The orange farm-pony yawned rather disturbingly for a large crowded area as her blonde mane tightened in a red band fell over her shoulder, her faded-brown cowboy hat protecting her muzzle from the direct sunlight.

…It was a mercy, since it wouldn’t be hard for everypony around to see the exhaustion on her face, thank goodness for that.

Despite the amount of work she had on her hooves, she didn’t really sleep good last night thanks to the bucket of paranoia she had whenever she’d put her little sister Applebloom to bed every night. She never felt safe letting that pony wander off on her own lately…and wouldn’t even let her try by walking to school with her each morning. It made the mare feel a little guilty to get on her sister’s bad side by treating her as such, but…

…With ponies going missing without a reason…it wasn’t wrong for her to do so.

Applejack grunted as she shook her head frantically, her half-opened eyelids being forced into a wider position as she refrained from snoring right then and there in front of the apple cart.

‘If ah fell asleep like THAT, I’d be a disgrace to the entire Apple family!’ The farm pony winced as she began trotting in place, hoping that a splash of adrenaline would be enough to wake her up.

Apples needed to be sold, after all!

“…Silly filly, you shouldn’t be sleeping on the job!” A bright and cheerful voice giggled and rang through Applejack’s ears as she stopped in her trotting, an ocean of pink blocking her view of Ponyville’s shopping center.

The mare doubled back. “P-Pinkie…! What a nice surprise to see ya! What’ll it be?” The farm pony gave a grin as she regained her flair and energy at the sight of a customer and a friend. “…Apple cobbler? Apple fritter? Or you wanna a good apple pie? We’ve got a GOOD 25% deal off sale going on for the rest of the week!”

“Hmm…tempting…apple fritters…” The party pony mused as she put a forehoof to her chin in a thoughtful manner before she frantically shook her head and smacked herself in the head three times. “No, no, no! …Actually, I’m here about the order I made for Diamond Tiara’s birthday party?! Is everything hunky dory for the afternoon?!”

Seemed like Pinkie Pie was in quite the wreck that morning…this party’s gonna be a stressful one, the farm pony figured.
Applejack blinked and gave a wide smile. “Everythang’s all ready for the party! In fact, Big Mac should already be there at the site, waiting for ya! Ya’ll better hussle along after him!”

“Okie Dokie Lokie! Thanks a bunch, Applejack!” Pinkie Pie gave a huge grin before she zipped away from the apple stand with a speed rivaling Rainbow Dash’s, and through the shopping center of Ponyville in a zig-zag manner, far away from the farm-pony’s eyesight and down to the birthday filly’s mansion.

The mare quickly put a hoof to her hat once the party pony left as the momentum of her speed almost blew the farm pony’s hat away and pretty much the whole stand for just a moment.

“Hoowie, that pony can fly by ya!” Applejack breathed as she watched ponies, slightly disoriented by the commotion, continue with their business as usual, trying to ignore the strange things that occurred that past week or so.

Leaning her upper body against the opened space of table on the stand, the farm pony gave a deep sigh as she sat watching the activities of ponies go on in front of her, she herself being pinned to one spot for the moment.

While she loved selling apples and pleasing customers, the selling rush had already passed that morning and there really wasn’t anything to do at that moment. She was starting to get a little bored…

…Of waiting, she could never be bored of apples.

“Ah wonder if they could use an apple stand at the party…” The farm pony mused as she watched more ponies pass by, she herself beginning to move the apple stand through the crowd as she started to pack up the table and supplies into the apple cart with her goods.

‘Besides, Pinkie sure could use a hoof taking care of thangs.’ Applejack smiled as she pushed the cart along the brick road leading away from the shopping center and towards the other side of Ponyville.

…Good thing apple carts were mobile.

Got to bed around midnight, the sky-blue rainbow-maned pegasus was wide awake and setting up around 5:30 in the morning, just as Celestia began to raise the sun.

Perfect.

Rainbow Dash groaned loudly as she put the final cloud in place above Filthy Rich’s mansion, in the exact formation required, meticulously designed. Despite what a lot of ponies and Pinkie thought, weather was a great deal of work, thank you very much, and it required exercising several muscles in the body. She deserved all the naps she took!

