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Blue Without You3,862 words
Knitting's Poorer Cousin4,977 words
Believe3,368 words
We Three Crusaders5,782 words

Blue Without You

There were six more days until Hearth's Warming.

In Ponyville, the bitter winds and barren branches of winter were held at bay by the seasonal tidings of joy that seemed to flow forth from the land itself - infusing every rock, tree, and pony with a glowing warmth that no squall, even that from the ancient windigos, could ever hope to stamp out. The tolling of silver bells rang eagerly in the hearts of anticipating foals, and each evergreen bough glistened with all the pomp and circumstance of rich Equestrian history. Not a single quaint cottage door was bereft of a festive wreath, and boughs of holly lay in neat arrangements over every sleeping flowerbox.

On an inconsequential street corner, a quartet of ponies stood under a canopy of lights strung from one roof to another. Wrapped securely in woolen scarves and winter finery, they bade good afternoon to a score of wandering carolers with whom they had just shared an impromptu tune.

Applejack turned her muzzle to the sky and drew in a deep breath. She let it out audibly, and on its cusp she emitted a contented sigh.

“Hoo-wee!” She exclaimed, stamping her hooves in appreciation, “Y’all smell that? That there’s the pick of the harvest baking in that pie!”

Rainbow Dash, her hooves clad in stiff booties bearing her mark, tasted the breeze in turn. She couldn’t help a sigh of her own, but her eyebrow cocked up wryly. “Eh, I dunno. I mean that’s totally the best apple pie I’ve smelled all day, but how do you know those are your apples in it?”

Apple Bloom snorted so loudly that she drew all attention to herself. The deep magenta of the large bow that always kept her mane in check was accented nicely by the scarf that was double-wrapped around her neck.

“Tch, are you kiddin’? My sister never forgets an apple. If she says it’s one of ours? It’s one of ours. There ain’t no room for argument.”

Rounding out the quartet was Scootaloo, who’s cap and scarf also perfectly accented the cerise shock of her mane and tail. Her expression mirrored her mentor’s exactly, and she offered her two bits-

“Oh come on Apple Bloom, no she can’t.” Realizing her friend’s elder sister was standing right there, she glanced up at Applejack with a sheepish grin. “I mean, no offense or anything. Just there have to have been what? Hundreds of thousands of apples that you’ve picked in your life? And you can remember all of them?”

Applejack huffed, turning her muzzle up in a haughty gesture better suited for the Canterlot elite. “By size, color, texture, and scent. Sure as my old granny can tell you exactly how many jars of jam Stinkin’ Rich bought during the very first zap apple harvest. Knowin’ yer apples is in the family blood!” She placed a hoof on Apple Bloom’s head, ruffling her mane in a parental gesture. “You’ll get there too someday Sugarcube, don’t you fret.”

Apple Bloom beamed with pride.

Dash settled her rump against a wall and folded her forelegs, grinning slyly. “Alright, fine. How many mugs of apple cider did I have at harvest time two years ago? And which apples were they made from?”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and chuckled, “Rainbow Dash, there’s no way Applejack can possibly know how many--”

“Eight,” Applejack replied smugly, matching her friend’s expression. “Three of ‘em came from the back forty stock, and another three from the east field. You preferred the back forty because while they ain’t as good for bakin’, their natural sweetness makes ‘em particularly great for snacking that year.”

Dash scrambled or a hole to exploit. “Oh yeah? How about the eighth one?”

“That one,” Applejack grinned, “came from Granny Smith’s private stock. You want me to elaborate? I remember every bit of it, and I’ll ask ya Dash,” her grin broadened, “Do you really think I would spin a tale like that? And about apples, of all things?”

“Wait, what?” Apple Bloom’s brow clouded, “What private stock? You mean the extra barrel we keep for ourselves?” She scrunched her muzzle in thought, “What’s so special about that?”

The petting of Apple Bloom’s head took on a tone of condescension as her elder sister replied. “Dont’cha worry none about that, Sugarcube. I’ll tell ya all about it when you get a little older. Unless, that is-” Applejack’s emerald eyes slid over to the taller pegasus, “Rainbow Dash here wants to call my bluff.”

