An earth pony entered the dark room, a lit candle in her hoof. The luminosity of the burning candle gave bold shadows to her blonde mane that lay tossed to one side on her tangerine coat. A brown Stetson hat lay on her head, slipping back as she raised her head to observe the room with determined, emerald eyes. There was a small four-poster bed by the wall, somepony huddling and giggling under the sheet.
Eyes narrowed, she took silent, measured steps ahead – so stealthily that the candle flickered no more than the millionth quarter of a centimeter. When she was practically looming over the intruder in bed, she took her empty fore-hoof and, with a cry of annoyance, yanked the sheets off her younger sister.
Apple Bloom giggled, her candy red mane tied in with a pink ribbon. “Whoa, Applejack! That sure was quick!” she laughed.
Applejack’s narrowed eyes widened into an amused expression and she laughed back, settling the candle on the bedside table. “You said it, sis,” she winked, patting Apple Bloom hard – to which the filly gave a loud ‘oof!’ – on her back. Applejack settled on the bed as her sister dropped on the pillow, ignoring the previous pat and laughing in all her juvenile innocence.
“Can ya tell me the story of the pony that turned into a dang timbahwolf?” she pestered.
“No can do, sugarcube,” sighed Applejack, smiling nonetheless.
“Aww, c’mon, big sis!” Apple Bloom tugged the mare’s mane playfully, causing the hat to just slightly slip. Applejack secured the hat back on her head with one hoof and gently pushed Apple Bloom’s hoof away, a grin growing on her face.
“Well, ah guess I could tell y’all somethin’,” she pondered but Apple Bloom didn’t want to wait.
“Somethin’? Aw, can’t ya tell me that were-pony story!?” pleaded she.
“That one’s a tad too long to be told at this here time of the goldurn night,” told Applejack, sternness now making its way into her voice. Apple Bloom, realizing she wasn’t going to get the story now, plopped back on her pillow but Applejack was not one to watch her little sister wallow into sadness even for a night.
“Buck up, sugarcube,” she winked, nudging the filly, “I’ll tell it to y’all tomorrow, ya hear?”
Apple Bloom’s face immediately lit up in all the colours of rainbow and she started jumping up and down on her bed with a smile as big as her face. “Yippee!! Yippee!!!” she squealed but Applejack put a hoof to quieten her down.
“On one condition,” the older pony added – words that completely silenced Apple Bloom. “You gotta sleep early tomorrow. Don’t wanna come up here again this late, ‘kay?”
Apple Bloom thought for a minute but quickly nodded. “Ya got it, AJ!” she grinned brightly.
Applejack smiled with a mixture of pride – at her little sister’s growing mature decisions – and happiness – at the fact she managed to brighten the filly’s mood – and she got off the bed, making her way out of the door when Apple Bloom spoke up.
“Uh, Applejack?”
Applejack turned, her mane lightly sweeping with the movement. “Yeah, sugarcube?”
“Can you tell the Line of Light?” whispered Apple Bloom, her little voice echoing in the silence. “Please?” she added before Applejack decided to oblige.
“Oh, a’right,” exhaled Applejack, walking back to her sister’s bed. Apple Bloom excitedly jumped up once and then cozied up in her sheets as her elder sister sat down at the edge of the bed. The candlelight filled the small room with a beautiful glow, gentle and warm, silent shadows of the two sisters appearing on the wall behind.
“Wherever we go,” Applejack started, her thick Southern drawl evident even in her most memorized song, “we should never forget family. Family is what makes us whole. Lose your family, lose your world. This is the real truth; this is what you need to see. The thing that makes us all whole is family. Standin’ with your family, you can never lose your face. Your dignity will always be intact.”
Apple Bloom felt her eyes getting heavier as she listened to the soft melody of her sister’s words. Applejack put a hoof to the filly’s forehead and smiled as she sang out the last line: “If we all try to be happy, we can achieve success.”
The last words flowed out of the mare’s mouth in a lasting symphony until she finally ran her hoof down Apple Bloom’s forehead and over her eyes to close them. “Hush now, quiet now, Apple Bloom,” exhaled Applejack lovingly.
A smile lingered on Apple Bloom’s face and she whispered, “G’night, big sis.”
Applejack kissed her forehead softly and smiled back. “Night, lil’ sis,” she whispered back as she tucked her sister in and got off the bed. She leaned towards the candle as it burned and flickered and blew it out before silently trotting out of the room.
