//------------------------------// // Family Dinner // Story: Apple Bloom’s Secret // by YourUncleFuncle //------------------------------// The sun was getting lower on the horizon, the trees to the west were starting to illuminate at the edges by the sunlight. To most ponies, it was a beautiful sight, the light being the sun’s reminder to them that tomorrow would be a new day, and to put whatever darkness might have befell them the day before and leave it all behind. It was a beautiful reminder, that is, if a pony were looking at it. Instead of doing that, Apple Bloom was walking up the path white her head hung low, watching all of the dirt and pebbles go underhoof. Occasionally a tear would pass by her muzzle and fall on the same path, but not nearly as much compared to what she had let loose earlier. After the disaster that was her conversation with Sweetie Belle, she once again doubted her ability to go back again. Back to school. Back to reality. Back to Sweetie Belle. When she ran away from the white unicorn in a nauseous frenzy, she had tried to simultaneously find a good place to throw up while also being a good hiding place in case she tried to follow her. Luckily, she found just that. At the last second she darted behind a green bush off the path by a couple of yards and emptied the contents of her stomach there. When she had finished she took a peek out in the direction from where she came from to see if her friend had decided to follow her. When she couldn’t see Anypony approaching, she sighed in relief, but the sigh was replaced by sobs a second later. “Why?” Why was Ah born this way? Why can’t Ah just run away and live out in the Everfree Forest? Ah want to stay up in mah room and never come out! Ah want to make sure that Ah don’t see anypony ever again! Ah...Ah…” She sighed and looked down at the dirt that had turned to mud from the tears that she had shed. “Ah want Sweetie Belle, but no matter how hard Ah try, she won’t love me. No mare ever will. So Ah might as well just give up. But,” she sniffled, “but Ah really don’t want to.” She wiped away the last few tears and tried to think of something positive, which is what Applejack had always told her to do when life got her down, and it always worked before. She thought of a nice rainbow over the Apple Orchard, the colors interlocking together in harmony, shining down on all of Equestria. But then she thought of the rainbow flag that she saw being burned in Canterlot when the Apple family went on vacation in an anti-gay protest. She shook her head and thought of school, and her teacher, and her friends who loved her so well. “Sweetie Belle is one of them!” And her thoughts then turned to her squealing on her, the news circulating, hate notes on her desk, scoffing and head shakes of disapproval from her Cheerilee, and the isolation it would cause. This was the first time nothing she thought about seemed to help brighten her mood, as each thought seemed to push her further and further down a bottomless pit. “What’s wrong with me?” she asked aloud to nopony in particular, a few stray tears running down her cheeks. She was about to wonder more when she looked up and saw the sun setting. Suddenly, she was snapped out of her grief and only thought one thing now. “Run!” She started to book it home, knowing that her sister would probably be mad at her for being so late, but at this point not caring. All she cared about was not coming home after dark at this point. ——- “Dinner’s ready, y’all,” Applejack called out as she brought out a bowl of mashed potatoes and put it on the dining room table. Aside from that they also had some pasta with an Alfredo sauce and, of course, apple pie for dessert. The reason for such a big meal was to celebrate another successful harvest, even though it wasn’t complete yet, but it would be in a few days. Everytime they got close, the Apples always had a big dinner to celebrate coming into the homestretch. “Look delicious, Applejack,” Granny exclaimed looking at the meal, “Ah remember when Ah taught you how to make this and you nearly burned down the whole farmhouse!” Applejack rolled her eyes as her elderly grandmare chuckled. She went to the staircase to call her brother down when the door opened behind her. “Oh, Apple Bloom, good timing! Dinner’s ready, so why don’t you go upstairs and get Big Mac down here so we can eat together?” Applejack trotted back to the dining room and kitchen with the same relaxed smile on her face that her younger sister had seen many times. Had Applejack looked closer, she would have seen the tired, red, and puffy eyes Apple Bloom was sporting, but she seemed relieved that she didn’t have to yell at the big brother of the family to get downstairs anymore. Apple Bloom looked up the stairs for a few seconds before ascending them, hearing the soft creak each time her hoof took a step, and got to the top and went to the bathroom. When she got there, she looked in the mirror and saw pretty much what she expected. A sad, disheveled filly who had looked like she had a rough time, and she did, but it seemed as though she couldn’t remain eye locked with the reflection for very long before she turned away in disgust, hating the pony staring back at her. She turned on the sink and splashed some cool water in her face, hoping that it might make her appearance less tired and teary. She looked back and, although her dislike for the pony in the mirror didn’t fade, she did look somewhat cleaner, and that’s all she cared about. “There, that oughta do it,” she chuckled dryly. She felt so emotionless after having bawled them all out in the last hour that, despite her eyes avoiding her bathroom mirror, she felt super distant and unable to feel any sort of feeling for anything now. She waited a minute before going to complete the task that was given by her elder sister. She walked out the bathroom door and down the hallway, taking note of how Big Mac’s bedroom door was closed, which struck Apple Bloom as odd. It seemed like the big