An Understanding Heart
By Alaborn
Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.
Chapter 3: Applejack’s Honesty
Open Book was sitting in his borrowed, cluttered office, reviewing his notes, when he was interrupted by a firm knock on the door.
“Excuse me? Mr. Book? Am Ah in the right place?” a mare called through the door.
“Yes, please come in,” Open Book replied.
Applejack opened the door, looked around the office, and took a seat on one of the benches. She took off her Stetson and fanned herself.
“You must be Miss Applejack,” Open Book said. “Relax. There’s no need to be nervous.”
Applejack returned her hat to her head. “To be honest, Ah never did like this part of the schoolhouse. Got sent here a little too often for roughhousin’. And just call me Applejack.”
“I’d like to thank you for coming,” said Open Book, getting down to business. “Cheerilee suggested I speak with you about Apple Bloom. Now, normally, I start with the parents, but….”
“Well, Ah’m Apple Bloom’s big sister, and ever since Ah’ve come of age, her legal guardian, if you want to get all official-like,” explained Applejack. “Our parents have both passed on.”
“I understand. You have an older brother as well? Would you prefer a group session?” asked Open Book.
“Big Macintosh? Ah know he wants to help Apple Bloom too, but Ah don’t think he’d be much help, if you know what Ah mean,” said Applejack. “He’s a pony of few words, mostly ‘Eeyup’ and ‘Nope’. ‘Sides, them apple trees ain’t gonna buck themselves. And Ah’m the one with the interesting cutie mark story.”
Open Book leaned forward. “Would you mind telling me that story?” he asked.
“Well, Ah’d got it in my fool filly head that Ah didn’t want to be an apple farmer. So Ah went to live with my big city cousins. And Ah missed home real bad. It was comin’ home that gave me these beautiful apples.” Applejack proudly rubbed her cutie mark.
“That’s actually a fairly common type of cutie mark story, Applejack,” Open Book commented.
“Now what made it unusual is how Ah got my cutie mark at the exact same moment as my best friends, thanks to that Sonic Rainboom by Rainbow Dash,” Applejack continued. “Without that rainbow pointin’ home, Ah don’t know how long Ah would’ve gone deludin’ myself that I wanted to be a city pony.”
“That is an unusual story. However, that’s not likely to be relevant to Apple Bloom’s situation. So let’s talk more about her,” said Open Book. “I’m looking to learn more about Apple Bloom, from the ponies who know her best.”
“That’s a tall order,” said Applejack. “How much time ya got?”
Open Book chuckled. “Thirty minutes. Not enough time to talk about everything, I know. So, what kind of pony is she? What does she do around the farm? What makes her happy?”
“She’s a good filly,” said Applejack. “Polite, respectful, loyal to her friends. Learnin’ more about the farm every day. Pickin’ up Granny Smith’s recipes. Always willin’ to help out wherever.”
“You mentioned recipes. Might her special talent be related to cooking?” asked Open Book.
“To be honest, probably not. She’s pretty lost in the kitchen without a recipe. Granny Smith, on the other hoof, can taste somethin’ and know exactly what’s wrong with it,” said Applejack. “And know just how to fix it.”
“Tell me more about her friends,” Open Book asked. “I’ve met the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders. What about her other friends?”
“To be honest, Apple Bloom spends most of her time with those two fillies now, hangin’ out in the clubhouse and goin’ all over Ponyville,” responded Applejack. “Ah’ve seen her with foals like Pip and Featherweight some. She spent a lot of time with Twist before she got her cutie mark. But she gets along with most of the foals in her class. Not so much with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, though.”
Open Book paused. “Let me go in a different direction,” he said. “In my experience, most ponies who have difficulty earning their cutie marks will begin to focus on them to a greater degree at some point. Is that true of Apple Bloom?”
“Whoa, Nelly, you don’t know the half of it,” Applejack replied. “Apple Bloom started to worry about it when she looked around and saw almost every pony in her class had her cutie mark. Somepony was holding a cute-ceañera, and Apple Bloom was worried ‘bout being a blank flank. This was before she got to know the others, mind you. So Ah brought her along to the market, to help me sell apples. That’s an important part of bein’ a farmer, and Ah figured she might just have a gift. All Ah’ll say is, it did not go well. She went off with Rainbow Dash later, and that didn’t work either. And ever since, she’s been doin’ all sorts of crazy things.”
“Miss Cheerilee suggested I ask about the Ponyville school talent show,” said Open Book. “What do you remember about it?”
