but not once... not once did you even try to stop us. Not once did you ever try to find us and bring us home. Ya’ just let us walk away, like ya’ didn’t care.” Ficksitup responded defensively.

“I know I didn’t Ficks.” Addemup said, “But it’s not because I didn’t care; it’s because I knew you wanted to leave and I respected your choice to do so.”

“Sounds more like an excuse to me...” Ficksitup grumbled.

“And what exactly was I supposed to do?” Addemup asked, “Make you stay with me, where it was painfully obvious that you were unhappy?”

The question was so upfront that Ficksitup was completely thrown off again. Despite his relentless bombardment of disdain and contempt towards his father, Addemup still produced a sound argument that couldn’t be disagreed with or denied. Regardless, Ficksitup’s defiant attitude showed no sign of letting up.

“Well, maybe we wouldn’t have left if ya hadn’t made us so miserable in the first place.”

That remark finally pushed Addemup over the edge. His eyes burned behind his spectacles with a fire that hadn’t been lit in a very long time. It was a transformation that was like a mad scientist turning into an abomination from something going horribly wrong in his lab. In the blink of an eye, Addemup went from being a timid broken father to an assertive and unrelenting power of authority.

“Dammit, son! If you’d stop being so headstrong for one second, I might actually have a chance to explain myself!”

His voice was loud and heavy as it filled the entire room. The floorboards seemed to shudder in fear from his outburst. For a moment, even Ficksitup was speechless. Only for a moment.

“Well I-” Ficksitup began.

“No! That’s enough out of you for one night. You’re going to shut up and listen now.” Addemup shouted. He’d already snapped and he wasn’t going to get another chance to speak his mind, even if it was this way, “I don’t see either of you for five years, I come here to finally explain myself, and what do you do? You slam the door in my face!”

Ficksitup stared in absolute disbelief. He could hardly believe that the stallion bearing down upon him was the same one a minute ago.

“I-”

“You have every right to be mad at me, Ficks. I know I screwed things up as your father and no amount of apologizing will ever fix that... but when you don’t even give me the chance to explain myself... that hurts. It breaks my damn heart.”

A sliver of tears began to run down Addemup’s face. Ficksitup continued to remain silent.

“Letting you and Nuttanbolt leave all those years ago was the second biggest mistake of my life. Dear Celestia, if I could go back in time and stop you, I would have!”

The tears were now flowing down past his neck, his spectacles were fogged up, and his words were becoming more slurred as he attempted to keep his disposition and not completely break down.

“You say I don’t care about you. You say I don’t want you and Nuttanbolt back in my life... but that’s not even remotely true! You’re my son... I love you. I’d never abandon you.”

Addemup strode over and wrapped his arms around his son. Completely stunned by what just happened, Ficksitup stood absolutely still as Addemup placed his head over his shoulder. He listened as his father quietly wept, the tears running down his back as they dripped away from his glasses. Ficksitup could feel his grip tighten around his shoulders and neck but continued to remain still. It wasn’t painful or suffocating. It just felt... desperate, like his father was trying to squeeze out all the locked up emotions that Ficksitup had kept buried away for so many years. Ficksitup could feel his chest tightening as he too attempted to fight back tears now forming in his eyes. He couldn’t fathom why they were coming, they just were. He hated it, he didn’t want to forgive him. But with his father finally here, acknowledging him for the first time again in over five years, it brought comfort to him as well.

“I’m so sorry, son. I’m so, so, sorry I did this to you.” Addemup whispered.

Ficksitup slowly raised a hoof and placed it over his father’s shoulder, returning the gesture in kind as the tears began running down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry too... dad.” Ficksitup whispered softly.

The two of them continued to stand there in silence, arms wrapped around each other, with only their quiet sobbing filling the attic. After five years of not speaking to each other, with only hate keeping them apart, this one moment, this one gesture... made up for all of that.

A few minutes passed before Addemup finally relinquished his grip. He let out a few short grunts as he cleared his throat, pulling a handkerchief out of his vest to which he used to wipe his now damp spectacles.

“I’ll admit...” he said, wiping his eyes with the cloth, “It’s nice to be able to cry like that again, I haven’t done it in awhile.”

“Yeah.” Fickstiup replied with a weak smile, wiping an arm across his face, “You always were a big softie.”

Addemup managed to let out a small chuckle. He offered his now soaked hankerchief to Ficksitup, which he kindly refused. Addemup stuffed the handkerchief back in his vest and placed his glasses upon his snout once more, adjusting them until they were positioned correctly. Blinking several times, he turned his attention towards Ficksitup.

“Well then, now that that’s settled... I was hoping I could finally talk to you about why I’m here.” Addemup addressed, regaining the calm and collected disposition he had a moment ago.

“Oh yeah, right.” Ficksitup responded, a little surprised at first that Addemup had brought it up so abruptly, “If I remember, ya’ said it had something to do with mom?”

Addemup did not respond right away, but eventually, he gave Ficksitup a short nod. He gestured Ficksitup to have a seat on the bed. Doing so, Addemup followed afterwards, taking a seat next to him. Addemup cleared his throat one last time before continuing.

“Son, do you remember ten years ago, the day your little brother, Nuttanbolt, was born?”

The question was so simple, yet so painful to answer. It was a memory that Ficksitup had done his absolute best to shut out. Yet, here it was once more, staring him in the face.

“Of course I do.” Ficksitup answered slowly, “That was the day that mom...”

“And do you remember what I said to you in the hospital?” Addemup interrupted.

Ficksitup took a moment to think about which part of that day his father was trying to make him recall. Then it dawned on him...

***

Ficksitup sat in the chair with eager excitement, just down the hall from the operating room where his mother was. He could hardly believe it, he was finally going to have a little brother. He remembered how excited he had been when his dad told him too. Ficksitup wondered if his little brother was going to look just like him. If he did, then Ficksitup wanted to teach to him to be just like himself. He would show him how to use tools and they could fix things together.

He couldn’t wait to get back to Ponyville and tell Applejack too. Ficksitup was sad that he had to leave Sweet Apple Acres and her behind to go with his dad and come here but he was happy at the same time, since he knew that he was finally going to have a younger sibling. He knew Applejack would understand. Afterall, he did promise to come back someday. Maybe he could bring his little brother with next time. He held the cowboy hat that Applejack gave him in his hooves, squeezing it tightly in anticipation.

The clock on the wall across from him ticked on. He watched the minute hand rotate around and around endlessly. It seemed like forever. Every now and then, Ficksitup would get up from the chair and walk down the hall towards the double doors that led to the operating room. He wanted to go inside but his dad specifically told him he was not allowed inside. Something about getting in the doctor’s way, but Ficksitup didn’t buy it. His dad probably just wanted to see his newborn brother first.

Hours passed by. Ficksitup had fallen asleep on the chair, curled up in a little ball, still gripping the hat in his hooves. Suddenly his ears pricked up as he heard the doors open up down the hall. His eyes shot open. He lept out of the chair, his hat falling to the floor. He ran over to the doors, just as the doctor was stepping out. He had a very solemn look on his face, one that confused Ficksitup greatly. The doctor stood there quietly, before finally noticing Ficksitup. His blank expression turned into a frown as he placed a hoof on Ficksitup’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry kid...”

With that, he walked down the hall and disappeared behind another set of double doors. Ficksitup shrugged it off and pushed his way through the doors in front of him. Finally, he arrived in the operating room. There were monitors and and trays filled with shiny tools everywhere. At the far end of the room, there was a small white crib sitting against the bleach white walls. Ficksitup walked over and looked inside. Wrapped up in a sky blue blanket, eyes closed, was a small colt. Ficksitup’s eyes grew wide with excitement. He finally had a baby brother. He turned around, finally noticing his father on the other side of the room. He was sitting at the side of the bed where his mom was resting.

“Mom! Dad! He’s here, he’s here. My little brother is finally here!” Ficksitup cheered.

His dad didn’t move or even turn his head. He continued to stare at the bed where Ficksitup’s mother lay. Ficksitup tilted his head in confusion. He walked over to his dad and placed a hoof on his back. His dad flinched slightly at Ficksitup’s touch.

“Dad, didn’t you see? My little brother is-”

“I know, son.” Addemup interrupted. From where Ficksitup stood he could now see that tears were running down his face.

For some odd reason, it scared him. Ficksitup placed a hoof on the bed, nudging his mother’s side.

“Mom. Why is dad crying? He should be happy right now, I have a little brother.”

There was no response. Her eyes were closed, her golden mane covering one side of her face which was void of any expression.

Ficksitup nudged at her side again. “Mom? Mom what’s wrong?”

Again, no response.

Now Ficksitup really was scared. He looked to his father in desperation.

“Dad! What’s wrong why won’t she say anything?”

Addemup fought back another wave of tears as he took a deep breath and placed a hoof on his son’s shoulder.

“Your mom’s just asleep right now, son.”

The answer didn’t sit well with Ficksitup, at all. He tugged at his father’s vest trying to get him to look him in the eye.

“She needs to wake up. She has to see my new brother.” Ficksitup yelped.

Addemup began sobbing again, “Your mother isn’t going to wake up, Ficksitup.”

For whatever reason, that response scared Ficksitup the most. He didn’t understand at all. He just wanted her to wake up and see how happy he was about his little brother. He began pushing at her side again.

“Mom! Come on mom, wake up!” Ficksitup was now crying, his tears dripping upon the bed, soaking the bed sheets.

“Please mom!” Ficksitup sobbed, “Wake up, wake up, you need to wake up!”

***

Ficksitup shuddered for a moment as the pain from the memory receded. He stared at his hooves, which were still trembling slightly before he looked up at his father again.

“Yeah, I remember.” Ficksitup replied, “Why?”

Addemup swallowed heavily, adjusting his glasses, and tugged on his vest. He was always fidgety when he was nervous.

“Well you see...” he started, “I know what I said to you that day made you understand that your mother was gone...”

“Of course.” Ficksiutp agreed, “ I know I was just a little kid then and didn’t fully understand what was goin’ on. But I get it now.”

“No that’s not it, Ficksitup.” Addemup said, removing his glasses and placing them in the front pocket of his vest, “I... Wasn’t completely honest with you that night...”

Ficksitup gave his father a look of great concern. He had no clue what Addemup was going to say and he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to hear it.

“What are you saying, dad?”

Addemup looked Ficksitup straight in the eyes, not turning away once.

“Your mother isn’t dead...”

Ficksitup’s eyes expanded instantaneously as the words left his father’s mouth.

“...She’s still alive.”

To our most faithful and dedicated readers,

I’m not even going to begin to attempt to excuse the immeasurable delay for the release of this chapter. And I know what you’re thinking, “A whole lot of time for just another cliffhanger, geez guys come on.” Well, yeah, you’d be right to think that. Regardless, we ask that you trust us and realize that there is indeed a reason to our madness.
Either way, we've been through a lot of troubled times while developing this fiction, both personally and story-related. There are too many factors to count that caused us to put this off (most of it my own fault); but understand that we have not abandoned Apples N Wrenches, not by a long shot. No matter the cause, this story is going to have an ending... one way or another.
To those that have stuck with us this far, you guys are beyond awesome. It is truly a heartwarming thought to know that there are still readers out there who await the conclusion of one OC’s tale in a much larger and better known world. For that, we are eternally grateful and will continue to cherish the support you have given us. Again... thank you.
-Tom