The Dreadful Poets' Society

Chapters

Putting Faith in a Pegasus
Dashed Hopes
Poems, Fedoras and the Beat of Drums

Putting Faith in a Pegasus

The Dreadful Poets’ SocietyChapter 1: Putting Faith in a Pegasus

A collective groan echoed throughout the school house one Thursday morning. Fillies and colts alike let their faces fall flat onto the hard surface of their desks. Some buried their faces into their hooves like they were pretending not to be there, most likely imagining that they misheard what their cheerful teacher had just announced. There was only one word in all of Equestria that could create such frustration among school-aged ponies.

Poetry.

The equivalent of torture to most young ponies still suffering through academia, save for the creative few that took joy in the art form. It was a fatal mix of boring and difficult. Truly the most horrendous subject covered in any curriculum. Even the most difficult of sciences were nothing compared to the terror that was poetry.

Apple Bloom possessed an even greater disdain for the art of poetry than most of her classmates. The ambiguity, the pretentious feel it gave off whenever she tried reading it. And, most of all, the elitist snobs that would read poems and act like they were geniuses for getting one out of a possible thousand meanings out of it. Nothing about this form of writing appealed to the filly in the slightest.

She looked to her right to see Scootaloo sitting at her desk. The tomboy pegasus shot Apple Bloom a look of pure disgust. She stuck out her tongue and pointed a hoof down her throat and made tiny gagging sounds. Watching her friend, Apple Bloom couldn’t help but smile. Perhaps there was a filly that hated poetry more than she did.

She then turned to her left to see Sweetie Belle. The studious little unicorn still had her eyes locked onto Miss Cheerilee as if she was ready and willing. Though by looking into Sweetie Belle’s eyes, Apple Bloom could tell that her friend wasn’t looking forward to the topic either.

Which was rather telling, as Sweetie Belle generally enjoyed writing- though her love was for prose, and song lyrics. She even spent some time at the Apple household editing the novel Applejack was in the middle of writing. It was quite a sight, seeing an older mare take literary advice from a young filly, but Apple Bloom never complained about it. Applejack was her sister and Sweetie Belle was her close friend, so really it was a treat to have them both around.

Sighing, the yellow filly turned her attention back to the front of the class. Cheerilee continued with her instructions. No matter how angry the class clearly was, her smile was persistent.

“Now, I understand the general stigma attached to poetry,” she said. “But I’m hoping that through working together on this assignment, you will gain a new perspective on it.”

The entire class started to murmur at the mention of a mystery assignment. Apple Bloom was confused as well. However, based on the fact that it would most likely have something to do with poetry, she assumed that it wasn’t going to be fun.

Cheerilee trotted over to her small chalkboard, picked up a piece of chalk with her mouth and scribbled out the assignment.

“In groups of three, you work together to write a poem on the wonders of winter that will be due at the end of class tomorrow,” she finished writing and turned back to the class who let out an annoyed ‘awwwww’.

But Cheerilee wasn’t finished. “Each group will also be required to present it to the class in a unique and creative way.”

“Awww!” The entire class groaned even louder.

Apple Bloom sighed and looked down at her desk, her hooves placed atop it. She knew that she wasn’t the most gifted filly when it came to writing, and this assignment would most likely push her to the limit.

“Oh come now,” Cheerilee said. “This assignment shouldn’t be something you dread. All I ask is for you to do your best. And write what comes from your heart. So let your imagination run wild and free!”

Scootaloo leaned to Apple Bloom and whispered, “I’d rather run wild and free away from this assignment.”

Apple Bloom snickered a little as Cheerilee continued.

“And most importantly, have fun with it!” Cheerilee said with a smile, though her class didn’t share an ounce of her enthusiasm. “So please, get into groups of three. Once you’re all set we can continue with our lesson on westward expansion into the frontier and the founding of Dodge Junction.”

Immediately, the class started to segment off, some students journeying across the room to join up with their friends. One particular colt tripped over a chair-leg on his way over to join his two friends. Blushing, he got to his feet, looked from side-to-side. Once certain hardly anypony noticed him, he sighed and carried on.

Apple Bloom stayed put, content that she didn’t have to go anywhere, as the two fillies on each of her sides were the only ones she would ever want to work with. Her feeling of satisfaction was interrupted by a familiar, arrogant voice from behind her.

“Pfft, like, I assume you will use this as another attempt to get your cutie marks?”

Apple Bloom turned around to see Diamond Tiara sitting behind her with a smug smile on her face. Silver Spoon sat beside her, using her hoof to stifle a laugh- it was the laugh of a typical follower.

“Actually, ah think we’ll just work on this assignment for completion,” Apple Bloom said flatly. “We all hate poetry, right girls?”

Sweetie Belle slowly nodded while Scootaloo did so furiously, like she had a cobweb stuck in her mane and was trying desperately to get it out.

“Yeah, well I’m sure that’ll stop you,” she said with a knowing smile that made Apple Bloom want to smack the glitter from her face, and the tiara from her neatly coiffed mane. But she bottled up her rage and stowed it away for another time. She turned to her friends, or rather looked from one to the other since Scootaloo was on one side of her and Sweetie Belle was on the other.

“So what do you think?” Scootaloo asked.

“Ah think it stinks. Ah mean, we only have one day to write a poem. How in the hay are we gonna do that?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I have no idea.” Scootaloo said. “Cheerilee has never given us less than a week to write stuff, and now she expects us to come up with a poem in one night? It’s so dumb.” Scootaloo pressed her hoof against her forehead.

Sweetie Belle looked down at her desk while Apple Bloom glanced over to see looks of despair on both of her friends’ faces. Sweetie Belle carried an expression of silent dread while Scootaloo expressed a perfect blend of rage and annoyance. She knew both of her friends were dreading the assignment as much as she was- if not more so.

However, she also knew that she couldn’t afford to just mope around like a sad-sack. Not only would it accomplish nothing, but it would send out a negative message to her fellow crusaders. That they couldn’t accomplish something no matter how much effort they put into it, and that didn’t sit right with her.

“Ya know,” she started, causing both of her pals to look over in her direction, “maybe it won’t be as bad as we’re making it out to be.”

“Are you kidding?” Scootaloo asked. “It’s probably going to be worse.”

“Ah’m serious. Ah mean, we’re workin’ together.” Apple Bloom said, nudging Sweetie Belle, causing her to smile.

“And when we work together,” Sweetie Belle said, some of her enthusiasm returning, “there isn’t anything that’s too difficult to accomplish. Three heads are better than one, after all.”

Both fillies turned to their tomboy friend, who slowly lowered her hoof from her forehead. Her violet eyes had a look of determination and a rising confidence.

“You know something? You’re right!” Scootaloo turned to her friends with a grin. “It’s like what Rainbow Dash always tells me during my flight lessons. As long as you work hard and leave it all in the skies, you can totally do whatever you set your mind to.”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said with a nod. “Though since it we’re dealin’ with writin’ a poem, it would probably be more like ‘leave it all on the paper’ or ‘leave it all in the classroom’.”

“You get my drift,” Scootaloo smiled, letting out a soft chuckle. She was joined by Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. Once their laughter subsided, they looked at each other with a renewed sense of confidence.

“So what do you think?” Sweetie Belle asked, sticking her hoof out, “Cutie Mark Crusader Poets? Just for this assignment?”

“Oh yeah!” Scootaloo said excitedly, putting her orange hoof atop of Sweetie Belle’s white one. “I’m so in! Apple Bloom?

“Let’s do this!” Apple Bloom said, putting her hoof in to create the tri-fecta.

“Cutie Mark Crusader Poets!” The three friends rose their hooves. “Yay!”

“Girls!” Cheerilee said from the front of the room. The three fillies looked over to see her giggling. “I love the enthusiasm you’re expressing for this assignment, but perhaps you could hold off on expressing it until after class?”

Apple Bloom and the others looked around to see the entire class staring at them. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were both stifling laughter. Apple Bloom slouched back in her chair in an attempt to avoid the piercing glares of her classmates, her cheeks reddened.

After school was let out for the day, Apple Bloom and her friends headed over to Sugarcube Corner to start working their poem. Once they got there, they each bought a delicious-looking, frothy milkshake, they took their place at one of the circular tables located near the front of the shop. It was pressed up against one of the windows, so they got a good view of everypony that passed by.

The whole rest of shop was devoid of life, save for the area behind the front counter where Pinkie Pie and Mrs. Cake were busy. Both were diligently working, though Pinkie Pie managed to do so while also humming a merry tune to herself. It was a tune Apple Bloom had recognized from several parties she attended.

Finally situated, both with a place to work as well as delicious shakes, the three friends got down to working on their arduous assignment.

“Okay, so how do we start writing this thing?” Scootaloo asked, gesturing to the blank sheet of paper.

“First we need to decide whether we want this to rhyme or not.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Ah vote that it doesn’t rhyme,” Apple Bloom said. “It’s gonna be hard enough to write without us tryin’ to make similar-soundin’ words fit.”

“That depends.” Sweetie Belle said. “Are we looking for what’s easiest, or what will give us the best grade?”

“Easiest.” Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said in unison.

Sweetie Belle nodded, though her expression was rather dubious. “Okay, then...then I guess non-rhyming works best. Okay, the next thing we need to discuss is a topic.”

“Well it has to be somethin’ related to winter.” Apple Bloom said, staring down at the blank sheet of paper, just begging to be written on. “But what specifically? Hmmm...”

The three filles pondered what they could write about. Each looking off into space, rummaging through the vast complexes of their minds for any stray idea that they could use. Though their attention could only stay on the topic of poetry for so long before they started to drift off into thinking about things that actually interested them, like relaxing or- in Scootaloo’s case- flying with a certain polychromatic pegasus.

“S-snow?” Sweetie Belle asked, an inflection of uncertainty in her voice.

