Okay. I’ve been sitting on this idea for quite some time now. And in light of the Sweetie Belle and Rarity episode, I thought it would be good. So here you guys go. I only own the plot of this story and nothing else. MLP: FiM belongs to Lauren Faust and all the geniuses at Hasbro who brought us this wonderful fandom. I was originally going to do this for Rarity and Sweetie Belle. But because of that episode, I thought it would just be too much. So I switched to Applejack and Applebloom. Enjoy!
Apples in her Eyes
Of all the places in Equestria for a pony to live, there really isn’t a more quaint and quiet place to settle down than Ponyville. It’s like that small hidden town in the mountains that’s just so peaceful and awesome, once you enter, you never want to leave. And then you get the envious feeling for all the ponies that already live there because they get to experience its awesomeness every day. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike all live there together in perfect harmony.
And speaking of earth ponies, there was a very young filly who woke up this gorgeous morning feeling relaxed, rested, and very happy. Why? Because this day was a very special day for her.
Her brilliant red mane was adorned with her famous hairbow. And her flank was not yet marked with her cutie mark. Her name: Applebloom. Youngest member of the Apple family.
Her room was in the upper floor of the Sweet Apple Acres barn. Right above her older sister Applejack’s room. And as soon as the young pony went downstairs, she ran into her orange coated sister. Her flank emblazoned with three apples in a triangular formation. And she was ready for a whole day of work.
As soon as Applejack woke up that morning, work was the only thing on her mind. Today she had a lot of trees to buck and there was a deadline. This evening. But she had Big Macintosh helping her out so she wouldn’t cause a problem like the last time she over-bucked and caused mayhem all over Ponyville. Totally by accident of course.
As Applejack headed outside and into the fields of trees, her little sister followed her.
“So, Applejack. You got anything special planned for today?” Applebloom asked.
“Other than harvesting all these apples with Big Mac, nope. Nothing else goin’ on today.” Applejack answered.
“Oh.” There was a small hint of disappointment in Applebloom’s voice.
And Applejack took notice of it.
“Is somethin’ wrong there, AB?” Applejack asked her.
Applebloom smiled at her orange coated sister.
“No. Everything’s fine.” She replied.
“Good. Now get goin. You don’t wanna be late for school.” The orange mare said as she bucked a tree.
Applebloom went off leaving her older siblings to work in the fields.
“It’s only the morning. Maybe she’s just building up suspense.”
It took her a few minutes to get to the school. And when she did, every friend she had greeted her. Even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had the decency to say hello to her on this special day.
But her two fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, gave her the biggest greeting of all with a group hug. Then they all groaned as they realized the next seven hours of their lives were gonna be wasted in the schoolhouse learning about stuff they considered not to be useful in their future.
For Applebloom, it was the longest day of school in her life. Those seven hours felt like they had been extended to a whole day. But when the final bell of the day rung, she was the first one out the door. She didn’t even wait for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to catch up to her. She sprinted her little flank all the way home. But before she went back inside the barn to finish her homework, she stopped when she saw Applejack nearby.
“Hey, Applejack!”
“Huh?” Apparently Applejack was too busy she didn’t recognize her sister’s voice before she turned around and saw her. “Oh hey there, Applebloom. How was school?”
“It was boring.” Applebloom replied. “So uh….how much longer do you plan on buckin?”
“Well…Ah can’t say for sure. But Ah think Ah’m gonna be at this all day long. Ah might even have to work into the night.”
“Well Ah sure hope not because…”
“Applebloom, Ah’m really busy right now. So come back later. Kay?”
It was really starting to get on Applebloom’s nerves that Applejack was seeming like she didn’t know what day this was. But the young filly had faith in her older sister. So she smiled at her and went into the barn.
But then half an hour later, she came back out and talked to her sister one more time.
“Applejack, Ah’m goin to hang out with mah friends. Ah’ll be back in a few hours.” She called.
“Okay then. Have fun.” Was her older sister’s response.
Now it was starting to bother her quite a bit. Was this some sort of joke or what?
“Um….aren’t you curious as to where Ah’m going?”
“Ah figure you’ll just go cause some mayhem around town with Sweetie and Scootaloo. Just don’t get into too much trouble this time.”
It was really starting to scare the little young pony. So she went for the question one more time.
“Applejack, are you sure you have NO idea what today is?”
Applejack groaned a bit annoyed as to why Applebloom was asking this question so much.
