The opening day of cider season was always a cause for a celebration at Sweet Apple Acres. It marked the end of the summer harvest and the beginning of the fall planting season. And of course, it was also the biggest sales day of the year for Sweet Apple Acres as ponies came from all over Equestria to buy the first run of the season’s production. To cap the off the day, the Apples always hosted a big shindig in the barn, setting up a stage for live music and a bar where they had tapped a few barrels of their special reserve cider.
A black pegasus with an unkempt brown mane sat at the end of the makeshift bar, keeping mostly to himself. He used his forelegs to prop him up, for he had lost his balance long ago thanks to too many drinks. Staring down into his mug, he felt his mind reel, making him sit back and blink several times. As his head cleared he lifted his mug to drink, but before it touched his lips, somepony bumped into his chair and made him spill his precious drink all over his legs. He slammed his drink back down on the bar angrily and looked around, fully intent on wanting to smack the crap out of whoever slighted him.
He quickly spotted a young earth pony standing behind him, a large bow in her mane. He glared at her, watching her try to place too many empty mugs on her back. Several of them lay at her hooves, scattered about all over the place. He cleared his throat, getting her attention.
Apple Bloom looked up and smiled apologetically. She flicked her ears down and wiped her brow. “Heh, sorry about that, mister. It’s kinda hard balancing all of these here empty mugs, ya know?” She kept gathering the dropped mugs.
The pegasus bit his lip and frowned. If she had been a stallion, he would have already been nose to nose with them. “Yeah, well... Watch where yer goin’ next time, lass,” he said, his voice gruff and slightly rude. He turned back around and shook his head. “Buncha freakin’ mud ponies!” he said to no one in particular.
Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide. There were some things that were simply off limits no matter how despicable a pony was. As much as she hated Diamond Tiara, she still would have never dreamed of calling her a mud pony. She watched with bated breath as Big Mac walked up behind the stallion, sure that her older brother was about to dish out a fierce beating in defense of the family's honor.
He lifted a foreleg up only to place it on the pegasus’ shoulder. “Okay friend, we’re glad you could make it but why don’t you head on home, eh? Maybe get some rest?’ Big Mac asked with a friendly smile. His tone was firm, leaving no room for argument.
“I ain’t finished with my cider yet,” the black stallion drunkenly snarled, staring straight ahead. He didn’t know who he was talking to, and he wasn’t about to take something from a stranger. Taking a deep breath, and preparing for a fight, he turned around in his seat to find a red stallion much larger than him. His eyes going wide, he lowered his hoof and relaxed as he recognized Big Mac. He shot him a nervous smile, hoping that he’d let him be.
Big Mac didn’t return the expression. Instead he just helped the stallion to his feet and pressed the half filled mug into his hoof. “Here, it’s on the house. Get home safe,” he said as he ushered the pony out the door.
“For a mud pony, you ain’t half bad,” he muttered stumbling out of the barn. Big Mac stood at the door watching him walk off. He watched the drunk stallion finish the mug, toss it on the ground, and spread his wings. He lifted off for a few seconds, and just as it looked like he was about to fly away into the night sky, he fell to the ground in a heap. Big Mac chuckled to himself as he watched the pegasus pull himself up off the ground, only turning away when he saw him walk away towards the farm’s exit.
The bar was almost empty, the last few patrons making preparations to continue their evening elsewhere. Apple Bloom set the last batch of mugs down and trotted over to Big Mac who had begun wiping down the bar.
“Hey Mac?”
“Little Bloom.”
“That stallion, the one who said those things, why didn’t you wallop him? I reckon you coulda laid him out!”
“Eeyup, I reckon I could’ve too.”
“So why didn’t you? He was saying all that stuff about about our family!”
Big Macintosh shrugged, the gesture serving to emphasize just how broad his shoulders really were. “Pa always said it don’t take real strength to knock a pony down; it takes real strength to help them up. ‘Sides, he wasn’t talking about us, specifically.”
“That don’t make sense, he was trashin’ our farm and our apples and you gave him free cider!” Apple Bloom said stomping her hoof in protest.
“That wasn’t about us Apple Bloom, that was about whatever else he’s got goin’ on in his life that he don’t want to deal with,” Big Mac said with another shrug. “If you don’t know somepony personally, then don’t take it personally.”
Apple Bloom would have kept pestering her brother but Applejack trotted over. “C’mon Bloom, it’s getting to be ‘round yer bedtime. You can finish up round here, right Mac?”
“Eeyup,” the stallion responded with his usual carefree grin.
The two mares trotted to the main house in silence. It wasn’t until Applejack had tucked Apple Bloom in that the younger apple said anything.
“I still don’t get it, Applejack. Doesn’t Big Mac care if ponies go ‘round saying mean things about us?”
“Maybe Mac didn’t want ponies goin ‘round sayin the Apples go round hittin ponies just cause they said some words.”
“But what if they deserve it?”
Applejack didn’t answer the question, instead she just smiled. “You’re an Apple, which means when you get older you’re gonna be buckin’ trees and haulin’ carts. Now I reckon you ain’t gonna be quite as big as your big bro, but you do take after him, so that means ya gonna be plenty strong enough to cause some real damage if ya want.”
“If I wasn’t just a filly I would laid a hoof upside that jerk’s head,” Apple Bloom said, all nestled snugly under the covers.
Apple Bloom’s threat elicited a chuckle from her older sister. “Like I said, when you get older it ain’t gonna be a question of if you could teach some mouthy stallion a lesson; it’s gonna be on you to decide if that’s really the best way to handle it. Mac decided there was a better way.”
“But shouldn’t we stand up for ourselves? Ponies shouldn’t call us…well, what he did.”
“No they shouldn’t, but mean as they may be, they’re still just words.”
