//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13 - The Apple Doesn't Fall Far..., Part 2 
// Story: I'm gonna cuddle you. And you're gonna enjoy it! 
// by Shin Guyviroth 
//------------------------------//

For a rather simple tree house it sure had one heck of an attic. It felt almost the same size as a whole house, and yet it was actually only a third in size. Some sort of Time Lord technology stuff going on here—bigger on the inside. 

I found myself rummaging through opened boxes and large wicker baskets, though only because it all piqued my interest. There were a mix of different toys and tools and other assortment of DIY stuff, from paint brushes to bouncy balls to strips of lumber. I suppose some of this stuff was left over from when the tree house was built, but the toys seemed out f place. I found myself fiddling around with a half-finished scooter kit, with the wheels and handle bars disconnected. Seemed like there were a few screws missing, too.

Not that I'm shocked. A few other pieces were missing besides screws, either lost or probably just didn't come with any to begin with. They probably picked this up from IKEA or something.

Before I could consider fixing this up to pass the time, I heard quick, tiny hoofsteps from the ramp outside.

"Summers! We need ta talk!" Apple Bloom's voice almost echoed, and also sounded urgent… And a little demanding. I had this gut feeling that she was gonna hit me again.

I put the halves of the scooter down and shuffled to the hatch way of the staircase. "You call, Apple Bloom?" I called down to her.

"Wha' did ya go to—Wait. Why are ya up there?"

"Hiding."

"From Applejack?"

"From everyone. Hey, you didn't tell Rarity where I was, right?"

"No, and even if  did I wouldn't had been able to. That's what we need to talk about."

She sounded pretty serious. I swung my legs around and onto the steps before making my way back down—a tough chore considering the small size of the hole and with how tall I was. "Sounds pretty bad. So what happened at—" I let out a gasp as Apple Bloom jabbed me in the ribs with a hoof "—Ow! What the heck did I do this time?"

"Why'd ya break Rarity's window?"

The question came completely out of nowhere, and I paused before I spoke, "She trapped me inside her house and wouldn't let me out!"

"Trapped you? You didn't break in to her house?"

"Break in? I was trying to break out!"

"She locked the door an' everythin'?"

"Yeah. I had to dive through the window just to get out."

"… 'Kay. She's awfully upset with ya, Summers. But Applejack said she was gonna help fix her window after their meetin'." As soon as she said "meetin'", her face dropped and her eyes shifted from me to the floor. "Actually… that's what I need ta talk to ya 'bout."

"Meeting?" I felt the tightness of my throat as I tried to swallow. "What kind of meeting?"

"… About you."

"Me? What about me?"

"I dunno. They wouldn't let me join 'em. But everypony seems awfully mad at ya, Summers."

I felt my heart skip a beat. Then another. It was like my heart had stopped, and every ounce of blood that was in my veins rushed straight to my head. My brain felt numb, and my hands were shaky. Then my legs followed suit. I stumbled, collapsing against the opposite wall before resting my back against it, with my legs sprawled out haphazardly in front of me. 

"S-Summers? Are ya feelin' okay?"

I felt my breaths become shorter with each inhale. "How… How did things come to this…?" I held my head in my hands. I was burning, like I caught a fever. My eyes were shaking in their sockets, and I couldn't focus on anything. "All I did was refuse to cuddle some ponies… And now they're talking about what they're gonna do to me!"

"I doubt it's that bad, Summers. Maybe they'll just—"

"They're gonna form an angry mob and chase me! They're gonna start a man hunt for me! They'll—they're gonna capture me, and then they'll throw me in the dungeon next to some fat hairy bull guy who's gonna make me his—"

I felt a sudden flash of pain on my left cheek. I think Apple Bloom hit me again. Everything went back to normal, like her hoof was the cure for my breakdown. 

"Snap outta it, Summers, ya eejit!  I know all of 'em, and they ain't gonna hurt ya! Well, I guess Rarity might for breaking her window."

"I broke Twilight's window, too."

"… Okay, Twilight might do too." She paused, as though she was waiting for me to say something. But my mind was just an utter blank at this point. I had so many thoughts that nothing was getting processed, like my brain had crashed. "By the way, Summers—why didn't ya give 'em any cuddles?"

An age old question, practically. Yet it was something I didn't know, nor was it something I could explain. It was like asking why the sky is blue, why the grass is green, and what the meaning of life is. It wasn't something I could say for certainty. 

"I don't know, Apple Bloom. Truly I don't. All day I've been thinking about it, but I still haven't come to any sort of conclusion. It could take a while."

"Well, ya might wanna get a move on; the sun's startin' ta set." 

I turned to look over my shoulder and out the window that was beside me. She was right; the sun was dipping into the horizon, half way between sky and earth. "What time is it, Apple Bloom?"

"Nearly six."

"You think we can get your banner done by seven?"

"Sounds like a plan!"





I was quite impressed with what the both of us had accomplished, especially with the amount of arguing we had between sky blue and baby pink banner paper. Apple Bloom won, of course; she had a good way of persuading me with a balled up hoof ready to sock me one. 

Baby pink paper lay sprawled across the floor in front of us, reaching probably five feet in length and a foot in width, to which I couldn't help but wonder how she was gonna put this up on her own. I still got to add my touch though, by putting strips of shiny blue ribbon around the edges to make a border. Just inside, Apple Bloom put scattering of golden stars in the corners, which really did look nice against the pink background.