“Ah’ve said it once and Ah’ll say it again. It’s applebuckin day. Ah gotta work hard today so Ah can make enough money to get the bills paid. Now if you’ll excuse me, Ah’m nowhere near done and the sun is about to go down.”
With that, Applejack turned away and walked father away from her little sister who was now sporting a sad face. But her faith in Applejack wasn’t dead yet. Although with that last remark, it was beginning to fade. So she went off and spent some time with her friends. And boy did she have a blast with them.
When she got back to her home, it was dark out. And Applejack was finished for the day. In fact, she had already gone on to sleep. The day had apparently wore her out from all that bucking she did throughout it.
Hope fading but not yet gone, Applebloom still believed her older sister had something up her sleeve. There were still two hours left in the day. Maybe she had something planned as a last minute surprise.
She just stared at the clock for the remaining hours of the night hoping it was just some joke Applejack was playing. But as every minute went by, her heart cracked just a little bit more and more at each hand movement.
And then it struck midnight ending today and beginning tomorrow. And thus Applebloom’s little heart truly shattered. And the floor she was sitting on began to get soaked by the huge amount of tears she was now letting loose.
“I can’t believe it. She….she really forgot.”
Now Applebloom hardly ever got mad at her sister. But for Applejack to forget something this, it just didn’t seem possible. Applejack never did something like this. She was the most dependable pony around. Everypony counted on her. But yet this time…she screwed up. And BAD.
Applebloom’s sadness just overtook her as she took her next actions. She went to the door that led to Applejack’s bedroom, and burst through it. The loud bang when it opened made Applejack jump up out of her bed and then land on top of it uncovered by her sheets. And needless to say, the bloodshot eyes and bags underneath them clearly indicated that she was not too happy.
“Appleloom! What in the hay are you doin’ up? Go back to bed!” she demanded.
But Applebloom didn’t obey. She just stood there glaring at her big sister with her eyes still overflowing with tears. But that was it. No sobbing. Seeing that sight made Applejack’s expression lighten up. Not all the way but a little bit to show concern.
“Applebloom? What’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream or something?”
Even though she was plenty mad, Applebloom wanted to see of Applejack could figure it out on her own.
“Applejack, Ah’m gonna ask you one last time. Do you have any idea what day it was yesterday?”
The orange pony began to think hard on this. Yesterday. It seemed simple enough.
“It was Thursday, Applebloom. And now it’s Friday. Now why are you cryin?”
She still had no clue. And now Applebloom was even sadder than ever before. The tear output got turned up to eleven. And now she just broke down sobbing right there in front of her sister. Now Applejack approached her more concerned than before.
But when she tried to place her hoof on Applebloom to comfort her, the little filly smacked it away with her own.
“Now what the hay has gotten into you?” Applejack asked a little bit annoyed. “You go and wake me up without a reason why, you won’t tell me why you’re cryin’, and when Ah try to comfort you, you push me away! Why?”
Applebloom’s voice went from crying sadness to loud rage with her next words.
“YOU FORGOT MY BIRTHDAY!”
In Applejack’s head, glass began to shatter all around her. And then she looked at the calendar she had. It was the 10th of October yesterday. It was also Applebloom’s ninth birthday.
Now Applejack understood the look Applebloom had on her face. She was mad, sad, and heartbroken all at once. Her big sister forgot the most important day to her.
“It was you’re….but….why didn’t you say anything to me?”
“AH DID!”
Her little voice was turned up to a volume so high that it even made Applejack back up.
“Ah tried to tell you this morning before Ah went to school, this afternoon when Ah came back from school, and Ah tried one more time when Ah left to go to the party Pinkie Pie threw for me! But you were so busy working you wouldn’t listen to me!”
Now Applejack remembered all three times Applebloom referred to the previous day. Yesterday was a huge day for apple bucking. And every time Applebloom tried to talk to her, the older sister just shooed her off too busy to talk.
This was a first for Applejack. She was actually cursing herself for thinking only about work when she was working. She should have remembered something as important as this.
“Applebloom…Ah….Ah am so sorry. But Ah promise you. Ah will do everything Ah possibly can to make mah friends and Ah make it up to you.”
Applejack thought that would make her feel better. But to her surprise, it didn’t. If anything, those words made Applebloom feel worse. And this is why.
