//------------------------------// // A Bushel // Story: She Rings Loudly for an Audience Of One // by Duskwingmoth //------------------------------// “You, um…” In the dark of the early morning, Applebloom turned her head toward the voice that strained to be heard over a heart monitor. “Applebloom...?” “Yeah?”  She propped herself up for the umpteenth time that week. Faint rustling greeted her.  No-Name was contemplating whether to say what she had meant to. “...You… promised me you wouldn’t laugh.” Applebloom’s eyes widened.  “Pinkie Promised!  If Ah went back on that, mah cousin would make sure mah arms were broken, too.” No-Name coughed softly in rhythm.  She was doing her best not to laugh, despite herself. “So you won’t?” “Never ever.” No-Name’s monitor was beeping faster now.  Applebloom knew what that felt like, what with living with Granny Smith and Applejack.  Having to come clean about The Truth, an act so much more terrifying than speaking frankly.  Your throat grew dry and swollen, your palms got slick with sweat, and it felt like somebody just shunted a two-by-four into your shoulder span longways, in some kind of cruel splinting that robbed you of your flexibility.  And, of course, your heart pounded frantically against your ribcage for an escape, wanting to scramble off into the toolshed and hide away from the world that had made The Truth so scary. But The Truth itself could only hurt you when you did run from it. “Ah’m the only one here.  Ain’t nothin’ t’be scared of right now.” The beep did not slow down. “Jus’ take a deep breath, first.” No-Name drew in the strongest breath Applebloom had heard from her in all the days they’d shared the room together.  She held it in too long, and hacked it back out.  The heart monitor briefly began to panic, and so did Applebloom. “No-Name--!  Jus’ try to get yerself breathin’ normal!” Her coughing gave way to arrhythmic gasps, and Applebloom could faintly make out the outline of her: hunched over, clutching at her chest, bobbing with each desperate breath.  A swallow interrupted the rapid in-and-out.  Each breath after was slightly more orderly than the last, as No-Name’s frail body did its best to obey, and the heart monitor ceased its shrieking. Applebloom’s own heart calmed as she blew a sigh.  She wasn’t going to lose her newest friend this morning.  Both her and No-Name slowly laid back down, though she kept her eyes on the darkness at her left. “Ya don’t have to tell me right now,” she began softly, “Ah said when ya feel better.” “...I don’t know that I ever will.”  No-Name’s voice was as raspy and weak as it had been Thursday. “Ya sure seem better than when Ah got here.” “No, I--” another brief coughing fit.  Only a few.  “...I don’t mean it like that.” The furrowing of her brow tightened again.  “Well, what do ya mean?” The heart monitor calmed back down, but not to that reassuring lazy beat Applebloom liked. “...I…”  No-Name paused.  A soft rustling of sheets again.  “...I took a bunch of my mom’s pills…” “That gotcha in such a bad way?” “I... didn’t think it would.”  No-Name made a shallow sigh.  “I couldn’t sleep, and she had sleeping pills.  So I took them.  And these ‘anti-stress’ pills she had in the bathroom cabinet too.  Because I was really stressed.” “Wow…”  Applebloom turned her eyes to the dark ceiling, oppressively white, even now.  “Guess that’s why the puh-scriptions they give mah Granny have these big ol’ warnings on ‘em.” The both of them were silent for a moment.  Long enough for the faintest blue to tinge the sky outside the window.  Long enough for No-Name to start sniffling. Reflexively, Applebloom tried to sit up, to no avail.  “No-Name?” “I lied--” she hiccuped.  The heart monitor sped up again.  “I lied!  I knew…” Applebloom fumbled for the handles on the side of her bed and, with great effort, pulled herself upright. “No-Name!  It’s alright.” “No!”  She did her best to shout through the rasp, through the beginning deluge of tears.  “No it’s not!”  She was sobbing now.  Truly crying, and it broke Applebloom’s heart that this was the most animated she’d seen or heard No-Name.  