The Fires of Friendship

The Fires of Friendship
by Ponydora Prancypants

Illustrated by Harwick

The glow of the fire cast a malevolent red light, smoke and ash filled the air, and wicked tongues of red flame shot skyward, hatefully mocking Princess Luna’s peaceful night. Trees blistered and blackened before bursting into flame, filling the air with a dissonant symphony of hissing and popping.

The conditions were perfect for wildfire. The forest was bone dry, its moisture wicked away by months of dry air and no rain. Nothing had been done to alleviate the situation, as Equestria’s control over the weather did not extend to this strange and magical wood. Left to the caprice of nature, the stage had been set for a blaze that would burn unchecked until every bit of tinder was spent.

Amidst the inferno’s fury and the howling of angry beasts, four ponies clustered together, wondering if this was how it was all going to end.

*******

“Sweetie Belle tells me that she and Apple Bloom are no longer on speaking terms,” Rarity said, speaking in clipped tones. Despite the rather dilapidated state of the old wooden rocker she currently occupied, she maintained her customary excellent posture as she waited for her tea to cool. A gentle breeze and warm sunshine made for a lovely opportunity to enjoy the outdoors from the porch of her friend’s farmhouse. It was simply a shame that there was no more pleasant topic to discuss.

“I heard the same from A.B.,” Applejack replied. She leaned forward in her chair and blew across the top of her tea before taking a sip. “Sounds pretty bad. What do ya reckon we should do about it?”

“I don’t know what to do. I do not not even know why our sisters are upset with one another, but the situation has been growing worse all week. Why, just this morning Sweetie told me she was never speaking with Apple Bloom again! I was hoping you might know what to do, before we have a full blown crisis on our hooves.”

“I dunno.” Applejack shrugged. “They’re gettin’ to be big girls, though, Rarity. Maybe we oughtta let them figure this out on their own.”

“But what if they don’t … figure it out?” Rarity asked, leaning forward. “I don’t want Sweetie and Apple Bloom to … you know …” She sighed. “What I am trying to say …”

“Ya don’t want ‘em to end up like we did,” Applejack finished.

“Yes,” Rarity admitted. “I still cannot even bear to cast my memory back to … what happened.”

“Ya know, maybe it’s finally time we talk about it. Get the past out in the open and deal with it. We’re friends again now, right?”

“Yes, of course,” Rarity replied, her eyes glistening. “But not like when we were fillies. Do you not remember how it was? It was special. It was ...” A single tear welled up in the corner of an eye, and then slowly made its way down her face. “We will never get back what we lost. All those years ...”

Applejack turned to look away. “Of course I remember,” she half-whispered. She didn’t want to, but she remembered. Whenever her thoughts turned to Rarity, and the old days, all she could think about was the fire.

*******

Applejack felt like a hoof had brutally stamped down on her heart and was squeezing it, ever more tightly, until she felt like it could burst at any second. The filly had never felt like this before in her young life - this terrible jumble of fear, fury, anguish, and helplessness. Even when her father had passed, there had been a sense of inevitability, not this overwhelming dread. The smoke stung her eyes and burned her lungs, but she refused to back away. It seemed like the pegasus ponies had dumped enough water to douse the blaze. It couldn’t be dangerous anymore, could it?

At that moment, a quartet of earth ponies from the volunteer fire department rushed out the front door of the old building that was supposed to somehow become a beautiful boutique. They carried a stretcher slung across their backs, and on it Applejack could see the small figure of a filly, her normally lustrous coat now a dirty soot-stained gray. Applejack galloped toward her friend, only to be turned back by one of the town watchponies.

“The building isn’t safe, Miss. I can’t let you any closer.”

“But that’s my friend over there!” Applejack shouted. “I hafta know if she’s okay!”

“I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll be able to check on her at the hospital.”

“No! I ain’t waitin’ all day. I need to see her now!” Applejack was small and quick, and she deftly ducked under the stallion’s outstretched foreleg. She raced over to where the firefighters were loading Rarity into a waiting hospital carriage.

“Rarity!” she shouted. “Rarity, say somethin’!”

“Whoa there young lady!” One of the firefighters turned to Applejack. “How’d you get over here?”

“That’s my best friend! I need to know if she’s okay.”

“She breathed in a lot of smoke, but she’s not burned. She’ll be alright with a little rest and recuperation. Why don’t you visit her at the hospital later?”

Before Applejack could respond, she noticed that Rarity was trying to move. From her prone position, the unicorn filly managed to raise her head only a few inches, but it was enough to turn to look at Applejack. Even with all the soot and dust obscuring her friend’s features, Applejack could see the hurt and anger in her friend’s expression.

“Go away,” Rarity whispered hoarsely. “I don’t want to speak to you. Ever!”

Applejack stared blankly back at her friend. “Why?”

“This …” Rarity feebly moved a foreleg to point to the still-smoking would-be boutique. “Your fault.”

The firefighters finished loading Rarity into the carriage and closed the doors, leaving an orange-coated filly to watch in numb shock as it rumbled away toward the hospital. Her fault? Finally, realization of what she had done hit Applejack. The strength fled from her legs and she fell to the dirt, sobbing.

*******

“Do you remember?” Rarity asked. “Because I often find myself wondering if I really do. I can remember being upset, and angry, but these feelings were purely reactionary. They shouldn’t have lasted. I was just a filly, yet I let these emotions rule my relationship with you even as I grew into an adult. It just seems like such a waste now. It was ten years, Applejack.”

“I nearly got you killed, Rares.”

“And I have been terrified of smoke and flames ever since. Even so, it was never really about the fire, was it? When it happened, we had already lost so much. Do you remember when we first met, Applejack?"

*******

“Good morning class,” Miss Abacus announced. “Now settle down.” The gray-coated teacher shot a stern look at one raspberry-coated filly who kept gabbing away with her friends. “Ahem. That means you, too, Cheerilee. I am very excited to tell you all that we have some new students joining us for the spring term.”

