The Scars We Carry
As the Apple Blooms
Part 50; The Scars We Carry
Taking in the setting sun and the cool air, Apple Bloom sat on the front porch of the Chop Shop as she watched the sun slowly descend behind the horizon. “Ah don’t think Ah’ll ever get tired of views like this.” She said to herself, comparing the beauty of the sunset to the far simpler sunsets back home at Sweet Apple Acres.
The day before, Ironhide related the story about the time Wheeljack found that massive gun on the property, and since then things had been nice and peaceful. Sure, Wheeljack had gotten his foot stuck in a cinderblock (Much to Apple Bloom’s amusement), Chromia showed Sideswipe her mandolin, and Ironhide found Ratchet asleep in the scrap yard, but for the most part, things were, for the most part, just the way Apple Bloom liked it.
“Ah wish things could always stay like this.” The former farm girl wished to herself. Deep down, however, she knew that was nothing more than a pipe dream. One day, she would have to return to Sweet Apple Acres and leave everyone in Allspark Wells behind. Still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t still enjoy everything with the time she had left.
Before she could continue her train of thought, however, Apple Bloom heard something she never expected. At that moment, she heard the sound of Ironhide’s voice furiously call out, “WHO THE FUCK THOUGHT THIS WAS A FUCKING FUNNY IDEA?” Apple Bloom gulped in fear as she thought to herself, ‘Somethin’s wrong. Uncle Ironhide never raises his voice like that.’
Running into the chop shop and straight into the family den, the former farm girl found her uncle standing in front of his comfy chair, staring at a whoopee cushion that had been placed in the seat as he struggled to regain his breath. At the other end of the room, she found Sideswipe leaning against the wall as she covered her face with her arms. All in all, it seemed to the red haired girl that a prank had gone horribly wrong.
Turning to her uncle, Apple Bloom desperately asked, “Uncle Ironhide? What happened?” As the older man turned to face his niece, Sideswipe began to nervously apologize, “I’m so sorry! I was just trying to pull a prank! I didn’t know that this would set you off like dad!” As she finished, Sideswipe began to whimper, no doubt reminded of an untold number of times Red Alert became furious with her for any number of reasons.
Tiptoeing up to her sister, Apple Bloom gently asked, “You ok there Sideswipe?” Shaking her head as she lowered her arms, Sideswipe sniffled as she answered, “Not really. I gotta….” Pausing for a moment, she took a deep breath before continuing, “I gotta go for a ride.” She then made her way to the coat rack and picked up her motorcycle helmet before departing the living room.
Once the sound of Sideswipe’s motorcycle rang out as she left, Apple Bloom turned back to her uncle as she desperately asked, “What just happened? Why were you shouting and why was Sideswipe cryin’?”
Sighing in shame, Ironhide took a deep breath as he began, “I…. Sideswipe decided to place a whoopee cushion on my chair and….” To the former farm girl’s surprise, her uncle began to tear up as he continued, “Once I sat down, I began to…..”
At that moment, Chromia burst into the room as she asked, “I heard shouting! What’s going on?” Apple Bloom turned to face her aunt as she nervously answered, “Apparently Sideswipe placed a whoopee cushion on Ironhide’s chair and when he sat down, he started shoutin’!”
Processing what her niece had just revealed, Chromia turned to face her husband as she asked, “Let me guess, flashback?” Nodding, Ironhide sighed as he replied, “Yeah. I just…. For a moment while she was laughing, she sounded like…” He then collapsed to his knees as he tearfully remarked, “For Primus’s sake I let her down!”
As Chromia began to comfort her husband, Apple Bloom demanded, “What’s goin’ on?” When Ironhide and Chromia focused their attention on their niece, the former farm girl gulped as she tried to backtrack with, “Ah mean, it was just a prank. Why did you get so angry over a whoopee cushion?”
Ironhide rose back to his feet as he shamefully admitted, “It’s a little more complicated than that. You see, I….” As he struggled to keep himself composed, Chromia rested a hand on his shoulder as she continued, “It’s not Ironhide’s fault. During the war he was taken prisoner and…..” Pausing for a moment, she finished with, “….. Some bad things happened.”
“Bad things?” Apple Bloom asked incredulously. “What exactly happened to explain all….” Turning to face where Sideswipe had been standing, she finished, “…. All this!” Struggling to keep herself calm, she demanded, “What exactly happened to make sittin’ on a whoopee cushion so infuriatin’?”
