Chapter 3: Poems, Fedoras and the Beat of Drums
After Apple Bloom finished eating her breakfast, which she did without any enthusiasm, she pulled her filled saddle-bag over her back and tightened it. It was stuffed with books, paper, pencils and even her lunch. It seemed to have everything she needed to get through the day.
Everything, that is, except a poem.
Sighing, she begrudgingly exited her house and entered the snow-less morning. She trudged down the long apple tree-line path that led to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. She kept her head hung low, her expression one of dread- like she was making the trek to her doom instead of school. But without the poem to present to the class, the difference between the two would be nullified.
Finally, she lifted her head to see two very upset fillies standing under the Sweet Apple Acres’ archway. Scootaloo was attached to a wheeled cart that was carrying her twin set of bongo drums. She was tapping her hoof against the ground and giving Apple Bloom a cold stare. Sweetie Belle just looked miserable, her face showing no sign of anger for her friend, rather fear. Based on her obsession with getting good grades, Apple Bloom assumed that Sweetie Belle’s fear of failure had overridden the anger she felt.
“Um,” Apple Bloom started, her stomach feeling as if it had knots in it. “Hi girls.”
“Hey Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said, “listen to this.”
She pawed at the ground a few times, her hoof making a light “clip-clip” sound. She then glanced back up at Apple Bloom. “Do you hear it?”
“Hear what?”
“The contact of my hoof with the ground. Listen again,” Scootaloo hit the ground with her hoof a few more times, each more powerful than the last- like a building rage. She looked up at Apple Bloom.
“Yes. Ah hear it.” Apple Bloom said, still confused. “Why?”
“Oh no reason,” Scootaloo said, slowly making her way over to Apple Bloom. “It’s just that I can only hear my hoof when it makes contact with a hard surface, like dirt, cement, or even grass.” Suddenly the little pegasus looked into Apple Bloom’s eyes, her face fierce. “But I’m not supposed to hear it when it makes contact with snow. Why can I hear it now on this day that you convinced us there would be a blanket of snow covering the ground?”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, “Okay, so Ah shouldn’t have called the whole poetry thing off.”
“You think!?!” Scootaloo shouted.
“I’ve never failed at anything,” Sweetie Belle whimpered from behind Scootaloo. “I’m Miss Cheerilee’s star student! What will she think of me after she finds out we didn’t write our poem!?!”
Apple Bloom ignored her stressed unicorn friend to focus on her angered pegasus friend. “Well it ain’t all mah fault, Rainbow Dash told me...”
“Don’t you dare bring Rainbow Dash into this!” Scootaloo screamed in defense of her idol. “It’s not her fault that you acted like there was no chance that we’d have school today!”
“But she gave me a ninety-five percent chance!”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo jumped in. “And you know what that means?” Apple Bloom shook her head.
“That there was still a five percent chance we’d be in the situation we’re in now!”
Apple Bloom felt herself start to get angry- a desire to stand up for herself was building within her.
“Ya seemed so willing to buy it last night!” Apple Bloom shot back. “Why didn’t ya fight me then? Ya playing Monday mornin’ pegasus?”
“Because like you, I didn’t want to do this assignment!” Scootaloo said before her own words made her anger dissipate. She looked down with a look of disappointment in her face.
“I...I guess I’m just as much at fault as you are.”
Apple Bloom’s own rage subsided. She let out a sigh and placed a hoof onto her friend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, it’s mah fault too. Ah shouldn’t have been so cocky about the weather last night. Besides, it could be a lot worse.”
“No it couldn’t!” Sweetie Belle screamed, running over and shoving herself in-between her two friends. “It’s the end of the world!”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged glances as Sweetie Belle started to hyperventilate.
“I’m pretty sure the apocalypse won’t happen just because we forgot an assignment.” Scootaloo told her worry-wart friend, who was trembling in fear and not acting unlike Twilight when she thought her letter to the Princess would be late.
“Well, My world would end!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “When we get up there and don’t have anything to present the class is going to mock us! And Miss Cheerilee,” Sweetie Belle clenched her eyes shut, “oh, she’s going to be so disappointed in me, I’m her top student for crying out loud!”
“Chill, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said, “We still have until the end of class to figure somethin’ out.”
