Ten years after the night she lost everything, Apple Bloom returns to the lives of her friends with one last story to tell.
It has been ten years since the loss of Ponyville, and three of the survivors have formed a make-shift family all their own. But on this Hearth's Warming Eve, the fourth of their number is finally coming back into their lives. She has a story to tell about a trip she took the holiday prior, when the cold winds blew and the bells did ring. When the ones left behind wept and laughed in endless, frozen agony. When the figure of her nightmares returned for the one who had escaped him so long ago...
This is the story of how the last Apple returned to the Valley.
“The greater a child’s terror, and the earlier it is experienced, the harder it becomes to develop a strong and healthy sense of self.” -Nathaniel Branden
Diamond Tiara peered out the window as the blizzard raged outside. She sipped carefully at her hot chocolate, relishing the twin sensations of heat on her lips and the ambient cold on the windowpane before her. It was a delicious contradiction, one of many that made this season such a delightful conundrum. By all rights, she of all ponies should have abhorred this time of year. Were everyday ponies to become privy to her history see how she partook in the traditions and celebrations of Hearth's Warming, they might question her sanity. 'How can she go about with holiday greetings on her tongue with such gusto when she's been through such trauma?' They would ask one another, likely with sidelong glances in her direction and hushed tones as she passed by. 'How can she bare to decorate her home so gaudily, and attend so many holiday gatherings?' The answer was as simple as it was sad. She did all these things because she had known first hoof what happens to those who didn't.
She was no fool, and she was taking no chances.
She looked away from the snowy vistas outside, so similar to that night that for years had haunted her nightmares and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror that hung above the house's fireplace. The last decade had been kind to her. She'd gone through the gangly phase of adolescence with no lasting damage and was now the very picture of a lovely young mare. The combination of her looks and the wealth she had inherited since... that night... made her one of the most sought-after singles in all of Canterlot. The few stallions and mares that caught her interest, however, were never too long by her side before the story of her past came up. And once that conversation came up? Her beauty and her money were not worth having to deal with the possible ramifications of that one night of her foalhood.
She went to sip her chocolate once again and chuckled darkly. So, what if they ran? She knew that she was more well-adjusted than she had any right to be. She'd spent her time behind institutional walls, wrapped and sedated each time her sleep was interrupted by hideous red eyes glowing at her from the dark. She'd put in the work accepting that she bore no blame in what had happened to her best friend, her parents, and the residents of her hometown. She was the one who still saw a therapist twice a week and ensured she swallowed a huge pill each night that guaranteed a deep and dreamless sleep. If they wanted to see her as the broken filly laughing in the snow on that Hearth's Warming morning so long ago, then that was on them.
She had at least two friends who knew the real her, and that would always be more than enough.
"Button says that the cookies should almost be done." Sweetie Belle sighed as she stepped heavily into the living room, her own mug of hot chocolate floating beside her. If Diamond Tiara had grown lovely, then the former Cutie Mark Crusader was nothing short of gorgeous. Such a shame for the singles of Canterlot that her heart had never really been up for grabs. The unicorn, finally starting to show from the foal she carried, made her way to the couch and settled beside her friend with a pleased sigh. The mares clinked their mugs in a silent toast and took a drink. Her impending motherhood suited Sweetie Belle comfortably, it seemed. She bore none of the under-eye bags or tired looks of most soon-to-be parents. And was that really a surprise? What were a few uncomfortable nights and bizarre pregnancy cravings after what she had been through? She lowered her mug and looked out the window. "How bad does it look?"
"We've seen worse." Diamond Tiara deadpanned, and the two mares giggled. Humor was a tried-and-true method of dealing with the past, as they'd found over the last few years.
"Ladies!" Button Mash entered the living room with a flourish and presented a plate piled high with cookies still steaming from the oven. The nerdy colt Diamond Tiara had known way back when had emerged from a predictably awkward adolescence and had become quite the handsome young stallion. He even still had his old propeller-beanie... though it mostly stayed on a hook in the hallway these days. "I believe I've finally gotten the recipe right this time." The stallion beamed as his two friends applauded him. "As the old expression goes; the ninth time is the charm."
"Yeah, okay." Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes as she reached for a cookie. "I'll buy that."
"They look great, honey." Sweetie Belle pecked her husband on the lips while she claimed a cookie for herself. The peck became a proper kiss. The third became a little longer, more heated, and Diamond Tiara was forced the clear her throat to break them up. "Oops. Sorry." Sweetie Belle giggled.
"It's fine. It's your house, after all" Diamond Tiara sighed dramatically. She gave the baked disc a once over before saying a silent prayer. Button's last few batches had been so abominable that she almost would have preferred having her tail pulled out, hair by hair. Satisfied that he hadn't included the decorative BBs in the batter this time, she took a test bite. She chewed several times, then nodded to Button Mash in approval. He had indeed finally figured out how to bake basic sugar cookies. She swallowed and washed it down with another sip of hot chocolate. "So..."
"So...?" The stallion set his tray down on the coffee table and eased himself to a spot on the carpeted floor by his wife's side, leaning his head against her swollen belly.
"So, when is this..." She tugged at the space beneath her chin, referencing the orange shock of hair that now sprouted from Button's own. "Going away?"
"I like it!" Sweetie Belle protested through a mouthful of cookie, laying a hoof on top of her husband's head.
"My editor suggested it." Button Mash smiled, unoffended. "Said that since I won't wear the fake spectacles, I should grow some facial hair. Says that it'll make the author photo stand out more."