Taking a deep breath, Ironhide answered, “Apple Bloom, I was…..” He quickly found a lump forming in his throat as he continued, “I’m sorry, I don’t know how to say this and not treat it as an excuse!” Finally loosing the last of her patience, Apple Bloom blurted out, “Then just say it!”
“I flashbacked to when I was FUCKING TORTURED!”
As Ironhide let out his answer, Apple Bloom’s pupils as she processed what she just heard. Confused and concerned, the former farm girl asked, “Wait, Tortured? As in like in those action movies?” After all, considering just how competent a soldier her uncle had been, it was almost impossible to imagine him being held prisoner.
Shaking his head, Ironhide dejectedly answered, “No. It was worse.” Taking a deep breath, he continued, “You better sit down kid. This whole thing requires some explaining.” Apple Bloom nervously gulped as she made her way to the couch and sat down, followed swiftly by her aunt and uncle. As the older man sat down next to his niece, he warned, “Just a heads up, this isn’t exactly pleasant stuff.”
Taking a deep breath as she steeled herself, Apple Bloom replied, “Ah’m ready.” Having received the confirmation from his niece, Ironhide began his story, “Ok. It started when we were being pushed back……”
The Jungles, Many Years Earlier….
“Get down!” Sergeant Ironhide shouted as he and the rest of the Wreckers tossed themselves onto the jungle floor. As the bullets rang out above them, the young sergeant heard the strained voice of Wheeljack cry out, “This is impossible! How the fuck did these wankers pop up out of nowhere?”
Indeed, within the last fifteen seconds, their situation had devolved from a simple patrol to the fight for their lives as they were ambushed by enemy guerrillas. Now pinned down and struggling to fight their attackers off.
From Ironhide’s left, he heard Mirage desperately call out, “Sarge! Behind you!” Turning to see who it was, the young sergeant was horrified to see one of the enemy soldiers was charging at him with a rifle equipped with a bayonet. Not wasting any time, Ironhide aimed his shotgun at the emerging foe and blasted him into eternity.
No sooner was the first enemy goon down that Ironhide found himself turning back around, only to find another soldier charging him. As he blasted this second foe, two more soldiers emerged from the jungle undergrowth. Ironhide tried to deal with them, but as he pumped his shotgun, one of their rifles fired off a few rounds, one of which found its mark in the young sergeant’s arm.
“GAH!” Ironhide screamed as he collapsed to the ground, clutching his bleeding and throbbing arm. Before he could react any further, the young man found himself quickly surrounded by a small group of enemy guerillas. From behind the circle of foes, he could hear Wheeljack desperately call out, “Ironhide!” Ironhide turned to try and face his friend, but his view was obstructed by the enemy soldiers.
Sadly, before he could get a clearer glimpse, Ironhide felt someone grab him on the shoulder and slam him into the ground. Looking up to see who it was, he found one of the guerillas standing over him with his rifle butt pointed right at his face. Sighing in resignation, all Ironhide could do was defiantly mutter, “Just do it you monkey!”
With that, the enemy guerilla slammed his rifle but into Ironhide’s face, knocking him out cold.
Somewhere, Sometime Later…..
Slowly returning to the land of the living, Ironhide felt his head throbbing in pain harder than it ever had in his life. Groaning to himself as he slowly shook his head, the young sergeant mumbled to himself, “Ugh. I think I gotta cut back on the cheese.” He then tried to reach for his forehead, only to realize something incredibly unsettling.
His hands were tied to his back.
“What the fuck?” The young man asked himself as he tried to move his hands, only to realize that they were tied together behind the chair he was seated in. Starting to internally panic, Ironhide tried to calm himself down with, “Don’t panic Ironhide. You’re just tied to a chair in…..” It was at this moment that he realized he didn’t actually know where he was.
‘Where the hell am I?’ the young sergeant thought to himself as he looked around. He was seated (or rather restrained) in the center of a dingy room with a dirt floor. The only source of light was a single, dirty yellow light bulb hanging from the ceiling. All in all, Ironhide didn’t exactly feel too comfortable with his current predicament.
“Well, guess I forget about getting a haircut.” Ironhide quipped to himself in an attempt to keep himself from panicking. “Don’t freak out. Remember, you were trained for situations like this.”