“Well I’ve got the equipment we need to present.” Scootaloo motioned to her drums with a weak smile. She then pointed to the small bag attached to Sweetie Belle’s saddle-bag. “And you brought your sister’s fedoras, right?”
Sweetie Belle, whose eyes started to tear up, gave a weak nod. “Yeah I...I did.”
“Well that’s a start!” Scootaloo said in a slightly more optimistic tone, “we’re halfway there.”
“But the problem wasn’t how we were gonna present,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah mean, sure we weren’t lookin’ forward to it anymore than the rest of the assignment,and we ain’t the best in front of a crowd.”
“Clearly,” Scootaloo interrupted.
“But the poem itself is what we are havin’ problems with.” Apple Bloom said. “And until we have that written, we won’t even have to worry about the presentation because we’ll fail as soon as we get up in front of the class.”
All hope that the three fillies felt up to this point left them. Slowly, they left the farm and made their way to the schoolhouse, faces long and hung low, eyes sad and misty. Three ponies trekking to their possible retribution. But nopony in the group felt as bad as Apple Bloom. She knew it was her fault that she and her pals were in the situation, and the guilt hung above her like a cloud threatening to release a torrential downpour upon her head.
At recess the three fillies all sat alone at the solitary table present outside of the schoolhouse. Their classmates were either playing around on the jungle-gym or practicing their poem reciting- taking it much more seriously than their of the three friends thought they would have. Some were even engaging in a lively game of tag. Of course the exception was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, both of whom sat beneath a tree- both fillies vehemently opposed to getting sweaty and gross.
Sweetie Belle sat in-between her two friends, Apple Bloom to her right and Scootaloo to her left, with a pencil hanging loosely from her mouth as she rubbed her chin. She stared down at the blank paper intently. Apple Bloom, watching as her typically artistic and writing-talented friend was apparently suffering from a severe case of writer’s block. Slowly, the pencil slipped from between her teeth and landed on the paper.
“Come on Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said. “This is your bread and butter!”
“I can’t do it when I have so much pressure on me!” Sweetie Belle shouted, “I mean, we only have...” She glanced up at the clock above the entrance to the schoolhouse. “...fifteen minutes to come up with a poem and work on the presentation!”
“Isn’t there anything you can associate with snow?” Scootaloo asked. “Like how it looks or something? Come on, you’re usually so good at this.”
“With songs! Not poems!” The unicorn shouted.
“THEY’RE THE SAME THING!” Scootaloo exploded, slamming her hooves onto the wood table. Everypony in the immediate vicinity, turned to look at the crazy filly. Once she noticed that everyone was staring at her, Scootaloo blushed and sheepishly slouched down, trying to avoid their judgemental glares.
“Face it, we’re done for.” Sweetie Belle said, sniffling a little as tears started to appear in her eyes.
“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, “stupid snow day false alarm.”
Apple Bloom was about to phone it in a well when, suddenly, she had an epiphany. Her eyes lit up and an enthusiastic smile spread across her face.
“Girls, Ah’ve got it!” She said, grabbing the attention of her defeatist friends. “Ah know how we can write about snow!”
Before Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could respond to their friend, Apple Bloom grabbed the blank sheet of paper and pencil from Sweetie Belle. She popped the pencil into her mouth and started scribbling down lines of poetry like mad, it coming to her in a flurry of anger-driven inspiration. Her small smile persisting, radiant and hopeful.
Apple Bloom took the pencil from her mouth to speak. “Mah sis always tells me that if yer given a disadvantage, ya can either wallow in it like a weaklin’,” she glanced up at her friends. “Or ya can turn it into an advantage.”
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged looks as Apple Bloom resumed scribbling onto the paper.
“I don’t know what you’re getting at.” Sweetie Belle muttered.
“Neither do I,” Scootaloo leaned across the table, closer to the paper, trying to get a look at what her friend was writing.
“Ya’ll will find out what Ah mean soon enough,” Apple Bloom said with a small chuckle, her voice surprisingly clear for having the writing utensil held between her teeth. “But Ah will say that the horror that was this mornin’ is turnin’ out to be good for somethin’.”
Scootaloo leaned back and looked at Sweetie Belle, scratching her head as the little unicorn gave her a small shrug.