Along the banner she wrote "Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse"—which she nearly misspelt "clubhowse" if it hadn't been for my intervention. It took a while to really agree on how to write it; she wanted to have it in multiple colours like the old one, but the bright colours just blended into the pink. In the end, we came up with a great idea to make the writing in blue paint, and then go around the edges of each letter with trails of glitter. It would look good out in the sun, if not for the fact that the sun was going down.

"I think it came out really well," I said, yawning ever so slightly as I spoke. "But I think I'm gonna have to give you a hand putting it up. It's pretty huge."

The tired filly let out a yawn of her own before rubbing her half-closed eyes with a hoof, getting a bit of glitter stuck to her face in the process. "Ya gonna help me put it up tomorrow, right?"

"Sure I will." 

And a feeling of ambivalence washed over me. I didn't want to say it, and yet I couldn't say anything to the contrary—a hard thing to say considering I was a wanted man, effectively. I had to watch my step and watch my back, like I was Solid Snake. And yet I couldn't just say "no" to her, not to that cute, bug-eyed face of her. I think it was the huge bow that made her look so darn adorable.

Apple Bloom giggled as she kept her eyes fixated on the banner. "I sure hope Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are gonna like this."

"They will. You put a lot of effort into making this banner, you know."

It was like déjà vu as she turned to look at me with that recognisable look of confusion in her eyes. "Uh… Don'tchya mean "we"?"

I hummed as I smiled at her. "Who? Me? Can't be. I've never been here before. You haven't seen me. You don't know who I am. You spent all day in here, and you worked tirelessly on this awesome banner that you made all by yourself." She looked down at the banner, gazing at all the work we had put into it. Then she gazed back up to me with saddened eyes. She understood what I was saying. "Isn't that right, Apple Bloom?"

Her mouth opened, her lips moved, but not a single word came out for that brief moment. "B-but, Summers," she forced, "I can't say I did all o' this. You helped out too, and you helped make it better." She rushed over to the back of the room and snatched a rolled of piece of paper—the old banner—in her teeth before tossing it towards me, letting it unravel in front of me. "Look at how much better you helped make my old one! How… How can ya sit back an' let me take all the credit?"

"Because I'm only human." To anyone else it would have made sense—would have meant something. But saying it to a pony only drew from her a blank look. "It doesn't matter. But what matters is that you put more effort into this than I did. You spent all day working on getting a nice banner for your clubhouse. That's a lot of dedication, you know. And that makes you" —I pressed my finger on one of the golden star sequins that lay on the floor, letting it stick to the tip before putting it on Apple Bloom's cheek— "a real special star."    

I didn't mean to do it, but a single little bead of tear ran down her flustered cheek. I moved me finger to stop it, wiping it away from her face before gently petting her soft, cherry-coloured mane. "I still feel bad 'bout it though," she muttered quietly. 

"Please don't worry about it, Apple Bloom," I pleaded with her. I stood up and took my hand from her head. "I need to go. Applejack might be back soon, and I ain't gonna be able to hide in here forever. You go get some sleep, hon."

The poor filly sniffled as her shimmering eyes followed me as I stood. "You promise ya gonna come back tomorrow?"

"I promise." Despite my word, she looked away from me with a doubtful look in her eyes. "You don't believe me?"

"It's… It's not that…" She paused, shifting her hooves around before her gaze shifted back to me. "Summers… Can I have a cuddle?"

It was like a mix of when I cuddled Trixie and when I cuddled Lyra and Bon Bon. I had no objection, no sense of vulnerability, and no sense of discomfort. No, it was something different. Something more. Like I wanted to hold them close, like I was doing something good for them—giving me soul to them.

"Of course, Apple Bloom," I cooed to her as I knelt down to one knee. One hand wrapped around her withers while the other around the back of her head, and gently I pulled her close. Her forelegs lifted up and over my shoulders as she buried her warm cheek into my chest and nuzzled under my chin like an orphaned kitten. I could still feel her tear-dampened coat as she nuzzled me, and I couldn't help but stroke down her back and head. "Try and get a good night sleep, okay, hon?"

"I'll try, Summers. You're a real good friend…"





" a real good friend, y'know that?"





I could hear her voice again. A voice I thought I could forget about, but I just couldn't let it go. And just like that, I found myself with a dull, numbing pain in my chest—in my heart. 

I let go of Apple Bloom and stood up once more, letting her forelegs just slip back from over my shoulders and onto the ground. "Good night, Apple Bloom," was all I said before I took my leave. I didn't wave, and I didn't smile. Heck, I didn't even realise how monotonous my goodbye sounded then. 

I just made my way back down the ramp, still clinging onto the words that Apple Bloom had said but moments earlier. "A good friend," was all I could mutter myself one. Then twice. To anyone else, they had meaning. To me, they were just words.

But it wasn't until I heard tapping at the window that I rethought about that. I turned and saw Apple Bloom by the window, holding the top end corner of the banner. Her hoof was pointing at something near the end of the glittering text—a gold-coloured sun just above and to the side of the last 'E'. It took me a moment, but I understood it. A nice golden sun for Summers.

I gave a big smile and waved back at her before I made my way back up the hill. And it was then that I remember what having a great friend really meant.