Whatever it was that was bothering her, it had stolen all the warmth from her body and left nothing but this great wall of sadness. Applebloom wobbled without the familiar support of her leg muscles, but she did her damndest to stay up nonetheless.  “Yeah, it is!  Ah don’t like you cryin’.  Ah--” She leaned too far toward No-Name.  She fell to the side, hanging over the edge of the bed with a punch to the chest from the railing. “Applebloom!?” “Oww…”  She was in danger of tumbling over.  She had to get back up.  The wind was knocked out of her by the impromptu meeting with the bedside, making it difficult.  “Ah’ll be fine… Ah’ll… ngh!”  She gathered her arms and pushed up and away from the rail.  She absently registered a thin trickle of liquid on her forearm which, she would find out later, was from her IV coming loose.  It didn’t matter right now.  No-Name was crying, and that needed to stop, somehow. She locked her elbows and took a breath.  This is way harder without legs.  She looked up to start talking again, but was startled by the shape directly in front of her. It sniffled.  “W-what did you do?” “Ah tried to sit up.  Ah know Ah ain’t s’posed to by mahself, but…”  She had an easier time catching her breath than No-Name, “wouldn’t be here if Ah weren’t dumb enough to do that, heh.” No-Name’s hand found Applebloom’s, quavering as it gently clasped over. Her voice was still as ravaged by emotion as it was her sickness.  “I’m not worth people hurting themselves over, though...” “Now you stop that.”  Applebloom managed to shift back into a comfortable position -- somewhat; her limp legs were in dull pain, which meant they were in real trouble.  Nothing she could do about it.  “Big Mac don’t like that kinda talk when it comes from our sister, so Ah don’t like it comin’ from you.” She brought her now-free right hand to grip No-Name’s in return, strong and reassuring. No-Name sniffled again.  “What the hell does she have to worry about?” “Swear jar.” No-Name snorted and coughed at that. But it was a question that Applebloom had something of an answer for.  “Sometimes, she just don’t feel like she’s a real girl.  Grown-ups’ll get grossed out at her and teenagers laugh at her, an’ there are some cousins we have that don’t treat her the way she wants.  We don’t really look forward to seein’ them at the reunion, to be honest.” No-Name’s pulse was a bit weak, but Applebloom latched onto it mentally as it quickened again.  It (and its monitor) were the only thing in the room for an agonizing silence. She finally spoke again, scratchy and weary. “...Why would she feel like that, though?” And that must be it.  That had to be what it was.  Applebloom had thought it might be, and now she was sure. So she dared.  “‘Cus she’s like you.  Everybody’s so sure she’s not one.” And Applebloom didn’t even need to hear the monitor stutter or No-Name’s breath hitch.  Her grip said it all. “What…?” “Our ma and pa thought she was a boy when she was born.  But she ain’t, and you ain’t either.” No-Name’s eyes were shimmering so brightly with fresh tears that they could have lit the entire room by themselves, if not for the growing dawn.  Applebloom could see her pale face, her messy curled hair, her trembling jaw as she stood shakily next to her bed.  “R--... Really…?” Applebloom smiled.  “Really really.  Heck, ya wanna meet ‘er?  She’ll be here today.” “I…”  She turned her gaze to the floor and her tears traced the same damp path as the ones from mere minutes ago.  “Yeah…” “Glad ta hear that.  She’s the best sister ya could ever ask for.  Might even talk some sense into yer familyoof!” No-Name let go of the IV rack she was using to stay upright and fell forward into Applebloom’s chest.  She held onto Applebloom as tight as she could and let herself start crying again, and the red-haired girl did her best to return the embrace.  They stayed like that for a good long time, only separating when the nurse came in and scolded them both. Later in the morning, all was calm again in the room, and the two girls were facing off in Bittybeasts once more, doing their best to ignore the busy clamor of the hospital outside. The wall clock hit 11:00 am, signalling the beginning of visiting hours, and Applebloom was stricken with an eldritch certainty.  