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Our Tradition

By ZigZagWanderer
Created: 2021-12-22 22:40:04
Updated: 2022-05-17 21:44:31
Expiry: Never
anonapplejackflutterrape

  1. >He was the only human in Equestria and he pulled a cart behind him as he trudged through the bitter cold that had froze over the street.
  2. >The cart was empty but he had been up before the sun so he could deliver pine trees to the doorsteps of customers all over Ponyville for Filthy Rich.
  3. >He’d seen the last snowflakes of that night’s blizzard fall before his eyes.
  4. >At times he had to push his cart up onto the snowbank so that the stallions coming by with their plows could push the snow off the street.
  5. >His body ached all over from cold and tiredness.
  6. >The cold had settled within his core and it burned dryly inside his chest whenever he breathed.
  7. >It felt like there was a big chunk of ice where his heart should have been.
  8. >He was only halfway back to Filthy Rich’s tree lot when he collapsed.
  9. >He sat there on his butt on the frozen ground, ignoring the ponies that were walking nearby, which were now either turning away or giving a wide berth to where he’d fallen.
  10. >He told himself he just needed a minute to lie down.
  11. >But it was hopeless for him: He was at his limit.
  12. >He did not know what he would have done if Applejack had not come when she did.
  13.  
  14. >The morning sun had risen but it was pale and cold, and by midday it would be covered by grey snow clouds.
  15. >He watched her through sunken, half-froze eyes as she tilted her hat back up over her brow and smiled.
  16. >It had been a long time since he had seen her from this angle, looking down at him.
  17. >He remembered back in spring when she used to find him napping in the sunshine on top of the green hills of Sweet Apple Acres.
  18. >She would tilt her hat back then too, and her green eyes would glow in the shadow that was cast on her face.
  19. >That was back when he used to work there, back when she loved him.
  20. >Before he had to break her heart.
  21. >He was closer to her than he was to anyone else, but he just could not bring himself to love a pony.
  22. >Things were better now.
  23. >She promised him that they could just be friends.
  24. >”You look like you could use a hand, partner,” Applejack said.
  25. >He closed his eyes and breathed out a great sigh of relief.
  26. I look that bad, huh?
  27. >“Not exactly how I would put it, but yeah.”
  28. I don’t care how you’re putting it. By this point, I’ll take it.
  29. >“Let me just stow my bags first. I’ll be back quicker than you can say applesauce.”
  30. >In a hoarse breath:
  31. Applesauce.
  32. >She rolled her eyes with a smile and went around to put her saddlebags in the cart.
  33. >He watched her.
  34. >They stopped in the street for some time so they could put the harness back on the cart.
  35. >He had unscrewed it earlier, as there had not been enough room for him to stand between the ends of the two wood poles and pull.
  36. >When they had finished they walked and talked in the street while she pulled the cart alongside him.
  37. >They walked among frozen lamps with their poles wrapped in frost-tipped garland and giant candy canes that stuck out over eight feet up in the air from within the snow banks.
  38. >Strings of colorful lights hung overhead, connecting each house to every other one on the street.
  39. >The windows were frosted over, but many of them were already glowing with firelight as the families inside gathered around their warm hearths.
  40. >The air was turning warm and merry.
  41. >Hearth’s Warming Eve was coming.
  42. >Applejack watched him as he pulled his gloves back over his hands.
  43. >He’d taken them off sometime during his deliveries when he had gotten too weak to keep a good grip on the cart with them on.
  44. >His fingers had soaked up hours of cold.
  45. >To her they looked as pink and tender and swollen as a bunch of piglet bellies after a suckling.
  46. >She shook her head slowly and pulled on the loose end of her lime-green scarf, making sure that it was tight around her neck.
  47. >“You know, I’ve said all my life that there was one day a year that I’d never work.”
  48. It’s your birthday, I’ll bet.
  49. >“Try again, smart guy. It’s Hearth’s Warming,” she said. “And for your information, I do work on my birthday. But I only get to do my favorite chores, like apple bucking.”
  50. And you make Big Mac feed the pigs, right?
  51. >“That’s beside the point,” she said. “All this month, I haven’t run into you once without seeing you with either a hammer in your hand or a cart behind you.”
  52. >He shrugged.
  53. Well, I keep busy.
  54. >“Don’t you tell me about keeping busy, partner. I know busy, and there’s a difference between keeping it and just being plain obsessed.”
  55. >He winced but kept his eyes forward.
  56. >“What’s that look mean?”
  57. I don’t think you’re really one to talk about anyone else being obsessed.
  58. >Her ears folded and a slight tinge of red was glowing on her cheeks, but she pressed on.
  59. >“Nuh-uh. You’re not getting out of this by bringing up our past this time, so just shut it.”
  60. Fine. . . . Sorry.
  61. >“It’s alright. Now, what I was sayin’ was . . .
  62. >Applejack pursed her lips, her face scrunching up at her forgetfulness.
  63. Did you lose your place?
  64. >“Gosh dangit! I swear I’m turning into Granny more and more every year.”
  65. You were talking about running into me a lot.
  66. >“I told you not to bring up our past.”
  67. I didn’t. You said I was working too much.
  68. >Applejack’s eyes shrunk in her head.
  69. >She folded her ears and looked away.
  70. >“Oh, right. Well, I am right about that.”
  71. You’re not going to lecture me, are you?
  72. >“Sure am. Think of it as payment for my helping you out right now.”
  73. Give me the cart back.
  74. >Soon he was rubbing the sore hand she had swatted back.
  75. >“Like I was saying, you’re working too much.”
  76. Working too much? I want to know who you really are and where you’re keeping Applejack prisoner.
  77. >“Take some time off. It’s the holidays, for pony’s sake,” she said, smiling. “You should be getting ready to celebrate, spending time with your friends.”
  78. And just what friends did you have in mind?
  79. >“You have to ask?” she said as she nudged him in the thigh with her elbow.
  80. I guess not.
  81. >“Well, you guessed right, sugarcube. I’d be happy to have you.”
  82. >Their eyes met for a moment but he turned away and looked down before him.
  83. >Silence fell between them after this.
  84. >Applejack regarded him, her ear twitching slightly before she went on.
  85. >“Trust me, it’ll be loads of fun over at the farm. I’ll give you a right proper Hearth’s Warming for your first time, Apple family style.”
  86. I’ll think about it.
  87. >“You don’t gotta think about it. Come on, join my family. I’ll even get Granny to make you a Hearth’s Warming doll.”
  88. A what?
  89. >“A Hearth’s Warming doll,” she said slowly, as though it were obvious.
  90. >He still looked confused.
  91. >“You put ‘em over the fireplace, to remind you of the warmth that the earth pony, unicorn, and pegasi shared on that first Hearth’s Warming.”
  92. Sounds like a fire hazard.
  93. >“It’s tradition is what it is.”
  94. Never heard of it. Sorry.
  95. >“You mean you don’t know anything at all about Hearth’s Warming? What did you do, spend every waking hour of this month working your butt off?”
  96. >He shrugged.
  97. >“And no pony has told you anything yet?”
  98. Nope.
  99. >“So that means . . .”
  100. >There was a pause before Applejack broke out into the biggest smile he had ever seen.
  101. >“That means I get to tell you all about the history of Hearth’s Warming--and before any pony else to boot!”
  102. >She reared back and waved her front legs about, whinnying in happiness.
  103. >“Yeehaw! I don’t know how you managed to avoid Twilight all this time, but I’m glad you did it.”
  104. >He was smiling now.
  105. Alright, lay it on me then.
  106. >Applejack did just that and soon he knew everything.
  107. >He knew of the three tribes, of the bitter ice of the Windigos and of the fire of friendship that drove away their cruel magical storm.
  108. >He knew about the flag raising, and of the three tribes coming together to make Equestria.
  109. You make it sound like there’s a reason for everything on Hearth’s Warming.
  110. >“Well I reckon there is.”
  111. So can you tell me why it has to snow so damn much on it?
  112. >“There’s a very good reason for it, actually,” she said. “It’s called winter.”
  113. >She looked up and saw his smile just briefly before he pushed her hat down over her eyes.
  114. >She heard him laughing as he ran up the street and she gave him chase and laughed with him.
  115. >When he could no longer hear her he turned around just in time to see a snowball go whizzing past his face, just inches away from hitting his cheek.
  116. >Their eyes met.
  117. >They regarded each other seriously for a moment.
  118. >Then they both quickly dropped down and began to scoop up snow, the two of them occasionally looking up to see how fast the other was going.
  119. >They ran and played all the rest of the way to Filthy Rich’s tree lot.
  120. >He parked the cart and went to help the other delivery ponies gather up the ropes and stakes and tree holders that littered the empty lot.
  121. >There was a mobile office nearby and on its door there was hung a Hearth’s Warming portrait of the Rich family.
  122. >Spoiled, Diamond Tiara, and Filthy, who was smiling the biggest of them all, were all dressed in festive green and red sweaters and every inch of the wool had been adorned with tiny silver bells.
  123. >They stood before a plastic hearth that had an electric fire inside of it and she could tell from the cheap gloss on the print that it was taken at the small photo studio in Barnyard Bargains.
  124. >She found Filthy Rich sitting down inside the office.
  125. >There was a large pile of bits before him on his desk and another stallion sat next to him and was carefully sorting through the pile.
  126. >She could hear the click clack of the stallion’s hooves typing on the adding machine as he counted out the bits and sorted them into different sacks.
  127. >“Hey there, Filthy Rich,” she said.
  128. >”Applejack, it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve, and I’m only asking for one thing this year. Just call me Rich, okay?”
  129. >”Sorry, I always forget. Do you have a second to talk?”
  130. >“Well, I suppose I do. Come in and sit down.”
  131. >She did so.
  132. >“All I’m doing is making sure that all my sales and finances are in order before I have to leave the tree business back in the capable hooves of the Whitetail Woods for another year.”
  133. >“So I take it that means you’re not going to have any more work for our friend out there?”
  134. >“Of course not. It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve, Applejack.”
  135. >Filthy Rich cleared his throat and leaned over his desk towards her.
  136. >“He didn’t put you up to asking me for more work, did he?”
  137. >“It’s nothing like that, Filth--”
  138. >She caught herself and covered her mistake with a fake cough.
  139. >“I mean, Mr. Rich. Why do you think he’d ask me to do something like that?”
  140. >“Because he had me book him for work all throughout the holidays. He took every job I offered him and still asked for more. And believe me, I had more for him. This is the busiest time of year for me.”
  141. >“I was just surprised to see him working today, considering that it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve.”
  142. >“I understand completely. I was surprised myself, actually.”
  143. >“What do you mean?”
  144. >“Well, I figured that he would want to spend his first Hearth’s Warming Eve with his friends, especially considering the hard news he had to take a few months back.”
  145. >Applejack nodded solemnly, and silence reigned for a moment.
  146. >All throughout the spring and summer, Twilight had tried her best to find a way to send him back to his home.
  147. >But it was no use.
  148. >It was hidden out there among the stars, and neither he nor any pony else had any idea how he had even ended up in Equestria.
  149. >Even if they could somehow send him by using magic there were no guarantees that he would survive the rough journey.
  150. >As it was now, there was no way to send him back.
  151. >He could never go home.
  152. >The lever of the adding machine was pulled down and she heard the click clack of the stallion’s hooves as he typed.
  153. >Mr. Rich nodded to himself.
  154. >“So I told him that he could take today off if he wanted to. I even offered to pay him still. All this month he’d been doing the work of three ponies all by himself. I thought he deserved it.”
  155. >“And he told you no?” Applejack said.
  156. >“Sure did. He turned me down flat.”
  157. >“But why would he do that?”
  158. >“I don’t know, but he insisted on working for me. He wanted to do it. He even offered to stay after his deliveries were done and help sweep up all the pine needles that had fallen all over the lot.”
  159. >“I don’t suppose you took him up on that.”
  160. >“Turned him down flat. Our friend out there is the hardest worker I’ve met in years. But for now, he’s free.”
  161. >They both turned towards the window and looked out at the vacant lot.
  162. >Every pony was lining up outside the mobile office, waiting to collect their pay.
  163. >He wasn’t there.
  164. >“Could you do me a favor?” Mr. Rich asked her.
  165. >A large pouch full of bits was deposited into Applejack’s hooves and she whistled in awe at the heft of it.
  166. >“He worked enough to make all this money?”
  167. >“Sure did,” Mr. Rich said.
  168. >“Are you sure you counted this right? If I wanted to make this much by selling apples, I’d need more than thirty days in a month.”
  169. >“He did it in twenty-four.”
  170. >“He’s working too darn hard.”
  171. >“I’m glad you agree.”
  172. >Mr. Rich’s demeanor turned solemn.
  173. >“I’m not trying to pry, but have you noticed anything that might be bothering him at all?”
  174. >“I don’t think so. Why?”
  175. >“I just thought I’d ask. At first I thought he was taking so many jobs because he needed the money, but after a while I wasn’t so sure anymore.”
  176. >“Are you worried about him?”
  177. >“I was a little bit, but there’s nothing to worry about if you haven’t noticed anything. After all, you know him better than any pony else.”
  178. >“Right. . . .”
  179. >A lump formed in her throat when she said this, and she hastily nodded to cover her swallowing it up.
  180. >“I guess that’s true, isn’t it?”
  181. >Mr. Rich smiled.
  182. >“Give him a happy Hearth’s Warming, Applejack. He deserves it.”
  183. >“I surely will. Thank you, Mr. Rich.”
  184.  
  185. >His back was towards her and she began crossing the lot to reach him.
  186. >A line of stallions from the rental company pulled the empty carts out of the lot in a procession as they filed into the street.
  187. >He stood stiffly to the side and watched them go, his hands jammed into his pockets.
  188. >His legs shook, not from the cold but deliberately so.
  189. >Granny would have called him antsy, but Applejack didn’t know what to call it.
  190. >She felt like she hardly knew him at all these days.
  191. >They used to spend every day together on the farm.
  192. >Now they never saw each other anymore, not unless she ran into him in town.
  193. >Even then he only ever talked to her for a few minutes, and he was always on the move towards his next job.
  194. >He never stopped anymore, not even for her.
  195. >It ate her up inside to think about his uncomfortable silence when she invited him to spend Hearth’s Warming Eve with her family.
  196. >She could remember a time not long ago when he never would have had to think about spending time with her and her family.
  197. >He would have just been there.
  198. >That was before they had taken their camping trip to Winsome Falls.
  199. >Before she had fallen in love with him.
  200. >And now, though things hadn’t worked out like she had wanted between them, and even though they had agreed to remain friends, she felt further away from him than she ever had before.
  201. >They’d been best friends once.
  202. >But now they were drifting apart.
  203. >He gave her the briefest of side glances before he nodded his head and directed his gaze back forward.
  204. >“You ready to go yet, partner? Every pony else is.”