Miss Abacus’ first year students oohed and aahed appropriately at the announcement, and they murmured even more excitedly when she opened the door to lead two young fillies and a colt inside, all three of whom looked absolutely terrified. “Our new friends come from some of Ponyville’s farming families, so they had to help out around their family farms during harvest time in the fall. Now that they’re here, I trust you’ll show them all the kindness and warmth you show each other every day. To start, why don’t we all sing the welcome song?” The newcomers only stared straight ahead, wide-eyed, as Miss Abacus led her students in singing about friendship and learning.

*******

It had already been a long day, and it stubbornly refused to come to an end. The little freckled filly with the orange coat and blonde mane just wanted to be back home on the farm. This school business was all just hogwash, and there was real work to be done.

She was idly kicking at the dirt when she noticed another little pony walking toward her.

“Howdy there,” she said shyly to the filly who had approached, a blue-eyed unicorn with an iridescent purple mane and a shiny, nearly stark white coat. She rarely saw unicorns out on the farm. Their kind didn’t take naturally to working the earth and growing crops, or so her Pa had said. “Yer real pretty.”

The unicorn blushed slightly, and turned her head demurely. “Thanks,” she replied. “Miss Abacus said your name was Applejack. I'm Rarity. Allow me to officially welcome you to Ponyville Day School, our fine institution of learning.”

Applejack giggled. “Y’all talk funny, like one o’ them fancy Canterlot types.”

Rarity gasped, throwing her forelegs around Applejack. “Oh my stars, do you really think so? I want ever so much to live there someday, but first I must learn to fit in among the celestities!”

“What’s a celestity?” Applejack asked curiously.

“A star, silly! You know, somepony famous, like Princess Celestia!”

“Oh,” Applejack said, unable to think of a better response. She didn’t know much about fancy ponies, but something about that word didn't quote sound right.

“You talk funny too, you know,” Rarity said pointedly.

“Hey, I know I have a accent. It’s how my Ma and Pa talk, and everypony else in my family too,” Applejack replied. “I can’t help it.”

“Well, I like it,” Rarity declared after a thoughtful pause. “It makes you different, and that means you’re special, and being special is how you get your cutie mark!”

Applejack sighed wistfully. “Mah big brother jest got his. I wish I had a cutie mark right now. Then I might know what I’m supposed to be doin’. I know it don’t feel right jest sittin’ around tryin’ to learn my letters and singin’ songs when I could be workin’. ”

“I-de-a!” the unicorn filly exclaimed. “If we colabitate, I bet we can get our cutie marks in no time at all!”

“Co-what now?”

“You know, work together!” Rarity said, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, I never heard that word before."

"Well, I know a lot of fancy words," Rarity proudly declared. "My mother reads her grown-up stories to me at night sometimes, all about brave, muscly stallions and damsels in this dress."

"Distress?"

"That is what I said. Now, do you want to get your cutie mark or not? I have so many ideas."

"Um, I guess that sounds good?”

“Wonderful! It’s settled then,” Rarity declared. “Oh Applejack, I just know that we’re going to the best of friends, you and I!”

Applejack smiled in spite of herself. Having a friend wouldn't be so bad, right?

“It looks like recess is about to be over, so one more thing. Can I please run a hoof through your mane?” Rarity asked, closely examining Applejack’s blonde locks. “It’s so shiny, and I’ve been dying to touch it all day. I really like it!”

*******

“Apple-what?” Rarity asked.

“Applebuckin’” Applejack repeated. “Kickin’ the trees so hard all the apples shake loose and fall into these baskets. It’s a whole heap faster than gettin’ a ladder and pickin’ em with your teeth. A mite more sanitary too.”

“I should say so!” said Rarity. “Do you really think I could earn my cutie mark on an apple farm?”

“Well, I reckon you’re good at jest about everything I’ve seen ya do, so why not give it a try?” Applejack prompted.

“Well, okay then. Stand back!” Rarity raised her rump in the air and gave the apple tree behind her a mighty kick. The tree trembled almost imperceptibly, and then a single apple fell straight down, impaling itself on Rarity’s horn.

Applejack stared dumbfounded for a moment, before losing control completely and doubling over in laughter. Rarity flushed red and then glared at her friend for a moment. It only took seconds, however, for to give in to the absurdity of moment and collapse into fits of laughter of her own.

“Hehe, alright, maybe we should move on to the next item on our cutie mark checklist,” Applejack suggested.

“Good idea!” said Rarity, still smiling as she pulled the remains of the apple off her horn.

*******

“Today is really the day that you and I earn our cutie marks!” Rarity exclaimed excitedly.

“Yer gonna hafta explain this one again,” said Applejack.

“Matchstick Mauve, the famous fashion model, is doing a photo shoot right here in Ponyville! You and I are going to go get in front of the cameras and make an impression. We shall look so amazing that we are sure to be capture the attentions of Miss Mauve and the director! Why, we'll be the toast of Canterlot in no time!”

“Um, how’s that gonna get us our cutie marks?”

“Why, we shall become famous, of course! I’ve always known that my special talent is being a star, so once we are noticed we are sure to get our marks!”

“Oh. I didn’t know a pony’s special talent could be bein’ famous,” Applejack mused.

“Of course it can!” Rarity replied, taken aback. “Lots of ponies are famous even though they have no obvious talents at all, so their talent must be simply being famous! Now let us earn our cutie marks! I’ve got our outfits already picked out, hehe.”

“Hmm. Well, I’d do anything to get my cutie mark, even it means wearin’ somethin’ frilly. Let’s do this!”

*******

“Ya gotta buck harder than that, ya big marshmallow.”

“I can’t! I just had my hooves painted, and I don’t want to ruin them. Besides, we’ve tried this before, and you know I hate farmwork!”

“Fine, tomorrow we’ll try gettin’ our cutie marks for mane styling, like you want.”

Rarity gave the apple tree a weak tap from her back legs, obviously not even trying to get any apples down. “Oh thank Celestia. I simply cannot stand another day of this brutish physical labor.”

*******

“It’s my turn to pick what we do today,” Applejack pointed out. “I’m tired of tea parties!”

