[Goy] - A Cold, Cold Ponyville Winter (Chapter 1)

A Cold, Cold Ponyville Winter
by Goy

Chapter 1: An Unlikely Sanctuary

A dark gray overcast hung over Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack’s sore hooves plodded against the near-frozen ground of her field. She stopped and tipped up her hat to look at the sky for a while. The farm pony gave a sigh of relief and a modest smile formed on her lips. The harvest season was over. “Shoulda been over a long time ago…” she thought to herself. It was true, winter had long since set in in this part of Equestria. Applejack thought of her friend Twilight, who had just flipped her weird foreign sciency calendar to something called “December.”

“Even so, why is it so gosh durn COLD?” Applejack exclaimed, looking up once again to the heavens.

This winter was the coldest on record. All of Ponyville was hunkering down to wait it out, but the weather looked like it would get even worse. Concerned residents called in five of Cloudsdale’s top meteorologists to investigate. All five concluded the unusually harsh winter was the result of equinogenic climate change, which Applejack denied, bringing out her graph of Equestria-wide fluctuations in temperature going back 500 years to the establishment of the Apple family.

After finishing up outside, Applejack eagerly returned to her family home. She opened the door and was greeted with a rush of toasty air which smelled faintly of applewood and strongly of cinnamon.

“That you, Applejack?! Come in this house!” Hollered Granny Smith from the kitchen.

“Thank y’kindly, Granny!” Applejack hollered back.

The orange pony tossed her hat and coat on the rack and walked to the kitchen, admiring her home décor and giving a nod to an old photo of her ancestors.

“Come in this house, dear. I was just about to take the pie out.”

Granny Smith opened the oven, filling the room with the enchanting smell of apples and cinnamon. She placed the golden-brown pastry on a cooling rack right in front of Applejack. The pie was plump, chock-full of filling, and featured a simple but elegant flower design in the center to vent the steam. Applejack was eyeing the pie cutter.

“Now you hold yer horses, dear. This pie must cool for exactly TEN minutes, that’s what it says in great-great-great-grandma’s recipe.”

Applejack sighed and sunk into her chair. She knew she’d burn her tongue, but could she really wait ten minutes?

Granny Smith chuckled at the sight of her puppy-eyed granddaughter.

“Why don’t you add some more hay for the barn animals to pass the time? It’s mighty cold out there and I don’t want them shudderin.”

Applejack agreed, though she winced at the idea of going out there again. But with the promise of pie upon her return, she donned her hat and coat and set off.

Three large hay bales l against the side of the barn, covered in a thin layer of frost. With some effort, Applejack pushed one a few feet away using its round side, then took out her equipment. She had a long, straight stick, holed on both ends, and a length of thin rope attached with a bit in the middle. She pushed the rod through the center of the hay bale on the flat side so that a couple inches of wood stuck out on both ends. She threaded the two loose ends of the rope through the holes in the wood, tying them in a square knot. Applejack then took up the bit in her mouth and paced forward. The bale rolled easily.

Applejack made it to the front of the barn and spit out the bit to prepare to open the double doors. She had covered the numerous windows of the barn with cloth to make it warmer for her livestock, so the interior space was dark. She opened the doors slowly, as to not disturb the animals, bathing the barn in dim light. Applejack wheeled the hay bale into the inner space and removed her equipment as well as the twine holding the bale together.

“I sure hope y’all will be alright.”

Applejack began distributing the hay among the half-asleep animals.

“If we had more space in the house, I’d take ya.”

The cows lay down, contented. One has its tongue out, making Applejack chuckle. The pigs lay in a big pile, insulated by the existing hay around them. Applejack smiles as she watches their rising and falling stomachs, noticing the flick of an ear now and then.

Applejack had placed the last bit of hay when something odd caught her eye. Among the cluster of light pink pig bodies, she saw a spot of blue coat. She trotted over to the pig pile to confirm. Sure enough, a bit of blue. With her front hooves, she pushed a pink pig rump aside to reveal a peculiar design: a cloud with a tricolored lightning bolt. Applejack jumped back.

“Whuh…RAINBOW DASH?!”

Every animal reared its head at Applejack’s outburst. The pigs squirmed, disrupting the balance of the arrangement and sending round pink bodies rolling off the hay. What was revealed was a wide-eyed cyan pony laying in the middle of the pile.

“Uhhh…I can explain?”

Applejack glared. “Rainbow Dash. Were you doin’ somethin’ weird to my hogs?”

“No way!” Rainbow squeaked. “I mean…what do you mean? Uh, anyway, I’m gonna go now…”

The cyan mare shook the loose straw from her body and had just unfurled her wings when Applejack positioned herself in front of her.

“Hold on there, friend. What are you doing in here?”

Rainbow looked sad and directed her gaze away from her friend. A frigid north wind blew through the opened barn doors, causing Applejack to shudder. She was beginning to get it now.

Rainbow Dash’s Ponyville home, the Cloudominium, came with a disadvantage during the Winter. It was a high-altitude home made of terrestrial materials but surrounded by clouds. This was the standard for construction in Cloudsdale and other pegasus settlements but there was a key difference: these settlements were compact enough that the clouds insulated the whole city, making it comfortable during the winter months. The Cloudominium, totally isolated, was barely habitable most winters, and at this degree of cold, it was an ice palace.

Applejack approached her friend with tenderness in her eyes. With her right hoof, she lifted Rainbow’s head back up to where a proud pony’s head should be.