Indeed, each and every member of the Wreckers had been trained to deal with what to do in the event of being taken prisoner. Just like every other prisoner of war, the only pieces of information he would be required to reveal were his name, rank, and number, nothing else. “Of course…” Ironhide whispered to himself as he realized the room had a very unpleasant odor. “Given the situation, I don’t think they’ll just let me go if I refuse to talk.”
At that moment, the door to the room opened and two men entered. Both men were dressed in khaki officer’s uniforms and wore scowls on their faces. Their stoic expressions made it abundantly clear that Ironhide was, as Wheeljack or hound would have put it, “Up shit creek without a paddle.”
Gulping, Ironhide asked, “Uh, what’s up?” For a brief moment, neither man said anything, simply trading knowing looks to each other. This silence worried Ironhide, as their stoicism made it almost impossible to read what their exact intentions were.
And then one of the men slammed his fist into Ironhide’s stomach. As the young sergeant recoiled in the pain, the other officer removed his hat as he coldly demanded, “What are your next targets?!” He then backed away as the first officer stepped forward lifted his foot, and slammed it into Ironhide’s groin, producing a sickening crack.
It took all of Ironhide’s strength to not cry out in pain. ‘Don’t show any weakness.’ He thought to himself as he held back his desire to scream. ‘If you crack, you could get a lot of people killed.’ As he lifted his head, one of the officers stepped forward and demanded, “What are your next targets?! Tell me or die!” He then cracked his knuckles, making it clear he would not take the wrong answer well.
Taking a deep breath, Ironhide held his head high and bluntly answered, “Ironhide. Sergeant. 256-OZU-004.” This declaration of the bare minimum was met with a punch to the face, followed by another fist slamming right into his nose. As Ironhide recoiled in pain, the officer continued, “Again! What are your next targets?”
Once again, Ironhide answered, “Ironhide. Sergeant. 256-OZU-004.” And just like the first time, his defiance was met with another brief beating. One of the officers turned to the other and whispered into his ears. Ironhide couldn’t hear what he’d said, but given they were speaking in their native tongue, he wouldn’t have been able to understand what they said either way.
The two officers turned back to Ironhide as one barked, “We finish later! But first….” With that, they proceeded to beat Ironhide again, this time longer than previously. As they continued their attack, the young sergeant tried to fight back by biting them, but even this was ultimately futile.
After what seemed like an eternity, the officers finished their merciless assault as one of them, the higher ranked of the two by the patches on his jacket collar, ordered something to the other one. The second officer nodded as he approached Ironhide, grabbed him by his throat, and began to drag him away, all while the young sergeant cheekily asked, “No kiss?”
A Cell….
Ironhide found himself thrown into an old prison cell with a stone floor. As the young sergeant struggled back up to his feet, he heard the officer taunt him, “If you make trouble, you die!” With that blatant threat, the cell door slammed shut, leaving Ironhide alone in the belly of the beast.
Or so he thought.
From behind him, Ironhide heard a familiar voice ask, “Who’s there?” Despite the pain of his injuries starting to register to his brain, the young sergeant’s instincts kicked in and he forced himself around to see who it was.
There, sitting on the dirty floor and bleeding from his lips, was Mirage. “Mirage? Is that you?” Ironhide asked as he realized who it was. He tried to step forward, but he immediately collapsed back to the ground as he groaned in pain.
“Sarge!” Mirage called out in joy as he ran up to Ironhide and saluted his sergeant. “Oh sir, I’m so glad to see you.” As Ironhide managed to get back onto his feet, his subordinate let out a sigh as he continued, “Quite the pickle we’ve found ourselves in, isn’t it?”
Ironhide let out a gentle chuckle as he replied, “I know. Never expected something like this.” As he began to eye the cell they were stuck in, he asked, “Any Idea where we are? How far we are from our lines?”
Mirage shook his head as he answered, “Not much. I remember it was almost sundown when were taken, but I blacked out on the way here. I woke up before we got here, and the dead of night.” Sighing, Ironhide continued, “So at least six hours, give or take. How long was I out?” Mirage looked down in shame as he replied, “I don’t know. Our hosts decided to have a “friendly chat” with me after we arrived, after the first blow I kinda zoned out.”
The two teammates were interrupted when a guard slammed his rifle on the cell door and bellowed, “Im di!” Both men turned to face the guard and glared at him, leading him to simply roll his eyes and continue his patrol.