“But how are we going to practice proper Canterlot eatiquette if we don’t learn how to have a proper tea party?” Rarity demanded. “We simply must learn how to nibble our hoof sandwiches without getting crumbs everywhere.”

“Eatiquette?”

“Proper manners,” Rarity clarified.

“I think you make up half these words,” said Applejack.

“I most certainly do not. What are you, anyway, a dictionary?” Rarity queried haughtily.

*******

“Really, you expect me to traipse through that muddy orchard again? Is working on this dirty farm all you want to do with your life? You've got to find some grander ambitions, Applejack.”

“C’mon Rarity. Just one more day. Y’all know we could use the help with Pa sick.” Applejack frowned.

Rarity sighed. “Oh, very well. One last time.”

*******

“Do we hafta play dress up again?”

“This isn’t playing! This is my future career! This is important!”

“No offense, Rares, but I have a job, and responsibilities at home. Goofin’ around ain’t gonna get any apples down outta the trees.”

“I never!” Rarity gaped at her friend.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Applejack said. “I didn’t mean nothin’ by it. It’s jest, with me workin’ on the farm so much and you with your fashion, sometimes I wonder how much we have in common anymore.”

“I … know what you mean.”

Applejack smiled gamely. “Still best friends, though, right?”

“Right. Always.” Rarity nodded uncertainly.

“Well, what’re we waiting for, then.” Applejack let out a quiet sigh. “Let’s go try on that dress.”

*******

“We were just too different, when it came right down to it, I reckon,” said Applejack, shaking away the memories. “But there jest ain’t no way that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are gonna end up not speakin’ for ten years. You know what happened then ain’t gonna happen again. Nopony’s gonna do what I did.”

“Oh, Applejack, I forgave you for the fire almost right away. I was furious about it at first, true. I was put in danger, and so much of my hard work was lost, but in the end I understand that it was an accident. Our relationship had been withering and dying for months, if not years, before that.”

“What do ya mean?” Applejack narrowed her gaze.

“When we first became friends, everything was fresh and fun, and all we wanted was to find our special talents. Our differences brought us closer together, because there was always something new to try. Then, when I became interested in fashion and you began to spend more time learning how to run the farm, our differences began to drive us apart.”

“You know, that ain’t really fair. I had to learn how to take charge around here after Pa started gettin’ sick. Ya think Big Mac’s fit to haggle for goods and sell produce? That boy’s good for a day of hard work and tabulatin’ a balance sheet, but he sure ain’t gonna get us the best price for apples. It was always gonna be me who had to take responsibility ‘round here.”

“I know, darling,” Rarity said sympathetically. “I certainly did not mean to make light of what your family went through back then. Surely we both bear some blame, though, for letting the situation get to where we didn’t even try to show an interest in each other’s passions. I think that, by the end, it was nothing more than stubborn loyalty that kept you coming by."

“As I recall, y’all stopped coming to visit me entirely.”

“I was trying to develop my talent for fashion and get my cutie mark,” Rarity said defensively. “Appearances mattered.”

“Oh, and no farm pony was good enough for Ponyville’s own pretty little princess, that right?” Applejack angrily dropped a forehoof on the little wooden table, causing a bit of tea to spill from both ponies’ cups.

“That’s not what I meant at all!” Rarity exclaimed. “I would never have shunned you. But this place …” she waved a hoof to encompass all of Sweet Apple Acres. “It just wasn’t where I was meant to be.”

“Ya know what, Rares?” Applejack stood up and placed both forehooves on the table. She leaned down toward her friend. “I remember everything like it was yesterday. When I slammed that door I thought to myself, I sure hope I didn’t knock over one of them candles y’all put everywhere. But then I realized I hated you so much that I jest didn’t care.”

Rarity stared back in stunned silence at the other mare’s admission. Applejack, for her part, also looked shocked by the words she had spoken.

“Oh, Applejack, I wish I could say that I know you do not mean that,” the unicorn aid at last, her eyes brimming with tears. “But the worst thing of all is that I know you are being honest. You are always so honest. Perhaps we were better off when we weren’t speaking, if that truly is how you feel.”

*******

“Thank you so much for coming!” Rarity said in greeting. She bowed slightly as Applejack entered the room.

“Wow, would ya look at this place?” Applejack marveled at the bright paint and elegant decor, where before there had been nothing but cobwebs and piles of unidentifiable tchotchkes.

“C’est magnifique, non?” Rarity asked, wearing a broad grin.

“Um, I guess? You know I don’t speak Fancy.”

“Well, what do you think?”

Rarity had spent what felt like ages cleaning, fixing, and generally attempting to make habitable the strange, tumbledown old home her parents had inherited after her grandmother, on her father’s side, had passed away. She was always eccentric, and had made her home in Ponyville into a shape reminiscent of a brightly colored carnival carousel. Over the years, the place had fallen into disrepair. Its once bright paint was faded and weatherbeaten, and its whimsical shape was sagging and rather formless. It could not be sold in its present condition, so Rarity’s parents had allowed her free rein to try to fix it.

It was going to be her magnum opus, sure to earn her a cutie mark is design, or fashion, or fabulousity - something! So far, she had cleared all the dust and detritus from the upper floor, cleared out the clutter, and given everything a few coats of fresh paint. Since the house was not connected to Ponyville’s gas lines, there were no built-in lamps. Instead, she had placed hundreds of beautiful, sweet-smelling candles everywhere she could find room for them. It was like a magical fairyland here in her future boutique, and Rarity had never been prouder, even though there was so much work left to do.

“I think it’s real nice, Rares,” Applejack declared. “You obviously worked real hard on this.”

“Nice?” Rarity pried.

“Okay, better than nice. It’s great! I really like all the, um, colors, and this, uh, giant doll ya got here.”

“Ugh, that’s a dressform, Applejack! You know I’m making the dresses for the school play.”

“Oh, of course!” Applejack said. She’d forgotten, actually, but now that Rarity mentioned it she had heard the unicorn gushing about the play recently. It was so easy to just dismiss anything having to do with school these days. With Pa gone, and Ma struggling mightily with the foal she was soon to bear, Applejack had withdrawn from class to work full time on the farm.

