Chapter 10: Letters
Family Matters
Chapter 10: Letters
Beyond the glow of Fluttershy's lanterns, on the path that forked to the Everfree Forest, Sweet Apple Acres, or Ponyville, Big Macintosh waited for his sister. The distant chopping of wood declared Applejack’s stance on the matter of her brother’s relationship. Big Macintosh lowered his head in exhaustion and considered his options: the road to the farm or the the road to Ponyville.
Going to the farm would result in a night of restless sleep and a rehash of tonight’s argument. He did not want to brush Applejack's words under the proverbial rug, but if they fought in front of their family, he would be the one expected to back down.
For a moment Big Macintosh’s started rationalizing his family’s faults. It was not Auger’s fault he hit him as a colt, he was under a lot of stress. As for his sister’s anger, she was just looking out for him, trying to protect her brother from heartbreak. “Do you really want to make an issue out of this Big Macintosh? Do you even have time for a marefriend with all the works that needs to be done around the farm? Is a passin’ fancy worth more to ya than yer own flesh n’ blood?” Granny Smith had said to him once after a particularly bad argument with his sister, but the words stung more now.
Then there was the path to Ponyville and eventually the Books and Branches Library. It would be mostly dark save for the light over the door, and whatever lamp Twilight decided to study by. Twilight would not mind the late night interruption, and considering the mishap at dinner, she was probably waiting.
He headed for the library.
***
Twilight Sparkle considered the letter before her; it was simple, elegant, right to the point, and her twentieth revision. A hoot from Owlowiscious surprised the worrying insomniac. Spike and Peewee easily slept through the owl's warning alerts as Twilight opened the door to her bedroom. The owl returned to its nightly chore, dusting the bookshelves. A gentle rapping at the front door drew Twilight’s attention away from her task.
Twilight found an exhausted Big Macintosh on the other side of her door. "What are you doing up? It’s almost midnight." Twilight hurried the red stallion into the library. "How'd things go with your sister?"
"As bad as I thought it would." Big Macintosh walked to Twilight's couch and slumped onto it. It creaked ominously but held under the pressure of Big Macintosh's uncaring weight.
“Well, your sister is the Element of Honesty. I can only imagine how much a lie, especially from somepony so close to her, would hurt her."
"There ain’t no excuse for anypony getting that angry over somepony else’s private life."
“But...” She joined him on the couch and snuggled in close. “She’s your family.”
"Well you are going…" Big Macintosh stopped himself before deciding "…you are too, and the pony ya love has gotta come before everythin’ else. It’s tradition. The stallion leaves home to build a new family with his wife. My uncle and my great uncles all did it. AJ is just gonna have to come around."
***
Applejack trudged along the familiar path from Fluttershy's house to her own. She did not need light, just the familiar ground and smells of her homestead to tell her where she was. Despite the welcoming familiarity, her tail dragged from physical and emotional exhaustion. It was difficult to put one hoof in front of the other. She knew she should have spent the night at Fluttershy's, but all she wanted now was the welcoming creak of her floorboards and the comfort of her own bed.
Granny Smith woke with a start as Applejack accidentally let the front door slam shut. "What what?" She grabbed her knitting needles and searched the darkness for home invaders.
Applejack appeared from the shadows and put a familiar hoof on her grandmother's shoulder. "Sorry Granny, just gettin' home late from working at Fluttershy's."
Granny Smith yawned as she settled down in her rocking chair. Her favorite furniture in the house, carved from the first Zap Apple tree to fall in their grove. "Did you get the job done?"
"Still have to do the rest of the tree tomorrow," Applejack stretched. "Is Big Mac around?"
"He told me he was goin' to talk with you," Granny Smith said. " Is everything alright?"
"He left before me. I'm sure he just snuck in earlier and a mite quieter than I did," Applejack reassured her grandmother, who fell quickly back asleep. The orange pony waited for a moment before a second wind prompted her to ascend the stairway to her brother's room. His empty room, the bed sitting untouched since he made it that morning. There was only one other place that her brother would consider staying. Applejack did not want to think about it.