“Can we do anything?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Scootaloo, work on our routine and we’ll practice it before recess is over.” Apple Bloom quickly muttered under her breath. “Sweetie Belle, you stay here and help me with the poem. Ya are better at comin’ up with fancy words than the rest of us.”
“O-okay.” Sweetie Belle said. Scootaloo, taking the instructions by Apple Bloom at heart, had already started sketching out her plan for how she wanted to present the poem. Apple Bloom didn’t care how complicated it was, so long as it would help them garner creativity points.
Apple Bloom let go of the pencil for a moment to relax her burning jaw, stretching the stiffness out of it before she popped the pencil back in and continued to write while Sweetie Belle watched and Scootaloo scribbled into her little pad. Once she was finished, Apple Bloom held up the poem. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at it. Apple Bloom pulled the pencil from her lips and stared down at her work with satisfaction.
“We’re ready.”
The entire class applauded as three colts finished their poem on snowball fighting. Each of them were dressed in winter garb- scarves, hats and boots- but their reciting of the poem left much to be desired. Overall it was somewhat flashy, but with very little emotion and substance- the poem wasn’t the best, either.
At least according to Apple Bloom, who was now starting to pick apart others’ performances in order to boost her own confidence in how theirs would turn out. Even the tiniest stutter was taken into account by the observant filly. Scootaloo leaned close to Apple Bloom’s ear.
“I should have known winter clothes would work better than sunglasses and fedoras,” she whispered.
“It’ll be fine,” Apple Bloom whispered back. “Ah promise ya, our poem will leave theirs in the dust.”
“I hope you’re right,” Scootaloo sighed, “It looked good, but you never know what Cheerilee will think of it.”
“She’ll love it,” Apple Bloom said, “trust me.”
“Thank you boys,” Cheerilee said as she sat at her desk. She glanced down at a clipboard with a sheet of paper attached to it. “Up we have Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle with their poem...” Cheerilee squinted to read the title, looking somewhat confused. “‘The Great Deceiver’?”
As they were called, the three fillies made their way to the front of the room. All three of them, even the supposedly confident Apple Bloom, had a distinct look of fear in their eyes. Nevertheless, Apple Bloom managed to hide it well as she took her spot at the front of the class. Scootaloo took her place behind her drums and Sweetie Belle stood beside Apple Bloom. Each of the three fillies pulled out their pair of sunglasses and fedora, putting them on. They also each pulled out a scarf and pulled it around their necks.
“Oh, this is too funny” Diamond Tiara asked with a snicker. “What are you? The Cutie Mark Crusader Hipsters?”
“Actually, we prefer the term poets.” Apple Bloom said before turning to Scootaloo and pointing to her, the signal to start. The pegasus raised her hooves up and began a slow, rhythmic beat.
Tap. Tap-tap. Tap. Tap-Tap. Tap.
Apple Bloom cleared her throat to begin, “Dark mornin’, dashin’ our hopes. Dry ground, and a feeling’ of regret.”
Tap-Tap.
Sweetie Belle then began her part, “Deception is it’s purest form, relief is it’s best.”
“Deception.” Scootaloo muttered breathlessly before giving another Tap-Tap. “The Deceiver.”
Apple Bloom froze for a second, somewhat surprised by her friend’s impromptu contribution to the poem. Nevertheless, feeling that it did add some more flavor to their presentation. she cleared her throat and continued on.
“Promises of streets lined in white,” Apple Bloom continued. “Trees covered in a fine powder, like the finest of sugar.”
“Sugar-coated trees,” Scootaloo muttered. Tap-Tap went the drums. “The Deceiver.”
“You wake in the morning expectantly,” Sweetie Belle said, “only to...um...” Apple Bloom noticed her unicorn friend start to perspire as her line slipped her mind.
“...face...” Apple Bloom whispered as a cue.
Sweetie Belle’s eyes lit up, “Oh! Only to face the truth that reality is cruel.” She said with a big grin.
“Cruel reality,” Scootaloo muttered. Tap-Tap went the drums. “The Deceiver.”
“Because there is no greater pain,” Apple Bloom continued, “than to dream of a snowy day and wake to spring.”
“No greater pain!” Scootaloo shouted in a sing-song way, pausing for emphasis. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both glared back at Scootaloo, letting their sunglasses slide down the bridge of their nose so their annoyed eyes were visible. Scootaloo noticed them then smiled, leaning forward like a pony about to tell the climactic part of a scary story. “Than the Deceiver.”