“It’s going to be the most fabulous play about the five food groups ever to grace the Ponyville amphitheater,” Rarity stated matter-of-factly.

“I’m sure it is.”

“And you get to be a part of making it that way!” Rarity exclaimed. Excitedly, she used her teeth to pull aside a drape that was blocking off a corner of the room. As the purple cloth fell, Applejack saw five elaborate costumes revealed - a flower, a medley of fruit, a bale of hay, a slice of cake, and some kind of strange feathered outfit - a chicken maybe, representing eggs? “You get to be my model! Isn’t that exciting?”

Applejack’s face fell. “You know I ain’t got time for frou-frou shenanigans, Rares. We’re bucking down the north orchard this week.”

“What do you mean, shenanigans?” Rarity huffed. “This is the most important event of my life! Fashion is my passion, Applejack. Not all ponies are cut out to get their hooves dirty day in and day out. Now, I need you to model these so I know they will fit correctly.”

“But that’s gonna take all day,” Applejack protested. “I have real work to do.”

“Real work? I’ve spent every free hour I’ve had for the last three weeks working on this building and these dresses, and you think that isn’t real work?”

“If you want the honest truth, yeah, it ain’t real work,” Applejack replied hotly. “Satisfied? All this is just frilly nonsense for ponies who ain’t comfortable in the their own coats. I hate it. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Rarity sat back on her haunches and said nothing. She wrapped her forelegs around her body, curled up as tightly as she could, and began to cry.

“For pony’s sake, Rarity.” Applejack stepped toward her friend.

“No, don’t come any closer!” Rarity shouted. “I knew it! I’ve known it for months now. You don’t care about anything I like, and you don’t even care about me anymore. I thought you were my friend!”

“I am your friend!” Applejack protested. “It’s just that I have different priorities. I’ve gotta take care of my kin, and my farm. I don’t have time to spend playing games and experimentin’ different ways of earnin’ my cutie mark any more.”

“You mean, you don’t have time for me,” Rarity sobbed.

“Look, maybe I should just go,” Applejack took a step backwards.

“Fine!” Rarity exclaimed. “Go back to your muddy farm and your stupid apple trees, and don’t come back!”

“Fine! Maybe I won’t!” Applejack shouted back. She turned and began to stomp off. When she reached the other side of the door to the design studio Rarity had carved out of the old building’s top floor, she bucked it hard, slamming it shut so powerfully, the whole building shuddered from the impact.

Applejack paused for a moment. She then walked down the stairs and out into the street without turning back. Five minutes later, the sirens began to blare.

*******

Applejack walked away, leaving Rarity still at the table with two cups of tea. Once again things had fallen apart between them. They were always going to fall apart. It was for the best if she just admitted that truth and let it happen. She couldn’t fix things now any more than she could turn back the clock and change the past.

As she walked, Applejack was surprised when a small voice piped up in the back of her head. Couldn’t she at least try to make things right? History was sure to repeat itself if she did nothing, and silently let her renewed relationship with Rarity burn to ashes. Was she really the kind of pony to simply bow to the inevitable? Without consciously telling her body to change directions, Applejack spun around on her hooves and retraced her steps.

“After it happened, ya know, I’d never felt worse in my whole entire life. I knew you didn’t want to be my friend no more, and I didn’t have a whole heckuva lotta other ponies to turn to. Pa had just passed, and Ma was havin’ a tough time with the pregnancy. Big Mac wouldn’ta understood.”

“You could have come to see me in the hospital,” Rarity said pointedly.

“You told me you never wanted to speak to me again!” Applejack exclaimed. “You told me it was my fault, and deep down, I knew you were right.”

“I did?” Rarity asked. “I don’t remember that. I must have been delirious from the fumes.”

“You did, and I listened. If you’d wanted to see me after, there was nothin’ stoppin’ you neither.”

Rarity blushed. “You said you hated fashion; that it wasn’t real work. Just a waste of time. It sounded to me like what you really meant was that you thought being my friend was just a waste of time.”

“Naw,” Applejack said. “I dunno, maybe that’s what I was feelin’ at the time. But those things pass, don’t they? It was ten years, Rares. Why didn’t we at least try to talk to each other?”

“It was a lot of hurt to live with,” Rarity replied. “It took time to go away.”

“But did it?” Applejack pressed. “Did it go away?”

“We are friends again now, are we not?”

“We get along. But you’re right good at keepin’ up appearances, and y’all know I’m the getalonginest of ponies. When was the last time you and I just hung out, apart from the others?”

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” Rarity asked.

“Because you wanted to talk about our sisters. But ever since we met Twilight and we all started spending more time together, you and I never really got further than platitudes and palaver.”

“What are you saying? That all the hurt and negativity from all those years of not speaking is still keeping us from truly being friends?”

“That’s about the size of it,” Applejack confirmed, nodding her head. “Y’all still don’t have faith in me, and I still resent you for not understandin’ my way of life. Even if the others never find out about our history, it’ll always be there. We can’t change the past.”

“So,” Rarity began, her voice barely above a whisper, “we shall never be friends again.”

“Not really, I reckon. Not like me and R.D. or you and Fluttershy.” Applejack sadly shook her head. “It was just too much. But hey now, darlin’, that don’t we can't get along, and it especially doesn't mean we hafta give up on Apple Bloom and Sweetie. They ain’t us, after all.”

“Why yes, of course!” Rarity’s expression brightened. “We still need to find a way to help those fillies make up.”

Before Applejack could respond, any further conversation was forestalled by the whir of wings and the arrival of an orange pegasus filly on a bright red scooter.

“Applejack!” Scootaloo exclaimed breathlessly. “Oh, and you too Rarity. Thank Celestia!”

“Whoa! What is it there, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“It’s Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle! I was practicing my scooter tricks on the road at the edge of town when I ran into Peachy Pie and Sunny Daze. They said they saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle heading into the Everfree Forest before lunch time, and they still haven't come back!”

“The Everfree Forest!” Applejack exclaimed. On the other side of the table, Rarity swooned in a near faint. “Land sakes! Didn’t you girls learn your lesson from that cockatrice?”

