Applejack stared into the white, and the huge bare tree where her front fender used to be. Her mind slowly unlocked, then raced.
Was she injured? It didn’t seem so. All that hurt was where the seat belt dug into her shoulder, and square on the forehead where the airbag caught her.
With no small effort she unclenched her jaw. Crisp, frigid air hit her through the broken windshield.
“You okay, Rarity?”
Applejack looked over as she spoke. Like Applejack, Rarity sported a shiner on her forehead. The girl was patting herself down, eyes still wide in shock at the last twenty seconds.
The words seemed to cinch her back to reality. Rarity turned her head, still very much afraid as she cast a quick gaze over Applejack’s body.
“Fine,” she said breathlessly. “You?”
“Sore, but nothing’s broke.”
Rarity made to unbuckle, then hesitated. The car sat on a forty-five degree angle, nose downhill into the tree. Their seat belts were all that held them in place.
Protective instincts kicked Applejack into motion. “Wait there, I’ll get around and help you.”
Rarity nodded. “Be careful, there’s glass everywhere.”
Applejack planted her feet near the dashboard and gingerly unbuckled, holding tightly to the strap to keep upright. Her first attempt to open the door met resistance – she brought one boot up and delivered a few powerful kicks, shoving aside the blocking snow.
She slipped to the ground and instantly regretted it. Loose white snow went up past her boots, all the way to the seat of her pants. A little slid inside her jeans, pricking her calves with points of unprotected chill.
More wading than walking, Applejack circled around the front of the car. No smoke and no smell of gas, at least, though they hit the tree hard enough to wrap a good two feet around it. New flakes dusted her so fast it was like she wore white polka-dots by the time she pulled open Rarity’s door.
She stood in the way. “Rarity, why don’t you sit tight a moment while I scope things out?”
Rarity was already unbuckling. “No, let’s move together.”
Applejack sucked in her lip, eyeing the woman up and down. Rarity wasn’t completely unequipped for the weather, but it wasn’t great either. She had that frou-frou tall white hat that didn’t even cover the ears, and thin knit gloves that would turn to icicles the minute they got wet. Her fancy blue jacket and sweater would handle the core, at least, and her black winter leggings looked downright cozy.
...Honestly, Applejack had it worse. Her bomber-style winter cap was a good choice, but beneath it was just a thick vest, sweater, and jeans. The kind of things you throw on for a snowball fight in your own front yard.
Or to get to your car on the way to a sleepover.
Draining guilt stole quickly over Applejack’s will. She screwed up. And Rarity would suffer.
She set her jaw, and didn’t move. “Nah, you stay warm. I got us into this mess, I’ll get us–”
“None of that, Darling.”
Rarity unbuckled. Using Applejack’s shoulder as a stable base of support, she briskly swung herself outside. Rarity shivered by reflex as her legs sunk down, but made no complaint.
With Applejack in the lead, tromping down snow as best she could, the pair followed their tire tracks back to the road. The car had slid downhill some thirty feet from an unmarked turn – Applejack’s foot was still sore from slamming the brakes in vain.
“Good thing you hit that tree,” Rarity mused.
Applejack gave her a haunted look. Rarity huffed and pointed down the embankment. “I said none of that. Look how far down it goes. If we fell to the bottom before hitting something…”
She shivered again. “Goodness, it really doesn’t bear thinking about.”
Applejack glumly following her point. “Well if I didn’t hit it, we’d still be on our way to Fluttershy’s right now.”
Rarity airily brushed back her hair, swinging immediately into top form. “Darling, I saw what happened. There was no sign, no guardrail, and with all this infernal snow the way ahead looked straight as could be. As soon as we get back you may be assured I am calling the county government to have this addressed.”
Applejack was only too happy to accept that logic. Rarity hating her for this… that didn’t bear thinking, either.
“Speaking of which, we should probably call for a tow.” Applejack raised her boot, noting that even the paved road was covered past her ankles. “Or a plow.”
Rarity nodded as they produced their phones. “And we should let the girls know we’re likely a no-show. A pity, I was looking forward to helping Fluttershy decorate her new dorm. She’ll be a college freshman only once, you know. I hope she makes the most… of…”
She trailed off as they stared at their screens. No signal, no internet. No messages but a government snowstorm warning from twenty minutes ago.
Applejack threw her gaze upwards to the black-gray clouds. “This was supposed to hit further south!”
Rarity said nothing. She fidgeted with her phone, tapping options and holding it above her head in vain effort to reconnect.
Applejack looked one way down the road, then the other. Nothing but snow-covered asphalt as far as the eye could see. Thick trees to either side spoke of how far they’d come from Canterlot, with not a power line or even empty fields in sight.
Her throat bobbed. Snowflakes melted on her nose.
