Apple Bloom shrugged her shoulders free of a light dusting of snow and resumed peering through her binoculars at a distant hill, atop which sat a tall apple tree and a lone, orange pony. The same orange pony that had been staring at the base of the tree, unmoving, for over half an hour. In the dead of winter.
"How long are we gonna wait here, Apple Bloom?" asked Scootaloo with an exasperated sigh. "I'm bored!"
Apple Bloom lowered her binoculars and frowned at her friend. "Oh, come on Scootaloo, just a little longer. She's gotta do somethin' soon."
"I'm with Scootaloo on this one," said Sweetie Belle. "'Cutie Mark Crusaders Spy Masters' isn't nearly as fun as I thought it'd be." She rubbed her hooves together for warmth, barely keeping her teeth from chattering. "I didn't think t–there'd be so much... waiting."
"Please, girls? Applejack doesn't just sneak out of the house and not tell anypony." Apple Bloom returned to looking at her sister. "I'm tellin' ya, somethin's goin' on."
"Fine," chorused the other two Crusaders.
"But if she doesn't do something soon, I'm outta here," continued Scootaloo. "I want to have fun on my winter break; this isn't fun."
As if on cue, Applejack looked up at the sky and Apple Bloom followed her eyes with her binoculars until Rainbow Dash came into view. Apple Bloom watched as Rainbow Dash landed next to Applejack and the two appeared to exchange words briefly. She opened her mouth to alert her friends, only to have her words catch in her throat.
Rainbow Dash had wrapped her hooves and a wing tightly around Applejack, stroking her back as she... cried?
Applejack's cryin'? Apple Bloom's mouth fell agape as she watched her sister sob into Rainbow Dash's shoulder. Her ears flattened and she bit the edge of her lip as her heart sank. She set down the binoculars. Applejack never cries.
An orange hoof in front of her face startled Apple Bloom out of her thoughts.
"Hey, Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo stepped in front of her friend. "You okay?"
"Oh, uh, yeah, it's uh... nothin'!" Apple Bloom forced a smile and packed away her binoculars. "You were right. This whole spyin' thing really ain't any fun." She stood up and cast a glance back at the hill before shaking her head. "Come on, girls, let's go try somethin' else."
The three would-be spies trotted away, discussing the next cool thing they'd do that day.