Scootaloo slowly started to nod and turned to face her friend. “Yeah, snow. That’s a good one there, Sweetie Belle. There’s nothing more wintery than snow, right?”

The three fillies all nodded in agreement.

“Excellent,” Apple Bloom said. “Now we have somethin’ to work with.”

“Something to work with what?” Pinkie Pie asked, trotting over to the table with a plate of cookies balancing on top of her head. She lowered her head and let the plate slide off.

"Oh! Are you talking about love? Because if you need some advice,” Pinkie Pie pointed to herself with pride, “Pinkie Pie the date doctor is at your service.”

Apple Bloom wanted to face-hoof so badly at Pinkie’s odd conclusion which, in her opinion, made no sense as to how she reached it. So she simply responded the way that she normally did when facing a situation that was both weird and annoying at the same time.

“Seriously?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and hoof to illustrate her confusion.

“Uh-huh!” Pinkie Pie said, nodding. “I’m such a success that I set up a griffon with a donkey. Take a look.” Pinkie Pie reached behind her and pulled out of nowhere a photo showing a happy female griffon kissing a male donkey on the cheek. She held the picture out to the fillies, causing them to lean back lest they get smacked in the face with the polaroid. “Look how happy they are, don’t they make a cute couple?”

The three fillies couldn’t help but stare at the photo. Finally, Sweetie Belle came to her senses. Sweetie Belle reached out and pushed the photo down so she could look into Pinkie’s baby blue eyes, though Scootaloo kept staring at the photo- unable to look away.

“Uh, Pinkie Pie,” Sweetie Belle started, “Look, it’s impressive what you are able to to with...cross-species relationships.”

“Is that griffon using her tongue?” Scootaloo asked, earning an elbow to the gut from Apple Bloom. She scowled at Apple Bloom. “Ow!”

“Quit yer bellyachin’ ya pansy,” Apple Bloom hissed. “That was nothin’. Ya should see what Applejack does to me when Ah act out. It involves a belt and mah flank.”

“Girls!” Sweetie Belle interrupted, silencing both of her friends so she could continue explaining the situation to Pinkie Pie. “Anyway, we aren’t having relationship problems. We’re having poetry problems.”

But Pinkie Pie’s excitement only grew, like the certainty of what the three friends needed help with made her no longer hold back her enthusiasm.

“Poetry? I love poetry!” she said, hopping up into the air. “Did you know back when I lived with my parents on the rock farm, we had an entire library filled with poetry books?”

“Really?” Scootaloo asked.

Pinkie Pie nodded, “Yep. Everypony from Edgar Articulate Pony to Mareily Dickinson. I would spend entire days reading poems by them.”

“You read poetry?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yep, it’s fun really,” she said, “when you’re as random as I am, there are so many meanings you can find in each piece of work. It’s all about thinking outside the chimney,” she said, surprising the fillies with her supposed intelligence in the area of poems. But before they could get too stunned Pinkie Pie spoke up again, “Plus every now and then I find a poem filled with puns. Hehe, I love puns.”

The three fillies nodded, the universe suddenly making sense again.

“Well, good luck,” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing off when Apple Bloom called out to her.

“No wait Pinkie Pie! Don’t leave yet, we need yer help.”

Pinkie Pie skidded to a halt, a sound like wheels screeching accompanied her sudden stop. She turned around with a huge grin on her face that made Apple Bloom, for the briefest of moments, regret asking the mare for assistance.

“Sure. What do you need for me to do?”

“Could you possibly help us write this poem for class?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Oh, I would love to,” Pinkie Pie responded, causing the three fillies’ expressions to light up into hopeful smiles, as if they didn’t notice the look of excitement vanish from the pink mare’s face.

“But...”

That single utterance caused all three girls’ expressions to fall back to looks of disappointment.

“I’m not the best poet around, trust me I’ve tried plenty of times to write some works of my own but I just can’t get into it. It’s like what my father told me.” Pinkie cleared her throat and spoke in a deeper tone in imitation of her father.“Pinkie Pie, just because you like cupcakes, doesn’t mean you’ll like watching them get made.”

The mare then returned to her typically hyperactive state. “But unlike poetry, I enjoy eating cupcakes, as well as making them! And that’s why I work here at Sugarcube Corner, instead of a stuffy old office.”

As if she didn’t just admit her own failure at something, Pinkie Pie happily trotted off, humming a cheerful tune. The three fillies were back to being alone, and once the pink mare was out of earshot, each of them let out a groan.

“Well that stinks,” Apple Bloom complained.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said, looking at her unicorn friend. “You’re good at coming up with song lyrics off the top of your head. Maybe you could do the same with this poem.”

Sweetie Belle put her hoof to her chin and closed her eyes, taking on the appearance of some deep philosopher. Her face turned red as she seemed to be straining in thought. She pondered for about a minute before her eyes opened and her hoof fell. She let out a sigh and shook her head.

“Sorry,” she said in defeat. “I can’t do it.”

“But you came up with song lyrics so quickly before.” Scootaloo asked.

“And if Ah remember correctly, songs and poems aren’t too different.” Apple Bloom pointed out.

“Yeah, they’re basically the same thing!” Scootaloo said. “Come on, you just need to try harder.”

“That’s not how you come up with lyrics or lines or whatever,” Sweetie Belle scolded, “it’s not about how hard you think about it, it’s how invested and passionate you are in the topic. I’m sorry but poetry stinks and snow is too cliched.”

“Then how were you able to come up with lyrics to the Cutie Mark Crusader song off the top of your head?” Scootaloo asked, her voice increasingly frustrated.

“That’s the point I’m trying to make. It is because the topic was our club, and I am passionate about it, so the lyrics just came to me.” she replied. “And besides, look how crummy our song and dance routine turned out anyway.”

Apple Bloom shuddered at the memory of their interesting performance at the talent show, but immediately shrugged it off and got back to the topic at hand. “But the lyrics were fine. It was how we pulled it off that made us laughingstocks, not the song itself.”

Sweetie Belle shook her head, “It was terrible. I don’t want to screw up like that again. Especially with a graded assignment.”

“But you won’t!” Scootaloo encouraged. “Give it another shot, please?”

Sweetie Belle looked up at her friends, both of whom had their hooves together like they were praying to her. Their grins were big and full of desperation. Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to respond, but stopped herself.

She groaned, “Fine.”

But before she had a chance to brainstorm, she was interrupted when the door to Sugarcube Corner opened. Rarity ran into the shop with a look of panic on her face. She scanned the inside before she finally spotted the table with her little sister and her friends. She let out a sigh and hastily trotted over.

“Sweetie Belle, where on Earth have you been?” She asked.

“Right here with my friends,” Sweetie Belle replied, pointing down at the table. She looked at her sister in confusion as the unicorn mare stopped in front of their table, panting a little.

“I’ve been running all over town looking for you! Everypony probably thinks I’m a mental patient. Not to mention now I’m all sweaty” Rarity said, wiping her forehead with the back of her hoof.

“You know I come here all the time,” Sweetie Belle said. “And most of the time I don’t tell you or Mom and Dad, why are you so panicked now?”

“Because tonight we need to meet Mom and Dad for dinner at five.” Rarity said, pointing at a nearby clock. “And I promised that I’d get us both there on time and make us look presentable.”

“That’s tonight!?!” Sweetie Belle asked in a panic. “But...but we still have to get started on our assignment.”

“It’s okay,” Apple Bloom told her friend reassuringly. “We could work on it later tonight in the clubhouse.”

Sweetie Belle gave Apple Bloom a worried look. “Are you sure?”

Both of her friends nodded in unison.

“No, go and have fun.” Apple Bloom said, grinning.

“And tell your parents we said hi.” Scootaloo said, flashing a matching grin to Apple Bloom.

“There, you see?” Rarity said with a smile, gesturing at the still-grinning Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“Alright then,” Sweetie Belle said, now allowing herself to smile. “What time should I stop by?”

“Be at mah house at around seven.” Apple Bloom said, turning to Scootaloo. “Does seven work for you, Scoots?”

“Definitely.” Scootaloo answered.

Sweetie Belle nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you then,” she said before Rarity snatched her by the back of her mane and pulled her towards the door. Once they were gone, the shop door closing behind them, both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo’s grins vanished, replaced with looks of annoyance.

“Ugh, it’s just our luck,” Scootaloo said, leaning back in her chair and staring up at the ceiling with the most exhausted look on her face. “Right before she could come up with anything of value, the Queen of Prissiness drags her off.”

“Don’t fret,” Apple Bloom said encouragingly. “Ah’m sure we can get a decent start if we work real hard for the rest of the time that we’re here.”

“Even without Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked, looking over at her friend. “I mean, she is the only one of us that’s any good at creative writing.”

“Absolutely,” Apple Bloom nodded. “There’s still two of us here, and we ain’t dopes. We can come up with something if we really try our darndest. Besides, we have two hours before Ah need to head home. That’s plenty of time”

Both fillies turned back to the blank sheet of paper, staring it down like it was a disobedient student and they were strict teachers. They continued to stare down at the paper, thinking about snow and what the fluffy, white substance meant to them. But whenever either filly came up with an idea they thought was decent, they’d re-read it in their mind and realize it didn’t work. It would be either too wordy or too cheesy. They would then, as they had before, drift off into a mental state best known as the ‘void of procrastination’, where they daydreamed about the most random of things in an attempt to forget about the task at hoof.

Apple Bloom spotted a fly buzzing around the shop and spent a good ten minutes for the sole reason that it was more interesting than the assignment. Scootaloo stared at her milkshake. Never before had she been so fascinated with the appearance of the frothy chocolate drink. After a good while Scootaloo drowsily turned towards Apple Bloom.

“How long has it been?” Scootaloo asked.

“Um,” Apple Bloom said, letting out an obnoxious yawn as she glanced up at the clock. “About an hour and a half.”

