Chapter Four- Barrel of Apples
Author- Blue Eyed Melloon
MLP- Hasbro
Big Macintosh was true to his word. A couple hours later he returned to the clubhouse, a bundle rolled up and slung across his back and a small sack in his mouth. He pushed open the door and chuckled when Fluttershy practically jumped out of her skin, twisting from her examination of a few small trinkets left on the raggedy bookshelf. He crossed the wood floor, kicking the door shut and bouncing his back legs to knock the bundle off his back. It dropped and unrolled, and it turned out to be a puffy sleeping bag. A small pillow was in the center of the sleeping bag. It was green with an apple embroidered on it.
Fluttershy bent to examine it, placing a hoof on the fabric to test how plush it was. She climbed inside, feeling the fabric brush against the small cuts she had from falling through the tree. This elicited shivers of pain that she didn't care for at all. Spinning around at the bottom of the sleeping bag, she poked her head out of the opening, her hair sticking up in different places due to static electricity. Big Macintosh watched her, and said “Since its autumn, it shouldn’t be too cold yet. But if you don’t like it I can find something else.” His words were kind, but Fluttershy knew he doubted that he could sneak anything else away.
“Thank you.” She said, small smile brightening up her face. “I…you don’t have to help me.”
“Of course I do!” the colt replied, waving a hoof. “You’re a lady. My Pa taught me that I’m supposed to take care of ladies.” Fluttershy blinked and blushed, stammering something about ‘not being a lady’. This roused another bout of laughter from Big Macintosh, and he gently pushed the second bundle toward the Pegasus. The flaps came undone, and revealed an assortment of foods, including bread and fruits.
Fluttershy lifted a grape, looking it over before popping into her mouth. She paused, then hummed as the sweet fruit burst in her mouth. This colt was so nice to her, even if she was almost a perfect stranger. Maybe earth ponies weren't so bad after all! Fluttershy thought about the conversation she would have with Rainbow Dash about her adventure, but remembering her friend made her sad, so she brushed that idea away for now.
The two foals chatted lightly while Fluttershy enjoyed her lunch. At one point, Big Macintosh left the clubhouse to gather a couple apples for his own lunch. He returned with a saddlebag full, and took his place by the door, talking in between bites. Big Macintosh learned the Fluttershy live in Cloudsdale, and her father used to be a Wonderbolt, whatever that was. Fluttershy learned that Big Macintosh was the older of two siblings, though his mother was expecting another on in a few months. They grew apples for a living, and he was responsible for all of the animals on the farm other than the cows. Those were his Pa’s to take care of.
FLuttershy picked up another grape when voices froze her mid-bite. Big Macintosh’s head swiveled, and he whispered “Uh oh.” His orange mane seemed to lose its wildness and droop; he shuffled to the window and peeked outside before scooting backwards. "They're coming up here!"
The voices were high in pitch, but loud in volume. The owners were two fillies, one pastel yellow with a candy pink mane, the other pumpkin orange with blonde hairs sprouting from beneath a weathered cowboy hat that seemed to be just a little too big for her head. On one flank there was an apple with a bite taken out of it; the other sported three red apples in a triangle formation. The ramp groaned slightly under their combined weight, and the happy chatter continued until the door was once again pushed open with a creak. The blonde haired foal stopped mid sentence, mouth hanging open with unspoken words still inside. The other filly froze as well, staring at Big Macintosh as if he had grown a second head.
“Mac, what the hay is goin’ on here!?”
Big Macintosh stared at the fillies as if he had forgotten to speak. Fluttershy felt two foreign pairs of eyes on her, and she slowly lowered the grape, putting it back on the fabric next to the other food before sinking into the fabric of the sleeping bag and covering her eyes with her hair. The orange foal crossed to Big Macintosh, getting millimeters from his face. She was so close, her hat rose off her head and against Big Macintosh’s. Her southern drawl was dripping with rage.
“I said, what. Is. Going. On. Here?”
Big Macintosh was silent, alternating between staring into his sister's eyes and looking away from her angry gaze.
"Well?"
“Ain’t nothin’ AJ.” He said, finding his voice and pushing against the smaller foal’s head. “And don’t be treating me like a colt. I’m your older brother.”
