7 - The Party
“Uhhh . . . howdy, ever'pony . . . how y'all doin'?”
Applejack briefly wondered if the amount of awkwardness in the room was directly proportional to the number of ponies in it. She found herself incapable of measuring just how awkward she felt.
The whole room prolonged a deep, cumbersome silence for a good few minutes, permeated only by Calvados' slowly-growing fussing. At last, Mrs. Cake was the first to speak up. “Um, Applejack?” she said gently. “Are you okay, dear?”
Trying to overcome her own nervousness, Applejack glanced at Cal, and saw that his agitation was not settling at all. “Uh, yeah, I'm fine,” she said, struggling to show it, “it's just . . . I didn't expect anypony to be plannin' a party . . . .”
At this, Pinkie Pie stepped forward with a huge, almost prideful grin. “Don't sweat it, AJ!” she chirped. “Your baby bro is gonna have a fun time! ’Cause it's his party, and he can have fun if he wants to!”
Applejack held back a shudder at remembering how that phrase was meant to be worded. “Pinkie,” she spoke low and through gritted teeth, “you and I need to have a long heart-to-heart when this is over.”
“It's okay, Applejack,” Pinkie replied out loud, “Twilight told me about Cal, and how he gets all jittery around crowds. Besides, party-planning is my specialty, remember? So, I made this party especially for Cal!”
Applejack was about to respond with more irritation, but she took a moment to look around the room, and she felt her anger slowly fading. It was at this point that she noticed, excluding herself and her siblings, there couldn't have been any more than ten ponies attending, all strategically placed to give the illusion of more empty space. The table was lined with dozens of delectable pasties and snacks, a large apple-shaped cake as the centerpiece. Funny-looking noisemakers resided on the table beside the food. Bunches of red balloons were anchored low to the ground for easy access. A PonyTones record played in the back, on repeat. And in the corner of the room was a most bizarre object: a lamp with different shapes cut out of the lampshade, the shapes filled by colored plastic glued to the inside. With the shade over it, it gave off a bright display of glowing color.
Seeing all of the different things Pinkie had done to accommodate for Cal took Applejack's breath away. “Pinkie, I . . .” Applejack struggled to reply, “I don't know what to say . . . .”
Pinkie stepped up closer and laid a hoof on Applejack's shoulder. “I know what you could say,” she said with an almost sneaky tone. “You could say . . . IT'S TIME TO PA—oops!” She stopped when she seemed to realize her loud voice might upset Cal (his whining had stopped increasing, but remained constant). Pinkie lowered her voice to a strained whisper, “It's time to party . . . .”
Cal glanced up at Applejack and reached a hoof up to her. “Appajak? Go home?” he fussed, rocking a little on the spot.
Applejack turned to answer, but Pinkie Pie beat her to it. “Hi, Cal!” she greeted him, keeping her distance and providing a stark contrast to her first meeting with him. “Remember me? I'm Pinkie Pie! I hope you like parties, 'cause I threw a special one just for you!”
Cal glanced between his sister and the pink mare, huffed for a few seconds longer, then sat on the floor and covered his eyes with his hooves.
“Uhh, Pinkie?” Applejack asked warily. “You do remember not to be too pushy with him, right?”
“Relax!” Pinkie replied gleefully. “I heard a lot of what Twilight said about Cal! I think I can play with him without making him a grumpyface!” She sat down in front of Cal (not too close, Applejack observed again), reached a slow hoof out, and gave him a gentle tap on the shoulder. “Hey, Cal?” she said in a playful singsong tone. Cal lowered his hooves slightly to see over them, and when he did, Pinkie Pie threw her own hooves in front of her face, waved them in front of her, and rocked back and forth on the spot.
Just like Cal.
“Pinkie!” Applejack yelled, insulted. “Whattaya think you're—” She stopped when she heard Cal start to giggle. His laughter built up in little time, and soon, he was shrieking with laughter at Pinkie's behavior.
“It's funny?” he asked, looking back at his sister once again. “Appajak! It's funny?”
Now, confusion overtook anger, and Applejack's reply made it clear, “Yeah . . . funny Pinkie . . . .”
