Thread 86: Stories 46-60

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~~~~~~

It all happened so fast.

What was once peaceful, cool, crisp winter winds changed as suddenly as change could be in life. They warped, twisted and turned until they no longer resembled the white serenity of unearthly grace, but instead a wall of unforgiving, blinding ivory. The winds speed increased to deafening levels, as if a roar had been let loose by the very core of the heart of winter itself.

And, in a way, it had.

For it had indeed roared, it had indeed called, a call that seemingly had not graced these lands in ages and ages long past.

The roar of winter.

The roar of the Wendigo.

And Applebloom was more than happy to vocalize her problems with this.

"WHAT KINDA BULLSHIT IS THIS!?"

Had they not been so per-occupied with fighting the literal spirits of angry winter, every single one of her three elders would have shoved a bar of soap into her mouth.

They would have found it, don't test them.

"GRANNY! How the Applebuckin' hell did ya'll manage ta' find WENDIGOS!? HOW!? HOOWWW!?"

Below, racing away from them at speeds that one would think impossible of one of her advanced age, but physics clearly take a backseat to angry-spirit freaking fear, Granny Smith was dealing with just a tinge of regret she had brought these angry things upon her family.

"AH' DON'T KNOW! JUST KEEP SHOOTIN'!"

Admittedly, the fact her granddaughter could shoot lasers now assuaged that quite a lot, but it was there.

"Ain't they supposed ta' be extinct!?"

Regret was not something Big Macintosh normally felt when he could not get into a fight. Being as big and strong as he was, normally he preferred to avoid fights with all he could.

Still, what he wouldn't give for the ability to kick the wind right now.

"WELL THEY CLEARLY AIN'T!"

"...heyyyy! I thought these guys were s'posed ta' only go at'cha iffin' yer' fightin'! All we gotta do is not fight and we're golden!"

"THAT-... is actually good thinkin', Applebloom! Everyone! Just be real family like and-AGGHHHH!"
The blows came quickly.

They came harshly.

And they did not stop until Applejack was being bounced around in the sky like a ping pong ball.

"APPLEJACK!"

"...Uh, okay, so, they ain't gonna not hit us just cause we ain't fightin'."

"WENDIGOS DON'T HIT!"

He said, just seconds before a rather large one descended upon him, and buried him at least three feet straight down with a blow to the top of his head.

"..."

"...Ah' stand corrected."

"WHAT DID YA' DO, GRANNY!?"

"Me!? Ah'm not the one who brought 'em ta' mah' farm! It was probably that hoosymagics ya'll got!"

"My hoosymagics don't summon snow things... Ah' think! APPLEBLOOM! Did ya'll and the Crusaders-"

"HOW!? How the rotten apple core could Ah' POSSIBLY summon WENDIGOS lookin' fer' mah cutie mark!? Even Ah' can't think of a way ta' be this stupid! HOWWWW!?"

"...Big Mac? Ya' didn't, ya' know, try ta' sleep with 'em-"

"AJ!"

"Hey! Don't ya'll blame me after that event with the chimera!"

"THE WHAT WITH THE WHO NOW!"

"Whoops."

"Ow! Not the time, Granny!"

"Oh sure, NOW ya' talk!"

"HOW DID THIS GO SO SOUTH SO FAST!?"

"INCOMIN'!"

At least now, when they met again, she could converse with Cadence on equal terms in the way of being turned into literal projectiles.

Big Mac was less than appreciative.

"ALRIGHT! That's it! Ah've had all Ah' can take and Ah' can't take no more! Ah'm about to-"

BLAM!

"... Mostly that, but Ah' was gonna use lasers!"

The wendigos turned, as much as one made of wind and snow could turn anyway, away from the gathered family, and instead to the source of the bead of red that had shot through the 'skull' of one of their kin, though it left it unharmed.

"Hey, assholes..."

There was the click of a hammer being pulled back, and the glint of metal aimed square at the whirling crowd.

"You want to try to touch her... I'll show you a dragon who can bring the FIRE!"

Were it not for the roaring wisps of wind, there would have been silence.

"...Really?"

"I just came up with it on the spot, I didn't know I was going to be fighting Wendigos!"

"Ah'm just bothered ya' didn't mention me or Big Mac or Granny."

"...Oh, well, obviously you're included."

"Didn't feel like that."

"Right?'

"Nnnnope."

"Oh come on, you guys are like family to me!"

"Did someone say somethin'?"

"Ah' don't know, we probably weren't included."

"I'M SORRY! I-OH SHIT!"

"ENOUGH!"

There was only one thing faster than the wall of white that charged him.

The orange blur that pierced right through it, and scooped him up seconds before it collided with the spot on which he stood.

In the next second, they were high above the swirling vortex, him on her back and a look of relief on his face.

"...Thanks."

"Anytime, loverboy."

"You ready to do this?"

"Yer' gad danged right... but ya' better mention Mah' family next time. Ah'm important, fine, but they're more important."

"It was a spur of the moment thing!"

"Heh... Ah'll give ya' the benefit of the doubt. Ya' got mah' back?"

"I've got ALL your backs."