“Now we go through this mess every year. We know how cold your place gets in the winter, and each time, Fluttershy, Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and myself have offered to host you. Each time you’ve been too prideful to accept, saying you can handle it. Now look atchyou. Keepin’ warm with the hogs.”

Rainbow sensed Applejack’s motherly scolding was over. She looked at the farm pony sheepishly.

“You…you’re right, AJ. Alright. I accept. Can I come inside with you?”

Applejack gave a slight smile.

“Shore ya can. Shake yerself off and we’ll head inside.”

Rainbow Dash exited the barn and felt a warm faux-fur coat grace her shoulders. It smelled like Applejack. Applejack, quaking like a leaf without her covering, galloped swiftly back to the house.

Rainbow opened the Apple family door and nearly fell over backwards, stupefied by the smell of apple pie and the alien feeling of heat. She gazed over at the roaring fire in the hearth which sat at the back of the room. As she walked over, Rainbow studied the stonework which made up the molding of the mantel. Her eyes travelled along the ornate marble relief, which featured metopes of Apple family history and Equestrian mythology.

Rainbow was so mesmerized by the fire that she didn’t hear her name being called in the kitchen.

“Rainbow?” Applejack’s voice rang, a little louder this time.

“Ah, coming!”

The cyan pony sat flank-to-flank with her friend at the table. Both eyed the cooling pie with nervous excitement. Granny Smith looked up at the clock.

“And that just about does it. Ten minutes. You young’uns have waited long enough.”

The pie pan was just warm enough to handle with bare hooves. Granny Smith brought it over to the table, as well as the silver pie cutter that belonged to her grandmother. Handling the cutter deftly in her right hoof, she poked the tip into the center of the floret and cut down to the bottom crust. She did so again after eyeballing what a sixth of the pie would look like. Granny Smith expertly lifted the first slice out and onto Rainbow Dash’s plate. To the cyan pony’s amazement, it held together, crust and all. Who ever heard of the first slice of pie coming out cleanly? The seasoned pie-cutter cut out a piece the same size for her granddaughter and then a one-inch sliver for herself. Finally, she sat down across from the two younger ponies, satisfied.

The eldest mare put a bite of pie in her mouth, and the other two followed suit.

“Applejack tells me you were sleeping out there in the cold…”

With help from the warm pie and the fire, Rainbow Dash relaxed a bit.

“Yeah. The pigs were nice and warm, though.”

There was a brief silence.

“I’m…I’m sorry I’m always so stubborn about handling things on my own. I was thinking about that when I was sleeping in the barn, about how I wanted to take one of my friends up on her offer to take me in during the winters. But by that point I was so ashamed. I figured staying in there would be what I deserved.”

Applejack put her arm around her friend’s shoulder, scooting into a side-hug.

“Rainbow, you’re one of the toughest ponies I know…”

“…besides my Granny.” She said with a wink.

“It’s okay to ask for help from your friends. Even strong ponies do that. It doesn’t make them look any less strong or secure. I’m glad you told me what you were thinkin’. And I am proud to call you my friend, Rainbow.”

Rainbow turned their side-hug into a full-frontal embrace.

“Thank you, AJ.”

The three finished their pie contentedly. By that time, it was getting dark. The windows of the old house rattled softly from the slow but biting northern winds outside. As Granny Smith retired to her room, the two other mares walked upstairs to get ready for bed. Applejack helped Rainbow Dash into some of her old pajamas, a pair of baby blue blanket sleepers. Rainbow Dash craned her neck to examine the butt-flap in the back, held on with two big yellow buttons. Applejack had other pajamas she could give her, but she secretly thought her friend looked adorable in foal’s clothes.

After rummaging through her barren wardrobe, Applejack came out with a two-piece set of red plaid pajamas. Rainbow Dash gave her friend a shy smile, then helped her into her modest sleepwear. The two mares stood awkwardly in the middle of Applejack’s room, which was lit by the ambient yellow light of her nightstand lamp.

Applejack gave an exaggerated yawn. “Ahhhhh, well, we’d better get to bed…”

Rainbow Dash looked over at her friend blankly. “Hmm, yeah.”

Applejack clambered into the right side of the twin bed, the side closest to the window. Rainbow Dash inserted herself on the left, pulling all four layers of blankets up to her snout and directing her gaze to the pony laying next to her. “Good night, Rainbow.” “Good night, AJ.” Applejack reached over to her nightstand and turned off the lamp. Moonlight permeated the dark overcast, coming through the window and filling the room with a soft white glow. Both ponies lay on their backs, hooves peeking out to pull the covers up.

“Oh.”

Applejack reached into her mane, pulling out her red hair tie and releasing her ponytail. She ruffled her golden locks and shook her head before resting it back onto her pillow. Both ponies stared at the gabled wood roof above their heads. Applejack’s eyes got heavy first. As they were close to shut, she turned on her side, facing the supine pony on her left. Her eyes then closed completely. Shortly after, she seemed to have fallen asleep.

Rainbow Dash stared upwards, still awake, but she too was beginning to feel sleepy. She felt her eyelids half close. The cyan mare turned on her right side, facing her friend, who was sleeping deeply. In her stupor, Rainbow Dash felt herself scooting closer to Applejack. She felt her friend’s fuzzy coat touch hers as their bellies squished together. Applejack’s warm, regular breaths hit her face. Rainbow Dash…what are you doing? She thought. Putting her hooves around the nape of Applejack’s neck, she leaned in, connecting her friend’s lips with her own.