Romance and the Fate of Equestria

Chapter Fifty-Three

Big Macintosh was curled up in an armchair with a book in the Apple family house. The outside air was cold, but with all the windows shut firmly and the fireplace on, he was quite cozy.

It took him a few minutes, therefore, for the feeling to creep up on him that he was being stared at. He looked up from his book to see Winona, sitting directly in front of his chair and glaring at him.

He stared back at her, puzzled, but her scowl didn't waver.

"Apple Bloom!" he called.

"Yeah, big bro?" she called from upstairs.

"If you got somethin' to say to me, say it. Don't send the dog down here to shame me."

Apple Bloom skipped down the stairs. "Sorry," she said cheerfully. "Back off there, Winona, you're good. Here's the thing, brother, I thought you and Fluttershy were so sweet together, and I'm deeply disappointed that you broke her heart and made her cry and stuff."

Big Mac rolled his eyes. "Get off my back, Apple Bloom. I get enough of that in town."

"Well, don'tcha think the fact that nopony approves is a bit of a giveaway?" Apple Bloom urged. "C'mon, bro…"

"Nopony?" Big Mac demanded. "That's a stretch, isn't…?"

Sweetie Belle hopped down the stairs to join Apple Bloom, while Scootaloo flapped around above their heads. The sprouting of Scootaloo's wings had been followed up by a full-on growth spurt: her wings were now an adult pegasus mare's in miniature, her snout seemed a bit too big for her face, and her long and skinny legs dangled, seemingly useless, beneath her hovering body.

The realization that he wasn't alone with Apple Bloom caused Big Mac to clam up nervously, while all three Crusaders looked at him expectantly.

"I don't get it, man," Scootaloo said, shaking her head. "I mean, it's Fluttershy. Who would break up with Fluttershy?"

"It's not too late," Sweetie Belle implored. "You can get her back, and nopony would judge you anymore…"

"I don't need relationship advice from you three," Big Mac said pointedly. "It's not like any of you has ever had to make a big life decision."

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and walked toward the window. "Whatever, I don't even want to talk to you anymore…"

Big Mac scoffed. "Okay, fine," he muttered under his breath. "Don't know nothin'… y'all are thirteen…"

He got out of his chair and stretched. He noticed Apple Bloom staring out the window, and the other two watching her in concern.

"So… what are you girls up to?" he asked.

"Oh, just getting back to basics," Sweetie Belle said.

"Yeah," Scootaloo agreed. "The whole Mecha thing kind of backfired on us most egregiously…"

"That's for sure," Sweetie agreed under her breath.

"So we're going back to our old Crusaders roots and just trying a bunch of random junk," Scootaloo said, slowing her wings and landing on the ground. A second later, her twiggy legs started wobbling and threatened to buckle beneath her; she hastily took to the air again, looking a bit embarrassed.

"You okay?" Sweetie said in concern.

"Yeah," she said hastily. "Hey, Big Mac, how'd you get your cutie mark?"

Apple Bloom scoffed. "Don't ask him. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are about the pursuit of happiness. This guy is allergic to happiness."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Big Mac demanded.

"Just look at the facts," she said, looking at the other girls rather than at him. "Havin' Cheerilee and Fluttershy in his grasp and lettin' 'em go? Obviously he's only really happy when he's miserable."

"He's got a cutie mark, doesn't he?" Scootaloo said. "That qualifies him as worth asking."

"First off, I didn't break up with Cheerilee," Big Mac said patiently. "We were only together 'cause you three poisoned us."

"Well, that's even worse!" Apple Bloom burst out. "We did that 'cause we had to, ya love-hatin' blockhead! And I still don't wanna talk to you!"

Big Mac turned back to the others in exasperation. "Has it occurred to anypony that maybe partin' ways was the right choice for me and Fluttershy?"

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…" Scootaloo said, holding it for a comically long period of time.

"Nuh-uh," Sweetie Belle said.

"No," Scootaloo agreed.

"Fine," Mac grumbled. "So, do y'all wanna hear my story, or don't ya?"

"Please," Sweetie Belle said.

"Well, let's see… I was eleven… pretty young, but still the last in my class. Funny how that works sometimes, isn't it?"

"Hilarious," Scootaloo deadpanned.

"Anyway, little Applejack was three," Big Mac went on. "Dad was havin' me teach her the ways of the farm. It was a real chore… she just didn't get it, wouldn't listen. I told Dad she was hopeless. He reminded me that I couldn't have been that much better when I was that age. At that very moment, behind my back, Applejack started doin' everything perfectly. That's when we really hit our stride, came into our own, as brother and sister. As AJ's big brother, it was my responsibility to teach her everything I knew, even if it was at the same time as Mom and Dad and Granny were teachin' me."

Apple Bloom frowned thoughtfully, still staring out the window at the orchards.

"And, you know what, that was the whole secret," Big Mac said. "That everythin' I'd learned up to the age of eleven got to AJ by the time she was three. Soon, she was just as good at tendin' Sweet Apple Acres as I was—better, even. Faster, more efficient. That's when I pieced it all together, see? Passin' knowledge from one generation to another is what farmin' is all about, and not just downwards—I learned from Applejack every day, just like she learned from me. And sure, we're the same generation, but you know what I mean. But that was when I got my mark: when I realized that little teeny tiny Applejack was as good as she was, better than me, because of what I taught her. Ain't that somethin'?