"Now that's what Ah' wanna hear... LETS DO THIS!"

"Um...darling?"

White appeared beside her once again, though thankfully this one was one she didn't want to punch.

...On most days, anyway.

"So, uh, should we join you?"

Seemingly from nowhere, another voice chimed in.

"It looks like they're having a moment."

"Well, I want to be in the moment too!"

"That's pretty rude."

"It's rude to leave me out!"

"...Fair point."

"YES Ya'll can come, obviously! Ah' want you guys on my side everyday!"

"Awww! Now see, that is a moment!"

"...Why is yer' hair-"

"SAVE IT!"

"Wait, are those wendigos? Can't we beat them by just-"

No, the roar seemed to reply.

They could not.

To the three alicorns and one dragon, they gave out their call.

And the battle was joined.

"BRING IT!"

And it was going to be the second most brutal Hearth's Warming Applejack had ever had.

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>Applebloom
"Big Mac"
'GS'
~~~~

>So Ah'm not the only one who thought this thing was gonna be a bear or somethin', right?

"Eeeeyup."

'HRMPH! MAGIC HOOSYWHATSISTS!'

>Yep, sure is magic whoosywhatsists.

"...Ah' wish Ah was an alicorn..."

>What'cha say?

"Ah' said Eeeeeyup."

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>Guard 1
"Guard 2"
~~~~~

>...So, uh... you see that giant swirling cloud over the Everfree forest, right?

"Yes."

>...And we're just not going to-

"Out of our jurisdiction."

>Seriously?

"I mean that legally, we're not allowed to go deal with that."

>...

"..."

>...That bad, huh?

"No, by all means, go fight the giant swirl cloud."

>...I just started a week ago.

"IT DOESN'T GET EASIER!"

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>13
"Chitania"
'Sweet Note'
~~~

>...

"You said they'd be here."

>Uh... I guess the Hive's out doing something else.

"...good."

'Awww, come on now Sugar Bean! I think you look cute in your Candy Cane hat!'

"There is one reason I am wearing this, and we both know what that is."

>...It was the only one they had in your size.

"And I like it. It looks good on me. I will punch anyone who disagrees."

>...So, since the hive's gone, what should we do now?

"..."

'...'

>...

"...Want to... listen to stories at the hotel room?"

>I've heard all yours.

"I meant yours."

>Oh... mine aren't very interesting.

"I... still want to hear them."

>...Okay.

'Great! It's all set then!'

>You sure this is okay? You don't have any family waiting for you back home?

'...N-nope...'

>Aw crap.

"You can still save it."

>...So! This one happened on Partyland...

'I can already tell this is going to be a long one...'

"Good. We've got time... now. For once... we've got time."

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Non-Canon
>Pinkie
"Discord"
~~~~~
>Welcome to Not Really Late Night /pa/ with your host Pinkie Pie! It's during this time that content is starting to matter, but I'm not down yet! Now for our main guest...DISCORD!!!
Applause

"Ahoy hoy."

>How are things going?

"Pretty good. I managed to spread chaos without anypony really noticing, and sewed chaos among the writers, so I more or less won. I've already gotten used to the "punishment" and consider Faust being on my case a pleasant disruption. I'd be willing to do it all again if I felt like it. I got almost everything I wanted with little effort."

>...Almost everything?

"...There was something I wanted above all and while it started to move that direction, it didn't get continued, so I suppose I'll give up on that front. The writers are too stupid to figure it out.

>Well regardless, I have a Hearth's Warming gift for you!

"A gift? For moi?"

>Yeah, everypony deserves something on Hearth's Warming. Even you.

"This I have to see. What kind of gift could possibly-"

A soft voice calls out.
'Hello Discord.'
A yellow artificial Alicorn comes out.

"Fluttershy?"
He immediately lunges forward and hugs Fluttershy. She smiles.

'It's good to see you Discord. For some reason, I feel like it's been a while.'

He hugs tighter.
"...a very long while."

>I'm sorry, Discord, but our time is up. I have to end the show.

"...why? I don't even deserve a gift."

>Like I said, everypony deserves something on Hearth's Warming. Bye everypony!

"...thank you."

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~~~~~

Things had gotten a little out of hand.

"AT WHAT POINT DID AH' GIVE THE IMPRESSION WHEN AH' SAID "We gotta stop them" ta' mean BURN DOWN THE WHOLE FREAKIN' FOREST!?"

"I'm not burning it all down! Controlled fires! It's controlled!... Or at least it was until they started scattering it."

"No kiddin', the giant swirlin' vortex manage ta' scatter somethin'!? Who would'a thought!"

"Hurtful."

"Um, mister Wendigo? Would you please stop? You're being very disruptive."

The answer, non-verbal as they were, was forced to come in the form of a gale force twister that rammed right into the artificial alicorn, ramming her full speed with the most destructive tip on it.

"...Well, you didn't have to be mean about it."

She probably would have been more upset if it had managed to move her.

"Ghastly things! Ugh, would you look at those gangly bodies, and that abhorrent hair! And those... well, your eyes are alright, but the personality is just the worst!"