“Applejack…YOU’RE the only one who forgot!” she cried. “Twilight and Spike remembered, Rainbow Dash remembered, EVERYPONY but you remembered! They all even took the day off from their work to come to my party! Rarity closed her shop, Fluttershy left her animals with some other pony, Rainbow took the day off from her Wonderbolt practice, Twilight closed the library early, and even Zecora came out of the Everfree forest to come say Happy Birthday! And Pinkie Pie…well she was working because she threw the party at Sugarcube Corner.”
Now it was Applejack’s turn for her heart to break. But she didn’t dare let Applebloom see it.
“But mah big sister…the one pony who’s supposed to have my special day imprinted in her brain forgot it!”
Applejack thought she was done. But she wasn’t. The older pony thought that all the bad stuff was out of the way. But no. The bad part came when the next set of words escaped Applebloom’s little mouth.
“You’re the worst sister ever! Ah hate you!”
That did it. That completely tore up Applejack from the inside like a hungry piranha. As Applebloom stormed out of her sister’s room still crying her eyes out, Applejack softly closed the door behind her, and then dove into her pillows face first hoping nopony would hear her as she began to sob herself. It took about thirty minutes, but she finally cried herself to sleep on a soaked pillow.
The next morning came around and Applebloom got up and headed out of her house. That was the first thing she did when she got up. She bid good morning to Big Macintosh and Granny Smith on her way out but she didn’t even bother to talk to Applejack. And she wanted it that way. But she liked it better because she didn’t even see the orange mare on her way out to school.
Along the way, she met up with Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. When both of them asked why she looked so upset, the hair-bowed filly told them about her older sister’s screw-up. Of course the two of them couldn’t believe Applejack would go and do something like that, but they couldn’t help but feel as if Applebloom was going a bit too far and being too hard on the older pony. But they both thought siding with Applejack wasn’t the best idea right now in fear of Applebloom becoming even angrier than she already was. So for now, they let it go. But they weren’t done with her.
As the day progressed, all the ponies in Ponyville headed out to perform their daily tasks. And today, Twilight Sparkle was at Sugarcube Corner helping Pinkie Pie clean up from Applebloom’s party. Her number one assistant, Spike the dragon stayed behind at the library to clean that place up himself. They had originally planned to clean the bakery up after the party ended last night. But by the time it had ended, it was already very late. So they left the mess for the next day and now that next day was THIS day.
“Wow. That was the best birthday party Applebloom’s ever had! I could see it in her eyes! Every time I looked at her she was smiling! That’s how I know she liked it!” Pinkie Pie boasted.
“Yeah it was a fun party.” Twilight agreed as she used her magic to levitate some loose streamers into the trash. “But my only concern is Applejack not being there.”
“I noticed that too.” Pinkie chimed. “Do you have any idea where she was?”
“No.” Twilight responded. “She was probably setting something up for her and Applebloom to do together as sisters.”
“Yeah! I bet it was a surprise party just for them! But then again if it was a party, why wouldn’t Applejack just come and ask me for help? I mean she knows I’m the number one party pony!”
“Pinkie…”
“So I don’t understand why she wouldn’t come to me.”
“Pinkie….”
“It’s so confusing it almost makes me want to…”
“PINKIE!”
Twilight’s raise in volume made Pinkie silence her voice for a short while.
“Look, I’m positive Applejack had a good reason for missing the party. Now let’s just get his mess cleaned up. I had to close the library for all of today to straighten the place out. Spike’s back there doing all the work alone and I know how he gets when I’m not there.”
“Okay, Twilight!”
That was pretty much the end of that. It took about ten more minutes to get the place fully cleaned up. But Twilight was quickly shooed out by Pinkie herself. The pink earth pony had work to do. Some big wedding in Canterlot ordered a big cake for the reception and the recipe was not to be taken lightly.
On her way out, Twilight was just beginning to make her way back to the library. But she was caught up when one of her other friends called her. And this one happened to have wings and a multi-colored mane on a cyan coat.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight greeted with her eyesight pointed upwards.
“Hey, have you seen Applejack anywhere?” Rainbow asked.
“Have you tried the farm? You know? Where she ALWAYS is?” Twilight asked her right back.
“Yes, miss Smarty Hooves. I flew over there about a million times looking for her. I searched every acre that place has. But she’s not there. So I ask again. Have YOU seen her?”
Twilight shook her head.
“Sorry Rainbow. Haven’t seen her. Why are you looking for her anyway?”
“She agreed to help me out with a new trick I’m working on today. But I can’t find her anywhere. I’ve even asked Rarity and Fluttershy. But nopony’s seen her.”