Apple Bloom puffed her cheeks and bounced her legs as though on a pogo stick. “Aw, that’s what you always say! I’m old enough to handle anything!” She brightened at the amendment from her sister, her eyes darting back and forth between the two mares. “Wait, you will? I wanna know!” She stared at Dash while pointing at Applejack, “Tell her I wanna know!”

Dash pushed off from the wall with her wings and held her hooves up in a gesture of surrender. “Alriiiiight alright already, geez! I get it, you know your apples. Let’s, um...keep that to ourselves, ‘kay?”

“You don’t even remember it yourself, do ya,” Applejack phrased the words as a statement, rather than a question. Dash gritted her teeth, blushed, and made a show of looking away.

“...no.”

“But I wanna knowwww!” Apple Bloom complained. Scootaloo laid a consoling hoof on her friend’s withers and smiled.

“Yeah, I don’t think they’re gonna tell us anything.”

“Awwww...” Apple Bloom withered, dipping her head, “Darn.”

Applejack’s smile fit the season perfectly. She stepped over to her cyan friend and wrapped a foreleg around her lithe frame. “Aw, buck up. You’re a faster flyer than I am!”

Dash looked droll, “...yeah well you don’t even have wings, so...”

Abandoning the topic, Applejack trotted out into the street and spun to meet her companions, her thickly tied mane tousling along with her bright red scarf as she moved. Her countenance was brighter than all the colors of the reflected light on the icicles above her head.

“Well now, what would you fillies like to do for the rest of the day?” She queried. “There’s plenty of pretty decorations to check out in the market district, or we could go drop in on the palace maybe?”

Dash caught Applejack’s enthusiasm and reflected it out upon the fillies from the opposite direction. “Oh yeah! I heard Twilight really outdid herself on the tree this time around. It’s twice as tall as last year’s! I bet it’s awesome, we should totally go and check it out.”

The two crusaders let the wave of ardor wash over them. They shared a wordless glance at one another, but Scootaloo spoke first, nudging her friend in the ribs.

“...go on, tell them!”

Apple Bloom squirmed, “Right, right, just...gimmie a sec here...”

Apple Bloom picked her steps in the street as she closed with the mares, careful to avoid wayward patches of ice. Scootaloo followed. With their ears mutually down in a gesture of humility, Apple Bloom took a deep breath, looked her big sister in the eye, and spoke.

“We want to go see Sweetie Belle.”

Applejack felt a shiver run down her spine that wasn’t brought on by the cold. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Rainbow Dash, who was biting her lip and making furious throat-cutting gestures with one hoof. Applejack rose a brow helplessly, until Dash changed her approach to dramatically sniffing the air while pointing down the street.

“Well, that...we could do that, but...” Applejack took Dash’s cue and ran with it, “But hey! I bet that apple pie smell is comin’ from Sugarcube Corner!” She rubbed her stomach and licked her lips, “Mmhmm, huh? I dunno about you, but I sure could go for somethin’ sweet right now!”

“So could we Applejack,” Apple Bloom said stubbornly, “But you an’ I aren’t talking about the same ‘sweet’.”

Rainbow Dash silently smacked her own forehead over the poor use of words.

Applejack felt the eyes of the fillies crushing her like a juicer. Subtly she twitched her tail in Dash’s direction. It was a prepared signal, and instantly the newest Wonderbolt zipped in to run interference.

“Hey! I got it!” Dash interceded, now right by Scootaloo’s side, “How about a sleigh ride?”

“O-oh yeah!” Applejack followed along, “That’d be just the thing to do on a day like today! The rollin’ hills, pretty blankets of white as far as your eye can see...”

“That’s awesome and everything,” Dash added, “but I was thinking of something way cooler,” She held her foreleg up and panned it in an arc through the air. “I could take us all on a sleigh ride in the sky! I just got one of those extra-light, streamlined speed sleighs that they use for air-hauling competitions.” She patted Scootaloo roughly on the withers, “Whattaya say, little buddy? Wouldn’t that be just the totally most awesomest thing ever!?”