“The fillies came back from another day of crusadin’ without their cutie marks, but with this flier talkin’ about a talent show,” Applejack recalled. “So they planned a song and dance number. Ah heard them practicin’. It wasn’t very good, but they thought Ah liked it. Later, Ah went to see the show. It was bad. Now, Ah can’t fault them for tryin’, but it’s like they put themselves in the wrong place.”
“What do you mean?” asked Open Book.
“Well, to start, Ah heard the singin’ at practice. And Sweetie Belle had a nice voice, but it was Scootaloo singin’ on stage. The props were really crude. Ah know my sister could’ve done a better job. And speakin’ of Apple Bloom, she was doin’ kung fu moves on stage.” Applejack laughed.
Open Book couldn’t help but laugh along with Applejack. “That sounds like a once in a lifetime performance,” he said. “But why did you say Apple Bloom could have done a good job with the props?”
“It was all painted wooden construction,” Applejack remembered. “And Apple Bloom did a mighty fine job repairing that clubhouse. She replaced the rotted planks, patched the roof, and painted it up all nice. Did it without much help at all.”
“Do you think that could be her talent?” asked Open Book.
“Could be,” Applejack said. “Hard to tell, as that kind of work’s dangerous for a filly her age. There ain’t many little jobs like that. But Ah say it’d be a mite bit unusual for an Apple to get a cutie mark that’s not an apple.”
“I have observed that kind of family cutie mark trait, particularly in earth pony ‘grower’ families, the farmers and orchard folk,” said Open Book. “But if that’s true, then, as a sister and a parental figure, shouldn’t you be discouraging Apple Bloom’s crusading? Give her more responsibilities around the farm instead?”
Applejack considered the counselor’s words. “Ah didn’t think of it like that. Ah don’t want to get in the way of a friendship.”
“I’m not suggesting you do that,” Open Book said. “My purpose in coming here is to help Apple Bloom and her friends get past whatever is stopping them from getting their cutie marks. Doing new things together isn’t a problem, as long as it isn’t a symptom of some psychological problem.”
“Cycle-what now?” said Applejack.
“Psychological. In the mind,” explained Open Book. “Apple Bloom says she wants to earn her cutie mark. She says she’s trying new things to find her special talent. But what if, subconsciously, she’s doing these things precisely because she knows they won’t get her closer to earning her cutie mark?”
“Ah’m the element of honesty. If Apple Bloom were lyin’ to me, Ah’d know,” Applejack said sternly.
“It’s not that simple,” Open Book replied. “She may actively believe this crusading is the right thing to do, but there’s something buried deep within her that knows it’s not. I won’t be able to help her if I can’t bring that something to the surface. And that’s why I’m talking to you.”
“Ah’ll help all I can,” said Applejack. “But if there’s something so secret that Apple Bloom doesn’t know it, Ah’m not sure how I’m goin’ to help you.”
“I think you’ve helped quite a bit, Applejack,” said the counselor. “I’ll be speaking to Apple Bloom one-on-one later, and I know what to talk about.” He glanced at the clock. “I have about five minutes before my next appointment. One more thing Miss Cheerilee suggested I ask about is the ‘cutie pox incident’. What happened there?”
Applejack sighed. “That wasn’t one of Apple Bloom’s best moments. One day, she stole a plant called Heart’s Desire from Zecora –that’s the zebra who lives in the Everfree Forest—and used it. Heart’s Desire is some powerful magical plant that does just what the name says—it grants your heart’s desire. Ah guess Apple Bloom used it sayin’ she wanted her cutie mark, and it worked. She got a cutie mark. But since magic can’t make a cutie mark appear before its time….”
“…it made a cutie mark appear in the only other way possible, via the cutie pox,” finished Open Book. “I’m surprised I didn’t hear about this back in Canterlot. The cutie pox is a rare and dangerous disease.”
“Ah don’t rightly know what happened,” said Applejack. “When Apple Boom kept getting cutie marks, and then started acting on ‘em, we knew somethin’ was wrong. Twilight Sparkle identified it as cutie pox. Maybe we cured it fast enough. Maybe it was never contagious. Or maybe we just got lucky. Nopony else got the disease, so that’s why you didn’t hear about it.”
“So what cutie marks did she get? Did one of them accurately reflect her talent?” asked Open Book.
“Shoot, Ah don’t remember what they all were,” said Applejack. “Ah remember the first one, hoop-spinnin’. Turns out, once she got cured, she wasn’t any good at it anymore. That happened with all those talents. You’d have to ask mah sister for more details.”
“I will,” said Open Book. He checked the clock again. “It looks like I’m out of time. If I have any more questions, I’ll get in contact with you.”
“Thank you, pardner,” said Applejack. “Who are you talkin’ to next?”
“Apparently, one of your friends,” Open Book replied. “Rainbow Dash.”