Once the guard was gone (Or at least out of sight), Mirage asked, “So sarge? What are we gonna do?” Ironhide began to pace around the cell as he replied, “Give me a sec.” After a few moments, he turned back to his teammate and simply answered, “I have no idea.”
Mirage sighed as he sat down and complained, “Oh great. We’re gonna die in here.” Kneeling down, Ironhide rested his hand on Mirage’s shoulder and reassured him, “We’re gonna get out of this place. I don’t know how just yet, but we will.” Starting to panic, Mirage desperately asked, “You promise me?”
Ironhide hesitated for a moment. Deep down, he knew he couldn’t guarantee he could get Mirage or even himself out of their current predicament. If anything, he didn’t even know what kind of facility they were in, or even if they were above ground.
Still, the desperate look on Mirage’s face ate away at him. Taking a deep breath, Ironhide answered, “I’ll get you out of here or die trying.” Relieved, or at least as relieved as he could be, Mirage nodded as he replied, “Thank you sir.” Patting his subordinate on the shoulder, Ironhide continued, “Good man. Now, I think we should get some rest. I got a feeling we’ll need every advantage we can get.”
Some Time Later….
To say Ironhide lost track of time would be an understatement. As the days passed, he and Mirage found themselves at the mercy of the sadistic whims of their captors. Every now and then, a day would come where other than a dog bowl of food, no one would bother them, save for the guard. Of course, these days were few and far between.
For the most part, the captive wreckers were forced to undergo what their captors sarcastically referred to as “enhanced interrogation.” Of course, both men knew that this was a fanciful word for what was really going on; torture.
Most of the time, it was simply physical beatings. Ironhide would be dragged into a room where he would be punched, kicked, slammed into the wall or floor, or smacked and bashed with some sort of instrument. Of course, his captors had more tricks up their sleeves.
Sometimes they’d tie him down to a table and pour water on his face. Sometimes they’d try to stick bamboo under his fingernails. Sometimes they’d even repeatedly dunk his head in water or other liquid. For the most part, Ironhide managed to put up a brave face, only ever giving the same answer he’d repeated so many times before; a defiant, “Ironhide. Sergeant. . 256-OZU-004.”
Time began to pass. Ironhide and Mirage began to grow skinnier due to malnutrition. Ironhide himself found that a dirty beard was growing on his face. Every time he got a glimpse of himself in a broken mirror or in a puddle of water, he found the scraggly facial hair was longer and longer.
“Ugh.” The young sergeant often said to himself when he’d get a glimpse. “Guess that’s another week in this hellhole.” He’d say as he realized just how long he and Mirage were held captive. If there was one silver lining to his situation, it was that Ironhide was able to keep up a stiff upper lip, appearing to take whatever his captors could dish out.
But he knew he couldn’t do it forever.
One day, the guards entered the cell and, without even acknowledging Ironhide, walked up to Mirage and began to drag him out. Panicking, he began to ask, “What’s going on? Where are you guys taking me?” Ironhide himself tried to stop the guards, shouting, “You do anything to him and I’ll tear you bastards apart.” Nonetheless, the countless sessions had significantly weakened him, and Ironhide was brushed aside as the guards took Mirage away.
After what seemed like an eternity, the guards returned for Ironhide. Sighing, the young sergeant stood up as he dejectedly shrugged and quipped, “Alright, let’s get this done.” Rather than immediately drag him out, however, one of the guards pulled out a sack cloth bag and placed it over Ironhide’s head. Confused, he asked, “What the fuck?”
“Move now!” The guard angrily barked. He then grabbed Ironhide by his shirt and shoved him out of the cell. Sighing to himself in his world of darkness, Ironhide prepared himself for whatever would happen next.
Even though he couldn’t see where he was being taken, Ironhide recognized each turn as the path to the “interrogation chamber.” ‘Well, so much for a quiet day in.’ The young sergeant thought to himself. ‘And to think I was planning on cleaning the cell today.’
Eventually, Ironhide was brought somewhere with a dirt floor. ‘Guess we’re here.’ He thought to himself he felt the guards’ hands grab him on the shoulder and slam him into a chair.