Scootaloo's jaw fell and her otherwise tired-looking eyes bulged from their sockets.

“Are you kidding me?” Apple Bloom nodded. Scootaloo looked away, eyes darting as she tried to make sense of where the time had gone. “But...but we haven’t even come up with a single line! Heck, we haven’t even come up with a title!”

“Ah know,” Apple Bloom said flatly. “Ah’ve been workin’ right beside ya the entire time.”

“For the love of...” The pegasus face-hoofed and let out a long groan,” ugh! Maybe we should just wait until we have Sweetie Belle back.”

Apple Bloom sighed in defeat, “Ah think yer right.”

Apple Bloom trotted through the street leading up to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. The sky was grey and gloomy, only adding to the dread that the young filly felt. The air was brisk and the town had been mostly empty. It was after five so most shops were either closed or in the process of closing. Smoke billowed out of the chimneys that extended out of the roofs of the small cottage-like homes of Ponyville that Apple Bloom had gone by earlier.

Even as she passed through the gate of her family’s farm, she imagined everypony in town snuggling up in front of a roasting fire, relaxing without the worries of that day or the next bogging them down. They didn’t have to write a poem unless they wanted to, and to those that did want to write poetry for recreation, Apple Bloom had one question for them.

Are ya outta yer mind!?!

But that wasn’t the most prominent thought racing through her mind. For thinking about the relaxing citizens of Ponyville made her feel an enormous amount of envy. She trotted down the dirt path running between the two parallel line of apple trees, their shadows looming over her tiny frame. Her attitude only worsened as she got closer and closer to the front door of her house, the fact that she still had such a difficult assignment to accomplish kept nagging her. She knew that she wouldn’t even able to enjoy the brief reprieve she had for the next hour or two while her friends had dinner, the assignment would never stop bothering her until it was completed. It was like a rash that begged to be scratched. Ponies would say that if you got your mind off it, eventually the itching would go away. But the mere presence of such an irritation made it impossible for the affected pony to think about anything other than the raw patch of red skin beneath their fur.

Tonight’s gonna be a nightmare. Apple Bloom thought with a sigh as she opened the door and entered her house. The tiny clopping of her hooves against the hardwood floor were a welcome sound.

She was home.

The enticing scent of apples met her nostrils almost as soon as she passed through the doorway. Her tongue hung out and she licked her lips in anticipation of whatever Granny Smith and Applejack were cooking up.

She trotted towards the kitchen, where she heard a conversation between Applejack and a familiar-sounding, raspy voice that didn’t belong to any member of the Apple family.

“Ugh, I just can’t believe I have to get up at four in the morning to do this,” the raspy-voiced individual complained.

“Well if ya ask me,” Applejack countered, “gettin’ up that early will teach ya some good discipline.”

Apple Bloom reached the kitchen. Inside she saw her older sister standing in front of a tray covered in what appeared to be apple fritters. She wore a baker’s hat and apron, both of which were smeared in globs of batter and other unknown foodstuffs. Standing beside her with a look of irritation on her face was Rainbow Dash- the owner of the raspy voice. Apple Bloom trotted closer to her sister, but Applejack failed to notice her presence as Rainbow Dash kept complaining.

“That’s easy for you to say,” the pegasus spat. “When was the last time you had to get up that early to work?”

“Gosh, where do Ah start?” Applejack put her hoof to her chin in thought. “Ah had to get up at three-thirty two days ago to apple buck because I was busy helping Twilight at the library later that day, so Ah had to make sure Ah didn’t fall behind. Last week Ah got up at four to bring a few crates of apples down to the train station so they could be delivered to Canterlot.”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw fell in shock as Applejack pressed on. “Again last week Ah had to get up early because one of our pigs was sick and needed to be tended to. And the week before that Ah had to- ”

“Alright! Alright!” Rainbow Dash said, waving her hooves. “You made your point. Sheesh, I do not envy you.”

“The life of a farmer ain’t for the faint of heart, sugarcube.” Applejack said.

“What are you saying I couldn’t handle it?” Rainbow Dash asked competitively, flying up in the air a little bit. “Because I totally could.”

Applejack snickered. “When yer complainin’ about getting up at four one day out of the entire year?” She asked before giving her friend a smug grin. “Ah doubt it. Ya would probably give up before ya finished yer first day.”

Applejack winked before she turned her attention back to making the fritters. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to retort, but stopped herself. She looked down at her hooves, scowling and muttering under her breath before she looked back up.

“Well I could if I wanted to, I mean...I’m strong enough.” she said.

“Physical strength is only part of what’s needed,” Applejack said, “if ya don’t have the mental strength as well, ya will get nowhere.”

Applejack continued to roll the dough for the fritter. Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at the back of her friends head and then turned to see Apple Bloom standing in the kitchen. Her annoyed expression vanished and was replaced with a friendly one.

“Oh, hey there Apple Bloom,” she said with a smile. “What’s up?”

Applejack placed another ready-to-bake fritter aside and turned around to face her sister. She smiled warmly. “What’s going on lil’ sis?”

“Nothin’ much,” Apple Bloom responded with a sigh.

“How was school?” Applejack asked. “Did ya learn anythin’ important?”

Rainbow Dash turned to her friend and laughed, “Important? In school? Pfft, yeah right.” She then looked down at Apple Bloom. “Trust me, kid. If you ever want to learn something of use, the only way to do so is by experiencing the outside world first-hoof.”

“Can it Rainbow,” Applejack hissed at her cocky friend. “She don’t need to listen to any of yer flight school dropout garbage.”

“School itself wasn’t too bad,” Apple Bloom said, trying to move on and quell the flames of the argument that threatened to arise between the two mares. “But Ah did get an assignment that is due tomorrow and it’s shaping up to be a pain in mah flank.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash asked, reaching out to the counter and snatching an apple before bringing it to her lips and taking a massive chomp out of it. “Whawt kwind asnginment iswsh itsh?”

Applejack turned to see Rainbow Dash with her cheeks full of apple, some juice dribbling down her lips, and the fruit itself in her hoof.

She scowled. “Would it kill ya to ask before ya go snatchin’ up apples like ya own the place?”

Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack, “Whant iwt bwack? Hwere.”

Before the earth pony could say otherwise, Rainbow stuck her tongue out, revealing a glob of apple mush sitting on her tongue. Applejack retched at the sight.

“Gah! Rainbow that’s disgustin’!”

“I twake thwat as a nwo.” Rainbow Dash mumbled before retracting her tongue and swallowed the apple much before laughing. Applejack sighed and turned her attention back to her little sister.

“So yeah, back to RD’s question before she got all rude on us,” the country pony hissed before she turned back to Apple Bloom with a smile, “what is this horrendous assignment, exactly?”

The way she said ‘horrendous’, with an infliction of sarcasm, made it clear that Applejack thought her little sister was exaggerating the matter.

“Miss Cheerilee said we have to write a poem and present it to the class tomorrow.”

As soon as these words passed the little filly’s lips, Applejack’s kind expression fell to one of pure terror, like she had seen a ghost. Rainbow Dash’s reaction wasn’t much different. Her eyes bulged and she spit out the apple that was in her mouth.

“P-poetry!” They both shouted in a equally horrified tone.

“That’s the worst subject of all!” Rainbow Dash shouted, biting down on her hoof in fear.

“Mah goodness gracious!” Applejack continued. “Ah thought the Ponyville council was gonna deem it a form of foal abuse and remove it from the grade-school curriculum.”

“Ah know, right!?!” Apple Bloom shouted, taking some relief in the fact that her older sister felt the same way on the subject as she did. “And now me, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo need to come up with somethin’ before tomorrow and then find a creative way to present it, and we can’t even write one line!”

Apple Bloom clutched her head in a panic before she started flailing her arms wildly as all of her bottled-up stresses of the day exploded in a single moment. “We’re doomed. Doomed ah tell ya!”

Exhausted, she fell backwards and let out a sigh, her hooves falling to her side as her body finally relaxed. As she stared up at the ceiling, Apple Bloom watched as the cyan form of Rainbow Dash circled around her like a hawk. But her horrified expression was gone, and she was even chuckling.

“Well, maybe you’ll have some more time to work on it over the weekend.”

“Didn’t ya hear me?” Apple Bloom asked sitting up with an annoyed expression on her face, “it ain’t due Monday. It’s due tomorrow.”

“Yeah but there might not be any school tomorrow,” Rainbow Dash said nonchalantly. “What with the blizzard and all.”

Apple Bloom’s ears perked up, an excitement welling up within her. “Blizzard? Did ya just say blizzard? What blizzard?”

“Yeah, why do you think I was complaining about getting up early.” The pegasus said, landing beside Applejack, who was still staring at her sister with the same shell-shocked expression she had once she learned what lovely subject her sister was learning. “The sky patrol has a bunch of us pegasi getting up so we can organize a snowstorm that is going to last until tomorrow evening. The entire town will be buried by six, you can count on that.”

Rainbow Dash took a final bite of the apple in her hoof and flipped it into the air before kicking it into the trash bin with her hind-hoof. “So yeah, you probably won’t have any classes tomorrow, anyway. No use in getting worked up about it.”

“So many ambiguous meaning and...vague metaphors...” Applejack muttered, her left eye twitching as she continued to stare off into nothingness- it was a thousand-mile stare.

“Yo AJ,” Rainbow Dash called out, causing Applejack to shake her head and snap out of her lapse in mental state.

“Sorry RD, ah just got lost in one of mah poetry flashbacks,” she said with a shudder.

“Hold on a sec!” Apple Bloom said before jumping at Rainbow Dash and snatching her by the cheeks and pulling the pegasus’s face close to her so they were muzzle to muzzle. “So yer telling me that we might not have school tomorrow?”