“Really? Nopony?” That got Twilight concerned. “Now I’m worried about her.”
First she wasn’t at Applebloom’s party, and now she wasn’t anywhere in Ponyville. This was a problem. Usually Applejack was easy to find. Just call her name and bam. There she was. But no. Not this time.
“Whatchya worried about?” Pinkie Pie heard the conversation from inside and hopped on out the door. “Oh hey, Dashie! What’s going on?”
“Pinkie have you seen Applejack?” Rainbow asked her fellow prankster.
Pinkie rubbed her chin and thought about that.
“Nope. Haven’t seen her since a couple days ago.” Pinkie responded.
“Let’s go ask Rarity and Fluttershy one more time.” Twilight suggested.
The three of them decided that would be a good idea. Even Pinkie put off that big cake to go and look for the cowgirl pony. First they went to Carousel Boutique to ask Rarity if they had seen their orange coated friend. But once again, the answer was no. When the situation was explained to her, she took off her sewing glasses and immediately joined the search party. And then it was off to the edge of Ponyville. Because that’s where Fluttershy’s cottage is. But it was just another no from Fluttershy. And she had also said something else that everypony thought very interesting.
Apparently Fluttershy had taken notice that the previous day at Applebloom’s party, she didn’t seem as happy as a young filly would be on her birthday. But Pinkie found this to be preposterous because she saw her smiling. But then it came to her that maybe she was just putting on a happy face to fool everyone else. She was upset about something.
But they would figure that out later. Finding Applejack came first. So now all five of them were on the search for her. So they decided to check out the one place they could think of. Sweet Apple Acres.
Once there, they went inside the barn where everypony’s rooms are. They all stopped in front of Applejack’s bedroom door and Twilight knocked on it.
“Applejack? Are you in there?”
There came no answer.
“Should we go in?” Fluttershy wondered.
“Isn’t that a little rude to just go in someone’s room without even knowing if anyone’s in there?” Rarity asked.
“Maybe. But if Applejack’s in there, I would like to know.” Rainbow said worried about her best friend.
So Twilight nodded and turned the knob of the door using her magic. But when they opened the door to her room, they could not believe what they saw.
Applejack was just lying there on top of her bed curled up in ball like Rarity’s cat. She hadn’t moved one inch since Applebloom said the three words to her no family member wants to hear from another family member.
She wasn’t crying. Not on the outside at least. But on the inside, her shattered heart was letting loose tears the size of the very apples she bucked down from her crop of trees.
She heard the flutter of wings. She knew Rainbow was there. But she was unaware of everyone else’s presence.
“Applejack?” Rainbow muttered.
“H-hi…Rainbow.” She moaned. “Please leave me alone.”
Rainbow hovered in while everyone else just walked in. Now Applejack knew from the hoofsteps that everyone else was there too.
“Applejack, what’s going on? Why are you all alone in the dark?” Fluttershy asked deeply concerned.
But then Applejack’s eyes began to show tears again. And she didn’t dare let any of them see. She had no desire whatsoever to let any of them know why she was like this.
“Ah’m a horrible sister.”
But apparently her mouth disagreed with her.
Those were the four words they heard come from her mouth. And they just stood there shocked that she would say such a thing about herself.
“Why in Equestria would you think you of all ponies are a horrible sister?” Twilight asked.
“Because Ah…Ah forgot mah own little sister’s birthday is why.”
The five ponies all gave a small gasp at this.
“You forgot Applebloom’s birthday?” Rainbow asked. “Hold up! Is THAT why you weren’t at her party yesterday?”
Rainbow’s voice was a bit stern with that question. Now Applejack’s sobs became involuntarily audible for her friends to hear. And they were actually unsure of what to do hear. None of them had ever once seen the cowgirl cry. So if she was bawling hard here, the situation had to be bad.
“I thought you were off planning some big birthday surprise for her.” Pinkie Pie told her.
“…*SOB!* Yeah well…the only thing she got from me yesterday was a big ol’ bag of heartbreak. And then she just threw it right back at me. She and Ah both knew Ah deserved it.”
“Well darling, sitting there crying isn’t going to make things any better.” Rarity tried to help.
“And just how the hay am Ah supposed to make things better?” Applejack snapped back. “Ah was too focused on work to remember mah own sister’s birthday. And now she hates me.”
“Oh come on now, Applejack.” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure Applebloom doesn’t hate you.”
