//------------------------------// // applejack's fair weather holiday, part 1 // Story: My little Short Stories // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// Applejack's fair weather holiday Dream Valley, two days before Christmas... The snow fell all around the walls of Dream Castle, giving the place the feeling of the wonderful season that was in the air. Foals played outside the castle walls, making snow ponies and sledding down the nearby hill. The Pegasus were busy stringing up the lights, while the earth pony carolers were at the palace's outdoor stage, trying to get in tune to sing "Jingle Bells" for the Christmas concert that night. Even the unicorns were helping out, levitating a Christmas tree they had bought off of inside, and setting it up with all of the decorations on it. Yes, the great season of Christmas was in the air, and every pony could feel the joy and magic all around them. "Mama! Mama!" Baby Applejack came running out the castle's drawbridge, galloping towards the orange earth mare trotting away from the now-finished choir practice. "Guess what I did today?" "Easy there, little one!" Her mother laughed, as the little filly trotted up and nuzzled her. "And how was your last day of school before holiday break?" "It was great!" The filly exclaimed, waving her hooves around excitedly. "Miss Sundance read us the story of How Minty saved Christmas, an we had cookies and played games!" "That's great, apple blossom!" Applejack smiled, using her nickname for baby AJ. "And I hope you're ready to eat a lot of my apple pie tonight, and open all of the Presents your father and I got for you." At her mother's words, Baby Applejack's ears drooped. "Mama... Do you think Daddy and Apple Delight will get back from Misty Mountain in time for Christmas?" "I don't know, little one." At that, the orange earth mare frowned. "The Snowstorm brewing tonight is supposed to get even worse, and it'll be dangerous for them to try to fly, gallop, or ride through it!" "Couldn't a unicorn just wink 'em home?" The filly asked hopefully. But applejack just shook her head. "Twilight and Galaxy told me they have to make a short series of jumps when winking, and with the coming storm, that could get daddy and your brother hurt!" "I understand." The filly replied sadly. As she and her mother trotted back towards the castle, Baby Applejack looked up at her. "Mommy, is it true you were the Applejack when you were younger? The harmony bearer from Ponyville?" AJ's eyes went wide at that. "Yes... yes, I am, apple blossom, that was me. Where- where did you hear about that?" She was not surprised her daughter had heard about her earlier life in Ponyville, given that it was now spread all over the castle, but AJ had hoped to tell her children about her past herself. "Baby Lofty told me." Baby Applejack replied. "Mom, if you're the element of Loyalty, can't you just make the weather change so they can come home?" "T-that's not how the elements of harmony work, sweetie." Applejack replied, looking away. "And I don't have the element of Honesty anymore." "Well, that's what I wish for Christmas." Baby Applejack sighed, trotting back over the drawbridge ahead of her mother. "I want daddy and Apple Delight to all be in front of the Christmas tree together!" AJ looked back up at the dark clouds in the sky, and thought of the blowing and billowing sea of white that would soon descend from them. As she followed her daughter back into the castle, the wheels in the mare's head slowly began to turn... ... "You want us to drive the storm away?" Firefly asked, nearly choking on her hot coca in shock. "AJ, are you serious?" The oragne mare was sitting in the Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe, at a table with six of her Pegasus friends. She had just gotten done telling them her plan to make her daughter's dream come true, and was now getting stares of disbelief. "Yep, I know Pegasus were once able to control the weather." Applejack replied confidently. "I'm certain you ladies would be able to wrangle those clouds up there, and drive this storm out!" "Look, Applejack... we Pegasus might be able to still pull tricks like causing lightning across the sky, or bouncing from a cloud and dumping water all over another pony as a gag." Medley warned her. "But full on weather control? That's a pony of a different color." "Sounds like fun to me!" Surprise squealed, slurping down her hot fudge sundae. "I always have fun playing in the clouds!" "You say you're doing this as a Christmas gift for your daughter? How