Rainbow Dash pushed the filly’s hooves away slightly so she could speak clearly. “More like probably won’t have school.”

“Like a fifty percent chance?” Apple Bloom asked, her hopes rising.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, but her smile persisted. “Closer to ninety-five percent chance.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes lit up with a renewed life. She completely let go of Rainbow Dash’s cheeks and started jumping for joy.

“Oh mah gosh yes! Yes!” She shouted. “Do ya know what this means? Ah don’t have to worry about gettin’ that stupid poem done for tomorrow. Ah can actually relax and work on it over the weekend!”

“Now hold yer horses there, Apple Bloom,” Applejack said, her face and tone that of a concerned older sibling, “don’t tell me ya ain’t gonna work on yer homework tonight.”

“Why would Ah?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ah have an entire weekend to work on it now that school is cancelled.”

“But school ain’t cancelled yet,” Applejack said. Apple Bloom’s smile fell with her sister’s input.

“But it probably will be.” Rainbow Dash said with a wink, causing Apple Bloom’s smile to return.

“But you don’t know that, Rainbow.” Applejack retorted,glaring at her friend.

“But I’m part of the team controlling the weather, Applejack.” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk, “And I say she should just chill out for the night.” She flew over to Apple Bloom and gave her a tiny pat on the head.

“Yer such a great influence.” Applejack muttered.

Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack with a prideful grin, placing both her hooves behind her back.

“Eh, I try my best,” she said in the most arrogant, Dash-like way possible. She was either blissfully unaware of, or intentionally ignoring, Applejack’s sarcasm. Regardless, the pegasus continued to eat the apple still in her hooves as Applejack continued to scold her for putting bad ideas into her little sister's head.

But Apple Bloom didn’t care about any conversation between her sister or Rainbow Dash that did not involve her. In fact, she was already half-way up the stairs, racing to her room before the two competitive friends realized that she had left. Once she reached her bedroom, her sanctuary, she closed the door. She then unclipped her saddlebag with her teeth and pushed it to the corner with her hind-hooves. She then leapt up and landed with a soft ‘plop’ onto her bed back-first, a grin on her face as she began to laugh.

“Ah’m gonna have off tomorrow, ah’m gonna have off tomorrow.” She repeated in a sing-song way, never feeling better and not caring at all that the snow day was still up in the air. The relief that she didn’t have to worry about writing her poem overshadowed any inkling of uncertainty she had felt before.

Dashed Hopes

Chapter 2: Dashed Hopes

A couple of hours had passed since Rainbow Dash broke the news to Apple Bloom about the near-certainty of a snow day, and while the filly’s excitement might have petered out somewhat, that didn’t mean she was going to sit down and get to work on writing a poem she not only didn’t want to write, but that she might not even have to work on until the weekend. Instead, she simply made the transition from being in a state of ecstasy, to being completely lazy. She carried this sloth attitude throughout dinner and even after. Normally she would use the time in-between dinner and bed to study or do homework that was due the following day.

However, because she was certain that school would be cancelled, she chose to mosey on into the living room and plop her flank onto the soft armchair. She reclined against the back cushion, smiling in satisfaction as she patted her stomach, full from her delicious dinner of apple fritters. Big Macintosh sat on the sofa beside her, reading the day’s newspaper. Applejack was busy cleaning the kitchen with Granny Smith, who was rather well-rested considering how late it was.

“Ah, no homework and no school tomorrow,” Apple Bloom said, putting her hooves behind her head, “this is truly the good life.”

Applejack stopped washing the dishes and pressed her hoof into her forehead. “Ugh, Apple Bloom,” she turned to face her idle sister, “Ah already told ya to treat tomorrow like school is still gonna happen, because as of right now...it is!”

Apple Bloom took a glance up at Applejack to see the mare standing in front of the sink, the scowl of disapproval so often shown by parents, or in this case an older sister acting like a mother. Apple Bloom waved her off with a hoof.

“You heard Rainbow Dash, ninety-five percent chance!” She said before turning away from her sister. “Now those are some odds worth bettin’ on!”

“Yes, well Rainbow Dash also says that dogs can’t look up.” Applejack muttered as she turned back to her dishes. “And Ah’ve seen Winona look up plenty of times before.”

“Whatever, Applenag,” Apple Bloom said before she leaned forward and let forth a mighty belch.

BBRRAAAPPP

The filly rubbed her stomach and turned to see Big Mac peering at her from over the paper. He didn’t look amused in the slightest. His eyes asking for Apple Bloom to utter the two magic words of ‘excuse me’. The filly, however, simply raised an eyebrow and gave a different response.

“Don’t act like ya ain’t impressed.”

Big Mac rolled his eyes then got back to the paper. Apple Bloom smirked and lay back against the chair. Applejack, who had just finished cleaning the dishes with Granny Smith, walked over to the living room.

“Fine, go ahead and be lazy lump,” she said. “But remember, ya reap what ya sow. So don’t be bellyachin’ to me if things don’t work out.”

Before Apple Bloom could get a chance to respond, she was stopped by a sudden knocking at the front door.

“Ah got it!” She shouted, hopping off of the armchair and trotted over, throwing it open to show none other than Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, both of whom had looks of dread on their faces. The same look of dread they had upon first hearing the assignment from Cheerilee that day.

“Hey Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle said, “we’re here to get the poem done.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo muttered, reaching her muzzle into her saddle-bag and pulling out a sketch-pad and laying it on the ground. “Also, I’ve got some wicked awesome ideas for how we can present it to the class tomorrow.”

The pegasus flipped open the book to a page filled with various drawings. They weren’t the best, but they managed to help create a scene for what she envisioned the presentation to look like.

“I was thinking that we could use the drums that I used to initiate Babs into the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” she said before pointing to what appeared to be a sloppy representation of three small fillies on the page, donning sunglasses and odd hats. “And for what we wear, I suggest we go for the this awesomely stylish look. I’ve got three pairs of sunglasses that we can use and Sweetie Belle has some fedoras.”

“Yeah Rarity makes them all the time,” the little unicorn said, “There’s an entire stack of them back at the Boutique that Rarity said I could pick up before school tomorrow.”

“So, what do you think?” Scootaloo asked. “Do you like our ideas?”

“Yeah! Do you?” Sweetie Belle asked. Both girls grinned in unison, hopeful gleams in their eyes. But Apple Bloom’s response wasn’t what they expected. Almost immediately she started to laugh, shaking her head as her friends exchanged confused looks with each other before turning their attention back to their hysterical friend.

“Um, what’s so funny?” Scootaloo asked, clearly insulted by her friend’s apparent mockery of the effort her two friends put into the presentation.

“Yeah?” Sweetie Belle added.

Apple Bloom finally calmed herself down enough and steadied her breathing so she could give a proper response.

“Oh you girls are too much,” she wiped a laughter-induced tear away from her eyes. “We ain’t gonna have school tomorrow.”

“What?” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle asked at the same time.

“Rainbow Dash said the pegasi are plannin’ a blizzard early in the morning, and school is most likely going to be closed,” Apple Bloom couldn’t help but grin even more as her two friends slowly started to smile.

“You mean?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking at Scootaloo- looking just as excited as her two friends.

“A snow day?” Scootaloo jumped into the air excitedly, her tiny wings buzzing. “We’re going to have a snow day!?!”

“You betcha’.” Apple Bloom said with a nod. “And you know what that means?”

“No poem tomorrow!” Scootaloo shouted. All three friends leapt for joy, laughing gleefully and hoof-bumping. Apple Bloom joined in as well. All three friends giggled and pre-emptively celebrated the snow day.

“So what do we do now?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I mean, do you want to work on the poem since we’re here?”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “No! We can start workin’ on it either tomorrow or Saturday,” she said, “but tonight we take a much deserved rest.”

“Rest?” Scootaloo asked, rubbing her hoof against her chin before she gave a nod. “Yeah, I could totally go for that.”

“Me too.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Great!” Apple Bloom said.

Scootaloo stuffed her sketch-pad into her saddlebag. She and Sweetie Belle turned to leave, waving to their friend before heading off into the night. Apple Bloom closed the door and turned to lean her back against it before sliding to the floor.

“Hehe, no school.”

“Ya don’t know that!” Applejack shouted from the living room.

“Stop ruining mah mood!” Apple Bloom shouted back. “Jeez Applejack, yer such a buzz-kill.”

Apple Bloom examined her toothpaste-filled mouth in the mirror of the bathroom. Once she was certain her mouth was clean, she spat the minty froth into the sink and washed it away. She hops off of her stool and trots to her bedroom, humming a cheerful tune- nothing could dampen her mood.

Nothing except, perhaps, a logical older sister that happened to be standing in the hallway, waiting for her to come out of the bathroom.

“So ya didn’t do yer homework?” Applejack asked. “Did ya?”

Apple Bloom stopped in her tracks, her happy expression fell and she sighed.

“Could ya please stop nagging me?” She turned to face her sister, who had a very concerned look on her face.

“Ah just don’t want ya to freak out tomorrow if ya wake up and there ain’t no snow.”

“Ya heard Rainbow Dash,” Apple Bloom said. “There’s gonna be a blizzard! She should know, she and the other pegasi do control the weather.”

“All Ah’m saying is that sometimes weather plans for the pegasi change at the last second.” Applejack said, closing her eyes. “And it’s always better to buck apples when ya think ya don’t need to, than to put it off only to realize ya should have done so when it’s too late.”

Apple Bloom tilted her head, “Huh?”

“It’s better to be safe than sorry.” Applejack reiterated before turning, “Try to remember that, all right?”

Applejack leaned in and gave Apple Bloom a kiss on the top of her head. “Good night, Apple Bloom, Ah’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Before Apple Bloom could say anything more, Applejack trotted back into her room and closed the door- leaving the little filly all alone in the pitch-black hallway. Sighing, she turned to walk into her room when she looked down the hall to see Winona walking towards Applejack’s room only to become distracted by a fly buzzing over her head. She looked up, nose held high as she tried to take down the fly. As Apple Bloom watched her family’s dog, she couldn’t help but stare.

“Huh,” she muttered. “Ah guess Rainbow was wrong about dogs.”

As soon as the words left her lips, she felt a sudden pang of worry flow through her. She was uncertain about the polychromatic pegasus’ predictions for the first time that night. But knowing there was no point to freak out now, as the time approached eleven, she shrugged it off.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” she muttered to herself. “So Rainbow Dash was wrong about dogs looking up. It doesn’t mean she was wrong about the weather. Ah’m positive that Ah’ll wake up tomorrow to see a nice, blanket of snow outside of mah window.” The filly then let out a massive yawn. “But right now, it’s time to get some shut-eye.”

Chuckling a little, she entered her room, leaving the crazy dog to continue to follow the fly, preparing to bring it down to earth and scarf it away.

Inside her bedroom, the little filly crawled under her sheets, the chilliness of the room making her shiver a bit. She pulled the sheets up to her chin and turned onto her side with a grin on her face.

“Wow, no school tomorrow,” she whispered. “Ah’m so excited, Ah don’t know how Ah’ll be able to fall aslee.....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.”

The once excitable Apple Bloom closed her eyes, her head fell against the soft pillow beneath her as she fell asleep. Bombastic snores escaped her mouth that could rival Rainbow Dash’s own. That night she would enjoy a plethora of dreams involving a beautiful winter’s day without any school. Just mounds of snow and her two friends by her side.

And several odd, completely unrealistic scenarios that so often occur in the world of dreams.

Apple Bloom and her fellow crusaders crouched behind a large pile of snow, three tiny pyramids of snowballs beside them as they waited for their targets to arrive. Scootaloo popped her head up from behind the massive pile before looking down at her friends and giving them the ‘nod’ to signal that the targets were in range.

This was their cue to snatch one snowball in each hoof, climb the mountain of snow and lock in on the two fillies coming their way- a pink one with an expensive-looking scarf and a smug look on her face and a grey one with an equally smug look, though also a hint of uncertainty.

“Hey, Diamond Tiara!” Apple Bloom shouted.

The two fillies- Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon- looked up to see the three heads of the ponies they so liked to classify as ‘blank flanks’, as if it were their only trait.

“Look,” Diamond Tiara sneered, turning to Silver Spoon with the most arrogant of expressions.

“It’s the three bare-bottomed stooges.”

She then looked back at the snow-hidden fillies. “What are you doing out here? Trying to get your cutie mark in snow-pony building or something?”

The two fillies laughed, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders weren’t fazed.

“I think the more appropriate question is,” Sweetie Belle said, pointing at the two arrogant fillies. “What are you doing out here?”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo said, gesturing to Sweet Apple Acres behind them. “This is our turf, and you just mosey on up here like you own the place?”

“That don’t sit well with us in the slightest,” Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle shook her head to emphasize her friend’s point.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stopped laughing. They looked at each other and grinned.

“Oh yeah?” Diamond Tiara sneered, taking a few steps towards the snow banks on which the victims of her insults appeared. “And what are you losers gonna do about it?”

“Yeah, hehe, losers.” Silver Spoon laughed, following her leader as she usually did. Playing secondary lemming to her master.

The three fillies exchanged looks, nodded, and pulled out their snowballs.

“Full-frontal assault.” Apple Bloom responded with a snide grin. Before either bully could do anything they were silenced by a barrage of snowballs. After throwing her two, Scootaloo slid down the hill and started to toss up balls to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, who caught them and hurled them at their targets as they fled, screaming. But the trio of warrior fillies wasn’t done yet.

Apple Bloom looked down at Scootaloo, “Call it in!”

Scootaloo nodded and pulled, out of nowhere, a fully operational walkie-talkie, “This is the Chicken-Hawk on the ground,” she spoke into the device. “Targets are fleeing. Drop the package. I repeat, drop the package!”

“This is Big City Red, package has been released!” Came a reply over the radio that Apple Bloom immediately recognized as her cousin, Babs.

Apple Bloom turned, as did Sweetie Belle, to see what looked like a gigantic ball of snow falling through the sky, directly at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Both fillies stopped running and looked up. Even from the distance their looks of horror were all too clear.

“Tactical snow-boulder incoming!” Sweetie Belle shouted. Apple Bloom slid behind the mountain of snow and covered her head, as did Sweetie Belle, just in time to avoid the explosion. There was a flash of white, followed by a loud boom and dual screams. Snow blew over their heads as they ducked in cover, a low rumble echoing from all around.

Once the booming had stopped, as did the burst of snow, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle popped their heads up from behind the snow-bank to see a massive mushroom-cloud of snow billowing up to the sky. Beneath it was what appeared to be two snow-ponies frozen in place. Moments later, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon popped free of their snow-prisons and ran off, screaming and crying.

To Apple Bloom, the sounds of their agony was a symphony more beautiful than anything the Canterlot Philharmonic Orchestra could produce.

Once the dynamic duo of doom had fled, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ snowball arsenal had been thoroughly reduced, the three blank-flank fillies burst out into triumphant laughter. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom slid down to the bottom of the hill to join Scootaloo in their laughter.

“So do you think our special talent is snowball fighting?” Scootaloo asked.

At hearing the possibility, all three girls looked at their flanks to see that, aside from some snow that had gotten caught in their fur, they were still blank as a slate. Sighing, they lay back against the soft snow.

“Oh well,” Sweetie Belle said, her smile returning, “it’s still been a totally awesome snow day!”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said back. “Think about it, instead of reading a boring poem to our class that they’d probably laugh at anyway, we took down the two wicked witches of Ponyville Schoolhouse.”

“Hehe, yeppers!’ Apple Bloom said, not noticing as the fictional world around her started to blur- the dream collapsing in a completely serene manner. “Thank Celestia there was no school.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes fluttered open to meet near perfect darkness. Slowly she sat up and looked around her dark room, letting out a huge yawn and stretching her arms. She looked up to the spot on the wall above her dresser to see the time: 4:25.

“Hm,” she said. “Four twenty...” Apple Bloom’s eyes lit up and she let out a gasp. “Four twenty!”

She quickly tossed the covers off of her and stumbled over to her bedroom window. “Oh mah gosh the snow! Ah can’t wait to...!” Once she reached the window she was silenced, her excited expression replaced with one of disbelief.

To say there was a lack of snow would be the understatement of the millennium. If anything the ground looked drier than it had the night before. There was a gentle breeze, as seen by the way the branches and stray leaves on the ground danced around, but it didn’t carry any snow.

“No...snow...” Apple Bloom muttered, her breath condensing the window so she had to wipe it off. She backed away from the window, shaking her head. “No, this...this has got to be a mistake of some kind.”

She then looked at her clock, the hands now showing 4:29.

“Maybe the pegasi are delayin’ the snowstorm,” Apple Bloom told herself, nodding at her clearly denial-driven reasoning. “Yeah, that’s gotta be it. They are probably delayin’ the snow for about an hour, hehe.”

Apple Bloom tentatively slipped under her covered, an optimistic, yet nervous, smile plastered onto her face. “Ah’m sure if Ah wake up in an hour the ground will be completely covered.”

And so she tried to fall asleep, but the anxiety brought on by a lack of snow made it near impossible. She kept finding herself turning towards the window in the hopes of seeing gigantic flakes of white drifting down from the sky, only to be met with the complete and utter darkness that she had seen before. She would then look at the perpetually-ticking clock- watching the hands go from showing 4:35 to 4:55 to 5:21 to 5:32. Groaning, she’d turn and bury her face into the pillow and bite down onto the soft cushion, trying to relieve the anger she felt welling up from within her. She then looked at the clock again, only to see the time had reached 5:40.

“Dang it ya stupid clock! Stop movin’ time so fast!” Apple Bloom hissed, falling back and laughing nervously, sounding increasingly like a mental patient.

“It’ll be okay Apple Bloom, it’ll all be okay,” she kept muttering to herself, rubbing her hooves together nervously and not looking unlike Twilight would whenever she had a mental breakdown. “Ah’m sure there will be snow before Ah have to leave, there has to be. And even if there isn’t, maybe Miss Cheerilee will be upset that she has to work and cancel school anyway.”

She didn’t even believe that last statement, but she didn’t retract it. She just kept staring up into the void of darkness, her eye twitching and her smile starting to quiver as her horror made the happy facade she was putting on impossible to maintain.Eventually the door to her room opened, the darkness completely chased away by the bright light of the hallway. She turned to see Applejack standing in the doorway with a smile.

“Rise and shine sleepy head. Time to get ready for school!” Applejack trotted over to flick on the lamp beside her younger sister’s bed only to have the filly leap out from under the sheets and scoot to the edge of the mattress so that she was mere inches from Applejack. The filly’s eyes were big and tired, but that wasn’t the most striking characteristic. No, that would be the desperation present within them, the sheer grovelling as if her sister could make the snow magically appear.

“Applejack...please tell me this is all some joke ya cooked up with Rainbow Dash and the entire town is covered in snow besides the part of the orchard outside of mah window!” She begged, putting both hooves onto her sister’s shoulders.

Applejack sighed and turned the lamp on. “Ah’m sorry lil’ sis, but this ain’t no prank.”

“But Rainbow Dash said- !” Apple Bloom started.

“What did Ah tell ya last night? Rainbow Dash can’t predict what the higher up pegasi will decide,” Applejack cut her off. “The weather team does this all time time. They say they’re gonna do one thing and change it up at the last second. This past week there was supposed to be a downpour three separate times, but all we got was bright sunshine and cloudless skies.”

“So,” Apple Bloom started with a quivering lip, still not wanting to believe what her sister was saying, “there was no snow?”