–––––––
Apple Bloom slumped back into the red-stained chair, a mug of dusty salt swinging in her hoof. With her other hoof, she jingled the small bag of bits she had. It wasn’t much money but she would manage – right after she paid all her employees and a fraction of her gigantic debts. Yes, she would manage. The musty, smoky air of the club filled her nostrils but she was used to it. She took a large gulp of the salt, swallowing it with ease – she just needed to come up with a plan.
Her candy red mane, which once used to be tied up in a delicate ribbon, was now rough as it hung over her crest, her gold-orange eyes were fiery but exhaustion was seeping its way in and there were stains – and perhaps even bruises – all over her parmesan coat. Life had been slightly rough but she could manage. She had always been able to – she thought so.
A pony coughed rudely from behind. Apple Bloom recognized the sound as one of her most obnoxious employees, Redcut Peel. Peel was a money-hungry savage and she would have fired him the day he spoke to her – but, unluckily, he was also the club’s biggest entertainer. She couldn’t fire him if she wanted people to actually come there – and be entertained – and he used it to a very unfair advantage.
Peel coughed again. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes before taking another heavy gulp of the salt and spinning around in her chair, her face exhausted and monotonous. He stood there in a studded leather jacket, heavy dark makeup around his eyes and a see-through lavender cloth around his cutie mark which was a black, rotten banana peel with crimson hues around edges. With a cigar between his lips, he smirked.
“Bloom, I have come to talk to you,” he took the cigar out and nonchalantly observed his hoof.
Apple Bloom stood, clutching the bag of bits tightly in her hoof, and slammed the mug of salt on the table in a moment of fierce irritation.
“Yeah? Well, I ain’t got no time for the likes of y’all savages,” she spat through gritted teeth. “Need nothin’ more than cursed, darned bits, do ya?”
“I just want my pay,” Peel told simply but then snorted, “Don’t want your useless club to shut down, do you, Bloom?”
“I’ll give y’all two bits for today,” forced Apple Bloom with a defeated grunt. Peel looked pleased but he was a greedy beast. He wanted more.
“Two bits isn’t enough to buy a darn carrot-dog,” he scoffed. Apple Bloom instantly snapped her head back up, her blood boiling and her eyes turned a bright shade of fire. “I will need ten bits,” continued Peel while Apple Bloom glared at him, wishing she could throttle him at the spot without making a scene.
“Ten bits?” she snarled. “Y’all lost yer bloody nuts!? I ain’t givin’ you ten bits, you jerk. Two bits is all y’all gonna get!”
“Hold the language, Bloom,” laughed Peel. If he were capable of reading Apple Bloom’s mind and if he saw what she wanted to do with his flesh at the moment, he would never dare to talk to her like that ever again. “I’m the star of the show,” he grinned sickly, “and you gotta give me what I deserve. You know?”
“Ya deserve a chainsaw ripping you apart, that’s what!” screamed Apple Bloom. Her voice was loud but the musical din of the noisy club overpowered it – which she was thankful enough for. The last thing she wanted was some police pony deciding to lock her up for the night. Her eyes getting ignited with fury, she stomped to Peel and seethed, “And that chainsaw’s gonna be in my hooves – and I sure will relish every second of slashin’ it through you.”
Peel knew this act. He smirked to himself. “Fine,” he breathed, appearing offended, “I guess I am fired then. Okay, I am leaving.” He turned around and started to leave – everything was going to be perfectly according to his plan and Peel knew it.
Apple Bloom watched him leave – watched him pretend to quit – as he had done a hundred times before when she refused to pay him. Because she would never be able to get a scrap to eat if the club closed, she would end up paying him what he wanted. She snarled, outraged at the very near future. She hated Peel to the core – he was a monster – and yet she would have to oblige to his cursed will in the end.
“Wait!” she was mad at her own voice but it had to be done.
Peel turned, waggling his brows in downright smugness.
Apple Bloom undid the string around her money pouch with her teeth and, taking out ten bits with her hoof, she threw them at his face – a discourteous gesture that he accepted in self-righteousness. He had known she would give him his money, didn’t he? Without a word of thanks or anything, he turned around to leave the shack of a club. There were only fourteen bits left in the pouch now.
Like a volcano erupting, wrath overcame Apple Bloom’s whole being – but she chose to suppress it and slumped back on the chair behind her, waiting for all the club guests to finally go home. The salty stench, the warm air, it all made her forehead damp with sweat and, muttering a harsh profanity aloud, she yelled out for more salt. She was not going insane – truth be told, she already was.