“Funny Pinkie? It's funny Pinkie?” Cal continued laughing, his amusement increasing when Pinkie occasionally pulled her hooves away for a second to make a face, peek-a-boo style.
Seeing the complete opposite of what she was expecting, Applejack calmed down, and a fresh wave of guilt struck her hard. “Sorry 'bout that, Pinkie,” she said, head tilted down. “For a second I thought . . . well, I thought you were . . . makin' fun of 'im . . . .”
“It's okay, AJ!” Pinkie replied as she pulled her friend into a hug. “We're all here to have fun and be friends with Cal!” She released Applejack and turned back to her brother. “What do you say, Cal? Wanna have some fun?”
“Have some fun? Yes!” Cal squealed happily, his cheeks rosy and his eyes glistening.
Ten minutes into the party, Applejack showed no indication of anxiety so far. Cal was enjoying himself, and he was even slowly opening up to other ponies. Sweetie Belle sang (in a subdued voice) to the PonyTones record as Cal danced in his devil-may-care style. She, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had even taken turns sitting in front of the glowing lampshade with him and mimic his “stimming” motions, including the rocking and the waving of hooves in front of the eyes.
“Why are we doing this again?” Scootaloo whispered while Sweetie Belle took her turn.
“Because he’s my brother,” Apple Bloom whispered back, almost pleadingly. “He may be diff’rent, but I want him to make some friends. And this is the only way.”
Both fillies glanced back at Cal, who had giggled loudly when Sweetie Belle spun the lampshade around. “It’s pretty?” he asked between stimming sessions. “It’s pretty?”
Scootaloo sighed, her face worked up into a confused stare. After a while, she shrugged and said simply, “Well, any brother of yours is okay by me. Besides, I guess all that matters is that he’s having fun.”
“Well, I’m not!”
The snobbish retort came from behind and made the two fillies grimace. Turning, they saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approach from the corner of the room they’d been brooding in since the party began. Diamond Tiara wore an obvious frown, while Silver Spoon stared at Cal in confusion, not unlike Scootaloo had moments before, but with a slight hint of revulsion.
Scootaloo scowled at the pink prima-donna. “Well, if you don’t wanna be here, why even show up?”
“Daddy made me come,” Diamond Tiara replied sourly. “He says it’s a good idea to . . . what’d he say . . . oh, yeah. ‘To promote awareness of and kinship with ponies who are different from us’.” She gave a light scoff. “Whatever that means . . . .”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo glanced at each other, both wearing frowns. Apple Bloom then glanced at her brother, who seemed to be taking a break and leaving for one of the food-laden tables, then turned roughly back to Diamond Tiara. “Now you listen here,” she growled, keeping her voice low so as not to cause a scene. “Calvados may not be like other colts, but he’s my brother. If you do anythin’ to upset him, so help me Celestia, I’ll—”
“Uhh, Apple Bloom . . . ix-nay, ix-nay . . . .”
The command came from Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom turned to look at her, catching somepony in her eye on the way. Cal was standing next to them, having taken a few cookies from the table before joining them. “Appaboom?” he said, his blank eyes showing a hint of concern. “Is angry?”
Apple Bloom’s brow furrowed anxiously as she answered, “Naw, Cal. I ain’t angry. We were just talkin’ is all. No need to fret.”
Diamond Tiara squinted a bit as she looked over Cal, seeming to scrutinize him for some reason. She stepped closer to him, making him recoil. “Why don’t you talk right?” she blurted.
“Diamond Tiara!” Sweetie Belle chastised as she approached the scene. “That’s not very nice!”
“Talk right?” Cal mumbled, staring at the floor. “Talk right?”
“Yeah. ‘Talk right’. Why don’t you?” Diamond Tiara insisted.
“Don’t you?” Cal repeated, still looking down.
“What is wrong with you? What are you, stupid?”
Sweetie Belle gasped, and Apple Bloom almost dove into Diamond Tiara, were she not being held back by Scootaloo. Even Silver Spoon looked shocked by her friend’s audacity.
Cal, however, took no offense whatsoever. “You stupid?” he repeated as if it meant nothing.
The pink filly, however, seemed to take the utmost offense. “I am not stupid!” she barked back. “Just who do you think you are?!”