"...Rarity, what are ya'll doin?"

"Well, these things freeze you if you have negative emotions, right? So if I make them feel angry at me, then they'll freeze themselves! It's a fool proof-OOF!"

The orange princess supposed that, in a way, Rarity was lucky.

If that wendigo hadn't hit the alabaster princess, she would have.

"They ain't freezin' nobody! They're just... really violent!"

"Not very Wendigo like, ain't it?"

"Yeah, like..."

Swiftly bullets flew into the chamber of his beloved gun, incendiary rounds lighting up the swirling skies with red as they carved through the wintery winds.

"...See? That's not really doing anything. Which is unfair, they hurt."

"Maybe yer' not packin' enough firepower with that little pea shooter!"

"GRANNY!"

"Ah' said it! He ain't got enough bang in the barrel! He ain't got the boom for the room! He's not-"

"He's got plenty where it counts, so shush yer'self!"

"Don'tcha tell me what ta' do!"

"Don'tcha be sassin' mah' dragon!"

"Don't ya-"

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME!"

But her brother's words went unanswered as the counterattack came. And oh, it came hard.

A wall of snow and ice, like a tsunami of the winters frost, rolled along the side of the trees, covering them and converging upon them like the certainty of winter itself, every bit as unstoppable as the turning of the tides and the the coming of the change of seasons in Everfree forest.

"INCOMING!"

It came, as thunderously as the lightning, that wave consuming all of them, from the earth ponies on the ground to the alicorns in the sky. All were taken, all were consumed.

All were smarting quite a bit when they managed to dig themselves out.

"...That was weird."

Except, infuriatingly, Fluttershy, who remained perfectly and utterly unharmed in even the slightest.

"THAT WAS WEIRD!? Missy we just got ran over like we were playin' in the street on cider day, and yer' sayin' that was WEIRD!?"

"...Well it was..."

"RARITY!"

Frantic claws and hooves raked at the snow, desperate to find the only one who had not emerged, the only one who had not been freed.

The one that they couldn't find.

"Dang it, Rarity! Ya' can't do this now! Not from these things! Not from these things!"

"I swear to Celestia I WILL..."

He stopped.

He squinted.

He tilted and turned.

...And then he sighed.

"You're... right in front of me, aren't you?"

"Yep."

Claws and hoofs slapped to face, raking down their fronts in slow, painful pulls.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING!?"

"...I liked hearing that...."

"Rarity, if you weren't so very pre... OH CRAP!"

"It wasn't that ba-"

"INCOMING AGAIN!"

Snow and ice, once more back to call, came in a spear of swirling wind, knocking them all for a loop in a single blow.

But, strangely, they noticed something... off about this one.

"WOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!"

"...issat..."

The point turned on a dime, edging along the side with pristine precision, cutting slicing and carving through the sky as it began to circle the roaring aberrations of cold. It spun, and spun, and spun and spun and spun until, at last it created a weapon the Wendigo's knew quite well, just perhaps not from this side of the equation.

They found themselves pulled in as a tornado was created, a spire that held them as certainly as one made of stone. They struggled, they pushed and pulled to break the winds creation, but they could not.

They remained there, trapped, until the twister abruptly broke, and scattered them to the winds.

For a second, there was peaceful, empty silence, save for the subtle flapping of wings as a smug, grinning face descended upon them all.

"...Go ahead, call me awesome, you know I am..."

"...Yer' reaction times were crap. How long was there a giant tornado visible ta' ya' before ya' mobilized?"

"Critics! Everyone's a critic because they can't be as AWESOME as me!"

"And where's yer' wonderbolts!?"

"...What? On vacation."

"IT'S AN EMERGENCY!"

"....meeeh, I could handle it."

She had, at first, wanted to hug her.

Now she mostly just wanted to hit her.

"...Please tell me that at least ya' got 'em."

"Pfft, obviously! How are they supposed... to..."

She looked left.

And then more left.

And left and left and left and left.

Until, at last, she ended up back where she started, face to face with Applejack.

"Okay, so, new thing-"

She wouldn't get to continue. At least, not yet.

Not until the massive ring around them finished closing in, and consumed them all.

And yet, in all the hurricane of crying and wailing, there was a single, solitary, lonely voice that managed to be heard.

"AH' JUST WANTED TA' OPEN MAH PRESEEENNNNTTTSSSS!"

And then it was upon them.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 >AB
"GS"
'BM'
~~~~~

>...Ya' ever wonder iffin' we got screwed when they handed out the superpowers?

'ALL THE TIME!'

"..."

'...Ah' mean, nnnope.'

"That's right! We don't need no fancy magics or them wings, we got our own skills right here! Workin' with the land!"

>Yeah, about that... don't Fluttershy have her own little farm thing too? So... can't she-

"Hush it."

>And Ah' pretty sure magic can grow stuff-

"Hush it!"

>And why would lack of wings make ya' better at-

"AH WILL HIT A CHILD!"

>...

"...We got zapapples."

>Oh yeah!

'We got those!'

>And they're awesome!

'And in demand!'

>Everythin's all better now!

>"'..."'

'Ah'm depressed.'

>Blame it on the Wendigos?

"Blamein' it."


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>Twilight
"Misc"
~~~
>We need to help princess Luna fight the Tentibus! Everyone, you can be anything you want to be in a dream!

