Twilight’s steps got less heavy the closer she got to the tree. Autumn was just around the corner, and some of the tree’s leaves had started to turn into a yellowish brown.

“Sorry for being late,“ she said, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

She walked around the tree, examining the trunk. There were no signs of sprouts, or disease on the bark. It looked as healthy as ever. Satisfied, she let out a sigh and opened her saddlebags, rummaging through them until she found a nice set of shears.

“It’s time for your pruning, so let’s get you looking your best, all right?”

She took the instrument in her magic and looked up at the branches, searching for any sign of dead branches. Be it too many dead leaves, or spots where the bark was falling off, her eyes traced every branch, stopping whenever she found one and carefully levitated the shears towards it. With a quick press, she cut off the offending limb and put them all in a pile near the base of the trunk.

“The weather team will clear the skies tomorrow, so you’ll have plenty of sunlight,” Twilight said as she leaned on the tree, trying to get closer to a particularly tough branch. After a while of struggling, it finally relented and she could remove it. “Well, someone’s being stubborn today.”

Satisfied with the work she’d done, she gave a nod and stepped back. She put the shears back into her saddlebags and took out a small shovel.

“Things have been calm around town for the past week. Although there was this travelling carnival which came to town around the twelfth, there were lots of performers, and there was a fireworks show at the end, but I don’t think you could see it all from here.”

A smirk crossed Twilight’s face at her words. Sitting down, she started digging around the base of the tree.

“One meter around the base… Five centimeters into the ground…” she mused as she slowly digged, “Soil’s moisture is at optimal levels! ”

Happy with the result of her test, she returned the ground to its normal state and put the shovel back into her saddlebags. She looked back at the tree, and shot it a playful smirk.

“There’s a  light downpour scheduled for this weekend anyway, so don’t you worry about that, you’ll get plenty of water.”

She stood up and walked towards the tree, nestling down on the base of its trunk and looking up at the canopy.

“AJ will be coming on Saturday. She’s going to make sure you’re properly fertilized and healthy. She knows more about trees than me, just be patient with her, you know her eyes aren’t quite what they used to be.”

Twilight rubbed her forehead, feeling the wrinkles move as she did. She looked up at the sky and at the clouds gently being pushed by the wind. A few had clumped together and now made Twilight think back of a pegasus wing as it beat against the wind. After a while of staring at the clouds up, a reddish tint crept into the sky. Just as she started to feel her joints react to the dropping temperature, she stood up and looked down at the plaque on the base of the tree.

“I have to get going… See you next time, Rainbow.”

Twilight’s eyes lingered on the name and date emblazoned in the bronze plaque, but soon enough she turned around, and walked away.