“Yes she does!” Applejack cried. “She looked me right in the eyes with waterfalls pourin’ outta her own, and yelled the three words, “Ah hate you” right to mah face. If only y’all had seen the look on hers. It was just too heartbreaking to even look at.”
All of them began to imagine what a face like that would even look like. Even though they couldn’t get it spot on in their minds, they knew they would never want to be on the receiving end of a look like that.
“Was it really that bad?” Twilight asked.
Applejack sniffled a few times before giving her answer.
“Twilight….you remember when you first came to Ponyville and met Applebloom for the first time? Remember that sad little face she gave you when you said you had to leave?”
Twilight remembered that face perfectly. The sad bubbly eyes, the little pouty lip, it was like the perfect face of manipulation that fillies used to make their parents buy them candy. Twilight herself had made it plenty of times when she was just a girl at that age. It worked every time.
“Yeah. I remember.” Twilight answered.
“Well…..add tears to it and then imagine that face crossing with Fluttershy’s creepy stare.” Applejack added.
Oh boy. Fluttershy’s stare. That was being brought into it. Now everypony had seen that stare before. It was the creepiest thing any of them had ever seen. And to cross that with the depressing expression was hard to envision. But considering that Applejack was still crying while she told it, it had to be bad. VERY bad.
“How could this have happened?” she asked herself out loud. “Ah’m supposed to be the most dependable pony outta all of em’. And out of all the ponies that Ah coulda let down, it had to be Applebloom. The filly who looks up to me the most. Ah wouldn’t blame her if she hates me.”
Okay. Twilight and the others had never seen Applejack like this. And quite frankly, they didn’t like it.
“Applejack, she doesn’t hate you. You’re her sister.” Fluttershy insisted. “She loves you. She’s just upset is all.”
“She said it right to mah face.” The orange cowgirl pony. “Ah’m a bad sister.”
“Oh will you stop that?” Rainbow Dash was officially fed up seeing her best friend in the world like this. “Applejack, I may not know how to be a sister because I don’t have one. Although Scootaloo is trying REALLY hard. But anyway, I’ve seen you with Applebloom. There isn’t a better older sister in Ponyville than you are. You’re a GREAT sister. And I don’t want you to think otherwise. Got me?”
Rainbow Dash was of course known for giving out great pep talks. But Applejack had never been on the receiving end of one of those talks. So this was new for her. And it felt really good. And it wasn’t over yet.
“Now I don’t know what Applebloom said to you that hurt you so bad, but you have to know that she would never mean it. As mad as she can get at you, she will always remember that you are her sister. That’s the strongest bond Anypony can create. Even stronger than friendship.”
Applejack although still a bit upset, was moved by the pegasus words. It was true. If there was one thing that was stronger than friendship, it was family. Applejack did want so badly to make things better. But she had one problem.
“Applebloom doesn’t even want to look at me. How am I ever supposed to apologize to her?”
All of them began to actually think about that. Applebloom was still very mad at Applejack. Why? Because she thought Applejack didn’t care about her enough to remember her birthday. And everypony knows that’s not true. She just got a bit too caught up in her work for once is all. It was an honest mistake. And that’s what got to Applejack. Mistakes were something she rarely to never made. But despite that, they knew Applejack had a point. Right now Applebloom wasn’t really in the best mood to even look at her older sister.
“IDEA!”
Rarity’s eyes began to twinkle as a light bulb turned on in her head.
“I know exactly how you can do it, Applejack!” the white unicorn happily declared. “Pinkie Pie, go back to Sugarcube Corner and await further instructions.”
“Oki Doki Loki!”
Nopony knew why Rarity had just asked that of Pinkie Pie. Pinkie didn’t even know herself. But the pink pony knew Rarity well enough to know that her ideas are not to be trifled with. Especially in situations like this.
Pinkie hopped back over to Sugarcube Corner and left everyone else there.
“What’s this idea you have, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked curious to know what her mind was cooking up.
“Oh this is the best idea for an apology I have EVER come up with. Everypony, I want you to cancel whatever plans you had for today. Because this is going to require all of us.”
Then the silver unicorn looked over at the nearest clock.
“But Rainbow Dash, I need you to come with me. It’s almost three o’clock.”
“What’s so important about three o’clock?” the cyan pegasus asked.
“Because that’s when Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo get out of school.”
Now Rainbow had a slight of idea of what Rarity’s idea entailed. But as for the rest of it, everypony was still clueless. And then as the two ponies began to leave, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack stopped them.
