“But why does Big Mac have to leave? It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve! It aint fair!”
Applebloom was standing her ground in the soft snow in front of the cart, hoping to block it from going anywhere. Although Applejack and Sugar Belle were still loading it up and Big Mac was inside, getting the last few things they needed before leaving, so really, it wasn’t moving soon anyway.
Applejack grunted as she lifted a suitcase into the back of the wagon before turning to face the filly. “Yeah? Well it aint fair that Sugar Belle’s folks got hurt before they could get here neither, but that’s where we are. She and Big Mac gotta go make sure they’re okay for a few days.”
“Well… Why can’t Sugar Belle go on her own?” Applebloom asked, though even she could tell she was grasping at straws. “Does she really need Big Mac to come too?”
The look of surprise on Applejack’s face told Applebloom all she needed to know what she thought of that idea. “Applebloom! Sugar Belle and Big Mac just got married not long ago! And even if they hadn’t, you honestly expect Sugar Belle to travel all that way by herself?!”
“Then why can’t we all go together? We did that last time we went to the Pie’s rock farm.”
Applejack groaned, beginning to get irritated. “You know Pinkie’s family are already coming here to Ponyville again this year, as well as Grandpear. But they aint arrivin’ till tomorrow mornin’. We can’t change plans before they even get here. And even if we could somehow get everypony on board at the last minute, Sugar Belle’s parents’ home aint big enough for all our combined families.”
“Well at least I’m trying to come up with something,” she cried.
“That’s enough Applebloom,” Applejack chided. “I know you don’t want Big Mac to go away for Hearth’s Warming, but that’s how it’s gonna be.”
“Come on Applebloom,” Sugar Belle started gently, stepping away from the wagon and up to her. “You know Mac wouldn’t leave if it wasn’t important. Let’s not part ways on poor terms, ‘kay?” She said, offering a hoof.
Applebloom tried to glare at her, but it probably looked more like a pout. Why’d Sugar Belle have to talk down to her like she was a kid? She wasn’t that young anymore.
She looked at the offered hoof, and found it a symbol of what was taking her brother away. Anger started burning somewhere in her belly, and she slapped it away.
Sugar Belle pulled back with shock on her face and a gasp. It wouldn’t have been strong enough to actually injure her, but Applebloom felt some brief satisfaction at the look of surprise.
“Applebloom!” Applejack snapped in shock. “You apologize right now!”
“No!” Applebloom yelled back, letting the anger billow over. “She’s takin` away my brother during Hearth’s Warming of all times!”
“Applebloom!”
But she went on. “And you’re helping her do it! You’re ruining Hearth’s Warming!”
Glaring up at the two of them, she realized Applejack was stepping forward with intention, and wore an angry, disapproving glare, while Sugar Belle…
She looked mortified, and hurt.
It suddenly hit Applebloom what she’d just done, and had a strange mix of emotion. She’d let her anger get the better of her before, but never quite like this before. Anger still boiled inside her, but now there was a concoction of fear, and shame. She didn’t know what else to do, so she ran back to the house, hot tears flowing out of her eyes, and she barged upstairs to her room, slamming the door with a crash.
She dove under the covers of her bed and yelled into her pillow, as if she could exorcise her anger by sound alone, and though it ebbed, it didn’t evaporate.
She stayed there a good while, raging at the unfairness of it all.
Maybe if she stayed in her room and never said goodbye, they’d end up waiting too long and it’d be too late so they’d have to stay anyway.
But life was rarely so kind. Applebloom found herself looking out her bedroom window at one point to find the cart just wasn’t there. Instead, there were two lines and a pair of hoofprints in the thin snow, leading away from Sweet Apple Acres.
She hadn’t even heard them leave.
Applebloom cried that night, an angry, frustrated cry that denied her sleep until she was too exhausted to remain awake.
*
The dawn of the new day told Equestria that it was Hearth’s Warming, and Applebloom had never felt so empty.
Normally she’d be rushing down the stairs before the sun was even up, sneaking a peak at the gifts under the tree, playing a game of trying to guess which were hers without looking at the labels to avoid disturbing their places. But this year the absence of her big brother had changed everything, and the thought once again brought forth a stubborn frustration.