“Actually the outskirts of Ponyville did get some snow,” Applejack corrected, “but the pegasi made sure to keep the town clear.”

Apple Bloom’s jaw fell. “They brought snow everywhere...but Ponyville?”

Applejack nodded. “Eeyup.”

Apple Bloom was about to complain again, mainly ranting about how unfair it was that they get their expectations up only to avoid dropping snow the one place she needed it, when the image of Winona looking up, following the fly that buzzed above her curious head, flashed into her mind. She immediately closed her mouth and pulled away from her sister, looking down at her hooves.

“But the Rainbow Dash promised snow here,” Apple Bloom muttered, “it sounded like such a sure thing.”

“Welcome to the unpredictability of snow days.” Applejack said before she started trotting out of the room.

“Wait!”

Applejack turned to see Apple Bloom sitting on her bed.

‘

“Ah...Uh,” The filly looked from side to side as she tried to come up with something, anything, she could use to get out of going to school. When she thought of one, she threw herself back on the bed, clutching her stomach and letting out moans of agony. “Ugh, mah stomach, ohhhh...Ah suddenly feel so nauseous.”

Apple Bloom peeked through her partially-opened eyes to see her sister’s reaction.

“Really?” Applejack said, skeptically looking down at her little sister, “Are ya seriously pullin’ this stunt?”

“What stunt? Ah really don’t feel good,” Apple Bloom said, letting out another groan. “Ugh, Ah think those apple fritters ya made last night were undercooked. Ah...Ah don’t think that Ah can go to school today. Ah need to rest.”

Applejack face-hoofed. “Now honestly, Apple Bloom. This is just pathetic. Pretendin’ to be sick to get out of school? That’s the oldest trick in the book. Not to mention ya were actin’ fine a minute ago.”

“Ah told ya it just suddenly came on,” Apple Bloom said, letting out an exaggerated cough. She then pressed a hoof to her forehead before quickly retracting it. “Ah feel all feverish and everythin’,” she held her hoof up to her eyes, “Ah’m startin’ to see double.”

Applejack trotted over and placed a hoof across Apple Bloom’s forehead. “Ya feel fine okay to me.”

“But...Ah feel so awful.”Apple Bloom moaned. “On the inside...my stomach feels like it’s doing flips...and Ah have chills.” Apple Bloom shivered a little to sell her point. But Applejack just kept giving Apple Bloom the most disbelieving of looks. Noticing this, Apple Bloom decided to take things a little further as, being a little filly, she didn’t understand the concept of subtlety.

“Ah...Ah see the light.” Apple Bloom said, reaching up towards the ceiling, “It’s...so beautiful...”

“So ya feel that awful, huh?” Applejack asked, her hooves crossed and a sly grin on her face. Apple Bloom, completely oblivious to the mischievous look in her sister’s face, nodded.

“Well then,” Applejack said, looking down at her sister, “maybe Ah should get the thermometer out and take yer temperature. Would ya like that?” Before Apple Bloom could open her mouth to respond, Applejack interrupted her.

“And it wouldn’t be the mouth, ear or forehead thermometer, neither.” Apple Bloom tilted her head in confusion, not sure what exactly her sister was getting at until Applejack leaned forward.

“It would be...the special thermometer.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide in horror once she understood Applejack’s threat. She said no forehead thermometer, no ear thermometer and no mouth thermometer. That left only one other kind of thermometer present in the Apple household to use- the unholy kind. The kind that would make the sickest pony pretend to be well in an attempt to avoid it’s violating intrusion.

Immediately Apple Bloom sat up as panic overtook her. “Ah you know what, it’s not that bad,” she laughed nervously. “Ah could probably push mahself to get through school.”

“Ah thought so,” Applejack said with a satisfied nod as she trotted out of the room. “Now get up and come downstairs, yer breakfast is getting cold.”

As soon as Applejack left, Apple Bloom pulled the pillow over her face and let out a scream- venting her rage until she felt her frustration subside. She then pulled the fluffy muffler off of her face. She hopped off of the bed and trotted over to the window, like she not only didn’t believe her sister, but also didn’t believe the truth her own eyes told her. Outside was just as snowless as it had been when she first woke up. The sky was starting to brighten as the sun slowly rose, turning the indigo to orange and illuminating the cause of the filly’s misery. The green, healthy-looking grass and the lack of white.

Apple Bloom sighed, “This day’s gonna be awful.”

Poems, Fedoras and the Beat of Drums

Chapter 3: Poems, Fedoras and the Beat of Drums

After Apple Bloom finished eating her breakfast, which she did without any enthusiasm, she pulled her filled saddle-bag over her back and tightened it. It was stuffed with books, paper, pencils and even her lunch. It seemed to have everything she needed to get through the day.

Everything, that is, except a poem.

Sighing, she begrudgingly exited her house and entered the snow-less morning. She trudged down the long apple tree-line path that led to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. She kept her head hung low, her expression one of dread- like she was making the trek to her doom instead of school. But without the poem to present to the class, the difference between the two would be nullified.

Finally, she lifted her head to see two very upset fillies standing under the Sweet Apple Acres’ archway. Scootaloo was attached to a wheeled cart that was carrying her twin set of bongo drums. She was tapping her hoof against the ground and giving Apple Bloom a cold stare. Sweetie Belle just looked miserable, her face showing no sign of anger for her friend, rather fear. Based on her obsession with getting good grades, Apple Bloom assumed that Sweetie Belle’s fear of failure had overridden the anger she felt.

“Um,” Apple Bloom started, her stomach feeling as if it had knots in it. “Hi girls.”

“Hey Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said, “listen to this.”

She pawed at the ground a few times, her hoof making a light “clip-clip” sound. She then glanced back up at Apple Bloom. “Do you hear it?”

“Hear what?”

“The contact of my hoof with the ground. Listen again,” Scootaloo hit the ground with her hoof a few more times, each more powerful than the last- like a building rage. She looked up at Apple Bloom.

“Yes. Ah hear it.” Apple Bloom said, still confused. “Why?”

“Oh no reason,” Scootaloo said, slowly making her way over to Apple Bloom. “It’s just that I can only hear my hoof when it makes contact with a hard surface, like dirt, cement, or even grass.” Suddenly the little pegasus looked into Apple Bloom’s eyes, her face fierce. “But I’m not supposed to hear it when it makes contact with snow. Why can I hear it now on this day that you convinced us there would be a blanket of snow covering the ground?”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, “Okay, so Ah shouldn’t have called the whole poetry thing off.”

“You think!?!” Scootaloo shouted.

“I’ve never failed at anything,” Sweetie Belle whimpered from behind Scootaloo. “I’m Miss Cheerilee’s star student! What will she think of me after she finds out we didn’t write our poem!?!”

Apple Bloom ignored her stressed unicorn friend to focus on her angered pegasus friend. “Well it ain’t all mah fault, Rainbow Dash told me...”

“Don’t you dare bring Rainbow Dash into this!” Scootaloo screamed in defense of her idol. “It’s not her fault that you acted like there was no chance that we’d have school today!”

“But she gave me a ninety-five percent chance!”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo jumped in. “And you know what that means?” Apple Bloom shook her head.

“That there was still a five percent chance we’d be in the situation we’re in now!”

Apple Bloom felt herself start to get angry- a desire to stand up for herself was building within her.

“Ya seemed so willing to buy it last night!” Apple Bloom shot back. “Why didn’t ya fight me then? Ya playing Monday mornin’ pegasus?”

“Because like you, I didn’t want to do this assignment!” Scootaloo said before her own words made her anger dissipate. She looked down with a look of disappointment in her face.

“I...I guess I’m just as much at fault as you are.”

Apple Bloom’s own rage subsided. She let out a sigh and placed a hoof onto her friend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, it’s mah fault too. Ah shouldn’t have been so cocky about the weather last night. Besides, it could be a lot worse.”

“No it couldn’t!” Sweetie Belle screamed, running over and shoving herself in-between her two friends. “It’s the end of the world!”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged glances as Sweetie Belle started to hyperventilate.

“I’m pretty sure the apocalypse won’t happen just because we forgot an assignment.” Scootaloo told her worry-wart friend, who was trembling in fear and not acting unlike Twilight when she thought her letter to the Princess would be late.

“Well, My world would end!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “When we get up there and don’t have anything to present the class is going to mock us! And Miss Cheerilee,” Sweetie Belle clenched her eyes shut, “oh, she’s going to be so disappointed in me, I’m her top student for crying out loud!”

“Chill, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said, “We still have until the end of class to figure somethin’ out.”

“Well I’ve got the equipment we need to present.” Scootaloo motioned to her drums with a weak smile. She then pointed to the small bag attached to Sweetie Belle’s saddle-bag. “And you brought your sister’s fedoras, right?”

Sweetie Belle, whose eyes started to tear up, gave a weak nod. “Yeah I...I did.”

“Well that’s a start!” Scootaloo said in a slightly more optimistic tone, “we’re halfway there.”

“But the problem wasn’t how we were gonna present,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah mean, sure we weren’t lookin’ forward to it anymore than the rest of the assignment,and we ain’t the best in front of a crowd.”

“Clearly,” Scootaloo interrupted.

“But the poem itself is what we are havin’ problems with.” Apple Bloom said. “And until we have that written, we won’t even have to worry about the presentation because we’ll fail as soon as we get up in front of the class.”

All hope that the three fillies felt up to this point left them. Slowly, they left the farm and made their way to the schoolhouse, faces long and hung low, eyes sad and misty. Three ponies trekking to their possible retribution. But nopony in the group felt as bad as Apple Bloom. She knew it was her fault that she and her pals were in the situation, and the guilt hung above her like a cloud threatening to release a torrential downpour upon her head.

