//------------------------------//
// 7 Winter's Mournful Melodies 
// Story: Alternate Beginnings: Year Four 
// by Doug Graves 
//------------------------------//

February 15th, 996

"Mama, I can't find my vest!"

"What do you mean, Sweetie Belle? I can't find my vest! And I was sure it was right on my dresser!"

Rarity bursts into Sweetie Belle's room, a frantic look on her disheveled muzzle. Her mane, normally perfectly coiffed, has random hairs sticking up in places, her tail faring no better. She looks around the cluttered room, trying to spot either her vest or her filly's. Sweetie Belle is doing the same, tossing bits and pieces of tan fabric aside while digging through a pile of scraps. Rarity scowls, "What have I told you about keeping your room clean?"

"But, Mama," comes the rushed reply, "I was working on my vest! And I knew it needed some extra flair, just like you say about your dresses!"

Rarity closes her eyes, putting a hoof to her forehead, while her horn lights up. A glow surrounds each scrap of fabric, lifting them up before setting them back down, sorted neatly by color. "Now," a forced calm in her voice, "where did you see your vest last?"

"I was working on it, right in the corner like you told me to! And then, when I was finished, I took it and hung it up..." Sweetie Belle gives a sheepish grin, "Right in my closet." She looks at the open closet door, her tiny tan animal vest staring back at her. "Oops. I guess it was here all along?"

Rarity shakes her head, "Well, I'm happy we found your vest, Sweetie Belle, but that doesn't solve the problem of where my vest ended up." Rarity paces back and forth a few times before moving to the door, looking back at Sweetie Belle, "I suppose I shall search through the store again, but I could have sworn..." Rarity trails off, looking at the pile of tan scraps Sweetie Belle was digging through earlier. She says in a sweet voice, "Darling, where did you get the fabric to make your vest?"

Sweetie Belle stops admiring her tan vest, decorated with small blue and green ribbons cut into the shape of clouds or tiny critters, "Um, I used some of the spare fabric in your room. Why?"

"But, Sweetie Belle," Rarity says, her voice rising to a forced falsetto, moving over and slowly pushing a hoof through the tan scraps, "I don't recall having any spare tan fabric in my room."

"What do you mean? You had a bunch, right next to your dresser!"

One of Rarity's eyes squints, a few more pieces of her mane jutting out of place. She dashes out of Sweetie's room to her own, shrieking as she sees the fallen vest stand on her dresser. She looks behind the dresser, to the sides, and underneath, a look of dread on her face as she begins tugging at her unruly mane. She shakes her head to the side, muttering, "No, no no, no, no! Of all the worst possibilities, this can't be happening!" She gets up, fuming a little and yelling, "Sweetie Belle! Come here this instant!"

"But, Mama!" Sweetie Belle says as she walks into the room, holding an oat bar in her hoof, "I'm hungry!" She looks around the room, "Did you find your vest?"

Rarity points a hoof at the dresser, "Is this where you found your, ahem, material for your vest?"

Sweetie Belle nods, "Ah huh, right there at the bottom. Why?"

Rarity lets out long sigh, pressing a hoof against her forehead. "No matter. Go get your breakfast. I'll just have to..." Rarity thinks; she might be able to do something with the scraps that remain, her former vest now cut down to Sweetie Belle's size. She is out of pieces of tan fabric large enough to make the main body, and the two spare vests she has would be obviously not her size, not fit for the master tailor the other ponies know her as. Maybe they wouldn't notice a few alterations...

A knock on the door breaks her concentration, Doug's voice coming up from the main store area, "Rarity? You still up there?" Rarity heads downstairs, looking over to see Doug. He is wearing the blue vest she made him over his light coat and holding half a set of ice skate blades. "Morning! Mayor Mare finished her speech already, something about hopefully giving us all enough time to finish this year. Very hopeful and inspirational." He holds up his boots in the other hand, "I was hoping you could affix these blades to these boots, at least temporarily." He holds them out, eyeing her mane with a raised eyebrow.

Rarity sighs, levitating the boots and blades over to her to take a closer look. "Good morning, dear. I've been having a somewhat stressful day so far. You don't want to know."

"Right. Um, did you know that they sing before Winter Wrap Up? Very catchy."

Rarity nods, her horn lighting up, "Oh, yes, they do that every year. Were you not around?"

Doug shrugs as a burst of magic fuses the blades to the boots, "Nope, taking care of the foals first time, then didn't really want to come to town the second. Silver Set waved at me, shortly followed by Spoiled Rich, so there is that." He looks around the store, trying not to focus on Rarity's mane, "Maybe you could teach me the song, you know, for next year." He pauses, taking one more glance at Rarity's mane during the silence. "Well, um, good luck then. Nothing I can help with?"

