//------------------------------// // 3 - The Sparkles // Story: Pride of the Apples // by LightningSword //------------------------------// The whole Apple family got up bright and early the next morning to start work. Granny Smith took the first shift in watching over Calvados, and Applejack and Big McIntosh started working the fields. There had been a bit of an incident that morning before Apple Bloom left for school; Cal didn't seem to understand why Apple Bloom was leaving, and was upset at having to see her go. It took a little coaxing and calming to settle him down and prevent an incident. Another incident . . . Applejack and Big Mac started in the pumpkin fields, but the former felt that her heart wasn't quite in it. Her feelings were split two ways, with the first being the most obvious: her worry over her younger brother. It was well-placed worry, naturally; she'd had a hard enough time allowing Apple Bloom to stay home alone, and she couldn't even bring herself to do that. Cal may have been older, but being autistic, it was difficult to tell whether that would make a difference. He tended to get easily distracted, he was resolute and single-minded in whatever goal he wanted most, and most days, the whole rest of the world didn't exist to him. What he could possibly do without Applejack to watch over him, she didn't even want to guess. The other feeling was something she'd suppressed ever since before Cal had come home. She fought it every time it threatened to surface again, especially when Twilight had inadvertently brought it up yesterday. She didn't want to feel this way, but it was always there, no matter how much she tried to will it away. As they began harvesting, Big Mac seemed to notice Applejack's lackluster attitude, and in a rare moment, spoke up on it: “You okay?” Applejack knew what she must look like at that moment if Mac took a moment to speak on the matter. “I don't know, Mac,” she replied, struggling to explain, “I'm just startin' to think this visit was a bad idea. I don't wanna think that way, 'cause I know Cal's been lookin' forward to this, but I just feel like somethin' bad might happen while he's here. Somethin' havin' to do with him. Maybe I'm just bein' paranoid, maybe not . . . . I just don't know anymore, Mac.” She turned toward her older brother, feeling worry lining her face. “Is it bad to feel this way?” Big Mac looked back at his sister with a warm gaze and gently shook his head, “Nope.” “Are ya sure?” Applejack insisted. “Eeyup.” Applejack still wasn't sure. She knew that, no matter what she felt, or toward whom, the shame should truly lie with her. “AJ!” Applejack looked up to see two ponies trotting briskly into the fields, towards her and Big Mac: Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. She was relieved to see them, but at the same time, she just couldn't shake off that feeling of foreboding. Nevertheless, she greeted her friends, “Howdy, Twilight, Fluttershy. How y'all doin'?” “Good morning, Applejack,” Twilight said brightly, “morning, Big Mac.” “Eeyup.” “I've actually been looking forward to looking after Cal,” said Fluttershy with a grin. “He's so cute and sweet, and I think we might really get along.” “I sure hope we will,” Twilight added. “We've decided to rotate every day when we come visit. We'll always come two at a time, and each of us comes two days in a row before going to the next. Fluttershy will be back tomorrow and bring one of the girls with her, then the next day, the pony Fluttershy brought will bring another, and so on. That way, Cal will get used to all of us, and with two of us here at a time, he won't feel too overstimulated and get upset.” She looked at Applejack to read her for a response. “Sound good?” “Yeah, I suppose . . .” Applejack trailed off, glancing back at the house, then resumed in an authoritative tone, “Now, look. Y'all oughta know a few things about Cal. He's awful sensitive and don't like havin' his hooves or his face touched—” “We know, Applejack,” Twilight assured. “An' if he don't answer you, it don't mean he's bein' rude. He just don't hear things right the first time—” “It's okay, Applejack, we know.” “He can be a picky eater, too. And he likes the record player on often. And if he ain't through with somethin', don't try to take it away—” “Yes, Applejack, thank you, but we understand—” “—unless he's got a hold of something sharp, or hot, or made of glass. In that case, don't panic, and ask him real nice—” “Applejack!” Twilight spoke up over her, and the Earth pony stopped mid-sentence. “Um, sorry, Applejack,” Fluttershy apologized for Twilight, “but, well . . . Twilight had something to say . . .” Applejack sighed and pressed a hoof to her forehead. “Sorry 'bout that, Twilight. I just need to make sure of these things, ya know?” “Believe me, I get it. That's why I brought this.” Twilight unfurled her left wing and encased a thick, leather-bound book in her magic, bringing it out for Applejack to see. On the front cover read the words: Ponies on the Autism Spectrum: Common Behaviors and Responses. “It took me hours to find books like this yesterday, but I've spent some extra time reading them since then, and now I think I can handle things.” Applejack looked back at Twilight with skeptical eyes. “Twilight, I already told you, I don't care for when ponies think they know—” “Relax, AJ. Like I said, I'm not an expert. But I at least have an idea of what Cal is like and how to appeal to him, and now I have a better idea than yesterday. You can trust me. Cal will be just fine, okay?” “I just don't know,” Applejack frowned, “I don't feel right pawnin' him off on you two. He's s'posed to be with family . . .” Fluttershy approached Applejack and gave her a reassuring smile. “We're family too,” she said, “and we'd do anything for you, if you needed us.” Applejack closed her eyes and tilted her head down, deep in thought. This would be difficult, given her need to protect her brother and how unusual he could be in the eyes of strangers. But Twilight and Fluttershy were her best friends—if she couldn't trust them, they wouldn't be. And as much as they'd been through together, she couldn't refuse their willingness. Finally, she took another deep sigh and replied, “I'll be back inside every now and then to take over. I still say he needs to be with family, even if