The sun rose as it did every day over Sweet Apple Acres, guided by Princess Celestia to its rightful place in the sky, replacing the darkness with its warm embrace. The rooster crowed from behind the barn as the Apple Family woke to the crisp morning air. Rousing from his slumber,Big Macintosh stumbled from his bed and into his trademark yoke before trotting unsteadily downstairs. Applejack yawned before sitting up as the light of Celestia’s sun hit her eyes, her mane and tail spread haphazardly over the bed. Grabbing her brown Stetson hat, she took to the hall, the sounds of Big Macintosh in the kitchen preparing breakfast bounded up the stairs before being silenced once more as Applejack entered her sister’s room. There in bed was a butter yellow filly with cherry red hair and a pretty pink bow, Applebloom.

“Wake up, ‘Bloom, it’s time for breakfast.” Applejack spoke softly, trying to rouse her sister from a night filled with dreams and wonder. The filly tossed and rolled away from her sister.

“Nnugh… five more minutes.” Applebloom desperately tried to keep sleep’s embrace, pulling her forehooves to her chest, clutching her blanket tighter.

Applejack snickered to herself at how adorable her sister could be… then quickly shook the thought out of her head at the latest attempt of the dreaded Cutie Mark Crusaders “Ice Sculptors.” She wasn’t quite sure where the chainsaw or the block of ice had come from, but was fairly certain that Mayor Mare would never again let the trio of silly fillies anywhere near town hall again without supervision.

“Last chance, ‘Bloom.” After waiting for movement and only hearing some mumbling about roller skates, she decided to not chance whatever dreams that Applebloom was having. Walking to the window, Applejack spread the curtains with a smile on her face, letting the sunlight find its purchase on the sleeping filly’s face.

Applebloom let out a shriek before jumping from the bed “Ahh! Too bright, too bright!.” Sitting on her haunches she glared at her older sister with a pout on her face.

“Ah gave ya fair warnin’, missy! Just ‘cause it’s the weekend don’t mean ya get to sleep the day away. Now git downstairs, yer brother’s making breakfast.” With that simple directive, Applejack walked from the room.

Applebloom waited until she could hear the sound of hoof steps on the stairs before falling back onto her pillow with a sigh. Try as she might, the sleep was gone from her eyes. Groaning, she begrudgingly (and in no part due to the intoxicating aroma of apple pancakes that was wafting up the stairs) decided to get out of bed. Fixing her bow in the mirror she trotted downstairs, locked onto the smell of her brother’s cooking. Sitting at the table her eyes were drawn to a new target—something she had been waiting all week for that had suddenly appeared. There, atop the ice box was a freshly filled cookie jar, containing the end results of hours of work on Granny Smith’s part last night after the filly had gone to bed.

As soon as the pancakes were placed before her they disappeared in an unholy blur of yellow fur, silverware, and what appeared to be half a bottle of syrup. Applejack could only stare at the carnage before her.

“Kay gotta run, sis, bye!” Applebloom tried to get up and bolt out the door to plot her day’s activities to get the crispy, golden brown treats.

“Hold on now, sugarcube,” said Applejack, grabbing the filly around the withers with a hoof. “Ah seen ya eyeballing Granny Smith’s new batch of cookies. They ain’t fer ya to have until after supper, ya hear?” Doing her best impression of Fluttershy’s “stare” to be intimidating, Applejack continued to look at her younger sibling, waiting for a response.

Applebloom’s eyes darted from left to right. How’d she know? Ah can’t lie ‘bout it. “Alright sis, Ah promise I won’t eat all of Granny’s cookies.” She smiled to herself.

“Ah s’pose that’s the best Ah’m gonna get outa you ain’t it… now go on, git!” Applejack let the youngest Apple go outside to play, knowing her day just got infinitely more complicated by adding “cookie defense” to the list of chores to accomplish.

Applebloom made a beeline straight for the CMC clubhouse and began to draw out battle plans on spare parchment. With crayon in mouth, a crude rendering of the farmhouse slowly appeared on paper with a big gold star atop the ice box, signifying her prize. Ah just said Ah wouldn’t eat ALL of Granny’s cookies, just a few couldn’t hurt! Now let’s see, if I move the chair here and come in from here… with scheming commenced it was only a matter of time until the delicious morsels were hers.

As the sun rose in the sky and Big Macintosh plowed the south field, a pleasant breeze blew through the farm. The trees swayed, the wind chimes tolled, and the front door to the Apple household rattled a bit louder than one would expect to hear from the wind. The cherry red tail of a diminutive pony disappeared around the corner. Following the wall, the youngster skulked through the house like a spy in Canterlot Castle. Checking each corner, she proceeded what she thought was the route least likely to run into her sister. Peeking around the last corner to the kitchen she saw her goal, the beautiful mason jar full of edible treasure perched high on its throne. After a quick spin of her head she dropped to the floor, crawling to the table and slowly pushing a chair towards the ice box. The single-minded filly was so focused on her goal that the chair suddenly getting heavier didn’t even register until it was too late. Pulling her head back and looking up expecting to see the cookie jar, instead a grinning orange farm pony in a brown Stetson cap filled her vision.

“Uhhh, hi? This uhhh…. This isn’t what it looks like…?” Applebloom sheepishly stared up at her big sister, mind blank as to what to say to get her out of this situation.

“Nice try, ‘Bloom. A-for effort. But Ah’m pretty sure Ah said no cookies until supper.” Hopping from the chair, the elder sister picked up the younger by the scruff of her neck and carried her outside. “This is yer last warning. Now git! Go and play with yer friends!

Grumbling to herself, the young pony made her way back to the clubhouse to begin plan “B.”

“No, no no!” Applebloom yelled to herself, crumpling another piece of crayon covered paper. “This is all wrong! What am Ah gonna do?”

“Applebloom, are you up there!?” A small purple maned Scootaloo called up to Applebloom through the open window, and a light bulb clicked in her head.

“Hey Scoots, c’mon up! Ah need yer help with something!”

The clatter of hooves on wood came closer as the diminutive pegasus made her way up the ramp. “I don’t know, Applebloom. Even Rainbow Dash is getting fed up with all this after the chainsaw incident… is it safe?”

“You’ll get cookies out of the deal,” Applebloom replied in a tantalizing tone.

Scootaloo’s ears shot forward as a smile graced her face, her wings buzzed excitedly. “Well why didn’t you say so! What’d ya need me to do?”

“Simple!” Applebloom turned around and started digging through her toy chest, pieces of games and toys long forgotten flying through the air as she searched for what she needed. “Yer gonna fly us up to the cookie jar and we’re gonna make off like princesses!” Applebloom smiled as she held up two large balloons and a suspicious looking cylinder of helium.

“Uhhh…. Applebloom, do I even want to know where you got that?” Scoots looked quizzically at her friend before speaking again. “Actually, I don’t want to know.”

As the two troublemakers made their way to the farmhouse, Applebloom tried to explain the plan to Scootaloo. “All we gotta do is inflate the balloons out front and float to the ceiling. With yer wings you can push us along and we’ll be able to reach the cookies! Then all we gotta do is get out without bein’ seen and make our way back to the clubhouse. It’s foolproof!”

Scootaloo wasn’t too sure, but far be it from her to back down from a challenge… particularly when cookies were involved.

As the two reached the front door, Applebloom inflated the balloons and tied one to both her and Scootaloo. The two ponies quickly got under the door frame so the ceiling would stop their ascent. “It’s working,” Applebloom silently exclaimed to herself and Scootaloo. “Now the cookies are on the ice box in the kitchen, think ya can get us there?”

Scootaloo nodded fervently as her little wings kicked to life, emitting a low buzzing noise that carried through the house. They passed Granny Smith who seemed to have repositioned herself to her chair in the living room and was snoring peacefully, though muttering to herself about the “dag blasted bees come back again.”

The two floating ponies made their way through the door to the kitchen, their eyes wide with anticipation as their target was quickly coming within reach. Applebloom could almost taste the treats when she heard the kitchen door open and slam shut. “Aww horseapples…” Her balloon disappeared with a loud POP and she fell right into Applejack’s waiting hooves.

“Ah’m just gonna assume ya were comin’ in for lunch, right missy?” Applejack gave her a knowing smirk.

“Uhhh, yeah sis, that’s it…” Applebloom suddenly found her forehooves to be very interesting, staring intently at them while her elder sibling placed her in a chair around the table.

A loud buzzing filled the room as Scootaloo yelled “retreat!” Unfortunately, her balloon stuck on the doorframe and she wasn’t going anywhere. “Umm… a little help?”

Granny Smith walkd under the filly and reached up with a knitting needle, popping the aerial device. “Heh! That’ll teach ya fer waking yer elders!” Scootaloo landed with a thud and let out a shriek and bolted out the front door before anyone could even offer her the chance to stay for lunch.

After the meal, Granny Smith retreated for her afternoon nap to the front porch and Applejack picked up her sister by the scruff and dragged her up the stairs. Applebloom yet again wore a familiar pout across her face. Dropping her in her room, Applejack gave her sister a stern look. “Ah warned ya about them cookies, now yer gonna stay in yer room and think about what yer doin. Ah don’t wanna see ya out of this room until supper, ya hear?” A nodding Applebloom was the only reply she got as she turned around to leave and closed the door.

Applebloom immediately began drawing up “plan C.”

Slinking out of her bedroom window with a coil of rope around her barrel and a smug smile on her face, Applebloom couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. After all, THIS time the cookies would be hers. Crouched low on the roof, she surveilled her prey. Big Macintosh is still out plowing the south field, check. Applejack is waterin’ the garden by the barn. Check. Granny Smith is… Listening, the sound of snoring from the front porch reached her ears. Granny Smith is still napping in her chair out front. Check.

As she moved to the west side of the house, where the kitchen was located, she wrapped the rope around the chimney and ran it out to the edge. Now if I can just get the right length I can swing in through the window, get the cookies, an’ get out before Applejack knows what’s happening.

As the old saying goes, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Swinging nimbly over the roof and looking towards the kitchen, Applebloom realized one important fact. One very, impossibly important fact.

Maybe Ah should’ve made sure the window was open first.

A loud THUMP sounded through the orchard, the sound of tiny pony impacting solid glass, followed by flesh and fur sliding downward with a slow squeal. A satisfying PLOP at the end signified said tiny pony planting herself in the mud and freshly watered flower garden outside of the kitchen. Face down in the mud, Applebloom struggled to get her hooves under her before deciding to just lay there and bask in the sun.

Wait… it was sunny just a second ago, why’d it get cool all of the sudden? Looking up at the object between her and the warm, shimmering orb she so desired, was the last pony she wanted to see. “Applejack, it’s not what it looks like, Ah swear… ahhh who’m Ah kiddin… Ah’ll head back to my room.”

“Woh nelly, hang on there, Applebloom. Ya can’t go back covered in filth like that. An’ you know what that means.” Applejack gave her sister a devilish grin before leaning down to grab her scruff by her teeth.

“No… you can’t mean, not that!” Applebloom tried to scamper away, her hooves seeking purchase in the mud that would never come. As Applejack lifted her away she huffed to herself, “Ah hate bath time…”

After having placed her Stetson on the rack in the hall to keep it from getting wet, and providing a thorough soaking and scrubbing to one small, yellow, silly filly, Applejack picked her sister up yet again by the scruff to bring her back to her room. The youngster wore a pouty scowl on her face as she got hauled down the hallway and plopped back into her room. A satisfying thump announced itself to the room as her flanks met floor.

“Now ‘Bloom, Ah said it before and Ah’ll say it again, yer grounded! Now stay put until supper time!”

As the minutes ticked by and the sun made its slow travel across the sky, Applebloom tried to come up with more ingenious ideas, she wanted something that would make the other crusaders proud. As time went on and plan after plan wound up crumpled into balls of paper that littered her floor, Applebloom thought of a plan so devious and so out of character that it was sure to work. Something she knew her sister could never stop. A high pitched—if somewhat evil sounding—chuckle resonated through the Apple family’s upstairs. As she was about to put her plan into action though, her train of thought was completely derailed. Her sister’s voice filtered through the house.

“Soup’s on, everypony! C’mon and get it! Applebloom, ya can come on down for supper!”

Applebloom’s eye twitched. Ah spent so much time tryin’ to come up with a plan, Ah can’t even use it now! A rumble from her stomach quickly made her forget her thoughts as she dashed from the room to her seat at the table. Big Macintosh and Granny Smith were already seated around the table, and Applejack was dishing out a heavenly smelling concoction that appeared to be some sort of vegetable stew. As Applebloom smelled the delicious meal her muzzle rose (and somehow her bow seemed to stand taller even) and her eyes yet again fell upon the magnificent treasure chest known as the “cookie jar.”

It will be mine. Oh yes… it will be mine.

After supper was finished, the Apple matriarch retired to her rocking chair in the living room while Big Macintosh and Applejack did the dishes. Applebloom stared longingly at the glass jar on top of the ice box, patiently awaiting the deliciousness inside. Applejack looked over at her sister before following her gaze to the jar and looked down at the filly.

“’Bloom, Ah told ya earlier not until supper, but ya couldn’t just leave well enough alone could ya?” Applejack let out a long sigh before continuing. “Because ya couldn’t listen and kept disobeying me, yer not getting any cookies tonight. Ah’m sorry, ‘Bloom.”

Applebloom’s bow fell faster than her heart did at her sister’s comment. “But… but… but you said earlierandthey’resodeliciousandAhdidn’thaveanyandwaitedalldayandAhwantonenoowww.” The filly spoke her words so fast they morphed into one long super word expelled in between her breaths. Applejack continued to stare strong at her. Ah guess it’s now or never.

Applebloom began to enact her final plan, one she never thought she’d have to use for something like this. Sitting on her haunches and looking up at her big sister, she summoned up the biggest most adorable pout one had ever seen on ponykind, even managing a tear that rested just in the corner of her eye. “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaasssssseeeeee big sister!”

“No. ‘Bloom, no.” Applejack felt her resolve fading as the youngster’s pout intensified. “Ah said no and Ah mean it!” Applebloom’s lip began to quiver. “C’mon ‘Bloom, not the puppy dog eyes…” The filly started to snivel. “Alright alright!” Reaching up to the ice box, Applejack retrieved the trove of cookies before removing one and placing it back on the counter. “You get ONE, Applebloom. But then it’s off to bed. Ah’m still mad at’cha fer not listening to me earlier!”

Applebloom’s bow stood right back up as quickly as her face gained a large, toothy smile. “Oh thank you thank you thank you!” Applebloom quickly devoured the cookie. “Yer the best big sister ever!”

“Aww shucks, thanks lil sister. Now go on, git to yer room.” Applejack swatted at the little filly with her tail before trotting out of the house and headed out to the barn, not realizing that Applebloom stayed in the kitchen.

Whispering to her big brother, Applebloom poked Big Macintosh in the side with her hoof. “Psst… pssssssssst. Big brother…” As Big Macintosh turned around she gave him a quick pout and pointed her hoof at the cookie jar.

“Mmm…. Eeyup.” Big Macintosh made his way to the jar and pushed it over the side with his muzzle, right into Applebloom’s waiting hooves. In a blur of yellow and red, the filly disappeared up the stairs into her room.

After taking a few more treats from the jar, Applebloom snuggled into her bed holding the jar close, content to have finally gotten what she’d been pining for all day. She was sure she had forgotten something, but that was a problem for another time.

Applejack walked back into the kitchen and wiped the sweat from her brow. Making her way to the sink for a drink she took notice of something conspicuously missing from the top of the ice box. “APPLEBLOOM!!!!!!!!!”

Applebloom’s eyes shot open at the roar of her elder sibling, looking quickly at the jar still in her hooves. “Aww ponyfeathers.”