Scootaloo reached up to gently pat the offered foreleg, somewhere around Dash’s elbow. “That’s...that’s great and all Rainbow Dash, but Apple Bloom and I have been talking about it, and...we really want to go and see Sweetie Belle.”

Dash’s expression turned uncharacteristically towards helplessness. She let out a dry chuckle. “But...you really love it when I take you up into the sky for a spin around the clouds...”

Scootaloo’s patting became a gentle, single touch. Her smile was apologetic. “Sure I do. It’s just...”

Words failed. Apple Bloom picked up the slack.

“It’s just that she’s our best friend and we ain’t even seen her in a whole month,” The earth filly explained. She turned to her big sister, offering her a pointed frown. “It ain’t like we don’t appreciate all your neat ideas, but...you understand big sis, dont’cha?”

“Heyyyy,” Dash pulled away from the younger pegasus and interposed herself between the two Apple siblings, looming over the younger with an overly friendly grin. “I get what this is. If you’re afraid of heights, don’t worry about it! I’ve tooootally got’cha covered! You’re completely safe with me, so there’s no need to--”

Dash felt a hoof on her shoulder. Cut off from her words, she turned just enough to gaze upon the resigned shaking of Applejack’s head.

“Game’s up, Dash.”

“B-but...” Dash blubbered softly, “...we were supposed to...”

“Supposed to what?” Apple Bloom’s expression worked back and forth between curiosity and anger. She fixed her elders with a withering stare in the middle of the semi-crowded street, but kept her voice even. “What were you supposed to do, Applejack?”

Applejack glanced at Rainbow Dash. The latter scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably and took a step out of the way of the two Apple siblings. Applejack approached her younger sister, a careful ease in her tone as she explained.

“Sugarcube, it’s just...” She swallowed, “Sweetie Belle, she...she don’t really wanna see nopony right now.”

“So Rarity asked us to keep the two of you busy with fun stu--” Dash blurted.

“Dash!” Applejack scolded.

Rainbow Dash flailed her forelegs. “I-I-I-I mean, we thought that maybe the four of us should just, you know...hang out more! There’s so much fun stuff to do this time of the year! Y-you don’t wanna miss out on all the awesome caroling and candy and all that, right?”

“Wait a minute,” Scootaloo, who had been content with silently standing behind her more boisterous friend, breached the conversation. “Are you telling us that the two of you were only hanging out with us more often than usual this month because you think Sweetie Belle, our best friend in the whole world, wouldn’t want to see us...?”

Applejack heard sirens blazing in her head. She glanced at Dash, but no further assistance was forthcoming - the rattled pegasus had slipped behind the fillies and was making crash and burn gestures with her hooves. Applejack sighed deeply and took in another deep breath of the sharp winter air.

“It ain’t like that,” She stated evenly, feeling somewhat indignant over the implied accusation. “Y’all both know that Rainbow Dash and I treasure every moment we get to spend with the both of you.”

Apple Bloom, her chest puffing with the stubbornness of her bloodline, ignored the mollifying statement and went right for the throat. “Then why are you both trying to distract us with fun stuff whenever we bring Sweetie Belle up?”

“I done explained that already,” Applejack gritted her teeth and dug one hoof into the slushy ground. “You gotta understand. Sweetie Belle, she...well she...” She wracked her brain for the proper words, “...things have been rough for her this past month. She ain’t been well.”

“We know she’s not well!” Apple Bloom persisted, her volume drawing a glance or two from passersby. “That’s exactly why we wanna go see her! She’s been ‘unwell’ a lot longer than just a month, so what gives now that makes it any different than before?”

“We used to bring her homework to her every day after school,” Scootaloo added, her tone somewhat more chaste given that she was not addressing her own flesh and blood. “Until Rarity started doing it. She would seriously, like, come to our school every day after class to get all the work for the day directly from Miss Cherilee.” She shrugged, “Isn’t Rarity, you know...too busy to do something like that every single day? It was totally no problem at all for us to just take it to Sweetie Belle ourselves.”