dramatic, dahling!" Heart Throb cooed in her southern accent. "I'd love tah yelp ya'll get your man home for the holidays!" "Not to dampen everyone's enthusiastic prospects for this enormous endeavor." Wind Whistler snorted, trying to get everybody at the table back to reality. "But to tamper with the natural flowing patterns of the weather in this day and age, is to invoke the supremely unpleasant wrath of the fairy folk." "Blimey, she's right, AJ!" North Star Agreed, sipping her hot cider. "The fair folk run nature now, and ta meddle in their affairs is ta invite disaster!" With a sigh, AJ leaned forward, and shook her mane. "You're absolutely right, ladies." The orange mare replied. "I just thought all of you would be interested in living up to the legacy of your Equestrian ancestors, proud ponies like the wonderbolts, who could shape the weather with ease! But if all of you don't think you can handle it..." "What did you say, AJ?" Firefly angrily slammed her hooves down onto the table. "Are you implying we aren't up to par with Rainbow Dash, and the other Pegasus you knew in Ponyville?" "Firefly, calm down!" Medley warned her. "She's just trying to goad you into-" "Ladies, get yer flying goggles on!" The Pink Pegasus snorted. "We've got cloud duty outside the castle tonight!" "Yaaaay!" Surprise giggled zipping around the room. "This is gonna be sooo much fun!" "This is a total and utter folly." Wind Whistler snorted, getting up from the table and trotting away. "And I want no part of it!" "AJ, I really hope this isn't a mistake." North Star sighed, finishing off the contents of her mug. "For all of our sakes!" ... That very night, five Pegasus flew up into the skies over Dream Valley, zipping across the skies, and smashing into clouds, breaking them up. Ancient, latent abilities awoke within the flying ponies, as they willed the cold winds to push the storm front over and away from the road to Misty Mountain. As they worked, the Pegasus talked and gossiped amongst themselves. "Wow, this really is a lot of fun!" Surprise exclaimed, bucking a cloud and causing it to dissipate. "We shoulda been kickin' clouds all along!" "Stay sharp though, ya airhead!" Firefly told the ditzy blonde, as the winds whipped at her mane. "We don't fly in these kind of conditions that often!" "I say, this is quite a way to be spending the day before Christmas eve." North Star exclaimed. "Speaking of which, would you care to join me at the Snowdrop Ceremony on Christmas day, Medley? The Flutter ponies told me I could bring a guest!" "Oh, I would love to, Star!" The Pegasus with the music note cutie mark exclaimed. "But only if I can take my hubby and Baby Medley with me!" "Hey, Heart Throb, I was wondering..." Surprise flew up beside the pink Pegasus. "Is it true the humans believe the Horsemaster's son was born on Christmas night, and that's why they celebrate this holiday?" "It's true, darling! And they believe he was born in a stable, no less!" Heart Throb tossed her mane nonchalantly, as she emptied a cloud of it's snow by continuously hopping on it. "As if the horsemaster's offspring would be born anywhere else!" But as the five flying ponies cleared the skies from Dream Valley to the Misty Mountain range, there were those watching them, who were not at all pleased with their actions. Far, Far to the North of Dream Valley, stood the towering peak of green mountain. Home to Ponyland's population of fairy folk (Mistakenly called the green mountain elves by some ponies). It was they who brought the rains and the sunshine down onto the countryside, they who made the winds blow and the snow fall. Deep within the grand feat hall, the great fires were alight in celebration, as the great fairy ladies and lords, decked out in all of their diamonds and finery, danced to the ancient yuletide carols. Pixies and sprites attended their human sized fay masters- who all looked beautiful beyond the measure of mortals. The revelers even appeared human, save the pointed ears and pair of tiny antenna coming out of their heads. But at the very heart of the gathering, stood four figures in council together, who observed the weather-altering ponies with displeasure. "See now, my brothers and sisters!" The Summer Witch shrieked, her blazing red eyes staring at the viewing orb with disdain. "These ponies seek to take our sacred duties onto themselves once more, interfering with the running of the natural world!" A red-haired maiden in a green gown adorned with flowers, the summer witch burned with an anger that all of Ponyland could feel. She was only