Apple Bloom's Family

by HopeFox

The Cliffs

"Chalk! Wait!"

Big Macintosh galloped through the streets of Ponyville after his large white friend, calling her name. Chalk never paused, thundering along the riverbank, head lowered as she ran. Ponies and animals scattered out of the way of the mare's desperate dash.

The red stallion could feel sweat forming on his flanks as he ran after Chalk. His frame was perfect for long hours hauling weights on the farm, but not for long-distance running. He thought that Chalk was going to escape before he could ask her what was wrong, but when he rounded the corner of the town's windmill, he found her lying on her side by the wall of the building, her chest heaving. He skidded to a halt, kneeling beside her.

"Chalk? What happened? Are you alright?"

Chalk shook her head and pushed her hooves against the ground, trying to stand up. "Have to get away... can't let them find me," she muttered, before slumping to the ground again, coughing.

"Stay there, Chalk," instructed Big Macintosh. "I'll get you some water." He found a bucket by the windmill, filled it from the river, and brought it over to his friend, who quickly dipped her muzzle into the water and slurped loudly. "Now what are you running from?" he asked as she drank.

She raised her head and shook the water from her muzzle, letting Big Macintosh take a drink himself. "If Pinkamena writes back to the Pies about meeting me, they'll tell the Cliffs. And when my husband's family finds out where I am, they'll come and take me back to Cliffside. My husband's dead, they have no right, but they'll do it anyway!"

Big Macintosh pushed the bucket aside, not wanting to drink too much so soon after such a run. "Maybe you'd better start from the beginning. You think you can sit up?"

Chalk nodded and eased herself up into a sitting position, leaning heavily against Big Macintosh's flank. "Well, I'm from Cliffside. Not Hoofington as I told you, I'm sorry. Cliffside is a town up in the northwest, right near the ocean. It's mainly a rock farming town. The Cliffs are the major landowners up there, although my mother's family, the Caves, own a few large farms too."

She stopped for another long draught of water. "I don't even remember why I married my husband. He was handsome, I suppose, and I was young and foalish. And it made sense for our two families to make a union that way. The Cliffs only wanted me for my land, though. And my husband... my husband was not a good pony, Mister Macintosh."

Big Macintosh furrowed his brow sternly, pursing his lips. "He didn't treat you right? Pa was always real clear about how a mare should be treated. Did he shout at you?"

"He hit me, Mister Macintosh."

Big Macintosh was taken aback. He simply stared at Chalk, not comprehending what she was saying.

"You mean you'd butt heads sometimes, like I do with Applejack? Or maybe he'd knock you over with his shoulder if he thought you weren't working hard enough? Pa did that from time to time," he babbled, trying to make what Chalk was telling him fit into the Equestria that he knew.

Chalk shook her head, slowly rising to her feet. "I mean he would beat me with his hooves. Because the harvest was late, or he didn't like the way I spoke to him, or simply for no reason at all. Sometimes I tried to make everything just the way he wanted, but it was never enough."

Big Macintosh shook his head, still trying to find a way to make what Chalk was saying not be true. "You're a mighty strong pony, Chalk, and mighty big..."

"He was bigger and stronger," she replied bitterly. "Sometimes I fought him, and sometimes I won, but it never did any good. When I won, I knew when to stop hitting. He didn't."

The red stallion lowered his head, snorting in agitation. "I'm real sorry, Chalk. I didn't know any stallion was capable of treating a mare that way. Least of all his wife."

Chalk gently butted Big Macintosh's flank with her head. "I don't blame you, Big Macintosh. I don't blame anypony but my husband. And his family. And the mayor for letting it go on for so long. He was in the Cliffs' saddle bags, I just know it. Together, they've got the legal clout to drag me back to Cliffside. I don't know what your mayor is like..."

"She's a good mare. She'd never let something like that happen here in Ponyville. If your husband's family shows up here, they won't be able to take you anywhere. The mayor won't allow it, and... well... I won't, neither." Big Macintosh turned his gaze from Chalk to stare at the ground. "If you want to stay in Ponyville, that is."

Chalk swung her head from Big Macintosh to the road leading out of Ponyville, then back to Big Macintosh. "You'd keep me safe from them? You'd be putting yourself at risk... and the work's done. I couldn't earn my keep if I stayed."

