The new year was coming closer and closer in the city of Other-Questria, and everybody was preparing to celebrate.
After all, staying awake long enough to see the brand new year come to fruition was a daunting task to some people.
Especially to people with a beauty sleep, as one Vignette Valencia could attest.
"Yawn!"
"You know, you could just yawn and be done with it."
The woman turned around and saw her companion, a stage magician called Trixie Lulamoon, who folded her arms and tapped them.
"You don't need to actually Say the word, you know?"
"Right, sorry. I tend to vocalize my thoughts when I'm tired," Vignette chuckled. "Thanks again for agreeing to come with me, Trixie."
"Trixie does owe you one for helping her with her performance," the blue magician said with a proud smile. "And Trixie always repays the favor!"
Vignette smiled teasingly. "Right, that's the only reason, and not because you waited until the last minute to go Christmas shopping-"
Trixie immediately shushed the woman, who laughed lightheartedly.
"What are we looking for, anyway?"
"You'll see soon enough."
Once the shopping was done, Vignette and Trixie returned to the Apple Family Barn, the latter looking slightly worried as she approached the doors.
"Trixie isn't sure if this is a good idea. Trixie and the friends of Rainbow Dash never got along before."
"Trixie, it's a time for new beginnings, to start anew and become a better version of yourself," Vignette said with a smile, wrapping her arm around Trixie's shoulder. "And the Best place to start is with someone who's willing to give you a chance. And Applejack is the perfect girl for that."
"... Are you projecting onto Trixie?"
Vignette snickered. "Let's head in."
And so they went inside, with Apple Bloom greeting them while wearing a reindeer costume.
"Hi Vignette!"
"Oh my, a talking reindeer!" Vignette went behind Trixie while holding back a giggle. "Save me, oh Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Trixie gained a little smile before playing along. "Don't worry, Vignette the Assistant! The Great and Powerful Trixie shall protect you!"
"Vignette the Assistant? Seriously?" Apple Bloom asked with an unamused look on her face. "Couldn't you think of a better title?"
"Trixie hasn't know her enough to think of something good, yet fitting, okay?"
"Trixie?"
The trio turned around and saw Applejack walk into view, wearing an elf costume.
"What a surprise to see you 'ere!" the cowgirl elf said. "What's up?"
"I went shopping with her," Vignette said before patting Trixie's shoulders. "And she's got a pretty neat surprise for you! Right, Trixie?"
"Trixie has no idea what you're talking ab-AGH!"
Trixie winced as Vignette jabbed her waist, then gestured her to do… something.
So, she took a deep breath, and reached into her sleeve before pulling out a bouquet of… apples.
"Huh?!" the magician exclaimed in disbelief. "This isn't right, these should be flowers…"
Before Trixie could try to fix the blunder, Applejack took the bouquet and chuckled.
"Thanks, Trixie, I love it."
Trixie blushed a little, and nodded. "Y-You're welcome…"
"Well, what'cha waitin' for? Dinner's at the table!"
At that statement, Vignette grabbed Trixie's hand and the group went to the kitchen for a new year dinner.
It was close to midnight, and everybody had gone to sleep… all but Vignette, as Applejack discovered when she entered the guest room, only to find Trixie sleeping on her bed instead.
She looked around the house for a moment, making sure not to wake up her family as she did, until she spotted a ladder leading to the rooftop.
She went up, and sure enough, Vignette sat there, looking at the moon while wobbling a little.
"Mind if I join ya?"
Vignette flinched and turned around, calming down when she saw Applejack approaching her.
"Not at all, sit down."
And the cowgirl did just that, gently taking a seat next to the woman as Vignette turned back to the night sky, a smile visible across her tired expression.
"The night sky's really pretty, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it really is."
The duo shared a moment of silence, as they stared at the night sky together...
"I wanna see the start of the new year with my very own eyes."
Applejack put her arms behind her head. "It's nothin' special, ya know?"
"Maybe not to you, but it is for me," Vignette sighed. "I… have never been able to stay up long enough to midnight."
"I can imagine," Applejack chuckled. "You are very persistent about your beauty sleep."
"In my defense," Vignette played with her hair a bit. "It's really difficult to keep my natural beauty intact."
"You are rather pretty," Applejack casually remarked, oblivious to Vignette's blush. "Still, you don't need to force yourself to stay up so late. Or at least, do it somewhere safer. I'm pretty sure a fall from here could hurt you."
Vignette tried to look down, but Applejack stopped her, handing her a cup with cider as she said:
"Don't, please."
Vignette smiled sheepishly and went back to staring at the night sky.
"Sometimes I think about stuff."
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"The things I could've done differently. That I could've done earlier, or later, or not done at all. I've been thinking about my life choices, the what ifs and what could've been… and in doing so, I realized something."
Vignette flashed a little smile, then faced the cowgirl.
"I'm… happy."
Applejack smiled as well. "Happy?"
"Not of everything I've done, of course. I've done a lot of things that I regret… that I wish I could fix but… I've also done a lot of good," Vignette looked back to the sky. "Things that I can be proud to have done, or be a part of. I no longer have to live feeling like I've done nothing but made things worse."
Applejack lowered her head. "Nobody should ever have to live like that."
"Which is why you helped me, right?" Vignette asked.
Applejack said nothing.
"You… didn't need to give me a hand. After everything I did to you… to your friends… and to Rarity… I probably deserved to be left a homeless wrench, and yet, you offered to help me."
Vignette smiled. "And that's something I'll be forever thankful for. Applejack… I.L.Y."
Applejack's eyes widened. "Does that mean…?"
"I love you," Vignette answered with a sincere nod and a smile. "I want you to know that from the bottom of my heart."
Applejack looked stunned for a moment, before her shocked expression turned into an understanding one.
"Happy new year, Vignette."
"Happy new year, Applejack."
The duo clashed cups, and drank their cider as the fireworks went off, signaling a new year had come.
Author's Note
A grand finale for this year and the Vignetteverse, as the movie for Gen 5 has dropped and, while I don't think people will just abandon gen 4 and go to this new one immediately, more focus will be placed on gen 5 as time goes on.
Or something, I dunno.
I watched the movie, and thought it was okay. Nothing spectacular, but hey, FiM took a couple years before it got off the ground. Maybe this is the same.
But anyway, I wanna thank you all for sticking around this long, and for making this a pretty good experience. I'm grateful for it.
Merry Christmas everyone, and a happy new year.