Apple Bloom turned away from her friend and rolled her eyes before nudging Sweetie Belle, who was still facing Scootaloo. The unicorn shook her head, turned and brought the poem home.
“But that doesn’t mean all hope is lost,” Sweetie Belle continued, “for more often than not all snow does is delay the inevitable. For whatever pain the snow resolves, will come forth again in the thaw.”
“The thaw!” Scootaloo said. Tap-Tap went the drum. “The deceiver.”
Scootaloo held her hooves high, staring up at the ceiling in a silent solemnity. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle smiled at each other and were ready to bow when Scootaloo interrupted them with one of her “lovely” drum solos.
“BOOM, BOOM, DA-DA-DA-DA, BA-BOOM, BOOM, BOOM...!”
This continued for a good ten seconds before the pegasus finally rose her hooves up to her sides with a smile. Apple Bloom sighed but turned and bowed, followed by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as the class stomped their hooves against their desk in approval. Well, save for Diamond Tiara, who looked angry. Even Silver spoon applauded, though when her pompous friend shot her a glare that asked ‘what do you think you’re doing?’, she quickly stopped and joined her friend in staring down the three blank-flanks.
Apple Bloom couldn’t help but smile as a warm feeling spread through her. It was one of both fulfillment, as well as a great relief- like she had lifted a giant weight off of herself after failing to do so for days.
Cheerilee trotted over to Apple Bloom and the others, “Wow, I am impressed girls. Well done, I especially like the little bit you contributed to the presentation, Scootaloo.”
Scootaloo smiled and pushed the sunglasses down, “It was no biggie, I love playing these drums.” She lightly tapped the drums a few times to emphasize her point. “Even if I did get a little carried away at the end.”
“Well I really liked the ending,” Cheerilee said, “it was very lively.”
The three friends trotted back to their seats as the next group went up. They sat down and looked at each other, bright smiles on their faces as they all high-hoofed for a job well done.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. The entire class burst through the exit like the building was on fire. Only Apple Bloom and her friends walked out in a calm manner. Mainly because they had to wait for Scootaloo, who was busy pulling her drums out on the wheeled cart, thus slowing her down. They also took the back way out, a much larger door than the typical doorway used to enter and leave.
“That went much better than expected,” Sweetie Belle said. Apple Bloom stepped out with her into the sunny day. Scootaloo wasn’t too far behind. She was rather strong so while the drums slowed her down, it didn’t make her move at a snail’s pace.
“Yeah...in fact,” Scootaloo said in-between grunt, pulling the massive cart and drums through the door, “I’d say...it was the...most successful thing we’ve ever...done.” Scootaloo finally stopped pulling for a moment to catch her breath.
Sweetie Belle looked down at her and nodded. “I agree.” she turned towards Apple Bloom. “By the way, that was a great poem you came up with Apple Bloom.”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, still slightly panting. “I thought you said that poetry was difficult for you.”
“Oh it is,” Apple Bloom said.
“Then how did you write it so easily?” Scootaloo asked.
“I didn’t try to overthink it,” Apple Bloom responded, “Ah took the frustration and anger Ah felt this mornin’ wakin’ up to no snow and used it to write the poem. It’s amazin’ how much easier it is to write a poem when ya let yer emotions drive ya.”
“See, I told you so.” Sweetie Belle said with a grin. “It’s not something you can force yourself to come up with. But when your emotions drive you, it becomes a cinch.”
Scootaloo snickered, “So that’s why all of the great poems are such downers? Because the poets themselves were sad or angry when they wrote them?”
Sweetie Belle nodded, “Exactly.”
All three fillies laughed in unison as they made their way down the dirt road. They talked a little more and started to plan for the weekend ahead, discussing possibly going to the town’s pond and swimming in the afternoon. Slowly they broke off, Sweetie Belle going to Carousel Boutique and Scootaloo trotting down the long, dark road leading to a small group of houses, one of which belonged to her. Apple Bloom never met her parents, but assumed they were nice enough ponies.
