One year

by PonyFromSpace

17. Reminiscent

17. Reminiscent

Through the white snow ran a white filly. She was wearing a white shawl and a white cap. If not for her dual purple mane and tail and her amazing green eyes, Button would've surely not seen her. After all, her coat blended with the background nearly perfectly. A Sweetie ghost, Button imagined. a green aura appeared around her horn, the same green as her eyes. Was she going to do magic? Button didn't recall ever seeing her do magic.

"Hey Sweetie Be-" He was cut short by a hunk of cold material smashed into his face. His scarf loosened at the impact. His eyes teared up.
"Moooom!" he wailed. The perpetrator of his demise simply rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Button. Stop being such a foal."

He sniffed and wiped the snow off his muzzle as she retightened his scarf using an aura of magic.
"But I am a foal," he sobbed.
"Oh, stop using logic on me, you magnificent baby you," Sweetie Belle grumbled.
The brown colt shuffled on his hooves nervously. He looked over Sweetie's shoulder, confirming she was in fact alone.
The filly frowned at him.

"So, how are you?" he asked. His friend shrugged, then uncomfortable silence fell as they simply stood there.
"Soooo," Sweetie Belle said, turning her face to the white sky, "Where are you going? I was on my way to go see Stride."
The brown colt tapped his chin, "I was going to buy a new game at the store, but... Can I tag along?"
"Sure!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed a little more enthusiastically than she had intended.

---

The sound of liquid being poured into a cup was most satisfying. Applejack smiled at the hot coco before her.
"Thanks, Storm," the cowpony said gleefully to her host. Stride's mother smiled back and poured another four cups. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Stride all welcomed the sweet beverage.

"How is Rainbow Dash doing?" Storm asked, "I haven't seen her around for a while."
Scootaloo lightly fluttered her wings, "She's been a bit down as of late," she said.
Applejack nodded in confirmation, "Ever since Tank went into hibernating."
The drink was still too hot, so Storm put the cup down.

"I thought Rainbow was okay with Tank sleeping," she remarked.
"She let Tank hibernate, but Ah think she ain't over it just yet. If Ah had wings, Ah'd visit her more often, and balloons ain't cheap to maintain."
Storm ruffled her feathers, "What about Fluttershy and Princess Twilight? Don't they visit her?"
Applejack shook her head, "Too busy. Twilight's done nothin' but planning for Winter Wrap Up since Tank started Hibernating and Fluttershy's been checkin' up on the sleeping critters every two minutes. Ain't nopony visiting Dash.

"What about the weather team?" Stride asked with a frown, "Doesn't she have any friends there?"
The mare pouted as she pondered on that, "Come to think of it, Rainbow really doesn't have all that many friends. Ah've seen her talk to Thunderlane, but it's always 'bout work.
Storm sipped her coco, "I'll be sure to pay her a visit this afternoon."

They heard somepony knocking on the door. Scootaloo got up and skipped towards it. There were Sweetie Belle and Button Mash.
"Hey Scoots," Sweetie Belle said, "How do you do?"
"Great," Scootaloo replied, "And you?"
"No, you're supposed to answer 'How do you do?'" the agitated unicorn marshmallow uttered.
Scootaloo lifted a brow, "But I did answer it, didn't I?"
"No, you're supposed to repeat me."
"I'm supposed to repeat you?" Scootaloo still didn't understand.
Sweetie Belle confirmed with a nod.

"Yes. Now let's try again," she started, but soon realised the effect wasn't what she had intended.
"Yes. Now let's try again."
"This isn't working."
"This isn't working?"
"No, this isn't working."
"Okay this isn't working."
They nodded in agreement. Button merely stood there confused.
His eyes darted between the two fillies, but they didn't notice his questioning gaze.
He'd never understand these crusaders.

As they entered the living room, Sweetie Belle turned to Stride, "Hi Stride! How do you do?"
"How do you do?" Stride answered.
Scootaloo tapped her forehead, "What are you two, dictionaries?"
"I don't think that's in the dictionary," Stride noted.
Button shrugged. Nope, still didn't get it.

Applejack finished her coco before leaving to her farm. She still had to do a lot of work fixing up the house and fences. She was confident it would be done soon though, with Big Macintosh there to help. Apple Bloom was allowed to stay at Stride's place a little longer, but the filly had shied down since the fall storms. She hadn't uttered a word at the table.