At some point Applejack knocked on her door and asked her to come down and get some breakfast before the Pies showed up, but Applebloom replied by throwing a book at the door. When Applejack started to complain, she repeated the action, and that seemed to shut her up. Which was good. She didn’t have any more books within reach of her bed.
Maybe an hour later, she heard movement from outside and the squeak of a cart. Applebloom dashed to the window, hoping it was Big Mac returning early, but her excitement died when she discovered it was just Pinkie and the rest of the Pies.
As she watched she saw Applejack exit the house to greet them, and a few hugs were shared, mostly from Pinkie Pie. She could see Applejack talking, and Pinkie Pie’s energy faded for a moment, the only one who’s energy could be measured from a distance.
Applejack was probably telling them of the unexpected absence of Big Mac and Sugar Belle. Would the Pies kick up a fuss at the injustice of it? Or would they act like adults and take it as all good and fair?
A flicker of movement caught her eye, and she spotted Marble Pie looking up at her window. Applebloom ducked out of sight and leapt back to her bed.
She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to be seen, but she realized that there would probably be apologetic looks and words of sympathy, and she didn’t want any of that. She wanted Big Mac.
A fresh wave of tears stung her eyes, and she bit her pillow in an effort to stop herself from crying again.
Downstairs, she heard the front door open and the muffled sounds of ponies talking and laughing, mostly Pinkie Pie. Applebloom buried her head under a pillow again and tried to ignore the world around her.
It didn’t seem fair for all of Ponyville to be cheerful and happy, like it was completely oblivious to her plight. It was even worse for the ponies downstairs. They knew that Big Mac wasn’t here, but they didn’t seem to care, if the high spirits of their voices that reached her ears were anything to go by.
It just wasn’t fair.
There was a knock at her door, and Applebloom woke with a start. She hadn’t realized she fell asleep again, but at least the frustration could be directed somewhere instead of just festering inside with nothing else to do.
“Go away Applejack!” she yelled into her pillow, though still easily audible to be heard.
“It’s not Applejack,” came a soft but elderly voice slightly muffled by the closed door between them.
Applebloom pulled herself out and looked towards the door. “Grandpear?” she asked, a little surprised.
“Can I come in?” he asked from the hallway.
She thought for a moment. She still didn’t really want to see anypony, but it felt unfair to be rude towards the old stallion. “Fine,” she finally relented.
The door opened with a light creak, and the elderly stallion with pale yellow coat and greying mane and tail stepped in. He’d traded his usual green neckerchief for a warmer dark brown winter scarf.
“I hear you’re…” he paused, likely looking for the words. “You’re not feeling well.”
“Is that what she told you?” Applebloom pouted, sulking back into her pillow.
“I wouldn’t call feeling upset, feeling well,” he reasoned, stepping up to the bed beside her.
She rolled her eyes. “Guess ya got a point.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“What’s there to talk about?” she huffed. “Big Mac has gone away for Hearth’s Warming, I yelled at Sugar Belle, and now I’m in ma room and I aint comin’ out till winter’s over.”
“Hmm,” he muttered. “All winter does sound a bit lonely doesn’t it?”
“When Big Mac got married to Sugar Belle, everypony kept talkin’ how the family’s gettin’ bigger. But now it’s hearth’s warming, and it just feels smaller than ever.”
The chatter downstairs chose that moment to grow in volume, as somepony burst out in laughter beneath them. Probably Pinkie Pie. She had a very distinctive laugh.
“Well, it’s certainly livelier Hearth’s Warming than I’ve had for a good while,” he said, glancing down to the sound beneath the floorboards.
She continued to pout. “It’s not the same.” She sighed, catching herself and her frustration ebbed away. “Well, I don’t mean it like that. I love Pinkie’s family, and you too, but none o’ you are Big Mac. He’s always been there my whole life, and he just… up and left to go be with Sugar Belle and her family this year.”
Grandpear shook his head gently. “I don’t think there was any just up and left about it. He thought long and hard about what was important, and I’m sure he thought you’d be okay without him for one year.”
“Great,” she mumbled sarcastically. “So he thought long and hard and still chose to abandon me for Hearth’s Warming.”