Rarity shakes her head, "Unless you can make a new vest for me spring out of nothing, I'm afraid I am out of luck this Winter Wrap Up. Oh, I might not even go at all!" She holds a hoof up, swooning onto her red couch. She looks over at Doug, one of his hands moving to his chin. She hopefully asks, "You have something?"

"So, remember last year, how I told all of you how cute you looked in your Winter Wrap Up vests," Doug glances over at Sweetie Belle, the filly chewing on an oat bar, "And we spent some quality time at Applejack's?" 

A smile forms on Rarity's muzzle as she nods, "That was why I needed to make a new vest this year! I couldn't remember where my old one ran off to, and I was running low on fabric by the time I thought to make myself a new one and stop searching for the old one."

"Well, I think we kept the vests over there, either in the attic or one of the closets with Applejack's hats. Sorry, though, I have to go and catch up with Pinkie. She's going to help me get ready, since I'm taking over for her on ice skating duty this year." Doug moves over, ruffling Rarity's mane.

After a few playful swipes, and maybe a kiss or two, Doug exits the store, Rarity panting on her couch. She levitates a mirror over, scowling at her mane, before bringing a brush and repairing the damage Doug tried to inflict. Satisfied she calls, "Sweetie Belle, I need to head to Applejack's. Are you going to be okay working during Winter Wrap Up by yourself? I shouldn't be gone long."

Sweetie Belle practically prances out of the kitchen, "Of course, Big Sis! I'm a big filly, I can handle it!"

Rarity nods, giving Sweetie Belle a kiss, "Very well. I will see you back here in no time at all!" She opens the door, quickly reconsidering, grabbing her boots and a scarf, and leaving the Boutique. She spots a pile of hay for the nests moving of its own accord - well, most likely carried by some filly - as she walks outside. She canters down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres, several ponies beginning their work in the skies and on the houses. The hard snow crunches under her hooves as she leaves Ponyville, the snow getting deeper and less compacted along the road. She tries to keep to the large path carved along the fresh snow; it is likely from Doug walking a filly or two along the road with one of the mares, the group having already made their way to the mustering area this morning.

Rarity walks past the gate, still following the path, several snow plows lined up and waiting for their earth pony drivers. She makes her way into the Apple farmhouse, calling, "Applejack? Granny Smith?" as she heads upstairs. She opens the closet door in the master bedroom, a dozen of Applejack's hats staring back at her. She quickly levitates them, only finding a green plant vest. "Oh yes," she remarks to herself, "I did make Applejack a new plant vest this year, she was still a little large after her foaling to fit in the old one. And she needed a team lead legband, so a little extra styling on the vest wasn't improper. But where is my old vest?"

Rarity replaces all the hats and the old vest, continuing to murmur to herself, "Well, I doubt they would have moved my vest to the attic. But they might have? After all, Applejack will need her old vest next year after she has lost the foal weight, and they might have figured I didn't need my vest again." She makes her way up the attic stairs, glancing around at the assorted boxes. She grimaces at the thought of getting her coat all dusty, and looks around at the cobwebs. 

She sighs, "Of all the worst places that it could be!" She tentatively places a hoof, scattering dust around. She glances down, pausing and muttering to herself, "This is The. Worst. Wait. This much dust at the entryway. They couldn't have come up here, or there would be less dust! Or at least, an uneven amount of dust. And this whole place is filthy!" Satisfied by her explanation, she turns around, closing the attic door and wiping the bit of dust off her hoof and coat with a towel from the bathroom. 

Hearing a bit of commotion outside, Rarity looks to see Applejack and Big Mac hooking themselves up to the snowplows. Rarity calls, "Applejack!" and makes her way towards the earth pony.

Applejack stops buckling herself in, "Rarity? What are you doing here?" Her eyes trace over Rarity's naked form, a brief smile creeping along her muzzle, "You know, Ah remember when we just had these small pins to let each other know which team we were on, we'd-"

"Yes, yes, I grew up here too." Rarity huffs, "I don't make vests for the entire town just to walk around without one. Now, my old animal team vest. Have you seen it?"

Applejack glances back towards Ponyville as she starts buckling in again, "Um, yes; we thought you didn't need it any more. Ah'm sorry, Ah thought you would have asked for it earlier if you needed it."

Rarity lets out a sigh of relief, "Oh thank Celestia." Rarity and Applejack stare at each other for a few seconds before Rarity continues, "Um, darling, where is it?"

Applejack stammers, "Uh, that's the thing..."

"You didn't get rid of it, did you? Please tell me you didn't get rid of it."

Applejack shakes her head, "No, it's just that, since we didn't think you needed it, we let Scootaloo borrow it."

Rarity groans, "I know it wouldn't have fit her. Did you have to cut it up for her?"

"No, we just used a few pieces of rope as belts. She looks real funny, too, but she thought it was fine and Rainbow didn't mind."

Rarity nods, "Okay, so Rainbow has her?"