Apple Bloom paused to consider that fact but remained unconvinced. “I don’t know, I still kinda think he deserved it.”
“Well I s’pose that’s your call. But either way, ain’t nothing to do about it tonight.”
“I guess not. Night, Applejack,” Apple Bloom said with a yawn.
“Night, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said before blowing out the candle on her nightstand.
The weekend passed uneventfully. Some ponies from town helped them take down the bar for most of the day, and Apple Bloom went and played with her friends for the rest of it.
The next day went like any other. She went to school, and though the lesson in mathematics bored the living hay out of her, she still did her best to pay attention. She watched the clock, praying that school would end soon. Thankfully for her, Miss Cheerilee ended the lesson sooner than normal.
“Alright everypony, I think that’s enough for the day!” Miss Cheerilee said with a smile. “I’ll see you all bright and early tomorrow morning!”
Apple Bloom perked up. Done? Already? Awesome! she thought as she threw everything into her saddlebag. She stood up, threw her bag across her back, then trotted outside. Her friends had already left so they could get their homework out of the way so that they could hang out later, but she stuck around, simply enjoying the weather.
It was already rather late into fall, and the leaves were already turning colors. Apple Bloom decided to take the long way back to the farm, so instead of turning right down the path leading back home, she kept going straight, right down the path that led into town.
Everything was going great until she heard that familiar voice of her bully, Diamond Tiara. She didn’t catch what she said, but she was sure that it was hurtful. Taking a deep breath, she turned around and faced her foe. She wasn’t surprised to find Silver Spoon standing beside her, either. “What do you want?” she asked, forcing her tone dull.
“Oh, nothing. I just wanted to hear how badly your cider event went this past weekend,” Diamond Tiara said sweetly, batting her eyelashes at her. “I heard about that little... problem you guys had with that drunk pegasus.”
Apple Bloom remembered what the pegasus said at the event this past weekend. All of her previous feelings bubbled up inside of her, and she had a feeling that Diamond Tiara was going to poke fun at her because of it. “It went we—”
“Ha! I knew it went terrible!” Diamond said with a laugh. “You know, I had thought that a stupid bunch of mud po—” She was cut off by Apple Bloom’s hoof connecting with the side of her jaw. Diamond Tiara slumped to the ground, mumbling something incoherently.
Apple Bloom stared at Diamond, breathing heavily. She remembered Big Mac’s words in her head, but hearing the word ‘mud pony’ had simply driven her so far up the wall that she couldn’t take it. She watched as Silver Spoon rushed to Diamond’s side, her chest heaving up and down. Her mind felt clouded, and she felt nothing but anger. Thought most of it was focused on Diamond Tiara, some of it stemmed from what that pegasus had said the other night.
Nopony was going to talk like that in front of her.
Her hoof hurt from hitting Diamond more than she had thought it would, but she didn’t care. She thought it was well worth it, but as she thought on about it, she knew in her heart that her siblings would disagree with her.
“Don’t ever let me catch you talkin’ like that again, ya hear?” Apple Bloom said with a small snort. She turned around back down the path and made a beeline for the farm, her mind a whirlwind of conflicting feelings.
Apple Bloom ran straight to her room and slammed the door shut. She jumped on her bed and lay down, burying herself in her pillows; the past events playing themselves over and over in her mind. A little while later, as the sun began to set, she heard the familiar voice of Filthy Rich, consequences for what she did were imminent, but she still couldn’t make herself regret her actions.
It wasn’t long before she heard hoofsteps from down the hallway. They stopped just outside of her bedroom door. Several seconds passed before somepony knocked, and when she didn’t respond, she heard the door open.
“Hey, lil’ sis’... ya alright in here?” Big Mac asked, sticking his snout through the opening.
Apple Bloom sat on her bed, staring out of the window with her back to the door. Tears welled up in her eyes; she had not expected to deal with her big brother. She never liked hiding things from any members of her family, but all the same she would have rather talked to Applejack about this.
Big Mac walked inside and closed the door. The bed sank under his weight as he sat next to her. After taking a deep breath, he said, “So... Diamond Tiara’s father came by, he told me what happened.”
Tears flowed freely down Apple Bloom’s face. “I’m so sorry, Mac! I just couldn’t help myself! She called us mud ponies and was making fun of our event, and I... I couldn’t stop myself.” Apple Bloom buried her face into her brother’s side. “I didn’t want to,” she muttered after a few seconds. She sat back and looked into Big Mac’s eyes. “I know what you said yesterday, but... I wasn’t strong enough. Does that make me a bad pony?”
Big Mac took a deep breath before he laid a reassuring hoof across her back. “Come walk with me.” It was phrased as though it was a suggestion, but Apple Bloom knew that it wasn’t.
The pair walked through the main house, past the south orchard toward the property line, where the Apple family had planted a new grove of apple trees last winter. The saplings were coming in nicely, but Apple Bloom knew that it would still be several years before the trees bore any fruit. Big Mac stopped in the middle of a row, a content look on his face as he inspected the new additions. “What do you see?” he asked gently.
“A bunch of little apple trees,” Apple Bloom guessed.
“Eeyup. They’re not as strong as the trees in the other orchards, are they?”
“Well of course not, they ain’t nothing but sap-oh,” Apple Bloom said as Big Mac’s lesson became readily apparent.
“Strength for handling situations like that takes time, little one. As you grow older, you’ll see what I mean.” He stood up to leave, but he felt Apple Bloom tug on his tail.
“So does that mean I’m not in trouble?” Apple Bloom asked hopefully. She gave him the biggest puppy dog eyes she could muster and stuck out her lower lip.
Big Mac laughed. “Not by a longshot! Yer grounded for a week.”