That must be really a shame for such a fruit purist

“This must be the worst Hearth's Warming eve ever,” Strawberry Sunrise murmured under her breath with her soft and tired voice. She pulled her green scarf closer, in search of warmth against the wind that brought snow dust right into her eyes.

The zebra by her side offered her a coy smile, a mute gesture of solidarity and agreement. Would be disrespectful to differ or to tell the pegasus to look at the bright side at that point, so she just nodded. “We are too close now to give up hope, Strawberry Sunrise, Sweet Apple Acres is almost in sight.”

They followed through the muddy path, crushing wet grovel under their hooves in a hurry. There was a stiffness in her shoulders and crankiness in her features, accentuated by the circles under her eyes. In a normal situation, Strawberry would never leave home without some concealer and a tamed mane, the basics of grooming that anypony should maintain before hitting the streets; but tonight, and the night before, she was far from looking her best, and she knew it.

The pegasus didn’t care. Everything would get in place once she found Rarity.

Their only source of light, a small oil lantern that Zecora brought with them from Everfree forest, dimed and dulled in comparison when the pair found the entrance of the farm. Small lights decorated the apples carved in the entrance sign, tangling themselves in the thin fences around the property with a warm aura.

The bright and red farmhouse, transformed by Hearth's Warming lights, had a smell of apple baked desserts that hit their bellies in different ways. Fillies were laughing between the walls, their voices mixed with the cacophony of mugs and cutlery hitting tables, some stallion with a deep voice singing a carol.

The warmth of expectation hit Strawberry Sunrise until her feathers, making her wings spread slightly across her body.

She knocked. Nothing happened.

She knocked again, harder.

A muffled voice with a heavy twang complained about younglings destroying her property before opening the door. An old mare with light green fur faced Strawberry and the zebra, surprised yet amused by the sight.

“Well, ya fillies are might late, we already done started with the caramel apples.”

“Granny Smith, we appreciate the invite, but we might not grab even a bite,” Zecora said, “Tonight we appear with a mission, we must find a pony that fulfills a condition.”

“For pony’s sake, it’s Hearth's Warming eve. Whatever is troubling this head of yours can be solved over a mug of cider.”

“Listen, this is really sweet and all, but we’re in a hurry here,” Strawberry forced her sweetest smile, trying her best to sound friendly enough. “Is Rarity here?”

The old mare measured the pegasus from head to hooves before going back to the party, grumbling something under her breath. A minute later the unicorn appeared at the door with a smile.

“Strawberry Sunrise, Zecora, what a nice surprise.”

“Oh, Rarity, you’re just the pony I needed to see,” she placed a hoof over her chest, meaning it. “Can you do a growing spell?”

“ A growing spell? That’s quite distinct, I must say, but I could give it a try. It all depends on how big you need your gems to be.”

“What? No, not gems. Seeds.” Strawberry Sunrise opened her light pink saddlebag and took a small pouch almost empty, holding just five little seeds inside. The unicorn grabbed one and let it float in front of her eyes with the aura of her magic, examining it. “I really need these to bloom.”

“This is certainly out of my area of expertise. I know both seeds and diamonds can hide under the dirt, but I only know how to deal with the later,” Rarity returned the seed. She offered an apologetic smile, unaware of the importance of her help, “You know how specific a unicorn’s magic tends to be.”

Her ears dropped and her wings flattened again.

“Worry not, we can put our hopes in another mare. Tell me, Rarity, is Twilight Sparkle celebrating in there?”

Strawberry lifted her head, the thrill of expectation crossing her delicate face.

“Twilight is in Canterlot with Princess Celestia, I’m afraid.”

The pegasus let her flank hit the floor, defeated. Her somber expression contrasted with the joyful mood around, a gloomy spot between the holiday lights. That night couldn’t get any worse.

“Wow, Nelly, what’s going on here?”

Strawberry Sunrise lifted her downcast eyes to face Applejack staring at her by the door. Rainbow Dash was hovering by her side with a mug on her hoof and a stetson over her head, mirroring the curious expression of the apple pony.

Great. It could always be worse.

“Dear friends, we’ve been searching all night for a unicorn who can flourish these seeds, but unfortunately nopony could perform the deeds,” Zecora explained, “for Strawberry Sunrise this is a very personal situation, from the start we did not expect such complication.”

All eyes were fixed on the yellow mare. Applejack smiled.

