Updraft pointed to a sign post close to the whirlpool, and the Apple sisters read it.

“Welcome to the Poetry Course! Test your knowledge of Flourish Prose’s greatest works, and be rewarded with everything you need for the traditional Prose Night supper. If you can guess the final word of all five Prose poems at all five of the course’s doors in less than twenty minutes, you win.”

Applejack and Apple Bloom looked back at Updraft.

“Tundra stole the entire town’s supply of garlic cheese toast fixings and stashed it in an air pocket she made on the bottom of the lake,” said Updraft glumly. “And even with all his hoof washing and house scrubbing, Professor Lactic’s caught a bug. He’s totally withdrawn. Migraine and all. He can’t do anything to undo Tundra’s spell.”

Applejack scratched her head. “So you can’t celebrate Prose Night without garlic cheese toast, and the only way to get it back is…”

“It’s not garlic cheese toast I need to celebrate Prose Night!” interrupted Updraft. “It’s my family! And without my stepsister, what’s the point?”

Murmurs erupted from around them. Applejack observed that some of the listening Loch Azure residents who were returning home from the station were nodding approvingly at Updraft’s statement, and others were sniffing.

One small crowd caught Apple Bloom’s eye. They were a trio of foals who didn’t have cutie marks. The opportunity to start a new division of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was too great to pass up. Apple Bloom sauntered away while Applejack and Updraft were talking. But before she could approach the foals, she was sprinkled by snow.

“Sorry,” said Lightning Dust from above. “This one’s not quite empty. Thought I’d check all the clouds before I gotta shove them all away tomorrow.”

Apple Bloom didn’t understand at first as she looked up and watched Lightning Dust crossly moving snow clouds around the sky, but then she remembered something.

“The ponies in this town use magic to wrap up winter, don’t they?” she asked.

“Not this time,” sighed Lightning. “With Tundra given the boot and Lactic sick as a dog, I’m gonna have to get the weather team together and…”

“Wrap it up manually?”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s how we do it in Ponyville,” grinned Apple Bloom.

Lightning Dust descended down to join Apple Bloom on the ground, wearing a puzzled expression. The crowd around them thinned out as ponies returned to their homes.

“But you’ve got lots of talented unicorns in Ponyville, don’t you?” Lightning asked. “Are yours all sick too?”

“No, no. It’s just our tradition. Ponyville was founded by my granny and her family years ago,” Apple Bloom explained. “And all my family are earth ponies. So they wrapped up winter without magic every year, even when the population went up and unicorns moved in.”

Lightning Dust scratched her chin. “Every year, huh? And it works every time? Right on time and all?”

“Uh… well, we-we beat our record last year,” stammered Apple Bloom.

“I’m starting to like the sound of this whole magicless Winter Wrap-Up thing,” grinned Lightning Dust.

“And I kinda like the sound of the traditional Prose Night supper,” said Apple Bloom.

Lightning Dust’s smile vanished. “I think I’ll give it a miss this year. And it looks like I’m not the only one.”

“Apple Bloom!”

“Oh, I better go. See ya, Lightning.”

“K. Bye.”

Apple Bloom rejoined her big sister as Lightning Dust went airborne again.

“I decided that if I’m gonna figure out why the map sent me here, I should try out this here Poetry Course,” said Applejack. “But I ain’t much of a hoof with poetry. So can you come with me and keep track of time?”

“No problem,” nodded Apple Bloom. “Just twenty minutes, right?”

“That’s what Tundra’s sign says,” replied Applejack.

“Where’s Updraft?” asked Apple Bloom.

“She said she’s gonna spend the rest of the day with her parents,” said Applejack. “I think it’s great that she’s so devoted to her family and all, but without their traditional Prose Night stuff, what are they gonna do?”

“We did OK without our traditional Hearth’s Warming stuff at the Pie family’s rock farm. Remember?”

“That’s true. But we had their traditions to try out,” said Applejack. “And they did get to try some of ours. But here, these ponies have nothing. It might as well be any ordinary day without something to celebrate the occasion with. And even if goin into the whirlpool and getting their fixins back ain’t the answer, it’s a place to start, ain’t it?”

“I guess so,” Apple Bloom agreed.

The two sisters entered the hole in the surface of Loch Azure.

“I don’t like our chances of gettin too far,” admitted Applejack. “If that try-hard Lightning Dust didn’t make it all the way to the end…”

“What’s that?” asked Apple Bloom, pointing ahead.

Applejack looked ahead and saw words floating in the distance.

“Could it be a poem?” asked Applejack, picking up the pace.

She was partly right. The words made up an incomplete poem.

‘THE FINEST LAKE I SHALL EVER SEE. AS BLUE AND GLITTERY AS THE…’

Beyond the floating words was a wall of lake water.

“You’re counting the time right?” asked Applejack.

Apple Bloom nodded.

“Good girl. Now let’s see.”

Applejack barely even had a thought when the final word appeared at the end of the sentence.

“SEA? Did I…?”

The wall of water parted, and the deep blue hallway extended for Applejack and Apple Bloom to proceed.

“OK, so we just gotta say what we think the last word of the poem is,” smiled Applejack.

She stepped forward, followed by a very unimpressed Apple Bloom.

See and Sea are practically the same word. Is that the best Flourish Prose could do? she thought.

Applejack was thinking along the same lines, and figured that maybe this was just an easy one to get the challenge started.

“They’ll be gettin harder the further in we go,” she said as the next set of floating letters appeared.

‘AS THE PEGASI’S NIGHTTIME WIND BLEW, I GAZED OUT AT THE LAKE OF…’

Applejack was tempted to say Blue, but thought that would be too obvious. So she tried other rhyming words.

“Dew? Huh, that’d sure be a lot of it. Goo? Nah, this water’s too clean.”

If Apple Bloom hadn’t been counting the seconds, she might’ve been able to point out the obvious. Soon, Applejack decided to blurt out the word Blue on the off chance that it was right. And sure enough, the second poem disappeared and the third section of the whirlpool opened.

“Really? Well, I’ll be a barn cat’s mamma,” chuckled Applejack.

As they ventured on, Apple Bloom lost her concentration. So far, these poems by the late great Flourish Prose were a disappointment. She’d been thinking of presenting what she’d learned down in that lake for Show And Tell in class when she got back to Ponyville, as Cheerilee had never covered poetry by Flourish Prose. Now though, it looked like it wouldn’t be worth bringing up to all her classmates.

Applejack took her time on the third poem as well. The answer to this one also seemed too obvious.

‘EVER SINCE I WAS ONLY FOUR, I WONDERED WHAT ALL THE WORRY WAS…’

Applejack went through the entire alphabet, wondering if this was something Zecora went through every time she opened her mouth.

Apple Bloom lost patience. “For!”

Gone was the third Prose original, and clear was the path ahead.

“So that’s the problem,” sighed Applejack. “This is why nopony’s made it to the end. The ponies in this town are so fiercely proud of the famous poet who lived here, they’re taking finding out his stuff was real predictable real hard.”

“And now they don’t think it’s worth going the whole way and getting all their garlic and green onions and stuff,” put in Apple Bloom. “If we can get it for em, problem solved.”

“I dunno about that,” said Applejack. “Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash didn’t solve that problem in Griffonstone by getting that idol thingy for em.”

“But everypony here is miserable that they can’t have their Prose supper,” said Apple Bloom. “Lightning Dust said she’s not gonna bother. I’ll bet other ponies are doing the same.”

“OK, we’ll keep going and get their stuff,” Applejack decided. “Then we’ll see how they react before we make our next move.”

‘UNDER SUN, SNOW, FOG, AND RAIN, THIS TOWN IS UNDER THE MONSTER’S…’

“Reign.”

The fourth poem made both Applejack and Apple Bloom cringe.

“I wonder if Twilight knows how talentless Flourish Prose was,” said Apple Bloom as she and Applejack ventured on to the fifth and final poem.

“She did say he was liked in his own time. Probably don’t mean a thing to her that standards have gone up since then,” shrugged Applejack.

The sisters dragged their hooves as they approached the final poem. Their feeling that the final poem would be particularly disappointing proved quite justified.

‘FOR FEAR OF RAMPAGE IN THE NIGHT, I’D LOVE TO BE GUARDED BY A…’

“Please, be anything else,” groaned Apple Bloom. “A kite, maybe?”

“Don’t be silly, Apple Bloom. Whoever heard of a kite fightin off a big ol’ monster? Knight!”

Both sisters shook their heads as the path cleared up and revealed the final watery corridor. They walked a distance and soon spotted several crates and drums.

“Boy, this stuff’ll tide a whole Apple Family Reunion over,” gasped Applejack.

Apple Bloom sniffed, then recoiled. “That garlic’s pretty powerful.”

“How long do you think it’ll take to lug it all back to town?” asked Applejack.

“I don’t… uh oh! I lost track of time!”

“Oh, fritters! Come on! The corridor’ll stay there if we touch the…!”

The watery walls were falling apart.

“Hurry, Apple Bloom!”

They made it to the garlic cheese bread supplies just before the pathway behind them disappeared. The air pocket keeping the foodstuffs from getting waterlogged held up, but didn’t provide much space for Applejack and Apple Bloom. They both had to stand with parts of their bodies making contact with the freezing lake water. They knew they wouldn’t manage to swim to the surface. They were trapped.

“If I wasn’t gonna have a Prose dinner by myself tonight, what makes you think I’ll have one with you, Updraft?” demanded Lightning Dust.

“Why not?”

“Without garlic cheese toast and red onion, it might as well just be another normal…”

“Red onion?” Updraft interrupted. “It’s green onion.”

“Oh. Right. My family garnish our cheese toast with red onion,” said Lightning Dust.

“Why?” asked Updraft.

“That was all we had one year. None of us noticed much of a difference, so we kept doing it,” explained Lightning Dust.

Updraft chuckled. “Nice. You know, my family has a slightly different Prose Night tradition too. We each get a loaf rather than slices.”

“Cool,” said Lightning Dust. “But loaves or slices, we won’t have either of them. It won’t be any different than last night. And today’s supposed to be a special day. It’s not now. Not even AJ and her sister could…”

“Hey, where are AJ and her sister?” asked Updraft.

“Uh, Applejack called Apple Bloom over for something while she was telling me about Winter Wrap-Up,” Lightning Dust told her. “I don’t know what she wanted.”

“Hey, I’ve heard of that. Ponyville doesn’t clean away their snow with magic,” said Updraft. “The story is that when Princess Twilight came to town, she didn’t think she had anything to contribute until she discovered that she could organise it better than Amethyst Star.”

Lightning Dust smiled. “Imagine what Applejack and Apple Bloom could bring to Prose Night’s traditions.”

“Do you suppose they tried to beat Tundra’s challenge?” asked Updraft.

“Sounds like something they’d do. They must have given up by now. I don’t think anyone could make it all the way. The cringe is all too real,” Lightning Dust shuddered.

“Then where would they go from here?”

They sat and thought for a minute.

“They wouldn’t leave would they?” asked Updraft. “Could those poems have driven them outta town?”

“Rainbow Dash told me no one on the Royal Taskforce leaves the place the Cutie Map sends them to until they achieve their mission,” insisted Lightning Dust. “And she never left Equestria after her last mission, so I’m sure she wasn’t lying.”

“In that case, they didn’t manage before the time ran out. And they’re stuck down there,” concluded Updraft.

“Then we gotta get em out!” said Lightning Dust. “I don’t wanna go into Winter Wrap-Up tomorrow blind.”

“You’re really on board with that idea, aren’t you?” smiled Updraft.

“Sorry, big sis,” sighed Apple Bloom. “I wasn’t any help to ya at all.”

“Well, at least I ain’t stuck down here alone,” said Applejack. “And we won’t starve.”

Apple Bloom’s face twitched a bit.

“‘Sides, I didn’t think to tell anypony we were goin down here,” Applejack went on. “No pony wants to have to deal with all them crummy poems, so…”

The air pocket expanded.

“And that’s a record!” they heard Lightning Dust call.

“They came for us!” cried the Apple sisters.

The horizontal whirlpool appeared before them, and in came Lightning Dust, who gave Apple Bloom a hug, and Updraft, who hugged Applejack.

“Thanks, y’all,” smiled Applejack.

Words appeared in the exit threshold.

‘CONGRATULATIONS. SO WHAT HAVE YOU DISCOVERED FOR YOURSELF?’

“That’s an easy one,” smirked Lightning Dust.

Applejack and Apple Bloom thought they could smell a rant against Tundra coming, but Updraft’s smile put them off.

“I’ve learned that you need both ponies and things to make up a holiday celebration,” said Lightning Dust.

“Neither is more important than the other,” nodded Updraft in agreement. “The traditional food you eat are what make the holiday what it is.”

“And friends and family make each of the celebrations unique,” said Lightning Dust.

The Apple sisters faces lit up. They knew this to their cost.

“And we owe it all to you two,” said Updraft warmly.

Each of the four ponies carried some cheese toast supplies back through the whirlpool towards the shore.

“There are three teams. The planting team, the weather team, and the animal team,” Apple Bloom was explaining Winter Wrap-Up to Lightning Dust and Updraft. “The weather team clears the snow and moves the clouds. The planting team gets the seeds planted. And the animal team wakes up all the hibernating animals.”

Applejack beamed. “You ain’t never taken part in Winter Wrap-Up, but you got it down.”

“Yeah. Too bad I had to miss it,” sighed Apple Bloom.

“You’ll get your chance tomorrow,” Lightning Dust nudged her. “I don’t think anyone’ll hate the idea once we give it to em.”

“You may not need to,” said Applejack, “but if ya like the idea, you’re totally welcome to try it.”

“Well, we do need to,” sighed Updraft. “My stepsister…”

“Is there!”

The first thing the party saw when they exited the Poetry Course was Tundra. She didn’t appear sore about her challenge being beaten. She looked rather pleased.

“I never wanted to leave,” she said. “I’m…”

“Didn’t want to miss out on garlic cheese loaves, huh?” frowned Lightning Dust.

“How did you…?”

Lightning Dust couldn’t keep a straight face. “I’m game.”

Word spread that there was nothing to stop the traditional Prose supper from happening that night. As Applejack and Apple Bloom discovered, some residents of Loch Azure have taken to picnicking out on the lake on Prose Night recently. The only pony in town who missed out was Prof Lactic, but a few ponies dropped a care package of fresh garlic cheese toast off at his house. Applejack and Apple Bloom had a lovely evening out on the lake despite the cold, Lightning Dust thought having a whole loaf of garlic cheese toast was a treat, and Updraft, Tundra, and their parents had no complaints about the diced red onion garnish. And the supper was concluded by Applejack’s cutie mark glowing and buzzing.

“Guess we’re done with our mission,” she said, pulling Apple Bloom into a hug.

“Sorry you’ve got to go,” said Tundra.

“Hey, I said we’re done with our mission. Not that we’re done in this town,” said Applejack.

“Yeah, they’ve gotta stick around for Winter Wrap-Up tomorrow,” said Lightning Dust. “I want them to see us beat Ponyville’s record.”

“Oh, you think you can break our record on your first Winter Wrap-Up without magic?” smirked Applejack. “I’ll take that bet.”

Author's Note

Anicdote: A few weeks ago at work, I realised it was January 25th, and said out loud that Burns Night was that night. The guy next to me heard and asked what that was. So I attempted to explain, but I was half awake. I said it was a Scottish celebration dedicated to George Burns. My co-worker chuckled and said he liked that old dude with the glasses. I thought to myself Something about what I said doesn't feel right. But I didn't figure it out until hours later. I am not a morning person.