“Oh, well, yes,” Scootaloo blushed. “But …”

“Come now, out with it!” Rarity demanded.

Scootaloo hesitated before taking a deep breath. She then spoke rapidly and without punctuation. “Next week is my birthday and they wanted to give me a surprise and they know how sad I am that I can’t fly and how much I want my cutie mark so they’ve been trying to figure out a way to give me the best birthday surprise ever by helping me do both except they aren’t very good at keeping secrets so I found out.”

“Well what’s that got to do with the Everfree Forest?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t know!” Scootaloo said. “The last I heard was that they were really mad at each other, like not speaking mad. If they’ve gone into the forest, though, I bet it has something to do with my birthday present.”

“It’s gonna be nightfall soon,” Applejack said apprehensively. “We’ve gotta go find those girls now.”

“Yes,” Rarity affirmed. “There is simply no time to rouse the others. Scootaloo, do you know where they might have gone?”

“Um, maybe they went to Zecora’s? I know Apple Bloom visits her sometimes.”

“She what?” Applejack shouted. “Goin’ into the forest alone without tellin’ her sister? I’ll tan that little pony hide when I get my hooves on her!”

“Ah, I think for now we should perhaps focus on finding the girls,” Rarity suggested.

“Right. Okay, then. I’ll just get my rope, and then we’ll go!”

As Applejack and Rarity hurriedly trotted away, the former called back to Scootaloo. “And you stay right here, little missy.”

*******

Applejack stood outside the doors to Ponyville hospital. It was only right that she go in and apologize to Rarity. She had a responsibility to try to make things right, even if Rarity had said she didn’t want to see her. Applejack also needed to tell Rarity that she was leaving.

It was too painful to even walk through Ponyville and see the blackened facade of Rarity’s burned boutique, too hard to sleep in her own bed with the images of Rarity and the fire dancing around on the inside of her tired eyelids. Her family could do without her for a while. Ma was feeling a little better, and Granny and Big Mac had brought in a couple of strong farmhooves to help with the labor. Granny Smith could take care of running things for a while, Applejack was sure of it.

She needed a change, and last night she had resolved to go to the big city, to stay with her Ma’s ritzy sister in Manehattan. It was the furthest thing from Ponyville - and Rarity - she could imagine.

Inside the hospital, Applejack approached the front desk and asked for her friend’s room. The nurse on duty shook her head.

“Miss Rarity’s resting. We’re not allowing anypony aside from immediate family at the moment. If you like, I can take her a message.”

Applejack thought for a moment. “Naw, it’s alright. Thanks anyhow.” Head hanging low, she walked back the way she came.

When the carriage for Manehatten left the next morning, Applejack was on it.

*******

“Apple Bloom!”

“Sweetie Belle!”

The remaining daylight was fading quickly as Applejack and Rarity hurried through the forest, calling for their sisters at regular intervals. Only the chatter of the local fauna answered the mares’ cries. Squirrels scolded, birds chirruped and squawked, and … something else. The other animals fell silent as an unearthly howl drifted through the evening air. It was soon joined by others to form a ghastly choir.

“What is that?” Rarity demanded.

Applejack stared back at her, wide-eyed. “That’s a pack of timberwolves if ever I heard one! The first sign of the zap apple harvest! I reckon it is the right time of year.”

“Oh dear Celestia, the girls!” Rarity exclaimed. “And us! We must find our sisters and get out of this dreadful place at once!”

“Double time, then. Let’s move!” Applejack broke into an easy gallop, and Rarity had no choice but to keep up with her friend.

With every hoofbeat, dry twigs and desiccated leaves snapped and crackled. Dead tree limbs and brush lay everywhere, making it increasingly difficult to keep to a single path.

“Goodness, how long has it been since it rained here? Everything is all dried up,” Rarity observed.

“Who knows? Without pegasi controlling the weather, it’s all up to chance. Could be there’s been a drought out in these parts.”

“Well, it looks as though this dry brush has been building up forever.”

“Probably because it has,” said Applejack. “Whenever a fire starts up in the Everfree Forest this close to Ponyville, the weather team douses it real quick, so there’s no danger of the flames spreading to town.”

Rarity nodded and kept galloping. “Sweetie Belle!”

“Apple Bloom!”

“Sis?”

“Rarity?”

The mares skidded to an abrupt halt. A broad clearing was visible through the trees to their left, and in the middle of it stood the missing fillies. As Applejack and Rarity pushed their way through the underbrush to reach their sisters, they were able to get a better view of the strange place their sisters had found.

Instead of more of the gnarled trees that ringed it, the clearing was filled with thin vines that snaked up from the ground. Impossibly, each vine was connected to a bizarre fleshy sac that floated in the air well above the ponies’ heads. The airborne plants seemed to be some sort of fern, as broad feathery green fronds draped over the sides of the bulbous balloons that made up their bulk, fluttering in the breeze. It looked as though the clearing had been a marsh or fen at some previous point, but any trace of standing water had since evaporated, leaving only a thick, clinging mud behind.

“Girls!” Rarity exclaimed. “What in Equestria are you doing here? There are dreadful beasts out tonight. We have to get home at once!”

“We can’t go! We need to haul down one of these here flyin’ featherfrond ferns and pick the yellow flower growin’ on top. It’s magic!” Apple Bloom explained.

“According to the potion book Apple Bloom … borrowed … from Miss Zecora, we can mix this into a drink that’ll make Scootaloo as light as a feather, and then she’ll be able to fly!” Sweetie Belle added.

“I don’t get it, I thought y’all weren’t gettin’ along, but in reality you were gettin’ into trouble.” Applejack said.

“Oh. We were fighting, but then we realized that you and your friends disagree all the time, but you always forgive each other and stay best friends,” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Yeah, like when you and Rainbow Dash had that Iron Pony competition!” Apple Bloom piped up.

“Or when you were so jealous of Fluttershy,” Sweetie Belle said to her sister.

“I was not …” Rarity thought better of it. “Yes, well, true friendships last longer than petty squabbles.”