  205. Actually, I wanted to ask Mr. Rich if he’s got any last minute work I can--
  206. >”Let me just stop you there, because he ain’t got nothing else for you. You’re finally off. I even got your pay for you right here with me.”
  207. >His hands gave slightly at the weight of the pouch and he eyed it with astonishment.
  208. What’d you do, rob him?
  209. >“That’s all for you. Didn’t you know how much was coming to you?”
  210. I must’ve lost track after a while.
  211. >She playfully nudged his leg with her elbow.
  212. >“Let’s go spend some of that hard-earned cash. We got time enough to spend getting that gloomy old place of yours looking all pretty for Hearth’s Warming.”
  213. I’m kind of tired.
  214. >“No, you ain’t. You were just asking for more work a second ago.”
  215. >He smiled and shrugged.
  216. I wasn’t tired then.
  217. >“Aw, come on, partner, I want to do some last minute shopping with you. We got until midday before Granny wakes up from her nap, and that’s when Hearth’s Warming really begins over at the farm.”
  218. >She felt her next question stick in her throat for a moment before she cleared it.
  219. >“You are still thinking about coming over for Hearth’s Warming Eve, right?”
  220. Yeah, I was.
  221. >“You can just drop by whenever you want. You don’t have to announce it. Just come by.”
  222. I know that. I’m just not up for it right now, Applejack.
  223. >“So you’re not coming then. . . .”
  224. >She folded her ears and looked away from him.
  225. Hearth’s Warming at the farm with you sounds fun, it really does. But I’m going to have to take a rain check, at least for now.
  226. >“It’s fine.”
  227. >She let out a heavy sigh, so heavy that her shoulders sagged down.
  228. Are we still cool?
  229. >“It’s just . . .”
  230. >She turned on him suddenly.
  231. >“You know, you can just say it if you don’t want to celebrate Hearth’s Warming with me.”
  232. It’s not that. I’ve just been busy. I’m tired, I had things to do.
  233. >“I’d just understand it is all, if that were why . . .”
  234. I’m serious. Applejack. It’s not because of you. I do want to spend time with you.
  235. >“Then what is it?”
  236. >The last of the stallions filed into the street and the two of them stood there alone.
  237. If I tell you, you’ll just get mad. And don’t say you won’t, because I know you will.
  238. >“I won’t get mad at you.”
  239. I knew you’d say that, too.
  240. >“Look, I just want to know why. Just tell me, as your friend.”
  241. >He rolled his shoulders, a mix between a groan and a sigh escaping from beneath his weariness.
  242. I’m not celebrating Hearth’s Warming this year.
  243. >“I already know that. It wasn’t even a minute ago that you turned me down on that one.”
  244. No, I mean not at all.
  245. >Her words came out in a slow drawl.
  246. >“Just what do you mean?”
  247. I’m not celebrating Hearth’s Warming at all this year. I’m skipping it.
  248. >Slowly, she knit her brow and fixed him in a hard stare.
  249. >“You’re joking, right?”
  250. Man, I knew you’d be mad.
  251.  
  252. >She was slumped forward in her seat and lying on the kitchen table, her arms tucked beneath her chin and her eyes hidden beneath her hat brim’s shadow.
  253. >Of course she was not able to get a straight answer out of him before she let him go.
  254. >He had been tired.
  255. >She’d seen the haggard look on his face when he had collapsed in the snow.
  256. >But all he’d told her before he left was that he had things to do.
  257. >Of course he didn’t say what those things were, but they seemed important to him.
  258. >Were they more important than spending Hearth’s Warming Eve with her?
  259. >Who knew? It’s not like he would have told her.
  260. >He never told her about anything anymore.
  261. >High squealing laughter and rich deep chuckling, coming respectively from Apple Bloom and Big Mac, reached her from across the kitchen table.
  262. >She did not stir; she only sighed to herself.
  263. >“Keep going, Big Mac,” Apple Bloom said. “I want to see a Hearth’s Warming photo that’s got all of us in it.”
  264. >“Eeyup.”
  265. >Midday was past and, while waiting for Granny to awake, Big Mac had blown the dust off their old weathered scrapbook of Apple family photos.
  266. >Most of the pictures were well familiar in the memories of those present.
  267. >But the old ones were in black and white and they had not been taken out from their yellowish plastic sleeves in decades.
  268. >Granny’s aid was required to hear their stories told.
  269. >“Wait, Big Mac, there’s one,” Apple Bloom said. “That’s the time we spent Hearth’s Warming Eve at Twilight’s castle with every pony else in town.”
  270. >“Eeyup.”
  271. >“I can’t believe Starlight Glimmer almost didn’t want to celebrate . . .”
  272. >There was a regretful silence.
  273. >“Let’s find a different one, Big Mac.”
  274. >She heard them flip rapidly through the plastic pages but Apple Bloom’s mistake had helped her to refocus her mind.
  275. >She just couldn’t believe that he did not want to celebrate Hearth’s Warming.
  276. >He was going to be all alone in that gloomy old house of his.
  277. >Would he really rather have done that then spend the holiday with her?
  278. >She had steeled her tender heart and asked him outright if she was the reason he didn’t want to come and spend the holiday with them.
  279. >He’d said no.
  280. >Could he have lied to her?
  281. >He had never done so before, but so many things had changed between them.
  282. >It was no longer impossible for her to imagine.
  283. >“Look, here’s the time we all went to Canterlot to see the Hearth’s Warming Pageant,” Apple Bloom said.
  284. >“Eeyup.”
  285. >“And you were one of the leads, Applejack. Don’t you remember?”
  286. >She felt Apple Bloom gently nudging her shoulder.
  287. >But all it took was one look from up beneath her hat to get her little sister to stop.
  288. >She watched as Apple Bloom folded her ears and slowly sank back into her chair.
  289. >Applejack’s heart stirred.
  290. >She sighed and sat up and tilted her hat back so that it sat over her brow.
  291. >“I’m sorry, y’all. I guess I just ain’t in the holiday spirit yet.”
  292. >Apple Bloom, who took after Granny in her slyness, began rubbing her chin with her hoof and said slowly:
  293. >“You know, Applejack, I got you an extra special present this year for Hearth’s Warming. I’ll let you open it now if you want.”
  294. >Applejack grinned and began roughing up Apple Bloom’s mane, removing any sense of being in charge that the filly may have had.
  295. >“Come on, Applejack, quit it.”
  296. >“Special gift or not, you know we don’t open any presents until Hearth’s Warming, sugarcube.”
  297. >Apple Bloom batted her sister’s hoof away and, catching each other’s eyes, they both began chuckling.
  298. >“Well, maybe we can put our Hearth’s Warming dolls up now,” Apple Bloom said.
  299. >“Just hold your horses. Granny will be up soon, and then we’ll do it. We ain’t breaking tradition.”
  300. >“I know that. You were just acting so mopey all this time that I thought doing some Hearth’s Warming stuff might make you feel better.”
  301. >She looked from Apple Bloom to Big Mac, who answered her:
  302. >“Eeyup.”
  303. >“I appreciate it,” she said. “Really, I do.”
  304. >“It’s not working, is it?” Apple Bloom said.
  305. >“Sorry, Apple Bloom. But I just can’t stand the thought of him spending his first Hearth’s Warming all alone when he could be spending it with us.”
  306. >Big Mac looked at her.
  307. >“Maybe he wants to spend it alone.”
  308. >“No way!” Apple Bloom said, turning on him.
  309. >“That’s right,” she said. “There’s a time for being alone, and this ain’t it. Hearth’s Warming just ain’t the same if you don’t have anyone to celebrate it with you.”
  310. >The table grew silent, and a thought entered her mind.
  311. >“I told him all about Hearth’s Warming today, about the three tribes, the Windigos, all the history. But I didn’t tell him about the most important part of Hearth’s Warming.”
  312. >She slid the scrapbook across the table, bringing it close to her, and flipped through the pages.
  313. >“I didn’t tell him about making traditions together, or about getting to spend time with your family every year, and showing everyone that’s close to you that you . . .”
  314. >She stopped when her eyes fell on a picture of the two of them together.
  315. >They were lying down next to each other on a grassy hill over at the furthest end of their orchard.
  316. >She remembered.
  317. >They still had over three days of work left before the end of spring harvest.
  318. >Over a hundred trees to buck, somewhere around five-hundred apples to take in.
  319. >But he still bet her that he could reach Ol’ Bloomy, which was always the last tree that got bucked every harvest, by sundown.
  320. >‘It ain’t gonna happen,’ she had told him. ‘I’ll end up carrying you all the way back to the farm.’
  321. >But he worked like mad, grabbing and pulling down apples that he was finding behind the leaves before he even saw them.
  322. >Working with both hands, like a man possessed.
  323. >He sprinted from tree to tree like this, carrying the ladder he used to reach the apples up on his back.
  324. >He was going at a speed that shouldn’t have been possible, keeping up a pace that was beyond anything.
  325. >She was stunned when, for the first time ever, he had picked more apples faster than her.
  326. >‘Come on, Applejack. You’re supposed to be better than me at this, ain’t ya?’
  327. >That was the first time he had ever surprised her, and though she seldom saw it, she grew to love it whenever he was full of energy like this.
  328. >And she decided to meet his challenge.
  329. >She could still hear their haggard breathing together when she looked at the picture.
  330. >Their eyes closed, their weary smiles that were all smudged with dirt.
  331. >Their arms wrapped around each other, with his around her shoulder and hers just barely able to reach around his hot sweaty neck.
  332. >Her eyes fell down on the white space at the bottom of the picture where Granny had written something as a joke.
  333. >‘Partners in Crime’
  334. >“Applejack . . . ?” Apple Bloom said. “You know you’re staring at it, right?”
  335. >That’s what Hearth’s Warming was about.
  336. >It was about showing them that you love them.
  337. >Big Mac nodded.
  338. >“She knows.”
  339. >She slammed the scrapbook shut and pushed her chair back.
  340. >“I’ve made up my mind. I need to go and check on him.”
  341. >Apple Bloom and Big Mac both groaned.
  342. >“Come on, Applejack, don’t leave,” Apple Bloom said.
  343. >“I’ll be right back, sugar cube,” she said. “I just need to tell him what Hearth’s Warming is really all about before I can let this go. I want him to know just what it is that he’s missing out on.”
  344. >“How do you know he doesn’t know already?”
  345. >“I don’t. But he’s going to hear it from me whether he wants to or not.”
  346. >She went to the living room and took her scarf down from where she’d hung it up by the door.
  347. >Big Mac stared at her.
  348. >“Applejack.”
  349. >“I know what you’re thinking, but you don’t have to worry. I’m just going to talk to him. I ain’t gonna do anything crazy, or try to force him to do anything he don’t want to.”
  350. >“And you ain’t going to get applesauce brains again, right?” Apple Bloom said.
  351. >Applejack huffed and rolled her eyes.
  352. >“No, I ain’t going to do that neither.”
  353.  
  354. >Apple Bloom had come up with the term applesauce brains.
  355. >It described Applejack’s mindset whenever her sister’s love for him had so fogged up her mind that it led to her doing something stupid.
  356. >Like breaking into his house, which she found was still the only one on his street that had no Hearth’s Warming decorations up.
  357. >She frowned and made note of this as she dug around in the snow beneath his kitchen window, in search of his spare key.
  358. >She had knocked on his door earlier, but he was either ignoring her or he was out somewhere, even though he had said that he was tired.
  359. >His door was the only one she knew of in town that was always locked, and it was thanks to Fluttershy that she knew where his spare key was hidden.
  360. >Her friend had gotten the information from some mice that lived nearby.
  361. >All Applejack had to give her in return was an antique pair of knitting needles that Granny hadn’t used in years.
  362. >This had all happened months ago, back in summertime.
  363. >When Granny did find out, she made her be the supervisor for that year’s Granmare’s Trip to Las Pegasus.
  364. >It was one of her more regrettable applesauce brains moments, which there were plenty of to choose from during that summer.
  365. >Years ago she had once heard Rarity gushing about love.
  366. >She said that love was being swept up in passion without realizing it.
  367. >Applejack had snickered when she’d first heard this.
  368. >But she had never been in love before she met him, and now she understood.
  369. >Thinking back on the things she had done to try and win his heart, she hardly recognized herself.
  370. >She remembered one time, when he was out doing odd jobs, she went into his bedroom and was lying on his bed in wait for him.
  371. >She didn’t like the trail of rose petals that was supposed to lead him to her though--an idea of Rarity’s.
  372. >She replaced them with apple slices instead, to remind him of all the good times they’d had on the farm together.
  373. >After he asked her to leave, she tried again the next day, but including the rose petals that time ended up making little difference.
  374. >Though she hardly saw why this was the case.
  375. >Despite her infatuation, she still considered most romance--especially the grand gestures--to be silly.
  376. >She had only gone through with them because that was what you were supposed to do.
  377. >Rarity used to complain that she approached romance like it was her work, as though there was scarcely a difference between love and apple bucking.
  378. >She was hopeless in this regard–all love with no passion for it.
  379. >The summer had gone on like this and she had put him through a lot more headaches than just trying to seduce him in his own home.
  380. >So when Twilight told him that fall that there was no way to send him home, and when he needed her friendship most, she felt like she needed to be there for him.
  381. >They patched things up, and she promised him that they would remain as friends, nothing more.
  382. >They even talked of taking another trip to Winsome Falls sometime before winter arrived, just the two of them.
  383. >But no plans were ever made and it never happened.
  384. >She eventually found his spare key and, after sweeping away the tracks she’d left in the snow, unlocked his door and went inside.
  385. >The house was dark but there was a faint glow coming from down the hall.
  386. >The fireplace had been lit: his hearth was warm.
  387. >There was a swishing sound behind her when she closed the door and she saw that a wreath had been hung up on the coat hook.
  388. >She smiled.
  389. >He had decorated a little.
  390. >She began calling out to him.
  391. >“Hello? . . . It’s just me. . . .”
  392. >No answer.
  393. >“Your door was unlocked . . . somehow.”
  394. >She eased down the hall on gentle hooves, towards the faint glow.
  395. >There was a picture hung up in the hall that was not there when she had last been to his house.
  396. >How far back was that now?
  397. >It couldn’t have been way back in fall, could it?
  398. >And it’d been even longer since he had come to see her at the farm.
  399. >She ignored her heartache and looked up at the picture, squinting so she could see it better in the dark.
  400. >It was a picture of him and her and the rest of her family that had been taken during their spring camping trip to Winsome Falls.
  401. >She felt her breath catch in her throat; she’d completely forgotten that he had these.
  402. >That trip was the most fun she’d had all year.
  403. >In the picture they were standing at their campsite, the rainbow-colored falls running behind them.
  404. >She remembered how they all slept in their sleeping bags by the campfire that night.
  405. >She was the only one that was awake still.
  406. >She sat up for most of the night and watched him sleep.