She was coming.  She was approaching fast. So Applebloom did her best to quickly prepare and psych herself up, smacking her cheeks and shaking her head.  This was going to be a Doozy, and she hadn’t had to worry about anything approaching that all week.  She would have warned No-Name while rolling her shoulders if they’d had time before-- “AppleblooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOM!!!!” A titanic blur of pink burst through the door and pounced on her, crushing Applebloom in an extremely powerful hug.  The pink goliath was bawling its eyes out and dampening her hospital gown and currently the bum-legged girl could not breathe. “I’ve been so worried!!  Applejack told me Wednesday and I couldn’t come and visit because I was so busy planning the Fall Formal at school and drama club is gonna do a BIG adaptive performance of King Leery and I have to look over the script and all the costumes and-- “  Pinkie Pie gasped for air, “--and Gummy had to go to the vet because he had gingivitis because I’m feeding him too much candy and Limestone was extra EXTRA EXTRA mad at me about it and then I got into a fender bender and my parents have to pay for the damage and I’m grounded from my car all because I’ve been so worried about yo-hoo-hooooouuuu!!!” Applebloom was going blue in the face.  “W’ll… Ah appreciate the concern, Pinkie…” Pinkie suddenly stopped crying and let go of Applebloom, zipping over to the foot of the bed to inspect the damage.  “You still have legs!” Applebloom coughed up the previously trapped breath as her vision swam.  “Uh, yeah.  Don’t work anymore, though.” Pinkie clapped her hands over her mouth with a gasp, more tears threatening to cascade out and flood the room.  “No…!  Is it like my old Granny Pie where you can’t use the little girl’s room???” The tips of Applebloom’s ears got hot with embarrassment.  “A-Ah’ll be able to use the bathroom jus’ fine, Pinkie!  Landsakes!  Ah ain’t the only kid in here, y’know.” “You’re not?”  Pinkie’s baby-blue eyes zipped across the room and instantly spotted No-Name, who had been stunned to silence by the towering young woman’s entrance.  “You’re not!!”  She pointed an accusatory finger at the poor girl.  “Who are you!?” “I, uh--” Pinkie was dissatisfied with this answer.  She turned back to Applebloom.  “Who is he?” “She.”  Applebloom corrected. “She!  Who is she?” Applebloom was a bit at a loss herself.  “She er, doesn’t have a name, but--” “Doesn’t have a name!!!???  What kinda girl doesn’t have a name!!???” “Well Ah guess she jus’ ain’t picked one!  Ah ain’t been too pushy with her.” Pinkie Pie’s eyes were now alight with fiery determination.  “This can not be!!”  She bounded over in one great step to No-Name’s side.  “Auntie Pinkie Pie and Big Sis Applebloom are gonna help you figure out your name!!” No-Name was visibly uncomfortable.  “I really don’t know about--” “Galaxy?  Question Mark!  Powder Pose!  Stop me when you hear one you like!” “Uh--” “Wavedancer!  Beauty Blossom!  Star Hopper!  Sparkler!  Screwball!!” “I don’t--” Pinkie pointed at Applebloom.  “Your turn!” This was what Applebloom was afraid of.  “Uhhh...”  She decided to just roll with it.  No-Name wasn’t going to cut it forever, after all.  “Whirly Twirl?  Spring Song?” “You guys aren’t even listening to me.” “Sweetie Belle?  Um…” No-Name was about to say something else before the door slammed open again, announcing the return of Scootaloo. “Apple-bloom!” Applebloom allowed herself to be distracted.  It'd be a lot harder for Pinkie's energy to dominate the room with more people in it.  "Howdy, Scoots.  Whoa, nelly…" The purple-haired Bittybeast Master wasn't the only one to enter the room by a long shot; Scootaloo's aunts Lofty and Holiday walked in after her, followed by Applejack, Granny Smith, and Big Macintosh, trailed by their nurse, Redheart, who closed the door behind her. “Hey, everybody!”  