"Do you want another drink, Apple Bloom?" Storm asked her, snapping her out of a trance.
"Oh, uh, sure, ma'am."
Storm nodded and poured her some more, "Sweetie, Button, does either of you want any coco?"
Button nodded profusely. Sweetie Belle declined politely.

After serving the drinks, the older mare looked on her list to see if she had any chores left.
She went to the kitchen to fix the oven. She had always been better at the technical stuff than Burst.

So there they were, five foals at a table. Button Mash caressed his face where he claimed he could still feel the 'brutal attack' Sweetie Belle had launched upon him. She turned her eyes.

"Do you guys want to play a game?" Stride asked.
"Sure!" Scootaloo answered, the others nodding in her wake.
Stride tapped his chin in thought, "So, what do you guys want to play?"
"How about Truth or Dare?" Button suggested, at which Apple Bloom sunk down under the table and Stride stared into the void. The endless dark void of disturbing memories, memories which he'd rather not relive, memories... Okay, it wasn't all that bad, but he didn't like the idea.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Button," Sweetie Belle remarked, prompting Scootaloo to chuckle.
"What?" the unicorn wondered.
"Nothing," Scootaloo said, "It's just funny to hear the queen of bad ideas say that."
Now, Apple Bloom, Stride and Button joined the chuckling.
"Queen of bad ideas?" Sweetie Belle outed angrily, "Where did that come from?"

She looked around at the faces surrounding her. None of those faces remained straight.
"Using Twilight as a way to get popular," Scootaloo gave an example.
"Setting Scootaloo's tail on fire," Stride added.
"Tryin' to steal mah sister," Apple Bloom now noted.
"Oh," the now chipper Button joined, "And spying on Scootaloo and Stride."
Heads turned. The brown colt suddenly regretted that comment.

"Doing what now?" Scootaloo called out. Stride however didn't look so shocked. It wasn't much of a surprise they would do such a thing.
After all, they'd done worse. A lot worse.
"I'm not the only one with bad ideas," Sweetie Belle changed the subject, "You guys come up with bad ideas all the time."
Apple Bloom snickered, "Like when Scootaloo broke Stride's leg."
"That was an accident," Scoots exclaimed, pouting.
"Or when Apple Bloom thought we could get our cutie marks in bookkeeping," Stride added, earning a glare from the filly.
It had been one of the most boring exploits they had ever ventured on.

"Sweetie Belle nearly got Button to lose his eye," the yellow filly chirped.
"You almost got Button to lose his leg!" Sweetie Belle retorted.
"Don't forget about that time he nearly drowned in cider," Scootaloo added.
Button shrunk down in his seat more with every reminder.
"And you guys still wonder why Button doesn't want to be a crusader anymore," Stride shook his head.

"Come to think of it," Sweetie Belle sighed, "We've really done some stupid stuff."
Stride bumped her shoulder, "Hey, we've had our fun."
Scootaloo cringed at the comment. She could easily imagine that sentence being repeated near the end of summer. She shook it off.
"Yeah," Apple Bloom agreed, "Remember that time we repaired the barn with Big Macintosh?"
"Or that time we beat Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in hoofball," Sweetie uttered.

Storm stood in the doorway, smiling at the conversation. Five friends sitting at the table. She had never imagined Stride would grow so close to so many foals when they came to town. Even though some of the remarks worried her, especially the ones involving limb loss, she was glad Stride had these ponies in his brief life. After all, a good life needs a little magic.

---

That evening, upon arriving home late after wading through the winter's snow, Apple Bloom went straight to her room and untied her mane. Her bow was wet and sloppy from the snow's moisture and it was refreshing to let the large mass of red hair hang wildly over her neck. She deposited the bow in the laundry bin in the bathroom and was already brushing her teeth, when her big sister appeared in the doorway.

"Apple Bloom, don't just run upstairs without sayin' hi when ya get home. Granny Smith was gettin' worried."

Of course she would. Granny Smith seemed to have a dislike for winter. She thought it crude and dangerous and a bad idea completely. Big Mac had to remind her countless times winter was necessary to rejuvenate the soil, but that was a detail Granny seemingly purposefully forgot just to have something to bicker about. It was either that or the mare was going demented, but Apple Bloom could hardly believe her granny who could repeat every folk song and who remembered every slip up you've ever made would be having memory loss.