we are all working for the Eclipse Celebration.” She looked over at Big Mac. “Can ya handle these fields alone when I do?” Mac looked back at his sister with a benign look, and his voice matched it, “Eeyup.” “Okay,” said Applejack, satisfied, before she answered, “I'll take you to him and introduce ya, just so he don't get a fright. Keep an eye on him, and remember everything I said. I'll be back inside in an hour.” Twilight and Fluttershy both nodded. “Don't worry, Applejack,” Twilight smiled, “your brother is in good hooves.” Big Mac's bedroom had an extra-large cot set up on the opposite side from the bed. Calvados was now sitting in the bed itself, gently bouncing in place as he scribbled away at a sheet of paper with the blue crayon in his mouth. He looked as though he hadn't even noticed three ponies walking into the room. He looked as though he thought he was the only pony in the world—it was just him and whatever portrait he was working on. “Uhh . . . Cal?” Applejack spoke up. “I want you to meet somepony. You remember Twilight and Fluttershy from yesterday, right? From when they met us on the way from the train station?” Cal didn't respond, and continued to scribble at his paper. Applejack sighed and spoke a bit louder, “Cal? Honey, these are my friends. You met them the other day, remember?” Finally, Cal dropped his crayon and looked up with blank eyes. He saw the two ponies that had accompanied Applejack, and like before, he threw his hooves over his eyes, shutting himself off right away. “Oh dear,” Fluttershy mumbled, “I . . . I hope we're not scaring him or anything . . .” Applejack sighed again, sounding a bit frustrated. “He does this sometimes,” she explained. “Like I said, he ain't too comfortable 'round strangers.” “It's okay,” Twilight nodded. “May I?” Applejack nodded, and Twilight slowly walked up to the bed and stood beside it. “Hello, Cal,” she said gently. “Remember me? I'm Twilight. We met yesterday.” Cal slowly lowered his hooves from his eyes, peeking over them at Twilight. “Yeah, that's better,” Twilight smiled. “You remember me, right? Twilight?” Cal muttered his answer, “Is Twileye? Is your name?” “Yes, that's right,” Twilight giggled, “I'm so glad you remember!” She glanced at the drawing Cal had been working on, and continued conversation, “So, do you like to draw, Cal? What's that you're making, huh?” Cal almost repeated his hooves-over-the-eyes gesture, looking over his hooves at Twilight again. He then reached a hoof out to the doorway, toward his sister, “Appajak! Appajak!” Applejack and Fluttershy entered the room, and the former answered, “What is it, sweetheart? Remember, use your words.” Once Cal saw that he had Applejack's attention, he pointed a hoof to his masterpiece, spread his hooves up over his head in a wide arc, and grinned. “It's big? It's big?” Applejack and Fluttershy laughed good-naturedly at Cal's enthusiasm. “Yep, you can make that as big as you want it, sugarcube,” she replied. “Oh, he is just so cute,” Fluttershy fawned. “I'm surprised you never told us about him, Applejack.” Applejack glanced at the floor several times, feeling that same powerful sense of worry (and shame) from earlier strike her again, “I . . . I'm kinda surprised myself.” “It's big!” Cal continued chanting, starting to sound agitated. “It's big!” “I know, Cal, I know, you wanna make it big. You can make it big if you want to.” Cal continued stretching his hooves above his head, then pointed one hoof out the window (which had been bolted shut for his safety). He now seemed frustrated for some reason. “Enh! Enh! Eeenh!!” “Oh, no,” Applejack muttered, worried, “no, Cal, not again. Please, not now—” “Hey, Cal,” Twilight said calmly, “Cal, look over here. Look, Cal, look! I want you to see something, okay?” Cal stopped fussing long enough to look at Twilight, and the Alicorn lowered her head, pointing her horn directly above Cal's head. Her horn then began emitting sparks, and a small burst of light flew from it. “Twilight, what in tarnation d'ya think—” “Relax, Applejack,” Twilight calmed her, “watch.” The light hovered over Cal for a second before exploding in a burst of sparkles that showered all over Cal. He looked as though he weren't in any pain; in fact, he looked ecstatic. He glanced all around at the sparkling lights as they rained down on him, and he brought his hooves up close to his face, waved them repeatedly in front of his eyes, and began rocking back and forth where he sat. Applejack and Fluttershy looked in bewilderment as Cal kept up this unusual act. “Well,” Fluttershy spoke up, “he looks like he's having fun. That's good, right?” “He does this a lot, too,” Applejack said. “Dr. Lyze talked about this with us, 'bout how he likes to give himself fun sensations and things. Now, what'd she call it again? Stam . . . stem . . .” “Stimming,” Twilight corrected, “as in 'self-stimulation'. If Cal feels agitated, he reduces stimuli in his environment by controlling what he observes and interacts with. Usually, it involves isolating one observation, like bright lights or a fast-moving object, and interacting directly with it in his own way. It's a coping mechanism.” Applejack's eyes widened slightly. She was impressed with how much Twilight knew about Cal's autistic behaviors. It gave her reassurance that Twilight would take very good care for Cal if she had to, but it also brought back that feeling of lowness she'd had since this morning. She'd thought Twilight was exaggerating her knowledge on the subject of autism just to appear knowledgeable, like most other ponies did when they didn't really know what they were talking about. But this made Applejack realize the effort and time Twilight had taken to learn more about this subject—and not just passive, nonsensical 'advice' ponies offered to make themselves feel helpful, but true, honest knowledge. Twilight had done her homework; it showed how dedicated she was to helping her friend. And it proved that Applejack had nothing to fear after all. Cal reached out to Twilight's horn and giggled, “Again? Again?” Twilight met his giggle with one of her own, “Oh, you want more sparkles?” “More sparkles?” “Okay, here they come!” Twilight replied excitedly and projected another light with her horn. The magical sparks showered Cal, and the colt began rocking and waving his hooves again.