“And then we could actually see her a little bit every day,” Apple Bloom took over again, determination hard on her brow. “How are we s’posed to make our sick friend feel better if we can’t even go and see her!?”

Big sister instinct was beginning to bleed into Applejack’s conscious thoughts. Her stare hardened, matching that of her sibling’s perfectly. “Apple Bloom, you’re makin’ a scene. This ain’t the right time to be talking about this, and the both of you need to show a little respect for your best friend’s wishes--”

“Did she say that?” Apple Bloom widened her stance and gazed up at her elder, cutting her off. “Did Sweetie Belle tell you, to your face, that she don’t wanna see us?”

“Rarity said it.” Dash’s voice was uncharacteristically small. Worry clear on her features, she approached again, standing by her friend in a show of solidarity. “Sweetie Belle’s really sick guys. Like sicker than she was a month ago. We should leave her alone for now.” She did her best to strike an awe-inspiring pose, tousling the spectrum of her mane with a sharp wave of her neck. “So how about we go on that sleigh ride instead, huh? You have my personal, Wonderbolts-approved seal of awesomeness that it’s going to be cooler than the snow!” She focused mainly on Scootaloo, “How about it little buddy?”

Scootaloo grabbed her scarf in her teeth and drew it tighter around her neck, protecting herself from a sudden extra chill in the air. She made eye contact with her mentor again, and once again, her expression was one of apology.

“I love hanging out with you, Rainbow Dash,” She said carefully. “So I’m really, really sorry, but...unless Sweetie Belle herself told you she doesn’t want to see us, we want to go over there and see how she’s doing.”

Dash groaned audibly and touched her hoof to her forehead in frustration. Applejack cut in, looking stern now.

“Rarity told us what her sister said. Ain’t that enough fer you two?” She focused in particular on her sister, “Or are you callin’ me a liar?”

Apple Bloom winced a at the perceived accusation, which she knew to be just about the worst possible thing to accuse her big sister of. “N-no! But how would you feel if you weren’t feeling good and your best friends never came to see you? Even if Sweetie Belle said that, she can’t have meant it!”

Applejack was beginning to lose her patience. Ponyville vanished, and her world reduced to only herself and her sister. “Ain’t nothin’ gonna be served by you all goin’ over there! It’s the holiday season and fillies like you should be out having fun, not...not--”

“Not what?” Apple Bloom fired back, “Not comforting the ponies we care about when they need us most?” Her sneer turned practically feral, and both pegasi backed away from the confrontation. “You’re still trying to protect me, Applejack! If that’s the only reason we’re spending all this time together, then it’s not even worth doing!”

Applejack felt a fault line full of rage begin to crack within her. She sputtered, “Wh-what? Is that all you think wantin’ to spend time with you is!? Protectin’ you from stuff? Gosh darnit, yer my little sister, how can you ever think I wouldn’t want to just be with you!?”

“If you really care about me, then let me go and see my friend!”

“It’s her wishes that she don’t wanna see nopony!” Applejack growled, heedless of onlookers. “Why can’t y’all respect that!?”

“I do respect her! She’s my best friend!”

“Then knock it off about goin’ over there! Yer ruining the whole day with this here tantrum!”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if it was Rarity who was sick! Or Fluttershy! Or Twilight!”

“It ain’t like I don’t care!” Applejack exploded, steam blasting from her nostrils, “It’s because I care that I’m respecting their wishes and stayin’ away! Now you listen to me young filly, cause if you keep this here blobberin’ up, so help me I’ll tan yer hide right out here on this street corner!”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Apple Bloom scowled.

“You just try me, filly,” Applejack rumbled, muzzle to muzzle with her little sister.

“Woah woah woah,” Dash forced her way into the conversation and between the muzzles of the rival siblings. “Come on everypony, just calm down! You’re blowing this wayyyyy out of proportion.”