  407. >Inside her heart she felt things she had never felt before, like she was all mixed up inside.
  408. >It felt good, but it also confused her.
  409. >She watched the firelight as it danced on his face, making it glow.
  410. >Then she asked herself a simple question.
  411. >Would this trip still have been perfect if he had not been there with her?
  412. >She knew the answer immediately, could feel the glow of it in her heart before even thinking about it.
  413. >The way she felt then, she wished she could feel that way forever.
  414. >And all at once she realized that the two of them were changing and she smiled and turned to look up at the quiet fire of the stars in the nighttime sky.
  415. >She was wondering what he would say to her in the morning, what she would say to him.
  416. >Where were all these warm and mysterious feelings leading the two of them?
  417. >Now the glow from the hearth was calling her forth.
  418. >With an effort, she turned away from the picture and she moved on light hooves into his living room.
  419. >When she saw what it had become, the things he had done, she gasped.
  420. >A great fire burned red and high in the fireplace and under the garland-wrapped blades of the ceiling fan the tree was decorated with red holly and heavy crimson bulbs.
  421. >Presents were piled beneath the tree.
  422. >The mantelpiece was covered with a fluffy white cotton cloth but no dolls were set on it.
  423. >All she found on it was a keyring, none of the keys which she recognized.
  424. >She read the plastic tag that was on the ring:
  425. >‘Free Oil Change After Ten Visits’
  426. >She placed the keyring back where it had been and, when she saw all the work he’d done to make his home feel so festive, she folded her ears.
  427. >So she had been right: He didn’t want to celebrate Hearth’s Warming with her.
  428. >Everything he had told her about skipping the holiday--they’d just been lies.
  429. >Then her mind returned to the presents.
  430. >Just who were they all for?
  431. >She brushed off the tinsel that had fallen onto them from the branches above and picked one up.
  432. >She read the tag on it:
  433. >‘For: Applejack’
  434. >Her breath caught in her throat.
  435. >She could hardly believe it.
  436. >She brought the tag up close to her face and read it over and over again just to make sure that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
  437. >But they were not: the gift was for her.
  438. >He had gotten her a gift for Hearth’s Warming.
  439. >Her eyes glowed with admiration at the plainly-wrapped box she held in her hooves.
  440. >“Well I’ll be . . .”
  441. >Then she shook the box.
  442. >It sounded hollow inside.
  443. >She scrunched her muzzle.
  444. >Empty?
  445. >No, there must be something in it.
  446. >She shook it harder
  447. >She thought she heard something rattling, but she realized that the noise was not coming from inside her present.
  448. >The key was turning in the lock at the front door, and with her right in the middle of something she wasn’t supposed to have seen.
  449. >Applejack felt her heart sink like a stone.
  450. >“Oh applesauce!”
  451. >She threw her present back and trotted to the hall.
  452. >If she could just make it to the hall closet, then she could hide in there and sneak out later when she was alone again.
  453. >It was something she had done plenty of times before, mostly with success.
  454. >She opened the closet door and was greeted with a tower of precariously stacked boxes that reached over her head.
  455. >They were full of tinsel, garland, bulbs, wreaths and all sorts of other messy Hearth’s Warming decorations that had been stuffed in there.
  456. >And they were all tipping over onto her.
  457. >Just as the front door was opening.
  458. >“Oh sweet applesau--!”
  459. >She was buried beneath a loud crash, an avalanche of Hearth’s Warming decorations piling down on top of her.
  460. >The first thing she saw when he lifted the box off her head were his pursed lips looking down at her.
  461. >Past experience helped her recognize this as his annoyed look.
  462. >Lesser men would have shouted at her then, maybe even thrown her out or been rough with her.
  463. >But he had never been that way.
  464. >Even when she’d been at her worst he had never exploded with anger or lashed out at her.
  465. >Bigger Mac, she sometimes called him, because of his immense calm.
  466. I thought the days of you breaking into my house and making a mess for me to clean up were over.
  467. >“They are,” she said with a growl.
  468. >She was buried up to her neck and was trying to rise up from the mess she was in.
  469. >But a bunch of hooks and sharp points from the broken bulbs were poking her in the back whenever she moved.
  470. >“And I thought I told you to stop bringing up our past,” she said as she struggled.
  471. You’re talking like you’re mad at me.
  472. >“You’re darn right I’m mad at you.”
  473. >She struggled again, but she just could not get up on her own.
  474. >“You lied when you said--Ow!”
  475. >A hook poked into her skin just above the neck.
  476. >She snarled up towards him.
  477. >“Would you hurry up and help me get out of here already?!”
  478. >He cleared enough of the pile for her to roll out and tumble facefirst onto the floor.
  479. >She felt much more assured once she was on her hooves.
  480. >Though the tinsel that was stuck in her mane and tail was a bit distracting to her.
  481. >“You lied to me. You said you weren’t going to celebrate Hearth’s Warming.”
  482. So you broke into my house.
  483. >“I did. And what did I find? Sure doesn’t look like you ain’t celebrating Hearth’s Warming. Heck, you could host a Hearth’s Warming party in this place.”
  484. Applejack . . .
  485. >He slowly wiped his face with his hand and sighed.
  486. Applejack, you said you weren’t going to do things like this anymore.
  487. >She remembered.
  488. >Remembered it like it was a fiery red poker that’d been stabbed into her heart.
  489. You promised me that we could still be friends.
  490. >She took her hat off and looked regretfully down at the floor.
  491. >“I know I did. Look, I’m sorry I did it, okay?”
  492. Then why are you here?
  493. >“Because I didn’t want you to celebrate Hearth’s Warming alone. It just ain’t the kind of holiday for being by yourself. I came here because I needed you to know that Hearth’s Warming is about being with your family and--”
  494. I know that. You didn’t need to come tell me.
  495. >She sighed.
  496. >“I guess I was worried about you.”
  497. You don’t have to be.
  498. >“I know, and I’m really sorry. I’ll go, if that’s what you want.”
  499. >He said nothing as she hung her head down and trudged past him.
  500. Wait. Don’t leave yet.
  501. >She’d gone halfway to the door but turned around hopefully.
  502. >“Really?”
  503. Clean up this mess first, then you can go.
  504. >Her ears folded.
  505. >“Oh, right.”
  506. >The two of them took opposite ends of the pile and began storing the decorations back into their boxes.
  507. So how did you get in this time?
  508. >“Your spare key.”
  509. Makes sense. How long have you been keeping that one up your sleeve?
  510. >“It’s just something I knew from the old days. I really was just worried about you. I’m telling you the truth. Don’t you believe me?”
  511. >He looked at her for a moment before turning back down towards the mess.
  512. Yeah, I do.
  513. >“Thanks, partner.”
  514. Well, I know there ain’t no stopping you when you’ve got something you want to tell somebody.
  515. >“Aw, come on, now you’re sounding like Big Mac.”
  516. You didn’t have to break in, you know. You could have at least waited out on my porch for me to come home.
  517. >“If it was as warm out there as it is in here, I might’ve done that.”
  518. >He smirked.
  519. Yeah, if only.
  520. >“I also wasn’t sure if you were out or not.”
  521. Didn’t you try knocking?
  522. >“Well, yeah, I tried knocking but . . .”
  523. But what?
  524. >“Well, I thought maybe you were ignoring it because it was me.”
  525. >The rustle of tinsel and garland and bulbs being moved had stopped.
  526. >Their eyes met.
  527. You really thought that?
  528. >She said nothing, only nodded regretfully.
  529. >“Earlier today, you told me that you did want to spend time with me. Was that true? Because lately I feel like we haven’t . . .”
  530. >She looked away from him.
  531. >“Well, you know.”
  532. >He was silent.
  533. >Then he said to her:
  534. It’s not Hearth’s Warming.
  535. >She turned towards him.
  536. >“What’s not?”
  537. What I’m doing, what I’m celebrating–it isn’t Hearth’s Warming.
  538. >“You sure about that?” she said, gesturing to the mess of ornaments lying before them.
  539. Remember when I told you about how a lot of things here in Equestria were the same back where I come from?
  540. >“I sorta remember.”
  541. >He rarely ever talked about his home and she almost never brought it up.
  542. >“Why?”
  543. >He picked up a green bulb that was cracked slightly and held it before her eyes.
  544. All this stuff, these decorations, we have a lot of it back where I’m from too. I picked out the stuff that we had the same of back home, and I decorated for something else.
  545. >“Something else?”
  546. >Applejack’s ear flicked his way and she leaned forward.
  547. >”What else is there?”
  548.  
  549. >She enunciated it slowly, the word sounding foreign on her tongue:
  550. >“Cris-Muss?”
  551. >He heard her from the kitchen.
  552. Nope. Try again.
  553. >She huffed to herself, having lost count of how many times she’d said the word.
  554. >“Chris-Mass . . . ?”
  555. >He was holding two glasses when he returned from the kitchen.
  556. >She looked up at him.
  557. >“Chris-Mass. There, I said it.”
  558. Yeah, you did.
  559. >“I knew it.”
  560. >She smiled as he set the glasses on the table before them and joined her on the couch.
  561. >“I told you I would get it.”
  562. That was a little closer that time.
  563. >“What the--? You mean it still don’t sound right?”
  564. Not really.
  565. >“But I’m saying it just like you did. It ain’t like we speak a different language.”
  566. Just keep practicing, you’ll get it.
  567. >“Oh, just forget it. I’ll leave saying it to you.”
  568. >They turned to look at each other.
  569. Christmas.
  570. >“Chris-Mass.”
  571. Christmas.
  572. >“Chris-Muss!”
  573. >He smiled.
  574. You’re saying it like--
  575. >“I know how I’m saying it!”
  576. >He laughed as she broke away from him and sank down into her seat, her arms crossed and her muzzle scrunching.
  577. You’ll get it. Have some of your drink, it’ll get you in the holiday spirit.
  578. >“I don’t want any right now,” she huffed.
  579. >She peered out from under her angry brow and scanned the room, all decorated in lights, holly and tinsel.
  580. >“So just what is this Cri-mass about anyway?”
  581. It’s pretty much the same idea as Hearth’s Warming. Peace on Earth, goodwill towards men. You know, all that kind of stuff.
  582. >“Where did it come from, though? Why do you celebrate it?”
  583. You mean you want to know the history?
  584. >“Well, yeah. I don’t think you’d have any Windigos back home. Were there three different tribes of humans that didn’t like each other?”
  585. No, nothing like that.
  586. >“Then what is the story? Why do you put up a tree on Chris-Mass? Why do you give each other presents?”
  587. I hate to disappoint you Applejack, but I have no idea.
  588. >She wrinkled her brow.
  589. >“You don’t know? How could you not know? It’s your own holiday, for pony’s sake.”
  590. I don’t know. I never really looked into its history or anything. I know a few general things but nothing really in depth. Not like you do with Hearth’s Warming.
  591. >“Well didn’t you celebrate it with your family? Didn’t they ever tell you anything about it?”
  592. I mean, they might have if I had asked, but I’m not even sure if they would have known for sure.
  593. >“Their grandparents never told them? Did they ever even ask their grandparents about it?”
  594. Sorry, Applejack, but I just don’t know. We mostly celebrated Christmas every year because it was fun.
  595. >“So it was a tradition to celebrate it just because . . . it was tradition?.”
  596. That’s as good a way to put it as any, I guess.
  597. >“Seems like it’s the only way you can put it.”
  598. You’re mad, aren’t you?
  599. >“Well, I don’t understand celebrating a holiday you know nothing about, but it’s like I was trying to tell you earlier, history is fine and all, but it’s the traditions that really make Hearth’s Warming great.”
  600. >She grabbed her glass but did not drink from it, only held it.
  601. >Her eyes sparkled with warm memory.
  602. >“I just love Hearth's Warming. I love getting the dolls out and putting them up over the fire. I love raising the flag up above all the trees in the orchard, and drinking Granny’s famous hot apple cider.”
  603. Those are the things that make the holiday for you?
  604. >“Yeah, they are. Hearth’s Warming is special to me because of those things, not because of some story about Windigos.”
  605. >She turned and smiled at him.
  606. >“How about we drink to that?”
  607. Here, here!
  608. >They raised their glasses and Applejack took one sip before she scrunched her muzzle and nearly choked.
  609. >“This is eggnog!” she said with astonishment.
  610. >He gave her an odd look.
  611. Yeah, so what? Isn’t that usually what you drink during the holidays?
  612. >“It is!” she said. “Well, I usually don’t, but a lot of other ponies do. It’s tradition to some.”
  613. That’s how it was for Christmas too.
  614. >“No kidding,” she said to herself. “What else did you do on Chris-Mass?”
  615. Well, there was caroling--
  616. >“You sang carols too?”
  617. Sure. There were Christmas carols.
  618. >“Teach ‘em to me. Come on, let’s sing some.”
  619. >He waved the suggestion away with his free hand.
  620. No way, Applejack. I am not a good singer.
  621. >“Well I am, so that’ll even us out.”
  622. I don’t even know all the words to any of them.
  623. >“I’m sure you know enough, the most important parts anyway. That piano you got still work?”
  624. It’s not even mine, it--
  625. >“You know, I’ve heard just about enough excuses out of you. Now I ain’t taking no for an answer any more, so get up off your caboose and let’s go over to the piano so we can sing some darn Christmas carols.”
  626. Hey, you said it right that time.
  627. >“Of course I did, I was saying it right the whole time. Now get up, I ain’t gonna say it again.”
  628. >A grand piano, which came with the house, sat in the corner near the fireplace.
  629. >She played a few scales and, listening with her ear pointed down towards the keys, hummed to herself.
  630. >“Still in tune after all these years.”
  631. I didn’t even know you could play piano.
  632. >“Well we had one in the living room until Granny covered it with a bedsheet and started putting all her knick knacks on it.”
  633. You mean those collectible Las Pegasus plates she buys?
  634. >“Those are the ones,” she said. “Anyway, my hooves do a lot better when they’re plucking strings, but I can still hammer out a honky tonk or two.”
  635. I don’t think I know any Christmas honky tonks.
  636. >“Then how about we start with your favorite carol? You do have a favorite, don’t you?”
  637. Well--
  638. >“Just do me a favor and don’t say no, alright?”
  639. >He tried to think but his mind was blank.
  640. The only one that’s coming to mind is Silent Night.
  641. >“Then that’s the one. Sing it for me.”
  642. I don’t know all the words.
  643. >“Yeah, yeah--I already figured that. Just sing the darn Christmas carol, partner.”
  644. >He rubbed the bottom of his neck with his open hand in hopes of soothing the quavering that he could feel was rising within his voice.
  645. >Evening was coming earlier and earlier each day, and it brought the snow with it.
  646. >The soft flakes drifted lazily onto the frosty glass panes and melted only when the glow from the hearth would reach them, when the fire flickered its strongest.
  647. >Her hooves gently tapped on the ivory keys, doing so now with great precision and understanding.