"Reaaaally?"

MASS POOFING!

>... I don't get it, I see 52 surrounded by plot-

"I NEED TO DO MORE LUCID DREAMING!"

>But I don't see a difference with the rest of you.

"Ain' it obvious, sugar cube?"

"We're actually happy for a change!"

>... Wow... now I need to will myself into happy... Wait, where's Shiny?

Suddenly, an Ultramarine Titan crashes through

"I AM KING OF FUCKING EVERYTHING!"

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>AJ
"Spike"
'Rarity'
[FS]
{Dash}
~AB~
-Granny-
+BM+
~~~~~~

Things were not getting any better.

>THIS SUCKS!

The ring around them had closed in like a maw, sealing them inside it's icy vortex to pull them this way and that in a swirl of frost and wind, a strangely sobering revelation to those of them that had expected their powers to protect them.

Well, sobering to most of them.

"I CALL BULLSHIT!"

'UNFAIR!'

[...Sorry?]

One of them was just sitting in the middle of it, unsure what to do or how to help, yet being damaged little more than some fluttery hair. While the rest of them rolled around in the sky, she tried her best to think of a non-painful way to stop them.

Unfortunately, for all her powers, she found she was quite uncreative, usually wishing to call others to handle the situation better than her. Sadly, she doubted throwing bubblegum monsters into that mix would do much more than make the situation so much more worse.

'What kind of cruel being up there would give me one of the most coveted ascensions ever to be, and then reveal I'm not even second rate! I'm third! CHRYSALIS IS STRONGER THAN I AM!'

{OH NO! WHAT A CRUEL WORLD TO ONLY GIVE YOU ALICORN POWERS AND IMMORTALITY!}

~YEAH! AIN'T THAT A PITY!~

-WE FEEL REAL BAD FER' YA!-

+IS THERE ANYTHIN' WE CAN DO TA' HELP, YER HIGHNESS!? PLEASE NOTHIN' THAT INVOLVES MAGIC OR FLYIN'! CAUSE... YA' KNOW!+

'I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!'

"WHY IS EVERYONE YELLING!?"

>MAYBE IT'S GOT SOMETHIN' TA' DO WITH THE GIANT SWIRLIN' TORNADO!?



{WELL LOOK WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO!}

[...sorry...]

>DASH STOP BEIN' A JERK!

{YOU'RE THINKING IT!}

>..But ah'm not sayin' it...

"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TURN OFF THE FREAKING WIND!?"

Boom.

They felt it far more than they heard it. A boom. An explosion. An eruption that shook them, right down to their bones. An eruption that lasted only a second.

An eruption that left sweet, sweet silence.

=...Someone want to tell me what the heck is going on?=
As one, in a glorious unison, they cried.

>"'[{~-TWILIGHT!-]}'"

"OH THANK GOODNESS! Twilight's here!"

'SHE'LL FIX EVERYTHING!'

[Yay!]

~Finally, someone who gets stuff done!~

-Was waitin' fer the cavalry ta' arrive!-

{...You guys are all dicks...}

All by herself, Twilight shrugged.

=There wasn't a tornado scheduled for today, what's up with this?=

>WENDIGOS! FREAKIN' WENDIGOS!

=...What?=

>SORRY! MAH... Ah' mean, Mah' ears are still ringin'.

=No, I heard, I mean what? Wendigos don't live around here. And even if they were, you'd just have to be nice to each other to fix it.=

"Tried that, DIDN'T WORK!"

=Oh... well, maybe you didn't try hard enough?=

{CHOKE ON IT!}

=See that? That's what I'm talking about. What you need to do is more-=

They should've felt bad.

She meant a lot to them, all of them, for all she had done with and for them. She was a dear friend at the least, family at the most.

And yet, nobody felt all that bad when a Wendigo straight up tackled her across the still snow, and sent her face first into a tree.

=...I stand corrected.=

"Why do they do that!? What's the point of just hitting us randomly?!"

=I don't know, I'll have to do it myself and see what they like about it. GET SOME!=

Beams of lasers went off in every direction, carving through the wisping things without pause, causing them to screech as it's searing heat burned the moisture on their skins.

But they did not seem to mind.

>...Ya'll get the feelin' somethin' bigger is goin' on?

"Obviously."

'Applejack, please.'

[They're planning something.]

{Even I could see that.]

~Do ya' think we're stupid?!~

-Ah'm offended!-

>Okay, so... what're they plannin'?

+That giant thing they're makin' up above us.+

At her brothers words, they all looked up... up... up...

~...Well if that ain't a load of fuckin'-~

Like a waterfall made of blizzard, it came down.

And they could do nothing but get caught in the rain.

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>Sunset
"Dollestia"
~~~~~

"...Come on, you're not even going to try?"

In response, the unicorn just flipped onto her side, shuffling deeper into the covers.

