//------------------------------// // Enjoy the Silence // Story: The Loudest Sound // by Sunka //------------------------------// “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SHINDIGERERERS!” squeaked Sweetie Bell. “It's not a shindig, it's a hoedown!” corrected Scootaloo. “It's the same thing!” Sweetie shouted back. “No it's not!” “Is too!” “Hey! We can be the Cutie Mark Crusaders Hoedownerers!” offered Apple Bloom. They all beamed at one another: “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HOEDOWNERERS!” they shouted in unison. “We're sure to get our cutie marks at the Fall Hoedown.” Apple Bloom wistfully ruminated. “We just have to-” “Oh no you don't.” came a crotchety voice behind them. Dejectedly they turned to Granny Smith. “You fillies listen here now. Your sisters need some time to be aroun' adults. The last thin' they need tonight is you three gettin' under hoof.” The trio “aaawwwwwwhhhh”ed together. “I'll have none of that sas! You three get wuarshed up for supper. Get!” she commanded. Scootaloo and Sweetie dashed off to the sink while Apple Bloom took one last look out the window at her older siblings getting to go out and have fun. _____________________________________________________________________________ Pinkie Pie had “borrowed” one of their largest barns for this. Most of Ponyville would be here and their barn added the perfect atmosphere for the Fall Hoedown. Big Mac had pulled most of his plow implements out and lined the way coming into the building. Pinkie had then created a walk way by linking them with orange and yellow streamers. The band inside the bar was starting up, playing a series of high energy songs to get everypony's hooves a moving. A sizable crowd was already here and more were coming. There were picnic tables outside with places for tired ponies to sit and refreshments for them to enjoy themselves with. Her “Fall has Fallen” punch was on the center table. Big Mac could smell the roasting corn on the cob from the fire pit nearby. There were big bowls of coleslaw, freshly fried potato chips, jalapeno hush puppies, and several apple based confectioneries his sister had provided. He looked down at his sister. Her friend, Rarity, had demanded that she wear “something” so she'd worn a simple red and white checkered shirt that gathered at the waist and shoulders. She'd braided her ponytail and left her hat at home. She looked nice. It was too bad she didn't dress up more often. While he hated the idea of pimping out his sister, he did wish she found somepony. Not that he had much room to talk. The jacket he was wearing was at least ten years old. It didn't quite fit around the chest and the sleeves were at least an inch too short. He was also wearing his Jane Doe bola tie. He'd gotten it free when they'd bought his old plow. “Now, you don't go drinkin' too much. We don't want you makin’ a scene now.” He gave his bossy sister a look, reminding her that he wasn't usually the one that trouble occurred around. “OGMYGOSH! AJYOUCAME! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!” Pinkie suddenly appeared beside them. One of his sister's fried pies in each hoof. She looked at them and shoved both of them into her mouth at the same time. Not for the first time Big Mac was impressed how good her control of her gag reflex was. At least it'd shut her up for a second. “Well, of course we'd be here, Pinkie,” his confused sister said, “we live here. Are the rest of the girls here yet?” “Oh sure!” She bounded off, pulling his sister away. This left Mac alone. He mingled in the crowd, looking for his friends. Mr. Cake was there, but Mrs. Cake was not letting him go. This was one of the few nights they had together in a social setting, since his sister catered this one. Caramel was having some success chatting up a pegasus. He didn't see Lucky yet. He wandered around his grounds, nodding to ponies as they said hello. Over by the punch table he saw the most beautiful mare in Ponyville. Rarity was attempting to get some punch. Every stallion in Ponyville knew about Rarity. Yes, she was beautiful. Yes, she knew it. She never really rubbed it in your face, well, not since school. She just looked you over and rejected you. Her sights were set on something “special.” What that was, nopony really thought she knew. But they were all sure she'd know it when she saw it. Well, most stallions did. Some were too conceited, and some, like poor Hayseed, were just too friendly. She was trying to disengage herself from his overly friendly conversation. Mac decided to come to the fair maiden's rescue. “Hayseed.” “Weeeell Big Macintosh! This here's a plum dinger of a hootananny!” Big Mac nodded. He shot Rarity a quick glance as she grinned and ran. Mac nodded while Hayseed droned on and on. He had some idea about going to the Big City of Canterlot and starting a window washing business. With