“Now don’t say that,” Grandpear chided calmly yet sternly. “Big Mac may not be here now, but he’s not abandoning you. I should know,” he added with a hint more melancholy, glancing away from her.
Lifting her head and staring at the old stallion with a bit of surprise at the firmness of his voice, Applebloom found herself feeling a little guilty. It was true that Grandpear once walked out on his daughter, her mother Pear Butter, or Buttercup to the Apple Family, forcing her to chose between her family and her love. But that was so long ago now, and all she had seen of Grandpear personally, had been an old, gentle stallion, filled with regret over that mistake, and doing everything in his power to connect with a family he had never known. As far as she knew, he was kind and soft spoken, but there were those hints of regret for his past that came out once in a while.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Of course Big Mac had thought long and hard about it before leaving. Of course he wasn’t abandoning them. But she couldn’t help but feel a deep well of fear and confusion, and that was being expressed through anger and frustration.
She understood it, now that she could see it. But that didn’t make it any easier to ignore it.
Applebloom plopped her head into her pillow again and tried not to cry. “S’not fair,” she grumbled. “I just want him back home.”
“Well, why don’t you tell me what you got up to together over Hearth’s Warming?” Grandpear asked, smiling softly once more. “Good memories have a way of bringing those we love back, even if only for a moment.”
Applebloom sniffed and had to think about that. It wasn’t any single thing she could pinpoint. It was all the little things. “Well, there is one thing that was kind of a tradition,” she said, after a moment of thought. “First thing we’d do when the snow was thick enough, but stopped snowing, me and Big Mac would head out to make a snowpony together. He’s always the one to roll the biggest balls for the base, and he’d let me stand on his back to lift up the head and fix the face. Each year we’d see just how big we could make it and break the record each time.”
She giggled at one particular part of the memory. “I remember one year, I stuck the carrot nose on, turned around to grab the rocks from Mac’s saddlebags for the eyes and I just heard a crunching. Lookin back, and Big had taken a big bite out of the carrot, so now our snow pony’s nose is shorter than a diamond dog. I gave him a chewin’ out and asked why he’d done it, and he just gives me this cheeky grin and says ‘peckish,’” she laughed, putting on a deeper tone for an impression of her brother’s voice.
Grandpear joined in the laughter himself, softly chortling. “I think I can picture that quite well.”
Applebloom laughed a moment longer, before a stray thought brought her mood down again, and her face fell once more. “I guess we won’t be beatin’ last year’s record this time.”
Grandpear made an awkward grunt. “Well, I’d offer to help you make a new snowpony this year, though I doubt these old bones could match your brother’s expertise.”
“Thanks, but it’s not the snowpony that’s the problem,” she admitted. “I mean, it kinda is? But it’s mostly that I can’t do it with my brother. Hearth’s Warming is always about family, and now he’s…” She sniffed, trying and failing to prevent the trembling in her throat. “What if he doesn’t come back? What if he decides Sugar Belle’s family is better than ours and forgets all about us?”
“Big Macintosh won’t forget about you,” Grandpear said, placing a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sure even though he’s far away, he’s thinking of you and the rest of the family today. I guarantee it.”
“How do you know?” She didn’t mean to make it sound accusatory, but the emotion in her voice was hard to contain.
Grandpear was silent for a long moment with a long vacant stare at the wall. “Because I know I did,” he finally said, softly enough that had there been any other sound in the room, she might not have even heard it.
“Huh?” she sniffed loudly.
Grandpear took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Every year,” he said absently, loosing himself in memory. “My heart felt the absence of my precious Pear Butter over Hearth’s Warming every time the holiday came around, despite the foolish anger I clung to. Sometimes I even prepared a gift for her, as though she’d come rushing through the door any minute, telling me she’d been wrong and was sorry she didn’t come away with me. A foolish fantasy I know, but I was too stubborn and frustrated to admit how wrong I was. That I had walked out on her, and she wasn’t coming back to me.”
Grandpear turned to Applebloom with a soft, but serious look, and she could see his eyes were moist. “But I missed her all the same. I know these are completely different circumstances, but if even I, closed off and angry as I was, could miss my family, then there’s no way that your brother could forget you. I know with all my heart, shrivelled and old as it is, that your brother loves you and holds you dear in his heart.”