…With how things were looking, she might as well have already gotten her flight practice, and it wasn’t even snowing yet!

…Even if she already spent several hours on it and just an order to give a swift kick would get those clouds up and running.

Flying down towards the rose garden, the prismatic pegasus stretched her sore muscles as she allowed her wings to rest for a moment as her eyes began to leer over the many delicious cakes and pastries being set up on the table, her magenta eyes especially catching sight of the purple bejeweled punch bowl, already filled to the brim with some of her friend’s delicious berry concoctions.

“…Would you care for a drink, darling?” Rainbow Dash blinked to see a pristine mare with a finely curled purple mane, a drink filled with the punch in her blue magic hold, with a graceful smile on her face.

The rainbow-maned pegasus grinned, sweat lined in her fur. “H-Hey, Rares…thanks! What’re you doing here so early, the…the party’s not for another two hours…” She breathed.

Rarity cleared her throat. “Well, I was delivering a special order requested by Filthy Rich himself, and he suggested that I…stay for the party. It looks to be a marvelous display, and how generous Mr. Rich was to allow the party to be held at his lavish mansion, of all the venues!” She gave a small grin as her curls bounced, her sapphire eyes fluttering in an enticing manner.

The pegasus took the drink from the unicorn’s hold, and immediately chugged the contents down, the delicious liquid rushing through her throat and forcing her to take a large gasp once the cup was empty. “Gahhh, that was awesome!” She panted as she put the glass down on the table and used a forehoof to cool the sweat from her coat.

The pristine unicorn gaped at the sight. “Goodness, darling, you were simply dying of thirst!”

Rainbow nodded. “Y-yeah, well…Snow takes a lot outta you, especially when you’re the only one doing it, special order…and all.” She took a deep breath before facing her friend once more. “Rest of the weather team felt they didn’t need the extra money if it meant waking up early, so…supervisor’s responsibility, y’know?”

“Oh, well, we’ve all had those days, haven’t we, darling?” Rarity laughed softly, feeling a sense of empathy towards the prismatic pegasus. “Slaving away for the sake of our work…anyways, perhaps you’d like another drink before Gummy invades it, dear?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, probably…anyways, I gotta find Filthy Rich so I know at what point to start the snowfall, so…I’ll have to take that drink later, actually…” The prismatic pegasus began to turn away from her friend, her wings fluttering with renewed energy as Rarity once again watched her take to the skies, soaring in the direction of the mansion’s main entrance further from the table of refreshments.

The unicorn gave a deep sigh as she turned away from the mansion’s entrance, her purple mane whipping in the chilly breeze. “…Really, I do believe Rainbow Dash often overexerts herself, in a similar manner that Pinkie Pie most often does, the poor darlings.”

The unicorn mare continued to walk through the luscious green garden, finely cut, stopping short to admire the beauty of the red, pink, and white roses attracting her with their alluring smell.

…In a way, Rarity felt she could compare with a rose. Beautiful and delicate at first glance, a lovely scent, but…if you got too close…

…She had a rather sharp bite.

The pristine unicorn frowned at the thought. Ever since the spa, she hadn’t really bonded with her dear friends since quite some time ago. Pinkie Pie was always wrapped up in some party or another, Rainbow Dash had her weather…Twilight was wrapped up in her studies for some reason or another, Applejack was involved with her apples…

And Fluttershy…something was certainly wrong with the poor dear…

…And not only was she involved with her dresses, she often feared for her own dear sister Sweetie Belle. Despite what other ponies only dreamed of knowing, Rarity already knew where at least half of the ponies had gone…Shameful as she was to admit to anypony but herself about her new midnight cravings, but…she didn’t know where the rest of the ponies were going…

…and that frightened her.

Looking at her reflection in the garden pond, the unicorn mare nodded with satisfaction as she saw to her makeup and was greeted with nothing but perfection.

Not a trace of a scar.

‘…As a lady should be.’ Her lips curled into a devious smile, quickly replaced with a sweet one as she allowed herself to head back towards the central section of the garden, blending in the crowd of ponies preparing for the event.