“Y'all been searching all wrong. Ya don’t need a unicorn, ya just need the right earth pony.”

“Excuse me?”

"Some earth ponies can use their inner magic to make plants grow faster. What unicorns do with their horns they can do with their hooves."

"No offense, Applejack, but I know Roseluck and Carrot Top for years and they never did something even close to this.”

"Well, Pinkie Pie can hold balloons and Celestia knows what else inside her mane and I would be a heck of a liar if I said I could do anything like it," the ponies around her agreed with a nod, an acknowledgment of all the weird things their friend could do in a daily basis. "Not everypony can do magic with dirt as well."

"And I suppose you know just the pony to help me.”

"Ya looking at her."

Of course. Not enough saving Equestria multiple times, being friends with the Princess of Friendship and some sort of big rodeo star that apparently deserved a parade over a stupid barrel-throwing record. No. The dense pony who threw a fit on her doorstep over fruits had to be the mare with the magic Strawberry needed in her unfortunate moment.

"Big Mac can do it as well, this is how we keep apples growing all year long around these parts," Applejack said with pride "but I'm pretty sure I can deal with a few sprouts on my own."

The pegasus bit her lip. “I’m not sure, maybe I should go back to Ponyville and ask Trixie. She’s a great magician after all.”

Rainbow Dash let out a loud and boisterous laugh, managing to keep the cider on her mug despite the convulsions of her body. Rarity hit her with a reprehensive stare that the blue pegasus ignored.

“Ya quit this nonsense. I’ll go grab my coat and then we can go solve this problem of yours.”

Applejack disappeared inside the house without waiting for an answer. Strawberry stared at Zecora with furrowed brows, uneasiness born from the bluntness of the apple pony. She had reservations about that help and it showed.

“I say we should give her a chance, travelling all the way back to Ponyville will waste precious time in our circumstance.”

“Yeah, if AJ says she can do it, you can bet she can,” Rainbow added.

“I know her forthright attitude can come out a bit shocking, but Applejack means well. I assure you, Darling, no unicorn could handle it better on such short notice.”

“Fine,” she exhaled, returning the bag of seeds to the saddlebag.

Then Applejack returned. She brought an old oil lantern with herself, even older than Zecora’s, around her neck and a shovel strapped to her back. She grabbed the hat from Rainbow’s head and joined the Zebra and the Pegasus.

She reassured her friends that she needed no help at all and that they should stay inside and enjoy the party; she would be back faster than a three-legged pony in an apple-bucking competition and the comparison made Strawberry roll her eyes. Rainbow found that reassuring somehow.

“Just tell me where the other barrel of cider is before you leave.”

Applejack chuckled and the three of them entered the darkness of the orchard.

The trio followed in silence. The earth pony had the lead and guided them with ease through the thick mass of ice that covered that path, passing between the naked treetops. The branches seemed to return a faint glow, a vague impression easily overlooked when the light of the oil lanterns touched them.

Was that some side effect of using magic on them all year long? A trick of the snowflakes and light? If Strawberry didn’t know better she would say those apple trees covered in tacky apple patterned blankets were conscious of the trio passing around - even pleased with a visit so late.

She pushed the thought away. There was no time to waste wondering about impressions.

Soon the group hit the weirdest of all trees. It had a twisted trunk of two different colors that resembled the shape of a heart at the top and unlike any other trees in the orchard, that one kept all its leaves and even had fruits somehow - healthy apples and pears hung together in the branches despite the frost that covered them.

“That must be really a shame for such a fruit purist,” Strawberry commented with Zecora, as they approached the spot where Applejack stopped.

“This area here has the best soil in all the Acres,” the orange mare unstrapped the shovel of her back, “ but those tiny fellas won’t grow with snow hitting them up. Mind ya taking care of those?”

The pegasus looked up at the dark sky.

“Why don’t cover it with an umbrella or something?”

“I could do that, but those seeds wouldn’t bloom ‘till tomorrow supper.”

“What? I don’t have that much time.”

“The easiest way to grow in winter is with a greenhouse, but not the fastest,” she explained, “If ya need it faster than grass through a goose ya gotta give them some sky to reach up to.”

“That doesn't make any sense,” her soft voice was loaded with irritation. Was Applejack playing some kind of weird prank on her?

“Things in Equestria are bound to happen in mysterious ways. Applejack is not fond of lies, we should do as she says.”

Great. Just great.

