Cold. White. Snow. Yes, winter had begun in Ponyville, and Applejack was walking through town, enjoying the change in weather. Although winter was not a very popular season, and was certainly not a good season for farming, there were still aspects of this time that Applejack enjoyed. Most ponies preferred the spring or summer time, when it was much warmer, but there was something about the sharp feeling of the cold that she enjoyed.
As she walked she saw many ponies in town, some of them decorating for the holidays, others playing in the snow, and some that looked like they were wearing every article of clothing that they owned to stay warm. Applejack chuckled at that and continued walking, thinking about how much business Rarity probably gets this time of year. She also thought of all the things to look forward to this year. Spending time with her friends, enjoying Hearthswarming, the weather, all kinds of-
"Ughhh..."
Applejack stopped and looked around a bit, wondering where the voice had come from. Usually something like that wouldn't concern her too much, but it sounded like whoever made the noise was very upset... not to mention, Applejack was almost certain that she knew that voice. After a few seconds, Applejack realized she was right under a tree, so she looked up wondering if she'd find the source of the noise, and then she quickly realized why it sounded so familiar.
"Rainbow Dash?"
Indeed, Rainbow was in the tree. She was laying on a branch, curled up like a sleeping cat. "What are y'all doing up there?" She asked, "Actually, nevermind you get into trees a lot."
Rainbow did not reply.
Confused by the silence, Applejack walked around to the other side to see Rainbow Dash's face. She wasn't asleep or anything, she just seemed to be ignoring Applejack. Slightly annoyed by this, Applejack spoke louder, "Hey! Down here Dash. It's me, I'm tryna talk to ya."
Once again, no reply.
This made Applejack even more angry, "Hey now, why are you ignoring me!? If you're busy you can just say so you don't gotta act like I'm not here! I know you can hear-"
Applejack stopped when Rainbow made another noise. It didn't sound like a groan or a sigh this time. It was more similar to... sniffing. Applejack stepped back a bit and looked at the pegasus closer. She was curled into a ball, her ears were flat against her head, and her eyes were noticably red even from a distance. Noticing all of this Applejack became slightly concerned and decided yelling wasn't a good idea. "Hey there... Sorry I got upset at ya. Are you doing alright?"
There was no reply.
Applejack walked under the branch and spoke a bit softer, "C'mon now, if something is bothering you, you can tell me," Applejack batted at Rainbow's tail, trying to encourage her to reply. She did not. "Alright then if you won't come down-" Applejack jumped up and grabbed a lower branch, "-then I'm coming up," she said and began climbing. It didn't take long for her to get up to Rainbow's branch, and when she did she scooted over the the pegasus and sat next to her, "alright there, now can you tell me what's going on?"
Rainbow said nothing, but after a few moments she did move slightly. All she did was lean over, and look down at the floor below them. Applejack sat there confused for a bit, "What are you stuck? You can fly y'know," she joked, also looking down towards the ground. She continued looking for a while, still not understanding, until she noticed something. A small spot of green down by the trees trunk, seemingly partially buried. Ohhh "Is this about Tank?"
Rainbow Dash whimpered and teared up when Applejack mentioned the tortoises name. Unfortunately this was a yearly event. Rainbow Dash's pet tortoise, Tank, would have to hibernate during the winter, and due to that fact, Rainbow spent the first several weeks of winter in a state of deep depression. Applejack has forgotten about this until just now. In all honesty, she didn't entirely understand why it made Rainbow as upset as it did, considering her pet was still very much alive and healthy, but not understanding didn't make it any less upsetting seeing Rainbow like this, and she decided to try and do something about it.
"Hey hey no need to be so upset, he'll be back as soon as spring starts -"
"Shut up."
Applejack was taken aback by that, "wha-"
"You heard me." Rainbow sounded like she was on the verge of tears, which she likey was, "Every year you guys tell me not to be upset... 'it's just a few months' 'he'll be back in spring' 'you'll be fine without him for a little while'...well I'm not fine!"
"I-"
"All of that stuff is easy for you guys to say! You get to be with your dumb pets throughout the entire year! But i don't!"
"Alright sugar cube settle down," Applejack gently placed her hoof on Rainbow's head.
Rainbow pulled away initially, ready to yell at Applejack more for trying to calm her down... But the headpat was remarkably effective.
"I get what you're saying, and I'm sorry. You're right...I don't know what it's like..."
Rainbow stared at Applejack blankly, "...how come this only happens to Tank...It's not fair."
Applejack put her other arm around Rainbow, in a sort of half hug, which Rainbow was quick to accept. "Maybe... you could tell me how it feels, since I don't understand. Might help if you talk about it."
Rainbow looked away. She wasn't the biggest fan of talking about her feelings in general, so she was quite hesitant to say anything... however, she did trust Applejack. I'm fact, out of all her friends, Applejack was probably the closest out of all of them to being Rainbow's best friend.
"...it would be like if you had to leave for several months... I would hate that. This is the exact same thing... just being left here."
"Well I definitely won't be doing that. And when you say 'left here', do you mean, 'abandoned'?"
"I'm being really dramatic aren't I..."
Applejack shook her head, "No. I get it. I have a bit of experience with that too..."
Rainbow tilted her head, a bit confused, before understanding, "Oh! Right... Wow, here I am complaining about my pet sleeping for a few months to somepony with no parents."
Applejack giggled and Rainbow Dash's bluntness, "Hey now, you have every right to be upset. This ain't about who's got it worse," Applejack put her other arm around Rainbow, giving a complete hug, "it's about me being here, for you."
Rainbow Dash teared up a bit, and hugged back, "thanks..."
Applejack nodded, "Y'all know he's not doing it on purpose right? If it was up to him I bet he'd love to stay awake during winter and be around ya."
"... you think?"
"Well obviously, who wouldn't? And y'know something...we might have pets that stay awake all year, but I think you might still have the better deal here."
"What? How?"
Applejack smiled and rubbed Rainbow's back gently, "Did you know that.. tortoises typically live from 100-150 years?"
Rainbow backed up, not letting go of Applejack, but enough to look at her eye to eye, "Wait, really?!"
Applejack giggled and nodded, "Mhm. So ya don't gotta worry about outliving him, that's for sure."
"That. Is. AWESOME!"
"Darn right it is! An awesome pet for an awesome pony," Applejack said, booping Rainbow on the muzzle.
Rainbow rolled her eyes, "Ok now you're just being sappy for the heck of it."
"Yeah you're right. That was kinda forced."
They both giggled, then laughed, and continued laughing for quite awhile, until they lost their balance and fell out of tree. Luckily the snow broke their fall, and they just continued laughing.
Rainbow eventually stopped and looked at Applejack, "Hey uh...thanks Applejack. That was a lot better than the talks you guys usually give me."
Applejack nodded, "Sure thing."
Applejack hugged Rainbow once again, and Rainbow Dash happily returned it.
The End
Author's Note
My attempt at a story with some emotion. I was gonna post this on Christmas, but last time I posted a story on a holiday it didn't do very well (which was also a Rainbow and Applejack story..hmmm...) How did I do? Please comment I'm literally begging you