“Calm down, Diamond Tiara!” Apple Bloom admonished when she finally calmed down. “He’s not callin’ ya stupid! He just repeats things other ponies say!”
“Hmph!” Diamond Tiara snorted. “Well, stop it!”
“Stop it,” Cal muttered with a hint of a giggle. Evidently, he thought Diamond Tiara was being funny.
“Grrr . . . I said stop that!”
“Said stop that!” Cal imitated, embellishing her growl for his own humor.
“STOP REPEATING EVERYTHING I SAY!” Diamond Tiara finally shrieked, her words so fast that they seemed to blend together.
This only served to tickle Cal even more. “Stop repede-bede-bede-bede-say!” he laughed, galloping in place and shaking his mane.
Diamond Tiara’s eyes began to twitch in annoyance, and she roared incoherently in frustration. “I don’t need this!” she finally resolved. “I’m leaving! Hmph!” As she stuck her nose in the air and stomped away indignantly, she continued airing out her grievances, “I refuse to ‘develop kinship’ with him! Daddy can cut my allowance down to fifty bits a week, for all I care!”
As Silver Spoon followed behind, she glanced back at Cal and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, then looked at her fellow rich filly in confusion. “Your dad gives you fifty bits a week in allowance?”
“Oh, shut up, Silver Spoon!”
As the snooty Earth pony fillies stormed out the door of Sugarcube Corner, there was an awkward silence in which the four remaining foals glanced back and forth at one another. Even some of the adults had glanced over at what was unfolding. Soon, slow grins started forming on the faces of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“Uhh, Cal?” Scootaloo began. “Just so you know. That . . . was . . . awesome!!” She reached forward and hugged Cal, who recoiled at first, but adapted. “None of us have ever been able to get under Diamond Tiara’s skin like that! Way to go!”
“Way to go,” Cal giggled, and began to nuzzle Scootaloo’s ear. The Pegasus filly giggled in return, and Apple Bloom looked on in amazement.
“Wow . . . .” she marveled, “I ain’t never seen Cal get on so quickly with somepony before. He must really like you, Scootaloo!”
“I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle said, her tone dubious as her smile faded. “That was kinda mean. I mean, Diamond Tiara hadn’t done anything to us. Well . . . yet.”
“Who cares?” Scootaloo rebutted as Cal continued to sniff her ear. “That was the best thing I’ve seen all week!”
“‘Sides, he can’t help himself,” Apple Bloom explained. “He repeats ponies all the time. He ain’t doin’ it on purpose. It’s just part of what makes Cal . . . Cal. Know what I mean?”
“Knowta mean?” Cal mumbled back as he giggled with Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle glanced between the two youngest Apples with concern, while Apple Bloom merely stared at her brother. She looked as though a sudden feeling of foreboding had overcome her, and she just couldn’t shake it.
A feeling that her older sister wholeheartedly shared.
Applejack had been at ease for a while during the party, and had even gotten to a point where she could relax entirely. Unfortunately, she had not seen the incident with Diamond Tiara until she had blown up and left; this reactivated her buried instincts and put her on high alert. What was I thinkin’?! she chastised herself. Why’d I even think for a minute that nothin’ would go wrong? I shoulda seen it comin’! I shoulda been payin’ attention! I shoulda been ready for Calvados to make a scene and draw attenti—
Suddenly, she realized—or rather, remembered—that it was Diamond Tiara who’d made a scene. Not Calvados. Applejack suddenly felt the guilt strike her harder than it had all week.
“You all right, AJ?”
Applejack glanced up from her reflections to see Bon-Bon, the speaker, approaching with Lyra, both with friendly faces. Lyra wore a party hat over her Unicorn horn, and Bon-Bon was half-finished with a slice of cake.
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Applejack assured, trying to save face. It wasn’t entirely false, but it still hurt Applejack, the Element of Honesty, to lie. It hurt almost as much as the guilt.
“You sure?” Lyra asked. “You look like you have a lot on your mind.”
“Come on, cheer up!” Bon-Bon beamed. “Your little brother’s having fun! That’s what this party’s about!” She stopped as she appeared to consider something for a moment. “You know, come to think of it,” she added, “I don’t think you ever talked about having another brother. How come you don’t talk about Cal a lot?”
