“Thanks for the grape juice, Berry. These should last us all week.”
Berry Punch nodded and started refilling the counter with bottles. “Glad to hear it,” she said. “The minute Passover comes around, business booms for me.”
“That’s what you get for being the only pony in town with a vineyard and winepress,” Twilight chuckled.
“Yes, that certainly would do it.” Spirit carefully floated the last bottles into a crate. “Well, we’d best be off now. Fang will be finishing the afternoon’s matzah baking any minute and tonight is when we check the houses for any remaining bread.”
“I’d better not slow you down then. Bye guys.”
“Have a good Passover, Berry!” the two unicorns wished her. Spirit levitated the crate and he and Twilight turned to leave the vineyard.
“Having a local winepress sure is helpful,” Spirit commented. “Then we don’t have to order any high-price stuff from Canterlot.”
“I’m really happy for Berry,” Twilight admitted. “She works so hard on her vines and not nearly enough ponies buy her products. Well, aside from the grapes.”
“Not everypony sees the status grape wine holds. And foals like to stick to their apple juice.”
“They sure do.”
Spirit and Twilight walked into the marketplace, where ponies were stocking up on all the things they’d need for the holiday. The smell of matzah had spread from outside of Sugarcube Corner and wafted lazily all over town, giving ponies everywhere an idea of what to look forward to later in the week.
“Do we need any more horseradish?” Spirit wondered, looking at the vegetable and herb stall.
“Pretty sure we overstocked the last time we got them. We should be fine.”
“How about eggs? We’re going to need one for the Seder plate anyway.”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “Maybe later. We’ve already got fragile things right now and we shouldn’t overload on breakable items. Although I must admit Fang’s last Pancake Surprise really depleted our egg drawer.”
“We could always come back later to-“
“Twilight! Spirit!”
The two unicorns turned their heads to see Rarity running toward them. Rarity never ran unless it was a fashion emergency or a friendship problem. What could possibly have happened to kick the classy unicorn into high gear?
“Hey, Rarity,” Twilight greeted. “What’s up?”
Rarity stopped before them and tried to speak in between breaths. “Just heard…. came as fast as I could… she’s coming for…. the holiday...”
“Who, what, where?” Spirit asked.
“Train station, five minutes,” Rarity gasped, electing to answer only two of the questions. She took a deep breath and added loudly, “And I’m not dressed!” With that, the white unicorn dashed off toward Carousel Boutique.
Spirit and Twilight exchanged glances. “What was she going on about?” Spirit asked.
“No idea,” Twilight replied, “but perhaps we should go check it out.”
“With the crate of grape juice?”
“We’ll be careful.”
Twilight activated her magic and wrapped the crate in a light-purple aura. The two unicorns trotted at a quick but focused pace in the direction of the train station, rushing past other ponies busy with Passover preparations.
When they arrived at the train station, Spirit gently let down the crate of juice bottles and he and Twilight looked about. The station was mostly empty aside from the railway staff. In fact, nothing out of the ordinary was happening there.
“Was Rarity overreacting?” Spirit wondered, swinging his head back and forth. “Is some super cute stallion visiting Ponyville and she can’t hold it in?”
“She seemed pretty sincere,” Twilight remarked. A loud whistle caught their attention. “Here comes the train now. We may soon see what Rarity was so excited about.”
The two unicorns watched as the brightly colored steam engine chugged into the station, pulling its cars behind it. It stopped with a sharp screech of brakes. The doors opened and ponies began to get off, some bearing luggage and other belongings. But nopony particularly interesting.
“I don’t see anything special,” Spirit said dryly, a bit disappointed.
Twilight nodded. “Me neither.”
Then, from out of the crowd of departing passengers, a pony stepped out: a unicorn mare with an amber coat, a curled mane of red and yellow with a tail to match, cyan eyes and a cutie mark consisting of a two-toned blazing sun.
“SUNSET SHIMMER!”
With a cry of joy, Twilight leapt at the pale-golden unicorn, knocking aside her suitcase as she embraced her. When Sunset saw who had jumped on her, she too beamed with joy. “Twilight! You came!”
Spirit came over and the two mares got up and dusted themselves off. “Welcome to Ponyville, Sunset,” Spirit greeted in his formal voice.
“Thanks, Spirit. It’s good to be back.”
“What are you doing here anyway?” Twilight asked, barely able to contain herself.
Sunset picked up her suitcase with her magic. “Why don’t we start walking and I’ll explain on the way?”
The other unicorns nodded in agreement and the three of them left the station. On the way, Sunset told them about her studies and everything that happened during her trip around Equestria, of griffon encounters, hydra chases, dragon sightings, visits to ancient sites and knowledge in abundance.
"Then I remembered Passover was coming, so I decided to come here and spend the holiday with you guys," Sunset finished as the trio walked towards Sugarcube Corner, the smell of baked matzah assailing their noses.
"Your trip sounds amazing," Spirit said in wonderment. "I'll admit, I'm a little jealous."
"Me too," Twilight agreed. "All those things you saw, all the ponies you've met. Sure, I've read about them in books, but it's just not the same as seeing them in person."
"I'm actually looking forward to Passover a lot more than I did my trip," Sunset admitted. "The history, the customs, the food.”
“'The food' is right,” Twilight agreed, the wine crate wavering in her magic. “We’ve stocked up on thrice the normal amount of food for the first night’s feast.”
“We should be glad we’re not hosting the Seder in Town Hall,” Spirit commented, nudging Twilight’s crate upright. “They had to order extra food all the way from Baltimare before they’d reached the supplies they’d need.”
“Well, it is a big deal,” Sunset declared. “After all, it’s not every week we celebrate one of the oldest events in pony history. Passover happened even before the founding of Equestria.”
Twilight nodded, taking pleasure in hearing the history. “Still, it’s an awful lot of strange food we’re asked to eat.” A new scent caught her attention suddenly and she sniffed the air. Spirit and Sunset noticed it as well and took a whiff. “And unless I’m much mistaken,” Twilight continued, “that’s some of the food being baked right now.”
Spirit leapt to the front of the group. “What do you say, girls? Shall we detour?”
The mares exchanged big smiles and answered unanimously. “Absolutely.”
So the three unicorns turned off from the street leading to the library, instead crossing through town with the baking smell as their guide. In no time at all they reached Sugarcube Corner and followed the smell around the back of the bakery, where Fang was shouting commands at a group of ponies.
“Only one minute left, guys!” he hollered, which was really unnecessary. “ONE MINUTE!”
Spirit, Sunset and Twilight drew closer to inspect. Situated around one table were Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, all furiously rolling spiked pins over flat pieces of dough at top speeds. As they finished poking holes in the dough, they would pass the pieces onto wooden poles which Fang would then transfer into the brick oven at the end. At another table opposite the oven, Aspear was dutifully sanding the poles as Fang handed them over.
The unicorns watched the spectacle with great interest, the way scholars liked them preferred to watch. Finally, as Fang slipped another baked masterpiece out of the oven, he cried out, “CHAMETZ!”
At once, the four schoolponies stopped what they were doing and fell onto their backs, gasping for air. While they lay there, Fang ambled around the tables, taking what dough was still there, baking them and dropping them on a table behind the oven.
“Well done, my little ponies,” he said to the fillies. “You’ve stayed dutifully until the very end of today’s baking session. Thanks to you, our Seder will have more than enough matzah and should last us the whole holiday.”
“Yeehaw,” Apple Bloom cheered weakly.
“Whoop whoop,” Scootaloo grunted.
“Yay,” Sweetie Belle moaned.
Aspear, who had regained a sufficient amount of oxygen, twisted himself around and glanced at his lower body. Her face fell as she beheld her still-bare flank. “Still no cutie mark.”
Spirit trotted over to the filly. “Don’t worry, Aspear dear,” he said encouragingly, helping his daughter up. “You’ll get your cutie mark soon.”