Applebloom sniffed. He was right. There was no possible way that Big Mac would abandon them. She knew it, but that didn’t mean it still didn’t hurt. “But he went off with Sugar Belle this year,” she said, giving voice to her doubts. “I know he loves us, but he also loves Sugar Belle. What if he doesn’t love us as much anymore?”
“Love isn’t a finite thing that gets smaller the more ponies you care about,” he shook his head. “But time is finite, and the hard part comes when balancing the time you have with the ponies you love. Sugar Belle’s folks aren’t fit enough to travel, and she hasn’t seen them in so long. And because it’s important to her, it’s important to Big Mac. Now that doesn’t mean he wants you to mope around in your room while the rest of us celebrate. Be thankful for the family you do have surrounding you on this day. Okay?”
She gave a sigh and smiled despite herself. “I guess you’re right.”
She leapt off her bed, not quite happy and excited as she usually was during the holiday, but she was definitely feeling a lot better for talking. And he was right, she had been doing nothing but moping while the others were having fun. “I s’pose I’ve missed a bunch of stuff already as it is. Thanks Grampa,” she said.
His ears raised in surprise at the subtle difference in the way she addressed him, but his face softened to a warm smile. “Anytime.”
Applebloom led the way out of her room, and towards the stairs, but didn’t rush ahead of Grandpear.
“You’ll find the tree is decorated nicely,” he said as the two of them made their way down the staircase. “As well as the uh… rock the Pies brought with them,” Grandpear added, with a tilt of his head. “Still don’t quite understand that tradition, but I suppose I’m the last pony to raise a fuss.”
Applebloom chuckled. “You should’ve seen what happened when we went to their rock farm for Hearth’s Warming the year before you joined us. That was… interestin’.”
“I guess you’ll have to tell me the story sometime,” he chuckled, joining in.
As the two of them made their way to the living room, where they could hear the voices of the others, Applebloom took note of the decorations she had missed out on while she sulked in her room.
Tinsel and holly were hung up across the walls and supporting beams, almost making the house look greener inside than outside where nature normally sat.
She saw in the dining room the table was set with small cakes and pies, ready for the Hearth’s Warming lunch, making her stomach rumble and remind her that she hadn’t had anything to eat since yesterday afternoon. The Pies had made their contributions to the table as well, though Applebloom found it hard to tell which of the rocks provided were decorations or snacks.
As they entered, sure enough the tree was decorated with all the suitable trappings of the holiday, as Grandpear mentioned, there was also a large rock beside it with similar decorations.
A few presents still lay underneath the tree, but Applebloom still noticed the telltale signs of scattered wrapping paper, and figured they must have started without her. Though she could hardly blame them for her own moping.
“Applebloom, there you are,” she heard Applejack exclaim and quickly found herself wrapped up in a hug from her sister. “You feelin’ better sugarcube?”
She returned the hug with a tight squeeze before breaking away. “Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry for moping.”
“Applebloom’s up!” came an excited voice that could only come from one pony, and she braced for impact.
They didn’t even hit the wall from the tacklehug, so Appleboom figured Pinkie must have been restraining herself.
“There you are! I’m so glad you got up and came down when I heard you were all sad I wanted to come up and give you a big hug and maybe a cupcake because nopony should be sad on Hearth’s Warming and cupcakes always make me feel better but I didn’t know if you’d be in the mood for a cupcake or if maybe something apple related would be more appropriate but then I heard why you were all mopey sad and suddenly apples really didn’t seem the right thing cause it might remind you of Big Mac because he’s not here and then…”
Pinkie Pie’s rant was ended early, or at least muffled, by Applejack’s hoof stuffing an apple fritter in her mouth, and keeping the hoof up to prevent a mess. “Slow down Pinkie, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t break my little sister just as she’s startin’ to feel better,” she chided, helping Applebloom to her hooves, while Pinkie continued to talk with her mouth full of fritter and hoof.
Applebloom giggled at their antics and pulled Pinkie into a hug. “Thanks Pinkie, I know you just want me to feel better.”