Button Mash and Sweetie Belle. Diamond Tiara had thought about it before and had come to the conclusion that if the two were not her best friends in the whole world, she might be a little jealous of them. They had avoided the lengthy stay in Canterlot's finest mental institution. They had managed to stay close somehow, even when living in separate cities with distant relatives. They had visited one another as often as they could, solidifying a bond that had grown organically beyond foalhood puppy love and into something much stronger, much deeper than that. Button Mash was now a rising novelist, the heir apparent to the Drake the Daring media empire, and Sweetie Belle was more than happy with her work in crisis counseling. They had been one another's rocks in the years since that terrible Hearth's Warming Eve. They had saved one another, and Diamond Tiara was happy for them.
And... maybe just a little bit jealous.
As the lovebirds cuddled, Diamond Tiara found her eyes drawn once again to the blinding white just outside the window. Had it really been ten years now? Ten years since a simple foalhood argument had become the catalyst for a disaster that had not only altered their lives, but wiped an entire town off the map entirely? And now here they were, the three of them. The last survivors of Ponyville.
The survivors of... that night.
There was one whose absence was sorely felt, but they respected it. Hadn't she lost more than any of them? Hadn't she lost not only her entire family, but her entire world? Her family's legacy? She was the only one who had not remained or returned to Canterlot in the intervening years. She'd remained in Manehatten, alone. They'd reached out to her, of course, with letters, cards, and wedding invitations. But her responses were always short, the excuses for not being able to attend understandable.
Diamond Tiara, Button Mash, and Sweetie Belle had all, for lack of a better term, found some way of moving on from what had happened that frozen Hearth's Warming Eve.
Apple Bloom, sad to say, had not.
A sudden rapping at the door broke the otherwise comfortable silence.
"Who in Equestria could be out about in this weather?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I'll find out." Button Mash stood nimbly and headed for the front door. "Hello? Can we help you?" He called out as he approached.
No answer, save a further three short knocks.
Button Mash looked uneasily back at his friends. "Should I... open it?"
"Well, we can't just leave them out there to freeze, whoever they are." Diamond Tiara admonished him. "Besides, it's Canterlot. It's not like it's going to be anypony dangerous."
"Can't argue with that logic." Button Mash reached out and turned the handle. "How can I help...?"
The black robed figure on his doorstep cut off his question. It bounded in from the snow and wind, forcing Button Mash to recoil in shock. Freezing air filled the room, and a howling gale silenced the cheerful crackle of the fire. For a moment, the figure stared at the stallion from within a midnight black hood, then kicked the door shut without looking back. Silence descended as the three ponies stared in shock and mounting horror at the profile that had haunted their dreams for the past decade. Panic kept them frozen, and chaos would have likely descended had the hooded figure not tossed back her hood and offered them the most earnest and pleased smile any of the could ever remember seeing.
"Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, ya'll." Apple Bloom said.
The moment broke, and the trio rushed their long-lost friend as one. The sudden group hug caught the earth pony off guard, and soon the four found themselves in an accidental cuddle-pile on the floor. They didn't care. They laughed. They cried. They held one another.
For the first time in ten years, the circle of survivors was complete once again.
Apple Bloom washed down her third cookie with her hot chocolate and gave a satisfied sigh. "Sweetie Belle, did you know this fella could cook before you married him?"
"Unexpected fringe benefit." Sweetie Belle nestled deeper into her husband's embrace on the loveseat.
The newly arrived earth pony had removed her heavy cloak and was laying on it near the fire. She looked across to where Diamond Tiara sat in Button Mash's recliner. "How've you been, Di?"
"Never mind how I've been." The heiress had not been able to stop smiling since Apple Bloom's arrival. "How have you been? I haven't seen you since..."
"...since you got discharged." Apple Bloom's smile was small and sad. "And I didn't."
Diamond Tiara's smile faltered. "I... I didn't mean to leave you there."
"I know that." Apple Bloom waved her off. "I wasn't ready to go. Back then, I mean. Had more processing to do." She looked around the room. "How did ya'll know I got out? And how'd you know where to send your letters and such?"
"Princess Celestia." Came the unified reply.
Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah. That makes sense." She looked at Sweetie Belle. "I... I'm sorry I missed the wedding."
Sweetie Belle shrugged sadly. "I knew you had your reasons."
"There's no excuse. I just..." Apple Bloom sniffled. "I just wasn't ready." She reached up and ran a hoof through her snow-white mane. "I didn't feel like I deserved to be happy, and part of me... part of me resented that you were able to be. It was like a double-shot of guilt. I... I couldn't take it. I couldn't..." The tears began to flow in earnest.
Sweetie Belle crossed the room in an instant and hugged her oldest friend close. "It's okay, Apple Bloom..."
"It's not!" Apple Bloom barked hoarsely. "I let... I let what happened control me. I let... I let him control me. When I think of all the time I wasted staying away from you all, staying away from everypony, just... just sitting in my house and watching the world go by... That's not... that's not what Applejack saved me for. That's not..." And then she was crying into Sweetie Belle's coat, years of bitter tears flowing in an unbroken stream. Sweetie Belle cried with her.
Button Mash and Diamond Tiara shared a look and an understanding nod. Here was a level of friendship they would never be privy to, but that was alright.
Apple Bloom pulled away and wiped her muzzle clean with a hoof. "Sorry. Think I leaked a little on ya there."
"It's fine." Sweetie Belle wiped her own eyes and cleared her throat. "I'm sure I'll deal with worse once little Pixel gets here."
At the mention of the impending foal, Apple Bloom looked from Sweetie Belle's stomach up to Button Mash and grinned. "Didn't waste any time gettin' on that one, did ya game-boy?"
"Hey, she wanted the foal." Button Mash grinned. "I just... helped out a little."
