“There ain’t no spies in my coven!”
Applejack sighed and set down the latest in the interminable succession of sheets she’d been folding. She trotted down the hall and into the kitchen.
“No granny, I asked if the pies are in the oven,” she said patiently.
“I know that,” Granny Smith snapped. “I just couldn’t imagine that my dutiful granddaughter would be rude enough to ask me the same question six times in a row. So I thought my old ears must be giving out on me.” She sniffed the air. “’sides, if you can’t smell those pies then it’s your nose that’s the problem.”
The kitchen was redolent with the comfortingly festive smell of baking pies. Mainly apple, of course, but there were a smattering of blueberry, strawberry rhubarb, and boysenberry. Applejack had even insisted on a pear pie this year. After what she’d learned about her mother’s family of origin it only seemed right to include it. Though, Applejack half suspected that Granny Smith had only included it as a trap for anypony foolish enough to pick pear pie over apple.
“You’re right, Granny,” Applejack said. “I know you’ve got the dinner well in hoof. Sorry for pestering you.” She looked around quickly and then her eyes lit up. “I’ll go check on Mac, see if he’s brought the cider barrels up from the cellar.
Granny Smith peered at her. “Land sakes girl, you’re twitchier than that princessy friend of yours on re-shelving day. What’s put a bee in your bonnet?”
“Nothin’,” Applejack said, her eyes darting back and forth.
“Don’t you give me that ‘nothin’ nonsense,” Granny Smith tutted. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on with you.”
Applejack sighed. “Making sure tonight goes well is really important to me. We haven’t hosted the Apple Family Hearthswarming celebration at Sweet Apple Acres since,” Applejack paused and reached up to touch her Stetson, “well, not for a long time. I just want to do right by everypony.”
“Oh Applejack, you’re worrying too much.” Granny Smith swept her up in a tight hug. “With all the hard work you’ve put in I’m sure everything will be just perfect.”
“Yeah!” shouted Apple Bloom as she entered the kitchen. “And just in case we need some extra hooves I asked Sweetie Bell to come help with the cooking and Scootaloo to help foalproof the house for the littleuns.”
“No!” Applejack cried in horror, only to find Apple Bloom laughing at her.
“Only joking sis,” Apple Bloom chuckled. “I love my friends dearly but I’m pretty sure you’d rather avoid the whole party getting covered in tree sap. Besides, Hearth’s Warming is a day for family.”
“Too right it is,” Granny Smith crowed. “Now you two go on and git. I’ve got a bunch more dishes to whip up before this shindig really gets started.”
The two sisters trotted on out into the hallway. “Now Apple Bloom, I’ve laid all the linens and the pillows out in my room. Why don’t you take them out to the barn?” Applejack said. “I’ll go split a few more logs for firewood. Got to make sure we have enough.”
Apple Bloom nodded. “Sure thing sis. And stop worrying so much. You’re definitely on top of this.”
“Thanks.” Applejack smiled. “But don’t think that gets you out of helping. You’ll be working just as hard as I am for the rest of the evening.”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes good naturedly. “We’ve both been working hard for the past week. A few more hours won’t kill me.”
“That’s the true spirit of Hearths Warming,” Applejack encouraged. It was true, they had been working hard for quite a while. Getting the small farm ready for the horde of Apples descending that afternoon had been no small feat. Still, Applejack thought they were close to being ready. Maybe once the guests started arriving she’d be able to relax and get into a more festive mood.
Applejack’s hoofsteps carried her easily out of her old wooden house and down the dusty track to the old shack where they stored the fallen timber. Once upon a time, chopping wood had been nigh on the worst chore on the farm. Lifting the heavy splitting maul with her mouth always risked getting splinters in awkward spots and the weight of the tool quickly put a painful crick in her neck.
Fortunately, some time back Twilight had wandered by the farm when Applejack was splitting wood. Upon seeing how unpleasant it was she insisted on designing something better. Sure enough, a few days later she’d returned with a fascinating contraption.
It was a long wooden tube with guides for the logs to be split. A spring loaded blade was at one end. All Applejack had to do was to give the wide circular cover on the back of the blade a good buck and it would shoot forward, splitting the wood, before the springs on the sides brought it back to the starting position.
Though the device made the task easier, it was still hard work and the sun was high in the sky by the time Applejack had a good pile of wood ready for the fire. She piled the split logs on a cart and pulled it toward the barn.
The barn itself had seen the most work in the past week. It had originally been a normal farm barn with hay bales and planting equipment. Since there wasn’t enough room for the whole family in the house, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac, had had to convert the barn into accommodations for the family.
Looking around, Applejack felt they’d done a pretty good job. The hay had all been removed. The floor was swept and polished to a nice shine. Holes in the barn so old that they’d each been named had finally been filled. It was noticeably warmer inside thanks in no small part to the large iron potbellied stove they’d installed in one corner to keep their relatives warm through the cold winter nights.