“Wait, Rarity. What are the rest of us supposed to do?” Applejack asked.
Then Rarity turned around and gave her instructions.
“Well first off, Applejack, you stop crying this instant and get yourself cleaned up. Your eyes are too puffy. And then the three of you take Applejack shopping.”
“For what?” Fluttershy squeaked.
“A gift for Applebloom.”
Applejack stood right up when she heard that. As soon as she realized that she forgot Applebloom’s birthday, she cursed herself because she had thought of the perfect gift for her many months before the day. And she still had it locked in her mind. After wiping her eyes with her hooves, she put her trademark cowgirl hat back on her head. She was gonna make this right if it took her last breath to do so.
With that, everypony went off to do what they were assigned to. And Applejack was actually gonna need a bit of help on the magic side with Applebloom’s gift. That’s where Twilight came in.
When the clock struck three o’clock sharp, the bell in the schoolhouse rung and everypony rushed out there excited for the upcoming weekend of fun. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were surely ready for their crusading for their cutie marks, but Applebloom, this time not so much.
The three of them walked out the door of the school together. But when Scootaloo saw Rainbow Dash out front, her eyes got stars in them and she rushed right for her.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash! What’s up?” she asked very enthusiastically.
“Actually, squirt, Rarity and I need to talk to you and Sweetie Belle.” Rainbow told her little worshiper.
“What about Applebloom?” Scootaloo asked.
“No.” Rarity answered very quietly. “Make Applebloom go home on her own. Rainbow and I need to talk to you and Sweetie Belle alone.”
“Does this have anything to do with Applejack forgetting her birthday?” Scootaloo asked one more question.
Then Rainbow put her head closer to Scootaloo’s and began to whisper so Applebloom wouldn’t hear her.
“Yes it does. Now go and get Sweetie Belle and make Applebloom go home. We don’t want her knowing about this. Got it?”
“Got it.”
Scootaloo rushed back over to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom in two seconds flat. But she wished she had gone slower. Because she hadn’t thought of a decent alibi to get Sweetie Belle away from Applebloom. Now she had to work with scratch.
“Um…Sweetie Belle….do you think maybe you could come to my house and uh….help me with my…homework?”
Homework. It wasn’t the best excuse in the world but it was all the young pegasus could come up with on the spot.
“Uhh….why?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Now Scootaloo was faced with two problems. Get Sweetie Belle away from Applebloom, and try to make Sweetie Belle realize that.
“Because I think you and you’re SISTER can really help me with the assignment for tonight.” Scootaloo tried to put as much emphasis on sister as she possibly could hoping Sweetie Belle could take the hint.
But it was to no glory.
“What would Rarity know about Equestrian history?” Sweetie Belle asked her winged friend.
Sweetie Belle was not making this any easier for Scootaloo. Her brain began to throb in pain from thinking too hard.
“Well…she’s a fashion designer and all. Maybe she looks at old historical outfits and learned about it.”
Once again, Scootaloo was not very proud of this failing ruse. But to her luck, help came in the form of Rarity.
“Hello, Sweetie Belle. If you please don’t mind, I would like you and Scootaloo to come to my house and help me model a new line of outfits I’m making for young unicorns and pegasi.”
Rarity could tell from a distance that Scootaloo wasn’t doing very good on her own. So she stepped in and not a moment too soon. But Sweetie Belle still wasn’t catching on.
“Aw! Model? Do we have to?” Sweetie complained.
“Please? I don’t have any mannequins that are your size. I could really use your help.” Rarity begged.
“What about me? Can Ah help?” Applebloom asked.
“No. Sorry dear. But this new line is for unicorns and pegasus ponies only. Why don’t you run on home?”
Applebloom wasn’t looking forward to going home. Applejack was there. And she was still cross with her. But she just bid her friends goodbye and slowly started to make her way back to Sweet Apple Acres.
“Come on, Rarity! I don’t want to model clothes!” Sweetie kept whining.
But Rarity jammed her hoof in her little sister’s mouth.
“Sweetie Belle, I lied. There are no clothes for you to model.” She loudly whispered.
Scootaloo just took in a sigh of relief that she was done trying to lie. She wasn’t very good at it. Then Rarity removed her hoof from the filly unicorn’s mouth.
“What’s going on?” Sweetie asked wanting to know why everypony was acting so strange.
Then Rainbow Dash came flying in.