At recess the three fillies all sat alone at the solitary table present outside of the schoolhouse. Their classmates were either playing around on the jungle-gym or practicing their poem reciting- taking it much more seriously than their of the three friends thought they would have. Some were even engaging in a lively game of tag. Of course the exception was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, both of whom sat beneath a tree- both fillies vehemently opposed to getting sweaty and gross.

Sweetie Belle sat in-between her two friends, Apple Bloom to her right and Scootaloo to her left, with a pencil hanging loosely from her mouth as she rubbed her chin. She stared down at the blank paper intently. Apple Bloom, watching as her typically artistic and writing-talented friend was apparently suffering from a severe case of writer’s block. Slowly, the pencil slipped from between her teeth and landed on the paper.

“Come on Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom said. “This is your bread and butter!”

“I can’t do it when I have so much pressure on me!” Sweetie Belle shouted, “I mean, we only have...” She glanced up at the clock above the entrance to the schoolhouse. “...fifteen minutes to come up with a poem and work on the presentation!”

“Isn’t there anything you can associate with snow?” Scootaloo asked. “Like how it looks or something? Come on, you’re usually so good at this.”

“With songs! Not poems!” The unicorn shouted.

“THEY’RE THE SAME THING!” Scootaloo exploded, slamming her hooves onto the wood table. Everypony in the immediate vicinity, turned to look at the crazy filly. Once she noticed that everyone was staring at her, Scootaloo blushed and sheepishly slouched down, trying to avoid their judgemental glares.

“Face it, we’re done for.” Sweetie Belle said, sniffling a little as tears started to appear in her eyes.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, “stupid snow day false alarm.”

Apple Bloom was about to phone it in a well when, suddenly, she had an epiphany. Her eyes lit up and an enthusiastic smile spread across her face.

“Girls, Ah’ve got it!” She said, grabbing the attention of her defeatist friends. “Ah know how we can write about snow!”

Before Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could respond to their friend, Apple Bloom grabbed the blank sheet of paper and pencil from Sweetie Belle. She popped the pencil into her mouth and started scribbling down lines of poetry like mad, it coming to her in a flurry of anger-driven inspiration. Her small smile persisting, radiant and hopeful.

Apple Bloom took the pencil from her mouth to speak. “Mah sis always tells me that if yer given a disadvantage, ya can either wallow in it like a weaklin’,” she glanced up at her friends. “Or ya can turn it into an advantage.”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged looks as Apple Bloom resumed scribbling onto the paper.

“I don’t know what you’re getting at.” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“Neither do I,” Scootaloo leaned across the table, closer to the paper, trying to get a look at what her friend was writing.

“Ya’ll will find out what Ah mean soon enough,” Apple Bloom said with a small chuckle, her voice surprisingly clear for having the writing utensil held between her teeth. “But Ah will say that the horror that was this mornin’ is turnin’ out to be good for somethin’.”

Scootaloo leaned back and looked at Sweetie Belle, scratching her head as the little unicorn gave her a small shrug.

“Can we do anything?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Scootaloo, work on our routine and we’ll practice it before recess is over.” Apple Bloom quickly muttered under her breath. “Sweetie Belle, you stay here and help me with the poem. Ya are better at comin’ up with fancy words than the rest of us.”

“O-okay.” Sweetie Belle said. Scootaloo, taking the instructions by Apple Bloom at heart, had already started sketching out her plan for how she wanted to present the poem. Apple Bloom didn’t care how complicated it was, so long as it would help them garner creativity points.

Apple Bloom let go of the pencil for a moment to relax her burning jaw, stretching the stiffness out of it before she popped the pencil back in and continued to write while Sweetie Belle watched and Scootaloo scribbled into her little pad. Once she was finished, Apple Bloom held up the poem. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at it. Apple Bloom pulled the pencil from her lips and stared down at her work with satisfaction.

“We’re ready.”

The entire class applauded as three colts finished their poem on snowball fighting. Each of them were dressed in winter garb- scarves, hats and boots- but their reciting of the poem left much to be desired. Overall it was somewhat flashy, but with very little emotion and substance- the poem wasn’t the best, either.

At least according to Apple Bloom, who was now starting to pick apart others’ performances in order to boost her own confidence in how theirs would turn out. Even the tiniest stutter was taken into account by the observant filly. Scootaloo leaned close to Apple Bloom’s ear.

“I should have known winter clothes would work better than sunglasses and fedoras,” she whispered.

“It’ll be fine,” Apple Bloom whispered back. “Ah promise ya, our poem will leave theirs in the dust.”

“I hope you’re right,” Scootaloo sighed, “It looked good, but you never know what Cheerilee will think of it.”

“She’ll love it,” Apple Bloom said, “trust me.”

“Thank you boys,” Cheerilee said as she sat at her desk. She glanced down at a clipboard with a sheet of paper attached to it. “Up we have Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle with their poem...” Cheerilee squinted to read the title, looking somewhat confused. “‘The Great Deceiver’?”

As they were called, the three fillies made their way to the front of the room. All three of them, even the supposedly confident Apple Bloom, had a distinct look of fear in their eyes. Nevertheless, Apple Bloom managed to hide it well as she took her spot at the front of the class. Scootaloo took her place behind her drums and Sweetie Belle stood beside Apple Bloom. Each of the three fillies pulled out their pair of sunglasses and fedora, putting them on. They also each pulled out a scarf and pulled it around their necks.

“Oh, this is too funny” Diamond Tiara asked with a snicker. “What are you? The Cutie Mark Crusader Hipsters?”

“Actually, we prefer the term poets.” Apple Bloom said before turning to Scootaloo and pointing to her, the signal to start. The pegasus raised her hooves up and began a slow, rhythmic beat.

Tap. Tap-tap. Tap. Tap-Tap. Tap.

Apple Bloom cleared her throat to begin, “Dark mornin’, dashin’ our hopes. Dry ground, and a feeling’ of regret.”

Tap-Tap.

Sweetie Belle then began her part, “Deception is it’s purest form, relief is it’s best.”

“Deception.” Scootaloo muttered breathlessly before giving another Tap-Tap. “The Deceiver.”

Apple Bloom froze for a second, somewhat surprised by her friend’s impromptu contribution to the poem. Nevertheless, feeling that it did add some more flavor to their presentation. she cleared her throat and continued on.

“Promises of streets lined in white,” Apple Bloom continued. “Trees covered in a fine powder, like the finest of sugar.”

“Sugar-coated trees,” Scootaloo muttered. Tap-Tap went the drums. “The Deceiver.”

“You wake in the morning expectantly,” Sweetie Belle said, “only to...um...” Apple Bloom noticed her unicorn friend start to perspire as her line slipped her mind.

“...face...” Apple Bloom whispered as a cue.

Sweetie Belle’s eyes lit up, “Oh! Only to face the truth that reality is cruel.” She said with a big grin.

“Cruel reality,” Scootaloo muttered. Tap-Tap went the drums. “The Deceiver.”

“Because there is no greater pain,” Apple Bloom continued, “than to dream of a snowy day and wake to spring.”

“No greater pain!” Scootaloo shouted in a sing-song way, pausing for emphasis. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both glared back at Scootaloo, letting their sunglasses slide down the bridge of their nose so their annoyed eyes were visible. Scootaloo noticed them then smiled, leaning forward like a pony about to tell the climactic part of a scary story. “Than the Deceiver.”

Apple Bloom turned away from her friend and rolled her eyes before nudging Sweetie Belle, who was still facing Scootaloo. The unicorn shook her head, turned and brought the poem home.

“But that doesn’t mean all hope is lost,” Sweetie Belle continued, “for more often than not all snow does is delay the inevitable. For whatever pain the snow resolves, will come forth again in the thaw.”

“The thaw!” Scootaloo said. Tap-Tap went the drum. “The deceiver.”

Scootaloo held her hooves high, staring up at the ceiling in a silent solemnity. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle smiled at each other and were ready to bow when Scootaloo interrupted them with one of her “lovely” drum solos.

“BOOM, BOOM, DA-DA-DA-DA, BA-BOOM, BOOM, BOOM...!”

This continued for a good ten seconds before the pegasus finally rose her hooves up to her sides with a smile. Apple Bloom sighed but turned and bowed, followed by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as the class stomped their hooves against their desk in approval. Well, save for Diamond Tiara, who looked angry. Even Silver spoon applauded, though when her pompous friend shot her a glare that asked ‘what do you think you’re doing?’, she quickly stopped and joined her friend in staring down the three blank-flanks.

Apple Bloom couldn’t help but smile as a warm feeling spread through her. It was one of both fulfillment, as well as a great relief- like she had lifted a giant weight off of herself after failing to do so for days.

Cheerilee trotted over to Apple Bloom and the others, “Wow, I am impressed girls. Well done, I especially like the little bit you contributed to the presentation, Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo smiled and pushed the sunglasses down, “It was no biggie, I love playing these drums.” She lightly tapped the drums a few times to emphasize her point. “Even if I did get a little carried away at the end.”

“Well I really liked the ending,” Cheerilee said, “it was very lively.”

The three friends trotted back to their seats as the next group went up. They sat down and looked at each other, bright smiles on their faces as they all high-hoofed for a job well done.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. The entire class burst through the exit like the building was on fire. Only Apple Bloom and her friends walked out in a calm manner. Mainly because they had to wait for Scootaloo, who was busy pulling her drums out on the wheeled cart, thus slowing her down. They also took the back way out, a much larger door than the typical doorway used to enter and leave.

“That went much better than expected,” Sweetie Belle said. Apple Bloom stepped out with her into the sunny day. Scootaloo wasn’t too far behind. She was rather strong so while the drums slowed her down, it didn’t make her move at a snail’s pace.

“Yeah...in fact,” Scootaloo said in-between grunt, pulling the massive cart and drums through the door, “I’d say...it was the...most successful thing we’ve ever...done.” Scootaloo finally stopped pulling for a moment to catch her breath.