“Uhh . . . well . . . .” she began, distressed and unsure of how to answer, “. . . well, he lives outta town, see? An’ I don’t get to see ‘im all that often. I guess I don’t think about it a lot. “I prob’ly should, though . . . .” Again, Applejack felt her stomach churn with guilt at her semi-honest wording. Still, even she could see the glimmer of truth in the last sentence.
“You really should,” Lyra replied, grinning. “That Cal is such a doll! I swear, I have never seen a cuter colt!”
“And the way he handled that little brat Diamond Tiara?” Bon-Bon added, scorn for the filly in question plain in her tone. “You must be so proud of him!”
Applejack was about to answer, when she caught a sight in the corner of her eye. Cal was now running around in small, tight circles, as if chasing his own tail. The older Apple remembered his therapist saying that this was another of his “stimming” methods, and let it be. After all, Cal was going to act however he wanted to act, and there wasn’t much to be done about it.
At that notion, the knot in Applejack’s stomach tightened.
“It sort of makes me wonder,” Lyra said longingly. “You know, what it would be like to have a foal. Bon-Bon and I talked about it, but it’s kind of a touchy subject right now—”
Suddenly, there was a beeping sound, and Bon-Bon brought her foreleg up to look at her watch. “Oh, no!” she cried as she turned off the alarm. “Oh, I’m sorry, everypony. Urgent missio—I mean, urgent business to take care of. Enjoy the party!” And with that, the cream Earth pony quickly made for the exit.
Lyra merely scoffed. “And there’s also her job, I suppose. I mean, I know work brings up a lot of problems, but it’s as if she has these problems two or three times a day. Makes me wonder what she’s doing that’s so important . . . .”
Applejack shrugged as Bon-Bon left. Her exit was punctuated by the (likely unintentional) slamming of the door. Calvados, who had stopped spinning to get another slice of cake, froze in place just as the door slammed. As he dragged the entire pan of cake towards him, the shock of the noise made him drop it, and it clattered against the floor, destroying the cake and spreading crumbs and frosting all over.
Calvados’ fussing started almost immediately.
“Oh, no,” Applejack murmured. “Please, Cal. Get it together. Please get it together . . . .”
But Cal could not. His breaths became labored and strained, his voice rose several decibels, and his movements became spastic. “It’s broke!” was the only intelligible phrase heard from him as his mood escalated.
“What happened?” Scootaloo asked worriedly.
“Oh, no!” Sweetie Belle squealed. “He dropped that cake!”
“Oh, don’t you worry, hon,” Mrs. Cake walked up to him, her tone calm and motherly. “We can make you another one. Don’t be upset.”
Cal wasn’t listening. His whining was now bordering on full screaming, and he accentuated it by stamping his hooves furiously. He glanced around the room whenever he was not screaming, but the faces of ponies looking back at him with varied reactions seemed to intensify his building meltdown. Not even Apple Bloom, swiftly making her way to him for a calming embrace, was enough to slow it down.
Applejack had seen enough.
“The party’s over!”
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6588209
It was the whole cake. And it will get worse. Trust me.
6605225 Judging from the way my 13-year-old brother has been acting lately, I'd say most likely so.
6608799 Did you not like the story?
6608832 Oh, I see. Well, it's not entirely because of "the universe". Lots of autistic kids don't even understand the concept of bullying. And if something happens to disrupt their flow, they can freak out. I've seen it many, many times. It's not pretty.
But thanks for enjoying!
6608873 Oh, okay. I got it.
Yes, karma tends to hurt more than help, doesn't it? And it won't get much better from here. 
Applejack is rapidly approaching her "shithead" quota with me.
phew, for a second there, i though i was going to have to groan with Diamond being a brat and a cliched scene. Nope, instead, you worked wonders. I'm a little iffy with how this chapter ended with everything else going well, but may yet be worth an underapreciation review one day.
TFW your significant other joins Mares in Black to avoid long term commitment.
“What is wrong with you? What are you, stupid?”
See Diamond Tiara this is why I called you worst pony.