“Exactly! When we remembered what you all taught us about friendship, we knew we had to work together to find the best birthday present ever for Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom added.

“Now we just need to pull one of these plants down so we can get the flower on top.” Sweetie Belle concluded.

“There ain’t no time,” Applejack shook her head. “The timberwolves are howlin’, and that means trouble. Time to skedaddle.”

At that moment, the first bolt of lightning shot forth from the dark sky overhead, striking the earth not far away and filling the air with the acrid smell of ozone. The thunderclap that followed a second later rattled the four ponies to their bones.

“Nuts,” Applejack swore. “The second sign of the zap apples is an electrical storm, which should hit us out at the farm tomorrow. It takes a lot for the weather from the Everfree forest to leak out into Equestria, and that means the storm is buildin’ up power out here tonight.”

“With the forest as dry as it is …” Rarity began.

“Let’s go, girls,” Applejack said forcefully. “Your brew is gonna hafta wait.”

“But …”

“March!”

“Aww,” both fillies chorused, before beginning to walk.

Seconds later, the night flashed white and the skies tore apart again. This time, it seemed that the lightning was forking down all around, and all of the ponies cried out in distress at the same time they were hit by a booming chorus of thunder. Sparks and embers flew into the air as dried twigs caught flame, and the fire jumped from tree to tree around the clearing. In seconds, a ring of fire surrounded the open space, leaving only one avenue for escape.

The two fillies moved close to their sisters, unsure of what to do. Rarity stamped her hooves as if running in place, but went nowhere. She was too terrified of the scorching flames to move.

“There’s one way out,” Applejack said. “We gotta try for it.” She began shoving a very recalcitrant unicorn toward the only way through the fire, when the lightning flashed a third time, illuminating a new problem. At the edge of the clearing, three monstrous slavering wolves with bodies of wood and bark glared at the ponies with glowing yellow lantern eyes.

Applejack stopped at once, and the four ponies instinctively huddled together for protection as the timberwolves crept toward them.

The fire and the monsters together were too much for Rarity. Of all possible things, this was how it was going to end - with a fire, and the gnashing of sharp teeth. She curled up in terror, thoughts and memories of smoke and flame coming to her unbidden, scenes flashing before her eyes.

*******

Rarity had earned her cutie mark - three beautiful blue diamonds - and she had heard that Applejack finally got hers as well - three bright red apples. She longed to see her friend, but the gulf between them was so wide, and so filled with recriminations and cruel words, it seemed that there was no way through.

Perhaps she could write a letter? Of course! That would make reconciliation far easier than awkward face-to-face encounter. Rarity took up quill and began to write. Every few minutes, she would cross out the text she had completed and start anew. Hours later, when she finally let exhaustion lead her off to sleep, she was surrounded by empty inkwells and heaps of crumpled parchment. There was no letter.

*******

For the third night in a row, she had awoken from the same nightmare. Smoke obscured her vision and burned her lungs, walls of flame hemmed her in, and there was nowhere to run. Rarity hated it when the nightmare came. Sometimes she would have it every night for a month. It had been this way for years. She would do anything to make it stop, if only there was a way.

*******

Rarity screamed, covering her eyes with her forehooves.

“What do we do now?” Apple Bloom asked, wide-eyed with fear.

“We should run!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“No!” Applejack shouted. “They’ll just chase us down if we try to run. We’ve gotta try to scare ‘em off! Those timberwolves are made of enchanted wood, ain’t they? They gotta be even more afraid of this fire than we are.”

The wolves kept close together as they advanced toward the huddled ponies. The trees on every side were bursting into flame from root to crown, one after the other, as the fire spread through the brittle, dried out forest. A massive limb broke free of one of the burning trees, and plummeted to the ground on the edge of the clearing. It was burning as well, but so far only the leaves and tips had caught flame. Applejack risked running over to drag the limb back toward the group, and she interposed it between the ponies and wolves as a makeshift barrier. The timberwolves alternated snarling and whimpering, being both terrified of the fire and hungry for pony flesh.

Applejack twirled her rope over her head as Rarity and the others cowered behind her. The first toss was a miss, but on the second try she managed to pull the rope tight around one the wolves. With one swift tug the creature fell to the ground with a crash.

“Yee-haw! Y’all get outta here before I show the rest of you that ponies mean business!” Applejack yelled. She and the others were completely oblivious to the fourth timberwolf. It had stayed in the shadows, slinking surreptitiously toward its prey. It sprang at Applejack from her side, and she barely reacted fast enough to prevent the beast from biting down on her left hind leg. Instead, the timberwolf merely fell on top of her in a mass of teeth, claws, and jagged shivers of wood.

“You get offa my sister!” Apple Bloom yelled. She leapt at the wolf and managed to grasp one of the many splintered wooden sticks that comprised its lupine body in her teeth. The filly didn’t let go until she had wrested the stick completely free of the wolf’s body, causing it to howl in pain and retreat to join the rest of the pack.

“Way to go Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“Oof. I don’t think I can get up right now,” Applejack moaned. “I think I mighta twisted somethin’ right good when that ugly fella landed on me.”

“What are we gonna do?” her sister asked, eyes wide.

“Look!” Sweetie Belle shouted, indicating with a hoof that the wolves were advancing again.

This time the beasts moved to encircle the group, prowling around the edges of the ponies’ defensive circle. It did not seem that any pretense of defense could be maintained much longer. Applejack struggled to stand - and failed. The fillies were huddled so tightly against their sisters that it seemed they were trying to burrow into their coats and hide there. Sweetie Belle was shaking, biting her lower lip to keep her teeth from chattering, and staring unblinkingly straight ahead. Apple Bloom’s head swiveled back and forth in an attempt as achieve the impossible and watch all four wolves at once. Rarity, for her part, still kept her eyes covered, refusing to accept the reality she now faced. If the situation did not drastically change, the timberwolves now had easy prey.

“Rarity, I’m gonna need you to hold ‘em off with your fancy magic,” Applejack commanded.

At the sound of her name, Rarity finally looked up. Her face was wet from crying. “What?”

“You heard me. I don’t have the strength to stand right now. You’ve gotta do somethin’. Keep ‘em back!”

