“Of course when…I actually need to…see Applebloom she…takes off to Celestia…knows where…” As soon as Peppermill had left Sugarcube Corner in search for his red-maned sister, he discovered that there seemed to be no sign of her. No sign, that is, until he caught up with a distressed Silver Spoon who had told him of the hot pepper incident at her mansion.

“I’ve never seen her seem so…defeated. She really needs somepony to talk to.” With those words echoing in his head, the chef went for the one place he counted his sibling to go when she was upset: home. Sure enough, once he reached Sweet Apple Acres and raced up to the second floor where the bedrooms sat, he found a sorry sight indeed.

Normally Peppermill would never enter one of his elder sibling’s bedrooms without explicit permission, or at the very least knocking first. But given that Applebloom’s door was wide open and the overpowering sense of despair coming from inside it made him shiver in dread, he decided politeness could be excused just this once.

Inside the small but functional room was a bed, and on said bed with her back to the doorway was Applebloom. Her body language screamed sorrow, and Peppermill felt it like a stab in the heart even though he knew he wasn’t completely at fault. He approached the bed, and gently tugged at his sister’s mane.

“Applebloom? Are you…feeling ok? Is your stomach…feeling all right?”

“…”

“Applebloom?”

“…”

“Applebloom Apple, if you…don’t turn around and…face me this instant…Celestia help me…I will get Twilight Sparkle…to remove any memory…of how to make apple soup…from my mind!” It was a hollow threat at best, though the colt was counting on the idea of being denied her absolute favorite meal would cut through her misery.

“You ain’t gonna do that.”

“Bother…I’ve never…been any good…at threats…” Despite having his bluff called, the filly still slowly rolled over to face her little brother. She looked like she wanted to cry, but she simply couldn’t manage to squeeze a tear out. Her usual boundless energy was gone, replaced by a listlessness that was almost enough to make the colt cry enough for the both of them.

“Ah don’t know why you’d want to be seen with me. Ah ain’t even worth callin’ myself an Apple…” The uncharacteristic defeat in her voice caused a couple more stabs of sympathy in the colt. Do I ever…get this depressed when…I don’t succeed at something?

“Applebloom…please don’t beat…yourself over this.” pleaded Peppermill. The filly gave a massive sigh and sat up on the bed, looking down at her little brother sadly.

“Why not? I reckon it’s the only thing ahm good at. I can’t get a cutie mark, ah cain’t be a good big sister and ah cain’t even stomach the same food you can. Ahm just a big failure…” The self-pity party the apple filly was having was stopped emphatically when the colt reached up and pulled her face down to his own. Applebloom gave a genuine gasp of surprise as she gazed into Peppermill blazing dark eyes.

“Don’t you ever, ever say that about yourself!” The fact that his impassioned plea came out not in his usual breathy rasp but a firm near baritone worthy of her older brother Big Macintosh stunned the filly into silence.

“Applebloom, every day…I watch you go about…your life and…every day you never cease…to amaze me. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo…would follow you to…the ends of Equestria. You are so…incredibly strong not…just in your body but in…your confidence and mind. You were…willing to take in a perfect…stranger not just into…your home but your own…family. I can’t think of…any other pony, young or old…filly or colt that…could do that. You are a lot of…things but a failure…you are most certainly are not.”

“B-but…” was all that the filly could manage, utterly dumbfounded by the emotion pouring out of Peppermill.

“There are…no buts Applebloom. So what if…you haven’t discovered your…special talent? So what if…you are not…allowed to cook anything without…an adult pony watching? So what if…I can eat and drink…stuff you can’t stomach? There are…so many other things that…come so easily to you…that I can only dream…of trying.”

“Hmmm…” Applebloom’s bottom lip began to tremble, overcome with the incredible love being poured out at her by the grey colt.

“Until I came…to Sweet Apple Acres…all I knew about being a…little brother was…basically doing what Saltpeter told me…without question. But now I suddenly have…sisters to deal with. And while…I know I won’t always understand…what makes a filly or mare’s minds…tick I…well…” The slight faltering of the colt’s fiery speech caused Applebloom to tilt her head despite still being under the grip of her brother’s hooves.

“I like…having sisters. Even older ones…Even ones who...at times probably...should have a cutie mark...for driving me crazy....”

“Ah just don’t want to see you get hurt again…”

“I know…I know…” the colt sighed. He finally released his hold (mostly because his forelegs were beginning to cramp up) and looked at his sister with unabashed fondness. “I don’t like…seeing you sad. If it means not…having sardines or…wine or stuff like that…I’ll give them all up if…you’ll stop being…so hard on yourself.”

“…no. Ah…ah don’t want you to do that.” Applebloom’s eyes began to tear up again, but the sadness from moments earlier had been replaced with resignation and rueful acceptance. “Ifin you lahk that stuff so much I won’t make you give them up. And…and ahm sorry if I worried you. Ah guess you an’ me are a lot more alike than I thought. Ah guess we kinda both don’t like to fail at stuff.”

“No, we don’t.” agreed Peppermill.

“Do you remember the first tahm you and me laid eyes on one another?” The rather odd change in topic surprised the colt but he looked thoughtful for a few moments. As the memory came back to him, Applebloom spoke again.

“It wuz not long after AJ an’ Big Mac had found you hurt out in the far fields. Ah had just came back from school to find find ya sitting on the couch looking like the world wuz out to getcha.” Peppermill nodded, the rather painful memories or his first few days with the Apple clan after the traumatic upheaval in his life thanks to his evil older brother coming back to him.

“I swear on every apple ever grown on this farm that the first thing that crossed mah mind when I saw you wuz: whoever did this to that fella is going to pay. From…from the moment I first met you I wanted to protect you. Ah cain’t explain to you why I felt that way. I…just did. I ain’t never felt that way about anypony, not even Applejack or Big Mac or Granny…just you.”

“I…I honestly had no idea…” Peppermill was utterly stunned by this admission. He knew, and still to this day, was amazed at just how quickly and completely the Apple clan had taken him into their family. But hearing the youngest of them at that time state it so plainly and, well, honestly was thunderous to say the least. What the little filly said next brought the colt to genuine tears.

“Ah guess…ah guess you could say that loved ya the moment I saw ya. And when you ended up becoming mah little brother at the end of it all, well ah loved ya even more. Ah love you so much ah guess ahm willin’ to make a dang foal outta myself trying to prove mahself to ya.”

“You know…my birth parents…always used to tell me they…loved me all the time. I figured out pretty quickly…that you Apples tend…to let your actions speak…more than your words. But having you actually…say those simple words to me…that means more to me…than anything right now.” By now both young ponies were freely crying, but there was not a sliver of sadness behind the tears. Peppermill didn’t think of himself as an emotional pony, but this was far too much to take. He gave a big sniff and continued.

“Applebloom…I give you my word…that you never, ever have to…try and prove anything to me. You are my sister…and I will always love you…no matter what happens. Even if you and…me end up as old as Granny Smith I…will still consider you the best older…sister I ever had. Well…maybe tied for first with Applejack.”

“And ah’ll always be proud of the best little brother a filly could ever ask fer…even if you eat weird stuff.” That simple little joke broke the tension in the room as the filly pounced at her brother from her bed and the two embraced tightly. In the end her forward momentum resulted in the two of them rolling on the floor, her on top of him and the both of them laughing.

“I think I…like this rather than…Pinkie Pie on top of me…” chuckled Peppermill.

“Pinkie Pah? On top of you? Wut are you talkin’ about?”

“I’ll tell…you later. Please get off…of me, you…are a lot heavier…than you look.” The filly giggled and backed away to let her brother sit up. Just then…

*gurgle*

“Oohh…” Applebloom winced and put a hoof to her stomach. “Ah reckon ahm still feelin’ the effect of all those crazy foods. Ah swear if that is how fancy ponies eat ah’ll stick to good country cookin’ any day.”

“I happen to know…that ginger ale is…good for stomach aches.” smiled Peppermill. “And I know…we have some…in the cellar…”

“Finally, something ah know I can drink without losin’ mah lunch.”

“And I’ll even…put it in….a wine glass for you. It…will be just like champagne.”

“Sham…wut?”

“I’ll explain…”

Author's Note

It's a love-fest!!

But seriously I like giving both Peppermill and Applebloom the same 'hate to fail' personality quirk. If anything it is my way of putting some of me into my characters.