  648. >The soft touch of the snow drifting onto the windows and the gentle hum of the music they were making together lit up the room with a warmth.
  649. >It burned inside of them, warmer than any fire could make.
  650. >She played, and he sang:
  651. ~Sleep in heavenly peace!
  652. ~Sleep in heavenly peace!
  653. >The last notes faded away and Applejack clopped her front hooves together and let out a shrill whistle.
  654. >“Land’s sake! I think we just got it down right there with that one.”
  655. >She turned and smiled at him with one eyebrow raised and said in jest:
  656. >“Not much of a singer, are you?”
  657. >All he could do was smile in the glow of her praise.
  658. >“But seriously, I like it a lot,” she said. “I keep meaning to ask what the words mean, about the mother and the holy infant.”
  659. It’s about Mary and Jesus. I don’t feel like going too much into it.
  660. >“Aw, come on now. You sound like you actually know something about this one. I’m guessing Mary is the virgin and Jesus is the holy infant?”
  661. Hey, you said their names right on your first try.
  662. >“Get on with it.”
  663. Well, Jesus Christ was born to Mary, who was a virgin. He was the savior of us all back on Earth.
  664. >“Did you know him?”
  665. >He stifled a laugh, something Applejack noted with pursed lips.
  666. >“Are you laughing at me!”
  667. Sorry, sorry, it’s just . . . he died thousands of years before I was ever born. I never would have even imagined that someone would ask me if I knew Jesus.
  668. >“Well it ain’t like I would’ve known that!”
  669. >A trifling blush emerged on her cheeks and she scrunched her muzzle and presented her shoulder to him as he giggled.
  670. >Soon she asked him about another word she had never heard before.
  671. >“Heavenly,” she said. “I kind of like it. It’s real pretty.”
  672. Heaven is where good people go on to when they die. It’s supposed to be everlasting paradise.
  673. >She asked him what a place like that would be like and he briefly told her about angels and living among the clouds and seeing all of your loved ones again.
  674. >She noticed his expression had grown somber after this.
  675. >“Is that what you think it is?” she asked him.
  676. >He thought for a moment.
  677. I think Heaven is probably like having a good dream that you never have to wake up from.
  678. >She never said it, but she hoped that when she died she could be a part of that dream.
  679. >The two of them placed some logs on the fire and eventually they were running through the beginning of their next Christmas carol.
  680. That was good, but do it a bit slower.
  681. >“I’m playing it over here. Does it sound right?”
  682. >She gestured at the set of keys that made up the F scale.
  683. Yeah, it was good. Just listen to the rhythm of my voice this time.
  684. >She bent down to the keys and he began:
  685. ~“O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree . . .”
  686. >She followed him, tapping the keys and saying the notes aloud:
  687. >“C, F, F, F: G, A, A, A . . .”
  688.  
  689. ***
  690. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fh133ZO1AE
  691. ***
  692.  
  693. >“Hurry up with them sandwiches, partner. I’m starved.”
  694. >He bent down and stuck his head in the fridge and sorted through discarded leftovers, half-empty bottles of juice and small stacks of takeout boxes which were so old that their contents were now a mystery to him.
  695. >Their conversation continued, despite his searching.
  696. So Starlight didn’t want to celebrate Hearth’s Warming at all?
  697. >“She sure didn’t,” Applejack said from the kitchen table.
  698. Seems kind of weird.
  699. >“Yeah, well, you’re one to talk when it comes to that, aren’t ya?”
  700. I’m from another world, so I get a free pass to be weird like that. She’s a pony, so she has to celebrate Hearth’s Warming.
  701. >“I still don’t know how exactly she was planning on not celebrating it when you consider that the whole town came down together that night to decorate Twilight’s castle.”
  702. Maybe she’s stubborn.
  703. >“That’ don’t--”
  704. Just like her friend Applejack is.
  705. >She knew he could feel her rolling her eyes behind him.
  706. >“Hardy har,” she said. “Would you let me finish the story now?”
  707. So what happened?
  708. >“Twilight got her to change her mind. She read her this book called A Hearth's Warming Tale.”
  709. Typical Twilight solution to a problem.
  710. >He found what he was looking for behind an unopened bag of flour.
  711. >A dark green bottle was placed before her and Applejack’s eyes went wide.
  712. >“Sparkling apple cider!”
  713. You still like that stuff, right?
  714. >“Are you kidding? You know that this is my favorite drink.”
  715. What about your family’s recipe?
  716. >“Alright, fine, it’s my second favorite. I was just glad that you remembered is all, okay?”
  717. Of course I remembered.
  718. >They had taken their every lunch break together all throughout the spring harvest, and he used to always have a bottle for her.
  719. >In the barn, bales of hay had been stacked up so high that they could climb up them to reach the loft.
  720. >There they sat among fallen straw and opened the high gable door so they could look out at all the trees in the orchard, all of the green made bright in the sunshine.
  721. >They smelled the dusty gold air of the barn as they talked and counted all of the little red dots that still needed to be picked out there.
  722. >It took less time to count them all each day.
  723. >They passed the bottle between them and ate apples they’d picked and sandwiches that she had made for them that morning.
  724. >The harvest finished early that year.
  725. >So early that there was enough extra time for them to take a camping trip together.
  726. >She avoided going into the barn whenever she could now.
  727. >The fond memories that flooded her mind, combined with the taste of the sparkling cider, made her sigh with contentment.
  728. >He went to the counter and began seasoning the sandwiches he’d made for them.
  729. >She watched him, and she soon knew that she was staring but she did not care.
  730. >He cleared his throat and said:
  731. You might want to check the date and see if that cider is still good. It’s been in there a while.
  732. >“Now you tell me,” she said as she tasted the flavor that still rested on her lips.
  733. >She only turned her eyes away from him when he brought over their food.
  734. Two egg salad sandwiches. Not much of a feast, is it?
  735. >“I suppose not, but I’m starved, so give it here.”
  736. I could’ve at least gotten some ham or something.
  737. >“Grub is grub, partner.”
  738. Yeah, but it’s a tradition to have something good on Christmas, like ham or turkey.
  739. >“You like pudding?”
  740. What?
  741. >Applejack smirked.
  742. >“That’s what they ate on the first ever Hearth's Warming. It was made by Chancellor Puddinghead.”
  743. An apt name.
  744. >“Twilight tried to make it one time.”
  745. How big of a disaster was that?
  746. >“Hoo-boy!”
  747. >She shook her head.
  748. >“We were doing a gift exchange one Hearth's Warming. The pudding was supposed to be for Pinkie Pie, but Twilight ended up flooding her castle with it. We had to feed most of it to a Winterzilla.”
  749. >He nodded slowly.
  750. Yeah, I was able to follow some of that.
  751. >“Good, because I barely know what happened myself, and I was there.”
  752. Flooding the castle with pudding sounds like something Pinkie would do, not Twilight.
  753. >“Just be glad you weren’t there when it happened.”
  754. Was the pudding good?
  755. >She scrunched her muzzle.
  756. >“It was green, and it looked like baby food.”
  757. Are you sure it was pudding?
  758. >“Could have fooled me. Who knows anymore? It happened years ago, and we learned our lesson. Never did do Hearth’s Warming helper again after that.”
  759. >Applejack then remembered the gift that sat under his tree for her.
  760. >She still had no idea what it could have been, and an intense desire to open it had taken over her mind.
  761. >She began slyly:
  762. >“You know, some ponies like to open their presents on Hearth’s Warming Eve, rather than waiting until the next day to do it.”
  763. >He nodded, his mouth full of egg salad.
  764. Yeah, we did that on Christmas Eve sometimes.
  765. >“You did?” Applejack said, her ears perking up.
  766. Sure. If everyone was there already, then why wait?
  767. >“I can see the good sense in that, honest I can.”
  768. >He said nothing.
  769. >She cleared her throat.
  770. >“So, uh, I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve got some presents under your tree.”
  771. Oh?
  772. >“And I kinda saw that you had one that said Applejack on it. So . . .”
  773. >She gave him a big grin.
  774. >He smacked his lips in consideration.
  775. You know, I heard from some pony that your family always waits until Hearth’s Warming to open their gifts.
  776. >Applejack swallowed a lump in her throat.
  777. >“Well, yeah, that’s usually how we do it. That’s usually our tradition.”
  778. >He had an odd, satisfied little smile.
  779. >She leaned towards him.
  780. >“But you know, sometimes we do break--”
  781. You can stop trying to lie. Apple Bloom already told me that you always wait until Hearth’s Warming.
  782. >“Oh applesauce!” she exclaimed. “When did she tell ya that?”
  783. Saw her about a week ago. She said she was giving you an extra special gift this year.
  784. >“That darn little sister of mine,” she fumed. “I love her, but sometimes I could just . . .”
  785. I helped her with her gift.
  786. >Applejack looked at him.
  787. >“You did? What’d she get me?”
  788. >He smiled and, picking up his plate, headed for the living room without a word.
  789. >“Aw, come on!” she whined. “You can tell me what she got me. That ain’t against the rules. We don’t have to wait for that. It ain’t like I’m getting to open the present early here.”
  790. >He stopped in the doorway and turned around.
  791. She said she wanted to give it to you herself. I was sworn to secrecy.
  792. >Applejack groaned.
  793. >“Apple Bloom!”
  794. >He went on, continuing to hold his silence.
  795. >She followed him desperately.
  796. >“Come on, just give me a hint. Just give me enough so I can make a guess. Just enough for a guess. Don’t make me beg here. Please?”
  797. >He sipped his drink.
  798. This cider sure is good.
  799. >“Please!”
  800.  
  801. >Behind the frost-covered glass of the window, the faint, far distant lights of decorated Ponyville were glowing like colorful little flames.
  802. >They sat together in the dark and watched the snowflakes drift slowly between these flames.
  803. >He saw her green eyes were glowing, watching it all.
  804. >“Gosh, it really is beautiful, ain’t it?”
  805. Yeah, it is.
  806. >The fire crackled behind them and cast dancing shadows on the dimly-lit wall.
  807. It was almost worth moving the couch for.
  808. >“Yeah, you got a real dust bunny farm started under there, don’t ya?”
  809. Okay, Rarity, it’s a bit messy. Just shut up and enjoy watching the pretty snow.
  810. >“I must’ve been a filly the last time I saw Ponyville all lit up like this on Hearth’s Warming.”
  811. Actually, it isn’t my idea. I took it from A Christmas Story.
  812. >“Is that another Christmas movie? You gonna tell me about it?”
  813. Why? Do you guys have that one too?
  814. >They’d spent some time earlier talking about holiday movies and found that many of the most popular Christmas movies he knew of all had Equestrian equivalents.
  815. >This fact shocked them at first but the more they talked about it, about characters and stories and endings, the more sense it made.
  816. >The movies were all the same, even between worlds, because everyone wanted all the same things.
  817. >“Well I won’t know for sure if we have it until you tell me about it, will I?”
  818. >A glib wave of the hand preceded his synopsis.
  819. Guy reminisces about a Christmas he had back when he was a boy. He spends the whole movie wanting a BB gun as a present, then he gets it at the end and almost shoots his eye out.
  820. >“Sounds kinda sad.”
  821. It’s a comedy.
  822. >“Nevermind then.”
  823. So do you got a pony version of that, too?
  824. >“I think so. It sounds familiar, but there ain’t a BB gun in the movie I’m thinking of.”
  825. It’s close enough.
  826. >“Instead it’s a pie launcher.”
  827. How do you shoot your eye out with a pie?
  828. >“You think I know?”
  829. It’s your movie.
  830. >“I ain’t ever seen it.”
  831. Nevermind then.
  832. >“Might change that though, because this idea it had was real nice.”
  833. >They sat in silence, looking at the lights.
  834. I’ll bet it looks better in your movie. They don’t have an entire town that’s all decorated to look out at in mine.
  835. >“Well why don’t they?”
  836. It just doesn’t happen. Not everyone celebrates Christmas where I’m from, and not everyone celebrates it the same way. It’s not like here where you all come together and decorate the town. I guess we’re just not as festive.
  837. >“Not as festive?” she said with a hint of disbelief. “Then what’s all this?”
  838. >She made a sweeping gesture that encapsulated the living room.
  839. >“Looks pretty festive to me.”
  840. Trust me, it’s different.
  841. >“And for your information, not every creature here in Ponyville celebrates Hearth’s Warming either.”
  842. Yeah. . . .
  843. >In a moment they were both smirking.
  844. But it’s still the best holiday out of ‘em all, isn’t it?
  845. >“Oh, it ain’t even a contest.”
  846. >They laughed and lifted up their drinks together in acknowledgment of this.
  847. >“To winning the contest.”
  848. It was over before it began.
  849. >They clinked their glasses together and drank to the toast.
  850. >“Not every pony celebrates Hearth’s Warming the same way either.”
  851. Well now, this doesn’t sound like the stubborn ol’ Applejack that I know.
  852. >“Yeah, I learned it the hard way when I spent Hearth’s Warming with Pinkie Pie’s family one year.”
  853. I can imagine.
  854. >He blew an exasperated breath out from his puckered lips.
  855. Must’ve been a non-stop party, with glitter blasting up into your face every time you opened a present.
  856. >“Not exactly,” she said with a small smile. “They’ve got their own traditions and all. We share some of them with ‘em now, since they’re practically family.”
  857. >He was drinking but he shrugged with one shoulder as a response.
  858. Yeah, sure.
  859. >“What about you? Didn’t you have any traditions that only you did on Christmas? Something that you did differently than everyone else?”
  860. >He was holding his drink as he thought, and he began to slowly tap on the glass with his nail.
  861. >Then he turned to her.
  862. Have I told you about Santa yet?
  863. >One of her eyebrows raised up.
  864. >“Sand-Ah?”
  865. That’s a no.
  866. >“It don’t sound familiar. What is it?”
  867. It’s a guy. Santa Clause. Every Christmas Eve, he flies around the world and spends the night delivering presents to all the good little boys and girls.
  868. >“He flies around the world in one night?” Applejack said skeptically. “Even Rainbow Dash can’t do that.”
  869. Well, it’s just a story we tell kids on Christmas. When you’re a kid, you believe that Santa is the one that got you your presents, not your parents. Nearly every kid believes in Santa until they reach a certain age.
  870. >“So Santa ain’t even real?”
  871. You’re getting really good at saying Christmas stuff correctly.
  872. >“Just answer the question.”
  873. Nah, he ain’t real.
  874. >“But you tell kids he’s real anyway?”
  875. It makes it more fun for them. They leave out milk and cookies for him. They write letters to him, telling him what they want for Christmas.
  876. >“Well sure it’s fun, until they find out it’s all lies.”
  877. Yeah, but you don’t usually find out about it until you’re old enough to put all the pieces together yourself. Your parents, the school, the mall, everyone is in on the secret.