“But the fire! I can’t!”

“You can!”

The unicorn looked out at her friend from behind a veil of tears. “No, I’ve been terrified for a decade now, Applejack. I just can’t do it! You’re the strong one, not me.” Rarity spoke quickly, aware that time was running out. “I can’t believe that I lost sight of how amazing your talents are. I dismissed your life on the farm because I didn’t understand it, and then I never took the opportunity to learn why it was so important to you. I’m so sorry it had to come to this for me to realize what a selfish, stupid foal I was.”

Applejack looked up at her friend and felt the odd sensation of moisture on her own face. She hadn't cried in years. “Hey Sugarcube, this ain’t the time to get mushy. You’ve got a job to do. You have to do it,” the farmer said.

Perhaps sensing that one of the ponies had been hurt, the wolves moved closer still, snapping their powerful jaws.

Applejack continued. “Listen to me, Rares, you’re stronger than you think. After your boutique burned, you went right back in there and you made your dream a reality. I saw you kick a manticore in the face and try to sweet-talk treasure from a dragon. You fought Nightmare Moon. You’ve faced worse than these jokers.”

“But there wasn’t a fire then,” Rarity whimpered.

“Rarity,” Applejack pleaded, “do it for our sisters, if not for yourself or me. I believe in you. C’mon now, we ain’t done yet.”

“I can’t, Applejack!” Rarity was breathing rapidly, her panicked eyes darting between the burning forest and the menacing timberwolves.

“Now listen here. You just need to have faith in yourself, like I have in you. Like I should have had ten years ago, when I made the mistake of not believin’ in our friendship any more. Trust me, you can do this.”

Rarity looked at her injured friend, and then at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, curled up beside Applejack and quaking with fright. She looked back to the ravenous timberwolves, with their hungry mouths and skeletal wooden bodies. They were going to tear all of them to pieces if she didn’t do something.

Rarity’s horn glowed blue, and she broke a branch off of the smoldering limb that lay between the ponies and the timberwolves. As she waved it back and forth as menacingly as she could, sparks and embers wafted up into the night sky like dancing fireflies.

“Back you ruffians! Get back I say!”

The wolves hesitated.

BOOM!

All eight creatures in the clearing jumped in fright at the sight and sound of a massive detonation above their heads. One of the featherfrond ferns had caught a spark and erupted in a gout of fire. Rarity realized that they must be filled with combustible gas.

“Sweetie! Apple Bloom!” Rarity shouted. “Start biting through the roots. We need those plants to fly higher!”

The fillies nodded, and even while Rarity continued to wield her burning branch, a flotilla of featherfrond plants began to float up into the night. It was now or never. She just had to hope that somepony, somepony who could reach them fast, was watching. Rarity whipped her head around, and used all her telekinetic skill to fling her flaming brand into the heart of the floating ferns. She was rewarded when the sky erupted in a furious barrage of light and sound, as each plant exploded in turn.

“Whoa nelly, just like Unity Day fireworks! Good job there, Sugarcube!” Applejack yelled from her prone position. The show also made a big impression on the wolves, as they turned tail and fled back into the forest.

"Go Rarity!" Sweetie Belle shouted.

The departure of the wolves was a victory, but it had done nothing to curb the encroachment of the flames. Rarity knew better than to bask in the glow of her accomplishment. “We need to get back to Ponyville at once!” she declared.

“Well,” Applejack struggled slowly and unsteadily to her hooves. “I reckon it’s gonna be hard to figure out a safe path through the fire.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that!” All four ponies looked up in surprise as a team of seven pegasi swooped down from above. Three teams of two hauled wagons behind them, and their cyan leader sported a rainbow mane and tail.

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack exclaimed in surprise and delight.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shouted in unison. The orange filly with the bright magenta mane rode in the center wagon.

“This little one begged me to come after you,” Rainbow Dash said. “I called the weather team to help, and we raced over here when we saw the fireworks. Nice show you put on there! I bet the Princesses saw it all the way from Canterlot! Now who wants a ride?”

Of course, they all did.

*******

“Another s’more, Sweetie?” Rarity asked. Far in the distance, the glow of the Everfree fire still lent a dark red glow to the night sky. It had been clear, however, that the fire was sweeping away from Ponyville. There was no threat to the town. Though the danger had passed, none of the four could sleep, so the two pairs of sisters had gone back to Sweet Apple Acres to recuperate. That meant s’mores and a crackling, very much under control, campfire.

“Mm-hmm. Thanks, big sis!” Sweetie Belle affirmed, accepting the treat that Rarity levitated toward her by snatching it out of the air with her teeth. “Mmmff!”

“Wow, Rarity, you hardly even took the time to line up all the corners of the graham crackers on that one. Don’t you want to make sure it’s perfect?” Applejack asked.

“Hmm, in the immortal words of a great Equestria gourmand: ‘nah, you just eat ‘em.’” Both mares tittered at the private joke.

“Well, some fancy things are nice, but I figure s’mores can afford to be a little down home and simple," said Applejack.

“I’ve been thinking about the fire,” Rarity began in a more serious tone.

“Which one?” Applejack asked apprehensively.

“Both, actually, and also about some of the mistakes I made. I cannot help but feel that my life over the last ten years became like the Everfree forest was before the fire; with all of these dry, dead emotions and grudges clogging up my mind, I was not able to come to the basic realization that I should have gone straight to you and tried to fix things. Like the forest, I needed a fire to burn away all the debris so that new things could grow and flourish.” Rarity hesitated. “Applejack, I would like very much to be your friend again. Your real friend, like old times.”

“Rares, I wasn’t exactly blameless,” Applejack said. “You know I want to be your friend too, but we’re jest so different, and it ain’t like we’re still kids where that kind of thing don’t matter.”

“Maybe," Rarity said, looking dubious.

“Hey, I didn’t say we couldn’t try again,” Applejack said with a small smile. “I think I’d like that.”

Silence reigned for a few moments as the two mares stared into the bright yellow flames of the campfire.