After waving to her drum-dragging, pegasus friend, Apple Bloom trotted the rest of the way home with a grin on her face. She passed under the arch of Sweet Apple Acres and trotted along the tree-lined path, as she normally did. But today the sun hung high in the sky, and the trees shadows were not oppressive, rather warm and welcoming. It was the weekend and Apple Bloom couldn’t be happier to finally get home and take a load off.
She entered her house and kicked the door shut.
“Ah’m home!” She shouted.
“Huh? What’s that?” Came the familiar voice of Granny Smith from the living room.
Apple Bloom trotted over to her grandmother and gave her a big hug, causing the elderly mare’s eyes to bulge.
“Oh, hey there Apple Bloom.” She said, patting her granddaughter on the back. “How was yer day?”
“It was great, much better than Ah thought it would be!” She said excitedly, pulling away a little so she could look Granny Smith in the eye. “Where’s Applejack and Big Macintosh?”
“Yer brother’s in town, and yer sister is outside, workin’ in the orchard,” she answered, pointing out a nearby window.
Apple Bloom gave Granny Smith a quick peck on the cheek before bolting from the door and running outside, looking around in the hopes of finding her older sister. She ran around the house, her head still held high until she spotted the familiar gleam of orange in-between the grove.
Skidding to a stop, she changed course and sprinted over to Applejack, who was in the middle of getting ready to buck a tree. She sprung up onto her front hooves and slammed her back hooves into the trunk, sending a rain of the delicious red fruit into the waiting buckets below.
Wiping sweat from her forehead, Applejack turned to see her sister barreling towards her.
“Oh, hey there Apple Bloom.” She said, interrupted when Apple Bloom hugged her- putting even more energy into squeezing her than she did with Granny Smith. Applejack’s cheeks turned red and her eyes bulged.
“Hey sis!” She broke the hug, allowing Applejack to catch her breath.
“Boy, ya seem to be in a good mood,” she said. “Ah take it yer poem thing went well?”
“Yeah, it sure did! We actually finished it during recess and our presentation went smoothly. For once everything worked out, even if we did have to rush to get it done at the last second!” Apple Bloom said before releasing her sister and falling back with a satisfied sigh. “Gosh this mornin’ was so stressful, it feels so good to put it behind me.”
“Well, that’s great to hear,” Applejack said. “But...Ah certainly hope that you’ve learned from this entire situation
“Ah sure have!” Apple Bloom said. Applejack smiled expectantly until Apple Bloom spoke up again. “Never trust snow days and the weather team because their jobs are to dash little colts and fillies’ dreams.”
Applejack’s smile faded and she rolled her eyes. “Well, yes, that. But also it’s always better to be safe than sorry,” Applejack said before she turned back to her work. “If ya finished yer poem last night ya wouldn’t have been in this pickle to begin with.”
Apple Bloom slowly nodded, realizing that her sister was correct. She sat down, as it dawned on her just how lucky she was to get such inspiration at the last second. And then she looked at her hard-working sister, realizing if she had simply heeded her warning the night before about not taking all news at face-value and getting her poem done no matter how certain she was that she would have the next day off, she and her friends would not of had such such a panic-filled morning.
Plus their project might have been even better, and based on how good it turned out rushed, she couldn’t imagine how great it would have been with a little less procrastination and neglect. Even though she was happy everything worked out, she couldn’t help but scold herself for being so careless in the first place. Not only had she almost taken herself down, but she almost brought her friends down with her.
Her self-criticism was interrupted by a hoof being placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see Applejack smiling down at her.
“Ya alright?”
Apple Bloom slowly nodded, “Yeah, Ah just wish that Ah listened to ya last night.”
“Now don’t fret,” Applejack said, taking a seat beside her sister. “Everypony makes mistakes. It ain’t the mistake ya make that have to define ya, it’s what ya make of them that does.”
She ruffled Apple Bloom’s mane, messing up her bow and causing the filly to let out a small squeal of annoyance.
“Cut it out!” She said, giggling.
“Sorry, Ah’m just trying to rub some sense into ya.” Applejack said before she stopped and looked down at her sister.
Apple Bloom looked up at the sky, the sun beating down on the back of her neck- it reminded her of something important that she otherwise might have forgotten.
She looked back into her sister’s eyes. “Does...this mean Ah have to write a letter to the Princess?”