“Well shouldn’t you be settin’ and example for me?” She said, pushing against him one more time before backing off. She leaned sideways and stared at Fluttershy, who felt a blush creeping over her entire body. The blush rebounded off of the fabric of the sleeping bag, making the butter colored pegasus uncomfortably hot. But she didn't dare wriggle out of the sleeping bag. If Big Macintosh was in trouble just for her being here, imagine what they would do if they found out she had wings!
“This is mah clubhouse, an’ me an’ Apple Bumpkin come here to play games an’ we find you up here with some filly doin’ who knows what!” She stared at Fluttershy accusingly, narrowing her eyes and taking a few steps toward the intruder. Fluttershy squeaked and covered her eyes with her hooves over her hair. She felt as if she had stepped onto hallowed ground and gotten caught. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out and it closed just as quickly, biting her lip. Her ears lowered, and she tried to stammer out an apology.
"You never come up here anymore!" Big Mac protested, trying to draw the angry filly's attention away from the cringing Fluttershy.
Her gaze slid back over to her younger brother, and she hissed "So just because I stop comin' here for a few days you think you can bring some....filly out here?"
“AppleJack that’s enough. You’re scaring her.”
Big Macintosh stepped forward and grabbed ahold of AppleJack’s tail, pulling her backwards and away from Fluttershy, who gave a sigh of relief. Applejack resisted, dragging her hooves while he pulled her away. She snorted and straightened, pulling her tail free and flicking Macintosh in the face with the gathered end. Her freckled face was angry, but Apple Bumpkin broke her frozen pose to sneak forward and place a hoof on her shoulder. Her voice also carried a southern accent, but it was lilting and light.
“He’s right AJ, look at her. She’s so scared of you, there’s no way Big Mac could touch her.” Applejack froze, and then shivered as if to rid herself of a fly. Her gaze went from Apple Bumpkin to Big Mac, and finally back to Fluttershy, who cowered. Apple Bumpkin looked from Applejack to Fluttershy, and even if her tone was light and innocent, her gaze was anything but. She released Applejack and stood appraising the other foal.
The southern pony sighed, and said in a much gentler tone “Ahm mighty sorry sugarcube. I guess I got a might carried away. But in all seriousness, what’re you doin’ in our clubhouse? And just who are you?”
Fluttershy came out from her hiding place in her pink mane and whispered “I’m…F-Fluttershy.” She slowly rose to her feet, letting the sleeping bag fall away from her and exposing her wings. Apple Bumpkin gasped and backed away, fear replacing suspicion. Applejack’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth with a hoof. “Why, you’ve got wings!”
“I’m a..pegasus.” Fluttershy said, tracing an invisible circle into the wooden floor. “I…fell from Cloudsdale, but I can’t really get home. You see, I’m not the best flier.” Big Mac made a move to comfort her, but an inquisitive look from his younger sister abruptly stopped his attempt. This Pegasus conflicted with what she had been taught. Teachers told her about how the Pegasus were big bullies who threatened to block out the sun until the earth ponies paid them tribute. They fought with the unicorns and destroyed half of their city because they weren’t getting as much as the magical ponies. Ma and Papa said that if they ever saw a Pegasus or unicorn hanging around the farm, they should run and tell them right away.
Run and tell them…
“Bumpkin!” Applejack whirled to see the candy haired foal bolting for the door. Big Mac lunged, grabbing his cousin by the back legs and sending her crashing to the ground. She wailed, kicking her hooves to try and force him to let go. Fluttershy squeaked and jumped backwards, almost out the window behind her. Applejack leapt over Bumpkin's wriggling body and blocked the doorway, staring down and Apple Bumpkin. “You were goin’ to tell our folks, weren’t you?”
“That’s what we’re supposed to do!” She whined, looking up at her cousin with baleful eyes. “She’s lyin’! I bet she’s here to make sure we have enough apples to pay them!” Big Mac and Fluttershy both shouted “No!”. Applejack stamped her hoof, silencing Bumpkin’s accusations and the two protestors.
“Now this here filly doesn’t look like the type to go runnin’ of an’ stealin’ our apples. She looks genuinely scared an’ I’m willin’ to overlook the…additions she has until she proves that she is anything but honest.” Her face was level with Bumpkin, who avoided catching her gaze. Big Mac released their cousin while Fluttershy looked on in awe.
