The Deep Cold

"Hey, Sis." Sweetie Belle nuzzled into me as I entered the kitchen. She looked up, and grinned. "You smell better."

"I should think so." I smiled back at her. "The bar for 'better' wasn't that high."

Sweetie pressed back into my chest, and giggled. "Yeah."

I let her rest for a second or two, then asked, "So what did you make for breakfast?"

"Oh!" She jumped back, and twirled around, trotting happily towards the table. "I got Applebloom do get Applejack to get Granny Smith to make us some premade apple-things!"

I followed her, and took a seat—the smell was there, but not emphasized as if it had been baked. Apple pie, was cut into four slices on a dinner plate. Bits of crust rimmed the edge, hinting at a poorly-executed initial move from the original pie tin, but every bit of spilled crust had been moved to the plate. I lifted a piece onto one of the two plates put in front of either seat (a fork beside each, of course), and held my nose over it. It was warm, but not hot.

"Sweetie, how did you heat this?"

She grinned sheepishly. "I didn't trust myself with the oven, but Applejack said 'Cold pah ain't right!' I, uh, cooked it on the stove instead."

I took a bite—it was warm, rather than hot. It was certainly not cold, though. Sweetie would, obviously, avoid that. Really, the pie tasted of caution. It was pleasantly sweet, but not entirely a dessert, tart with comforting cinnamon. There was even caution in Sweetie Belle asking for help, rather than cooking it entirely herself, yet not obviously putting the whole of the effort in some other pony's hooves. I made my verdict on the taste of caution:

"It's delicious, Sweetie." I meant it, too. She watched me with a smile, and served herself a piece as I took a second bite. I savored it, swallowed, and followed up. "I do hope you thanked the Apples."

Sweetie nodded, a muffled assent. Her mouth was already full.

"Of course, it is quite rude to ask a favor without giving one in return." I gave my evilest grin. "I do think I know a little filly who's going to offer some help at Sweet Apple Acres this afternoon."

"Aww, Rarity..." A mock pout gave way to a grin. "I was gonna go there with Applebloom and help out, anyways."

I felt a little bit of something lift in my heart.

"Thank you, Sweetie Belle."

"Huh?"

"For everything," I chuckled. "Thank you for everything."

"I love you too, Sis."