What Friends are For (Zecora/AB)

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Even in winter, there was still a lot to do on a farm. And unlike the other seasons, she wouldn't just get a mild scolding for leaving a tool out. Snow and rain came in turns and either could fade away the grade A quality of a new doodad in short order. And if they could do that to something as sturdy as a rake, you better believe they could wreak havoc on a toy. For all the magic that came alive in winter, there was a lot of things to be aware of. But she was Apple Bloom. Up and coming great pony just like her big sister and big brother were. Maybe even greater!

So for someone like her, remembering important things was no problem. She just... had to double check a few places where high priority situations may have called her away from the important duty of keeping everything in its place. And that... Well remembering all of those places was possibly turning into a bit of an issue. Sort of. But for now, there were no witnesses, so she was still in the clear.

The filly tromped around outside. The cold ground was not covered in snow, but a hard, frosty mixture of dirt and frozen water had formed a slippery layer on top of the ground. She had been felled by this foe many times throughout her life. Farm soil had more give than regular dirt. In mixture with sleet, it could be a crafty opponent. She had to be careful not to let it get to her while she was distracted by her task. As a breeze of chilling air filtered through her thick mane, her mind began to fill in the ordinary with something new.

Suddenly, she was taken away from the mundane chore of cleaning up after herself and brought to a desolate mountain journey. Apple Bloom had to find all of the supplies or her team would never make it to the safety of the summit. And time was running because... uh... because of a monster! And somepony had a broken leg! Yeah! The stakes really were high!

The daring adventure took over her sense, causing her to walk with more bounce and less precision. And then, with a fantasy fueled misstep, the stimulated youngster found herself in the dirt. Before she could rise, the figure of a grown shape entered her peripheral. Oh great.

The filly looked up, afraid of who it might be that had come all the way out to her family's property. She couldn't imagine anyone she would be happy to see while her body was sprawled out like a fool's.

”Zecora! What are y'doin' all th'way out here?” She asked in excitement, bouncing up from her fallen position.

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Zecora shut the door of her hut, bit and tugged the simple iron dooring, then turned it just a little to the right, and the lock clicked on. Then, she carefully lowered what looked merely like a simple thin tree branch in front of the bottom of the door. It was a trap, of course, but a harmless one. Many of the animals in the Everfree were intelligent enough to open a door, but they all had a common fear of bright, fiery light, and a simple langa stick usually did the trick even in that wild place. Giving her dark, quiet home the slightest nod, she pulled the hood of her winter cloak over her head, checked that the flaps of her saddlebags were tied firmly, then began to walk away.

By now, she had journeyed towards Ponyville so many times that her path was now an actual path of firm, trodden soil and grass. As she walked, the Everfree morning was much like the morning of a more normal forest. As ice and rime in the trees thawed and cracked, trickles of ice water rode down the bark, waking lichen gone pale. Above and around, crows squawked and sparrows tweeted, having their morning conversations. Winter was more their time of the year, many of the predators of the Everfree gone into hibernation. Since the birds here didn't migrate, their beaks were tougher to pierce the cold ground in search of food. The beaks made for a good thickener for brews, though it took more time than she liked to grind them into a powder. Her ears perked under her hood as a pair of the crows darted out of a bush in front of her.

In about half an hour, she exited from the Everfree, her hooves wet with slush and soil, and a brief gust tickled her nose with frost. After a little sniffle, she continued her light steps onto the crunchy grasses, her eyes still looking out calmly over the landscape. Her path took her near and around a cottage with a bird coop, smoke rising from the chimney in steady wisps. Zecora hopped over the creek near the cottage. Soon, silvery minnows would be darting through the water, no doubt feeding the brown bear the Pegasus tended to keep as company. Soon, she'd have to stop by Fluttershy's home, if nothing else than to ask if there was anything she could offer the kind mare. Zecora gave another sniffle, catching the scent of her usual coinbag of camphor in her left bag, and kept with her walk.

In over an hour, her walk took her around the large village (or was it a small town?), and she walked past the first of Sweet Apple Acres' countless apple trees. Soon, the first buds of the tree flowers would appear and open, and the orchard would become a place of hard work and honest beauty. Hopefully, the Apples would not mind her coming to ask what she set out to ask. And if they did, at least she would be able to offer them wishes for rich blossoms and richer harvests. But before she could even begin to see the family's barn, she heard a small voice grunt along with the crunch of the soft, yet crunchy ground. Zecora rose over a small hill, and next to one of the trees, she saw the youngest, Applebloom, sprawled on top of the ground, frost and dirt clinging to her shoulder, yet not the large pink bow she wore in her mane.

”Zecora! What are y'doin' all th'way out here?” But indeed, there was a sense of that phrase about fillies being made of springs, and Applebloom was on her hooves again, as if the very earth were a trampoline. Zecora sighed and smiled.

"A good morning to you, young Applebloom." She nodded the hood of her cloak off, her larger ears wiggling and lowering in the cold, breezy air. "I come today to wish you well and offer my labor, as I would today also come to ask of your family a favor. But my request is small and this is more a social call, and if you are out here so early, there surely must be a task to be done urgently."