//------------------------------//
// Guilt Trip 
// Story: Grow Up, Apple Bloom 
// by Lux 
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Chapter 6 – Guilt Trip

The dinner table, normally a place of joy, had become an interrogation room for Apple Bloom. She sat uneasily on the chair as the rest of the Apple Family stared at her with a look of disbelief and disappointment. This was especially seen by her sister, Applejack. Apple Bloom just waited for the inevitable storm that was about to be unleashed on her. Finally after intense minutes of silence and staring, the storm broke.

“Apple Bloom,” Applejack said trying to hold back her anger like a dam holds back water, “what in tarnation do you think yer doin’? Ah was in town today and who do ah’ meet but Zecora. She asked me how mah sapplin’ was doin an’ if the potion she gave you was helpin’. Ah’ told her that ah’ had no clue what she was talkin’ about, an’ she told me the whole thing ‘bout how you asked her fer a potion to make a tree git older. Well ah knew somethin was up, but ah never thought that you’d be doin somethin like this!”

“Is Zecora mad,” Apple Bloom asked quietly.

“Well, she sure shootin’ ain’t happy about what you did lyin’ an’ usin’ her potion to do this. But thankfully Zecora is a forgivin’ sort, although when this is all said and done you’re gonna have ta apologize to her. Ah’ hope that she also has something that can fix what ya did.”

Apple Bloom gulped at the thought of the possibility of not having an antidote. But then her fears subsided a little. In her mind, Zecora must have an antidote to fix this. For a moment she thought that everything was ok, that all she had to do was apologize to the zebra and take the antidote and all would be well. She began to get up off her seat as if the conversation with Applejack was over.

“Now hold on there,” Applejack said, her voice returning the filly turned mare back to her seat, “Ah’ ain’t  done talking to ya just yet. First of all ah’ want ta know why ya wanted ta grow older.”

“Because ah’ wanted ta git mah cutie mark,” Apple Bloom said as she shuffled her hooves. Obviously by looking at her empty flanks it was clear that her plan had failed..

“And who or what exactly told ya that if ya became a mare you’d git yer mark? Was it yer Crusader friends that put ya up to it?”

“No,” Apple Bloom said bluntly, upset that her sister was accusing her friends, “Well, you did Applejack kind of.”

“Me,” Applejack said stunned, “Now when did ah ever tell you that if you grow older you’ll git yer mark?”

“Well ah’ was with the Crusaders, and we were talkin’ ‘bout how Sweetie Belle’s sister Rarity was late in getting’ her mark. So ah’ thought that maybe getting’ older had ta do with somethin’ about it. So ah’ asked you when you got yer mark an’ ya said when you were older. Big Macintosh said the same thing. So ah thought that if ah’d somehow grow older, ah’d git mah mark.”

“Now yer just twistin’ mah words around there, young lady,” Applejack said. She paused, thinking about how she always called Apple Bloom a “young lady” when being serious with her, but now she really was a young lady. “Ah’ only told you that ah’ got mah’ cutie mark late. Ah never told ya that bein older meant that you’d git yer mark easier. An’ ah certainly never said that you should have done what you did. Yer mark is not ‘bout yer age, Apple Bloom. It’s ‘bout findin’ yer talent. And ah’ have ta say that you may look older now, but you still have a lot of growin’ up ta do.”

The last sentence stung Apple Bloom like a swarm of bees. She was a young mare now, and yet her family still treated her as that same filly. She knew her actions were nowhere near something that an adult would do. 

“Ah’m sorry fer lyin’ an’ doin’ this,” Apple Bloom said with her ears flat against the sides of her head.

Applejack looked into her sister’s eyes. She wondered if Apple Bloom was truly sorry for what she did or sorry for getting caught. But in her eyes Applejack did see guilt and remorse, for she was the bearer of the Element of Honesty and could see the truth among the lies.

“Alright Apple Bloom. Ah believe you. But there is gonna’ have ta be consequences fer yer actions. First, you can’t go ta school like this. Now this doesn’t mean that yer free from homework. Ah’m gonna talk ta Cheerilee an’ she’ll give me yer homework fer as long as needed until ah’ can sort this out with Zecora. Also, ya can’t go into Ponyville unless yer with me.”

“But why can’t ah’ go in by myself,” Apple Bloom asked.

“Because ah said so,” Applejack snapped back. Now the blonde manned earth pony the matter of her Crusader friends. Apple bloom’s sister thought about not letting her see them, but that would be too harsh considering that Apple Bloom said that she hatched this plan of becoming a mare all by herself.

“Now as fer your friends,” Applejack finally said as Apple Bloom braced for the possibility that she wouldn’t be able to see them again until Applejack got the antidote, “you can see yer friends, but you can only see them on this here farm an’ you can’t go on any crusadin’ with them. Do ya understand?”

Apple Bloom was going to protest not being able to leave the farm with her friends and not being able to go on Crusader missions. Yet she didn’t want to spoil Applejack’s gesture of goodwill of letting her at least see them. 

“Ah’ understand,” she said to her sister.

“Alright, then let’s shake on it,” Applejack said as she spit on her hoof and offered it to her sister. Apple Bloom did the same thing and the two shook, sealing their contract.


“Alright now,” Applejack said, “come give yer sister a big hug.”


Apple Bloom hugged her sister, knowing that no matter what happened in their lives families had to stick together and love would always see them through. She thought about what was going to happen next in her life, knowing that things would never be the same.