“If you tell a soul that..Fluttershy was it? Right. If you tell a soul that Fluttershy is here, I’m gonna make sure your parents know jus’ what happened to the grain silo an’ why they lost a whole season’s worth of grain because of you. You got that?” Bumpkin didn’t reply, only sniffed. Applejack attempted to look her in the eyes, and then finally gave up, letting the filly go. She sat still for a moment, sniffing. Fluttershy thought she might kick Applejack when the pale foal shouted “Your mean Applejack!” and ran from the clubhouse sobbing. She wasn’t going to tell. Not yet. Let Applejack and her awful big brother make friends with the refugee and then, oh boy was she gonna tell on them! As Apple Bumpkin ran away, Applejack sighed and shook her head.
“You don’t think she’ll tell do you?”
“Naw, she won’t say a word. If her parents knew about how she left the door to the grain silo open an’ let a whole field of mice in to ruin their harvest, they’d tan her hide.” The cowpony sat down, rubbing her temple beneath her hat. All this excitement had given her a bit of a headache.
“AJ, I can explain..”
“No Big Mac, I want Fluttershy to explain just how she got here. An’ no lies. I can tell.” She lay on the floor and stared up at Fluttershy, who cleared her throat experimentally. She relayed the entire tale, from Rainbow Dash’s race to her fall and the moment when Big Macintosh had found her. Her voice started nearly inaudible, but grew in power as she story went on. All of this telling took some time, and the moon was out by the time the story was over. Finishing the story was a yawn, Fluttershy flexed her stiff wings, earning a strange look from Applejack. She paused mid stretch, then asked “Why don’t earth ponies like pegasi? How come I have to hide in here?”
Applejack looked uneasy, so Big Macintosh offered an answer. “You see, the pegasi haven’t always been the nicest of ponies towards us earth ponies. We don’t have magical powers, and we can’t fly. All we can do is good, honest work. But the pegasi don’t really care about that. They say that if we don’t pay them some of our harvest every year, they will cover up the sun and then our crops won’t grow.”
“We’re responsible for a lot of ponies out here.” Applejack chimed in, looking at her brother seriously, but talking to Fluttershy. “Our crops feed almost all of Ponyville, and some are even sent to other towns. Our apples are famous.” She grinned proudly, a grin that turned into a melancholy visage. “Without the sun, our apples wouldn’t grow, and then we couldn’t sell them. Our farm would go under. We would have to move.”
The tension in the room was rising as all three foals went to their private stash of misery. Fluttershy couldn’t imagine what it must be like, worrying about losing the one place you love. Applejack didn’t want to think about how hard it must be for Fluttershy. She was lost, and had no way of getting home. Big Macintosh was lost in his thoughts about the one time he said he would run away. It hadn’t been more than two hours before he came crying back to Sweet Apple Acres.
The mood turned sour, and finally Applejack shivered, saying “Well anyway, you don’t seem like a terrible pony, so I guess you can stay in mah clubhouse. But you can’t be seen by anypony else. I can only threaten so many ponies.” Her smile was warm beneath her freckles, even welcoming. Fluttershy’s eyes filled with happy tears and she said “Oh thank you Applejack. I promise I won’t let anypony else see me. I’ll be as quiet as a cloud.”
“Right.” Applejack said, chuckling at the odd expression. She rose to her hooves and turned to Big Mac. “We best be gettin’ back or Granny Smith will have our flanks.” The siblings went out the door, and as Applejack walked down the ramp, Big Mac poked his head in one last time. Fluttershy was settling into her sleeping bag before she looked up at a yellow-green glow. Big Mac was scooting a medium sized mason jar into the room that glowed softly with tiny lights. Fluttershy stared at the glowing glass, and realized that the jar was filled with fireflies. She had only seen fireflies from far away before. He nudged it one more time, just to make sure it was as close as possible to Fluttershy. His smile was illuminated by the fireflies, and his eyes were warm.
“I kinda figured you’d be scared of the dark. These guys should keep it lit up though.” Her gratitude was overwhelming. How did he know? “Thank you Big Macintosh. For everything.” She smiled, drawing the jar a little closer to herself.
“It’s Big Mac.” He said, shutting the door behind him. She could hear him walking down the ramp, and felt the clubhouse wobble a bit when he jumped off. She traced the path of the fireflies in her nightlight until she became drowsy, and drifted off to sleep. Big Mac and Applejack went to their respective beds after being berated by their grandmother, each thinking about the hidden pony out in the orchard. Big Mac wondered if she would be ok out there all alone. Applejack wondered if she would be ok if the other ponies found her.