The last time Strawberry had to deal with a cloud was many years ago at the Flight Camp. She moved small fluffy clouds between laps and obstacle courses and placed some altocumulus here and there like any other pegasus did a few times in their lives. She once knew how to create hoof made clouds, a knowledge blurred in her memories by never using it once in real life. But that was it.

She never had to put her hooves on an assembly of cumulus put so tight together they were almost one. During Winter Wrap Up she whispered into rabbit holes and nests; she woke up the animals with her soft voice every year since she came to Ponyville.

Strawberry Sunrise never had to disassemble the sky with other pegasi. She had no idea how to do it.

The yellow mare took the sky, grumbling, quite unhappy.

She flew around the giant mass of darkness and analyzed it, searching for an opening she could use - only to find none. Taking courage in a deep breath, Strawberry braced herself and pierced through the shapeless matter, solid as a thin wooden wall, with the thin frame of her body.

The snowflakes hit her face without mercy. It stung and made her eyes tear up from the cold.

Striking the opposite site as fast as she could, the pegasus detached that piece from the bunch. Her wet hair stuck to her head and her front hooves were numb. Pegasi could handle the cold much better than earth ponies and unicorns, but diving into snow clouds was a terrible idea no matter the tribe.

Then she placed her front hooves at the cumulus and pushed with all her strength. Nothing happened. Zecora and the Apple Pony watching her from below could never imagine how heavy condensed water could get; even Strawberry miscalculated.

She pushed again. Her delicate wings trembled with exertion.

A slight slide.

She pushed one more time and her cold cheeks became red, pressure taking over her temples. The piece of cloud moved inch by inch.

Maybe it would be easier if she wasn’t so tired to begin with. A sleepless night always took its toll on her body. By the time the pegasus opened a hole in the sky, she had lived a thousand nights.

Strawberry hovered back to the ground.

“Yeesh, ya wetter than a homeless apple bug in the monsoon season. We better fix some fire or ya gonna freeze here outside,” Applejack eyed her dripping coat up and down and the snowflakes clinging to her eyebrows with a pained expression.

“Worry none, a bonfire to warm us you can consider done,” Zecora disappeared into the shadows behind them. Strawberry trembled, her joints hurting with the cold.

“Can you do your thing now?”

Strawberry Sunrise watched the Apple Pony stuck the shovel in the ground with practiced ease right in front of the weird tree. She cleared the snow and found the dirt, checking the hole in the sky once in a while. Princess Luna raised only a slice of the last quarter moon that night so the farm around them wasn’t any lighter than before.

She let a groan of relief escape her lips when the Zebra set the fire in front of her. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the warmth like an embrace.

The earth mare kept digging.

There was something weird about it.

“What are you doing?” the pegasus raised a brow, suspicion taking over her features. Instead of a shallow bed in the soil to accommodate the seeds, there was a hole in the ground, big enough for a pony to hide inside. Strawberry and Zecora could see the top of the stetson peeking above the ground when Applejack sent another shovel of dirt up and away.

“Seeds ain’t that fond of growing without some good old sunshine. We gotta place them where the earth keeps the memory of summer.”

“Memory of summer, right,” Strawberry took the pouch from her saddlebag and delivered it to the pony in the hole.

Applejack placed the tiny seeds in her hoof. She whispered something to them with a warm voice and then placed each one in a fluffy soil bed at the bottom of the pit.

The earth pony closed her eyes. She stood still.

Strawberry watched closely.

Everypony knew how unicorn magic worked: there was the glow, there was the BAM, sometimes an aura and the result. She searched for a sign, a noise, a tremble on the ground, a shift in the air around them - something, anything.

Nothing.

“That’s it,” the apple pony stated.

Strawberry blinked a few times in confusion.

“I believe my eyes deceive, as no sprouts on the land I can perceive,” Zecora kneeled on the snow, squeezing her eyes.

Applejack chuckled. She projected herself out of the hole, her blue jacked spotted with dirt all around. “Y’all gotta wait for it.”

Strawberry lips moved downwards. She rubbed her temples.

“How long will it take?”

“No more than an hour, I reckon.”

The wings sprung to the sides of her body in reflex. There was a quiver underneath the feathers, the sum of worrying too much, pushing clouds way too heavy for herself and anger. The hole in her belly was replaced by a bitter taste in her mouth.

Why was there nothing to be seen? In her heart, Strawberry doubted more than ever that Earth Pony Magic, full of weird settings and special circumstances, would work at all.

