Chapter 11
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I feel a hoof on my shoulder and yank again, pulling out of Apple Bloom’s hug and glaring at Applejack.
She looks shocked as the tears stream down my face.
“Ah trusted you.”
She blinks at the quiet whisper, then steps forward as I turn around. “Applebuck—”
Her sentence is cut off as I rear back and buck her, sending her flying at the wall. She goes right through it, across the hall and through the wall into the next.
I whirl around and look at her with both pure rage and heartbreak. “Ah trusted you!”
I bolt out the door and down the stairs, my eyes shut. I don’t even care where I’m going anymore. If I suddenly find myself in the Everfree Forest when I open my eyes I honestly don’t care. I just need to go somewhere, anywhere away from—
I slam into something and feel it nearly move away from me, but something holds it in place. It’s soft, like a pony’s fur, but the impact leaves me a little stunned, not having expected it.
“Sam hill. What’s goin’ on around here?” a voice says as I feel hooves wrap softly around me. It sounded like...
I look up, opening my eyes. Through my blurry vision I can see something green above me.
“G-Granny Smith!” I wail, burying my face into her fur and bawling. It’s a wonder I still have any tears to bawl at all.
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Granny Smith stared down at the young filly, wondering just what could have happened to make her so upset. When she’d arrived back from her spa trip that nice Rarity had offered her, Mac had blubbered something about two Apple Blooms.
Now, Granny Smith prided herself on being able to tell one member of her family from another, even if they were disguised, whether by dressing up or magic.
And as she looked down at the filly in her hooves, a filly that looked just like Apple Bloom in every way, she could tell, despite the everything in regards to looks, this was not Apple Bloom.
However, the filly was clearly distraught and Granny Smith would’ve been ashamed of herself if she didn’t comfort the poor dear.
“Applebuck!”
Even though she was able to tell the filly she was holding wasn’t her granddaughter, hearing her voice from the stairs while holding a filly that looks just like her still was a little unsettling even the elderly mare.
She looked up to see Apple Bloom hurrying down the stairs, Applejack right behind her, sporting a rather nasty looking bruise on her chest that could only have come from a buck.
They both stopped when they reached Granny Smith and Big Mac, both looking uncertain what to say.
“Ah think we need a family meeting, in the livin’ room,” the elderly mare said firmly, brushing the filly’s red mane. “Tell me everythin’.”
Several hours later the four members of the Apple family were seated in the living room, Big Mac sitting in his father’s old chair, Applejack their mother’s, whilst Apple Bloom sat on the shared couch with Granny Smith, who still held the Apple Bloom look-alike called Applebuck in her forehooves.
The young filly had cried herself to sleep in the old mare’s hold. While she seemed calm, she still sniffled in her sleep from time to time.
Granny Smith gave her older granddaughter a very angry, very disappointed look.
“Ah just can’t believe you, Applejack,” she said quietly, causing said mare to haunch over. Granny talking quietly to you like that was worse than her yelling at you. It meant she was extremely disappointed in you. A disappointment that dug deep.
“But... why, Ganny?” she asked meekly, not even able to lift her head to look at her grandmother. “Ah was just tryin’ ta teach her not to pull mean-spirited pranks like she did.”
Granny Smith huffed. “If'n that’s yer idea o’ mean-spirited pranks, AJ, then Ah guess ya’ll have fergotten what it was like afore Bloom found her friends.”
Applejack hunched even lower. That soft voice was like a weight bearing down upon her with each word.
“Do ya’ll understand why she reacted to ya the way she did?”
Applejack, caught a little off-guard by that question, looked up, confusion on her face. “Huh?”
Granny Smith sighed. “Clearly ya don’t. Well, Ah’ll tell ya. Ya said last night ya let her sleep with ya?”
“Yeah,” Applejack nodded slowly.
“Why was that?”
Applejack looked to Applebuck, her as going misty. “She’s scared, Granny. Ah could tell she needed some comfort, so Ah offered.”
“An’ how did she react once the two o’ ya were in bed?”
Applejack looked away. “She... she relaxed. She seemed more at ease than she had been all day.”
“And in the mornin’?”
Applejack felt herself choking up a little. “She... she was snuggled right next ta me and... and called me “Mama” in her sleep, thinkin’ she was home.”
Granny Smith sighed, shaking her head. “She trusted ya, AJ.”
Applejack looked to the older mare, frowning slightly. “That’s what she said right afore she bucked me through the wall and bolted downstairs.” She raised an eyebrow. “What’s that got ta do with it.”
Granny glared, causing the orange mare to cower a little. “She’s a world tha’ tain’t her own, with none she feels truly safe around and’s worried she might not get home. Then ya’ll give her a reason t’ make her feel safe and she puts her faith and trust in ya. Then, when she tries ta help yer sister deal with a bully, ya go an’ punish her for it.”
“But that prank—” Applejack began.
“Was nothin’ but that, a harmless prank,” Granny cut her off. “Ah’ve spoken with Miss Cheerilee and, trust me, compared t’ what that filly puts our little Bloom through on a daily basis, that prank was nothing a’ all.”
“But, Ah—”
Granny shook her head, a sad look on her aged face. “Ya’ll were the first pony she put any faith in, AJ and then ya went an’ stomped on it. Ah bet if ya asked she’d say she feels betrayed by the only one she felt she could trust.”
“But, Granny, Ah... Ah didn’t mean... Ah didn’t want...” Applejack trailed off as the full weight of what the older mare had said sunk in and cemented itself within her.
She’d betrayed Applebuck; less than a day after promising to look after her and keep her safe, she’d gone and left that filly feeling betrayed and hurt. She suddenly felt she deserved worse than the mark on her chest.
She had to give it to the filly; they’d chosen the right name for her. She could buck hard as any Apple. Still, that didn’t lift her spirits enough from the pain she’d caused the filly entrusted to her care.
Granny Smith sighed and looked to Apple Bloom. “Bloom?”
“Yeah, Granny?” the little filly asked, turning to her with a concerned expression.
“Would you mind if Applebuck slept with you t’night? She needs somepony to be there to comfort her when she wakes up and, sadly, Ah don’t think she’d feel comfortable waking up with Applejack—” the orange mare pulled her Stetson over her eyes in shame— “and since she used ta be a male, Ah don’t think she’d really feel comfortable waking up next to Big Mac—” said stallion blushed heavily, trying not to picture an adult male version of the small filly lying in a bed next to him— “and Ah don’t think she’d really wanna wake up next ta an old mare like me,” Granny finished, looking down at the sleeping filly. “But, since yer about the same age as her, she might feel at ease wakin’ up ta find you there ta comfort her. Ya understand?”
Apple Bloom nodded, then looked sadly at the filly that looked just like her.
Granny smiled and nodded, gently getting up and looking to Big Mac.
The stallion got up and helped his grandmother slip the sleeping filly onto his back. He then headed upstairs to Apple Bloom’s room and laid the filly in Apple Bloom’s bed, leaving enough room for said filly to get in when she herself went to bed.
After that they had an awkwardly silent dinner, before Bloom decided to turn in early.
She showered, brushed her teeth and went to her room. She carefully got into bed, making sure not to wake the sleeping filly and lay down.
However, before she could close her eyes and drift off to sleep, Applebuck started sniffling.
Apple Bloom noticed tears sliding down her face, a hurt expression on her muzzle.
Not knowing what else to do, Apple Bloom leaned closer and pulled her doppelganger into a hug. The sniffling slowly subsided and Applebuck was soon sound asleep again, her breathing the only sound she was making.
Happy to have helped, Apple Bloom closed her own eyes and let herself drift off into the sleep of Luna’s night.
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“Mama!” I wail, leaping up into her arms and snuggling against her chest.
She holds me close, whispering assurances into my ear as Michelle and Tara look on sadly.
We’ve just come from America, where I’d been of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. It had gone well for the most part, I’d even had some fun messing with Geoff the skeleton.
However, while the interview went well, what happened after is another story. As we were driving back towards the airport, another car nearly caused us to crash. What’s worse is it was intentional. If not for our driver’s quick thinking, we could’ve all died in a crash, or at the very least be left badly injured.
We learned later that a bunch of guys got arrested and when asked why they’d tried to run us off the road, it was because I was in the car.
“Maybe we should hold off the interviews and appearances for a while,” Tara says, looking sadly at me. “Wait til things have calmed down a little, you know?”
“It’ll never calm down,” I sob into my mum’s chest. “There’s always gonna be people who hate me just cuz Ah’m a pony.”
“Which is why I will be taking her away now!”
We all turn, my eyes going wide as I see Princess Celestia standing in the middle of the living room, her expression grim.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Mum cries, holding me tighter.
She cries out suddenly as a golden aura envelops us and I’m pulled out from Mum’s arms. Michelle and Tara hurry towards me, but are blocked by a wall of glowing golden energy.
I look to Princess Celestia with wide, fearful eyes. “You have not kept my little pony safe. Now, she will return to the world where she belongs, with her own kind.”
Suddenly we’re outside Sweet Apple Acres. Celestia releases me from her magical hold and disappears.
Looking around, I see Applejack walking away.
“Applejack!” I cry, trying to run towards her, to ask what’s going on, but it’s like I’m not moving forward. No matter how hard I run, it’s like I’m staying in one place.
As I run though, Applejack is fading away, until I’m standing in a world of pure blackness.
I drop to my knees, sobbing. Why? Why is this happening?
“Enough, young one,” a soothing voice suddenly says.
Looking up quickly, I gasp as I see Princess Luna standing in front of me, a very sad expression on her face. Glancing around, I see the darkness has faded away and I’m in Luna’s Dream Realm.
“It... it was all a nightmare?” I look to the lunar princess and she gives a small nod.
“Fear not, little one,” she says, leaning down and nuzzling me, using a forehoof to wipe the tears from my eyes. “When my sister is better, we shall learn the real reason you have ended up in our world and do what we can to send you back. And I can personally assure you, you’re coming here wasn’t anything like what you just dreamt.”