"To hear Sweetie Belle talk about it, it sounds like you helped out a lot." Diamond Tiara sniggered.
The four friends laughed together; their bond reaffirmed. Button Mash went around the room refilling their mugs with chocolate before claiming another cookie for himself. "So... can I ask a personal question?"
"Shoot." Apple Bloom blew into her chocolate. "Ask away."
"What changed? I mean... why come back tonight?"
Apple Bloom didn't answer at first. She just stared into the depths of her mug, letting the steam float around her face. "I went back last year."
Diamond Tiara stared at her. "Back?"
"To Ponyville. Or Apple Valley now, I guess. But it'll always be Ponyville to me." She looked around. "To us." When they nodded in agreement, she asked. "Have any of you been?"
Diamond Tiara and Button Mash shook their heads, but Sweetie Belle gave a small smile. "I went out the day I graduated. I felt like I needed to. It was spring, and everything was green and warm. Birds were singing... it was nice. Peaceful. For a minute, I..." Her lip trembled at the memory. "For a minute, it was like I could feel Rarity there next to me." She shook her head and cleared her throat. "But it was just a feeling. Everything else? It was like there had never been a town there at all. But I left a marker, so no one will ever forget there was something there once. I got permission from Princess Celestia to put it up. It says..."
"'This is where the magic happened.'" Apple Bloom recited. "'This is where the magic lived. Dedicated to the memory of Ponyville, and all who dwelled therein.'"
"So, you found it." Sweetie Belle laughed slightly. "I had to word it carefully. Princess Celestia didn't want any reference to Gr... to the blizzard." She swallowed hard, like she was trying to pull the word back into herself. "To the tragedy."
"We don't say his name here." Button Mash answered Apple Bloom's question before she could ask it.
"Why not?" Apple Bloom scoffed. "Do ya'll really buy what Celestia is sellin'? That if we forget about him, cover up everything, that he'll just go away and never come back?"
"You don't?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"A'course not." Apple Bloom sipped her chocolate. "He's been coming back every year. To check on things."
"To check on...? Apple Bloom, what are you talking about?" Sweetie Belle cocked her head in confusion.
Apple Bloom finished her drink and sighed. "A few years back, three stallions on a hike found themselves campin' in Apple Valley on Hearth's Warming Eve. They... they saw somethin.' Somethin' that scared them something awful. Scared 'em so bad that they refused to tell anypony about it."
"So how do you know about it?" Button Mash asked.
"One of 'em didn't like the dreams he was having. Nightmares that were somethin' awful. He wrote about 'em to me." She smiled at them. "That's how I've been surviving in Manehatten. I have a column in one of those supermarket rags."
"You don't mean Up Close and Out There, do you?" Sweetie Belle gagged. "Ugh. Those covers are the worst. 'My Husband Left Me for a Timberwolf.''I Think My Parents are Changelings.''Best Fashion Advice for Your Alien and You.'"
"Hey, the articles are pretty funny." Button Mash muttered into his cup.
"One of those stallions wrote to me about what he saw in Apple Valley." Apple Bloom continued. "I knew Celestia would never let me print it, so I went to talk to him myself. I had to pay him every bit of my savings, but he agreed to take me back out to their campsite in the Valley to check it out for myself."
"Well?" Diamond Tiara leaned in. "What did you find?"
"Leaves." Apple Bloom smirked. "Singing birds." The smirk dropped. "Apples."
"So, his story was bogus?" Button Mash asked.
"Not exactly. See... he refused to go back anywhere close to Hearth's Warming, so we had to go in the fall. That was fine, because I just needed to know the approximate spot. Then I could come back out on Hearth's Warming Eve by myself."
"What?!" Sweetie Belle blanched. "Why would you go back there then? Of all the nights?"
Apple Bloom said nothing, so Diamond Tiara reached for her. "Apple Bloom?"
The earth pony's gaze turned to the window, and to the storm blowing outside. "Why'd I go out there on Hearth's Warming Eve? In therapy, I'd tell them it was to put the past to rest. Bitter Root? I told him it was research for an article based on his experience. But the truth?" She looked back at her friends, and a single cold tear slid down her face. "The truth is... I went out there to die."
The snow crunched under Apple Bloom's hooves as she made her way deeper into the frozen grove. Her breath steamed around her face as she panted. She'd been hiking for hours now, ever since she'd left the train's last stop at Apple Valley's Harvester Depot. She'd been the only passenger aboard, and the attendant had watched her leave with more than a little concern. She'd advised her to be careful, to tend to whatever business she needed to take care of, and to be waiting there the next morning when the train returned.
"Bad enough to be out here alone on Hearth's Warming Eve." The mare had said with a tip of her cap and a smile. "You definitely don't want to be out here longer than you need to on Hearth's Warming itself."
She'd thanked her for her concern and waited on the platform until the train vanished into the rolling white hills before heading out. The Depot was abandoned, left empty in the months between planting and harvesting seasons. She'd pulled her heavy cloak and saddle bags closer to her body and departed just as the sun was starting to set. The emerging stars and gleaming full moon had been her sole company on this, her last journey. She'd followed the path Bitter Root had shown her some months prior, keeping track of her progress through notches she'd placed in the trees when he hadn't been paying attention and using the light of the moon to guide her path. As night fully fell, the cold had really set in. To her frustration, Apple Bloom could feel the strain of the hike beginning to affect her the longer she carried on. In a different world, a different life, she would have grown up on the family farm. Would have developed the strong muscles and good cardio of a seasoned apple-bucker. Instead she'd come of age in a hospital, and several hours a day in a gymnasium last updated back before Princess Luna's banishment was no substitute for early morning chores and late evening strolls in the orchard.