happy when her heat scorched human and pony alike, and made the flowers and trees wither. It irritated her beyond words that the gentle and soothing touches of the other seasonal lords ruined the misery she could bring on ponyland. "Oh, sister! You are far too harsh on them!" The autumn princess, a figure in a yellow gown adorned with leaves. The scent and auras of the fields and vineyards, of the forest and birdsong, hung around her. "These Pegasus only meddle with the weather for fun now and then! Certainly we can forgive this intrusion into our dominions, just for the Christmas season!" The summer witch merely scowled at her younger counterpart- of course she'd support the Dream Valley ponies, they had saved her when the summer witch imprisoned her to keep fall from coming one year! But it was a cold chilling voice that spoke the condemnation of the Pegasus next. "We most certainly cannot overlook these equines interference in our affairs!" The winter wizard hissed, icicles forming on his chilly breath. "I had a glorious snow storm planned for this holiday, and those accursed ponies ruined it! I demand they pay for their actions in blood!" Clad in blue scale armor and looking like a man who had frozen to death, the winter wizard loved nothing more than freezing unwary travelers out in his cold solid. Under the name of the Sea Wizard, he would often sail through the frozen seas of Ponyland in his ship, the Golden Galleon, and entrap ponies so he could freeze them to death. The snowdrift that buried the helpless passerby, the chill that sent elf and gnome to the sinister embrace of the grave- these were the only thing that warmed the wizard's chilly heart. "If you could, brother, you would freeze all of Dream Valley in a never-ending winter." The Storm King, lord of spring showers and the rainy season of rebirth, the goblin-like fay clad all in rags, glared at his two malevolent counterparts. "But be warned! Armed with both the rainbow of Light, and the power of it's unicorn mages, Dream Valley could put up enough of a fight to destroy even us!" "Of course you support the ponies!" The summer witch hissed, red and yellow flames crackling off of her angry form. "They promised to visit your castle, when nobody else will look at your ugly face!" "You leave him alone!" The Autumn Princess yelled, a strong fall wind blowing her leaf-like hair around. "You forget that your precious summer, must always give way to my autumn!" "And you forget that your fall withers away before my winter!" The Wizard roared, snow and ice spewing forth from his mouth. "All of you- ENOUGH!" A middle aged woman in a blue dress covered in moving storm clouds yelled, storming into the room. All four of the season sorcerers fell silent. "The ponies have been warned not to make their own weather, and they have flagrantly violated the oaths their ancestors, the last generation of Equestrian Ponies, made to us upon our awakening." The weather witch proclaimed. "Though we cannot attack Dream Castle directly, the ponies must pay for this gross insult to fairykind!" ... Outside the walls and protective magical barrier of Dream Castle, Baby Applejack, Baby Heart Throb, Baby Medley, and Baby Firefly were stringing up lights into AJ's apple trees. They had snuck out after sunset, and were busy preparing a surprise for the castle tomorrow morning. "Wow, these sure are pretty!" Baby Applejack told the other fillies. "Momma's really gonna love our surprise!" "I hope so!" Baby Firefly replied, suddenly shivering as she flew. "Brrrrrrr, is anybody else feeling cold out here?" It was then that the four fillies suddenly felt ice spreading their hooves, and the icicles forming on their wings. "Help me!" Baby Heart Throb screamed, her eyes going wide in terror. "I can't move my legs!" "Aieeee! It hurts! It Hurts!" Baby Medley wailed, as the blood in her veins froze to ice. "Make it stop hurting!" A few minutes later, Applejack came trotting out of the castle drawbridge. "What the hack is all of that commotion out here?" AJ looked around, and noticed the four shadowy forms standing over by her small outdoor apple orchard. "What're you girls doing out here?" AJ asked, trotting over to what she thought was the fillies. "Oh, and apple blossom? I have a nice surprise for you! Your dad and brother will be-" As the orange mare drew closer, she finally saw the horrific sight of four little fillies who had become ice sculptures, looks of abject terror frozen on their innocent little faces. "APPLE BLOSSOM! AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !"