The night before Hearth's Warming Eve was always jubilant. The lights and decorations were up,and ponies gathered around the town to sing carols. It was always a sight to see. The holiday spirit shone through every window. Lights were wrapped around trees and hung on every house roof line. Ponies stopped every so often to admire the adornments of the holiday spirit.
A pair of festivity admirers were walking down the street, one with a light orange coat, the other a deep red coat. Applejack and her older brother, Big Mac, scanned the street and took in the beauty around them. Applejack was wearing her straw cowgirl hat adorned with a piece of holly, a red scarf, and green winter boots. Big Mac had a big green scarf and a pair of awkwardly large earmuffs.
Applejack took a quick look over to Big Mac. “Thanks fer joinin’ me, Big Mac. I thought I was going to be on my own looking at these lights.” Applejack wished her friends could be here to see this as well. They sure would love this! she thought. But then, they had their own families they would be celebrating with-- and it was nice to have some one-on-one time with Big Mac. As they approached the edge of town, they heard the clanks and whistles of the train station. The decorations were beginning to thin out, but there were still pockets of enthusiastic designs to observe down the last street.
As they passed the Golden Carriage, a popular blue collar bar, the door flew open as a colt exited the establishment. Applejack thought she recognized a familiar purple mane at the counter of the bar. She blinked. Then she stared straight into the bar as a mare walked in, giving another opportunity to see who was at the counter. It was Twilight! Big Mac, oblivious to Applejack’s discovery, kept walking straight down the street. "Whoa! Big Macintosh, Ah see Twilight in the bar over there..."
Big Mac stared back at AJ with perplexity. His deep voice echoed her concern. “I thought she was in Canterlot with her parents?”
“Me too. Ah wonder what she’s doin’ back here in Ponyville,” pondered Applejack.
Applejack and Big Mac walked up the steps and into the bar. After they passed the threshold of the bar, Big Mac tapped AJ's shoulder, pointed at himself, then to an empty table. AJ nodded and walked up to the bar counter to an empty stool eat beside Twilight. Most of the patrons were mules and colts. Applejack stared at them as they raised glasses and voices to celebrate the end of another hard day’s work. Raucous laughter burst from different tables.
Twilight was wearing a light blue scarf and and two snow boots. The other two boots were on the ground next to her stool dripping with melted snow. Her saddlebag, filled with clothes and books, lay plopped on the ground without care. She anxiously spun a half-finished drink, which smelled like an almond liqueur. Her mane was unkempt, most of her hair uncharacteristically out of place. She appeared lost in thought, while staring into her drink.
Applejack interrupted her contemplation. "Hey there sugarcube," she said. Twilight looked up at her with surprise. "I thought you would be cozy with a cup of hot chocolate in Canterlot by now..."
Twilight presented a lackluster smile. "Oh hey, Applejack, what are you doing here?" she asked, giving her drink a quick glance. "Um, yeah... home... well I..."
Applejack sat down at the bar. She slapped her elbow on the counter and put on a confident smile. "You got a burr under your saddle, there, sugarcube? You’re lookin’ pretty down, ‘specially with it bein’ Hearth Warming’s Eve, and all.”
Twilight turned to her drink and looked down at it,slightly swaying her head to and fro, as through sorting out her thoughts. She suddenly dipped her head a bit closer to her chest. "Its about my parents. I haven’t talked to them or sent them a letter in almost a year. You know I've been busy; my studies have taken a lot of my time, not to mention all the stuff I do with my friends." She pushed out a loud sigh, "I’ve been a horrible daughter.” Twilight looked up to the ceiling and waved a hoof in the air. “I don’t know how I lost track of the time. I’m afraid that they might think I don’t care about them... that they’re going to be disappointed in me.” Twilight closed her eyes, covered her face with her hooves and sighed. “A year is such a long time.”
Applejack frowned. It wasn’t like Twilight to be so forgetful.
Beside her, the unicorn took another sip of her drink. “I think I should just stay in the library tomorrow. Maybe get some reading done.” The mare was practically trembling with guilt.