She saw her next landmark and felt a pang of sadness. It was the marker that Sweetie Belle had written to her about. The marble pillar was three feet high and engraved with a number of familiar cutie marks. She stepped close and ran her hoof over them reverently before brushing the top clear of snow she she could read the dedication;
This is where the magic happened. This is where the magic lived. Dedicated to the memory of Ponyville, and all who dwelled therein.
She was in the town proper now, and she continued walking forward. By her reckoning, somewhere nearby had been Sugarcube Corner, where she and her friends had spent many an afternoon after school decompressing with a cold milkshake. Just over yonder must have been Market Square, where she and her siblings would set up every Sunday to hawk their latest harvest. Which meant that just a little further on...
She stepped into a circular clearing of trees. She stopped walking to catch her breath and looked around on wobbly legs. The trees around the clearing's perimeter stretched upwards and inwards, creating a natural dome with their bare branches. She shuddered at the image of the full moon overhead shining through leafless arms that, in this light, looked like so many exposed bones. This was the place where Bitter Root and his friends had made their camp. This was the place where no matter her best efforts, Princess Celestia could not fully cover up what had happened here.
Here had stood Ponyville's Town Hall.
Relieved that her journey was nearly at an end, Apple Bloom took the last few steps needed to reach the clearing's dead center. She sat back on her haunches, lifted her cloak, and reached into her saddlebag. Slowly, reverently, she removed the only two objects she's brought with her; a candle set on an iron stand, and a book of matches. She set the candle on the ground before her, pulled one match free, struck it, and used the flame to light the wick. It sparked to life, creating a tiny bubble or orange and red light. She watched the twin flames dance for a moment before extinguishing the match with a flick of her hoof and returning the remaining matches to her bags. Now alone with her candle, she settled in. She breathed the cold air in and out. She closed her eyes.
She waited.
...
She did not have to wait for long.
She opened her eyes and saw the thing watching her from just beyond the candle's light. Most of it was hidden in the dark, but she could still make out the general shape of an emaciated mare. She could see the glinting white of her teeth, and noted how her coat seemed to glow eerily in the black. Strangely, she found that she wasn't afraid. This was what she'd come here for, right? She watched as the figure raised her hoof, took a step into the light... and smiled at her. Apple Bloom, disappointed as she might be, did her best to return the smile. "Hi, Rarity."
Rarity continued to smile, to really smile, as she sat beside the candle. The candle's light seemed to have restored the former seamstress' original shape, though the shadowy pits under her eyes still flickered in the dance between light and darkness. "Hello, Apple Bloom." Her eyes flicked up to the top of the young mare's white crowned head. "I love what you've done with your mane, darling."
"Thanks." Apple Bloom watched Rarity shiver violently, saw how thin she was now. She wanted to say something, anything, but the words just wouldn't come.
Ultimately, it was Rarity who had to break the silence. "I'm not who you were hoping to see, am I?"
Apple Bloom swallowed hard and shook her head. "She's... they're not even here, are they?"
Rarity's smile faded, but the shadow of a rictus grin remained just under the surface. "No. No I'm afraid they're with him."
"Good." Apple Bloom nodded rapidly. "That... that'll make it easier then."
"Oh, Apple Bloom." Rarity sighed. "Why are you here?"
"I'm here because... because..." She sniffled, and not just from the cold. "Because I'm so tired of bein' alone. If... if he comes and he takes me, then at least... at least I'll be with them."
Rarity shook her head. "But you're not alone. You weren't the only one to get away, were you?" She looked back in the direction of the marble marker. "I saw Sweetie Belle not too long ago."
"You..." Apple Bloom wiped her muzzle. "You saw her?"
"Of course." Rarity smiled sadly. "We're always here, Apple Bloom. It's only on this night that we become knowable. That we can be seen and heard." The corners of her eyes crinkled, but no tears would fall. "She's grown into such a lovely young mare, hasn't she?"
"I... I haven't seen her." Apple Bloom admitted sheepishly. "Her or the others."
"Whyever not?" Rarity tittered, her form vibrating for a moment before she seemed to catch hold of her better self once more. "Apologies."
"It's not like I don't want to see her. Or Button Mash. Or Diamond Tiara. I'd love to see 'em. But..." She sighed, and stared at the ground. "But I can't."
"You can." Rarity admonished her. "There's no reason that..."
"It's my fault!" Apple Bloom screamed, and suddenly the clearing was filled with shadows. She couldn't make out their features, but she could see them. She could hear them. Their laughter. Their tears. Their agony. It ripped at her, tore at her, and she jumped to her hooves and spun around, trying to face and confess her sin to every stallion, mare, and foal she'd condemned. "I was the one who begged Applejack to let me have friends over that night! I was the one who split everypony away from their families on Hearth's Warming Eve! If I hadn't insisted, then everypony would've been safe at home! You all could've partied your hearts out and then come home to your little ones and had the best Hearth's Warming ever! But I was selfish! I was selfish and... and you... you all..." She fell next to the candle with a thump, weeping openly. "My fault." She whispered. "All my fault. If Silver Spoon hadn't been forced to come over, she wouldn't have started the fight with Scootaloo. And he... he would've just passed us by..." She coughed hoarsely and looked at the wraiths around her. "So that's why I'm here. I can't live like this anymore. I can't move on like Button Mash and Sweetie Belle have. I can't learn to live with it like Diamond Tiara did. I... I deserve to be punished. More than any of you did. More than my family did. I... I deserve... I deserve" She slumped. The words wouldn't come anymore. She looked up at Rarity. "I'm so sorry."