  878. >Applejack hummed.
  879. >“I don’t know. I can’t say I like the sound of that one, partner.”
  880. I won’t disagree, but I have a lot of fond memories of staying up all night as a kid and waiting for Santa.
  881. >“I guess,” she said with an unconvinced shrug.
  882. Look Applejack, we don’t have magic back where I’m from. We had to find ways to invent it, to make it seem real to us. And for a little while there, when I was really little, I did believe.
  883. >“That’s nice and all, but didn’t it hurt when you found out it wasn’t true?”
  884. Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt forever. We all grow up eventually.
  885. >“We are now,” she said. “So what’s your point? Why’d you bring up this Santa fellow?”
  886. Because I used to leave out milk and cookies and write letters, but I also did something else that was my own thing, something that I can’t remember the reason for.
  887. >“What was it?”
  888. When I was a kid, I somehow got it in my head that you had to wish for the things you really wanted. So that was what I did. When I really wanted something, when I wanted it more than anything else in the world, I always used to look up at the night sky and wish for it.
  889. >He looked down onto the calm surface of his drink.
  890. I mean, I was a kid, so I didn’t always remember to do it, but that was something that I always remembered again around Christmas time.
  891. >He sighed.
  892. Man, I haven’t thought about that in forever. . . .
  893. >She was quiet, watching him in the dark.
  894. >“Did your wishes ever come true?”
  895. Some did, and some didn’t.
  896. >“So only sometimes.”
  897. >She slowly sank down further into her seat until a thought had her turning to him again.
  898. >“Did you ever think about why that was the way things were?”
  899. I did, but never for very long. I thought that if I questioned it too much, then the magic would stop working, and then none of them would ever come true anymore.
  900. >He remembered something more and said:
  901. It’s best not to question your wishes when they come true.
  902. >“So it was all about believing?”
  903. >He nodded to himself, not noticing how close she was leaning towards him.
  904. >“I think that’s really something, partner.”
  905. >Had he looked, he would have been able to see her heart pounding in her chest, all swelled with emotion.
  906. Yeah, well, I promise it ain’t from a movie.
  907. >“Do you think maybe if we made a wish tonight that it would come true?”
  908. >He said that he wasn’t sure; heavy black clouds covered up the stars and they couldn’t see the night sky.
  909. >”That don’t mean it ain’t there,” she said. “Come on, let’s both wish for something. What’s the harm in trying?”
  910. >He didn’t have an answer.
  911. Alright, we’ll do it. But don’t come crying to me if your wish doesn’t come true.
  912. >She followed his movements, watching him closely; and soon she was facing the cool dark window.
  913. >What was her wish?
  914. >She closed her eyes, hoping that it would come to her.
  915. >The night sky appeared before her and it was as pure and clear as it was in her dreams.
  916. >The fire behind her crackled among the silent light of the stars.
  917. >She could see his face near the fire.
  918. >It was glowing, like it had been when she had seen him sleeping so quiet and peacefully on that night.
  919. >It was like she was lying near him again, and everything felt right to her, just as it did back then.
  920. >She felt so clearly in her heart what she wanted that she did not wish to try and put it to words in her mind.
  921. >It was her wish: She’d know it if it came true.
  922. >Life would keep going on as it had been for her if it didn’t.
  923. >When she opened her eyes she saw that he had been done for some time and was intently watching her.
  924. So what’d you wish for?
  925. >She smirked.
  926. >“I ain’t tellin’.”
  927. Come on, Applejack, don’t be that way.
  928. >“Well I can’t tell. Every pony knows that wishes don’t come true if you go blabblin’ about them to any pony that’ll listen.”
  929. Hey, that ain’t a rule. I never said anything about not being able to tell anyone what your wishes were.
  930. >“I remember,” she said smugly. “But it’s tradition.”
  931. What a rip off.
  932. >She was giggling to herself now.
  933. >He harshly put his glass down harshly on the table and leaned towards her.
  934. Okay, if you’re going to keep it a big secret, then now I want to know.
  935. >“Oh, you do, do ya?” she said slyly.
  936. >He smiled as though he’d gotten the upper hand.
  937. I’ll let you open your gift.
  938. >She put her hoof to her chin and made a show of thinking long and hard about it.
  939. >“Nah. I can just wait until tomorrow to get that.”
  940. Alright, what do you want in return for telling me?
  941. >“Well, I have this idea. . . .”
  942. >He saw that she was wearing a smile that stretched a mile wide.
  943. Uh-oh.
  944.  
  945. >The two of them sat next to each other at the kitchen table.
  946. >“So here’s the plan.”
  947. >He said nothing as she laid the paper down before them.
  948. >“Based on what you’ve told me, Santa Clause has a white beard, and he wears a red coat and hat. Now you ain’t got a red coat, and it’s been a while since I checked, but your whiskers ain’t too impressive neither. But that’s okay, cause I got ideas.”
  949. >His eyes drifted down to the tiny stick figure drawing of Santa he’d done for her.
  950. >“Now there’s no red coat, but I noticed that tree skirt you got down over there is a shade of red that’s mighty similar. Plus, it’s pretty big. So I think that’ll work just as well if we fix it around your neck and just act like it’s a coat. As for the whiskers, well, we can just make a fake beard by gluing a bunch of cotton balls together. Then we’ll tie a loop of twine around the back of your head so that it won’t slip off your face.”
  951. >He stared at her.
  952. >“Then, once the milk and cookies are laid out, and I’m asleep on the couch, you’ll come down the chimney and do everything that Santa’s supposed to do before you leave on your magic sleigh that’s pulled by flying reindeer.”
  953. >She turned to him.
  954. >“And that’s how you’ll give me the genuine Santa Clause experience. Should be as simple as that, partner.”
  955. >She pushed her hat back and smiled up at him.
  956. >He blinked slowly.
  957. You’re pulling my leg.
  958. >“Nah. What gave you that idea?”
  959. I was with you until you talked about me going down the chimney.
  960. >“I had you going that far along, did I?“
  961. I don’t know.
  962. >He gazed at her for so long that she felt a tiny flame rise to her cheeks.
  963. >She had to turn away.
  964. >“Come on now, don’t stare at me like that.”
  965. You’re a terrible liar. You always give yourself away whenever you try, and yet I didn’t hear you sound unconvinced with yourself at any point during any of that nonsense.
  966. >“Well, I . . .”
  967. >She began clearing her throat more than necessary and, slowly, she faced him again.
  968. >“Is it bad that maybe–and this is just a little maybe--but maybe I was kinda hoping that you’d do a little bit of it for me?”
  969. >He grinned at her.
  970. Just a little bit, eh?
  971. >“Yeah, so I can, you know, feel the true magic of Christmas.”
  972. >He snickered.
  973. That’s so corny! Why would you say that?
  974. >He began chuckling and she joined him but only did so half-heartedly.
  975. >He was right: She hadn’t been lying.
  976. >The way he had talked with her earlier on the couch had left a desire in her.
  977. >She wanted to experience, in some way, that magic feeling that he must have felt on Christmas when he had been a little boy.
  978. >But she did not say anything more about it.
  979. Well, don’t worry, we are going to do a little bit of it.
  980. >“We are?”
  981. Well, you are, anyway. Cookies sound good right about now.
  982. >She scrunched her muzzle.
  983. >“I ain’t your maid, you know?”
  984. I know. I was gonna say please eventually.
  985. >“And besides, you ain’t got anything in that bone dry fridge to make cookies with.”
  986. >But she was wrong, and he did end up having enough ingredients for her to make one simple batch of sugar cookies.
  987. >She put the full tray in the oven and set the timer before checking the time on the living room clock.
  988. >It was a quarter past four; she had only been visiting with him for about two hours.
  989. >It seemed like it had been so much longer.
  990. >Come six o’ clock she would have to go back to the farm.
  991. >Then she could join in the feast with her family, put up her Hearth’s Warming doll.
  992. >Traditions she had looked forward to every year since she could remember.
  993. >Now they served as reminders to her that their time together would soon be coming to an end.
  994. >She had been having so much fun with him.
  995. >Everything had been perfect.
  996. >She didn’t want it to end.
  997. >If only she could convince him to come back to the farm with her.
  998. >She thought of how she should ask him as she began scrubbing the dirty dishes that had accumulated in the sink.
  999. >But by the time she’d finished her washing she had still come up with nothing.
  1000. >She went into the living room feeling confused and empty.
  1001. >He was lying down on the couch, fast asleep.
  1002. >She sat on a stool at the foot of the armrest, which his head was leaned against, and watched his weary face as he slept.
  1003. >Listening to his deep-drawn breaths, a small smile came to her.
  1004. >The day had finally caught up with him.
  1005. >It had been so long since she had seen him asleep like this.
  1006. >Maybe once the cookies were finished baking she could leave a plate of them on the stool so the smell could wake him.
  1007. >No; no, he wasn’t going to wake anytime soon.
  1008. >She studied his face just like she had used to when she would have found him sleeping in the orchard.
  1009. >Back then there had always existed the danger of him waking up and catching her watching him, admiring him.
  1010. >She never could get as close to him as she would have liked.
  1011. >But now . . .
  1012. >Her eyes fell on his lips.
  1013. >She had always thought that they looked softer than any stallion’s lips she had seen.
  1014. >What that softness must have felt like though, she could only ever imagine.
  1015. >But she never had to imagine what they looked like.
  1016. >She always saw them.
  1017. >Even when they had gone weeks without ever meeting each other in town she still held the soft presence of his lips in her dreams.
  1018. >Now only about an arm’s length kept them separated from her eyes.
  1019. >She could see his lips.
  1020. >They were beautiful.
  1021. >And she had been staring down at them all this time.
  1022. >Everything was quiet, still; even her heartbeat, though she felt it was pounding like mad.
  1023. >Try as she might, she could not force her eyes to look away.
  1024. >To look somewhere else, anywhere else–it was impossible.
  1025. >All she could see were those warm red lips.
  1026. >And he was asleep.
  1027. >They were alone, and he wasn’t going to wake up this time.
  1028. >She could get as close to him as she wanted.
  1029. >She sat rigidly in her stool, her own heavy breathing drowning out his.
  1030. >Then she licked her own lips and her head began to slowly dip down towards him.
  1031. >Slowly, ever so slowly, so that the stool didn’t creak.
  1032. >The kitchen timer dinged so loudly that it sounded to her like a bomb had gone off.
  1033. >She let out a short surprised scream and nearly fell off the stool.
  1034. >She was gasping for breath in an attempt to calm the pounding of her heart in her ears.
  1035. >Her eyes fell on him, still asleep.
  1036. >What was I about to do? she asked herself.
  1037. >Her head turned wildly about the room for a moment, as though she was worried that someone had caught her.
  1038. >Then he began to stir.
  1039. >He was still coming out from his sleep when he saw her sweat-soaked brow and nervous eyes looking down at him.
  1040. Applejack?
  1041. >She forced herself to smile and then quickly jumped off the stool.
  1042. >“I was just passing by.”
  1043. >She stood straight up, wearing a big phony smile.
  1044. >His sleepy eyes drifted towards the stool.
  1045. Was that there before?
  1046. >“I don’t see nothing.”
  1047. That–
  1048. >She kicked the stool over with her backleg and it flew out of sight.
  1049. >“It’s nothing,” she said. “I mean, I was just moving it. I mean . . .”
  1050. Moving it where?
  1051. >He rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
  1052. Wait, what–?
  1053. >“Cookies are done!” she said quickly. “I’ll just go to the kitchen and get ‘em. Hoo-boy! Is it hot in here? I’m sweating more than a chicken in a fox den.”
  1054. >She was fanning her hot face with her hat as she trotted to the kitchen.
  1055. >His eyes glanced briefly towards the frosty window.
  1056.  
  1057. >He had eaten four of the ten cookies that had been on the plate and was finishing the first bite of his fifth when he brought his long monologue to a close.
  1058. . . . So I always wanted to have a snowball fight in the house, but it never happened.
  1059. >He turned to address her directly, but she was quiet.
  1060. >There was a full seat between them and she held close to her, with both hooves, the one cookie that she had been nibbling on.
  1061. That’s something we could do, if you’re up for it.
  1062. >He took another bite, slowly.
  1063. Applejack?
  1064. >”Huh?”
  1065. >She turned like she’d just been made aware of his presence.
  1066. We can have an indoor snowball fight later.
  1067. >“Oh, uh, sure. Sounds good.”
  1068. Yeah, and I’m using your present as a shield when we do. Come on, Applejack, eat up. You’re letting me be a pig over here.
  1069. >She took a big bite of her cookie and ate it with a blank face.
  1070. >Then, aware that she was being watched, she spoke with her mouth full:
  1071. >“Tell me some more Christmas stories.”
  1072. You’re kind of wringing me dry. I don’t think I even have any others.
  1073. >He then remembered a story from his elementary school days about a time when one of his teachers dressed up as Santa and visited the class.
  1074. >She sat rigidly, only half listening to him.
  1075. >She still hadn’t figured out how she would ask him to come back with her to the farm.
  1076. >Time was running out, but she couldn’t think.
  1077. >She was still frazzled from her close call earlier.
  1078. >She didn’t think she had been caught, or at least he hadn’t said anything to her yet about why she’d been so close to him when he had woken up.
  1079. >Either way she was aware that she wasn’t acting normally.
  1080. >But she still had so much she had to think about!
  1081. >She turned to catch where he was at in his story.
  1082. –this kid was an infamous bed-wetter, and he’s the one that’s first in line to sit on Santa’s lap. . . .
  1083. >He paused briefly so he could grab another cookie, then he continued.
  1084. >As far as she could tell he knew nothing about what she had almost done.
  1085. >Their friendship was still intact; nothing had changed.
  1086. >She swallowed bitterly the pale mush that’d been sitting in her mouth and, as he was laughing at his story’s conclusion, forced herself to laugh with him.
  1087. So what’s next on the agenda for us?
  1088. >“Oh, um, well I was thinking . . .”
  1089. >Her invitation back to the farm was leaning on her lips.
  1090. What?
  1091. >“I was just thinking . . . What time is it?”
  1092. Oh, uh, I don’t know.
  1093. >Her eyes pointed down at the one last crumb of cookie that rested in her hooves.
  1094. >“I was just wonderin’.”
  1095. The only clock that works is the one upstairs.
  1096. >Her ears perked up.
  1097. >“Well what about that . . .”
  1098. >But she stopped when she read the time.
  1099. >A quarter past four: The same time she had seen earlier.
  1100. >Her heart jumped suddenly.
  1101. >How late was it?
  1102. >What was she still doing here?
  1103. >She let out a surprised cry and leaped off the couch.
  1104. >“Oh sweet applesauce! What time is it? I’m late! I just know it, I’m late.”
  1105. What’s wrong?
  1106. >He sat up.
  1107. What are you late for?
  1108. >“I told every pony that I’d be back at the farm in time to celebrate Hearth’s Warming Eve.”