Applejack’s eyes moved back over to Rarity, still trying to get a signal. Her stern optimism was cracking – the lips pursed and eyebrows raised with tight, quiet fear.
Applejack felt it, too. The looming knowledge, the realization setting in.
We’re stuck. In a blizzard. Maybe forty miles out from the furthest Canterlot suburb, with no sign of civilization save the road itself.
Fresh chill hit her, not just from the snow. Canterlot was getting hammered, no question about it. The plows would focus on the city, making sure all the people could get to and from work. They’d have to hit the country roads soon enough… how soon? Three days? A week? Would they even see the wreck? Would they even stop?
Rarity put her phone away. She rubbed her arms, cheeks red and breath misty in the cold air. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as they gazed down the roads, finding no more than Applejack.
Somehow, the sight snapped Applejack’s mind into place. She began thinking right for the first time since this happened. Guilt was useless, and so was fretting what she couldn’t change. A big waste of time when there was work to be done.
“Hey.”
The word fled her mouth, winning over Rarity’s blue eyes. With tears at their edge, all Applejack could do was smile as big and warm as she could to take them away.
“We’ll be fine.”
“Really?” came the response. Not a challenge – a question.
Her brain was back in order, and Applejack nodded with confidence she really felt. “Really. I’ve got some survival stuff in the back, including a hatchet and matches. Plenty of wood for fuel all around us, and plenty of water once we melt it. Let’s get some shelter together before it gets dark, then we can figure out our next move.”
Rarity gave a light little laugh that sent Applejack’s spirits even higher. “Goodness, I forgot who I was with! You must be an old hand at roughing it like this.”
That splashed a bit of snow on Applejack’s mood. Sure, she’d gone camping with the family now and then, taking Applebloom’s friends along for the ride. But that was a question of propane griddles, tents, bottled water… to say nothing that they sure as shucks didn’t do it in the winter.
No point bringing that up. She nodded, but couldn’t quite lie. “I know a thing or two. Don’t worry your pretty head, I’ll get us out of this.”
Rarity’s smile at that seemed a bit… stern, but Applejack’s brain had already moved on. The car was exposed, uncomfortable, and probably a little dangerous. She saw plenty of pine trees down the embankment; they seemed ideal for making a lean-to. If nothing else the pair could camp out beneath one for at least a little protection.
Not daring to drop her smile, Applejack led the way back down. A few steps past the car, Rarity called from over her shoulder.
“Do you see that?”
Applejack did – a dark, square shape among the trees and snow. They trudged on, neither voicing their hope.
Applejack wasn’t disappointed at what they found. Not a house with electricity and working phones, but a lucky break regardless: four solid wooden walls, with one half-sized like a stable to make an over-large open door. A few inches’ distance at the top of each wall let in light and snow, but only a dusting had sneaked in to the empty room. Her boots clattered on the white cushion, finding stone beneath.
Rarity seemed more curious than relieved or disappointed. She poked at the brown-painted wood, voicing her first guess.
“Some… park ranger’s storage?”
“Don’t know,” Applejack said cheerfully. “Don’t care. This is a world better than what I was planning. I’m gonna fetch my hatchet and get some branches together for a fire. Then I’ll prune some evergreens so we can have something of a bed tonight.”
Rarity nodded. “What shall I do?”
“Stay here and rest, it’s been a day.”
Applejack called it over her shoulder, already moseying out. The hatchet was in the back, in the old sports bag along with the rest of her inadequate emergency kit. No sense carrying everything around now, she had work to do.
Labor cleared her mind pleasantly, as it always did. Fallen timber served well enough, with a few quick chops carving longer pieces into manageable chunks. Reckoning they’d need all the wood she could gather and then some, Applejack brought her armful to their shelter then set out again in a different direction. No tree was in falling distance, but beyond they sat thick and waiting for her. Another armful, then another, kicking and stomping through the snow.
At the third trip, Rarity was gone from the shelter. Applejack didn’t think about it until she came back from the fourth.
“Where’s she gotten too?” Applejack grumbled. “Don’t she know this is serious?”
A deep breath. “Rarity!”
“Over here, Darling!”
Applejack followed the voice up the slope. Rarity stood next to the car with her sketchbook of all things, looking down to it and idly clicking her mechanical pencil.
“We might have to burn that,” Applejack said, meaning it as a joke.
“If we must, we must.” Rarity shrugged. “For the moment, it seems prudent to take stock of what we have.”
She turned it to Applejack, presenting not a sketch but a bulleted list in flowing cursive.
*2 sets winter wear (mixed)
*2 sets pajamas for sleepover (light)
*2 sets clothes change (undergarments, shirts)
*2 sets hygiene supplies (toothbrush etc.)
*1 car (totaled. Glass, gasoline, seat padding?)