“Listen up, pipsqueaks. As you know, Applejack made a little bit of a mistake yesterday. And we need you two to help us make it better.”
“What do you need us for?” Sweetie asked the pegasus.
“We have a plan. Listen up. Because you two are phase one of that plan.” Rarity answered.
The two young fillies listened carefully as the two older ponies explained the plan to them. And then it came time to spring it into action.
Applebloom arrived home shortly and went right to her room without a word. She stayed there for thirty minutes straight with nothing but angry thoughts at Applejack. But then her two friends came into her room.
“Hey, Applebloom! Ready for some weekend fun?” Scootaloo asked her ginger friend.
“Ah’m not really in the crusading mood this weekend, guys.” Applebloom said.
Her tone was one of sadness. And she never got that way on weekends. Usually she was ecstatic to try and find her cutie mark. But of course the events of yesterday caused her to feel a large amount of pain.
“Aw come on, Applebloom.” Sweetie Belle was trying to step in here. “So your sister messed up for once. Call me crazy if you want, but I think you’re overreacting.”
Now this made Applebloom a bit mad.
“You’re taking HER side?” she asked glaring at the unicorn.
“We’re not taking anypony’s side in this.” Scootaloo spoke for the both of them.
“What she said.” Sweetie Belle was still talking. “Look, I understand you’re mad. But come on. Nopony’s perfect.”
“For a moment Ah thought Applejack was.” Applebloom confessed. “She’s the one pony Ah thought never made a mistake. But the one time she does, it has to be forgetting mah birthday.”
Applebloom did not expect Sweetie Belle to have so much dialogue prepared.
“So your sister made a mistake. Big deal. Do I have to go back and count all the times WE made mistakes?”
“I’ve counted fifty seven on record. But go on.” Scootaloo butted in.
“My point is, we’ve made that many mistakes and Applejack forgave us for every single one. Why can’t you forgive her for this ONE?”
“Because her forgetting my birthday means she also forgot about me!”
That was a bit unexpected. And the two other fillies awaited her explanation.
“Sure we’ve made a lot of screw-ups. But Ah never forgot about mah family. Applejack forgetting mah birthday meant she forgot about me. She forgot she had a little sister!”
Okay. This seemed like an unrecoverable point in the plan. But Sweetie Belle wasn’t through yet.
“Do you really think the most dependable pony in all of Ponyville could ever forget about her family? No way. Applebloom, you’re sister loves you more than anything. And I think you should be able to see that enough to realize that she’s sorry and wants you to forgive her. For the ONE mistake she made in all the time you’ve known her.”
The words stuck to her like flypaper. Maybe Sweetie was right. But Applebloom still wasn’t sure. She needed some time to think.
“Now will you please come with us and have some fun?” Scootaloo asked.
Applebloom sighed. They weren’t gonna let this go until she agreed. So she gave in and left with them to go and get happy.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom hopped into the wagon that was hitched to Scootaloo’s scooter. Then Scootaloo put her helmet on her head, revved up her little wings, and the scooter began to move at high speed.
“So where are we goin?” Applebloom asked her two friends.
“You’ll see.” Sweetie replied.
It took a few minutes but Scootaloo but the brakes on when she came to their stop. Applebloom of course recognized the place.
“Why are we at Sugarcube Corner?” she asked once more.
“You’ll see.” This time Scootaloo said it.
Applebloom had no idea what was going on. But she trusted her friends but she was a bit curious as to why they couldn’t seem to stop smiling for some reason as they approached dthe door to the bakery.
Then the door opened up and the three crusaders walked on through. But when they closed the door behind them, they noticed that it was pitch dark. But only Applebloom didn’t know why. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo did.
“Why is it so dark in here? Somepony hit the light.” Applebloom said.
Her request was answered when the lights suddenly went on and every single one of her friends both her age and older jumped out from behind the walls and under the tables shouting,
“SURPRISE!”
Applebloom jumped up and her head nearly hit the ceiling. It was a surprise alright. But the question in her mind was….why? Why were they throwing another party just like the one from yesterday? She at first figured it was for somepony else. But she was proven to be wrong when she saw the banner on the wall that said, “Happy Birthday, Applebloom.”
“Uh….the party was yesterday. You were all there. Remember?”
Rarity gave a few of her girly giggles and approached the young filly.
“Not all of us, dear” Was what the white unicorn said next.