Applejack dragged the wood she’d cut to that same stove. There was already a small pile of wood next to it but with her contribution there was absolutely no chance they’d run out any time soon. Unmindful of a small dot of color buried amid the wood, she turned to check on Apple Bloom.
“How’re those linens comin’, Apple Bloom?”
“Almost done,” Apple Bloom mumbled around a mouthful of sheet. They’d set up cots throughout the barn with dividing screens sectioning off each individual family and Apple Bloom had spent the past while making up all the beds. She tucked in the last corner and gave a satisfied nod. “There. That oughta do it.”
AppleJack trotted over and inspected her work. “Yep, looks like you done a good job. Thanks for all your help this week, sis. It’d’ve been tough gettin’ it all done if you’d been as wild as you used to be.”
“Of course I helped. I’m a big pony now and I’ve got the cutie mark to prove it,” Apple Bloom said proudly.
“You sure are,” Applejack chuckled and tousled her little sister’s mane. “Now come on. We’ve got to get washed up and the family’s due any minute now.”
There wasn’t time for each of them to take a full shower. Instead, Applejack led Apple Bloom around the back of the barn. She told Apple Bloom exactly where to stand and then trotted around the corner to the hose faucet. Applejack placed her hat next to the faucet and with the squeak of rusty metal she turned the wheel and started counting backwards from five.
At zero, a sudden yelp came from Apple Bloom. “Ack, what in tarnation? Applejack!”
Applejack stoically repressed a smile and trotted back around the barn to hose down her sister with the cold water. She held the hose firmly in place and refused to let Apple Bloom avoid the chilling flow. “Sorry sis. We gotta get clean. ‘Sides the bitter cold is bracing, ain’t it?”
Apple Bloom glared balefully at Applejack. “We’ll just see how you like it when it’s your turn.”
“I reckon you’re just about done,” Applejack said, giving her sister a once over. She put down the still gushing hose and trotted over to stand where Apple Bloom had stood. “Alright. It’s my turn now. Try and remember the goal is getting clean, not getting revenge.”
“Oh, I will,” said Apple Bloom, her peaceful words belied by the menace in her tone. As anypony with a sibling might have expected, Applejack was well and truly soaked in a matter of seconds. She yelped and ducked away from the spray, letting Apple Bloom chase her a bit.
“That’s enough, Bloom. Turn the hose off now.” Apple Bloom held the hose on her sister for another few moments, proving once and for all that revenge is indeed a dish best served as cold as an outdoor shower in winter. Finally satisfied, she trotted round the barn and turned the hose back off.
Applejack chuckled to herself and shook the water out of her mane. She hoped that the chance to play around a bit would help Apple Bloom relax. Preparations for this evening had been driving them all up the wall lately and, as the youngest, Apple Bloom had felt pressured to help without fully being able to do so. A few moments with a hose couldn’t make up for that but maybe it would bleed off some of the tension before the guests started arriving.
Speaking of which, they really did need to get a move on. Apple Bloom returned with her hat and the two of them toweled off with a few of the towels left by the hose for just such a purpose. Then, shivering in the cold winter air, they hurried up to the main house and made their way inside.
They had decorated earlier in the week, but Applejack was relieved to see that the decorations were still in place. Festive streamers of red and green ran across the ceiling and from room to room. Tinsel and holly lent dashes of silver and red to the walls. Snow globes, nutcrackers, candles, and other festive tchotchkes decorated darn near all the free table space. Even the air smelled of spruce.
And apples of course. Hearth’s Warming or not it was still an Apple family home.
Big Mac had brought three huge casks of cider that were set up on a lace-covered table along one wall. Other drinks ranging from orange juice – the Oranges were coming up from Manehattan – to dandelion wine, to eggnog were scattered among red cups on the rest of the table. Applejack knew that a smaller cask of zap apple cider had been brought up from the cellar as well, though that would only come out once the littluns had gone to bed.
And the food! Granny had outdone herself already and only the appetizers had yet been laid out. Apples and honey for a sweet new year. Crackers and cheeses and pears – Grand Pear had been invited as well – sure to delight young and old alike. Salad bowls of watercress and fennel, radishes and carrots. It was a scrumptious repast and Applejack could still smell the main dishes cooking in the oven.
“Y’all have done a great job!” Applejack said enthusiastically. “I reckon we couldn’t be any more prepared.”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed, nudging the last barrel of cider into the perfect spot.
“And a good thing too,” Granny Smith put in. “It’s just about time.”
A ring from the doorbell confirmed her words. Applejack took a deep breath, put on a smile, and went to greet her kin as host of the official Apple Family Hearth’s Warming Celebration.