I want to argue, to understand why Luna doesn’t believe her sister brought me here against my will, when I know I didn’t want to go to sleep at home and wake up in Equestria, but she just seems to exude a calming aura that makes me relax.
She does have a point. Why would Princess Celestia just barge into my world, yank me from my family and bring me to Equestria so forcefully? She’d never have done that.
With my mind at peace again, I drift into a peaceful, dreamlessness.
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I awake to the sound of a rooster crowing. I’m about to decide to ignore it and go back to sleep, when I notice I’m against a warm body.
My first thought is Applejack and I prepare to buck her out of the bed for daring to try and comfort me after what she did, but I hesitate, noticing the body next to me feels similar in size to me.
Frowning curiously, I open my eyes, blinking to get the sleep out of them. When my eyes have adjusted, I just stare blankly for several seconds.
Apple Bloom is sleeping right across from me. actually, her face is alarmingly close. Doing my best to observe the situation as much as I can without moving and waking her, I realize she’s holding me in a very tight hug.
I can feel the pressure against my spine. If I wasn’t an Earth Pony, I’m pretty sure she would have snapped it with how strong she’s holding me.
“Apple Bloom?” I grunt, before struggling to try and free myself. Damn, this filly’s got a strong grip. “Apple Bloom, wake up!”
“Mmm?” she murmurs, before slowly opening her eyes and looking at me blearily.
I give a slight grimace. “Can... can ya’ll please let me go now? Any tighter and ya’ll break mah spine.”
She blinks, glancing down at her forehooves, before blushing and quickly pulls away, apologizing,
I stretch my body, doing my best to get any stiffness out of it, which, thanks to how Bloom’s been near crushing me all night from the given evidence, there’s a lot.
I crick my neck a few times, before twisting my limbs back and forth to get full circulation in them again.
Once that’s over, we both head downstairs to find Granny Smith setting plate for us with hash browns, apples and each a bowl of porridge. We both move to the table and start eating.
“So, Granny, where’s AJ?” Apple Bloom asks.
I pause, my grip on the spoon I’m holding tightening a little.
“Yer sister’s working the market stall t’day, Bloom,” Granny says, before looking to me. “Applebuck, Big Mac needs a little help with the apple bucking t’day. Wanna lend a hoof?”
I blink, looking at the elderly mare with a raise eyebrow. “Uh, Granny, Ah ain’t never done any apple buckin’ afore.”
She just waves a hoof. “No worries, child. Ah saw the mark ya left on mah granddaughter. Ya got the bucking skills.”
I frown, for some reason feeling offended by that, but I honestly can’t say why.
Once breakfast is finished, Apple Bloom grabs her saddlebags and heads off for school, leaving me with Granny to be shown into the fields. We find Big Mac as he gives a tree a hard kick and apples cascade down into the baskets stationed around it.
“Ah’ll leave you two to it,” Granny says, before turning to Mac. "Now, she says she ain't ever apple bucked afore, Mac, so show her the ropes, got it?"
"Eeyup," he replied with a nod.
Granny smiles at me, winking, then walks off to do... whatever Granny will do today.
After she’s gone Mac and I stand in silence for a while.
“So...?” I say once the quiet becomes to awkward for me, “ya wan’ed mah help with the apples?”
“Eeyup.”
I inwardly deadpan. Please don’t tell me this is the most conversation I’m going to have today.
I sigh, moving over to one of the trees. “Now, ya’ll wanna take it easy,” I almost jump in shock when he really speaks. “Since it’s yer first time bucking, how about we—”
“Who said it’s mah first time bucking?” I ask, rearing back and delivering a strong kick to the tree. Second later, apples tumble down into the gathered baskets.
When the falling of apples stops, I turn to look at Big Mac, who’s just staring at me with his mouth wide open.
“But...” he says with an expression that suggests he’s trying to remember how to work his mouth. “But Granny just said ya’ll said ya’d never been apple buckin’ before.”
I nod. “Yeah. Ah ain’t til t’day. Never said Ah ain’t learned how t’ buck though.”
That actually causes him to close his mouth and raise an eyebrow.
I look away, scuffing a hoof on the ground, my ears splaying back. “Let’s just say, shortly after Ah changed, I learned t’ buck t’ defend mahself. Not everyone in mah world was exactly okay with me bein’ this way.”
We lapse back into silence for a little, before I hear a snort that I’ve learn to associate with a smirk. Looking up, I see Big Mac giving me a challenging look.
“Ah bet Ah get buck more apples than ya’ll by the end o’ the day.”
I give him a deadpan stare. “Yer challenging a filly to compete against ya, when yer a full grown stallion? How exactly is that fair?”
“Alright, then,” he says, still wearing that same smirk. “If’n ya’ll think ya can’ handle a little competition, then Ah guess yer not tough enough.”
Even though a part of me knows that he’s just baiting me here, trying to draw me into a challenge and I know I should be the smart one, if only to show him up, and deny his taunting... but something in me suddenly wants to prove to this damn stallion that I ain’t no pushover!
“Fine!” I say, narrowing my eyes. “It’s on!”
As I run to the nearest tree and start bucking, I fail to notice the slightly warm smirk the slips onto Mac’s face.