Big Macintosh looked back at Sweet Apple Acres. "I reckon we can find something for you to do, especially while Applejack ain't here. And besides, I..." He trailed off, chewing his lip.

"You what, Big Macintosh?" asked the white mare, leaning forward to listen to the stallion.

"I, uh... I want you to stay. If you'd like. I've kind of... gotten used to seein' you at breakfast. I reckon I'd miss you if'n you left."

Chalk laid her neck against Big Macintosh's, smiling. "I'd miss you too, Big Macintosh. I would love to stay here. Ponyville is the first place I've lived since Cliffside that has really felt like a home."

The two earth ponies stood together for a few moments more, still catching their breath after their run, the scent of each other's sweat filling their nostrils. Finally, Big Macintosh shifted around to look back towards Sugarcube Corner. "I reckon we'd better head on back and tell the nice ponies that everything's okay."

---

"Mrs Cliff, you're back! Are you okay? When you ran off like that, I thought somepony had put chilli flakes in the cupcakes again!"

Chalk laughed and accepted the milkshake Pinkie Pie had mixed for her as soon as she arrived back at Sugarcube Corner, while the guests kept dancing and chattering around her. "No, no, nothing like that. The cupcakes are delicious. I was just surprised to meet somepony from home."

Pinkie Pie grinned and hopped around Chalk excitedly. "You were surprised? I was surprised too! I haven't met another pony from home – up north home, I mean, not Ponyville home – since I got here! I like it better here, but I sometimes miss the rock farmer types. And my family, of course." Her usually cheerful grin dipped a little as she became more sombre. "Have you seen the Pies lately? How are they doing?"

Chalk gave Pinkie a reassuring nudge of her head. "They're doing fine, Pinkamena, at least the last I saw them. Clyde and Sue were in Cliffside not long before I left, and they seemed happy. They talk about you a lot, you know. Everypony does. You changed everypony's lives. My wedding was the happiest day of my life, because of the way you made everypony smile."

A sad smile formed on Pinkie's face as she remembered her home. "Things were pretty different before I got my cutie mark, yeah. But... you would have been happy, anyway, right? Because you loved Mister Cliff?"

Chalk hung her head, unsure of how to handle such a delicate subject with the innocent pink filly. "These things don't always work the way we expect them to, Pinkamena. And Mister Cliff is dead now. Could I beg a favour of you, though, and ask you not to tell anypony at home that I'm here? Things are... very difficult between me and the Cliffs right now, and I need them to leave me alone for a while."

Pinkie Pie looked at the floor for a moment, downhearted. "I'm sorry it didn't work out for you and Mister Cliff, Chalk. But okay! I promise I won't tell anypony that you're here. Are you going to stay for some cake?"

Chalk shook her head. "I'm just a little shaken up still. I've had such a fun time though, Pinkamena – I'd forgotten how wonderful your parties were! I'll be sure to catch your next one! And I'll bring Big Macintosh too, of course."

Pinkie threw her front legs around Chalk's shoulders and hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you've had a good time! I just want everypony to be as happy as I am." She bounced over to Big Macintosh and hugged him too, then pressed a napkin-wrapped slice of cake at him. "Here you go. Thank you so much for coming!"

Big Macintosh looked surprised by the hug, but nudged the pink pony gently with his head. "Thank you for inviting us, Miss Pinkie. I don't think I've had this much fun in years. I'll see you at the next one!"

Pinkie Pie watched the two older ponies trek back towards Sweet Apple Acres, waving to them with a deeply satisfied grin on her face.

---

Life went on in Sweet Apple Acres, as it had since the earliest days of Ponyville. As the late autumn passed into winter, Big Macintosh and Chalk prepared the farm for the upcoming snow. There were still many healthy trees left on the farm, and it would not do for any of them to be scarred by frostbite. Big Macintosh showed Chalk how to wrap the fruit-bearing branches in coarse-woven cloth to keep the worst of the snow from the vulnerable blossom sites. Chalk took in all she could learn with great interest, commenting on how rock farming went on all year round with little heed to the seasons.