Applejack shrugs, "Last Ah saw. Ah think she was assigned to Ponyville, getting the roofs clear."

"Very well, back to Ponyville. Good day, Applejack!"

"Good luck finding it, Rarity!" Applejack finishes strapping herself in, Big Mac and several other members of the plant team waiting patiently to start plowing.

Rarity trots down the road, the snowbanks on either side starting to lessen. The clouds are slowly being cleared, a few pegasi in the sky. She trots into Ponyville, spotting Sweetie Belle and a hooffull of finished nests. She seems to be working with somepony else; satisfied she can leave the filly alone, Rarity starts scanning the skies for Rainbow Dash.

After passing a few houses Rarity nearly facehooves; of course Rainbow wouldn't be in the sky, her magic is still restricted. She spots the colorful pegasus soon after, helping clear one of the houses with a forced smile on her muzzle. Rarity calls out, "Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow pauses, looking around for the source before spotting Rarity. She happily tosses her shovel into the snow on the house, slowly fluttering down, "Rarity! Good to see you, thanks for the interruption. It gets, uh, real boring really fast just shoveling snow. And they don't exactly have a lot of ponies doing it. What did you want?"

Rarity nods, "I can imagine, it sounds dreadful, but somepony has to do it, yes? Anyway, have you seen Scootaloo?"

Rainbow nods, "Yeah. Why?"

Rarity recounts, "Well, I... misplaced the animal team vest I made for this year, and I need to find my old one. I learned that Applejack still had it, so I went and met with her only to learn that Scootaloo has it. Now, do you know where she is?"

Rainbow smirks, "Yeah, she looked pretty funny in it. But no, I don't know, we split up, Scootaloo going to work with the animal team and me working on weather over here. Maybe try Fluttershy?"

Rarity sighs, "Very well, that will be my next destination. Thank you!"

Rainbow sighs, looking back up at the uncleared houses, "Yeah, no problem." She slowly flies back up, placing two hooves on the shovel and tossing snow to the ground once again.

Rarity waves at Sweetie Belle as she passes the table, even more nests starting to pile up. Sweetie Belle waves back, a purple tail carrying a pile of completed nests disappearing behind one of the tables. Rarity continues along the path towards Fluttershy's house, the nearly untouched snow chilling her sides and legs as she blazes a trail. She looks around the house, none of the snow yet cleared. She does see a large path, wider than anything Doug would have cleared, coming from the Everfree and then back a different direction. She looks over, puzzling over the implications before realizing - that is the direction to Harry the Bear's house! 

She follows the path away from the Everfree, quickly coming to a clearing. Dozens, if not hundreds, of birds are swarming around, a cacophony of voices chirping, tweeting, and warbling. In the middle, Fluttershy can be seen, pacing from one section to the other. As Rarity gets closer Fluttershy's soft voice can barely be made out, "Don't worry, Mr. Jay, the snow will be cleared soon. Then we can get all the nests ready! Yes, Mrs. Sparrow, the nests are going to be just as good as last year! No, Mr. Hawk, you can't eat Mr. Robin, not yet. Please, everypony, be patient."

Rarity coughs, "Um," and Fluttershy gasps, quickly flying away before noticing who is behind her. She returns, a sheepish grin on her muzzle as Rarity continues, "I'm sorry to sneak up on you, Fluttershy, but I need to know. Is Scootaloo around here?"

Fluttershy looks around before shaking her head, "No, I don't think so. Why are you looking for her?"

Rarity sighs, straining so her voice can be heard over the birds, "Well, I found out this morning that my vest has been... oh, how shall I say, misappropriated. It is too late to do anything about it, but I was reminded that I had a spare vest over at Applejack's. She told me that Rainbow Dash had Scootaloo wear it, but Rainbow didn't know where Scootaloo is. Do you know?"

Fluttershy shakes her head, "No, but Cloud Kicker is the animal team lead this year. I think she is stationed around the pond, or one of the lakes, helping out Raindrops, the new weather team lead. Also making sure all the southern birds come in and have somewhere to go. Speaking of, shouldn't you be making nests?"

Rarity nods, "Yes, and I have to get my vest before I am able to begin! I must be in the proper frame of mind, of course, and I cannot get there without my vest! Thank you for your help, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy waves as Rarity begins to leave the forest. She stops at the edge of the trees, looking at the couple feet of snow still on the ground. She reconsiders, going back to Fluttershy's cottage and taking the path to Ponyville, the snow slowly melting from the clear skies. She walks past the larger lake, the ice already scored and beginning to melt into smaller pieces. Her feet slosh through the slushy snow until she gets to Ponyville, the ground turning to hard packed dirt with some snow still by the sides of houses. She passes Sweetie Belle, the filly still hard at work. The ground around them is starting to get muddy, many small hoofprints dotting what remains of the snow around the table. 