all those windows there that needed washing it was just a matter of time before he was swimming in bits. Eventually he saw another of his friends and ran off to say hi. Hayseed wasn't bad, you just had to have a little extra patience in dealing with him. “Thank you ever so much. He...” Mac only nodded while he got them some punch. She floated her cup to her lips while inspecting his outfit. There was a “tisking” sound. “That is most unflattering. Maybe you should come by the boutique sometime next week. I just got in a shipment of suede from the Griffon Kingdoms that would be positively smashing on you.” Big Mac looked away, he just didn't have the money. He took a sip of his punch. It was mostly pumpkin with some pear juice, with slices of apples and oranges. There was a hint of clove and cinnamon. Rarity quickly picked up on his agitation. She'd lived her entire life around him and knew him well. It was one of the advantages of living in a small town. “Oh don't worry, Dearie. For the brother of my friend we can work something out. Oh, I'm repainting the boutique, I could use a strong hoof to help me move the furniture, maybe do the ceilings?” Big Mac nodded in agreement. Charity always sat wrong with him. It violated his strong work ethic. Trading work for work was how he accomplished most things in his life. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of yellow. His heart thumped. This was going to be it. This was the night. Before they'd left the house Granny had sat them down and had “The Talk” with them again. The Apple family was a long and proud line. Farm work was hard on a body. Sure they were at their prime now, but soon their bodies would begin to break down. She knew she wasn't going to be around for much longer and the longer she was around the less help she could be. There was more to life than just plowing and bucking and seeding and reaping. There was love and family and all the joys that came with them. Ever since their own parent's death, they'd never really reached out. It wasn't healthy. It wasn't good. But it was okay because this time he was taking it to heart. This time his heart was set on a certain somepony very special. They'd met several times in the past. She was one of his sister's friends so she was over sporadically. She didn't live that far away. In fact she was closer than the vet, so when they had a problem at the farm with the critters then AJ would run and get her first. It was one such time that she'd caught his attention. The sheep had spotted a snake and burst out of their corral. The first three had hurt themselves badly. He'd repaired the damaged fence while Winona and AJ rounded up the rest of the flock and AB had ran to Fluttershy's. He watched as she tended to a hurt lamb. She was so gentle. His whole life he'd tried to be that gentle. Ever since he was a colt he was huge. Things, ponies, he never meant to hurt them. Well, not usually anyway. To be as gentle as he could was always a constant lesson. Yet, here was a soft yellow pegasus who was the personification of gentle. He had pulled her mane out of her face and wiped her tears while she worked. All the while silently watching her bandage the baby sheep. The lamb eventually returned to normal, but that image of her was with him always. He watched her as she walked along the edge of the property. She was wearing a wreath of clover leaves on her head and a soft, filmy, green dress. She was looking at an owl decoration Pinkie had put on a tree branch. The decoration moved to look at her. She squealed and hid under the table. It was so adorable it made his heart hurt. “So, taken Granny's carryin' on to heart, have ya?” Big Mac turned to look at his sister. “I won't say it won't be a bit off, you goin' on with a friend of mine. But you two deserve to be happy.” AJ had a soft smile on her face that quickly turned sour. “However,” she planted a hard hoof into his chest. “If you hurt her, if you make her cry,” She got up nose to nose with her brother before pointing at his flank “I will make apple tarts out of your cutie mark! Do we have an understandin'?” Big Mac nodded. “Alright then.” AJ went back to her normal smile outside his personal boundary, “go get 'er.” His heart jumped into his throat. This was it. He walked up to the table she was hiding under. Slowly he held out a hoof. She looked up at him with those huge, aqua eyes. Timidly she reached her hoof out to his. As gently as was possible he pulled her from her place of refuge. She smiled at his chest. His heart almost stopped. He nodded to the dance floor in the barn, his mouth too dry to talk. She looked away. He looked over at the punch bowl. She looked down. He pointed out away from the festivities. She looked at his hooves. Barely, she shrugged. Elation flooded his body. He escorted her away from the noise, over to a copse of apple trees. As they walked under the branches he stopped her. As gently as he could he took her hoof then slowly rotated it. She looked at his huge hooves. He watched her eyes as he kicked behind him, not looking. The tree vibrated and a single, ripe apple dropped directly into her hoof. There was a look of amazement but she quickly pulled her hoof back when he let go. Together they walked to the other edge of the tree, to look up at the night's sky. Side by side they sat together in silence, passing away the night. It was heart revving, yet so comfortable being around her. It almost felt like there wasn't even a reason to speak. He looked up at the stars. She looked down, nervously pawing at the ground. The silence between them was suddenly the loudest sound he'd ever heard. Slowly she started looking up. Softly he put his foreleg around her. She flinched, but didn't pull away. He looked at her and smiled. She blinked. Then, ever so slightly, leaned in. It was all he could do to keep from jumping and shouting in excitement. He leaned into her. Everything was right in the world. The wind shifted, it started blowing from the party, bringing the music from the barn. The band was playing a romantic, slow song. Mac looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering above them. She winked at him and gave him a “hoofs up.” There was an explosion ahead of them. Fluttershy squeaked and hid in his chest. He grabbed her in both of his hooves, pulling her in front of him. There was another explosion. Slowly she turned to see the fireworks going off just for the couple. Mac looked around to find Twilight softly working her magic, creating the show. They watched her work for some time, “ooh”ing and “aah”ing together. Fluttershy squeaked at an especially loud one, her muzzle right below his. This was his chance. He looked down, gentling lifting her chin with his hoof. Softly they kissed. “Aahh yeah!” stage whispered Rainbow Dash. Twilight hissed at her and motioned her back, ready to give the couple time alone. “Hey guys! Did it work? Did they like the song I picked out?” Pinkie popped out of a bush beside her friends. The two hushed her and tried to usher their obtuse friend away. “She's been pining for months now. It was so hard to drag it out of her at the spa, I don't know why she didn't say something sooner.” That was Rarity, waiting for them at the edge of the barn’s light. Apparently they'd all worked on this. Big Mac was just grateful. They left and the two were alone. Fluttershy pulled away. “no” she said softly. Big Mac gave her a confused look. “I-I-I'm sorry,” she whispered as she untangled herself. This was not looking good. He shook his head. “It's not you. I-I” she squeaked again. “I'm sorry.” It was barely over a whisper. Her body began to shake softly. Then she stopped, almost waiting for something. Mac sat there watching her. Slowly she turned slightly, looking back at his hooves. “Why'd you stop?” Rather than putting it around her, instead he put his hoof on her back, between her wings and rubbed softly. That she allowed. “You told me to.” He could feel her body shaking in rhythm. Soon he realized that rhythm. She was crying. He shifted but she hid in her mane. His muzzle next to her ear he whispered: “I'm sorry.” She turned to him. For the first time that night. She looked directly at him and broke his heart. Tears stained her cheeks all the way down. The capillaries in her eyes were visible even in the moonlight, and she was smiling at him. Not a tortured, sad smile. An honest, sincere smile that wiped at the tears in her eyes. “Really?” she whispered. “You're amazing. You deserve somepony who's just as amazing. Not some broken, worthless pony like me. Maybe Cheerilee?” Big Mac didn't laugh. She was still fairly new to Ponyville and apparently didn't know about all the drama that had gone on back in school when Cheerilee and he had dated. He'd learned a lot since then. Unfortunately he still hadn't learned to spot the crazy ones. “There's nothing wrong with you.” Her smiled turned sad, again looking down. “That's because you don't know me. You weren't there in Cloudsdale. You don't know how...damaged I am.” He rubbed a little more firmer and she grunted in pleasure. He was slowly trying to work the tension from her body. Gingerly he reached around her again, moving himself around her. He held his hoof to her muzzle, returning the world to stillness, less some word violently break the beautiful silence. The pain pierced him to his core. Oh, poor girl. She was all he'd ever wanted. Ultimately nothing mattered but the sensation of holding her, not what she had to say, not what had happened to her. If she could just let go of her past. He tried to enjoy this last moment as if it were the last in the world. “It's okay. Thanks.” Fluttershy pulled away again. She'd gotten her tears under control. “You deserve to know,” She sighed. Her chin quivered. It was hurting her, but she looked like she needed to tell him. “When I was a filly, in Cloudsdale. My mom, wasn't allowed to have a job. She had to stay home. Dad...Dad didn't handle stress well.” She stopped and shivered. He hugged her, giving her all of his strength that he could. “He had a-a really stressful job at the factory. He was in charge of a lot of ponies. If he didn't get things right, then there wouldn't be enough rain. Without that rain, earth ponies couldn't grow food. Without food, everypony would starve. “Most days were fine. But when he came home mad,” she shivered. “We knew it was going to be a bad night. The only way to survive was to just let him vent.” She started curling into a ball. “If you disagreed, if you were contradictory, he'd kick, bite or stomp. During the spring was the worse time. That was when he was under the most stress. We dreaded it. Then, one spring Mom...didn't come home. “Dad was furious. I was all he had, so I took care of him. It made him happy. So long as I took care of things...everything was okay. Making him happy meant he didn't hurt me. At least, until...” she was crying fully again. It was a cathartic cry. She looked at him. “Why am I telling you this? You don't really want to know.” “Nopony knew? Nopony helped?” Big Mac pulled her mane back and once more wiped her tears. She smiled again. “Rainbow Dash did. She called the cops on him. He got them to believe him over a filly. He was so mad afterwards.” AJ had never told him about this. He was pretty sure she didn't know. Otherwise the two would have stormed Cloudsdale itself to deal with the monster. “Do the other's know?” She panicked “OH NO! They couldn't, they-they shouldn't. They'd hate me.” “Rainbow doesn't hate you. I don't either. It seems to me telling some pony is doing you some good. Maybe you should tell them.” And the guard he thought to himself. One step at a time. “It helps you're such a good listener.” “Ah still don't see why you think you're so damaged.” She squeaked, pulled her mane away from his hooves and hid again. “Because of what my dad did.” “Beating you doesn't mean you're broken.” “no,” she whispered, barely audible. Big Mac tried to remember all she'd said. The final floodgates opened as she blurted out. “I-I had to take over ALL of mom's duties.” Big Mac's heavy hooves slammed into the ground. It was all he could do to stop his righteous anger. Fluttershy screamed in terror, hiding her head under her front hooves, her rump in the air. “I'm sorry!” she squealed. “I-I-I'm sorry. You can if you want. Just, please...” He stopped himself. The look of abject terror on her face brought tears to his own eyes. Gently he tried to comfort her. “Just, don't hurt me.” she squeaked. “Shhh.” He tried to rest his head between her ears. She ran away crying. This was bad. Never would he have suspected. Yet, all the signs were there. They had been all along. How had he not seen it? He hadn't been around her that much. How did her friends not know? Wiping away his own tears he looked back to the barn, torn on if he should tell the others. He was met with five furious faces. “How could you!” Rarity was incredulous. “You, I never would have thought you of all ponies to be such a ruffian.” Should he tell them? No. It's her story to tell. If she and Rainbow had never told anypony, then he probably shouldn't either. There must be more to the story. His sister stomped up to him. “What did ah tell ya?” Big Mac stiffened all his muscles as AJ's forehoof made contact with his jaw. He didn't move but he was sure they'd both be hurting when the adrenaline wore off. Pinkie glared at him from a bush. He was going to have to take special caution with the critters for the next few days. The look she was giving him was telling him that one of them would end up boiled alive in one of Granny's soup pots...again. Cez, he really needed to learn to spot the crazy ones better. “I think I need to write a letter...” Twilight turned around, storming away, “come on girls.” The others all turned and walked away. All but Rainbow Dash. She was facehoofing hard. “Of all the stallions in Equestria, I figured you would be able to finally help her, and what do you do?” She got up in his face, glaring eye to eye. “Ah listened.” She blinked. Her anger turning to pain. “She told you?” He nodded. “That's why she was crying?” Her body slumped “Why didn't you say so?” He gave her a pointed look. “Okay, okay. You're right. She's not ready to tell the others. I learned my lesson on that already.” She looked up into his eyes. She was so different from the other pegasus. “I'm going to need help getting her ready to tell the others, building her confidence, motivating her. You in?” He held his foreleg up. Her tootsie was tiny beside his massive hoof, but there and then they made an agreement together.