The Truth

by Jet Cannon

15

The moon had begun to rise in the sky, the mysterious “Mare in the Moon” seemingly glaring down at the world as ever. Applejack paid it no heed, instead focusing on Big Macintosh’s mutterings.

“AJ, AJ, AJ…” To begin with, most of what he said was of this ilk, single word sentences and sentences of one word repeated several times. He started calming down after a few minutes, and began to string more words together, lamenting his sorrows to the (he thought) otherwise abandoned tree house.

“Ah feel so stupid…” he began, heaving a great sigh which Applejack could feel reverberating through the wooden planks beneath her.

“An’ now Ah’m talkin’ to mahself about it, again, an’ that don’t help me feel much smarter.” He sighed again, much more quietly, a sigh of resignation before taking the plunge. Applejack got the impression that he had done this several times before, as she peeked again to see the very deliberate stare he was giving a particular piece of wall, and the way he sat to attention as he talked. Practiced, experienced in his actions, but no happier for it.

“Ah guess it was before y’all went off to Manehatten. The idea you were goin’ away just seemed like the end o’the world to me, even if you weren’t gonna be gone forever. We argued on the way here, an’ then Ah ran off when Ah couldn’t get mah thoughts straight. ‘Course, y’all ran after me but ya tripped an’ cut yer leg, which Ah had to kiss better. Ah was all butterflies when Ah did that, but then when ya kissed mah neck Ah just felt…good. Right. Like everythin’ was a-ok.” The floorboards creaked as he changed position, followed by a soft thump which Applejack guessed was Macintosh dropping to his side. His voice was muffled (presumably he was facing away from her now) but she could still hear him.

“Took me a couple a’weeks to figure out mah feelin’s, an’ when Ah did Ah didn’t even know if Ah was right. Ah’d never felt anythin’ like it before.” He choked out a short, bitter laugh.

“An’ not minutes later, you show up again. Ah swear to Celestia, Ah’d never seen anythin’ so… radiant before. Wouldn’t have said that at the time, or anythin’ come to think of it, but that’s how Ah’d describe it now. Mah insides just felt like they were meltin’ from lookin’ atcha again. But o’course…” He sighed again, and even without words Applejack could feel the pain radiating from the young stallion.

“Y’all just weren’t thinkin’ like that. S’far as you were concerned Ah was still just yer big brother, and why wouldn’t Ah have been? Ah was only ten, had only just started thinkin’ o’these things. Y’all were only seven. Dunno what Ah was thinkin’…”

Macintosh slipped into silence once more. Applejack couldn’t hear a peep from him, and began wondering if he might have gone to sleep. She considered what she had heard so far, and it made her head reel. Macintosh had liked her? Loved her? And not just as brother to sister? The very thought brought an unbidden blush to the filly’s face, and she took the time Mac was silent to try and compose herself and think clearly. Thinking back she could remember the events he talked about, but she had indeed been too young to see them as Mac had, and being the practical pony she was she quickly absolved herself of any unfounded blame. Blaming herself would not help her to help Macintosh.

But how could she help? She didn't know how far his feelings still extended towards her, but he was presumably a long way from being over her if he felt he needed to hide in an old tree house by himself in order to express himself.

Further contemplation was cut short when he started up again, making Applejack start slightly but fortunately without giving herself away.

“Ah expected it to just go away. Just go away! But mah feelin’s never changed none; if anythin’ as Ah saw ya growin’ up an’ becomin’ the fine filly y’all are now they just got stronger. Ah told mahself “Yer her brother, she’s yer sister, she don’t look atcha like that, why do you?” But there’d always be that little voice in the back o’mah head, sayin’ “Nope, yer not, she ain’t, so what, because ya just can’t help yourself.” And it’s right, Ah can’t. Ah simply can’t!” He actually got up after this and stomped over to the doorway, glaring into the sky at nothing in particular. Applejack’s heart skipped a beat as he hung his head then, certain again that he would see her, but his eyes had closed and he turned back inside before they had opened once more.

“Yer beautiful, yer strong, yer kind, y’all are always smilin’, ya genuinely enjoy workin’ the orchard and ya ain’t afraid to get yer hooves dirty if it means getting’ the job done. And you still make time to see yer friends, even that Rarity filly. How in the heck you two hit it off Ah have no idea…” He actually chuckled with some genuine amusement here.

“Betcha’d even make time for me, too, if Ah actually let you in…” And the humour was gone once again. “But Ah can’t. Ah don’t know how. It’s been all these years an’ Ah don’t know what to do. Or what you’d do if Ah told ya. Probably think Ah was some kinda pervert foal-fiddler. Ah mean, Ah’m eighteen now, yer still only fifteen, an’ just at that. Three years is a big difference when yer our age, everypony’d look at us funny if they knew… Ah dunno. Ah just dunno anymore.”

He sat once more, and then prostrated himself as he faced away from the door, his muscled legs tucked under his body and his head tucked against his side. Soon enough Applejack heard his breathing become slow and steady, and she peeked again to see the stallion asleep. Her face was still rather hot from Macintosh’s revelations, and she struggled against her instinct to just run away and try to forget the whole thing. She knew, however, that if she did that then she would never forgive herself for passing up an opportunity to help her broth− to help Macintosh.

A thought crossed her mind then, a thought which, had it come earlier than tonight, she would have instantly dismissed as not only strange but plain weird. But it was not earlier. She had heard what Macintosh had to say, and maybe something weird was the answer right now. Slowly standing and stretching out, Applejack entered the tree house herself and walked to Macintosh. Then she did something she had not done in several years, since they were both still foals. Carefully straddling the young stallion so as not to wake him until the last second, she climbed upon his great back and lay there with her legs dangling down on either side in a four-limbed hug, waiting for Macintosh to wake.

Slowly but surely his eyes blink-blinked open, and he looked about him blearily before realising what had woken him. He stared dumbfounded at the red-faced orange filly with the blonde mane, his mouth working for several seconds before words could come out.

“A-AJ? What… ya heard?” She nodded.

“…all of it?” Another nod.

“A-Ah don’t, Ah mean, it ain’t−” He was silenced by a gentle hoof to the lips.

“Now hush up an’ don’t get yerself in a tizzy. You’ve been mighty stupid, keepin’ all o’that bottled up fer so long. Land sakes, Mac, it’s a wonder y’all ain’t crazy! Ah mean, what’s the worst Ah mighta done, huh?” He held her gaze for a second, but quickly turned away, rather shamefaced.

“Ah was scared…”

“Now that’s just stupid, too! Yer Big Macintosh, the biggest, most stallionly stallion around these parts, ‘cept maybe Daddy.” A small snort, good. “Y’all don’t need to be scared of anything! Especially not me, or what Ah may or may not think of you for what you think.” He looked back at her, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes.

“Ah’ve gotta be honest with ya, Ah don’t think about you like you think about me.” She could almost feel his heart breaking into tiny pieces as he continued to stare back at her, and she quickly raised a hoof.

“Ah ain’t finished yet! Now Ah’ll admit, Ah ain’t never given romance and the like much thought, that’s more Rarity’s department.” Her blush deepened, and she took a calming breath as she contemplated how to word what she wanted to say.

“But, knowin’ y’all like Ah do, Ah can see what there might be to like about ya. From a… relationship point of view.” He was blushing too by now, the glimmer of hope replaced tenfold.

“So although it might take a while fer me to stop thinkin’ of ya like mah big brother, and Ah might not be able to at all, but fer your sake Ah wouldn’t mind tryin’ fer… somethin’ more. How’s that sound?” Interestingly enough, his response was to strike his hoof against his head, twice in rapid succession, before looking back at her with a big, stupid grin.

“Ah really ain’t dreamin’, am Ah?” Applejack could only laugh.

Comments

[Shrapmo]

I guess I kind of got confused by the ending, what exactly is their status now? (does my question even make sense? I'm not even sure myself)

[Jet Cannon]

1746931 Nah nah, I get you
AJ is going to give being in a relationship with Mac a shot to see how it goes, so they're "seeing each other" now, I suppose.

[Softy8088]

Is it just me or is the writing of this story improving? I vaguely recall thinking it was "fairly good" when I started reading but the last two chapters border on "excellent".

1746931 It's the "I don't feel that way about you right now, but I'm willing to give it a try." There are plenty of stories that use it.

[Jet Cannon]

1748148 Mayhaps, I would certainly like to think I was getting better! Thank you for saying so.

[Fishberry]

1746931
Good question, but it seems they're just as uncertain about that as you!

[JBL]

And yet Mac didn't learn his lesson that he should talk more often!

[JetstreamGW]

Ehhh... This scene is... not very good honestly. Most of it's been pretty decent but this was... Exposition in monologue form. It doesn't seem natural. Nobody explains things in that much detail when they're talking to themselves. They blurt out little bits of it as they swap between thinking and talking. She should have gotten about half that much information from self conscious muttering. This reads more like a deliberate confession.

[ElkinFencer10]

2829116
I have to disagree somewhat. While I doubt many do, I actually do this exact same thing. It's just easier for me to get my thoughts straight if I say it all aloud when I'm alone. It might not be the most likely thing in the world, but it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.

[Sky Way]

3000523 I do the same thing, it feels great to be able to say things in confidence without anyone around

[Soft Shell]

Well you got the "Character reveals deep personal feeling about another character while that character is secretly listening" Cliche out of the way.

[Wahtiff]

4761949 You gotta admit, while cliche it IS effective.