> The Time Applebloom Fell Asleep in a Basket of Apples and Everypony Panicked
>  by ZapAppleBloom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Applebloom Falls Asleep in a Basket of Apples
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applebloom trotted from apple tree to apple tree, placing wooden baskets at the bottom of each. Applejack followed, raising her hind legs and kicking each tree until all the apples fell. It had been a long day, though, and while they had only harvested the south orchard, their strength was rapidly deteriorating.

Applebloom wiped sweat from her forehead and shaded her eyes as she looked up at the sun. "Applejack, it's almost dinnertime. We've made good progress today. Can we go home now?" Applebloom whined.

"Quit yer whinin' Applebloom. We've still gotta take all o' these apples back to the barn," Applejack replied.

"I ain't whinin'! Why, ah'm ten years old now! Ah don't whine no more!" protested Applebloom.

Applejack rolled her eyes with a slight chuckle. "C'mon, whiny. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get home. Pick up yer hooves and help me get these apples to the barn."

Applebloom blew her mane out of her face and pulled a bucket onto her back by its metal handles. She followed Applejack all the way back to the barn and was barely able to pull the bucket off of her back before collapsing in a pile of hay.

"Applebloom, get up. We still have plenty more apples to bring in," Applejack chastised.

Applebloom groaned. "Ughhh. Why can't you an' Mac take care of 'em? Ah'm just a filly. Ah'm not as strong as y'all."

Applejack sighed. "Fine, Applebloom. Get inside and wash up for dinner." She trotted out of the barn to get the rest of the apples.

Applebloom laid in the pile of hay, refusing to move out of laziness and exhaustion. She refused to get up, until her stomach started to growl angrily. "Ugh. Fine. Ah'll get some food." She finally stood up and trotted over to one of the buckets of apples.

She picked up a ripe red apple and chewed on it noisily. Her stomach, unsatisfied, continued to growl. She grabbed another apple and quickly ate it. "Wow, ah guess ah'm hungrier than ah thought," she speculated.

Applebloom chewed on another apple, her eyelids beginning to droop. She yawned, and, in a half-asleep, subconscious decision, she curled up in the bucket of apples. She piled up some of the apples on top of her as a makeshift blanket until only the tip of her snout poked out, and she fell asleep.


*****


Applejack trotted into the kitchen, where Granny Smith was hard at work making apple fritters. "Granny, have y'all seen Applebloom? Ah sent her inside about an hour ago."

Granny Smith looked up briefly from the fritter making. "Nope, afraid ah haven't. Last time ah saw Applebloom was when y'all were goin' outside to harvest the south orchard."

Applejack rubbed her brow in frustration. "I'll go outside and see if ah can find her." Applejack trotted outside to the barn. "Well, this is where ah last saw her. Applebloom, are y'all in here?" She stepped inside and looked around.

There was the haybale that Applebloom had collapsed in, but she wasn't there. "Well, where'd she go?" She trotted around the barn, looking in every corner. "Applebloom, where are y'all? Yer worryin' me," Applejack said, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

Applejack ran around the orchards, yelling for her sister. "Applebloom! Can y'all hear me? Where are y'all?"

After almost an hour of searching, Applejack raced back to the house. She burst through the door. "Granny, Big Mac, ah can't find Applebloom. Ah've looked all around the Acres. She ain't anywhere." Applejack ran up the stairs quickly, checking all of the rooms. After thoroughly inspecting the house, she raced back downstairs.

Granny Smith placed a hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "Don't worry. Y'all are gonna find her. How 'bout y'all get some help from those friends of yers?"

Applejack smiled slightly. "Of course! Ah can get Twily and them! Ah'm sure they'll help!"


*****


Applejack knocked on the door of Twilight Sparkle's library. She heard a crash inside, followed by an annoyed Twilight groaning. The door swung open, nearly smacking Applejack in the face. Standing in the doorway was a very annoyed Twilight.

"What do you want, Applejack? This better be good. I'm in the middle of a really important report for Celestia," Twilight huffed impatiently.

Applejack took her hat off her head, tears filling her eyes. "Twilight... ah can't find Applebloom. She ain't anywhere. Can y'all help?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow skeptically. "She's probably with those friends of hers. Yknow, the Cute Marker whatevers." She trotted back inside and slammed the door.

Applejack put her hat back on her head. "Well, why didn't ah think of that? Applebloom probably is with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle!" She turned and galloped off in the direction of the clubhouse.

"Why didn't ah think of that before? The clubhouse is right in the middle of the orchard. Ah searched the orchard an hour ago." She reached the clubhouse and looked in through the window, which proved to be quite a challenge as the window was five feet above her head.

"Applebloom!" she called. "Are y'all in there?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle poked their heads out.

"Nope! Applebloom's not up here. We've been expecting her all afternoon!" said Sweetie Belle.

"I wonder where she is..." pondered Scootaloo.

Applejack trotted in circles impatiently. "That's what ah've been wonderin'. Ah spent the past two hours lookin' for her. Ah assumed she'd be up here with y'all."

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow, her face perfectly replicating Twilight's earlier expression. "Two hours, and you only just thought to search one of her most favoritest places in the whole world?"

"Uh, Sweetie Belle? Don't you mean most favorite?" pointed out Scootaloo.

"What are you, a grammar Nazi?" countered Sweetie Belle.

Applejack turned back in the direction of the barn. "Well, ah'm just gonna go now. I'll leave y'all to yer bickerin'." She slowly walked back to the Apple family homestead with sad, heavy hoofsteps. She reached the house and sadly sat down at the kitchen table. "Ah'm never gonna find 'er."


*****


Applebloom awoke, slightly cramped from the tight confinement of the small apple basket. She stretched and poked her head out of the barn. She trotted out into the cool, fresh nighttime air.

She rounded the corner of the barn, headed for the house, and stopped. Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith were all sitting on the front porch, gazing up at the stars sadly.

"...at this point, we hafta assume the worst. Applebloom is... is gone," said Applejack, barely audibly, tears streaming down her face.

Applejack ran up to the front porch. "What're y'all talkin' 'bout? Ah'm not dead! Ah fell asleep in the barn, in a bucket of apples!"

Applejack wrapped her little sister in a hug so tight, Applebloom was sure her ribs were going to be sore for months. "Oh, sweet Celestia, Applebloom! We thought y'all were gone! For forever! Why didn't ya tell us y'all were gonna fall asleep in the barn?"

Applebloom returned her sister's hug, although nowhere near as tight. "Ah was a little too busy fallin' asleep. But ah'm here, and that's all that matters, right?"

Applejack loosened her tight hug and blinked back tears. "You bet, Applebloom. Y'all are right here, and that's all that matters."


*****


Dear Princess Celestia,

Although ah didn't learn a single gosh darn thing about friendship today, ah learned somethin' about bein' a good sister, and that's kinda the same thing, ah guess. All afternoon, all ah did today was search for Applebloom. Ah just couldn't find her! Ah was so worried at the thought of havin' let her down as a sister, ah guess ah kinda forgot what a strong little filly Applebloom was, and that she can mostly take care of herself and pull her own weight. Ah was so worried that she would be disappointed or mad at me for givin' up on her, but really, she didn't give a single hoot. She was just glad that ah had come lookin' for her at all, and that was all she cared about. Ah learned that no matter what, a sister's love is one of the strongest bonds in the world, and it takes more than just a silly little mishap to break a bond like that. And no two sisters have a stronger bond than me 'n Applebloom.

Yer faithful subject,
Applejack