Pinkie swallowed the remains of the apple fritter, and Applejack pulled her hoof out with a gasp as if she had narrowly avoided losing it. “Aw,” Pinkie said, and squeezed Applebloom only slightly too tightly. “I’m just happy you’re feeling happy, but even if you’re still not totally happy I know what will help!”
She slipped out of the hug somehow, and practically vanished a moment, but reappeared just as swiftly with a small wrapped gift in her hooves. “Here you go! It’s from Big Mac, so even if he’s not here here, he’s here because you get a super-duper Hearth’s Warming gift! Here!”
Applebloom shook her head a little to shake off the rattling from Pinkie’s antics and looked down at the small package now in her hooves. “From Big Mac?”
“Yeperooni! And if you’re missing traditions, I’ll have to find some new tradition we can all do together! And I already have some ideas!” Pinkie blurted, and promptly sped off again before she got a response.
Applebloom probably should have questioned how Pinkie knew she’d been talking about missing out on family traditions, but it was Pinkie Pie, so she knew better than to question it.
Instead, her attention turned to the small package. It was short and wide, barely bigger than the base of her hoof, wrapped in festive paper and done up with a bow. A letter was also perched on top, marked with her own cutiemark, as well as Big Mac’s, denoting the recipient and gift-giver. Feelings welled up inside her knowing that she really had been silly to think that Big Mac didn’t care all of a sudden. Getting married was a big change for sure, but nothing could separate the Apple family, and she felt foolish for even considering the possibility.
She tore into the paper, then pulled back the lid to reveal the contents, and her eyes widened as she slowly pulled it out.
It was a wide ribbon with a deep pink colour, much like the one she always wore. But what made this one unique was an entire series of symbols, finely embroidered into the fabric.
She recognized her own cutiemark instantly, and surrounding it were the cutiemarks of the other Crusaders, as well as Applejack, Granny Smith, and Big Mac. Sugar Belle’s cutiemark was next to Big Mac’s, and then further down were the Pinkie and the rest of the Pie family, while higher up was the cutiemarks of her parents, Bright Mac and Buttercup, and even Grandpear was there as well.
“Wow,” Applebloom said in awe, unable to come up with any other words, pulling out the full length and spreading it out over both her hooves.
Her sister gave a short, impressed whistle in approval. “Well now that’s mighty impressive. Is that what he’s been working on all that time?”
Applebloom blinked in surprise. “You mean he embroidered this himself?”
“Ember-what?” Applejack asked, scratching the back of her head in confusion. “That some kinda sewing thing? Sounds like somethin’ Rarity would know about.”
“Embroidery,” She corrected, though she had to say it a little carefully, as the word felt odd with her accent. “It’s where you sew a pattern into fabric with different coloured thread. Sweetie Belle had the idea to try it for our cutiemarks once,” Applebloom said with a smile, though she cringed a little at the memory of the aftermath. “Though Rarity told us off for using her workspace again when Scootaloo got bored and tried using the pincushion and pins as a dart board. I think Opal still gives Scoots a lot of space.”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Yeeeep, that sounds about right.” It looked like she was about to say more, but she spied something out of the corner of her eye. “Pinkie! Keep that hot sauce away from the cupcakes!” she yelled, darting off to prevent a holiday disaster.
“Never! It’s a new Hearth’s Warming tradition!”
“It aint a tradition if we aint done it before! Gimme that!”
“All traditions have to start somewhere!”
Applebloom snickered, but decided to ignore the further Pinkie shenanigans, and instead reached for the letter that came with her present.
Dear Applebloom,
Happy Hearth’s Warming.
You know I aint one for too many words, but I got to let you know that I still love you. You’re my precious little sister, and even though we’re far away from each other, there aint nothing that will change that.
I know it’s gonna be hard for you for me to not be there this Hearth’s Warming, and to tell you the truth, it hurts me too. But we’ve come a long way since our holidays were just the four of us, You, Me, Applejack and Granny. Now we got Pinkie and her folks, you got your Cutie Mark Crusaders, and I hear even Grandpear is planning to come again. Tell him I said hi for me would you?
And of course my dear Sugar Belle.
She wants nothing more than to be accepted as part of the family, and I keep telling her she aint got nothing to worry about. I know change can be scary, but I also know you and the others have done everything to make her feel like she belongs, and I want to thank you for that.