  1109. >She was pacing back and forth at the foot of the couch.
  1110. >“I lost track of time. I have no idea how long I’ve been here. I’m late, I know it.”
  1111. Well, I don’t think it’s been too long. It’s been getting dark earlier and earlier.
  1112. >But she knew his words were wrong, she could feel it in her bones.
  1113. >He followed her pacing until he had to squeeze his eyes shut.
  1114. Look, just calm down. I’m getting a cramp from watching you.
  1115. >“I can’t. I was only supposed to come over so we could talk, that’s what I told every pony. But then we started celebrating Christmas, and I was having so much fun, and I got so caught up in everything about it that . . .”
  1116. >But she stopped herself from saying more.
  1117. What is it, Applejack? Tell me.
  1118. >She picked up on a certain note in his voice, much kinder than she had anticipated, that made her come to a halt before him.
  1119. >She swallowed the lump in her throat and, after a moment, said:
  1120. >“That I didn’t want this night to end.”
  1121. >He paused, looking at her strangely.
  1122. You could have came back later. I mean, if you just want to know more about Christmas.
  1123. >She stared at him, and he turned awkwardly away when the weariness on her face became evident.
  1124. >Then she took her hat off, sighed, and said:
  1125. >“I want you to come back to the farm with me.”
  1126. >He didn’t answer right away, so she continued:
  1127. >“And if you don’t want to because we’re celebrating Hearth’s Warming, then that’s okay. We can celebrate Christmas, if that’s what you want. I’ll explain everything to Apple Bloom, Granny and Big Mac myself. I know they’ll all end up loving it just as much as I do. It can even be a new tradition for us all.”
  1128. >Behind them she could hear that the fire was dying.
  1129. >It felt like a lifetime had passed before another crackle came past the hearth.
  1130. >He sighed and spoke slowly.
  1131. Applejack . . .
  1132. >“Don’t say it,” she said, responding to his weary tone. “Now I’ve spent the last who-knows-how-many hours trying to think up a way to get you to agree to come with me to the farm, and I’m getting right tired of it. So I want you to tell me right now just why it’s so doggone important to you that you spend Christmas cooped up here all by yourself when it just ain’t the kind of holiday to be doing that.”
  1133. You’re saying that like Christmas and Hearth’s Warming are practically the same.
  1134. >“Well the parts that really matter are, and I don’t want to hear you say anything otherwise. You know just as much about Hearth’s Warming as I know about Christmas, maybe even less.”
  1135. >He was staring at her firmly.
  1136. You don’t know as much as you think.
  1137. >“Then I want to know. So out with it, partner. Why do you want to spend it alone?”
  1138. Look, Applejack, I know we’re friends, but I’m not going to tell you. It’s none of your business.
  1139. >“Yes, it is.”
  1140. What?
  1141. >“I said it is. If we were really still friends, then you’d let me help you.”
  1142. >She laid her hat on the table and gently rested her hoof on his knee.
  1143. >“Something’s bothering you. I know it, and there ain’t no shame in it, so I don’t want you feeling that way about it. I’m supposed to be your best friend. I used to know you like the back of my hoof, but lately I’ve been feeling like I don’t know anything about you at all. You don’t tell me nothing anymore.”
  1144. >He paused and tried to say something to her.
  1145. I know, I just . . .
  1146. >But his words failed him; she began rubbing his knee, trying to soothe him.
  1147. >“It’s okay, though. None of that matters anymore, because I’m here now, and I’m your friend, and I want to help you.”
  1148. >Her green eyes looked up at his astonished face; she had a small smile for him.
  1149. >“Will you let me help you, partner?”
  1150. >He turned his sunken eyes down in shame.
  1151. I don’t think you can.
  1152. >“I want to be sure about that.”
  1153. I’m not even sure myself.
  1154. >“Try for me. Please, at least try to tell me what’s bothering you, so I can be sure.”
  1155. >His head stayed bowed at first and he was silent.
  1156. >Then, after a deep breath, he said:
  1157. You want to open your present now?
  1158. >She scrunched her muzzle and would have stomped her hoof if she hadn’t been touching him.
  1159. >“No, I don’t,” she said. “What’s that got to do with any of this?”
  1160. Well you and I are here, and there’s no reason to wait any longer. No one else is going to show up this Christmas to open theirs.
  1161. >Her mind wandered back to the presents that sat beneath the tree.
  1162. >She folded her ears.
  1163. >“Those gifts are for your family, aren’t they?”
  1164. >He nodded.
  1165. There’s one present for everyone that I was close to back home.
  1166. >She imagined doing this herself and realized that she could have filled the bottoms of ten trees with all the gifts she would have had to get her loved ones.
  1167. >The pile beneath his own tree now seemed so small to her now that her heart ached for him.
  1168. >It didn’t even reach up to the needles on the bottom branches.
  1169. >He had fallen quiet following his confession.
  1170. >The dim firelight behind him was fading slowly, casting his face in shadow.
  1171. >There was a far away look in his eyes that frightened her but she still watched him.
  1172. >She caressed him with her hoof and waited to see where their feelings were going to take them, just as she had done back on that spring night in Winsome Falls.
  1173. >Finally, he began:
  1174. I wasn’t going to celebrate Christmas. I never even thought about it once the whole time I’ve been here. I didn’t remember it until I started seeing everyone putting up all their decorations. You all kept saying they were for Hearth’s Warming, but all I saw was Christmas.
  1175. >He sighed deeply.
  1176. I knew it was just me, though. I kept my mouth shut, but it never left my head. I wasn’t even looking for gifts for everyone back home, but I ended up finding them anyway. I told myself there was no reason to buy them. I still did it, though. I didn’t know why at the time, but I got antsy if I didn’t.
  1177. >“You did it cause you missed your family,” she said softly. “There’s nothing strange about that.”
  1178. Yeah. . . .
  1179. >His voice sounded hollow to her and, though he had agreed with her, she was unconvinced whether he really meant it.
  1180. >Still, she said nothing when he took hold of her hoof and eased it gently down off his knee.
  1181. I know you were worried about me, but I’m fine. I really like it here in Ponyville. I’ve got a house here, a good job. A good friend.
  1182. >She smiled but it was weak because of her sadness.
  1183. I’m happy here. Sure, I miss home, but I like it here too.
  1184. >He looked towards the empty blackness that filled the window.
  1185. I’m never going home. Everyone knows it. I can see it in their eyes when they look at me. It’s different somehow. I don’t know what it is, but I see it all the time now, even when I’m happy.
  1186. >“I’m sure they don’t mean nothing by it.”
  1187. >He nodded stiffly.
  1188. >She looked away for a moment, then said:
  1189. >“It makes you hurt sometimes though, don’t it?”
  1190. That’s as good a way to describe it as any.
  1191. >“Am I right?”
  1192. I don’t know what it is. I was mad when Twilight first told me the news. But when that left, something else stayed behind.
  1193. >He grabbed at something invisible on his chest, his fingers trembling as his hand closed to a fist.
  1194. It’s there, I feel it, but it’s also not there. It’s empty, but it’s there.
  1195. >“Like there’s a hole in your heart.”
  1196. I don’t know.
  1197. >“I do.”
  1198. Yeah, you do. I know you do.
  1199. >The fire crackled and sent an echo through the room.
  1200. >He looked in her eyes and said:
  1201. I would have liked spending Hearth’s Warming with you, but it just felt weird to me. I was the only one that was expecting Christmas. Just me and everyone else back home. And we were facing it the same way, without each other. I knew that my family was going to celebrate Christmas and be thinking of me. I guess I felt like I had to do the same. That way, even though we were apart, we’d still be doing one last thing together.
  1202. >She nodded and he continued.
  1203. And I figured, if we could do that together, then maybe we could do more, and that they’d know somehow that I was alright. That’s all I want. I just want them to know that I’m still alright, even though I’m not there anymore. Because if we’re feeling the same, even though we’re apart, then they’d have to know somehow, wouldn’t they? I don’t know. I figured this was my chance to do that. That this was my only chance where I could be sure of that.
  1204. >She was still nodding but his eyes were lost now and he didn’t see it.
  1205. They have to know now, right?
  1206. >She didn’t get a chance to answer him.
  1207. >He threw his hands up in the air briefly in a tired, defeated response to his own question.
  1208. Maybe it ain’t worth a damn, but if they just knew that, then I could finally say goodbye. I’m tired of seeing Christmas where it isn’t. I’m tired of feeling empty. I just want to live a normal life here, and be happy where I am.
  1209. >He looked at the living room he had decorated, everything he had done.
  1210. >Then he turned his eyes away from it all and showed her his cheek.
  1211. Once I say goodbye, I’ll be able to get rid of all this stuff. Put it all away, forget about it. I’ll never celebrate Christmas again.
  1212. >He faced her again and saw that she was sat perfectly still, watching him.
  1213. >He smiled.
  1214. Everything will be all right. Next year I’ll spend Hearth’s Warming with you and your family. It’ll be great. I know I’ve been a bad friend, but that’s going to change soon. You won’t have to worry about me anymore, because I’ll be there. I promise you I will.
  1215. >He looked earnestly into her sad eyes and waited for her mood to turn his way, for her to be happy along with him.
  1216. >She knew that all he wanted to see from her was a smile.
  1217. >Something; anything, so that he knew everything would be all right.
  1218. >He had promised to change, to be her friend again.
  1219. >In so many ways, that had been everything she had wanted to hear from him.
  1220. >He waited to see her eyes glow.
  1221. >They didn’t.
  1222. >“You’re wrong.”
  1223. >He still smiled.
  1224. What do you mean?
  1225. >“I can only imagine how bad you must be hurting, but you can’t just forget about your family and expect everything to be all right.”
  1226. >He stared at her in disbelief for a moment and, seeing that she was serious, he scoffed.
  1227. It’s the only option I have, Applejack. What else would you have me do?
  1228. >“Remember them, and miss them,” she said. “Every Christmas.”
  1229. >The smile faded from his face and a dull anger began to glow behind his eyes.
  1230. No, I’m not celebrating Christmas again.
  1231. >“But you would be,” she said. “Even if we were back at the farm putting up our Hearth’s Warming dolls right now you would be. It’s a part of who you are and I wouldn’t have you change it, even if it meant that we could never be friends again.”
  1232. I don’t want that part of me anymore. It’s killing me.
  1233. >“That’s because you have to live with it. It only kills you if you don’t try to live with it.”
  1234. >He was trembling all over.
  1235. >She placed her hoof back gently on his knee.
  1236. >“When my ma and pa died, I wanted–”
  1237. It’s my whole family, Applejack!
  1238. >She flinched at his outburst and, seeing this, he held his head in his hands.
  1239. I’m sorry. I . . .
  1240. >With an effort, he kept his voice under control.
  1241. I lost them all. Everyone I care about. Not just one or two.
  1242. >“I know that,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
  1243. >He batted her hoof away suddenly and rose up and began pacing before the hearth.
  1244. >She pushed her hat back down on her head and rounded the couch to meet him.
  1245. >He stopped before her; the last of the firelight was glowing on her side.
  1246. Look, I just can’t do it your way. I don’t know how to make you understand that I have to forget, that this is what I have to do. But it is.
  1247. >She said nothing.
  1248. >He kept opening his hand and closing it into a fist over and over again with his trembling fingers.
  1249. I have to forget about everything. About Christmas, my family–
  1250. >“They won’t forget about you, so why should you get to forget about them?”
  1251. >His anger snapped and he turned on her harshly.
  1252. You don’t know that. I don’t have to listen to you. You don’t know a goddamn thing about them!
  1253. >“I know I’m right. Everything you did for them, I recognized it all right away when I walked through your front door and saw everything all decorated. It’s just like my family does, like we do.”
  1254. >She motioned between the two of them with her hoof, but he waved her suggestion away.
  1255. >He turned away from her and cupped his forehead with his hand.
  1256. It’s different.
  1257. >“I know that you loved them. What’s different about that?”
  1258. Just shut up now. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.
  1259. >“And if I ever left my family, I know that they would still love me, wherever I was.”
  1260. Shut up now.
  1261. >“They’d never forget about me, and I’d never forget about them.”
  1262. Shut up, AJ.
  1263. >“Because I’d love them too much to ever let me forget. And that’s the truth.”
  1264. Shut up!
  1265. >“You aren’t going to forget.”
  1266. Just shut up, Applejack!
  1267. >He whirled around and was screaming at her.
  1268. Shut up! I don’t care what you have to say. I don’t! You can’t help me!
  1269. >“Maybe I can’t. But you need to hear this. About your family–”
  1270. That’s right, my family. Mine! Not yours.
  1271. >“I know that.”
  1272. Then stop talking about them like you knew them.
  1273. >His face was burning red from screaming.
  1274. >She pinned her ears back but was still staring up at him firmly.
  1275. >“You’re right, I didn’t know them. But after all I’ve seen tonight, I’ve got a feeling for them. I know that they were good folks, and that they don’t deserve to be forgotten.”
  1276. >He fell quiet after this.
  1277. >The blood that was burning in his red face was fading.
  1278. >He leaned against the mantel, his head bowed, as his eyes looked down into the dying fire.
  1279. I never know what I should do anymore.
  1280. >He turned towards her briefly.
  1281. If it was anyone else telling me all this, I wouldn’t believe them.
  1282. >“It’s the truth,” she said. “I know I’m right. I know that they’d never forget you.”
  1283. It don’t make me feel better knowing that.
  1284. >“It will,” she said, “someday.”
  1285. >He sighed heavily.
  1286. You seem so sure.
  1287. >His voice was hollow still.
  1288. I just wish I could be as sure as you are, but I’m not. I guess I just don’t have it in me.
  1289. >“Don’t have it in you?” she said in disbelief. “It ain’t nothing more than love you’re talking about. Don’t you know that, partner?”
  1290. Yeah. . . .
  1291. >Without a sound, she came up beside him and gently pressed her hoof onto his thigh.
  1292. >“That’s all you got to have in you to know. That’s how I know they’d never forget you.”
  1293. >Their eyes met and, all at once, she felt what she had to say to him.
  1294. >But she could not admit it to his face.
  1295. >She bowed her head.
  1296. >“It’s how I know I’d never forget you.”
  1297. >She had told him that she loved him.
  1298. >She was red and timid now that her heart was exposed.
  1299. >He stared at her in astonishment, and underneath his gaze even her freckles seemed to burn on her red face.
  1300. >When she looked up at him her voice was quavering.
  1301. >“That’s how I know. Because if you were ever gone from me, my heart would break.”
  1302. >He watched her face for some moments in silence and she saw a cold sadness was there.
  1303. You still love me. . . .
  1304. >He sounded disappointed with her answer and with her.
  1305. >Bitter tears welled up in her eyes.
  1306. >“I couldn’t ever forget you. I wouldn’t even know how to try.”