>I am trying, trying to sleep. You're blocking this, stop it.

"You're not even going to spend a little time with them?"

>I'll see them tomorrow, it's not like they're going to go anywhere.

"But today's..."

>Today is just another day, no big deal.

"...You know that's not true."

>It never meant anything to me before, it won't now.

"But it's different now."

>Yeah... I'm not even alive this time.

"You should-"

>I should what!?

She shot up in her bed, glaring down the wiggling doll.

>Go to some feast when I can't eat? Exchange gifts I couldn't buy because I have no money? Talk to ponies who are happy with their FAMILIES today? Huh? What should I do!?

"...Go be with your friends..."

She huffed, and went right back to her bed.

>...My friends deserve to be happy today, that's not going to happen with a great big undead reminder being shoved in their face.

"Sunset..."

>...

"...Sunset?"

>...

"...It's okay... I'll wait..."

She sat down, and she hoped.

"For when you're ready to go..."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>SA
"Chrysalis"
'Celestia'
~~~~~~

>Oof, I'm exhausted.

"Yeah, we've kinda been firing off all pistons over here."

'Do you suppose they're having fun back home too?'

"Pfft, those assholes are so boring they're probably just now sitting down to listen to some dull ass story."

'Well, her stories are rather long...'

>No worries, they're probably relaxing, having fun, stuff like that. What major thing is going to happen today?

"..."

'...'

>...what?

'Mom... damn it Shiny...'

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 >Cadence
"18"
~~~~~

>....

"...What... what are you looking at me for?"

>....

"...You're just staring. This is... please stop."

>..

"Please stop."

>...

"Please stop!"

>....

"ALRIGHT! I'm the one who denied your request for an extra funding to enjewel your royal train! I know it looks good, but we just don't have the budget!"

>....

"FINE! I ate all the megochocoblocks! IT WAS ME!"

>...

"YES I THINK ABOUT SHINY IN THE SHOWER, WHAT DO YOU WAAANNNNNT!?"

>...

"AAGHHHHHHHHHH!"

*Flees!*

>... I guess I will have to practice on someone else...


_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 >32
"77"
'88'
~~~

>...

"..."

'...What?'

>...

"..."

'Guys? Uh, what's going on? I know you're still here, but he just said "Happy Hearth's Warming" and then you both went really, REALLY quiet.'

>...

"..."

'GUY!'

"...'I hope you have a happy hearth warming, and you enjoy every wondrous sight?'..."

>I swear I didn't look at that first.

"You didn't even look at it!?"

>There's ninety of them!

"Well, I figured that mine and hers would be a little higher on the priority list!"

>They are!

"Wait, what does mine say?"

>Er, we don't have to-

"Happy Hearth's Warming, I hope you look back at the year as warmly as I think of you."

>...

'...Wow.'

>I DIDN'T LOOK AT IT!

'That, uh... that is not better?'

>I'M SORRY!

'You really, really should be.'

>This is the WORST thing that could have happened today!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Non-Canon
>Pinkie
"Luna"
~~~~~
>Welcome to Late Night /pa/ with your host Pinkie Pie! It's during this time that content doesn't matter and I rule this realm! Now for our main guest...PRINCESS LUNA!!!
Applause

"Pinkie have you, by any chance, seen..."

>Yes?

"...nothing. Perhaps it's better if I handle it myself."

>Why do you think ponies punish themselves?

"...maybe some ponies believe they deserve to be punished, or to remind themselves of that their past crimes were wrong."

>That's just silly!

"What do you mean?"

>If you keep beating yourself over and over again about the past, how can you possibly move on to the future? It'll just make you miserable living in the past like that, when you're a different pony now. It's easy to think back and punish yourself over something you regret, but it's better to look back and laugh about it, and then move on.

"That seems easier sa-"

>I have a present for you.
Pinkie pulls out a glass jar with a shadowy entity in it.

"The Tantabus!"

>Hee hee doesn't it look funny in a jar?

"The Tantabus is a creature of my nightmares. It's-"

>Always going to be a part of you now. Sure it's unpleasant, but wouldn't you rather laugh about it then stay miserable?

"...I suppose it's a little bit funny that it's trapped in a jar."

>There you go! A little bit of laughter in your life can do you wonders! Happy Hearth's Warming to you Princess Luna. SLEEP TIGHT EVERYPONY!!!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

~~~~~~~

Applejack was used to the weight of the world crashing down on her.

Usually it wasn't this literal, though.

"ARGHHH!"

It seemed, if nothing else, these Wendigo's were unique in their tactics. So used to dealing with their wind and sudden strikes, Applejack was left adrift now that an endless stream of pressurized winter wind pressed down on her from the sky. She had no idea how to deal with this, what to do with it, or what to react with.

Neither, it seemed, did any of her friends.

All of them shared her same look of determination as they struggled to stay upright, all of them shared her desire to get back up and fight, but found themselves left without the means to make it happen. Between the rushing white that blurred their vision and the force that held them down, even teleporting away as was their want to do was out of the question. They were lost, they were adrift, they were left without.

And they weren't the only ones.

"BIG MACINTOSH!... GRANNY!... APPLBLOOM!?"

They were struggling. All three of them were struggling. Two, more than any of the others. Two of them weaker, smaller, simply put not nearly as strong as those that had saved the world, and or were naturally tall and sturdy. Without their seemingly unearthly abilities, they were being pressed.

And they were losing.

"NO!"

She was not going to let this happen.

If she was going to have to put up with these powers, then she was damn sure going to make sure they earned their stay.

Against a force that had rendered her immobile and unable to breath mere seconds ago, she lifted her hoof.

And then... she lifted another.

And another.
And another.
And another.

And she wasn't going to stop.

The weight of the world on her back started to feel less like an unending, unyielding force, and more... familiar. Like an old, heavy jacket that fit just right, always itching her just a bit the more she moved, but never enough to keep her from continuing on, as she should be.

She trudged through snow so thick it brushed her chest, teeth grit so tightly one looking in would swear they had been frozen shut. With everything she had, she walked over to the crying, shaking forms of her family, and she did the only thing she could do.

"Y-yer' idiots, you know... y-you three are a bunch'a... bunch'a big old... thickheaded idiots..."

The only thing she was meant to do.

"Ah'... Ah' didn't get these big, stupid eye sores so Ah' could lord over ya'..."

She spread her wings.

"...It's so Ah' could watch over ya' better.."

She covered them.

As best she could with her wings, she covered the shaking forms of the three ponies below her, covered them as much as she could, every inch she could manage, and she held back that storm from pressing down on her family one second more.

"...Ah'm sorry... Ah'm not around as much anymore as Ah' should be. Ah'm sorry... cause Ah' got a whole bunch'a others lookin' ta' me ta' look after 'em, when Ah' should be lookin' out fer' you. Ah'm sorry, cause Ah' know when Ah' get away, Ah'm lettin' it all rain down on ya', and ya' shouldn't have ta'... Ah' wanna be there.... Ah'm sorry..."

A single, shaking, withered old green hoof reached up, ever so gently cupping her on the side of the face.

"Sugar cube..."

And then reeling back and bopping her hard in the cheek.

"GRANNY!"

She scoffed, cutting off the eldest male of the group with a stern look, waiting till he went silent before she turned back to her granddaughter.

"...Ya' think we don't know that? Ya' think we think ya' abandoned us or somethin'?.... Ah'm offended. Ah'm actually offended ya' think that, that ya'd think we'd be that petty... even if sometimes we are."

The hoof returned, gently this time, bringing in her strained face closer to the elders own.

"...But we get over it, cause we know that sometimes, ya' gotta protect all yer' family, not just us. Ah'm always gonna watch out fer' you, Applejack, even if mah' old bones can't do much these days. But Ah'm gonna do it knowin' if push comes ta' shove... yer' gonna be the one ta' save the day. We know that... we all know that."

They joined her. Moving underneath the orange mare, pressing against her.

Supporting her.

"C-come on, Applejack... ya' don't think Ah'm gonna get a cutie mark in bein' stupid, do ya'? Even Ah' know saving the worlds more important... Ah' mean, Ah' live there too!"

Her brother was the only one who didn't speak, didn't say anything to her in support.

He just... held on, just a bit tighter than the others did.

"Now listen here, missy, no granddaugter o' mine is gonna let the world go ta' rotten apples in a hoofbasket because o' us. Now, Ah'm not gonna say it wouldn't be fun ta' have them powers fer' a bit, but yer' the one who's got them right now, and right now there's a bunch'a fellers causin' a ruckus... Ah' think ya' know what ta' do."

She did. She knew what she had to do. She knew exactly what she had to do.

But that didn't make it any easier. Any more willing for her to pull those protective wings away, so she could get to work.

"...Applejack? Either you go stop those giant super-wind-snow-horse things, or Ah'm gonna tan yer' hide and hang it up on the wall!"

They moved with a sluggishness one wouldn't expect even from being nearly frozen, a slow curl that painfully let the rain fall back onto her family. Slowly, once more, they were covered.

But they held strong, and stayed up.

Even without her to protect them, they held strong.

"...Now go save the-"

"WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!"

"...That ain't what Ah' was gonna say."