*2 books, 3 fashion magazines
*1 guitar
*2 phones (no charger)
*1 tire jack, air pump, cross-bar, pocket knife, hatchet
*1 first aid kit
*1 blanket (thin)
*1 flashlight
*1 box 100 matches
*2 travel mugs
*1 metal kitchen bowl (dessert bowl)
*2 water bottles (half-empty)
*4 bags chips
*4 package cookies
*1 bag apples
A smile tugged at Rarity’s mouth. “It’s quite lucky we were in charge of bringing snacks, but really: apples? I don’t know whether to laugh or kiss you.”
“You can kiss me if you want,” Applejack said without thinking.
Then she thought, seizing Rarity’s brief silence. “Dumb joke, sorry. It’s a healthy snack, you know? Eat nothing but chips and pizza all weekend and you’d feel it on Monday.”
“Oooh, don’t say pizza.” Rarity patted her stomach. It was past dinnertime. “Goodness, I wish we were in charge of the pizza instead.”
Applejack shrugged. “We would have gotten it at the college, not in Canterlot.”
“Darling, don’t interrupt when I’m wishing.”
Applejack laughed, showing teeth whiter than the snow. “Heck, I wish I had a proper ax. It’ll be a heap of work keeping us warm with just the small stuff I can cut with a hatchet.”
Rarity hummed in her throat, the smile tugging higher. “A nice, cozy cabin with soft beds and thick blankets.”
“Electricity and video games.”
“A spa room with an expert masseuse.”
“Aw come on, Rares!” Applejack gave her a playful shove. Rarity returned it, and they went back and forth, laughing all the while. Rarity’s high-pitch titters which sometimes grew imperfect and coarse, and Applejack’s twangy laugh that became shrill and girly when she got too loud.
They were still chuckling as they made their way to the shelter, each with an armful of supplies. Rarity busied herself arranging the harvested evergreens into something of a bed while Applejack got the fire going. Matches, wood, and a few tissues soon blazed things to life cheerfully.
Kneeling, Rarity scooched closer – the stone floor was uncomfortable, but with darkness settling she became keenly aware of the cold.
“Shall I move the bed in?”
“Nah, we can’t have sparks hitting it.” Applejack yawned, sitting down hard at Rarity’s side. She winced and smiled at the landing. “Maybe we can figure out something tomorrow.”
A stomach growled, so loud they didn’t know whose.
Rarity gave a half-smile and shrugged. “Apples for dinner, I suppose.”
“It won’t be so bad.” Applejack produced a pair of sticks she had whittled to sharp points. “I’ll show you how to make roast apples.”
She walked Rarity through the process, not that there was much to teach. Cook it like a marshmallow until the juices sizzled out, then a little bit more. The fruit was sweet and piping hot, warming them from the inside. Applejack sat close to the flames with one leg spread and the other tucked beneath, giving a small platform for Rarity to sit off the ground. They leaned into each other, sharing warmth and munching until nothing of the roast fruit remained.
Then, still hungry, they tore open a bag of chips and devoured it between them.
“This is terrible for my diet,” Rarity said around a crunching mouth.
Applejack’s lips went tight, though she remained smiling. “Good news, Sugar: starting tomorrow, we’re both on a diet.”
Rarity swallowed, then sipped down the last of her water bottle. “How should we… ah, handle the food situation?”
Applejack made to shrug, then caught herself.
You’re the one who has to know. You’re the one who’ll get her through this.
She spoke carefully, trying to stick with what she knew. “I read somewhere that pine needles are edible. Maybe we can make that into something like tea and start doing that for lunch, then something substantial for dinner. As substantial as we can make it, anyway. These are thick woods, so maybe we’ll find something we can eat or use.”
“Mmm, sounds lovely,” Rarity mumbled. The stress of the day, the warm relief of the fire, and the massive salt-bomb she just ate were taking their toll. She rested fully into Applejack, her slim frame snuggling down beneath the blanket draped around their backs.
Applejack yawned and blinked heavily. Time to go to bed, such as it was. She mused putting out the fire, then decided against. Errant sparks were less dangerous than the cold, and the smoke was nicely filtering out through the top openings in the wall. Almost like this place was built to handle a fire.
A mystery. She was too tired for mysteries. Applejack moved on her knees, gently escorting the half-asleep Rarity to their pile of evergreens. Leaving the fireside was minor torture, but Rarity and the blanket remained toasty from it. It wasn’t so bad.
Applejack felt the floor beneath the firs. Maybe tomorrow they’d spruce it up a little.
...Heh. ‘Spruce’ it up.
Pinkie would love it, though Applejack might have to tell her what a spruce tree was first. She smiled drowsily, eyes closed, with Rarity softly breathing between her arms.
Rarity… gotta keep her safe. Gotta keep her warm.
The pair snuggled closer, seeking each others heat, and that was the last thing they knew until morning.