To his surprise, as Ironhide sat down in the chair, the young soldier heard the unmistakable “Pfffffft” of a whoopee cushion. As he heard the sound ring out, all of the officers and guards began to snicker at the juvenile prank they’d just pulled off. Processing what just happened, one of the guards pulled the bag off of his head, revealing two important facts about the sergeant’s situation.
One was that Mirage was lying on the ground, badly beaten and bleeding but very much alive. The other fact was that as Ironhide looked around him, he realized he was in an odd wooden chair. Before he could fully process just how weird his chair was, the two guards began to strap him into the chair and attach two devices to his arm.
Once Ironhide was strapped into the chair, both of the interrogators entered the room, twisted smirks on their faces. As one of officers approached Ironhide, he began to speak, “Now then, here is deal.” Pointing to Mirage, he continued, “Your friend will not talk, and we know you won’t talk.”
Smirking, Ironhide couldn’t help but quip, “Looks like you boys finally put two and two together.” The officer rolled his eyes before he, to absolutely no one’s surprise, slugged the sergeant in the face. When Ironhide recovered, the officer continued, “But now, you will talk.”
Pointing to Mirage, the officer sneered, “You will talk or your friend will suffer.” As Ironhide realized what his captor had just said, he tried to wiggle his way out of the chair he’d been strapped to. Snickering with twisted glee, the officer continued, “If you resist….” He then pointed to the other officer, who pulled out a small device and pressed a big red button.
The moment the ruthless goon pressed the button, Ironhide felt a sharp pain begin to course throughout his entire body. As the chair made a horrifying crackling sound, the young sergeant screamed as he was consumed in a pain he’d never experienced before. After a few moments, the chair stopped producing its electricity, allowing Ironhide to breath in relief.
Looking up to his captor, the young sergeant spitefully snarled, “You sick little fuck!” He tried to wiggle his way out again, only to feel another brief, but no less painful jolt of electricity overtake his body. As the currents faded, the officer allowed a twisted grin to form on his face as he asked, “Now we try again. Where are you stationed?”
Struggling to contain his growing fury, Ironhide defiantly answered, “Ironhide. Sergeant. 256-OZU-004.” The officer sighed in frustration as he turned to his comrade as he quietly ordered, “Khien anh ay dau kho.” The other man nodded as he slammed his foot into Mirage’s head, producing a sickening crack and producing a small amount of a dark red liquid.
“NO!” Ironhide shouted as he tried to force himself out of the crude electric chair. Just as he suspected, the electricity began to course its way through him, cramping the sergeant’s body in excruciating pain. This time, Ironhide’s captors allowed the chair to run just a little longer.
Once the voltage died down again, the head officer coldly asked, “Once again. Where are your friends?” As he caught his breath, Ironhide glared at his captor as he spitefully muttered, “I will kill each and every of you.” The officer simply chuckled as he rolled his eyes and made his way back towards Mirage, who was now whimpering on the floor.
Standing over his prisoner, the officer knelt down, wrapped his hands around Mirage’s neck, and began to squeeze hard. As he squeezed, Ironhide found himself realizing he’d seen something like this before. The image of a friend of his being throttled reminded him too much of the horrors of Parry Island.
Despite knowing what they would do to him, Ironhide allowed the growing fury and adrenaline to overtake him. Sure enough, the young sergeant felt the electricity burn him like a bug, but this time, he didn’t care. Instead, the pain motivated Ironhide to continue fighting, and soon, he managed to break his right arm free.
As the guards watched in shock as Ironhide freed one of his hands, the sergeant grabbed the restraints to his other hand and rip it off like a metal band aid. Once he was free, Ironhide ran towards the officers and……
Ironhide zoned out after that. When he did return to the land of consciousness, he was standing over Mirage and four bodies, one of which was bleeding from the mangled of what used to be his eye sockets. “Of primus….” He muttered to himself as he looked down to his fingers, which were now drenched in an all too familiar red liquid.
Shaking his head, Ironhide told himself, “Don’t think about it right now.” Making his way over to Mirage, the sergeant bent down as he asked, “Mirage? You there?” Though his teammate didn’t verbally answer, his groggy mumble and faint pulse made it clear that he was at least alive. Sighing in relief, Ironhide picked up his teammate and slung him over his back as he reassured him, “It’s alright buddy. Let’s get you home.” With Mirage secured, the sergeant made his way to the door.