On the first day of winter, Chalk and Big Macintosh visited the nearby Whitetail Woods to watch the Ponyville pegasi lead the migratory birds south to warmer climates. Once the flocks were underway, Chalk found herself helping Fluttershy ensure that the burrowing mammals were comfortably ensconced in their dens to hibernate, using her masonry skills to make sure that their burrows were warm and safe from the snow. Big Macintosh joined the other farming ponies on their tour of the local fields, ensuring that all of the annual and biennial plants that had reached the end of their life cycles were churned up and returned to the soil.

By the end of the day, everypony was exhausted, and grateful for the feast that the Mayor and the Cakes had organised in the town hall. Pinkie Pie somehow still had energy left after a day of shaking old birds' nests down from trees, and bounced around the hall bringing food and hot drinks to the tired workers. When she found Big Macintosh and Chalk curled up in a corner of the hall, grooming each other's manes and stealing a kiss when they thought nopony was watching, she squealed softly to herself and simply set down a plate of fruit pastries without disturbing them.

Life in the farmhouse settled down once the winter snows set in, and the three earth ponies had more time to spend on domestic chores. Granny Smith busied herself with tinning and preserving fruit, while Big Macintosh took care of repairs that had gone undone during the busier months. A few weeks into winter, Chalk moved her few belongings into Big Macintosh's room, though not without comment from Granny Smith.

"You'll be sure to treat that mare right, won't you, grandson?" she quizzed him in the kitchen, while Chalk was folding sheets in what was now their shared bedroom. "She's had a hard life, harder than you or your sister have ever known."

"Of course, Granny," Big Macintosh protested between mouthfuls of hay. "Pa done taught me better than that, and so did you. I ain't never gonna treat her the way her husband did."

"See that you don't," replied Granny Smith, but her gentle smile showed that she had faith in her grandson. "And if you get her into trouble..."

Big Macintosh whinnied in embarrassment. "Granny! I... we're... eeyup. I'll do the honourable thing." He sighed softly, a fond smile on his muzzle. "I might just do that anyway. I'm mighty fond of her, you know. You did a good thing, making me be all friendly to her."

Granny Smith nudged Big Macintosh's shoulder with a hoof. "You weren't doing yerself no favours hidin' yerself away from the world. You're a good stallion, and I'm right proud of you. And so are your ma and pa, wherever they are now."

---

The weeks passed into the dead of winter. The shortest night of the year was approaching, and extra orders of snow were shipped in from Cloudsdale to blanket Ponyville's fields and buildings. It was the time of year when the Apple family would bar their shutters and pile the fireplace high, staying indoors until the worst of the season's storms were spent.

On the night of the solstice, Chalk and Granny Smith were in bed while Big Macintosh stayed up late in the farmhouse's workshop, making repairs to his plough and harness. The wind howled and beat against the shutters, wuthering through the eaves. He could hear the snow piling up against the walls, and was thankful once more for the roaring fire that kept the house warm.

Against all expectation, there came a knock at the farmhouse's front door. Big Macintosh raised his head from his work, thinking that he must have imagined the noise, when it came again – not a knocking, but a pounding, a series of heavy hoofbeats against the door.

"How could anypony be out on a night like this?" he asked himself as he hurried towards the door. "It might be Applejack back from Manehattan, but she knows better than to travel in midwinter. Whoever it is, I'd better let them in – a pony could freeze to death out there."

The hoofbeats came again as Big Macintosh reached the front door and unhooked the heavy bar, which secured the door against the wind more than against intruders. The door blew open with a swirl of wind and snow, revealing a huge coal-black earth pony stallion in a grey oilskin cloak, rearing back on his hind legs.

"Are you Big Macintosh?" demanded the stallion, as his front hooves dropped onto the wooden floor of the balcony with a crash.

"Eeyup," replied the farmer, taken aback by the stranger's aggression. "You're in Sweet Apple Acres. Who are you?"

"I'm Hoof Cliff," stated the newcomer, his voice heavy with rage, "and I'm here for my wife."

Comments

[Discontinued]

brace your self's for a shit storm is brewing

[HeartfireFirebrand]

Chalk gently butted Big Macintosh's flank with her head. "I don't blame you, Big Macintosh. I don't blame anypony but my husband. And his family. And the mayor for letting it go on for so long. He was in the Cliffs' saddle bags, I just know it. Together, they've got the legal clout to drag me back to Cliffside. I don't know what your mayor is like..."

If he's dead they have no legal right to drag you back. Also I refuse to believe Celestia would allow a law that made a mare a slave to his husband.