The last days of school passed. Final exams came and went, then suddenly CHS and its partner across the street CJHS were thrust headlong into the holiday break. Teens and adults alike relished the eleven-day vacation, especially with the several inches of snow still on the ground, all the better for playing, though not for driving.
Eventually, the time came for the long-planned get-together at the Apple Family’s farm. Rarity and Sweetie Belle were, as usual, running late. Also contributing to this was that their mother had needed an extra several minutes to warm up the station-wagon that she had left parked outside and thus had to defrost.
Rarity hastily typed out a status update on MyStable to send out to her 2,624 contacts, a number that had jumped since the Anon-A-Miss incident, mostly from boys in neighbouring districts who harboured open crushes on her, as well as a couple of design majors from the city university who felt she would be a good addition to their program. It said, simply, «The holidays are here at last! My most favourite time of the year!»
Once she’d hit ‘Post’, she called out to her little sister, “Sweetie Belle! Are you ready to head out?”
“Yeah!” said Sweetie from the other room with a bit of impatience. “Let’s go!”
As the walked to their mother’s no-longer-frozen car, Sweetie spoke again. “Thanks for inviting me and Scootaloo along with you all even after… what we did.”
“Well, you’ve tried to fix it as best you can,” Rarity said as they got in the car.
Once they were well into the several-mile trip out to the Apples’ farm, Rarity spoke again. “You took down Anon-A-Miss’s profile, you confessed your actions to Principal Celestia, you apologized to the other students you hurt…”
“…and we’re banned from the internet, being moved to separate classes, and we all have detention for the rest of the year!” Sweetie said sadly.
“Sweetie, you should consider yourself lucky the punishment wasn’t worse. The three of you could easily have been expelled over this. I don’t know how or why Sunset has such pull with the faculty, but she spoke to them for just five minutes and kept you all in school. You owe her a lot.”
“Yeah, I know. But… all the stuff that Anon-A-Miss put out there is still out there. We can’t take that back.”
“No, you can’t. But you’ve tried, and put in your best effort to do so, and that’s what counts in this sort of situation. I think we’ll be okay, even if a few of our secrets are out,” Rarity said as she put her hand on Sweetie Belle’s shoulder.
“I guess…”
“And I suppose Applejack and I owe our little sisters an apology as well. We never meant to make either of you or Scootaloo feel left out. We shouldn’t have made you feel alone. It took Anon-A-Miss for us to understand how you all felt… and how Sunset felt before she met us.”
They finally reached the Apples’ main residence, close to the road but surrounded on three sides by a hundred acres or more of (snow covered) fields and orchards. In the driveway sat an old beat-up green truck, multiple sets of tire tracks from where the other girls had already been dropped off by their families, and a purple moped. Applejack and Apple Bloom had the front door open and greeted them, handing them hot chocolate with marshmallows as soon as they crossed the threshold. Inside, everyone else had already gathered and were chatting amongst themselves, having a grand old time. Granny Smith had baked a massive platter of cookies and applesauce muffins, which all her young guests happily devoured. Even the health-conscious Fluttershy helped herself to a couple of treats.
Sweetie Belle quickly joined her best friends, all of them knowing it was probably the last time they would be allowed to see each other for at least five months.
After saying her greetings and peace with everyone, Sunset broke off from the rest of the group and sat alone by an out-of-the-way window facing the pasture as she watched the snow fall. Rarity approached her, followed quickly by Applejack.
“I just… really want to thank you two for making all this happen,” Sunset said with a slight catch in her throat.
“And I need to thank you for saving our sisters,” said Rarity.
“It wasn’t a big deal,” Sunset retorted. “I want to believe any of you would do the same for me. At least now that you know I never lied.”
“Sugarplum,” Applejack said as she placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder, “Of course we would. After all, you’re part of our (non-kin) family now. And y’know what I love about family?”
“What’s that?” Sunset and Rarity both asked.
Applejack smiled as big as she could as she answered. “No matter how big it gets, there’s always room for more!”
Sunset nodded slowly. “I think I’m starting to understand.”
“Good,” Rarity said. “Now come on, dear. Let’s go back and join the others. After all, the night is still young, and it’s much warmer by the hearth.”
“Fair enough,” said Sunset as she pulled herself away from the window.
The three girls joined the gaggle in the living room in front of the fire just as Granny Smith began to tell one of the traditional Apple Family legends.