And then the door opened, revealing none other than Roadblock aiming a machine gun at him. “Gah!” Ironhide exclaimed in shock. Barely able to keep himself together, the sergeant exclaimed, “Roadblock? What the fuck?”
The puce man gave a cocky smirk as he replied, “We’re bustin’ you guys out of here. Let’s go!” He then motioned for Ironhide to follow him. Letting out a relieved snicker, Ironhide couldn’t help but quip, “Lead the way.”
A Short While Later….
After making it out of the dungeon (Ironhide was too focused on staying alive to notice anything about the facility he’d been a prisoner in), the young sergeant and Roadblock made to a hill where the rest of the Wreckers were waiting for them. As he joined his teammates, Ironhide was overcome with joy at seeing his friends again. “Oh, am I glad to see you guys again.” He said with a joy he’d never known in his life before.
He was certainly surprised when Wheeljack and Huffer ran up to him and practically tackled him in a massive bear hug. As he crushed his friend, Wheeljack squealed, “I can’t believe you’re still alive! We thought you were dead!” Huffer released his sergeant as he continued, “Yeah. Prime’s been moving us all over the country to find you two.”
Once they’d finished their group hug, Ironhide spoke up, “Hold up just a minute.” He then knelt down to release Mirage, setting his friend down gently on the grass. “Mirage? We made it.” The young sergeant informed his subordinate. “We’re home free.”
But Mirage wasn’t moving.
Concerned, Ironhide patted Mirage on the cheek as he asked, “You there buddy? We’re safe. We’re gonna get out of here!” Sadly, Mirage didn’t move. He simply just sat there, as if he were a rag doll.
“No.” Ironhide muttered as the realization of what had happened began to set in. No sooner had he said that than Ratchet walked up to him as he knelt down and began, “Let me take a look.”
As the medic began his simple examination, Ironhide sighed as he explained, “Guards weren’t exactly gentle. They wanted us to talk, but neither of us would. They eventually tried to break me by torturing him in of me.” Not even turning to face his friend, Ratchet replied, “Judging from his skull here, they went a little overboard.” This was followed by two words that Ironhide hoped the medic wouldn’t say.
“He’s dead.”
Ironhide just stood there, struggling to process what he’d just heard. After a few moments, however, he just began to mutter, “No. That’s impossible. I got him out alive. He can’t be fucking dead!” He shoved Ratchet out of the way as he tried to get Mirage to wake up, hoping to Primus that his friend was simply unconscious.
Instead, he found that Mirage’s body had already turned noticeably paler and his eyes were already glossed over like a doll’s eyes. There simply wasn’t any denying the cold, hard reality that Private Mirage had departed to join Firefly and Trailbreaker in the next life.
All Ironhide could do was collapse to his knees in sorrow, unable to let out his pain for fear of giving in to the ever growing well of pain. As he struggled to keep himself under control, the young sergeant heard a familiar voice ask, “Sergeant?”
Looking up, Ironhide found his captain, Optimus Prime, walking up to him, a pained expression on his face. Managing to rise back to his feet, the young sergeant reported, “Sir, Sergeant Ironhide reporting for….” He would have continued, but Ironhide began to succumb to the countless beatings he’d been subject to and collapsed onto the ground. The last thing he could make out before blacking out was Optimus ordering, “Alright men. Let’s get them home.”
The Present Day
Apple Bloom found herself stunned absolutely speechless by her uncle’s story. As the family patriarch sighed, he began to finish his tale with, “I found out I’d been gone almost two months. Prime led the others on a massive manhunt across the entire country looking for us, but even he wasn’t a miracle worker.” As he began to tear up, he finished, “I….. That night you found me awake? I was having a nightmare I was back in that hellhole. And when I heard the whoopee cushion, I just….”
Without saying anything, Apple Bloom leapt up and wrapped her uncle in a massive hug, one the older man immediately reciprocated. After a few minutes, the former farm girl apologized, “Ah’m so sorry you had to go through all that.” Smiling, Ironhide replied, “It’s not your fault kid. If anything, I need to apologize to Sideswipe.”
At that moment, everyone heard the sound of a motorcycle’s engines growing louder and louder. Letting out a sigh, the family patriarch remarked, “Well isn’t that just prime?” Sure enough, within a few moments Sideswipe reentered the family den, her earlier fear now replaced with a relaxed calmness.