“She started it!” Both Apples exclaimed together, turning sharply away from one another with an audible harumph. Dash made a face and came up behind Applejack, turning her back on the foals and softening her voice to something more private.

“Hey, AJ,” She began, “This isn’t what we agreed to. We said we were gonna show the foals a good time and take their mind off of stuff.”

Applejack’s left ear twitched. “That’s what we’ve been doing. Until my sister decided to get more stubborn than a sleeping ursa in the middle of the road.”

“Think about what you just said to her,” Dash hissed under her breath. “Did you really mean that?”

Applejack’s shoulders finally slumped. “...a’course I didn’t mean it. I’m just...under a lot of stress lately.”

Dash managed a small smile. “You and me both. Everypony’s nerves have been frazzled lately, but just imagine how it is for Rarity.”

A few yards away, Apple Bloom’s hackles were up like a timberwolf. Scootaloo reached out, but dared not make contact with her, choosing instead to send her words out on the task.

“Apple Bloom...” She began, “I wanna see Sweetie Belle too, but relax...fighting with your sister isn’t the way to do it...”

“Fightin’?” Apple Bloom whirled, fire still alight in her amber eyes, “Whose fightin’? I ain’t fightin’!”

“You’re totally fighting,” Scootaloo replied dryly.

The cold realization cleansed the volcanic ire in the earth filly’s Apple blood. She let out a breath and seemed to deflate. “I...but, I just wanna see Sweetie Belle--”

A set of heavy hoof-falls in the snow next to the earth filly cut off her words. She looked up - into the distressed, emerald eyes and familiar freckled cheeks of her elder sister. She made as if to speak, but Applejack held up a silencing hoof.

“I’m sorry, Apple Bloom,” She stated frankly. “Y’all know I would never, ever raise my hoof in anger against any of my kin. Or anypony at all, really. I was just...”

Applejack trailed off. In her eyes, Apple Bloom could see the same emotions, and new instantly they pertained to the exact same thing. Shamed, she reached out and placed her small hoof on her sister’s chest.

“I’m sorry too.” Her eyes went crocodile, “But you...you understand, right? I know you understand.”

Applejack nodded haltingly “I do. And I guess...we better get on over to the Boutique while there’s still some light out.”

Applejack turned. Before her, Dash was looking pointedly away, grinding her teeth with her eyebrows turned up. Applejack spoke simply and softly.

“You comin’?”

“I, uh...” Rainbow Dash faltered and began watching the skyline as though she were hoping to become a part of it. “I...I’m not really good in situations like...you know...”

Sensing the awkwardness, Scootaloo stepped forward and offered her adopted sister an ‘out’. “Hey Dash,” She smiled, peppering her voice with enthusiasm she hoped would be taken as genuine, “How about that sleigh ride afterwards? We won’t be long, and it totally would be just about the coolest thing ever! You could go and get it ready for us and meet us there later, couldn’t you?”

“Huh?” Dash scrunched her muzzle in confusion, but just a quickly caught on. She saluted playfully. “Sure can, little boss-buddy! It’s not every day you can get a personal sleigh-ride from a Wonderbolt anyway, now is it!”

“Nope!” Apple Bloom sang, letting Dash have her moment, “Sure ain’t, and it sounds like fun!”

“It...sounds great Dash,” Applejack smiled appreciatively at Scootaloo, “Just try to keep it under a hundred miles per--”

“See ya lickety-split!” Dash revved her wings like a rocket engine and was off in trail of rainbow colors so fast, she was out of sight before Applejack could finish her sentence.

“--hour. Well.” Applejack adjusted her hat, which had been blown slightly off course with the force of the departure. She picked out the correct street and turned towards it, but Apple Bloom touched her foreleg, giving her pause.

“...thanks Applejack.”

“...sure Sugarcube,” Applejack smiled wanly. “Come on now, let’s git. It ain’t polite to come callin’ after dark.”

With a dozen hooves crunching rhythmically in the snow, the trio of somber ponies began their pilgrimage across town.

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