Rarity reached through the candle's flame and touched a hoof to Apple Bloom's head. It was freezing, but the young mare didn't shrink away. "You can't torture yourself over the past, Apple Bloom. You can't agonize over whys and wherefores and maybes. What happened, happened. No amount of hating yourself now could ever make up or undo what happened then. So you say that us being here is your fault?" Rarity looked around at her fellow wraiths. "Even if that were the case, there's not a one amongst us that would blame you. That would hold anything against you. You were a child, darling, and not even a bad one at that."
"I... I was selfish..."
"And who isn't a little selfish at this time of year? Take it from she who bore the Element of Generosity, Apple Bloom; it's okay to be selfish sometimes. Unfortunately..." She shuddered again, her form wavering with the rapidly diminishing candle. "Unfortunately we chose to be selfish at the worst possible time. But you? You're all grown up now." She withdrew her hoof. "It's time to stop being selfish."
Apple Bloom reached for her. "How am I...?"
"You were given a great gift, Apple Bloom. Life is the greatest gift of all. Your friends... Sweetie Belle... they haven't squandered that gift. You shouldn't either." A cold gust of wind rushed through the trees, nearly flattening the candle's flame. The Rarity she'd known was gone for a moment, and the eyeless, grinning ghoul that she was now stared at her from the darkness. The flame righted itself, and the mare was whole once more. "Applejack gave her life trying to save yours. Would throwing that life away now be honoring her memory in the slightest?"
Apple Bloom shivered. The air was getting colder. "N-No... No, it wouldn't."
"So go." Rarity's smile was as warm as the world around her was cold. "Go and live. Live for us. Please."
Apple Bloom looked around at the mass of shadows at the edge of the light. "Is there... is there really nothin' I can do for you? Nothing I can do to help you?"
Rarity's smile faded, but the rictus grin beneath became more pronounced. "I don't think there is. But knowing that Sweetie Belle is out there, that she's happy and thriving... that little bit of warmth will make this frozen hell worth it. And who knows?" She shrugged. "Perhaps one day he'll let us go." Her tone was flat. Not even she believed what she was saying.
"D-do you..." Apple Bloom coughed. It was freezing now. Every breath she took in felt like it was spreading icicles in her throat. "Do you want me to tell her anything?"
"Just that I'm proud of her. And I miss her terribly." Rarity's eyes, already fading away, flicked up and into the distance. "Apple Bloom..."
Apple Bloom heard the bells on the wind, and childish terror flooded her heart. "It's..."
Rarity bent towards the candle, now desperately fighting against the wind to stay lit. She gave Apple Bloom one last sad smile. "Run." She blew out the struggling light, and the haunting thing she had become vanished into the sudden darkness.
The bells became a cacophony of noise... and something landed behind her with such force that all the snow fell from the trees with a whoosh.
Apple Bloom ran.
She ran into where she knew the wraiths were, but she passed through them like a freezing mist. She could feel them. Their sorrow. Their misery. Their bitter tears soaked through her skin and she wept as she ran through them. She heard a sharp whine behind her and she ducked on instinct. Something long and covered with bells cracked the air where her head had just been and she doubled her speed. She left the clearing and felt the last traces of the citizens of Ponyville fade from the air. She ran, not knowing what direction she was going but only knowing she had to get away from what was behind her.
A foalish giggle came from her right, and she chanced a glance in that direction. A silver filly was keeping pace with her quite easily, running close enough that she could see her clearly in the moonlight. The filly giggled again as she turned her eyeless gaze on Apple Bloom, tears still running past the frames of the glasses she no longer needed. Apple Bloom stared in horror as Silver Spoon galloped alongside her.
And she was not alone.
Apple Bloom's ears were suddenly filled by the mixed laughter and sobs of a multitude of fillies and colts. She looked around wildly, praying that she would not trip over her own running hooves. They were all around her. A veritable herd of foals, the ones taken and made into his helpers, were running with her in some kind of marathon from hell. Their hooves made no sound in the snow, and she knew without looking down that they weren't even denting the white powder. It must have been a trick of the light, but she swore she could even see little shadows bounding from branch to branch in the trees around her. Her thoughts raced, trying desperately to figure out her next course of action. These childish things would never tire. She knew that. They would run her down and drag her back to...
The ground left her feet, and she cried out as she fell into open air.
Her flight didn't last long. She hit the slanted earth and grunted as the air was knocked from her lungs. She rolled along the snow, her cloak tearing as she collided with twigs and rocks. She finally slid to a stop and lay there, panting and moaning in pain, trying to catch her breath. She quickly realized that her panting breaths were the only sound she could hear. The helper's laughter was gone. So were their sobs. Somehow she'd lost them in her tumble down the hill. She knew they would find her quickly, though, so she forced herself to her hooves and shook off the snow. She had to get her bearings. Running in a panic like that had been stupid, but what else could she have done? All of her previous thoughts of surrender and suicide had been consumed by the stark terror of reality. The beast of her nightmares was once again breathing the same air she was. He was here. And, somehow, she knew he remembered her.
She briefly wondered if he kept some kind of list.
The thought made her laugh a little, and she coughed as he reached into her saddlebag for a match. She had to figure out where she was. Then she could make her way to the train depot and wait there until the morning train came. There were plenty of places to hide there. And maybe he wouldn't even pursue her there at all. Surely he had other foals to traumatize tonight...
She struck the match... and nearly shrieked when the grinning face of a ghoul shot at her from out of the darkness. It's rictus grin seemed to widen as it zeroed in on her, drawn like a moth to the flame she held. It came fully into the light... and stopped. It cocked it's head and giggled. It let out a kind of choked sob that somehow sounded like a sound of recognition. Then, before Apple Bloom's eyes, it changed. The light of her match seemed to paint over the emaciated frame, restoring it to that of a healthy pegasus filly. Violet eyes that Apple Bloom had not seen outside of dreams in almost ten years sparkled in the light. The thing smiled, really smiled, and extended a hoof.