It started as only a tiny, strange red dot at first, just an indecipherable blob of something out of the corner of their vision.

Then, like most things that had been happening today, it exploded.

"WHAT IN TARNATION!?"

Which one of the three had said that, Applejack was unsure.

What she was even less sure about was the sizzling sound, the blinding red glow in her face that brushed past her, and the feeling of being grabbed hold of around her waist and tossed up into the air before her back collided hard with some strangely soft, flat surface.

Like she was breaching an ocean made of white, she gasped as she once more tasted real, unfiltered, cool crisp air of the outside world. She blinked awkwardly, unable to process what had happened for a few confusing, unsure seconds, locked in on that strange red glow right in front of her like a moth to a flame.

"...What..."

Three things became apparent.

One, that was clearly Big Macintosh, being the only one to speak for once in his life.

Two, she could hear Big Macintosh.

Three...

"Are... Are we runnin' up the side of this thing."

"YEEEPPERINO!"

It was strangely hard to turn her head to the peppy, happy voice she would recognize anywhere. To the pink bobbing, smiling grin that held tightly to what looked like reigns that she casually whipped like it wasn't even a thing.

"...Hiya Applejack!"

She had to. She had to turn her head and look at something, anything, except her face, just to get a bit of sanity back into her.

It... didn't help.

"...Am Ah' on a sled..."

She, and her family, were indeed on a sled.

Going straight up the side of that pillar of falling frost and snow.

And, somehow, this was not the two most interesting parts of this event.

"TOYS! Holy tolido would ya' lookit' all those!"

"Ah ah ahhh! Not yet, missy! You wait till we're back home, Applebloom, or you only get socks!... And not the socks that those fillies with waaayyyy too old coltfriends get, the lame socks!"

"AWWWW!"

Yes, she was, inexplicably, on a sled carrying a bunch of toys.

And, in addition to that.

"THIS SO WAS NOT IN THE INFORMATION PACKET!"

The sled was, apparently, being pulled by changelings.

Eight side by side, grumbling, horrified changelings.

And, at the very front, apart from the eight, was one last changeling...

"WHEEEEEEEEE!!"

A very unique one, she should say.

One that was on fire.

"...Fifty Five?"

"Yep! When I saw the big old storm, I was like "Well, I'm not going to be able to see a thing over there!" So I called him up and was like "Fifty Five with your flames so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" And boom!"

"...What do ya' mean ya' called him?"

"NO TIME FOR THAT! HE-YA!"

"HE-YAING! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

What precious few seconds had been afforded to her to take this all in were snuffed out as she cracked those reigns, and the changelings tore off straight up so quickly she and the other Apples found herself shoved back into her seat.

"Wait! Shouldn't we go get the others!?"

"NOPE! This is an Apple Family only finale!"

"...But yer'-"

"APBUPBUP! I'm an Apple too, remember? Went on that big trip, had an adventure, lots of bonding, it was great. Got pictures and everything!"

"But wasn't that ending real ambiguous-"

"We can discuss that total cop out later! HE-YAAAAAH!"

"WE DID NOT SIGN UP TO BE WHIPPED!"

"I kinda like it..."

"DAMN IT, FORTY NINE!"

Despite their grumbling, they were off, skidding up the side of the giant pillar of wind and snow, the fireball of laughter at the front carving out their paths as they blazed through it and all it threw down at them at breakneck speeds. Steam was all that was left of the chunks of snow they cast to slow them down, and not a single inch of speed lost in the way. All the while, Pinkie let out whoops of cheer and fun.

"YEEEAHHHAAWWWW!"

"WOOO! GETTY'UP BUGGY!"

"...EEYUP!"

And she wasn't exactly alone.

"HOLD ON TO YOUR PARTYMAKERS!"


They crested with reckless abandon, landing atop the very tip of the swirling vortex, skidding all along in tandem with it's turning winds and atop this mountain of snow, they saw them.

There, dancing in the middle like twisted demons of ice, there they were. The Wendigos, running in their perfect circles without pause.

"YOU GUYS MESSED WITH THE WRONG PONIES!"

Her pink hoof shot back, reaching into her giant sack of gifts and pulling free from them a strange, mechanical looking device.

"You think Twilight is going to be mad I opened her gift for her?"

"...what in tarnation is that thing?"

"This, Applejack..."

The pony OOFED when the strange, gun-looking device was shoved to her, forcing her to hold it steady as Pinkie reached back and poured the metal tubing she had retrieved right down into the gun.

"Is an injector! It's for... injecting... things... I dunno, it's a medical miracle and yadda yadda yadda... long story short, you're going to shoot things with it!"

"This don't seem like this was the intended medical purposes-"

"HUSH, BIG MAC!"

Applejack ignored the squabbling pair, looking over all the strange knobs and buttons.

"...What'm Ah' supposed ta' do with this?"

"A doy! Isn't that obvious?"

She jerked hard to the left, and the apple family cried in shock as they descended into the vortex, swirling in increasingly speedy arcs as they neared the deadly center.

"SHOOT THEM!"

The ride became rough, unmanageable, bouncing and jerking and twisting as the snow and ice and glaciers of frost were sent their way. She tried to aim it, tried to level it at her prey, but she couldn't manage it, not with how much this little rinky dink thing was threatening to fall apart at the seams.

"Oh, fer lands sakes!"

Aged hooves grabbed hold of her sides, steadying her just a bit.

"Always gotta be here ta' keep ya' from hurtin' yer'self!"