“This is ridiculous,” she walked in circles, brows furrowed.

“If I try to make the seeds bloom faster, they may wither before they even sprout. Blooming on a winter night is a tough task.”

“I shouldn’t have taken your help in the first place. If I asked Trixie, I’d have those flowers by now.”

Applejack abandoned the side smile lighting up her features. Her face turned it into a scowl.

“Applejack kindly left her party to offer us aid, it’s up to us to appreciate her effort and wait.”

“You know I have no time to waste, Zecora. You know how much I need the potion,” Strawberry faced the Zebra. She saw the urgency in her eyes when the pegasus appeared at the door of her hut to beg for help. She knew the stakes. “How can you be so calm?”

“I understand the situation and share your distress, but taking it on the pony that is helping us won’t make it any easier nonetheless.”

“Not having even a leaf by now is not making anything easier either. How can I be patient if we’re standing here in the cold, waiting for some magic that might not even work?”

“Ya might want to take a look again” the orange mare pointed to the hole in the ground.

Inside the pit, five white dots appeared. They were easy to miss at first and Strawberry had to squint her eyes to notice the seedlings breaking through the beds, pushing the soil aside. She watched the subtle toil of the tiny steams to reach the world above, thickening slightly on the base, until the first bud appeared in two of them. The buds turned into petioles and a leaf in a matter of seconds.

Zecora hit her with a reassuring smile.

“Do not give in to despair, Strawberry Sunrise, the luck is by your side in this affair.”

The pegasus watched leaves appear, unfolding ever so slightly, warm hope took over her chest. She still had much to do that night. She was aware of many things that could go wrong, so she shouldn’t let herself get too excited before she had the potion in her hooves - but she allowed herself to breathe.

The flowers were just an idea so far, a quest, but now Strawberry had something concrete. The light at the end of the tunnel shone a little brighter.

“Told ya I could do it,” Applejack sat by the fire, arms crossed in front of her chest.

“What do we do now, Zecora?”

“The seeds are growing as you can see, so I shall come back to my hut in forest Everfree. There are other ingredients I must prepare, so when the flowers are ready, fly fast, and meet me there.”

Strawberry agreed. Applejack offered to guide her back to the entrance of the farm, but Zecora insisted she should stay and take care of the seedlings. She took the road between the apple trees, fading into the few stray snowflakes that fell from the clouds around the sky hole.

The pegasus bit her lip. Being alone with the apple pony after all she said was a bit awkward.

Applejack kept quiet, checking something on her shovel.The freezing wind brought the distant howl of a Timberwolf, or what Strawberry Sunrise believed to be the sound of one, according to the citizens of Ponyville.

“Can I ask you something?” Strawberry asked with her tired voice, sitting next to the fire and the orange mare mumbled. “Why are you helping me?

“Whaddya mean?”

“We’re not friends. You didn’t have to do any of this.”

Applejack raised a brow and gazed at her as if the pegasus asked about two-headed chickens running around the Acres. “It was just the right thing to do. What’s the point of Hearth's Warming if ya don’t lend a hoof to somepony who needs it?”

Strawberry didn’t expect that.

“I mean no offense, but ya look like ya need all the help ya can get tonight.”

The yellow mare straightened her posture and a hoof groomed her curly bangs without her realizing it.

“Why do ya need those flowers, anyway?”

“Shortcake is sick. Zecora said she could make a potion for him, but there was one ingredient missing.”

“Shortcake? I don’t recall anypony with that name.”

“He’s my puppy. Poor thing has fever and stomach ache since I got those Super Treaty Dog Treats Five-Thousand yesterday,” Strawberry Sunrise sighed, a knot forming on her throat. “I should know better, it’s a really stupid name for dog’s food anyway.”

“Ya didn't get them from two unicorns, red mane, this tall,” she gestured above her head, “sang a song out of nowhere, did ya?”

“How do you know that?”

“Horseapples! It’s not my first rodeo with those Flim and Flam brothers. Gotta any idea where they went?”

“The one with the mustache said something about going to Canterlot, I guess.”

“I’ll write a letter to Twilight later. We can’t let those good-for-nothing tricksters poison a puppy and get away with that.”

The apple pony grumbled a bunch of weird expressions about the lack of ethics from the unicorn siblings, and Strawberry found amusing the way she got all worked up over somepony else's problems.