Applejack put a hoof to her chin in thought, stroking it. “Ya know...it doesn’t have much to do with friendship,” She said before she looked back down at Apple Bloom with an encouraging smile, “Then again it’s still a good lesson. Plus ya might be able to think of a way it impacts your friendship. Ya were partnered with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, after all.”
“Okay, okay.” Apple Bloom said with a soft chuckle, “Ah’ll go inside and write it.”
“And don’t wait,” Applejack said, pointing a lecturing hoof at her little sister, “ya have done enough procrastinatin’.”
Both siblings sat together in the orchard for a few minutes before Applejack had to get back to work. Apple Bloom headed back to the house, back to being in her cheery mood, but keeping in the back of her mind what Applejack had told her.
Apple Bloom looked down at her letter to Princess Celestia. It was not too long, but enough to get her point across. Besides, she really did not feel like writing anymore after doing so had played such a prominent role in the entire day. And a negative role, at that. silently, she re-read what she had put onto the parchment.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that it’s always better to take the safe route than the sorry one. Not only will putting too much faith into uncertain information cause me harm, but also harm those that depend on me, including my friends. No matter how much you dread doing the work you’re assigned to do, you should always do it unless you are positive there is a reason to put it off.
Your faithful subject,
Apple Bloom.
She read and reread the letter, making sure it was grammatically correct and managed to get her point across articulately. Once she was certain it did, she smiled and grabbed the scroll to roll it up when she heard a knock at the door downstairs. Rolling the parchment up, she left her room, letter in hoof, and made her way downstairs to answer the door. She opened it to see the two excited faces of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle standing in the doorway.
“Hey girls!” Apple Bloom said.
“Hey Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said. “What are you up to?”
“Nothing much,” Apple Bloom answered with a small shrug. “Ah was just about to drop this here letter to the Princess off at Twilight’s, why?”
“Well, since it’s a Friday and we don’t have any homework, we were going to see if we could get our cutie marks in gymnastics!” Sweetie Belle said. “And thought we’d stop by to see if you’d like to join us.”
Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Cutie Mark Gymnastics?” Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded with joyful grins and happy eyes.
“That sounds dangerous and stupid,” Apple Bloom replied, making the joyful expressions in her two friends’ faces fall. But her smile quickly returned. “But also awesome,
count me in!”
Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle’s smiles returned. Scootaloo, in a display of great enthusiasm, leapt into the air slightly, her wings buzzing a bit. “Sweet! Let’s go!”
“Yeah!” Apple Bloom said, “just let me put this letter down.”
Apple Bloom trotted back into the house to place the scroll onto a nearby table that was near the staircase. But before she could do so, she stopped herself. In her mind she remembered what she wrote, how procrastination and a feeling of ‘I’ll have time to do it later’ almost cost her as well as her friends. Biting her lip, she turned back- scroll still in her hoof- and trotted back over to her two waiting friends.
“Actually,” she started, “would it be okay if we stopped by the library on the way? Ah don’t want to leave this layin’ around where somepony might snatch it. Or Winona might get to it. She’s eaten letters before.”
“Sure.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Besides,” Scootaloo said with a sly grin. “You don’t want to tell the Princess that a dog ate your letter.”
The pegasus gave her friend a wink, causing both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to face-palm.
“Ugh, really Scoots?” Apple Bloom asked. “That was so corny.”
“Was not! It made total sense” Scootaloo said, turning to leave as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed suit, Apple Bloom closing the door behind them. The trio continued down the path to leave Sweet Apple Acres and
“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it less stupid.” Sweetie Belle said. “The only thing worse would be if you made puns, like Pinkie Pie.”
“That’s the reason why I’ll never say puns,” Scootaloo said with a shudder, clearly not a fan of the hyperactive pun-loving mare. “Hey, what time is it, anyway?”
“Ah’m not sure, Ah don’t have mah watch on me.” Apple Bloom responded.
“Where is it?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Well that’s the thing, Ah was gonna look for it,” slowly a smile spread across Apple Bloom’s face. “Only I couldn’t find the time.”
Both of her friends let out collective groans at their friend’s ridiculous pun. They continued out of the orchard and down the road, off to send a letter then work towards their cutie mark. They were so deep into conversing with each other, they failed to notice the pegasi in the sky above moving a cluster of clouds into Ponyville and kicking them. From them fell giant white flakes of snow, gently making their way towards the ground.