“I have an idea,” said Rarity. “We have a lovely fire right here. Why don’t we throw all of our regrets and hard feelings right in there and burn them up, so that we can truly begin anew. I can do it; I'm not afraid of the flames any longer.”

“Ya can’t burn up feelings,” Applejack pointed out.

“Can’t I?” Rarity arched an eyebrow. “After I got out of the hospital and found out that you’d left for Manehattan, I felt abandoned and alone. I utterly threw myself into fixing up the boutique and finishing the dresses for the play on time. I think it was the sheer focus I was maintaining that allowed me to find my destiny and earn my cutie mark then. I wanted so much to show you.”

“Heh,” Applejack chuckled. “When I came home after realizing that Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres was where I belonged, I got my mark. But it wasn’t just about apples and farmin’; it was that my heart was here. This was where my family was, and my friends. My best friend. I must have walked past your house at night thirty times that year, trying to get up the courage to see you. I jest figured you wanted none of it.”

“When I had the grand opening of the boutique, I felt so proud of myself. I had followed your example of hard work and stick-to-itiveness, and finally made something of myself. That first week, I only made three bits sewing up a few rips and tears. Sometimes I wanted to give up, but I never did, even when I had to spend most of my time cutting manes and operating a laundry service. I knew you would never give up, so I didn't either.”

“I’m sorry I never came to see your shop, Rares.”

“I assure you that it is I who acted far worse,” Rarity said. “We all heard the news when your mother passed away. With a new foal to care for, and all the weight of the world on your back, Ponyville failed to step up and help. I failed. I don’t think I even saw little Apple Bloom until she was out and about visiting town.”

“Aw, it’s all passed on by now, ain’t it? ‘Sides, you had a little one at home yourself. I’m sure Sweetie was a hoofful even back then.”

“Ah, well. Yes, you could say that, but she had both parents as well as a sister. Nothing excuses the fact that I abandoned our friendship because I was too proud and too ashamed to admit my own mistakes,” Rarity maintained.

“Well, then I guess we just have to burn it all down,” Applejack said within a little grin. “Throw out all the mistakes that piled on top of one another and all the negativity and watch ‘em go up in smoke, so all the new things have a chance to grow.”

“I’d like that.” Rarity smiled. “A lot.” She moved closer to Applejack, planting herself directly adjacent to the other mare.

“Alrighty then, here goes!” Applejack lifted up her forelegs and pantomimed some sort of mystical ritual in the direction of the fire. “Oooooo … I’m castin’ out all that bad stuff into the fire. Oooooo!”

Rarity giggled like a schoolfilly, before mimicking the gesture. “Ooooooo! I think I see some ugly thoughts catching on fire right there. Goodbye, ugliness! Hello, new beginnings.”

“Well that’s that, I reckon,” Applejack declared. “We’re free mares again. Free to be friends.”

“Yes indeed, Applejack, my dear, I do believe this is the second beginning of a beautiful friendship,” Rarity said as she pulled her friend in with a foreleg and nuzzled against her soft orange coat.

Suddenly, Applejack turned, eyes wide with excitement. “Oh hey, what say we make up for lost time? I’ve got a heap of fun stuff for us to do around the farm tomorrow.”

“Oh dear, I was hoping we could visit the spa together tomorrow,” Rarity said with a tiny frown.

“What?” Applejack snorted derisively. “That’s just …” She paused. “You know what? That sounds mighty fine.”

Rarity beamed with pleasure. “That’s so wonderful! We can have hooficures and facials, seaweed wraps and hot stone massages, and …” She stopped when she saw the strained smile on Applejack’s face. “Actually, I was thinking a little fresh air might do me well. Perhaps I can visit you out here on the farm tomorrow? Perhaps even help out a bit?”

Now it was Applejack’s turn to smile. “You know what, Rares, how about we do both? Deal?”

“Deal!”

*******

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo had taken advantage of their sisters’ momentary distraction to appropriate a supply of chocolate and marshmallows, and were now huddled conspiratorially on the other side of the fire. Talk centered on one thing, of course: the next attempt at getting a cutie mark.

“Well, we didn’t get a mark for surprise gifting, that’s for sure,” Sweetie Belle mused.

“It’s the thought that counts, girls! Having you two as my friends is the best birthday present I could ever ask for,” Scootaloo said.

“Thanks,” Apple Bloom sheepishly replied.

“We’ll just have to try something else!” Sweetie Belle declared.

“Hey, what’s up with them?” asked Scootaloo. She pointed with a hoof at the other side of the campfire, where Applejack and Rarity were literally rolling on the ground in laughter, only coming up for air to hug before falling apart giggling about something else.

“Them? I think they’re just good friends is all,” Apple Bloom said. “Applejack and Rarity have known each other since before I was even born. Funny thing is, I don’t remember ‘em hanging out much when I was real little, but maybe I was just too small to remember.”

“Yeah, they’re so old I think they must’ve been friends like forever,” Sweetie Belle said.

“That’s what we’re gonna be like, right girls?” Scootaloo asked. “Best friends forever?”

“Course we are, ya silly goose,” Apple Bloom said before grabbing her friend in a headlock and rubbing her magenta mane with a hoof.

“Promise?” Scootaloo asked.

“I promise!” Sweetie Belle said at once. “Nothing could ever come in the way of our friendship. We’ll always be …”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” all three girls said in unison.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders best friends forever!” Scootaloo said gleefully.

“Yay!” the girls chorused.

“Oh, one more thing,” Apple Bloom said. She reached to her side and pulled out a luminescent yellow flower.

Sweetie Belle inhaled. “The featherfrond flower! You got one when Rarity and Applejack were fending off those wolves!”

Apple Bloom smiled proudly. “Hehe, Happy Birthday Scoots, from the both of us. You ready to fly?”

“Am I ever!”

THE END

Author's note: Happy Birthday to you, my dear friend, from both Harwick and me. You deserve something special for all that you do, and all that you give of yourself. I hope you enjoy these little tokens of our affection and appreciation. Your talent is unique, but your beautiful heart truly makes you a rarity. Here's to your special day. May it be a happy and fulfilling one, and may our friendship last for many more.

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