Big Mac stumbled into the Apple Family farmhouse. His mane and tail were thoroughly disheveled, and he walked a bit funny. He couldn’t feel his hind legs, and the rest of his muscles felt like they were full of hot coals. He had worked... hard today. He carried a glass jar filled to the brim with bits, a lantern, and several pieces of mail. He set everything down on the coffee table and flopped onto the couch. His eyelids felt heavy, his limbs like lead. He looked at the stairs, which would lead to his room and his bed. The short flight looked like a mountain climb; he could just sleep here.
“Where in tarnation have you been?”
Big Mac nearly fell onto the floor. Scrambling to sit upright, he looked across the table to see Applejack flick on a lamp. She sat in Granny Smith’s rocking chair with a flat brow and mouth. “And why do ya smell like sweat and cinnamon?” Applejack questioned him, while one brow rose. “Apple Bloom told me what she did after school. Care to explain yerself ‘afore Ah go tell Granny Smith? ‘Afore Ah KICK YER FLANK OUTTA THIS HOUSE?!” Her anger was like lightning from a dark sky.
“E-e-eyup,” Big Mac looked like a foal with his hoof in the cookie jar.
“You think Ah can’t git the bits ta pay the bank mahself?” she growled.
Big Mac swallowed and was about to say ‘Eeeyup,’ but he thought back to his day. Now, what is it that AJ wants? He looked at his sister’s face and saw the storm brewing another lightning bolt, so he answered after only a short pause. “Yer not lazy, AJ.”
“That’s right! Ah’m not lazy! And don’t you ferget it! So why do you think it’s okay ta SELL YERSELF! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST HAVE A ROLL IN THE HAY AND BE DONE WITH IT?” Her voice grew loud, and Big Mac wondered how it didn’t wake Applebloom and Granny Smith.
“Nnnope,” he said as he shook his head. He gave Applejack a crooked smile.
“HOW’D YA LIKE IT IF’N AH TRIED MA HOOF AT THE NEW FAMILY BUSINESS, HUH?”
Big Mac’s eyes went wide, and the color drained from his face. “N-nnope!” he blurted out while shaking his head. Big Mac took a deep breath and sighed, “Ain’t no such thing as a roll in the hay.”
“That’s RIGHT!” Applejack looked like she had lost her balance, even seated. “W-wait… what?”
Big Mac looked at his sister right in the eye. “Ya can’t just have a roll in the hay and think everything is okay. Ya can’t just do… that… without getting yer heart all tangled up.”
Applejack sank in the chair before her storm continued to rage. “Do you know what Ah’ve done ta git the bits in time?” she asked with a set of folded forelegs.
“Nnnope.”
“Ah’ve tried selling apples every day, sunup ‘till sundown for the past week. Ah’ve sold pies at prices that’d make Granny Smith weep. Ah’ve worked and worked and worked ‘til mah flank was sore an’ mah hooves were numb from applebuckin’. Ah fixed the old wagon wheel without buyin’ wood; Ah went out with a hatchet and got it mahself. DO YA HEAR ME?!” The storm was losing power, but he could see wetness in her eyes.
“Eeeyup.”
“Ah’ve done ma very best. An’ you just go an’... an’...” She closed her eyes, and tears squeezed out.
“S’okay, AJ. Ah ain’t done nothin’ Ah wouldn’t tell Granny Smith about.” He still held that crooked smile. An itch in his mane caused him to rub the spot. He found a fresh wheat stalk lodged there. He put it in his mouth out of habit.
Applejack just looked at him with her mouth agape. “Y-ya didn’t? Ya didn’t have a dozen mares goin’ in the barn?”
Big Mac tilted his head at her. “Eeeyup, an’ nnnope.” Applejack blinked at him and one brow rose again. Big Mac chuckled. “Lots o’ mares stopped by the barn. They didn’t need a roll in the hay; they needed somethin’ else.”
“Like what?” Applejack asked.
“Jus’ an ear ta listen to ‘em,” Big Mac said with a shrug.
“What? That’s…” She paused, then a lightbulb went off. “R-really? Nothin’ happened?”
Big Mac applied the lessons he learned this day. “Don’tcha worry none, AJ. Ah ain’t got mah heart in a knot. Ah didn’t do nothin’ ta make ya be ashamed of yer brother. And…” He was going out on a limb here, but he felt right. “Ah’m okay. Ah ain’t done nothin’ wrong. Ah’m sorry ta worry ya. An’ Ah won’t ever do it again, Ah promise.”
He nearly toppled over with the couch when Applejack tackled him. “Don’t… don’t ever scare me like that again! Ah thought… well, you know what Ah thought,” she said as she hugged him tight, much tighter than he would have prefered; he could hardly breathe. Applejack drew in a ragged breath and let it out. He could feel the storm pass. “You always were a good listener, Big Mac.”
“Eeeyup.”
Applejack looked at him askance. “So… listenin’ got us the bits?”
Big Mac thought for a moment, then nodded. “Eeeyup.”
She relaxed and let go of him. “O-okay, it’s late. Let’s jus’ git some shut-eye.”
She stood and took one stride to the stairs before she looked over her shoulder to see her brother hadn’t moved. He coughed quietly and said, “Uh, I can’t feel mah hind legs. Can ya give me a hoof?”
She snuck under his shoulder and helped him hobble upstairs. Halfway up, she stopped. “Wait a minute— why are yer legs numb?” The brow had popped up again.
Big Mac felt his cheeks flush. “Say AJ, what… uh… What do ya think o’ Cheerilee?”
There was a long, pregnant pause before she shouted, “WHAT?!” After a moment of stunned silence, her grin spread across her face like she had just found an extra zap apple.
Big Mac’s eyes found the floor, while his cheeks and ears burned. “Eeeyup.”