Was all Applebloom could get out before the premonition struck her again, and she knew before Granny Smith opened her mouth that she was about to get a tongue-lashing. “Now wuts this I hear about you bein’ too rambunctious fer yer own good, young’un?”  Her still-golden eyes scowled out of her wizened jade face.  “Flippity-floppin’ round like ye ain’t jes’ been crippled fer life in the witchin’ hours when nobody c’n stop ya?” Applebloom shriveled at her admonishment.  “Ah couldn’t just--” “No excuses, little missy!  Th’ doctor says ye twisted yer leg, as if they weren’t a sorry enough sight as is!  Now ya gotta stay longer whiles they fix it!” Nurse Redheart attempted to interject, “It shouldn’t be too much longer, we can still get you set up with a wheelchair on schedule--” “Ah don’ wanna see ya doin’ any more funny business while yer in this here hospital, ya hear?”  Granny waggled her finger in Applebloom’s direction, who dejectedly nodded.  “If’n Ah couldn’t git away with it whiles they was replacin’ mah hip, you don’t neither!  And ye don’ wanna find out what’ll happen to ye if ya don’t behave and heal up like yer s’posed to!” “Ah understand, Granny…” “Y’all’d better!”  Granny’s stern facade held for a good moment more, but her trembling jaw betrayed her.  She blinked, and suddenly she was vulnerable.  “D’ohhh…!  Don’t you ever scare me like that again, ye little rascal!”  She hobbled to Applebloom’s side and held her tight, and Applejack followed suit.  “Ya remind me too much of when Ah was yer age…” Applebloom readily hugged them back.  “Ah’m sorry, everyone.” Applejack, for her part, was shaking.  “Ah’ve been worried sick all week about you, Applebloom.”  She looked into her little sister’s eyes, fraught with love and concern.  “Even tho Big Mac was sayin’ you were doin’ alright, Ah couldn’t help but think the worst when he wasn’t here.” “Applebloom!”  Scootaloo was emotional now, doing her best to hug her friend from the side of the bed with her short stature. “Family group hug!!”  Pinkie somehow managed to squeeze all four of them together in her own embrace, choking the life out of Applebloom once again.  Big Mac and Scootaloo’s aunts joined in on the outer layer, but at this point it was impossible for her to notice. What she did notice over Pinkie Pie’s shoulder was No-Name, staring at her TwinScreen and stealing glances at the extended family.  She wasn’t the only one in need of some hugs right now. “Wait, everyone, ther--” she gasped for air again, “--Ah can’t breathe…” Everyone except Scootaloo pulled themselves away, and Applebloom took a second to appreciate the preciousness of life and every breath she took before continuing. This gave Applejack an opportunity to speak again.  “Granny n’ Big Mac can’t stay long,” she started as she palmed away her tears, “th’ farm don’t wait for anybody.  But Ah’m gonna be here all day for ya, little sis.” Perfect!  “Ah understand.”  Applebloom gave No-Name a wink and grin.  Although now it occurred to her:  “Wait. Are ya gonna need to hire somebody to help with harvest?” Big Mac shook his head, as did Granny Smith.  “We gots family from Manehattan who’re chompin’ at th’ bit to fill in for y’all right about now.”  The old lady scratched her chin.  “Never can tell with yer Aunt n’ Uncle Orange; sometimes they be too high-falutin’ fer us country folk, an’ then they show up on yer doorstep the day after they git some bad news, jes’ itchin’ t’get their hands dirty doin’ some hard work.” Applejack adjusted her hat with a smirk.   “Sure surprised me to see them again.  Cousin Braeburn’s drivin’ up here with his partner to pitch in, too.” “Also me!  I’m gonna help through the whoooooole harvest!”  Pinkie was bouncing with manic excitement.  “And once you finally get out of this stuffy old hospital, we’re all gonna throw you the biggest bestest party you’ve ever seen!!”  She accentuated her point by tossing streamers everywhere, much to Redheart’s chagrin. “So you just worry ‘bout gettin’ better, Applebloom.”  Applejack pulled a great pink ribbon from her leather satchel and propped her sister upright.  “We’ll talk about how you can help around the house when ya got wheels under ya.”  Her calm, calloused hands began to tie the ribbon around Applebloom’s hair. Holiday approached Applebloom on the side where Scootaloo was still magnetized to her, gently pulling the reluctant girl away.  “And we’ll be popping in and out throughout the day to help keep an eye on you and Scooty here,” her voice thick with a Thestralian accent, “since you went and worried the poor thing with the news this morning.” Scootaloo’s lips wobbled and her eyes were swimming in water.  “Applebloom…” Nothing ever made Applebloom feel worse than when Scootaloo was upset.  “Ah’m sorry Scoots.  Ah’ll be okay.  Ah just--” she turned and Applejack groaned as her work with the ribbon came undone, “--needed to be there for someone.” No-Name perked up from watching Redheart and Pinkie clean up the streamers, a cyan one still hanging limply over her head. Granny Smith narrowed her eyes at her.  “Izzat th’ lil’ hussy what’s been rude to ye that Scootaloo were talkin’ about?” No-Name’s own eyes shrank.  “Uh--” “No, Granny!  No-Name’s mah friend!” “No-Name!?  What in tarnation kinda thing’s that t’call yer friend?” Applebloom flinched.  “S-She doesn’t have one, Granny!  See, she--” “Course she’s gotta name!  She came from parents jes’ like you did, an’ I ain’t about t’fathom any parent what won’t name their baby girl!” Pinkie Pie came to the rescue.  “We were helping her pick out a new one!” Redheart looked up from the streamers at that.  “You do know that his name is on the wristband, right?” Applebloom frowned.  “Her.” Pinkie did as well.  “Her!” “Her?”  Applejack paused from her work re-tying the ribbon to regard No-Name for the first time. Redheart started as she realized her mistake.  “Oh my goodness.  Oh, that makes so much sense.”  A flash of old grief passed over her face, and she looked at No-Name penitently.  “I am so sorry, honey; I wish you’d told me yourself.” No-Name said nothing, suddenly extremely interested in Bittybeasts. Pinkie was inspecting said wristband.  “So you don’t like this one at all?” “N-no…” “Well Ah’ll be…”  Applejack finished tightening Applebloom’s bow and settled her as she stood up straight. “She’s like you, Applejack!”  Applebloom was up on her elbow again.  “She’s, uh… whatchacallit?” “A Libra!”  Pinkie Pie shouted excitedly.  “Her birthday’s pretty close to yours, Applejack!” Applejack strode the gap between beds.  “That ain’t what we’re gettin’ at Pinkie.” “Oh.”  Pinkie went mostly still as she pondered for a moment, and understanding dawned on her face.  “Ooooohhhh!” Redheart excused herself, muttering about preparing reading material as she closed the door behind her and Applejack knelt down next to No-Name.  The pale girl looked at her with a gaze full of swirling emotions, and swallowed. Applejack smiled and tenderly removed the stray streamer from her two-toned hair.  “So, it’s No-Name for now, huh?” A nod.  “I-I guess.” “Heh,” Applejack adjusted her hat again, “guess Ah didn’t rightly know what to call mahself for a while, either.  Name’s Applejack, an’ sayin’ it’s a pleasure to meet ya would be an understatement.” “Me?”  No-Name rubbed her thumbs against the buttons of her handheld.  “But I’m nobody.” “You’re important enough that mah sister calls y’all her lucky charm.  Makes ya important to me.”  Applebloom’s ears were burning at that, a heat that only got worse when she noticed Lofty, Holiday, and Pinkie Pie giggling. No-Name’s face became flush with embarrassment.  “I don’t really get that; I didn’t do anything.” Applejack pulled out her phone as she responded.  “Sometimes bein’ yourself is what you can do best.  For other people’s good…” Her thumbs tapped and swiped at the screen for a moment before she continued, “...and for your own.  Take it from me.” Both No-Name and Applebloom craned their necks to see what was on Applejack’s screen, though all the latter could tell at her angle and distance was that it was alight with pink, white and blue. “So, Miss No-Name,” --the girl shivered at the use of the title-- “do ya happen t’know what ‘transgender’ means?”