Then the next hoofsteps made Applebloom turn to see her big sister slowly approaching her. Her face went ice cold in the expression she made at the older mare. And it made Applejack stop in her tracks. She was at first gonna just turn around and try thinking of something else. But when she turned, she saw all her friends looking at her and gesturing to keep going. She had already gotten this far. She had to do it now. There was no turning back.
Taking a deep sigh, Applejack turned back to her younger sister and walked all the way up to her. Then they just stared at each other for at least ten more seconds until finally somepony decided to try and make them speak.
“Applebloom, I believe your sister has something she would like to say to you.” Rarity spoke.
Applebloom’s face began to soften up. Not entirely. But it wasn’t as bad as it was before Applejack was right in front of her. It was now at a level where Applejack thought it was safe to talk. But she was beaten out by her young sister.
“Ah’m still mad at you.”
Another sigh came out of Applejack’s lungs.
“Ah know you are. And you have every right to be.” She said in her breath. “But Rarity’s right. Ah do need to say something to you. And will you please listen to it?”
Applebloom took notice of the soft tone Applejack used in her voice just now. It sounded like she was truly sad about what she had done. But she needed to be sure and awaited her next words.
And then they came.
“Applebloom, Ah’m so sorry for everything that happened. Ah did the stupidest thing an older sister could ever do. Ah put mah work first and mah little sister second. Ah should have remembered it was your birthday and it just kills me that Ah missed it. But Ah swear to you, Ah will never miss your birthday, or any other day that’s important to you EVER again. As your big sister, Ah promise to put you before work all the time. Can ya….can ya ever forgive me?”
Then the little red haired filly recalled what Sweetie Belle had said. Even the best of ponies can make mistakes sometimes. Then she realized that Sweetie was more right than she thought. It was just one mistake. It was the first time Applejack had ever done something like forget anything. And she knew her big sister. That tone she used when she made a vow to someone. Whenever she talked like that, she meant it.
Then Applebloom’s heart came back together and the smile everyone knew and loved spread across her face once more. And then the true picture perfect moment came when the little filly rushed up to her sister and hugged her tight.
“Of course Ah can.” She said. “Ah don’t hate you. Ah was just mad. Ah didn’t mean it. You’re mah big sister and Ah’ll ALWAYS love you.”
It meant the world to Applejack to hear those words. And with her own small tears of joy, she hugged Applebloom right back.
“Thank you, Applebloom. Now how about we have you a second birthday party? Ah’m actually here for this one.”
She didn’t even need to ask. As soon as she finished the party officially started when Pinkie Pie turned on the music and everypony began to dance. Even Zecora danced around. Applejack was so happy that her younger sister forgave her, and Applebloom was happy her older sister thought so much of her to throw her another party so they could both be there.
As the two country sisters laughed with each other, Twilight just stood there smiling at them as she thought of something in her head.
“Spike, Take a letter.”
Spike randomly became equipped with a piece of paper and a feather quill. Then he began to write Twilight’s words as she spoke them out loud.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
I am happy to report that my good friend Applejack and her little sister Applebloom are now probably closer than ever before. It just goes to show you that family should never put their own wants in front of their siblings. And I’ve learned this about friendship. There are going to be times when even the best of us will make mistakes that may end up hurting somepony close to you. But true friends…or sisters, will always find a way to work past it because friendship isn’t worth losing over one mistake. And if you can make it through the biggest ones, like forgetting someone’s birthday, then that friendship will surely last forever.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
With the letter finished, Spike rolled up the scroll, opened up the window, and blew a light flame on the scroll sending it to Canterlot. And then they went back to the awesome party that was going on.
And then Applejack placed in front of her sister a wrapped box meant for Applebloom as a gift. Smiling wide, Applebloom tore the box open and saw what was inside with a small gasp. It was a small cowgirl hat almost identical to the one Applejack wore all the time. But there was a small difference. In the front, there was the symbol of the Cutie Mark Crusaders emblazoned into it. Applejack helped put the little hat on her sister’s head. It looked cute with her hairbow.
“Happy birthday, Applebloom. Ah’m sorry it’s late.” Applejack apologized one last time.
“Ah love ya, big sis.”
It always meant the world to Applejack whenever she heard Applebloom say that to her. Then the two sister’s hugged one more time in front of everypony.
“Ah love you too, little sis.”
And with that, the party was truly on. And the sisterhood between the two Apple sisters was now stronger than ever before. Nothing was gonna change that.
Because family is and always will be stronger than friendship.