“How soon?”
The stallion’s eyes glinted as he looked back at her friends. “Soon.”
Sunset walked over to the table upon which Fang had placed the matzah that had been made before the eighteen minutes were up. There sure was a lot of it. “So this is the matzah,” she said in a small voice.
“Yep,” Fang assured. “Ha lachma anya. Poor pony’s bread, as it’s called in Aramareic. We’ll be reciting a whole set of couplets like that on Seder night.”
“Sounds fun.”
“I’ve actually read the whole Hagadah, the Seder guide, back to front, Sunset,” Twilight informed, standing by the riddling table with the Crusaders. “It’s going to be a like a great big history lesson.”
“Ugh,” the schoolponies groaned at the mentioning of lessons. They quickly brightened when Fang slid them each a leavened piece of matzah, which they quickly started munching on.
“Welcome back, Sunset,” Fang said to the amber unicorn. “Looks like we’re going to be having a big crowd this Passover Seder.”
“I’m only one pony, Fang,” Sunset reminded him.
“Yes, but we’re also having over Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. It’ll be a nice tight squeeze into the house, but Spirit’s fairly sure we can pull it off."
Spirit nodded in agreement. “It’ll be nice having some new blood at the dinner table. There’s nothing like guests to add some spice to a meal, especially the meal of the holiday of freedom."
“Holiday of freedom, indeed,” Sunset exclaimed. “All of us, taking a break from our normal schedules. One of the whole reasons for celebrating Passover is the herd’s being freed from slavery, and what better way to celebrate in our own way, by freeing ourselves from the slavery of a stale beaten track.”
"I like the stale beaten track,” Twilight said quietly, pouting.
Fang came over, wheeling a huge wagon of matzah. “Well, no sense waiting for the holiday to come to us. Anyone who’d like to help, I’ve got to deliver matzah to all the ponies who ordered, as well as to Town Hall.”
The Crusaders, now including Aspear, quickly rushed over and followed Fang away from Sugarcube Corner, leaving Twilight, Spirit, and Sunset standing behind the bakery. For a moment, they all stood in silence, taking in the heavenly aroma coming from both the bakery and the disappearing unleavened bread.
“It’s time we got these bottles off our hooves,” Twilight declared. “Sunset, you ought to come with me to drop your stuff off at the library.”
“That sounds great,” the fiery-maned unicorn said with a smile.
The three unicorns smiled together as they schlepped away from Sugarcube Corner to their home destination.
*
The night before Passover. Ponies gathered in their homes, waiting for the heads of the family to return. The Golden Oak Library was no exception. Twilight, Sunset and all their friends sat around chatting and drinking as the clock ticked on. The Crusaders were barely able to sit still they were so excited: the leavened search was soon.
A custom as old as Equestria itself, after the house was cleansed of all crumbs, a number of bread pieces are purposely hidden and are then sought out in the dark with candles and a feather. It was like a treasure hunt, without the treasure.
“Oh man, what’s taking them so long?” Scootaloo whined, checking the clock for the 27th time.
“Who,” Owlowicious hooted.
“Spirit and Fang, duh,” the pegasus replied obviously.
“Who,” the owl repeated naturally.
“I just told you.”
“Cut it out, Scoots,” Rainbow Dash advised, pulling the filly over. “You know what conversations are like with Owlowicious.”
Scootaloo sighed. “Yeah.”
“Who.”
“But it’s been almost half an hour. Shouldn’t they be done by now?”
“We can’t rush evening service,” Twilight told her. “Though they should be home any minute.”
“Ooh, here they come!” Pinkie called from the window.
A moment later, the door opened and the stallions and the drake walked in. “Good evening, everyone,” Spirit said, Fang shutting the door behind them.
Sunset was quick to react and leapt at Spirit, embracing him upon contact. Aspear was just as forceful with her dad and Fang pinned Pinkie in a flying tackle. “I take it you’re all ready for the search.”