Rarity continues to the southern section of Ponyville, spotting Cloud Kicker above one of the ponds. The pegasus is coordinating with a few other members of the animal and weather team, a small cloud of black dots barely able to be seen far to the south. Rarity spots Doug in the middle of the lake, the biped wearing his coat tied around his waist and blue vest on his otherwise bare chest, slowly scoring lines in the ice. Pinkie Pie and Silver Set are sitting next to one of the trees, a blanket over Pinkie's back side and a pillow between her front hooves, a large backpack next to her. Silver Set is watching the two fillies of the Rich herd scamper around while her two newborn foals huddle close to the mare. Pinkie Pie perks up as Rarity gets close, waving a hoof but not really moving from her position, "Hi Rarity! How's Winter Wrap Up going?"

Rarity sighs, "Well, it could be better, I suppose. Have you seen Scootaloo?"

Pinkie Pie shakes her head, "Nope! I just have these two!" She lifts the blanket, Applebaum and Lemon nursing while resting on top of a second blanket. They both whine at the cold air, huddling into Pinkie's belly, and the mare quickly replaces their cover. "Where have you looked?"

"Well, I started at my Boutique, walked to Applejack's, asked her, walked back to Ponyville, asked Rainbow Dash, walked to Fluttershy's, asked her, and now I've walked to you, and asked you. I'm just about out of ideas!"

Pinkie Pie nods, "Hmm, that is quite the conundrum. I mean, I am the best at hide and seek, but I'm a little busy at the moment. Have you thought about not wearing your vest?"

"Oh, Pinkie, don't be silly. If I'm not wearing my vest, how will anypony know what I am supposed to be doing? I'll probably get press ganged into weather duty!"

"Oh, that's easy! Just start working where you want to work, everypony will probably figure you got the vest dirty or something. Or have another foal, but that didn't help Applejack this year. Hmm, that is a toughie!"

"Well, I suppose I will have to give that a try. How is Doug doing?"

"Oh, well, he's doing great! He was a little shaky at first, but he keeps his balance really well, and since he's on two hooves instead of four he can score deeper than me, even though I weigh more, but I get two hooves to score with while he generally sticks to one. And he was using this backpack of metal to weigh himself down even more, but he stopped when the ice started melting. I don't think he wanted anything extra weighing him down in case he broke through the ice, and he even said something that we were melting the ice too early. But, in any case, I think he wants to give everypony's job a shot. So I'll be able to do skating next year, he knows how much I like doing it!"

Rarity rolls her eyes at Pinkie's extended explanation, "A simple, 'he is doing well' would have sufficed, dear. Well, keep those foals nice and warm. Good day, Pinkie!"

"Toasty woasty they will be! Hmm, more like good afternoon, Rarity!"

Rarity walks back to Ponyville, heading towards the Carousel Boutique and her normal position as nest crafter. Rainbow Dash is cleaning off the top, Rarity soon spotting Sweetie Belle standing on top of the table out front, looking down at some filly completely covered in mud and splashing around in the puddles. As Rarity gets closer she sees the nests are stacked high, most if not all the materials used up. She moves closer, avoiding the splatter and inspecting one of the nests by hoof as Sweetie Belle nervously waves at her. "These nests are very well done, Sweetie Belle; have you been working on them all by yourself?"

Sweetie Belle shakes her head, "No, I've had Scootaloo helping me out!"

Rarity stares at Sweetie Belle, "Scootaloo? Where is she?" Sweetie Belle points a hoof at the filly in front of the table. Rarity looks over; the mud covered filly shakes a bit of brown goop off her head, revealing a tangle of purple mane and orange coat. Scootaloo glances up at Rarity, purple irises staring back at the unicorn. Rarity says, "Scootaloo? Please tell me you aren't wearing my vest. That would be The-"

Scootaloo shakes her head, more pieces of mud flying off, "Nope! Rainbow told me I couldn't get it dirty, so I took it off, hanging it over there." She points a hoof at one of the nearby trees, the clean animal vest neatly hanging from several pieces of rope.

Rarity sighs in relief, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've been looking all over for you! Now, time to get to work!" Rarity moves over, taking the vest and quickly donning it. She moves over to the table, Sweetie Belle staring back at her. "So, how many more nests do we need to make?"

Sweetie Belle stammers, "Uh, Scootaloo and I managed to finish all the nests we need this year, actually."

Rarity smiles, "Really? That's very impressive!"

A hoof taps Rarity's flank, the unicorn turning to see an irate Rainbow Dash. "Yup, and since you aren't needed here, and you've managed to shirk your normal Winter Wrap Up duties, guess what?"

Rarity wails, "Noooo! Of all the Worst. Possible. Jobs!" and flails her hooves as Rainbow Dash hoofs her a shovel and pushes the unicorn towards the many houses that still need snow cleared off their roofs.