"Eeeyup."

With his bemused words, two massive, strong hooves placed on her shoulders, and held her tight.

"C'mon, Applejack! Shoot this thing so we can go home already!"

Finally, two small, tiny hooves put themselves under the barrel, and held tight.

She was straight.

She was ready.

"FIRE!"

And she made the most of it.

Like a needle fired into an injection site, a single piercing lance of strange blue liquid fired out, and speared it's way into the beasts of wind and hate.

They screeched, their ethereal bodies becoming strange, almost opaque in comparison to what they had been. They thrashed, they whinnied and cried...

But they did not stop.

"THAT DIDN'T DO ANYTHIN'!"

"Oh yes it diiiiiiddd!"

They kept running, kept up the vortex, but there was something... off about them now.

If one looked close enough, at the chunks of solid snow they conjured just before they could send it down...

It bounced from their supposedly wind-like bodies.

"They're solid!"

"YEP! So you know what that means..."

"Oh yeah..."

Applejack, hell, all of them felt a thrill unlike any other as the sleigh neared them, neared the beasts that suddenly had a lot of reason to be very, very nervous.

"Apples! Ya' know what ta' do!"

"Cause we ain't got magic, and we ain't got wings..."

"But iffin' there's one thing we Apples are always gonna do better than any city folk..."

As one, every occupant of the sleigh jumped.

"IT'S APPLEBUCKIN'!"

And the thunderous sounds of hoof on icy body rang out through the world, mere seconds before the eruption of ice, wind and snow that raced out for all the world to see, one which scattered the protesting changelings away with the force of its apocalyptic destruction.

With their bodies destroyed, the Wendigos wailed, and cried, and whinnied...

And then they faded away, gone with the wind as if they had never been.

"WE DID IT!"

"WE DID IT!"

"WE DID IT!"

"WE... ARE FALLLIIIINNNNNGGGG!"

No time to react, no time to shake off the tons of ice that had formed on her wings during her protection of her family, no time to do anything but hold onto one another as they all dropped to the ground.

"AH' WISH AH' HADN'T FOLLOWED THESE THINGS!"

"AH' WISH AH' GOT TA" OPEN MAH PRESENTS!"

"AH' WISH AH' HAD LEARNED HOW TA" GLIDE!"

"AH' WISH AH' WAS A PRINCESSSSSSSSSS-"

They stopped.

As one would headed so quickly to the ground, they stopped suddenly, and violently.

...But with less splatter than expected.

"...How."

The pony in the, for some reasonm totally in tact and manned sled that most certainly had not been either of those things a second ago just sort of shrugged to them, just smiled her joyous, patented Pinkie smile, and whipped the reigns a little harder.

"Because I'm an Apple too, and we're awesome."

"...YER' DANG RIGHT WE ARE!"

With the flying changelings in front of them pulling their cheering, whooping bodies to ground safely at last, they came to a pleasant, quiet stop in the center of what had seconds ago been a tornado of ice and hate.

"...So, should we start digging randomly, or-"

No need.

One by one, like spring daisies ready to live, they all popped out of the ground. One by one, the Elements of Harmony came back, and let out a cheer of thanks that the day had once more been saved.

"OH THANK GOODNESS!"

"Can we not go a week!? One freaking week without this happening?! I'm awesome, fine, but even I need a vacation!"

"Oh dear..."

"THAT'S MY APPLEBUTT! AWESOME!"

"IS THAT THE-"

"Yes, Twilight, it is... Happy Heart Warming, you gift spoiler!"

"HOW!?... SO EXPENSIVE!"

"Tell me about it..."

"Ya'll can talk about that later! Fer' right now, we need to find out how the heck these things just come back!"

"And why they were acting so weird!

"Um..."

Her voice had been a timid, quiet squeak, yet somehow they had all heard.

"...I have an idea..."

At her meek, twisting hooves, everyone caught on.

"...Really."

"Um... I felt it, kind of, when they couldn't hurt me, but now that they're gone..."

"...Really."

"M-maaaybe this was... a gift? A really weird one?"

"...really..."

"...I'm sorry."

"...Okay, first off..."

With the day saved, the adventure done, the world in peril no longer, Applejack took charge once more.

She strode forwards, off the sleigh, and looked to all of them.

"...First off, we're all gonna get on that sleigh, we're gonna go home, we're gonna open presents, we're gonna drink somethin' we shouldn't and eat stuff that's bad fer' us, and we're gonna laugh and have fun. Everyone got that?"

As one, they nodded.

"Good, cause after that... AH' GONNA RING THAT SORRY LITTLE SNAKES NECK TILL HIS EYES POP OUT!"

"...Uh..."

"GET ON THE SLED!"

They did, in mere seconds all but her were on the sled, balanced atop one another in comical ways rather than risk Applejack's wrath.

"MUSH!"

The insect-like pullers mushed alright, their grumbling long, long, LONG gone. The one at the front ignited in fire, and off they went at full, breakneck speeds.

Off to home, and presents, and soon out of sight.

"...Wait a minute... WAIT! YA' FORGOT ME!"

"Pfft, yeah right."

From behind her, somehow, she found herself hoisted inside, brought in to a sea of warm, hugging bodies.

"We could never forget about you, Applejack!"

She found herself melting into them, into all those grips. Her family, her friends... something more. It didn't matter. All the hooves and claws in the world just told her, reaffirmed her, despite it all, despite how much she thought she needed to or tried to carry...

They could carry her sometimes.

...But only sometimes.

"Lets go home."

And, where ever that may be where they ended up, in her place or Canterlot or the moon for all she cared

She already was.

"Happy Hearth Warming."

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