“Mm hmm!” the assembly of friends and family replied.
“Then let’s begin.”
Apple Bloom gave Spirit a feather and a bag for the bread. Sunset passed around lit candles for everyone, then Fang turned out the lights. In the glow of the candles, Spirit explained, “Foals first, keep an eye out for the bread. They can be hidden absolutely anywhere.” At this, Spirit glanced at Twilight and Owlowicious. The mare winked and the nocturnal bird spun his head 180 degrees and back.
“We’d best get searching, then.”
As a group they began to walk around the library, carefully examining the cracks in the floor and the highest of shelves. It was a good few minutes before Sweetie Belle cried out, “I found some!”
Everyone quickly moved aside as Spirit joined Sweetie Belle by the fireplace. Two ends of a bread loaf sat nestled in a pile of ashes just behind the grate. Spirit brushed his feather over the bread ends and swept them into the bag. “Wonderful. Great work, Sweetie Belle,” he said, patting the filly.
They continued the search. Apple Bloom uncovered one of last week’s pancakes hidden behind the kitchen sink, Scootaloo slipped half a donut out from between two bookshelves and Aspear found a crust of pizza under Owlowicious’ perch.
“All right, everypony,” Twilight said as Aspear and Spirit scooped up the pizza. “We’re moving upstairs.
Sunset and Fang led the way to the second floor of the library, where they all fanned out. Soon the bag of leavened foods was bulging, now containing half a daisy sandwich from the porch, an apple pie crust hidden inside the telescope and two mashed cupcakes jammed down Twilight’s Winter Wrap Up boots.
“That seems to be everything,” Twilight declared, smiling nervously as Fang licked the last of the icing out of her boots.
“Who.”
“What is it, Owlowicious?” Fluttershy asked.
“Who.” The owl flew off of Twilight’s bedpost and landed on Fang’s head, where he picked at the dragon’s spines. A hunk of dried pasta dropped out from behind Fang’s frills.
Fang gave the owl a humored look. “You dirty birdy,” he said, stepping aside to allow Spirit access to the pasta.
Owlowicious closed his eyes in a smile. “Who.”
Twilight led Spirit, Sunset, the Element Bearers, the dragons and the Crusaders back downstairs. “Well done, everyone,” Spirit told them. He put the bread bag down beside the door. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll burn the bread items we found tonight and, by lunchtime, we’ll renounce our consumption of leavened food for the week of Passover.”
“YAY!” the Crusaders cheered.
Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched. “I dunno about the rest of you, but I’m exhausted. Come on, Scoots, I’ll take you home.”
“Ah’m plum tuckered out myself,” Applejack said, lifting a yawning Apple Bloom onto her back. “We’d best be off too.”
The others began to leave as well, wishing everyone a good evening. Soon, only Twilight, Spike, Sunset, Spirit, Aspear and Fang remained in the library.
“We’ll be off now,” Spirit said to the two mares. “Sunset, I hope your stay in the library will be a pleasant one.”
The amber unicorn pulled Twilight in for a hug. “I’m sure it will be, Spirit.”
Fang and Spike fist-bumped. “Looks like you’re in good hooves and claws.” The green dragon crossed over to the door. “Come, Spirit.”
“Coming.” Spirit leaned in and kissed Sunset on the cheek. “See you tomorrow.”
The door closed behind Spirit, Aspear and Fang. Sunset was till for a moment, then she went over to the window and watched the two friends cross the street to their house. She turned to Twilight. “Is he always like this? I remember him being a lot more…. secluded.”
“It’s probably the spirit of Passover, Sunset,” Twilight guessed. “You know how well he connects to the old events in pony history. Freedom is practically flowing through him.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“I’m off to bed,” Spike announced, mounting the stairs. “I have to sleep off all that leavened matzah Spirit gave me.”
Twilight and Sunset chuckled. “At least your appetite was useful this time,” Twilight joked, she and Sunset joining Spike on the way upstairs.