Walking up to her sister, Apple Bloom asked, “Hey Sideswipe. Feelin’ better?” The teenaged biker replied, “Yeah. Hope you guys didn’t mind. When I get agitated, the quickest way for me to relax is to ride.” As the former farm girl let out an amused giggle, Sideswipe turned to Ironhide and began, “Look, Mr. Ironhide. About that prank, I was just…..”
“No.” Ironhide gently interrupted. “You did nothing wrong. There’s no way you could have known I’d snap like that. That was my fault.” Surprised by his humility, Sideswipe found herself absolutely speechless. Realizing she was having trouble processing everything, Ironhide asked, “I take it your dad never apologized before?”
Shaking her head, Sideswipe answered, “Not recently. He’d usually blame me for setting him off.” Ironhide then rested his hand on her shoulder as he reassured her, “Well, I promise you I’ll not make that mistake again.” The pale biker, overwhelmed with emotion, wrapped the older man in a tight hug. As he hugged her back, Sideswipe quipped, “Thanks, though I’ll try to avoid whoopee cushions in the future.”
Once Ironhide and Sideswipe had finished making up, Apple Bloom asked, “So, what happens now?” Ironhide replied, “Well, anything you’d like to do Sideswipe?” When the pale white teenager pointed to herself in confusion, the family patriarch continued, “Consider it my penance for scaring you and not telling you about everything.”
Pondering for a moment, Sideswipe decided, “Well, the paint on my bike is starting to chip. You mind helping me apply a new coat?” Nodding, Ironhide answered, “Lead the way ma’am.” As Sideswipe giggled in childish glee, Apple Bloom asked, “Mind if Ah help?” The pale biker shrugged as she happily replied, “Why not? The more the merrier.”
As the group made their way out of the family den however, Sideswipe quickly added, “But I’d also like to know why you snapped in the first place sir.” As Apple Bloom gulped in fear, Ironhide nodded as he began, “Well, it started back in the war. We were coming back from a raid on enemy supply lines when…” As Ironhide retold his story to Sideswipe, Apple Bloom hoped to himself, “Ah just hope she can handle it.”
Then again, Sideswipe was a tough girl, and Apple Bloom had faith in her. After all, being there for each other was what being part of a family was all about.
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Ahhh, yo pensaba que cuando Apple Jack quiere gritar a applebloom por su traición, finalmente applebloom se defiende y le dirá a Applejack que se joda y que ya no es su hermana, es más ya no es la familia Apple
Why isn't there a crossover tag?
Maybe ironhide should see someone about the ptsd considering if a harmless prank got him that upset then what happens when the prank is more annoying or someone really ticks him off. My dad has it and it makes him pretty cranky about stupid stuff. Unfortunately his meds ran out and now he gotta see the head doctor to get more.
10967434
You know, that gives me an idea of how the next chapter can start.
10967444
Well your welcome to it. I could use a few ideas for my story considering I'm stuck. I'm trying to teach twilight an important lesson in empathy while trying to convey the characters feelings that you can feel the pain they go through. All while denying twilight the role as the hero of the story. Oh she thinks she is so far but that will change as soon as I figure out how to go from here.
Yes! Marble's coming back.
10967591
I see you’re quite fond of Marble.
Ouch.
Poor Mirage
Nice chapter and I'm really not sure why AB isn't asking to stay.
10967629
I'm fond of all (the main) the characters and await the day they all share a chapter or two together
Oof, PTSD is a bitch. (Speaking from experience). I mentioned in a comment in a previous chapter that my biological grandmother was a bit nuts. She's part of the reason I can't handle people trying to sneak up behind me. My boyfriend's brother tried to once as a joke. I didn't scream like Ironhide did, but I did freak out and start crying. (To the brother's credit, he gets my reaction and now just pranks/trolls my boyfriend, which I find much more humorous, lol).
You're doing a phenomenal job with this story and the characters you've created for it. Their struggles and reactions to difficult situations are quite realistic and believable, which, imo, makes it easier to really care about them. Keep up the amazing work!
10974265
I’m honored you find my work so entertaining. I try to keep everything as realistic as I can (given everything from equestrian magic to wreck-gar).
If anything, I worry I’m making Sideswipe too prevalent as, though I love writing for her, this is still mostly Apple Bloom’s story.
10967376
Eso puede ocurrir. Dependerá del autor, pero si algo estoy seguro es que habrá pleito cuando ambas hermanas se reencuentren.