"Sowwi, aont doot gain," the filly replied, her mouth full of tooth paste.
Apple flavoured toothpaste, of course. The fruit, not the ponies.
"What was that?"
"Sorry," Apple Bloom spat out the tooth paste, "Ah won't do it again."
"All right," Applejack nodded, "Ya better don't, or Ah'll have ta reconsider takin' all y'all to Appleoosa."
The poor filly spat the bit of toothpaste she had just reapplied into the washbasin. Appleoosa? Applejack hadn't said anything before about going to the desert town where Braeburn lived.

"We're goin' to Appleoosa?" she exclaimed gleefully."
"Yup," big sis confirmed, "Ah thought Ah'd have to cancel participatin' in this year's rodeo cause of the repairs, but Big Mac said he'd do the rest by himself. Wanna know the best part? All yer crusader friends can come with. Ah've got five free cart tickets from insurance."
"Waw Applejack!" Apple Bloom started joyfully, but then turned a strange expression, "Hold on. Why would insurance pay us in cart tickets?"

If anything the payment would come from Rainbow Dash's purse, not the insurance company. First the overdone wind she hadn't stopped her weather team from causing and then the launching of a snow nuke from Cloudsdale had turned a lot of heads to the pegasus. Whether or not she was actually responsible for the events, Apple Bloom wasn't certain of, but a rumour had been enough for the ponies of Ponyville to put the blame on her.

Also, the damages should be paid for in bits, not cart tickets.

Applejack shifted on her hoofs, "Oh, Ah'm a terrible liar. Ah've bought the tickets cause Ah thought you would have a lot more fun with yer friends around."
She bowed closer to her little sister, "And leaving you behind would allow Granny here to force ya into helpin' Big Mac do repairs."
She smiled at her sibling's delight.

Apple Bloom forgot the tooth brush in her wrist and hopped around the room, "We're goin' to Appleoosa. We're goin' to Appleoosa..."
Toothpaste landed everywhere.
"Now hold on there," Applejack said, "We ain't goin' nowhere before you clean up this here toothpaste."
She wiped some off her cheek.

The filly stopped hopping. Her red mane fell in front of her face, which reminded Applejack of that horror movie she once showed Rainbow Dash. The cerulean pegasus had never seemed so scared in her life. Of course, she had claimed afterwards the movie had been boring and she would've rather seen an actually scary movie.

Applejack was pulled out of her train of thought when her sister asked a pretty important question.
"When are we goin'?" she asked, swiping her mane out of her eyes.
The bigger mare smiled, "Ya better start thinkin' about what y'er packin'. We're leavin' in four days."
Applejack hadn't expected her sister's smile to drop. Had she said something wrong?
"Stride can't come. He has to stay home for another week and he probably won't be able to travel far afterwards either."

If there had been a desk in front of her, Applejack would've face planted into it. How could she forget something like that? She shook it off.
"Ah'll go talk to Storm and see what we can do. Maybe his condition ain't that bad?"
She didn't like how her little sis raised an eyebrow at her, "Ah don't think he's fit for goin'."
With those words, she rinsed her mouth and yawned.

Author's Note:

So, second chapter of winter is here. It's been a while, hasn't it?
My apologies for the longs wait. Life's hectic.

So, what're your thoughts? Constructive criticism? Absurd theories? Obama?
Let me know in the comments below!

Comments

[KingJoltik]

What a nice little chapter...well done!

[jxj]

Jeez, applejack misplanned the trip. Thanks Obama.
Don't worry about the delay, we understand. And I like the new cover art

[Kthen]

I just realized how much longer Stride has left... approx. 1/2 a year.

[Dragonofshame]

In regards to the chapter delay... #ThanksObama
In all seriousness though, I don't mind the delay. After all, you can't rush perfection!

[PonyFromSpace]

6329396 Thanks! It was about time I updated that cover art. Hardly anybody seemed to know what the first one was supposed to represent.

[PonyFromSpace]

6333715 Obama, you sly fox.

[PonyFromSpace]

6333475 It'll be strange to end the story when the time comes. I'm glad there's still so much to write about.

[jxj]

6354556 ... I honestly can't remember what the old one was but i don't think i got it.

[the almighty being 0]

WHY HAVEN'T YOU UPDATED MY FAVOURITE FIC!.wub

[PonyFromSpace]

6980063 Apologies. I've been having a very busy life and a terrible writer's block. I'm going to have to reread my own fic again just to remember what has been established already. The progression in the show isn't making it any easier either.

[the almighty being 0]

7078858 as long as you have not left it I'm fine.

[MoonlitEclipse]

Is this dead?