I hope you like my gift. Sugar Belle helped teach me how to embroider for it. She offered to do it for me, it’s kinda hard without a horn for magic, but I wanted to do something special with my own two hooves. Something to remind you that your family will always be with you, no matter how far away we may be.
Never forget that I love you Applebloom, my cutest little sister, and the best little auntie.
From Big Macintosh.
P.S. I realize it might be a little early, but we’re still gonna come up with name ideas. Let me know what you think of Toffee Apple?
Applebloom felt a smile forming as she finished the letter, but still looked down at the last few lines with a mild confusion.
“Huh, weird,” she muttered.
“What’s that?” Applejack asked, looking over as she pried Pinkie and her offending hot sauce away from the desserts.
“I wonder why Big Mac called me the best little auntie?”
Still pondering the odd word choice, Applebloom failed to notice Applejack’s eyes widening like dinner plates. In fact, most everypony had stopped what they were doing and had matching eyes, staring Applebloom’s way.
“Uh… c-come again Bloom? Lemme see that for a sec?” Applejack asked, reaching out a hoof.
She handed over the letter to Applejack, who began scanning the letter frantically. “And who’s Toffee Apple?” Applebloom asked. “I don’t remember anypony in the family called that. Is that one of our other cousins off in another town or something I’ve forgotten about?”
Ignoring the question, Applejack turned to Granny. “Did you know about this?”
While everypony else crowded around the letter, Applebloom turned back at the gifted ribbon, frowning curiously as she took a closer look. She hadn’t noticed before, but there was a small space next to the cutiemarks of Big Mac and Sugar Belle. There was an empty circle of thread sewn into the fabric the same colour as the main piece. Her Crusader sense tingled, as if she were looking at a space reserved for somepony who didn’t have a cutiemark yet. But who could…
Big Mac had called her Auntie!
Applebloom’s eyes widened and she gasped as realization dawned on her.
“Wait a minute! Are they having a baby!?”
Pinkie Pie gasped audibly with a growing smile and sparkles in her eyes. “A Baby!?! AHHHH!!!” She squealed in delight and excitement, vibrating and bouncing around the room in the way that only Pinkie could manage. “Oh My Gosh! That’s so exciting! Are you excited? I know I am! AHHH and I don’t even have to keep it a secret this time!!!”
Limestone, clearly familiar with her sister’s antics held out a hoof and caught Pinkie mid bounce, while the rest of her body stretched like a spring before coming back to rest. “That’s enough of that Pinkie,” Limestone snapped with a glare.
Over the din of excitement growing in the room, Granny Smith tossed her head back with a hearty chortle. “Hah! Well looks like Big Mac knows how to make an announcement when he aint even here.”
As Applebloom looked down at the small gap on the ribbon, she felt a hoof drape over her shoulder, and looked up to find Grandpear’s soft smile looking down at her. “I told you he was thinking of you, didn’t I? And seems like he wanted you to know first.” He added, giving her a squeeze, and she spotted the wetness in his eyes. “A couple years ago, I barely would’ve hoped I could see my grandchildren, let alone any great grandchildren.”
She couldn’t help but feel tears beginning to form in her own eyes, but these tears were different from the ones she’d had all day. She couldn’t help but smile this time, and reached up to return the hug with a tight squeeze.
“I guess the family is getting bigger after all.”
Author's Note
Happy Hearth's Warming ponies! 
It's tough as we get older and family moves away, making it harder for everyone to come together for the holidays. I like to think my family is just as close as the Apples are, and we always have a tradition of returning to our parents place for Christmas. Though this year about half the family can't make it for various reasons. Money, time, or other commitments are keeping my siblings from all coming together for a couple of weeks like we've traditionally been able to do. Thankfully we have the internet to catch up, and are planning to do something online
I tried to channel some of that sadness into this story, as well as for Applebloom a little bit of that fear of growing up, and finding that you don't find the same excitement as you once did for the traditions and holidays.
Be sure to let your family know you love them these holidays, especially if you or they can't be there in person. Whether that be your blood relatives, significant other, or found family in a community you've gotten close with, because I'm sure they're thinking about you.
Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays everyone. 