"Apple Bloom… I know you're not listenin', and I know you don't really remember Mom and Dad. But everything you were ever taught came from them. And Granny too, of course. That's why my cutie mark is half an apple. My family is the other half. One member of the Apple family is nothin' without the rest of 'em."

Apple Bloom didn't respond.

"…Huh," Scootaloo said blankly.

"You're eight years older than Applejack?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Eeyup."

"That would make you… twenty years older than Apple Bloom?"

Big Mac nodded.

"Huh… weird," Scootaloo said. "So were those the only three times your parents did it, or what?"

"Scootaloo!" Sweetie gasped.

"Oh, what?" Scootaloo said irritably. "You ask questions like that all the damn time."

"I get it," Apple Bloom said suddenly. "I understand it now."

"Your parents doing it?" Sweetie said blankly.

"No, I mean… it," Apple Bloom said, completely soaking in the sight of Sweet Apple Acres. "I've been thinkin' about this since Granny died. She's gone, right? And Mom and Dad? But… but they're not. 'Cause they made this farm what it is. And the farm's still here, just the way they left it. And… and I know how to run it."

She turned toward the others, who gasped.

"Ponies die," Apple Bloom said simply. "But a farm lasts for generations… right? Ponies don't last forever, but the hard work they put in while they're alive, that stays when they go. Granny didn't die, not really—she left behind everything she taught. It's all right here, inside of me. I'm a part of makin' sure the farm will always be here. It's who I am. It's… my destiny."

Sweetie Belle pointed a shaky hoof at Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom," she squeaked. "Your cutie mark."

Apple Bloom blinked. "You gals are messin' with me, right?"

"Do we look like we're messing with you?" Scootaloo rasped, tears coming to her eyes.

Apple Bloom turned around. Her flank was still shimmering, displaying the image of a white flower, edged with pink, with five petals and numerous stems at its center.

"No way," she breathed. "Just… no way."

"YAAAAY!" the other two Crusaders shrieked as they tackled her, hugging her and dancing around.

"THIS IS SOOOOOO INCREDIBLE!" Sweetie whooped.

"I knew it would be you! I knew it!" Scootaloo roared triumphantly.

"It's so pretty! Just look at it!"

"And with the big dramatic speech…"

"What kind of flower is that?" Sweetie Belle said eagerly.

"That there's an apple blossom," Apple Bloom muttered. "If I had to guess, it's probably in bloom. Name science…"

Scootaloo tilted her head. "Apple Bloom, are you okay?"

"It's just… that's it?" Apple Bloom said quietly. "My cutie mark story is that I got it while listening to somepony else's cutie mark story? That's a terrible story…"

Big Mac smiled. "Well, actually, AB, that's—"

"Still not talkin' to you."

He scowled.

"And… and I got it from becomin' painfully aware that I'm gonna die?" Apple Bloom went on. "I wanted a story I could tell my children someday, not one that'd scare 'em to death. 'Hey, kids, your mom's gonna die someday and so are you!'"

"Apple Bloom, what…" Sweetie Belle stammered in confusion. "What are you so upset about? Isn't this what you always wanted? What we've been working toward for almost three years?"

"Yeah," Apple Bloom sighed. "And… and I was expectin' somethin' like this. With all the mullin' over Granny's death I've been doin', I figured some big epiphany about the farm and what it means to be an Apple was right around the corner, would drop into my lap. So here I am. There it is, conclusive proof that I am… Apple Bloom." She gazed at the cutie mark, expressionless.

"But… why aren't you happy?" Scootaloo demanded.

"No, I am… I think," Apple Bloom said. "This is what I've always dreamed about, right? I feel like… I don't know, maybe it's just that I saw it comin'?"

Scootaloo's lip thinned, and she touched the ground again, ignoring her wobbling knees. "Okay, well… just because you're getting all mopey about completing your quest for your destiny, you're not gonna stop the Crusaders from celebrating."

In unison, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo held their hooves to their brows in salute. "Cutie Mark Crusaders mission accomplished," they recited. They snapped their saluting hooves forward. "Yay," they said sternly.

Apple Bloom slowly and lazily repeated the gesture back to them. "Yay," she muttered.

Sweetie Belle stepped forward and took Apple Bloom's hoof between both of hers. "Hey, you know what'll make you feel better?" she said. "Your cuteceañera."

"Hey, yeah!" Scootaloo agreed. After a brief pause, she started bouncing up and down. "Ooh! Ooh, ooh, ooh!"

"What?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I've got it," Scootaloo said, thrilled. "Apple Bloom's cuteceañera… at the Bazaar!"

"Oooh, that's the best idea ever!" Sweetie Belle said gleefully.

"That… that actually does sound extremely cool," Apple Bloom admitted. "Maybe… yeah, maybe that'll perk me up."

Sweetie Belle touched Apple Bloom's cheek. "I just wish I understood why you need to be perked up," she said. "You've got your whole life ahead of you now."

"I'm just… I dunno. I'll figure it out," Apple Bloom said. "Come on, Crusaders. Hug it up!"

The three fillies embraced, bouncing around in a circle together.