A calm passed over Applejack's face as she realized what Twilight was going through. Applejack looked down on the counter and noticed a train ticket next to Twilight’s drink. "Look Twilight, Ah see what yer thinkin’. Ah have to say, you have it all wrong." Twilight looked up with a tightened face. "Bein’ part of a family means yah gotta forget the past and live in the moment, an’ when your family sees you comin’ through the door, they’re gonna be happy - not mad, not disappointed - just happy."
Twilight looked at the mirror behind the line of bottles of wines and spirits. As she started to grasp the truth of Applejack’s words, the anxiety drained from her face. Twilight sat up in her stool. Pushed her forelegs against on the counter and straightening her back.
“Twi, this might be the coldest an’ harshest time of the year, but that don’t mean it can’t still be the happiest an’ warmest,” Applejack continued. She leaned in towards Twilight and placed her hoof on her shoulder. “You should see yer family.”
Twilight’s horn glowed purple, and the glow spread across her mane. It instantly arranged her mane to its usual smooth look. “Yes,” she said flashing a bright smile at her friend, “I need to go!”
Twilight waved down the stallion bartender. As Twilight settled her tab, Applejack looked over to Big Mac and saw him chatting with a friendly mare with a fuchsia coat and purple floppy mane. She was waving a green cocktail in a martini glass, rocking slowly back and forth, and mumbling something about only living once. Applejack smiled as Twilight tossed 6 bits on the counter. Twilight knelt down, put on her boots and saddle bag, then turned back to the bar. The train ticket was still sitting on the counter. Swallowing hard, she stared at it for a moment. She glanced at Applejack, who gazed earnestly back at her.
The ticket floated off the bar and tucked itself into her bag. Applejack smiled.
Slipping off the barstool, Applejack wrapped a foreleg around Twilight’s withers and led her towards the door. The two passed Big Mac and his new... acquaintance.
“Big Mac, Ah’m goin’ to show Twilight to the train station,” Applejack said with a smirk. “Ah’ll be right back.”
“Take your time. Ah think ah may order somethin’.” Big Mac looked over to the mare. “A cider probably,” he said with a chuckle.
Snow flurries began to fall as the two mares walked towards the train station. Some of the lights had been turned off for the evening, leaving the street dim and cold.
“Thanks AJ,” Twilight started.
Applejack straightened her neck. “Fer what?”
“Calming my nerves, I guess... but, I’m still afraid that I won’t... I won’t...” she looked up at Applejack, apparently at a loss for words.
“Won’t what, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
Twilight’s brow furrowed. It was clear to Applejack she wasn't used to this. Twilight was a pony to whom words usually came so easily.
“That I won’t be able to, uh, keep it together. I guess,” she said. “That I’ll break down when I get closer to home, that I won’t be able to handle letting them down...”
Applejack felt compassion for her friend and frowned.
They reached the entrance of the train station. The sounds of the idling train hummed in the air. The steam floated low on the platform. There were no decorations around, except for a dull wreath on the ticket window.
Applejack giggled, then composed herself. “Do yah know what a group of unicorns is called?”
Twilight looked at the train. She cracked a smile and chuckled. “It’s called a ‘blessing.’” Her eyes were watering.
The moment was interrupted by the ear-splitting blast of the train whistle.
“Now hurry! Say ‘hi’ to yer ‘blessing’ fer me, an’ don’t worry your pretty little head,” Applejack hollered.
Twilight reached into her bag and pulled out her ticket. She showed it to a conductor and hopped into the cart. She found her window seat just as the train gave a loud hiss and bumped forward. With a deep thud, a sharp clack, and then lurched a notch faster. Twilight opened her window, stuck her hoof out, and started waving excitedly.
“Thank you Applejack! Have a great Hearth's Warming Eve! Thank you!”
Alone on the platform, Applejack took her hat off and waved it gleefully. She watched Twilight wave her foreleg until she disappeared into a distant swaying snow. Applejack slid her hat back on. She stood and watched the train until it was almost out of sight. She turned around, giving the train one last glance. As she strolled to the exit, her mind wandered to her own family. A warm feeling rose in her chest. Suddenly, her grin faded from her face.
“Oh no, Big Mac! Ah hope he ain’t gittin’ himself into any trouble.”
