WIRES

ONE

6 YEARS AGO

"There you are!" I shouted, a chuckle arising from my voice. "AJ and I thought you all fell through the snow or something. You're usually never late to these things."

I placed my hands over my head, inhaling the frost that was decorating the atmosphere on this day. White was the only thing you could see, miles and miles of it surrounded us.

"Sorry, Maud took longer than usual to get ready," Pinkie replied, skipping over to us. The rest of the Pie siblings followed her, all carrying emotions that were opposite of the pink curly-haired girl that stood in front of us.

Apparently, this was supposed to be a Pie and Apple sibling meetup — Pinkie thought it'd be a fun idea to invite me last minute. I didn't question it, I was always down for snow days with friends.

"Finally!" Applebloom chanted. "Come on Maud, I promised you last time I'd show you how to sled! And we just happen to be by one of the best hills in all of Ponyville."

"Now Applebloom..." Applejack started, which she quickly dismissed when I elbowed her.

"Stop being the protective sister you are and let her have fun," I muttered. Applejack sighed in defeat. She then simply just nodded at Applebloom. She gave us her signature smile which was followed by her running towards Pinkie's sister.

"Applebloom's close to Maud?" I asked both of them when Applebloom couldn't hear us.

"Yeah, heh, I would've never expected those two to click, but according to my sis, they had a real connection after our Hearth's Warming visit," AJ responded.

My grin faded once I saw the literal stick figure with a bowl cut holding hands with Maud. I took a step away from AJ to confront Pinkie. She was weirdly quiet, which was especially unsettling for her.

"Mudbriar's here?" I asked. She flinched in surprise at my voice, spinning around. Her face was flushed, probably from the chilly temperature.

"What?"

"Mudbriar?" I nudged my head towards the couple. After listening to Pinkie's endless rants about the guy — it was instinct for me to react in disgust when I saw his face. I mean, he was... perfect for Maud, but something about him was off.

And it wasn't just the fact that he looked like the boring version of Vector from Despicable Me.

"Oh," Pinkie said, everything suddenly clicking. "Yeah, Maud insisted on bringing him. Whatever— as long as Maud's happy, I'm happy. Even if he looks like a cheap knockoff of Oliver Tree..."

"Are y'all gonna just stand here and do nothing?" Applejack suddenly interrupted. "Because I bet I could snowboard down that hill faster than the both of you combined."

"Please," I rolled my eyes, "I could beat you in my sleep."

"Lucky for you, y'all took longer than I thought to arrive, so I already have all the equipment set up." Applejack ran forward, leaving me with just Pinkie.

She stood next to me, her arms crossed. She had a straight face. Her being so weirdly calm made me feel uneasy.

"Hey Pinks, everything alright?" I asked, nudging her. "You've been really quiet today, which isn't like you."

She nodded. "Uhm... it's just that I don't know how to snowboard..."

Something about that sounded like a lie — like that wasn't the only thing that was bothering her. But I let her slip up. "Don't worry, after I beat AJ, I can teach you. And thanks to my professional teaching skills, you'll be a pro by the end of the day."