red stallion always had his door open, whether he was in there or not. Apple Bloom shrugged and knocked lightly on the ajar door. “Big Mac! Hey Big Mac! Dinner’s ready!” She waited for a few seconds for a response or even a sound of indication that her brother was inside, but her ear couldn’t pick up one. “Big Mac? Y’all alright in there?” she asked while sticking her head through the door. There, sitting in the middle of his bedroom, was the large figure of her older brother, staring out his window with something clutched in his hooves. He didn’t acknowledge the pony who had walked in the room. “Are you okay?” she said trotting close to him, and only stopping when she was right behind her brother. She looked at him slightly worried as he still refused to give any sort of answer, so she reached up and placed one small hoof on the stallion’s back. Suddenly it was like Big Mac was hit with a lightning bolt, or a blast of adrenaline, as he jumped up and turned around fast, looking around frantically before his eyes fell down on his younger sister. Apple Bloom assumed that once he saw that it was just her he would calm down, but instead he remained startled, as if he wanted to back away with all of his might, but he was too afraid to do so. His scared look was only wiped away when it was replaced with a scowl, eyebrows furrowing and his frown deepening. For a few seconds he just simply stared at his sister before turning around, trotting to his dresser, and putting the object he was holding into the top drawer. He then let out a breath and walked out of his room, failing to make eye contact with his sister. Apple Bloom scratched her head with her hoof, trying to think of an explanation, but upon finding none, she simply shrugged and went after her brother and shut the door behind. “Ah wonder if he didn’t reach his apple bucking goal,” Apple Bloom thought as she descended the stairs. “He usually reaches them, and he gets all mad when he can’t do it.” ----- It was Applejack and Granny Smith talking at dinner time, while the two other ponies had a lot on their minds clearly. Apple Bloom at least was able to say a few words of response or something along those lines every time the conversation drifted her way, while Big Mac stayed radio silent. It wasn’t unusual to find the stallion silent, as he was a pony who only liked to give simple answers and only when the time needed it, but now he couldn’t utter even a single word. He just sat at the table and poked at his food, only putting a few stray pieces of pasta in his mouth every now and then. Apple Bloom was still caught up in her own world, recovering from the effects of her mental breakdown in front of Sweetie Belle. The nausea and tears may have subsided, but she still felt the dull gnawing feeling it left behind. Unlike her brother, though, she was able to come out of the feeling and make a comment in Applejack and Granny’s conversation, which at the moment was about some blight that Applejack has found on a branch that day. “And then Ah took the branch and put it in the pile like you said, but Ah decided not to burn it on account of it being too dry lately.” Granny took a sip from the glass beside her before nodding. “Better safe than sorry. Mah cousin came over here to visit one dry summer and almost burned down the whole orchard. Said it was fine and nothing would catch.” Applejack shook her head lightly before turning to her sister. “So Apple Bloom, how was your day at school.” “It was fine, a little boring though,” she responded, giving her usual answer. “Cheerilee still droning on and on about the pegasus uprisings?” Applejack chuckled after asking the question. “Ah remember Ah fell asleep in her class that day and we had a pop quiz the next day. Needless to say I failed.” She giggled a little longer before turning to Big Mac with a smile. When she saw no reaction her frown went away. “C’mon big brother! That was hilarious when Ah came home with a giant zero on my paper! Granny had mah flank and you were rolling on the floor laughing like mad.” “Eeyup,” Big Mac responded flatly, his first word delivered since the family sat down, and Applejack took notice. “What’s got you so quiet Bi-” she stopped and thought before correcting herself, “MORE quiet than usual Mac?” He froze and looked up, and Apple Bloom thought she saw his eyes dart her way and then back just as quickly, before he mumbled something about being tired and focusing on his plate again. Applejack raised an eyebrow before shaking her head. “You should get more sleep. Ah told you waking up an hour earlier now was a bad idea.” What seemed to throw Applejack off even more was her brother simply nodded in agreement. He had fought with both his sister and granny to allow him to wake up earlier, as the two mares were concerned about him not getting enough sleep. Eventually they relented, and the stallion never had any problems with waking up that early. That is, until, right now. “Wow, big brother, you seriously should go hit the hay early tonight,” Applejack commented, before smiling and turning to her little sister, a hoof directed at their brother. “You see, Apple Bloom? This is what happens when you work yourself too hard. You become as dry and emotionless as your brother here.” Apple Bloom fake smiled at the joke, thinking of how ironic it was that she had just poured out her emotions earlier, and didn’t have any left to share. The rest of dinner went off without a hitch, and Applejack and Apple Bloom had gone to the sink to wash and dry the dishes respectfully, while Granny went to her rocking chair in the living room and Big Mac went up stairs, supposedly to go to bed like Applejack said. The two sisters were about half way done when a knock was heard from the front door. Applejack washes the suds from her hooves and trotted into the other room to see who it was. While Apple Bloom continued to dry dishes, she heard the door open and Applejack’s voice. “Oh, hey Twi! What brings you and Sweetie Belle here so late?”