Many fabulous ponies were attending this party, according to the guest list she had taken a peek at. Perhaps she should take advantage of that fact, and, well…

…Find a friend?

“…So, what do you think?”

Flithy Rich chuckled slightly as he oversaw the preparations. The garden was finely trimmed for the afternoon and the roses watered, everypony was warned to bring a wrap with them to the party and prepare for a soft snowfall, which was already in position from what the stallion could see.

The décor had taken a theme of soft pink trimming with icy blue balloons and chairs, the platter for the refreshments being delicate silver, finely polished and ready to be served at a moment’s notice. The color of the sweet purple punch did not clash with the rest of the table, and the flowers for the birthday cake were decorated with pearly white roses while the cake itself had rich delicious chocolate icing, a large contrast but alluring addition to the lighter colors of the rest of the décor and the matching pink sky, ready for snow.

The present from Miss Rarity, specially ordered with contributions on his daughter’s tastes from yours truly, was already in Diamond Tiara’s room, most likely being fitted to her now as the maids helped her get ready for the day.

The music, while he at first didn’t care to hear a vulgar DJ artist, was rather fascinating with the contributions of a Canterlot favorite, Miss Octavia with her dazzling cello, mixing with the soft but uplifting beats from a highly recommended source from his party planner Pinkie Pie, Miss Vinyl Scratch, creating a most pleasing sound to the gentlecolt and surely his daughter would appreciate it.

It was going to be perfect.

“Big Macintosh also informed me that if you need more food, Applejack is also going to be coming with an apple cart full of delicious treats by the time the party starts.” The party pony gave a soft smile as she faced her customer.

Flithy Rich nodded. “Yes, that would be greatly appreciated…only the best for my precious jewel, to have the best time of her life, no matter what.” He wanted Diamond to be happy to see this.

…As any loving father would.

“Um…Mr. Rich, sir,” The gentlecolt nodded as his eyes took in every color in the visible spectrum as the sky-blue pegasus mare landed in front of him. “I was wondering when you wanted me to start the snowfall…”

Flithy Rich nodded. “Well…I think as soon as she steps out of the mansion…she loves the snow, so, it might make her feel special if the snow was falling for her.” The gentlecolt smiled as he thought of his daughter’s face.

Pinkie grinned as she waved a hoof. “…Oh, hey, Dashie! Glad you got the clouds ready in time! How’re you doing?”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Of course I did, I’m awesome!” The pegasus bragged, but then faced her customer. “…But I think your filly’s gonna feel more awesome when she sees what you’re willing to do for her.” She gave a soft smile to the gentlecolt, her magenta eyes gleaming in the soft sunlight.

“…Thank you both, for providing such great service.” Flithy Rich nodded to the both of them before turning to enter inside the mansion. Everything was almost ready, and he had to make sure his sweetheart was ready.

“Aww, he’s such a big softie when it comes to Diamond!” Pinkie gushed as she faced her friend. “…But seriously, how’re you doing?”

Rainbow blanched as her entire body slumped. “…Exhausted is an understatement.”

“Yeah, he’s been pulling all the shots for her, isn’t he? So much work! And love, right?”

The prismatic pegasus nodded in understanding. “Yeah…ponies will do that for family.” Looking back up towards the clouds as she picked her body up, she readied her wings once more. “Anyways, I got my cue, so I gotta get in position!”

The party pony nodded as she watched her friend fly into the cloud layer. “Good luck, Dashie!” She yelled out, hot air puffing from her muzzle and visible. It was getting colder, but that didn’t mean that any of the fun was lost!

Anyways, they’d probably be talking more about how things went later that night, but right now…they had non-bloody work to do.

Hoofsteps clunked and clattered as two figures walked in the distant summer heat, not too far from the upcoming party location.

“…I just don’t understand it, Spike…”

“Twilight…” The small dragon flinched and eventually groaned as they walked along the suddenly cold ground as soon as they got into the vicinity of Filthy Rich’s mansion.

“I mean, who would be willing to…”

“Okay, Twilight…that’s enough…” Claws clenched into a fist as Spike frowned, trying to keep from shouting at his mentor.

“…I mean, how was my research even taken…?”