  1307. >Everything was still, even the fire didn’t hiss or pop.
  1308. >He turned to face her from the mantel.
  1309. Applejack, you know I don’t feel the same way as you do.
  1310. >“I know.”
  1311. We talked about this, we had an understanding.
  1312. >“We talked,” she said. “That much is true.”
  1313. >On his face was a lost expression.
  1314. You promised me.
  1315. >“I lied to you,” she said softly. “I was never happy just being your friend. I always wanted more. Only reason I pushed those feelings away was because I knew you were hurting. I wanted to be there for you, in case you needed me.”
  1316. I don’t want you hurting because of me, Applejack.
  1317. >“I know,” she said. “I just couldn’t help it, though. I’m in love with you, partner. It’s just how it is.”
  1318. I can’t give you what you want.
  1319. >“Do you know what I really want?” she said. “I want to pick apples with you. I want to drink cider with you in the barn. I want to wake up in the morning and know that I’m going to see you.”
  1320. >She looked up at him; when they met her eyes were glowing.
  1321. >“I want to see what I feel in my heart when you look at me.”
  1322. It just doesn’t feel right, not to me.
  1323. >He stood still for a moment before kneeling down into the dwindling firelight to face her.
  1324. I can’t do it.
  1325. >“I think you could if we just tried.”
  1326. You tried to just be my friend and look how that turned out.
  1327. >His hand shook in the space between them in a bitter gesture.
  1328. Look how it turned out. We’re doing this again.
  1329. >She grabbed his hand with her hoof and gently held him.
  1330. >“I always trusted my true feelings when I was with you. The second I stopped doing that, we drifted apart. I acted like a darn fool when I tried to win your love when all I should have been doing is everything that’d already brought us close together in the first place. Don’t you want all those things I want too?”
  1331. >He looked regretfully down at the floor.
  1332. All those things had different outcomes for us. I got a best friend, but you fell in love.
  1333. >“And what would the outcome have been if I wasn’t a pony?”
  1334. We’ve had this conversation before.
  1335. >“Not like this we haven’t. Not honestly.”
  1336. >He made a feeble attempt to pull his hand away but she held him firmly in her hoof.
  1337. >Her skin pressed against his and she could feel his heartbeat through his wrist.
  1338. >“I think you need to trust me when I say that, in some way or another, this’ll work out for us if we just try. I know you don’t have to believe me, but I just . . .”
  1339. >She hesitated before admitting through tears:
  1340. >“Well you don’t think I would ever try to steer you wrong, would I?”
  1341. Not on purpose, Applejack. I don’t think you would do it on purpose.
  1342. >“I wouldn’t,” she said. “I wouldn’t do it at all.”
  1343. You have too much faith in me. But we’ve had this conversation before, and I know how it ends.
  1344. >She was crying now.
  1345. >She asked him bitterly:
  1346. >“And just how does it end?”
  1347. With me eventually letting you down.
  1348. >“And if you gave me an honest chance . . . ?”
  1349. >He cast his eyes down and slowly shook his head.
  1350. Even if we tried, it’d just end the same way. You’ll always be great, Applejack. It’s me that wouldn’t change. And I’m sorry.
  1351. >She sniffled and rubbed her tears away as she looked at him.
  1352. >“At least with my way we could say something about it. At least with my way we’d know for sure.”
  1353. I do know for sure. I know how it’d work out.
  1354. >No, you don’t, she said to herself. You’re just saying that because you’re scared.
  1355. >But one look at his face told her that he already knew that.
  1356. >And that it ate him up inside more than it ever had her.
  1357. >With great effort she let go of his hand and turned away from him.
  1358. I know it’s not fair, but it’s just different for us, Applejack. I’m sorry.
  1359. >“It ain’t different,” she said. “Not the important parts, anyway.”
  1360. >She got halfway out of the room before she stopped and looked back at him.
  1361. >She wiped away her tears and, holding back her choked sobs, said to him:
  1362. >“I’ve been carrying you in my heart for so long now. I don’t know that I can stand it much longer.”
  1363. >She turned away from him in sudden surprised movement, like she’d been struck, and she trotted to the hall and out the door.
  1364. >His hand reached up halfway in a feeble attempt to stop her.
  1365. >She never looked back to see it.
  1366.  
  1367. >She was through crying when she came home.
  1368. >Her sadness was gone and all that was left inside was a bitter emptiness which stung her heart like the cold winter wind.
  1369. >Her eyes brimmed over with tears from the harsh cold.
  1370. >She wiped them away and stood in the dark beneath the porch awning so she could brush away the snow and little chunks of ice that had froze in her tail.
  1371. >The farmhouse was quiet and she thought that her family must have all been in bed.
  1372. >She could see nothing in the dark living room except for the fire Big Mac had made, which still burned red and high even after evening’s passing.
  1373. >Her hat was hung on the rack to dry and she eased towards the fire on quiet hooves.
  1374. >She found Apple Bloom and Big Mac asleep on the couch next to the fireplace.
  1375. >He was lying sprawled out on two seats and her little sister was snoring whilst sat up, her head tilted back and resting against the couch.
  1376. >There was a folded blanket nearby that they hadn’t used and she gently laid it over the two of them and tucked them in for the night.
  1377. >Something on the mantelpiece caught her eye.
  1378. >It was their Hearth’s Warming dolls.
  1379. >Hers had been put up alongside the rest of them.
  1380. >Granny, Big Mac, Applejack, and Apple Bloom had all been together for Hearth’s Warming Eve.
  1381. >Just when she’d been getting dry she found tears coming up to her eyes again.
  1382. >She smiled and turned to meet the gentle snoring of her sleeping family.
  1383. >“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
  1384. >“They ain’t mad at ya.”
  1385. >Applejack jumped at the sudden appearance of Granny’s voice.
  1386. >She had been sitting in a rocking chair in the corner of the living room the entire time.
  1387. >“They’ll forgive ya,” Granny said. “And if’n they don’t then they’re gonna hear about it from me.”
  1388. >She approached Granny.
  1389. >“They got every right to be upset,” she said. “I messed everything up tonight.”
  1390. >“Well if that’s the way ya feel then pack it in. Try again tomorrow. Ya might feel a sight better anyway if’n ya hit the hay.”
  1391. >Applejack’s eyes were adjusting to the dark and she saw that Granny was on the last few threads of a wool scarf she’d been crocheting since the month started.
  1392. >In the morning it would be a gift for Apple Bloom.
  1393. >“I can’t sleep now,” she said. “Not only did I miss Hearth’s Warming Eve, but I ruined Christmas too.”
  1394. >Granny’s smile left her.
  1395. >“You ruined what now?”
  1396. >Applejack felt the corners of her mouth tugging downwards.
  1397. >“My friendship.”
  1398. >She wiped her eyes and composed herself.
  1399. >“I ruined my friendship with him. I went and did the one thing I told y’all I wasn’t going to do. I broke my promise to him. I blew it.”
  1400. >She sighed.
  1401. >“I really do got applesauce brains. He yelled at me, Granny. I made him furious. I thought I was doing right, that is, until I wasn’t . . .”
  1402. >Applejack told Granny the entire story of her Christmas with him.
  1403. >Her face was burning with shame by the end of it.
  1404. >Granny watched her for a moment in the firelight.
  1405. >“Do you know what my favorite Hearth’s Warming memory is about you?”
  1406. >Applejack looked up at her.
  1407. >“Granny?”
  1408. >“It’s of you, way back when you were just a little pony. Not even a year out of being a foal yet. That’s when I decided to tell you the story of the Gift Givers.”
  1409. >“The Gift Givers?”
  1410. >“It’s an old legend from way back in my time. It’s about three reindeer, one young, one old, and one in the middle. Their magic–”
  1411. >“The Gift Givers are real, Granny.”
  1412. >Granny paused.
  1413. >“What was that ya say?”
  1414. >“The Gift Givers, they’re real. Pinkie Pie met them once before.”
  1415. >“No kidding! Well, wish I knew that before I spent all that time knitting this here scarf for Apple Bloom. Maybe I could’ve gotten one with some gems in it or somethin’ like . . .”
  1416. >Granny muttered to herself for a bit.
  1417. >Then she licked her shriveled lips and smacked her gums together and paused.
  1418. >“What was I sayin’ again?”
  1419. >“Something about the Gift Givers, Granny.”
  1420. >“Yes, I know that much,” Granny said, brushing her off. “But I was tryin’ to . . . I sort of . . . um . . .”
  1421. >Granny growled to herself.
  1422. >“Fiddle faddle! Why’d you have to go and start blabbin’ like that? You made me lose where I was goin’ with everything.”
  1423. >Applejack folded her ears and awkwardly apologized.
  1424. >“It was gonna make you feel better, I’m sure,” Granny said. “Whatever it was.”
  1425. >“I don’t know that anything will make me feel better.”
  1426. >“You and that feller are best friends. You’ll work it out together sooner or later.”
  1427. >“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe not this time.”
  1428. >Granny regarded her for a moment.
  1429. >“Ya know he loves you, right?”
  1430. >Her mouth suddenly felt very dry.
  1431. >“W-Well now, Granny, I don’t–”
  1432. >“He loves you. I may be old, but I know a thing or two, and I can see that more than anything else. He thinks you’re the best thing in Equestria since sliced bread. And I remember when sliced bread first came out. Ponies went wild for it! So take my word.”
  1433. >Granny eased back in her chair.
  1434. >“The two of you ain’t canoodlin’ in the barn like you might want, but that don’t mean he doesn’t love you more than anything else.”
  1435. >“He was awfully mad at me. I never seen him blow up like that.”
  1436. >“He’s confused, dearie. I know how it is. You probably feel all mixed up inside whenever the two of you get together, don’t ya?”
  1437. >She remembered that night she’d watched him sleeping, and she brought her arm up and covered her heart.
  1438. >“He feels all mixed up near you too,” Granny said, “except he don’t know what to do with it to make it go away. He doesn’t know what he wants, not like you do. The answers ain’t as clear to him. Maybe they ain’t ever gonna be again.”
  1439. >She folded her ears.
  1440. >“I should apologize.”
  1441. >“I think that’d be good,” Granny said. “You could also wait.”
  1442. >“I ain’t going right now, Granny. I’ve learned my lesson about that.”
  1443. >“That ain’t what I meant. He feels just as badly as you do. He might apologize to you himself if you give him some time. Although you do rarely ever hear about a stallion apologizing.”
  1444. >“He’s a man,” she said. “It’s different.”
  1445. >Granny smiled.
  1446. >“I suppose it is.”
  1447. >“It might just be better if I go first though, wouldn’t it?”
  1448. >“That’d be fine,” Granny said. “If’n you don’t want to wait any longer than ya have to.”
  1449. >Granny hummed to herself and, without missing a beat, picked up her story where she had left off.
  1450. >“You were just a young pony, and somehow you got it in your head that the Gift Givers were going to come here and bring you all your presents themselves. I remember watching you struggle to stay up all night. I can still see ya. You fell asleep on the floor right there.”
  1451. >She pointed to the spot on the floor and laughed softly so that she did not wake anyone.
  1452. >“You stayed up as long as you could, convinced that the Gift Givers were going to show up and make your Hearth's Warming.”
  1453. >“Didn’t you tell me that I was wrong?” she said.
  1454. >Granny just smiled.
  1455. >“Your faith was too strong.”
  1456. >She was silent, and Granny said:
  1457. >“On that Hearth’s Warming, the Gift Givers may not have been real. But that man you love is. He lives right here in town. I seen the two of you walkin’ and talkin’ together. You did it more on that one springtime than I’ve seen any other two ponies ever do it in all my life.”
  1458. >“So do you think there’s still a chance?” she said. “You think that he’ll come around and love me?”
  1459. >“I’m sayin’ that I’ve seen the two of ya on a good day, and I think that there’s somethin’ there to believe in. Something there that’s worth believing in anyway.”
  1460. >“But what should I do? I can’t just hope that he’ll come around to how I feel about him someday.”
  1461. >“What else have you got?” Granny said. “This is love. It ain’t raising a barn.”
  1462. >She slowly shook her head.
  1463. >“My faith ain’t as strong as it used to be, Granny. I can’t take any more pain like this. I can’t keep waiting. Even apple bucking ain’t the same anymore. I feel like he’s there too, even when I know he ain’t.”
  1464. >“And do you wish he wasn’t there?”
  1465. >“I don’t know.”
  1466. >Then she added:
  1467. >“I can’t just stand here and believe that there’s nothing I can do. If I had just done things different back when all this had first started . . .”
  1468. >“You don’t think having faith in him counts as doing something?”
  1469. >“I’d like to say that I believe in him, but that on its own won’t make him change his mind.”
  1470. >“What would happen if he never did, Applejack?”
  1471. >She had no answer.
  1472. >She had never seriously thought about it before.
  1473. >“I don’t know.”
  1474. >“Would you hate him? Would you stop being friends altogether?”
  1475. >“No way,” she said quickly; then added, “At least, I hope not.”
  1476. >The room fell silent, save for the stray clinking of Granny’s crochet needles.
  1477. >“It’d be nice if we could be friends like we used to, but that ain’t what I want, Granny. I want him to love me.”
  1478. >“Then have faith in him,” Granny said. “You’ve already done all else you can do. Celestia and every pony else already knows that.”
  1479. >She was about to speak but Granny interrupted her.
  1480. >“And so does he.”
  1481. >“I know that,” she said. “I know.”
  1482. >“You would be disappointed, and you can even be a little disappointed in him if you want. I don’t think anybody would begrudge you for that. But even though you wouldn’t have everything you might have wanted, you’d still have something good together with him, wouldn’t ya?”
  1483. >She was silent, thinking.
  1484. >“You had fun with him today, didn’t ya?” Granny said.
  1485. >“It was the most fun I had all year,” she said.
  1486. >She thought of something then.
  1487. >“Granny, I know it’s late, but–”
  1488. >“Just tell me what you need, and I’ll do it. But you have to promise me that you’ll get some sleep.”
  1489. >She promised.
  1490. >Later, just when she was ready to head upstairs, she turned and asked Granny:
  1491. >“What happened when the Gift Givers didn’t show up?”
  1492. >“Nothing happened. You woke up, saw all the presents under the tree, and got mad at yourself for falling asleep and missing ‘em.”
  1493. >When she was alone in her room she went to the window and looked up at the sky.
  1494. >She held her eyes long to it until she could see past the clouds.
  1495. >The stars were there and they appeared before her eyes.
  1496. >“It ain’t fair, I want a chance.”
  1497. >She scarcely knew just who she was talking to but it felt right to her.
  1498. >“I know I messed up before, but I would be good to him. I swear I would. Please. . . .”
  1499. >It was a long night.
  1500. >She never remembered falling asleep.
  1501.  
  1502. What would you have had me do?
  1503. >He sat in front of the smoldering fire and was hunched over his keyring, which he held in his open palm.