But she did.
Twilight wrapped around her brother in an indecent manner, whispering disloyalty into her brother’s waiting ears. Applejack could not help but imagining poor, innocent Spike walking in on the pair in their throes of passion. The vision ended with Spike's face morphing into a horrified Apple Bloom.
Applejack rushed to her sister room to discover the pale yellow filly sleeping peacefully. She held her hoof to her chest as her breathing steadied and her heart stilled.
She walked back to her room with determination. She had letters to write.
***
Big Macintosh yawned as Twilight nibbled and kissed his ear and neck affectionately. "What are you doing up so late?" he asked the surprisingly energetic Twilight.
"Nothing, I'm just not tired." Twilight stopped nibbling and rested her head comfortably on Big Macintosh's. He reluctantly concluded she was not being suggestive. He waited for her to relax, but her body remained tense.
"What's wrong?" Big Macintosh turned his eyes up towards the purple mare.
"Nothing." Twilight forced her own shut.
"Twilight." Big Macintosh reluctantly pulled himself out from under Twilight and looked her in the eyes.
She sighed. "If you have to know, I think it's pregnancy insomnia. I have not been sleeping that well lately."
"You made an appointment to go to the doctor’s, right?"
"Yes, first one is tomorrow actually. You'll be there, right?"
"Of course," Twilight snuggled into Big Macintosh's chest and waited. The red stallion refused to relax. "What?"
"What's really botherin’ ya?" Big Macintosh prompted.
"I've been trying to write a letter to my parents." Twilight floated the letter to Big Macintosh for inspection.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I have something important I need to talk to you about in person. Please come to Ponyville as soon as possible, and please don't inform Shining Armor of your visit.
Love,
Twilight Sparkle
"That's all?" Big Macintosh asked.
"Well, I don't want to risk any written evidence for my brother, and as long as I am vague even if he sees this he'll probably just think it's a surprise for him," Twilight explained. "Its not like I can tell them with a letter that I am pregnant and getting married." Twilight regretted the last part, they hadn't actually discussed marriage.
To her surprise and relief, Big Macintosh had already thought about it. "I think a winter wedding would be perfect."
"Really?" Twilight asked as Big Macintosh rested his head between Twilight's four limbs again. "And a honeymoon somewhere warm like the Applewood Hills or Los Pegasus."
"Hmm…" Big Macintosh hummed in agreement before falling asleep in Twilight's warm embrace.
***
At two in the morning, Applejack considered the letter before her. A letter to Twilight's parents had been discarded when Applejack realized she did not know their address. The princess was impossible because Applejack's only direct connection to them was Spike, and Applejack knew he would not send a letter without wanting to read it first. She did not want to risk a letter through the mail either, because she figured palace staff must screen letters sent to Celestia by more conventional means. She did not want some Canterlot snob forming an opinion on her brother.
That left Shining Armor. She had Princess Cadence's private address because the mare of love was interested in a monthly pie order from Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack figured that if she directed her letter to Shining Armor it would just go straight to him, and even if Cadence read it first she would not keep this from her husband.
Applejack tapped her quill against her face absentmindedly, blotting her fur, before finally deciding to sign it.
Captain Shining Armor,
It is my belief that you should be made aware of the actions of your sister. She has been carrying an affair in secret with my brother, Macintosh Apple, for the previous year. I am afraid for both of our siblings’ well being. If this relationship ends poorly it could be detrimental to the bonds between the Elements of Harmony. If you could please come to Ponyville to have a frank discussion with your sister, I would appreciate it.
Sincerely
Applejack
Element of Honesty
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You seem to be missing a few quotation marks in the dialogue between Big Mac and Twilight.
AJ, you will have to face the full wrath of the Bearer of Magic herself when she finds out. I also wager Shining Armor won't be very happy when he finds out you're intent on destroying his sister's happiness.
Now Applejack you gone too far
you must stop before i have to make a offer you cant deny
Love this story, beat that Shinning Armor will arrive at the same time that her parents i still waiting for Granny Smith to scowl Applejack
Ah crap.... Applejack you dumbass.... Let's hope that Cadence comes with Shining, the self proclaimed Princess of Love should be able to keep him from losing it. Otherwise this so won't end well
Well, shit's about to go down. Again. What's with shit going down in all of these stories that I'm reading? Anyway, come on everypony, place your bets. Will Shining Armor freak out at Twilight for getting pregnant or will he freak out at Applejack for trying to ruin his sister's happiness?
i feel nothing but anger and disappointment for applejack right now she is just being a terrible pony and a strait up bitch
its none of her damn business
Oh boy, more fireworks!
1345358 First part is true, the second thing you said. Read one or two chapters back, it had Twilight talking about how overprotective Shining is. All I know is as soon Shining reads that letter, he would work together with Applejack to a degree to split up BIg Mag and his sister.
1345337
Thank you and fixed.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Logo_20000.svg/599px-Logo_20000.svg.png
Congratulations on breaking 20k!
Applejack, you ignorant idiot. It is more than time for Rainbow Dash to give that selfish moron flying lessons. IF she learns to fly after being dropped from, oh, say, 10000 ft, she passes. If not, one less selfish, arrogant dolt in the world.
Oh buck you Applejack! Seriously! And did Big Mac say stallions leave with wives? As in multiple?
I can't understand Applejacks position in all this, I've tried really hard to but I can't. As an younger sister (and older) I could care less for my brothers love life. It is their life and I have no say in what happens, I can joke about it and such, but I can't control it.
1346059
Gonna guess accidentally plural.
Although I personally am a fan of herd marriage.
1346160
Fixed.
Applejack's gonna be lucky to just end up friendless after all this, because I don't see Granny Smith and Apple Bloom being to supportive of her either after she drags Shining Armor into this shit storm
I have a feeling that letter is going to be one of those "Oh God? Did I mail that? I need to go grab it out of the mailbox before its delivered!" letters.
Seriously? Applejack, you're my favorite background pony but this has got to stop!
All I can think off at the moment is that Applejack must really hate her brother, else she wouldn't try and prevent him from being happy...
Also, Shining Armor better back down. Twilight didn't chase Cadance out of town, did she? Okay, she tried but you know what I mean (I think)
And last but not least, thanks for updating so quickly
Yay, two updates in one week!
Poor Twilight, AJ is not going to make this easy for either of them, and I'm cringing a little at what will happen when big brother Shining Armor gets that letter. As always I look forward to reading what happens next, another great chapter.
The story is brilliant so far. While I doubt AJ would act the way she if this did happen, it does make an interesting and dramatic story.
1345678 I don't think he would work with AJ. I think the way he will interpret it is that Mac seduce Twi for his own pleasure, and now AJ is just covering her brother.
1346382 I agree. There is being protective of someone, then there is controlling someone to the point of deciding what type of partner they should have, which seems to be what AJ is doing. If her actions are revealed to the public, she will become a social pariah.
I think the big questions right now are what happens when someone else finds out that Twi is with foal, how will Twi's parent, the princesses and the rest of the Apple clan (loved to see a scene of a huge family meeting debating the events) will react, and who will arrive first: Twi's parents or SA?
Sorry for the abbreviations. I am in a bit of a rush this Morning.
Wow. That's a fantastic twist that makes perfect sense, but there's no way I ever thought it would happen.
wtb Shit Storm Big Mac pic dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png
This is moving towards such a glorious disaster, i can't wait to see how this ends!
Oh Applejack...
Okay Applejack, you had your chance to calm down, and you're STILL determined to think the worst of Twilight? This isn't like you!
This is going to end sooooooo badly
EDIT: I wonder....is Applejack being Honest with HERSELF?
No. No she is not.
2781098
i dont think she is.......
Aw, yeah! Gonna drag sibling #2 into this!
Things are going to get messy!