Her terror forgotten for the moment, Apple Bloom did not hesitate in touching her free hoof to Scootaloo's.
The restored filly's ears flicked to the left, and her smile vanished. "I'll lead them off." Her voice was wavery and distant, like she was far away. "Keep quiet. Hide." She turned away from the flame, and from her friend. Her flank still bore no cutie mark. It never would. "I miss you."
"Scoots..." But she was gone already. Apple Bloom dropped the now sputtering match and wiped her eyes. She grabbed another and struck it, looking around for a tree she might have marked. She cursed under her breath when one did not appear, and she resolved to walk a hundred paces before trying again.
She quietly inched her way through the woods like that, using the matches as sparingly as she could. She lost track of time and distance. She froze at every snapped twig, strained her ears at every gust of wind. She vibrated with adrenaline, and sang snippets of Hearth's Warming carols under her breath in between whispered prayers to whatever powers might be listening.
A sudden rush of wind carried the familiar jingle of bells. Her breath caught in her throat, and she backed against a nearby tree in fear. To her surprise, she sank into it somehow. "It's hollowed!" She gasped, and before she had time to reconsider she had shoved herself fully into the hollow trunk. She wedged herself as far in as she was able and froze. She waited. The bells did not ring again. A cloud began crossing the moon, and total darkness began spreading through the woods. She started reaching for a match...
...and he appeared as the last of the light was vanquished, emerging from the shadow like he was part of them. She had a brief moment to recognize the midnight blue fur, the hooves black as pitch, and the impossibly huge horns that crowned his head. Then he was gone, and all she could see were the blazing embers of his eyes. She looked into those eyes for the first time since her foalhood, and she remembered, truly remembered, what it was to be afraid.
"Grogar..."
It came out as a choked moan, but still he seemed to hear it. The red eyes turned in her direction, and she heard the heavy trod as he took a step towards her. She heard the chains and bells singing their hellish song as he took another step. She was in the barn again, she realized. But this time Diamond Tiara wasn't here to help her spark friendship's flame. This time her older sister wasn't there to buy her time. This time there was nothing between the dark spirit of Hearth's Warming and the one who got away.
Grogar took another step, then stopped. The eyes that still looked in her direction narrowed, as though in confusion. He stayed that way, and she began to wonder if this was some new part of it. Perhaps it was the predator playing with its food. Another minute passed, and still the great ram did not move. Grogar rumbled deep in his throat, though what it meant she hadn't a clue.
A foalish giggle came in response, followed by another, and another. Apple Bloom stifled a gasp at how close the sounds were. It sounded like they were right next to her, right beside the tree in which she hid. The giggles became sobs and then were giggles again. Helpers. At least three, from the sound of it. And they were standing between her and Grogar. She couldn't see them. Try as she might, no matter how hard she strained her eyes, she couldn't make anything out in the darkness save the ram's fiery red eyes. What was happening? Were they somehow... blocking Grogar from seeing her? Standing between him and his prey?
Time stretched on. It might have lasted hours. More likely it was only a few seconds.
The great ram snorted with obvious irritation. He roared, a horrifying bestial noise that shook the very air. That roar seemed to fill the entire world. And then the eyes lifted into the sky, the belled chains cackling and clanking as Grogar took to the sky. Their laughter faded... and silence filled the night.
Apple Bloom let out the breath she'd been holding and started when the awful mixture of laughter and crying once again made itself known. She wasn't alone yet. Whatever had stopped Grogar from taking her was still there, mere inches away. She thought about reaching for another match, but her legs wouldn't move. The adrenaline was wearing off, and she could feel the mental and physical exhaustion of the evening crashing down on her. She didn't move as the trio stood there, unseen, filling the night with their sounds of joy and misery. One of the chorus broke away and came even closer. Apple Bloom closed her eyes and waited for whatever was to come, be it salvation or damnation.
"Be..." The voice of the filly was cracked from years of misuse, was younger than she'd ever heard in life, but she still knew it from the first syllable. "Be... good."
"Applejack..." Apple Bloom whispered, and then she was gone. Darkness took her, carried her down into the abyss where she knew no more. Whether it was sleep or death, she was beyond caring. Her sister's last whisper followed her as she descended.
Apple Bloom shifted as she dozed, then slipped from her hollow hiding spot and plopped into the snow. The sudden damp cold shocked her awake with a gasp and she looked around wildly. The sun was rising, casting the grove of apple trees in the orange-red of dawn. Her whole body was sore and stiff, and she groaned as she willed herself to stand. Despite her sleep, she was tired. More tired than she'd ever been in her life. She took a step and winced as her muscles screamed at her, but she still forced another one. And another. The going was slow, agonizingly so, but became easier as the blood flowed through her and the stiff joints began to loosen. She headed back the way she'd run, following the trail of broken branches and other evidence of her flight. Going back up the hill was the worst, but she managed to muddle through, somehow.
The sun had fully risen by the time she reached the clearing once again. She found the candle-stand covered with melted wax right where she'd left it, and she looked around for evidence of the others she'd seen the night before. There was nothing. Not a mark in the snow. They were gone, and yet she knew they were really all still here. Unknowable for another year. She sniffled as she returned the stand to her saddlebag. "I won't forget." She promised them. "I swear to you. I will never forget." A cold gust of wind rustled the branches above her, all the response she knew she'd ever get.