  1504. >His house key, his car key, and all the other keys he had accumulated over the years.
  1505. >They were the only real proof that he had truly lived a life somewhere before being stranded in Equestria.
  1506. >His face, even his eyes, were veiled in darkness whenever his eyes fell on this relic.
  1507. >When he could look at it no longer he stood up and picked her present out from under the tree.
  1508. >Hers was the first gift he had placed there, the first one he had found.
  1509. >He hadn’t planned that: it had just happened that way.
  1510. >On his way back he saw the plate of cookies she had made for him that was still on the small table before the couch.
  1511. >It had been a long time since anyone had made him something out of love.
  1512. >Hers was still sitting on the plate and she hadn’t even eaten half of it.
  1513. >He stood there, thinking about that.
  1514. >He sat down again at the hearth and the fire popped as he studied the plainly-wrapped box.
  1515. Applejack. . . .
  1516. >He caressed the box with his thumb, his other hand closing on the keyring until his fist was trembling.
  1517. >Slowly, his gaze lifted from these things and he looked into the fading embers of the dying fire.
  1518. >For a long time he sat like this.
  1519. >Until he had made up his mind.
  1520. Love be damned.
  1521. >He stood up and began turning the lights on so he could set about to his work for the rest of the night.
  1522.  
  1523. >She could tell from the way the sunlight was hitting her window that it was still early.
  1524. >She sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes until she noticed something was on the nightstand.
  1525. >It was a traditional Hearth’s Warming crochet doll, except that the head was perfectly round and it had no tail or mane.
  1526. >She smiled.
  1527. >Granny had come through.
  1528. >She already felt butterflies tickling in her stomach at the idea of seeing her family after last night’s mistakes.
  1529. >So she decided to leave the doll in her room.
  1530. >None of them needed to be reminded of the reason why she had disappointed them all.
  1531. >She eased down the stairs so as not to make any noise but she found only Apple Bloom was in the living room, looking at her presents.
  1532. >Her little sister soon turned around and, beaming as bright as the morning sun, rushed to greet her at the bottom of the steps.
  1533. >“There you are, apple sauce!”
  1534. >Applejack laughed, in spite of the nickname, and the two of them embraced.
  1535. >“Happy Hearth’s Warming, little sis.”
  1536. >“Granny made your favorite today,” Apple Bloom said. “Apple butter pancakes! We already had ours, so you can have as many as you want.”
  1537. >“Is that so?”
  1538. >Two figures appeared in the kitchen door.
  1539. >“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Granny. You, too, Big Mac.”
  1540. >“Oh my, yes,” Granny said.
  1541. >“Eeyup.”
  1542. >Silence lingered, and the fire crackled and popped near the warm hearth.
  1543. >Applejack looked around the room before letting out a resigned sigh.
  1544. >“I’m sorry about last night, every pony. I lost track of time, but that ain’t no excuse for missing out on spending Hearth’s Warming Eve with y’all.”
  1545. >“It’s okay, Applejack,” Apple Bloom said. “Granny told us everything already. We forgive ya.”
  1546. >“Eeyup.”
  1547. >Of course there was still one apology she owed to somebody.
  1548. >She looked hopefully to the front door, letting her eyes linger on it for a moment.
  1549. >“Besides, I want to hear all about this Cris-mass thing,” Apple Bloom said.
  1550. >A sharp shushing from Granny stopped a barrage of questions that the filly was preparing to unleash upon her.
  1551. >“It’s alright, Granny,” she said as she gently patted Apple Bloom’s mane. “It’s called Christmas, little sis, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
  1552. >But she felt weary and disheartened, as though repeating the word had coated her heart in sadness.
  1553. >She let go of her sister and started for the kitchen where she could be alone.
  1554. >“Later,” she said. “I’ll tell you about it later.”
  1555. >“He didn’t tell you about my present, did he?” Apple Bloom said. “He promised me he wouldn’t blab.”
  1556. >“No, he didn’t,” she said. “He kept his promise.”
  1557. >Then, she added, before leaving them:
  1558. >“I can’t wait to see what it is.”
  1559. >Granny said that they would be opening presents in just a few minutes.
  1560. >The sun was shining through the kitchen window, blinding her as she entered.
  1561. >A plate with a generous stack of pancakes had already been made for her but she found that they tasted like mush in her mouth.
  1562. >Everything was disagreeable to her.
  1563. >She felt tired from faking the small amount of enthusiasm she had shown her family and she was soon wishing that she had just stayed in bed.
  1564. >It was all because of him–because of her.
  1565. >She wanted nothing more than to leave for his house, pound on the door, and, when he answered, drop down before him and tell him how sorry she was.
  1566. >But instead she had decided to wait.
  1567. >And she hated it.
  1568. >She allowed herself to hate it.
  1569. >She was tired.
  1570. >She had disappointed him, her family, and herself last night.
  1571. >If she could end this Hearth’s Warming by only disappointing herself then that would at least be something.
  1572. >She pushed her plate away and, sighing heavily, brought her chin down to rest on the table.
  1573. >“Yeah, it would be something all right . . .”
  1574. >A small victory on the worst Hearth’s Warming ever.
  1575. >She could hear their chatter in the living room and Apple Bloom shouted to her that they were bringing the presents out from under the tree.
  1576. >She did not move from the table.
  1577. >She buried her face in her arms, wishing that she could just disappear.
  1578. >A deep voice, deeper than Big Mac’s, bellowed from outside.
  1579. Ho ho ho!
  1580. >The living room fell silent.
  1581. >Applejack’s ear flicked and she groggily sat up.
  1582. >“What the hay–?”
  1583. >The front door opened.
  1584. Merry Christmas, Apples! Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!
  1585. >Applejack looked into the living room and her jaw dropped.
  1586. >He stood there before the open door.
  1587. >He was wearing a red tree skirt and a fake beard that looked like it was made of glued together cotton balls.
  1588. >He carried a huge sack with him that was heaved up over his shoulder and, seeing her hat on the rack, he picked it up and placed it on his head, completing the look of a ragtag Santa.
  1589. >Tipping her hat back up over his brow, he grabbed his belly and laughed.
  1590. Ho ho ho!
  1591. >She rubbed her eyes and looked again with bewilderment at the sight of him.
  1592. >She couldn’t speak.
  1593. >“You’re here!” Apple Bloom cheered. “You showed up for Hearth’s Warming.”
  1594. >He put on a deep, fake voice as the filly rushed to greet him.
  1595. Hello there, little girl. Merry Christmas!
  1596. >Apple Bloom squeezed her arms around his thigh in a big hug.
  1597. >“Applejack, get in here!” Apple Bloom shouted. “He came for Hearth’s Warming! He looks funny, but he came!”
  1598. >Apple Bloom looked up at him.
  1599. >“What’s with the get up?”
  1600. >Then, with her voice squealing in excitement:
  1601. >“And what’s in the sack? Did you bring me any presents?”
  1602. Well, that depends, little girl. Have you been good this year?
  1603. >“Why are you calling me that?” Apple Bloom asked. “You know my name.”
  1604. >“Well, I do believe that’s old Santy Claws there, Apple Bloom,” Granny said. “Your sister must’ve been expectin’ him.”
  1605. >“Uh, what . . . ?”
  1606. >He leaned down and whispered to her:
  1607. I’m doing a thing here for your big sis, Apple Bloom.
  1608. >Nobody noticed that Applejack had pushed her chair out from the table.
  1609. >He kept whispering.
  1610. I got you a present. Just play along.
  1611. >Apple Bloom’s eyes widened.
  1612. >“Oh!” she said slowly. “Right, I gotcha.”
  1613. >Apple Bloom gave him a wink but they soon saw there was no need for it.
  1614. >She stood there in the kitchen doorway with the morning light glowing all around her, lighting up the dusty gold strands of her loose mane.
  1615. >Her eyes were shining with bright happy tears.
  1616. >He was perfectly still, watching her.
  1617. >Then all at once they began crossing the room to reach one another.
  1618. >He bent down on one knee and she leaped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in close for a hug.
  1619. >Their cheeks touched.
  1620. >He ripped his beard off so he could feel her closer to him and she was softly sniffling into his shoulder.
  1621. I’m sorry, Applejack.
  1622. >She pulled away from him and wiped her wet muzzle with a confused expression.
  1623. >“What do you mean? I was going to tell you that I was sorry. Why are you sorry?”
  1624. Because you were right last night. You were just trying to help, and all I did was act nasty to you when you did.
  1625. >“No, that’s not true. Last night was great–well, the good parts were great. I mean . . . I did break into your house and all.”
  1626. >Apple Bloom snickered.
  1627. >“Applesauce brains!”
  1628. >Applejack scoffed.
  1629. >“Oh, you know what I mean. But I’m sorry too. I never should’ve lied to you in the first place.”
  1630. You just wanted to help me.
  1631. >“But it didn’t do us any good, did it?”
  1632. Well, no, not until now.
  1633. >“So you forgive me?” she said. “We can still be friends?”
  1634. >He smiled shrewdly and she raised an eyebrow towards him.
  1635. >“What?”
  1636. You might want to open your present first before you ask me that.
  1637. >She recognized all the presents in the sack.
  1638. >He had regifted the ones that had been under his tree, scratching out all the old names and writing the names of her family members in their place.
  1639. >There were some pleasant surprises.
  1640. >Apple Bloom was happy with her chemistry set; Big Mac got a book on carpentry.
  1641. >And for Granny there was the finest set of ivory knitting needles that she’d ever seen.
  1642. >They all sat down and admired their gifts.
  1643. >Then there was her.
  1644. >Hers was the only gift that had remained unchanged in any way from last night.
  1645. >“I still have no idea what could be in here,” she said as she shook the hollow-sounding box.
  1646. >She saw his feet were moving, like he was antsy, and that he was absentmindedly biting his lip as he looked around the room.
  1647. >She nudged him playfully with her elbow.
  1648. >“Hey, come on. I promise you I’ll like it.”
  1649. I’ll bet.
  1650. >Then he added quickly:
  1651. Let’s get some cider first.
  1652. >He was oddly insistent and she decided to humor him.
  1653. >The second they found themselves alone in the kitchen he stopped.
  1654. I just wanted a little privacy.
  1655. >“Privacy?” she said, looking up at him oddly.
  1656. Yeah, yeah.
  1657. >He nodded quickly and made insistent gestures with his hand towards her present.
  1658. Go on, open it.
  1659. >“Now hang on, you’ve been acting a might strange, and I’m saying that while keeping in mind that you came over here dressed up as Santa.”
  1660. >He held her eyes in his for only a brief moment before dropping them.
  1661. Well . . . I just . . . last night . . . when you and I . . . I’ve been thinking about . . . what you said . . . and . . . Us!
  1662. >A trifling blush invaded his cheeks and he looked off to the side.
  1663. >Applejack, who had never seen him so flustered before, was now holding back the urge to laugh as she calmed him down.
  1664. >“Okay, partner, take it easy now,” she said. “So you were thinking about what you and I talked about last night.”
  1665. >A sudden realization painted her face.
  1666. >She swallowed nervously as a warm blush rose beneath her freckles.
  1667. >“About us. . . .”
  1668. Look, just open the darn thing and hopefully that’ll explain.
  1669. >They turned away while still keeping their eyes on each other.
  1670. >She opened her present and she felt her heart skip a beat.
  1671. >Inside the box was a sprig of mistletoe.
  1672. >She recognized it instantly and turned to meet him.
  1673. >He had already taken a knee by then.
  1674. >She met his lips as they joined with hers and she saw briefly, in her stunned state, that his eyes were shut tight and that this had taken all of his bravery for him to do.
  1675. >Her heart ached with happiness.
  1676. >Soon she was conscious of nothing else except for the soft pressure of his lips pressed against hers.
  1677. >Then he pulled away.
  1678. >She keenly felt their parting and she looked into his flustered, downturned face.
  1679. Oh, I was, uh, aiming for your cheek. If this is too fast then I’m sorry–
  1680. >“You should be sorry.”
  1681. >She softly placed her hoof behind his head and he read the intent in her upturned, loving eyes.
  1682. >“You didn’t finish the job, partner.”
  1683. >She bowed his head until their brows came to rest upon each other and, with her eyes and her touch, she led him on until he kissed her again.
  1684. >For a long time they stayed locked together, both of them conscious of only the soft pressure of each other's lips.
  1685. >She felt him caressing her behind her neck, smoothing over the soft fine hairs of her coat with his hand.
  1686. >He stopped and, pressing his palm against the nape of her neck, pulled her closer to him.
  1687. >Closer, until she could feel the gentle thrumming of their hearts together.
  1688. >A brief thought came to her mind as they kissed.
  1689. >When she’d first seen the mistletoe, she had wondered if that was what he had always intended to give her.
  1690. >She would have asked him if he hadn’t kissed her, and she was glad now that she didn’t.
  1691. >She decided that it was best not to question your wishes when they come true.
  1692. >And right then, all she wished was that this moment between them could have lasted forever.
  1693.  
  1694. >From around the kitchen door, Apple Bloom, Granny and Big Mac were peeking in on them.
  1695. >Apple Bloom, who looked a bit sad, folded her ears and sighed.
  1696. >“That’s got my special present beat right there, don’t it?”
  1697. >“Eeyup.”
  1698. >“Afraid so, prickly pear,” Granny said; and she began to playfully rough up the filly’s mane.
  1699.  
  1700. >He left the house dark on his way to the Apple family that morning.
  1701. >The fire had gone out.
  1702. >A few unburned twigs lay on top of some faint embers.
  1703. >Then a small flame appeared.
  1704. >It grew and grew until the twigs caught and the fire had come alive again.
  1705. >It cast throughout the room a warm glow that reached out past the frosted window and up to the lone keyring, which had been placed up on the mantel.
  1706.  
  1707. >Apple Bloom’s special present ended up being a hit after all.
  1708. >She’d had a picture framed of the two of them on their trip to Winsome Falls.
  1709. >Without ever having seen the picture before, Applejack recognized it.
  1710. >It was the morning of that fateful night when she had made her wish.
  1711. >They were both asleep.
  1712. >They slept by each other, head to head, near the fire.
  1713. >It looked like they were dreaming together.
  1714. >They placed the picture right next to the five Hearth’s Warming dolls of the Apple family on the mantel.
  1715. >There the fire burned warm and bright, as it did back then, and in the living room they had gathered together around the piano to sing carols.
  1716. >The air had turned warm and merry.
  1717. >Christmas had come.
  1718. >And no one that passed by the glowing windows of the Apple family home that day would have been able to recognize the strange songs that they were singing together.
  1719.  
  1720. >~Sleep in Heavenly Peace!
  1721. ~Sleep in Heavenly Peace!

All there was and need to know [zigzag story archive]

by ZigZagWanderer

The Growth Process

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A Secret Place

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Being Natural

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Counting with Pinkie Pie

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