Sweetie Belle looked down at her and nodded. “I agree.” she turned towards Apple Bloom. “By the way, that was a great poem you came up with Apple Bloom.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said, still slightly panting. “I thought you said that poetry was difficult for you.”

“Oh it is,” Apple Bloom said.

“Then how did you write it so easily?” Scootaloo asked.

“I didn’t try to overthink it,” Apple Bloom responded, “Ah took the frustration and anger Ah felt this mornin’ wakin’ up to no snow and used it to write the poem. It’s amazin’ how much easier it is to write a poem when ya let yer emotions drive ya.”

“See, I told you so.” Sweetie Belle said with a grin. “It’s not something you can force yourself to come up with. But when your emotions drive you, it becomes a cinch.”

Scootaloo snickered, “So that’s why all of the great poems are such downers? Because the poets themselves were sad or angry when they wrote them?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, “Exactly.”

All three fillies laughed in unison as they made their way down the dirt road. They talked a little more and started to plan for the weekend ahead, discussing possibly going to the town’s pond and swimming in the afternoon. Slowly they broke off, Sweetie Belle going to Carousel Boutique and Scootaloo trotting down the long, dark road leading to a small group of houses, one of which belonged to her. Apple Bloom never met her parents, but assumed they were nice enough ponies.

After waving to her drum-dragging, pegasus friend, Apple Bloom trotted the rest of the way home with a grin on her face. She passed under the arch of Sweet Apple Acres and trotted along the tree-lined path, as she normally did. But today the sun hung high in the sky, and the trees shadows were not oppressive, rather warm and welcoming. It was the weekend and Apple Bloom couldn’t be happier to finally get home and take a load off.

She entered her house and kicked the door shut.

“Ah’m home!” She shouted.

“Huh? What’s that?” Came the familiar voice of Granny Smith from the living room.

Apple Bloom trotted over to her grandmother and gave her a big hug, causing the elderly mare’s eyes to bulge.

“Oh, hey there Apple Bloom.” She said, patting her granddaughter on the back. “How was yer day?”

“It was great, much better than Ah thought it would be!” She said excitedly, pulling away a little so she could look Granny Smith in the eye. “Where’s Applejack and Big Macintosh?”

“Yer brother’s in town, and yer sister is outside, workin’ in the orchard,” she answered, pointing out a nearby window.

Apple Bloom gave Granny Smith a quick peck on the cheek before bolting from the door and running outside, looking around in the hopes of finding her older sister. She ran around the house, her head still held high until she spotted the familiar gleam of orange in-between the grove.

Skidding to a stop, she changed course and sprinted over to Applejack, who was in the middle of getting ready to buck a tree. She sprung up onto her front hooves and slammed her back hooves into the trunk, sending a rain of the delicious red fruit into the waiting buckets below.

Wiping sweat from her forehead, Applejack turned to see her sister barreling towards her.

“Oh, hey there Apple Bloom.” She said, interrupted when Apple Bloom hugged her- putting even more energy into squeezing her than she did with Granny Smith. Applejack’s cheeks turned red and her eyes bulged.

“Hey sis!” She broke the hug, allowing Applejack to catch her breath.

“Boy, ya seem to be in a good mood,” she said. “Ah take it yer poem thing went well?”

“Yeah, it sure did! We actually finished it during recess and our presentation went smoothly. For once everything worked out, even if we did have to rush to get it done at the last second!” Apple Bloom said before releasing her sister and falling back with a satisfied sigh. “Gosh this mornin’ was so stressful, it feels so good to put it behind me.”

“Well, that’s great to hear,” Applejack said. “But...Ah certainly hope that you’ve learned from this entire situation

“Ah sure have!” Apple Bloom said. Applejack smiled expectantly until Apple Bloom spoke up again. “Never trust snow days and the weather team because their jobs are to dash little colts and fillies’ dreams.”

Applejack’s smile faded and she rolled her eyes. “Well, yes, that. But also it’s always better to be safe than sorry,” Applejack said before she turned back to her work. “If ya finished yer poem last night ya wouldn’t have been in this pickle to begin with.”

Apple Bloom slowly nodded, realizing that her sister was correct. She sat down, as it dawned on her just how lucky she was to get such inspiration at the last second. And then she looked at her hard-working sister, realizing if she had simply heeded her warning the night before about not taking all news at face-value and getting her poem done no matter how certain she was that she would have the next day off, she and her friends would not of had such such a panic-filled morning.

Plus their project might have been even better, and based on how good it turned out rushed, she couldn’t imagine how great it would have been with a little less procrastination and neglect. Even though she was happy everything worked out, she couldn’t help but scold herself for being so careless in the first place. Not only had she almost taken herself down, but she almost brought her friends down with her.

Her self-criticism was interrupted by a hoof being placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see Applejack smiling down at her.

“Ya alright?”

Apple Bloom slowly nodded, “Yeah, Ah just wish that Ah listened to ya last night.”

“Now don’t fret,” Applejack said, taking a seat beside her sister. “Everypony makes mistakes. It ain’t the mistake ya make that have to define ya, it’s what ya make of them that does.”

She ruffled Apple Bloom’s mane, messing up her bow and causing the filly to let out a small squeal of annoyance.

“Cut it out!” She said, giggling.

“Sorry, Ah’m just trying to rub some sense into ya.” Applejack said before she stopped and looked down at her sister.

Apple Bloom looked up at the sky, the sun beating down on the back of her neck- it reminded her of something important that she otherwise might have forgotten.

She looked back into her sister’s eyes. “Does...this mean Ah have to write a letter to the Princess?”

Applejack put a hoof to her chin in thought, stroking it. “Ya know...it doesn’t have much to do with friendship,” She said before she looked back down at Apple Bloom with an encouraging smile, “Then again it’s still a good lesson. Plus ya might be able to think of a way it impacts your friendship. Ya were partnered with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, after all.”

“Okay, okay.” Apple Bloom said with a soft chuckle, “Ah’ll go inside and write it.”

“And don’t wait,” Applejack said, pointing a lecturing hoof at her little sister, “ya have done enough procrastinatin’.”

Both siblings sat together in the orchard for a few minutes before Applejack had to get back to work. Apple Bloom headed back to the house, back to being in her cheery mood, but keeping in the back of her mind what Applejack had told her.

Apple Bloom looked down at her letter to Princess Celestia. It was not too long, but enough to get her point across. Besides, she really did not feel like writing anymore after doing so had played such a prominent role in the entire day. And a negative role, at that. silently, she re-read what she had put onto the parchment.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned that it’s always better to take the safe route than the sorry one. Not only will putting too much faith into uncertain information cause me harm, but also harm those that depend on me, including my friends. No matter how much you dread doing the work you’re assigned to do, you should always do it unless you are positive there is a reason to put it off.

Your faithful subject,

Apple Bloom.

She read and reread the letter, making sure it was grammatically correct and managed to get her point across articulately. Once she was certain it did, she smiled and grabbed the scroll to roll it up when she heard a knock at the door downstairs. Rolling the parchment up, she left her room, letter in hoof, and made her way downstairs to answer the door. She opened it to see the two excited faces of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle standing in the doorway.

“Hey girls!” Apple Bloom said.

“Hey Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing much,” Apple Bloom answered with a small shrug. “Ah was just about to drop this here letter to the Princess off at Twilight’s, why?”

“Well, since it’s a Friday and we don’t have any homework, we were going to see if we could get our cutie marks in gymnastics!” Sweetie Belle said. “And thought we’d stop by to see if you’d like to join us.”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Cutie Mark Gymnastics?” Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded with joyful grins and happy eyes.

“That sounds dangerous and stupid,” Apple Bloom replied, making the joyful expressions in her two friends’ faces fall. But her smile quickly returned. “But also awesome,

count me in!”

Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle’s smiles returned. Scootaloo, in a display of great enthusiasm, leapt into the air slightly, her wings buzzing a bit. “Sweet! Let’s go!”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom said, “just let me put this letter down.”

Apple Bloom trotted back into the house to place the scroll onto a nearby table that was near the staircase. But before she could do so, she stopped herself. In her mind she remembered what she wrote, how procrastination and a feeling of ‘I’ll have time to do it later’ almost cost her as well as her friends. Biting her lip, she turned back- scroll still in her hoof- and trotted back over to her two waiting friends.

“Actually,” she started, “would it be okay if we stopped by the library on the way? Ah don’t want to leave this layin’ around where somepony might snatch it. Or Winona might get to it. She’s eaten letters before.”

“Sure.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Besides,” Scootaloo said with a sly grin. “You don’t want to tell the Princess that a dog ate your letter.”

The pegasus gave her friend a wink, causing both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to face-palm.

“Ugh, really Scoots?” Apple Bloom asked. “That was so corny.”

“Was not! It made total sense” Scootaloo said, turning to leave as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed suit, Apple Bloom closing the door behind them. The trio continued down the path to leave Sweet Apple Acres and

“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it less stupid.” Sweetie Belle said. “The only thing worse would be if you made puns, like Pinkie Pie.”

“That’s the reason why I’ll never say puns,” Scootaloo said with a shudder, clearly not a fan of the hyperactive pun-loving mare. “Hey, what time is it, anyway?”

“Ah’m not sure, Ah don’t have mah watch on me.” Apple Bloom responded.

“Where is it?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Well that’s the thing, Ah was gonna look for it,” slowly a smile spread across Apple Bloom’s face. “Only I couldn’t find the time.”

Both of her friends let out collective groans at their friend’s ridiculous pun. They continued out of the orchard and down the road, off to send a letter then work towards their cutie mark. They were so deep into conversing with each other, they failed to notice the pegasi in the sky above moving a cluster of clouds into Ponyville and kicking them. From them fell giant white flakes of snow, gently making their way towards the ground.