Something fell from above and sank into the snowbank. Intrigued, Apple Bloom trotted carefully over to where it had fallen and reached for it, lifting it to her eyes for closer inspection.
It was a bell. Shining and golden. It was cold in her hoof, and she shook it slightly. It made no sound, no ring. Engraved along the rim was a repeated phrase she knew all too well.
FOR GOODNESS SAKE
Nodding her understanding, Apple Bloom reverently placed the first gift she'd received on Hearth's Warming morning since foalhood in her saddlebag and set off for the train depot. As she made the long trek back, she wondered if the train was running late because of the holiday. And, if she indeed had to wait to for the evening stop to get aboard and begin her return journey to Manehatten, she wondered if she might be able to find some food stores in the depot to tide her over. She felt ravenously hungry. She took a deep breath of the crisp morning air and hummed a song to herself as she ambled on to her destination.
When the depot came in sight, she realized that the train indeed still ran on time on the holidays.
Deja vu washed over her as she approached the snow covered platform. She carefully stepped over the razor sharp icicles that had burst from the floorboards. She looked at the train, now covered in a thick layer of frost and ice, and desperately hoped that they had just been trying to get their run done early. She prayed that they hadn't returned early, before the sun rose, just in the hopes of surprising her and picking her up as a Hearth's Warming morning gift. How could they have known what had been waiting... and what a wrathful mood he must have been in at once again being denied his prey.
The engineer hadn't made it very far. All she could see was one of his legs sticking out of the snow that now packed the cabin. The attendant however, the one who had sent her off with a smile? She had apparently tried to run. She'd had enough time to know what was coming. She had been frozen mid-jump as she'd tried leaping from the train. Her rear hooves hadn't left the ground.
The look of fear etched forever on her face was something that Apple Bloom would never forget.
Diamond Tiara observed as Apple Bloom finished weaving her tale, something that had become a Hearth's Warming eve tradition in whatever house the make-shift family held their holidays each year. She sipped her cider and watched Apple Bloom's enraptured audience for their reactions.
It was the little orange filly who raised her hoof first. "Auntie Apple?"
"Yes, Pixel?" Apple Bloom acknowledged her with a nod.
"How did you get back home if the train was frozen?"
"Don't you remember? She told us last year." The male half of a pair of copper-coated twins rolled his eyes. He and his sister had just gotten their cutie marks the month before, so he was still in the phase of trying to show off how adult he was becoming. "She broke into the depot's telegraph office and called for help.
"Pence!" His sister punched his shoulder. "We want to hear Auntie Apple tell the story!"
"Bah bah bah bah." The tiniest of the four foals babbled, trying to mimic the scolding tone of the filly who held her.
"Penny, don't punch your brother." Diamond Tiara called out.
"Sorry, Mama." Penny called over her shoulder before sticking her tongue out at her twin. Pence returned the gesture, much to the little foal's delight.
"Dinner's nearly ready!" Button Mash bounded into the room and swept his little daughter out of Penny's lap. "Is my wittle Aqua behaving herself?"
Aquamarine squealed with glee and grabbed at the full beard that now hung from Button Mash's chin.
"She's going to keep yanking it if you don't stop her going for it like that." Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes good naturedly as she followed her husband out of the kitchen.
The stallion looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. "I could always get rid of it..."
Sweetie Belle's magic seized said beard and used it to pull his face to hers. "You wouldn't dare." She smirked before planting her lips on his.
The assembled foals all made exaggerated noises of disgust at the display of affection, making Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom share a look and a laugh. Time moved on, but some things stayed the same.
It seemed hard to believe it had been nine years since Apple Bloom had come back into their lives. Nine years since their strange little family really had come into being. Nine years of happy and joyous Hearth's Warmings. Nine years of prosperity and good times. Button Mash was now one of the top-selling novelists in Equestria, though his true passion was writing books of lore for the tabletop role-playing game he'd developed with Apple Bloom. Her first novel was on track to become quite the best-seller itself if the trades knew what they were talking about. Not bad for a former schlock-magazine writer. Sweetie Belle's crisis recovery center had just received another award from the city. And Diamond Tiara?
Diamond Tiara drank her cider and looked over at the filly and colt that had finally made her life complete. Pence and Penny were the last pieces of the puzzle she hadn't even realized she'd been working on. All of her charity work, all of her success in transforming her father's business trademarks into a nationwide retailer... it hadn't really meant anything until she had someone to share it with. So what if she wasn't going to be anyone's wife anytime soon? Adopting the twins, being a mother? That was what had made her whole. Apple Bloom had been the one to help her see that. All these years later, and she was still helping her friend find out what truly lay inside her heart.
"Ya'll better not be making a mess of my kitchen." Apple Bloom warned from her rocker beside the fireplace. In the dancing flames and the lights that blinked on the Hearth's Warming tree, her position and the stark white bun her mane was tied into gave her more than a passing resemblance to her grandmother.
"Oh, you mean like the one you made in mine last year?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"I cleaned it up..."
"And we'll clean yours... Auntie Apple." Sweetie Belle crossed the room and gave her oldest friend a nuzzle.
"Auntie Apple?" Pixel was the only foal still sitting in front of the mare. Aquamarine was still laughing in her father's grasp, and the twins had wandered over to the corner where Apple Bloom always kept a stash of toys for when the little ones came to visit. "Can I ask one more question?"
Apple Bloom chuckled as she leaned forward and spun the top of Button's old propeller hat. It looked good on the little filly. "A'course you can."
"Why do you tell that scary story every year?"
Apple Bloom's smile faded a little. "Because... because scary stories have their place."
Pixel cocked her head. "Even at Hearth's Warming?"
"Especially at Hearth's Warming." Sweetie Belle leaned down and nuzzled her daughter.
"Stories are how us big ponies best get lessons down to little ones like you." Apple Bloom closed the book on her lap and looked at the cover. A pair of blazing red eyes looked back at her. "Life is full of good things and bad things. Fun things and scary things. That's why there's fun stories..." She ran a hoof over the book's title; ‘A Hearth's Warming Horror Story’ by Apple Bloom Apple. "And there are scary stories. Because you little ones sometimes will heed the lessons of stories more than you will just a plain ol' talkin' to."
"So… what's the lesson in this story?" Pixel asked.
Sweetie Belle looked back at Apple Bloom. "Well, for me, I think the lesson is that we should never forget the true reason for Hearth's Warming. It's not the presents, the decorations, or the songs. It's not even really about the founding of Equestria. It's about the things that make us who we are at our core, and how we should never take things like friendship for granted."
"Not bad, dear. But I think the lesson is more about guilt." Button Mash chimed in, setting Aquamarine on the ground to crawl over to her waiting mother. "About how we can't let it eat us alive. Bad things happen, and sometimes they're our fault, but you can't let guilt over the past cost you your future."
"Hmph. I think it's about sacrifice." Diamond Tiara tipped her cup in Apple Bloom's direction. "Hearth's Warming is the season of giving, and that's hard for a lot of ponies. Because a lot of the time you have to sacrifice something you hold dear to make somepony else happy. That's not always fun, but sometimes? It's necessary. Especially at Hearth's Warming."
Apple Bloom smiled at her friends before looking back to Pixel. "Or maybe it's just fun to get scared at this time of year. The point of a story is that it's a story. It can be more... but it can never be less. Do you understand?"
Pixel smiled brightly. "I think so."
"That's my Pixie-Stick." Button Mash laid a hoof on her head and beamed at her.
The moment was broken by the sound of conflict in the toy corner. The grown ponies looked over to find Pence and Penny each holding a stuffed Nightmare Moon in a tangle of magical auras. "I don't want to be Princess Celestia! I want to be Nightmare Moon!" Pence argued.
"You're always Nightmare Moon!" Penny whined. "You have to let me have a turn!"
"You can be Nightmare Moon next time!"
"You said that last time! Let me have her!"
They yanked the toy between them, and the seams began to fray. Diamond Tiara stood up. "Pence! Penny! Be careful with Auntie Apple's..." But it was too late. With a great ripping sound, the toy was torn cleanly in half. Stuffing fell to the floor like snow.
Pence's magic faded and he bared his teeth at his twin as his half of the doll fell to the carpet. "Look what you did!"
"What I did?" Penny was incredulous. "You're the one who wouldn't let go!"
"You're the worst sister ever!" Pence lowered his horn like he was getting ready to charge.
"I wish I was an only foal!" Penny mirrored his stance.
"Wouldn't that be nice!? Maybe then I'd actually get to enjoy Hearth's Warming!"
"I'd rather never celebrate Hearth's Warming again than have to share it with you!"
They likely would have continued, maybe would have gotten into a full-on scrap that would have required their mother stepping and pulling them apart. Instead the fight was silenced by a single, twinkling chime that rang through the room. Silence fell at once, and the four older ponies looked with growing horror at the place where the sound had come from; the mantle above Apple Bloom's fireplace.
They moved quickly.
Diamond Tiara dropped her mug and bounded over to her children before forcing them together. "Pence, you apologize to your sister right now!"
Pence started to push away. "But Mom..."
"I said apologize!" She snapped, something she did infrequently because of how much she thought she sounded like her mother.
"I'm sorry, Penny." Pence pouted.
"Good. Penny, you apologize too."
"But I..." Penny's mouth snapped shut at the look in her mother's eyes. "Sorry, Pence."
"Very good." She practically dragged the twins to the center the of the living room. She grabbed a pair of pillows and tossed them onto the plush carpet. She gently pushed her children onto the make-shift pallet before laying down between them. "Let's just… let’s just cuddle for a little while, okay? It's getting cold." She nuzzled them each in turn before wrapping her legs around them and giving them a squeeze. "You two won't be small enough for me to do this much longer."
Pence and Penny shared a look, confused by their mother's behavior. Ultimately, there was no harm in a little cuddle. With a nod of silent agreement, they shrugged and got comfy in their mother's embrace.
Meanwhile Button Mash had scooped up his oldest daughter and carried her over to the couch. "Why don't we sing a Hearth's Warming carol with your mom before dinner?"
"Okay!" Pixel giggled. The grown-ups were all acting weird, but that was something she'd just gotten used to. Their behavior might have been a little scary, but Auntie Apple was right. It was a little fun getting scared sometimes. Especially on a night like tonight when nothing bad could happen.
Sweetie Belle was already laying on the couch, Aquamarine nestled against her and nursing contentedly. "Any requests?"
Pixel thought about it, then cried out excitedly. "Jingle Bells!"
Sweetie Belle's eye twitched, and she shared a look with her husband. "Of course." She muttered. Still she took a breath, and then she began to sing. Button Mash and Pixel joined in not long after.
Apple Bloom stayed in her rocker, her eyes hard and cold as she looked out the window. It had already started snowing tonight, and she watched the dancing flakes warily. She watched and she waited to see if the wind was going to start blowing harder. If the dancing snow would begin to flurry. If hard lines of frost were going to start spreading across the glass.
On Hearth's Warming Eve, four survivors, four friends, who had become a family took the steps necessary to defend their children from a force beyond imagination. They settled in for what might be a very long holiday night indeed. And why?
Because the sound they'd heard, just barely audible from where it had sat on the mantle for almost a decade, had been the ringing of a single bell.
