All right, this week we get a nice open-ended prompt! We've not had much activity on the last few ones (probably uni and school finally striking back at the masses) but hopefully you'll all at least get some mileage out of this one.

Today's prompt is

Y'know. Like autumn, spring, summer, and Christmas.

4809813 Yes. Let us define seasons by their holidays. We have, Easter, Christmas, Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

4815187 :D

I'm actually writing a real big story that's to do with seasons, but there's no way in H-E-Double hockey sticks that I'll get it done within a week, what with it probs going to clock in at around 20K words.

Ah well!

4815195 Looking forward to it!

4815202 As am I. :P

4809813 Finally holidays. Time for some Hazardous Prompts!

Heat blistered the apples, forming lumps in the skins as water boiled up from the flesh.
Chill winds shook the apples, some falling with soft thumps against the leafy ground.
Ice crusted the apples; frost-covered ornaments just in time for Hearth's Warming Eve.
Sweet scents tickled the apples, their ripe red skin and green leaves sparkling.

Across her pastures, Applejack looked with squinted eyes, seeking out the rows and relishing the quiet. Her brim tipped low some days, to shade her weary face from the glaring sun, and high on others, to catch what little light there was, but always with her familiar. Her hat, through thick and thin.

She'd lift a hoof to touch its torn edge, signifying a day's jobs done to satisfaction. Or sometimes she just found it relaxing after a stressful task to feel the unraveling thread.

And as the seasons shifted between each other, Applejack felt herself begin to unwind too. She wasn't as fast as she used to be, and during the brighter days of summer she'd squint just that little bit harder. Autumn brought the whole family back together, and all the young ones would sit at her feet whilst she told them stories of what she used to do.
I used to save the world, she would often say. Jus' me an' my friends against horrors the likes o' which you'll never see. Did I ev'r tell you...
Winter drew out her loudest voice, making sure every word was heard over the winds that blew snow through the fields. Like aged wine, her accent thickened and seasoned over the years, and her repertoire of countryisms grew vast. And of course, spring was the season of apples.

Folks would be lucky to see her out and about in the town during spring, and it became a saying in Ponyville: If you ever see Old Applejack in town during spring, something sour's brewing.

Then summer would roll around again, and every year, on the first day of summer, a line the breadth of Equestria would form, all queuing for that golden liquid. Grandma Applejack's Apple Family Cider.

In the quiet hours, between sales of produce and the tending to her crops, Applejack was never alone. Her sister would come by and visit occasionally, bringing gifts from the big city. And of course, her beloved friends were no more than a stones throw away.

---

"Time truly has been kind to us all."

"Are you reminiscin' again, Rainbow?"

"Only a little. You know, I remember when we first met."

"So can I. So can all of us. So?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to thank me."

"Thank you? Why in the hay - "

"I did bring us all together, I mean, without my rainboom..."

"Still the same as ever, huh. Well, come on. There's a barn to clean, and boy, do those leaves ever work themselves into every corner."

---

Applejack turned around, and slowly left the room. Rainbow Dash took a few seconds to look out the window. She could see it. That patch of sky where, nearly a lifetime ago now, she had been. Then, she turned back around, a wistful glint in her eye, and followed her friend to the barn. The chill would set in soon, once she had taught those newbies how to make snow clouds properly. Weather ponies just weren't the same anymore.

Then again, maybe it was the weather that wasn't the same. Time changes everything, even the seasons.

4878273 Nice. It keeps that sad tone that you feel with the awareness of the passage of time, but you do a good job preserving the calm, comfortable feelings that each season brings.

A very nice short story, DaeCat.

4878273 Happy prompto!

My work has nearly cleared up. Hopefully we'll get to making these regular now everyone is chillin' out.