“Twilight!” The dragon hissed under his breath as his unicorn partner was taken aback. “We’re here now, just…RELAX for a moment!”

The lavender unicorn sat for a while before she eventually nodded. “…Okay, Spike…Let’s…let’s just have fun for now, and we can address this later.” She smiled as she faced the beautiful setup, letting all previous worries be put to the side. “Wow…”

Spike dropped his jaw. “…Pinkie…really outdid herself with this one…it’s so pretty…!”

An orange figure filled Twilight’s vision. “You can say that again! Hoowie, it’s like a tree on Hearth’s Warming’s Eve!”

Twilight’s smile widened. “Applejack, you made it! I haven’t seen you in a little while, how are you?”

Applejack smiled as a large apple cart trailed beside her. “Ah’m doing mighty fine, Twi, how about you? Ah heard you’ve been researching ‘bout missing ponies lately.”

The lavender pony stopped short in her tracks.

…Huh? Wait, what? How did she know that?

…A nervous chuckle. “Wow, I…guess word goes around quite a bit in Ponyville, doesn’t it? I thought asking me to research it…was a secret order from Princess Celestia herself, does…EVERYPONY know this…?”

Applejack stayed silent for a moment. “…Well, we…we apples find a way of knowing things, just…uh…forget I said anything!”

Twilight frowned in confusion. Something wasn’t right…

It couldn’t be…!

“Um…Applejack, do you happen to know what happened to my research, by any chance?” The lavender mare watched her friend’s expression with careful eyes.

…Somehow the pretty display didn’t seem all that important to the mare anymore.

“..Ugh, Twilight! You said!” Spike whined in frustration, tugging roughly on his companion’s forehoof.

Applejack blinked in confusion. “Huh? Something happened to your research? What happened, Twi?”

She didn’t look like she was lying…the lavender mare knew it was wrong, doubting her friend, but…only the thief and Princess Celestia should’ve known she was researching about the case, and she hadn’t mentioned it to any of her friends…

…and yet Applejack knew?

Twilight frowned. “…It was stolen…last night, while I was trying to get Spike’s attention to take a letter for me. I was trying to send a report to Princess Celestia…but I was only able to recover what had been stolen in the time I could’ve found something new had that research not been taken.”

The farm pony nodded with a grim expression. “And…you suspect ah’m that pony, since ah knew about it when nopony else should’ve.”
She nodded back. “…I’m sure you understand why, just…I don’t want to believe it was you, Applejack…”

“And I AIN’T no thief, I assure you, just…Ah can’t tell ya why ah know. You gotta believe me, Twilight.” Emerald eyes pooled into uncertain purple eyes as the two mare sat there, the tension rising in the air between them, Spike caught in the middle.

The small dragon frowned. “You know what, I’m going on ahead! I see a game getting set up over there that’s just calling my name!” With that, the lavender mare’s assistant dashed ahead, eager to escape the levels of suspicion just behind him.

…Could Applejack be trusted? Of course she could, she was her dear friend! Not to mention, the Element of Honesty, of all things! She couldn’t tell a lie…

Twilight pursed her lips in uncertainty. “…If you didn’t steal it…why can’t you tell me how you know about it?”

The farm pony gave a deep sigh as she broke eye contact, her emerald green eyes filled with mystery to the lavender unicorn. “…Ah…Ah gotta check something out tomorrow night…but after that…I’ll be willing to tell you, Twilight…just…not right now, ah…ah’m kinda wrapped up in the party planning already. They need a helping hoof ‘round there.”

With that, Twilight felt dust rise up as her friend promptly took the cart and sped ahead towards where she needed to go, without another word to the unicorn.

She avoided her.

Twilight shook her head in, frustration? Confusion…?

Anger…?

Something weird was going on with Applejack…she just couldn’t figure out what…but she intended to find out, some way or another.

…If she could just…-

“Heya, Twilight!” The lavender unicorn screamed as her vision was assaulted with Pinkie Pie’s face, right up against her muzzle until the unicorn promptly backed away.

“…Pinkie! It’s been so long!” Twilight beamed at the sight of her energetic friend. “How are you?”

The pink party pony skipped as the two started back towards the party grounds. “Oh, same old, same old…planning a party, having fun with Dashie, getting creeped out by ponies I knew going missing…” The cheer seemed to dim with the lingering thought. “…But I got to see you when I hadn’t for a while, so this REALLY makes my day, Twilight! We’re gonna have sooo much fun, and you can play pin the tail on the pony, eat some cake, hang with friends…!”

The lavender pony sweat-dropped at the party pony’s burst of energy, still surprised she hadn’t taken a breath yet as they almost reached their destination. “Oh, it sounds like fun, Pinkie…”

“…And dancing, more eating cake, hanging with the birthday filly, and all that fun stuff!” She finished before the pink pony took a deep breath before she gave a soft sigh. “It’ll be fun!”

Twilight grinned. “Yeah, I can’t wait! Where is Rainbow Dash, anyway? And Fluttershy, for that matter…?”

Pinkie gave a smaller smile. “Dashie’s in the clouds waiting for her weather cue, but Fluttershy I haven’t seen in days! Maybe Rarity’s seen her since she’s always doing those spa trips with her!”

The lavender pony nodded. “Maybe…anyway, I should probably make sure Spike isn’t getting himself into any trouble.” The two waved and said their goodbyes, before Pinkie was left once more on her own, watching the other ponies getting ready to greet the birthday girl. It was gonna be soon.

‘Just how is Fluttershy, anyway? Maybe I’ll ask Rarity about her during the party…’ Pinkie Pie thought as she went to her position, ready to greet the birthday filly.

Once everypony was silent, a spotlight turned on in front of the mansion’s front door as a small earth pony filly walked out with her head held high, donned in a beautiful purple dress with a bejeweled tiara on her head, fit perfectly to her size, a soft tuning playing as she graced everypony with her presence.

It felt like for one moment, she was like a real princess. Diamond Tiara, refusing to show any moment of bashfulness, felt wonderful as the soft snowflakes suddenly fell before her, as if her being there alone had summoned them to fall.

And fall they did, all for her, as were the balloons, and the cake, and…the music was unique, unlike anything anypony had for their birthday before, making it extra special and rare. Looking at her father, the pink filly made her way towards Filthy Rich’s hooves, locking the Rich family in a loving embrace.

“…Happy birthday…my diamond…” The gentlecolt gave a soft smile to his daughter.

The filly grinned with a glee beyond measure. No matter who showed up at her party, blank-flank or no, she was just happy to have a father as loving as she had.

“…Thank you, Daddy.” The pink filly whispered; her voice soft as silk in the gentlecolt’s ear. It was just how they both wanted it…

…Perfect.

Rainbow Dash grinned as she watched the events unfold from above, her body spread along the cloud layer as she laid down to rest after a long day of hard work.

…She needed the energy for that night’s work, and truth be told…

…She kinda skipped out on breakfast.

With a sigh, the pegasus slipped from the cloud layer down to the party level, her eyes locked on the refreshments on the table as everypony else was now free to help themselves.

…It took a lot of work and guts…but they managed to pull through it, and they made things awesome. Rarity’s dress was awesome, too.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash, it’s been a while!” The prismatic pony blinked as a lavender pony with a dark mane entered her vision, pink stripes in the mane clearly visible.

“…Twi! How’s it hanging?! You enjoying the party or what?!” Rainbow laughed in delight as she finally landed in the grass beside her good friend.

The lavender pony nodded to the beat of the DJ classical tune. “Yeah, it’s great! I’ve been having a blast after a long time of wasted research!”

‘…Wasted is right!’ The rainbow-maned pegasus began swaying to the tune, temporarily forgetting about the table full of delicious food not even ten feet away from her. “Then let’s dance and get away from the old books!” She cheered as her studious friend joined her in a dance, the two twirling and having a good time.

…There was no way she was getting valuable sleep like this. …Or nutrients.

…And while everypony was having a good time…

…nopony even noticed the lack of a certain pristine purple-maned unicorn, and a rich and handsome stallion from Canterlot, from the party.

Author's Note

It's amazing what fan-support and inspiration can conjure up. Also, I tried my writing on Applejack, how is she?