She would love to see Flim and Flam face some consequences after all the trouble they brought about her and her little furball. The worrying, the aching, the cleaning, the knocking on the pony's doors - Dr. Fauna, Zecora, Rarity, twice.

Nopony should have to spend Hearth's Warming Eve that way.

“Listen, I’m sorry about before. Taking on your magic and all that.”

Applejack shook her head. “You know what? Forget about it. Ya having a plumb tough night, it’s easy to mess up with this kind of pressure on your shoulders."

“Tell me about it.”

“I was having one of those when we first met, I reckon.”

“Oh, you were? That explains a lot.”

“Let’s say I tried to be too honest with Rarity and ended up being real ugly with her and her friends.”

“Pff, there is no such thing as being too honest,” she dismissed the idea with a flick of her hoof.

“That’s what I thought back then as well."

Applejack stood up and walked to the border of the pit to check on the growing seedlings. A few leaves appeared near the ground level and Strawberry could see those tiny sprouts were now tall bushes that the apple pony assured to be healthy as an apple. She ignored the comparison and pictured Shortcake jumping frantically around the house once again.

So close now.

The ponies were surprised by a rainbow trail crossing the dark sky in great speed. It took the pony a few seconds to take a turn between the heavy clouds and land next to Applejack, splashing snow all over her. She almost dropped the oil lantern she brought for herself.

“Granny sent me to check on you. It’s time to put the dolls over the fireplace and Apple Bloom won’t do it without you,” Rainbow Dash looked around while the orange mare dusted her hat.

“We’re almost done here.”

“Great,” the blue pegasus hovered around her friend. She was loud and kept a loose smirk over her rosy cheeks. Strawberry could see that the mare has found that extra barrel of cider. “What kind of weird plant is this?”

“That’s some Silphium,” Applejack opened her mouth, but the yellow pony was the one to answer.

“Hmm, alright. Never heard about it.”

“Ain’t a surprise, it doesn’t grow around these parts. How did ya know that?”

“Had to do an entire book on the historical plants of Equestria once. I don’t think I can ever forget the shape of those leaves.”

The orange mare stared at her in surprise. “Whoa, never took ya for a writer.”

“I’m not. I do botanic illustrations.”

“You know who’s a writer? AJ,” Rainbow interjected, passing an arm around the orange neck, “she got this novel that she never finishes-”

“Rainbow Dash!”

“What? You’re stuck in that part Apple Chord goes to Fillydelphia for like, forever now.”

Applejack’s face turned into a bright shade of red.

“Stop it right now.”

"You should let Spike write it for you when you had the chance, ya know? Before you dismiss him as your assistant."

The sight of yellow flowers blooming over the holes made Strawberry pass over the annoyance of Applejack's scold and Rainbow’s laughing.

She trotted near the edge and watched the petals revealing themselves with agonizing slowness, one by one. The yellow pegasus held her breath and let her wings spread, hypnotized by the bushes.

Just two more now.

One flower to bloom.

That was it.

Strawberry bit her lips.

“I think they’re ready”, she called out the other mare with an excited voice and the orange mare untangled herself from the touchy pegasus. She cantered to her side, adjusting her hat.

“Eyup, that’s it,” she smiled.

Strawberry Sunrise opened her pink saddlebag and the apple pony picked the flowers, three from each bush, placing them inside with care. She scraped her front leg on the ground, anxious to take flight. The bothering dampness of her coat and the aching on her body seemed numbed and unimportant now that she had the flowers.

“Listen, if you ever finish your novel, I’ll do the cover for you.”

“What?” Applejack raised her brows a bit embarrassed, “Ya don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t’,” she strapped the bag and faced the other mare, “You're not my favorite pony in Equestria,but you’re not that bad after all.”

The earth pony chuckled.

“You saved me and Shortcake tonight. I’ll do cover for you.”

“Alright, then,” she offered a hoof and Strawberry shook it, holding a few seconds longer to show she meant it.

“Take this one with you, Everfree forest is too dangerous in the dark,” Applejack gave her the lantern around her neck, “I’ll use Rainbow’s”

“Thanks, Applejack. For everything. Merry Hearth's Warming Eve."

Strawberry Sunrise took the night sky with light burning inside her chest and over her coat. The last thing she heard was the tipsy blue pegasus asking where Zecora was and then only the howl of the wind filled her ears.

Now that she had the flowers, the awful night didn’t seem so bad anymore.

Author's Note: