The snow crunched under their hooves as Rarity and Autumn Blaze made their way to the top of the hill. Around them, skeletal trees stretched their branches to the heavens in silent pleading.
Rarity shook her head. That was a far too morbid way to frame the landscape. She tightened the scarf around her neck with magic.
"I don’t get winter." Autumn shivered despite the layers upon layers of clothing covering her, and tried to disappear into her heavy coat. " I’ll never understand what possesses you ponies to freeze water and throw it at the ground."
"Oh, hush." A single snowflake surrounded by a blue aura flew up and landed on Autumn's nose. Rarity chuckled, then slowed down as she said, "If I remember correctly, it was you who told Applejack all those years ago that… Mmh, what was it? Something about needing to accept the bad along with the good?"
"That rainbows won’t light up the sky unless you let it rain." A gust of wind blew past them, the icy flakes like tiny knives. Autumn frowned. "This is still going too far. We have nice weather. Nice weather is good. And we have none of this silly winter thing."
Rarity slowed down. The last part of this journey was always the hardest, and it seemed to get harder with each season. "Ah, well, things are different down in the south . I thought for a while of moving there, but it seems I have, at last, grown some roots. After all, my heart rests here."
They exchanged no more words. The orchard opened, and they finally arrived at the single, massive apple tree standing at the top of the hill. Behind them, the roof of the farm was visible in the distance. All around them the orchard went on and on, ending in a massive forest on one side and at the city border on the other.
The Crystal Castle was still the tallest building, but here and there the top of ambitious would-be challengers peeked out between houses. Even at this distance, the tiny specks of color of the Heart‘s Warming decorations splattered the cityscape.
White clouds drifted away in lazy herds, letting the sun shine through and bathe the world in a blinding, cold glow.
Autumn raised a hoof and put it on the trunk of the tree. "So, an apple tree?"
Rarity’s saddlebags opened and a thick blanket floated out and unfolded on the ground. Groaning, Rarity laid down. "Excuse me, but I get a bit tired every time I come here." She looked at the empty branches up above. "It’s an old Apple tradition. I like it."
"I get it." Autumn Blaze turned around and looked down at Rarity. She tilted her head, then said, "Do you want me to melt the snow?"
"No, darling, leave it be." Rarity patted a free spot on her side. "Come rest a bit, filly."
The snort was undignified but cute. Autumn shaking her head reminded Rarity of Butternut. "I’m not a filly, Rarity. I think I’m even older than you. Way older."
"Hah, as if." Rarity stuck her nose up. "Eternal youth means I can call you a filly and you can’t deny me. Twilight can’t."
"Oh, alright." A magical glow straightened the blanket before Autumn sat down. "There. Better? And it's not eternal youth, I think. Just kind of a really long one? We aren't quite sure about the details, to be honest."
"Hmm, yes, better." Leaning in, Rarity closed her eyes. Autumn’s multiple layers of clothes made the Kirin feel almost like a pillow. "I'm wrinkly, that means I'm wise, everypony knows that. With me being a wise, old mare, I declare you to have eternal youth, as far as I'm concerned. I also got the right to whack you on the hoof with a stick if you disagree. Comes with the wrinkles too."
"Oh no, how can I defend myself against wisdom and the threat of evil birch?" Autumn snorted, then glanced over at Rarity and whispered, "You wouldn't really try to whack me, would you?"
Rarity smiled. "She would have liked that you’ve come."
Another gust of wind blew over the hill. It bit into their coats, sending shivers down Rarity’s back and making her joints ache. Glittering crystals danced in the freezing winter air. Twirls, jumps, dashes, all in a brief, ephemeral display which sent Rarity’s mind on a journey, old memories on her left, new inspirations on her right.
Autumn’s voice pulled her back. She was almost demure, the energy she had put in every word up until then somehow disappeared. "I’m sorry. I should have come when…"
"What was that?" Rarity turned her head and looked at Autumn. The Kirin looked away, tears and little flames dancing on her cheeks. "What are you apologising for?"
"I–" Autumn took a deep breath and wiped the tears away with her fetlock. "We Kirin, we see little of the world outside. We stay in our village, and sometimes we travel, but we always come back. And we know that others sometimes disappear. It’s–I know what getting old means, I think. I also know sometimes ponies and others die of age. But knowing it‘s not the same as–"
A thermos came out of Rarity’s saddlebags along with two metal cups. She poured steaming tea into each and passed one to Autumn. "You don’t really get it, am I right? Don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault. It’s not even a fault at all, now that I think about it."
Autumn took the cup between her hooves and sipped at it. "Thanks."
"Think nothing of it." The tea was hot and sweet. When Rarity had been young, she had drunk her tea with at most a pinch of sugar, when she used some at all. Things changed.
Maybe it was the tea, but when Autumn spoke again, there was more strength in her words. "I wasn’t apologizing for not getting it. I mean, I did a little bit, because it’s important and I should think more about it." She took a deep breath. "I’m sorry that I wasn’t here sooner. I didn’t come to say goodbye. I was–It was scary."
"Applejack wouldn’t take offense at that, you know? She was stubborn, set in her ways, and if she decided to, she could hold a grudge like nopony else except me, but she also understood the turns and twists of the heart." Rarity giggled. "Well, of other hearts. Her own was mostly a mystery to her. It took me years to solve that little puzzle, and even longer to show it to her."
Rarity sipped another bit of tea, the warmth expanding in her stomach like a blooming flower. "I almost had to beat her over the head with it. And I’m not talking in metaphors here. So believe me, you taking your time to come to grips with it? She would understand."
"But she did so much for me. For us. She and Fluttershy saved us! I should have been here. I mean, it scared me, but I was the one saying those things about taking the good with the bad and–" Autumn blinked, then turned to Rarity.
"Yes, darling?"
"You reminded me of that before. You knew! And–" Autumn gulped. "Are you angry?"
"No, I’m not. Not at you. I may be still a tad angry with life in general, but the thing I reminded you of? That was as much for you as it was for me." Rarity poured more tea in her cup. "You too? It can get icy out here."
Autumn nodded and held her cup out.
"Wise choice." Rarity filled the cup. "I’m a little bit angry at life. And I’m also thankful, because I had many, many years with her. And in all those years, I took the good with the bad. We fought a lot, we did a lot of stupid things you wouldn’t believe. We even became – and I’m still ashamed about the couple of occasions where it happened – downright vicious while scuffling over very silly things."
The branches rustled in the wind. Rarity scoffed at them"Yeah, laugh it off, it wasn’t funny back then."
Autumn blinked, looked at Rarity, then at the tree. "What?"
"Nothing, just a habit Applejack had. Well, not just here, we all did it. Adventures are horrible things. They involve a lot of dirt, mortal peril, and more often than I cared for the end of the world." Rarity snorted. "And then, after a while, when the mud has been washed away in warm water and everypony is safe, you remember them as almost fun and you laugh about it. Applejack just did the same even for things that weren't adventures. Apparently, she still does."
"That sounds like a wise way to look at it."
Rarity held her nose high. "It is, was, but could get really annoying too." She broke in a chuckle. "But let me get back to the story. There was this one time, it was, let me think, yes, thirty-three years ago. I wanted to rebuild my boutique in Manehattan from the ground up, and I wanted to do that with a great show that would eclipse the whole fashion week. I worked hard on it for almost a whole year and then came the point where I would have to be there for three months to put everything in place. It was a time where I was very hooves-on. Many of my most trusted employees had left to pursue their own plans, and I saw it as another chance to have the thrill of standing strong against the world."
Rarity tapped her chin. "That was probably the reason I was so set on doing it. Anyway, me leaving for three months was the last straw after a year where I hadn’t truly been here. It started out pretty tame. Applejack was worried for me, then she felt like I wasn’t caring for her anymore. I get hard work, but family comes first, that was what she said. And then, because we both were tense, things escalated, and then we fought." Rarity chuckled. It was dry sound, so unlike her. "Nopony can hurt you quite like those you love. I left for Manehattan slamming the door behind me."
In the silence Autumn looked away. "I'm sorry."
"She was right, you know?" Rarity reached out to the tree. "I was losing my way. It was something important, but I had grown and changed and I wasn’t the same mare as twenty years before. I understood that as I felt so alone in a hotel suite while working out some kink or the other. And then, one morning, while I was rehearsing a mock-up of the main event, there she sat. It was a foldable chair, a cheap one, and she was there in a wonderful red dress I had gifted her, holding a giant bouquet." A giggle escaped her. "Everypony knows that Applejack was stubborn, but there she was, ready to stay by my side anyway, put our differences aside, and help me with my obsession of the moment. Meanwhile I was still somehow hung up on a misplaced sense of pride. Not for long, mind you. There was no way I could withstand those eyes and those freckles."
Autumn looked around. "Oh, uhm, that’s…"
Rarity finished the last drops of tea and said, "That’s an old mare rambling, darling. But if Applejack overcame our fighting and me being unfair, then she won’t certainly be cross with you for taking your time. Now, it will get colder soon, and I’d rather prefer to be home before darkness falls. I still have to prepare your room."
"Oh, no, that’s unnecessary."
"I disagree. I’m an Apple, have been one for quite some time, and there is no way I won’t smother you in hospitality." Rarity stood up. "I hope you’ll stay for Hearth‘s Warming too. It’s a wonderful celebration, all about change and about friends. Thematically appropriate." As Autumn got on her hooves, magic grabbed the blanket. "Butternut, our daughter, will arrive tomorrow, and she will be delighted to meet you."
Water dropped from the blanket, then it folded itself. Autumn took a step back, smiling. "That sounds wonderful."
"Oh, it is. I also have many boxes of photo albums I’ll inflict upon you. And many stories to tell you." The cups followed the thermos in the saddlebags. Rarity tightened her scarf. "That’s the thing left for us by her. Memories, love, and stories. It’s only right to share them."
Autumn nodded, then turned to the tree. She leaned against it and whispered something.
"An apple tree. What else could it ever be?" Rarity smiled. "It’s perfect."
