//------------------------------// // X October // Story: Twilight's Blog // by Frith //------------------------------// Books Oct 1: While we were out trudging through the snow Princess Cadence continued to mail me books. I got another package today. Some books are more interesting than others, and even with these shipments I'm getting low on things I'd like to read. Should I go pester Moondancer in Canterlot, or should I see what I can find in the old ruined castle of the Pony Sisters in the Everfree? We had intended to fix the old castle up, but that plan has fallen by the wayside. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Night Life Oct 2: The nights are cooler now, cooler and quieter. I got a hot mug of chocolate peppermint tea, set out a comfortable cushion, aimed my telescope up into the inky black abyss and watched the stars. Most of the constellations were up and taking their places in the night sky. The pegasus and foal constellations among them, high in the sky. It's not the same pegasus as the constellation that rescued us. The one that charged in through Winter's storm and watched over us until we'd just about reached the dawn. This I'm sure. There are a lot more stars out there than I'd imagined. Equestria, or pre-pony Equestria, must be much older than I'd assumed for there to be so many stars. As Luna's moon rose ever higher, I wrapped myself in my blanket on my balcony and peered up at the stars through my telescope. Directly above me walked the pegasus and foal constellations. They did not stop or look down. They kept going, doing their own thing, walking across the sky. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Hot Tub Oct 3: Everypony has caught up with mucking out the tasks that got stabled while we were out marching through the cold, dark wilderness. So we went to the spa! We're all still a bit gaunt, despite eating like horses since we got back. At least it seems to me all I do is eat. The spa ponies noticed. They also noticed how worn our hooves were and how frayed our coats had become from chafing against horse blankets day and night. As always, Rainbow Dash hates to get her hooves filed and she's not too keen on having her coat curried, but she's all for soaking in the hot tub. So the spa ponies added some great fragrant oils to the hot tub and after we'd soaked in that for a while we came out looking shiny and new. Dash really looks great when her coat is shiny like that. The rest of us had our hooves trimmed while Dash looked on and winced. She'll trim them herself later. After the spa we headed over to Sugarcube Corner for some fresh hot muffins and tea. Pinkie knows the baker and arranged for them to be hot out of the oven when we arrived. We won't be gaunt for long! °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Quality Over Quantity October 4: I really need new books. What I've picked up so far is a pretty eclectic mix, not too surprising since they were all given to me in a short span of time. Many are probably books ponies didn't wish to keep anyway, and what with the Golden Oak Library burning to the ground, sending them to me was an easy way to give them a new home. The Golden Oak had a really good collection of books, one that was accumulated over many years. Useful books, reference books, recommended books, books ponies wanted to read but not necessarily buy. My new collection... Well, a lot of genre fiction reads like retreads of the same story with the names and the places changed. "Buck Billets loosened his necktie and let it slip to the ground as he stepped into the moonlit clearing. I could smell the musk of hot sweat slicking his coat, glistening on his neck and tracing small rivulets that ran between his magnificent bulging pecs. As he arched his neck enticingly, I felt a shiver of anticipation go through me, like a pink cloud of butterflies had landed on my back and were now dancing up my withers, only to launch back into the air." And so on and so forth. Hanoverian Romance novels and the like. Not exactly useful reference books. So I trotted off through the Everfree Forest and to the ruins of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's old home. I didn't want to stay long, or return home through the forest after dark, so I just borrowed a few books. I came home with a reference guide to constellations, shooting stars and comets, a beginner's manual for gem growth and tuning, and a book on how to create perpetual self-feeding water features for homes and gardens. I wonder if the Treecastle would look better with a permanent rainbow waterfall pouring from one of the balconies? °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° The Lure of Lore Oct 5: As I was walking back home from the ruins of the castle of the two princesses yesterday, it occurred to me that I could maybe invite Moondancer to come over and visit this library. After sleeping on it, I still thought she'd like that. So I dictated a letter to Spike asking Princess Celestia and Princess Luna permission to show Moondancer their old castle and book collection. Spike can send scrolls directly to Princess Celestia and she to him, so I got an instant reply. Yes. Blanket permission. I can invite anypony as I see fit. I wrote letter to Moondancer, inviting her over to browse a thousand-year-old book collection. I suggested a date five days from now. She will probably say yes. I know her weakness. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Taking a Chance Oct 6: I am relatively certain Moondancer will heed the call of old books and catch the train to Ponyville. Assuming she's fine with the date I set, even though it's a bit short notice, I should prepare. I decided to invite Zecora to the library as well, and to top off the day with a supper at the castle. Supper for nine, Spike and my friends included. I went early to the market with Spike and we bought a lot of food. Fortunately I have a lot of hay, so we didn't have that to carry that home. We only bought food that would still be fresh four days from now. Some things, like the silage, will have to wait until the supper day. Have you ever had day-old silage? It goes bad very quickly. Spike will be preparing the supper while we're out browsing books. It may or may not include cheese quesadillas. Eww. Just for laughs. As long as they're very far away from me on our very large dining room table. With the supper, this means more invitations! This afternoon I went around, first to Zecora's hut, then to my friends houses, to invite them all. Zecora said yes, as did everypony else. So far so good. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Pegasus Eye View Oct 7: I received another box of books from Princess Cadence. A lot of them were more romance novels and outdoor adventure books. I wonder if I can pass them on to somepony else. My coat's getting thicker. It makes me look a bit less thin. Or it could be all those oat muffins I've been eating. I should ease up a bit on those before I get colic. My balcony gives me a great view of the fields and woods. Every day I can see the change of the fall season. Just from the yellowing of the standing corn stalks and where the trees have burst into color you can tell where ponies like to stroll and where they pause. The green land is crisscrossed with wavy lines of red, yellow, orange and brown, interrupted by wide patches in full fall glory. With each passing day those lines grow larger and merge. It's the sunset of the trees. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Wet Weather Oct 8: It was a rainy day today, one of those grey fall days with a slow drizzle that pauses every so often, so ponies without umbrellas or the desire to get wet can dash from one building to another. A good day to stay inside with a good book and a pot of hot spice tea. I did go out a few times and on one of my sorties I dropped in on Rainbow Dash. She told me that the weather will be clear day after tomorrow. Hopefully that will be true of the Everfree Forest. That place is dreary enough without rain showers masking the approach of wild things and the paths turning into mud. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° All Set Oct 9: I got my reply from Moondancer in the morning mail: she said yes! I expect her tomorrow morning. It will be me, Zecora and Moondancer exploring the stacks of the old castle library. Fun, fun, fun! Today I got ready, preparing the picnic and double-checking the shopping list for Spike. While we're out he's going to buy the remainder of the perishables and cook up a supper for nine. We made the pumpkin sesame soup today, but the rest will have to wait until tomorrow. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° The Books in the Wild Woods Oct 10: I am so stuffed. I think I ate way too much pie. Today was the day to visit the old library in the ruins with Zecora and Moondancer! Moondancer arrived with the morning train from Canterlot, where I found her disembarking with her nose buried in a book (Observer's Guide to Ponyville and Surrounding Area). We nipped off to the Treecastle to collect the picnic baskets and wasted no time heading off to the Everfree Forest. A whole library awaited and no time to waste! On the way we dropped off at Zecora's cottage. She was ready to trot so after a quick introduction we were back on track to the ancient castle of the pony sisters. It's fall in the Everfree too. There isn't nearly as much color in the trees as there is in Ponyville and the forest forbs and bushes have lost a lot of leaves. Fortunately, it was not raining, just gloomy. We chatted as we walked, eventually crossing the suspended plank bridge and climbing the steps to the front door of the castle ruins. We had arrived! I showed Moondancer the throne room and the tapestries that Rarity had mended. We skipped touring the trap doors, hall of hooves and the 'organ to the outside' and instead went straight to the library. I opened the door to the Princess lounge and we got down to the business of combing the stacks for interesting books. We paused for lunch and I mentioned to Zecora that I had noticed that the leaves in the Everfree don't change color where we had walked by. The weather, the seasons, the creatures and the plants, all are independent of pony control and management in the Everfree. Maybe it's the Tree that runs this wild wood. Moondancer thinks that the dark north where Winter lives is also wild. Home to rocks, ice and stars. But no ponies. After lunch we were back between the pages, browsing through likely looking volumes. I put aside a few to borrow, as did Moondancer and Zecora. The afternoon fairly flew by, it was evening all too quickly. But we couldn't stay, we were expected for dinner in Ponyville. I'll write more tomorrow, Moondancer has an early train to catch and it has been a long day. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Nine For Supper Oct 11: Moondancer had stayed overnight and we got up early for tea and hay on toast for breakfast before she caught the morning train back to Canterlot. We made arrangements to meet up and go shopping for books in Canterlot three days from now. Yesterday I left off at where we were fixing to make our way back to Ponyville and an evening supper cooked by Spike. We put back the books we'd pulled off the shelves, which isn't easy when you keep seeing yet another book you'd like to read. (I could have brought Owlowiscious, but then he usually sleeps during the day.) Eventually we each had a small pile of books we were borrowing and everything else had been re-shelved. We bid farewell to the castle, crossed the plank bridge and headed back through the Everfree in the evening light. We were the last to arrive at the Treecastle. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were already sitting at the table and getting served soup by Spike. Pinkie knew we'd almost arrived. Zecora, Moondancer and I drew up our cushion chairs and sat down to Spike's pumpkin sesame soup. Spike had prepared bowls of fresh chopped alfalfa to sprinkle on top of the soup, and we passed these around. Yellow-orange soup and green bits, very colorful, and tasty. We talked of the expedition and of Moondancer's paper on her findings, to be published in the prestigious Journal of Cultural Hippology and Magic, pending approval of her third draft revision. These things usually go through a few revisions, the peer reviewers are pretty picky. Moondancer had not understood to what degree Friendship was key to the strength of the Hearth's Warming spell. In Winter's compelled dream state she was goaded to anger and away from the cheer she needed to feed the spell. It flickered and waned, it was never strong enough. With each passing day the spell was ebbing, fading down to that small spark that was all Moondancer could maintain by the time we had arrived. Friendship is my area of expertise. That gave me an edge, and my friends gave me the power we needed. All the other, smaller exploration and research parties were doomed the moment they set hoof (or paw) into Winter's grotto. We were lucky that we had surprised Winter with our strength. It gave us time to free all the explorers and to recruit them into feeding more cheer into the spell. Had Winter hammered us as he had on our trek home, we'd still be trapped there. Spike kept the food coming, all very delicious, except the cheese quesadillas. Quel horreur. Pinkie and Spike ate those. For dessert there was apple pie and Spike had found a large tub of dandelion and daisy ice cream. A last taste of summer, frozen but still fresh. An analog to our most recent adventure. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Mirrorverse Ethics Oct 12: Sunset Shimmer, my quill pal who is studying a mirrorverse, in person, wrote back today. She is mulling over my theory about what could happen if she continues to keep the mirrorverse time tethered to Equestria. She is also seriously considering concluding her study and returning to Equestria where she can better explore musical spells in a magical environment. It's not clear to me whether the two are connected. Either way, whatever motivates her to come back to Equestria is fine with me. She's also weighing the ethics of leaving her communication book with our mirror friends. If I'm right and the mirror universe time span reaches an end-point and winks out of existence, will she have caused the "deaths" of hundreds, maybe thousands, of these mirror people? But if she brings her book back with her and time goes back to a short oscillation, isn't that also the "death" of the mirror people? I can see now why she has been putting the whole thing off. I'm still expecting Star Swirl the Bearded to pop out of the woodwork there, but that hope is fading fast. I would have thought that Star Swirl would notice that the ponies he knew are not being mirrored and that there are way more beings there than there were ponies in his day. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Speaking Engagement Oct 13: I got a letter this morning from the Canterlot Explorer's Society. It's an invitation to speak at their dinner in six week's time. They have an "In The Field" series of lectures, with dinner, about every two weeks. That's one of the things I miss about Canterlot, lecture series! Well, I wrote back and accepted the invitation. Now I have a speaking engagement! As guest speaker, I'm allowed fourteen guests, all expenses paid. They may regret that. I went to the spa where I met up with Rarity and Fluttershy. I told them about the invitation while we sweltered in the sauna. They're in! After the spa we went to Sugarcube Corner for oven toasted fresh plain donuts and tea. I like to dip my toasted donuts in my tea and let them soak up as much tea as they can without crumbling. Fun and tasty! Pinkie joined us at our table. She's in too! Spike is in, of course. I just have to talk to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, if Pinkie doesn't find them first. Tomorrow I'm off to Canterlot to shop for books with Moondancer. I can invite her and Lemon Hearts then. Who else should I invite? °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Shopping For Books With Moondancer Oct 14: I took the train to Canterlot, went to Moondancer's house, and from there we went shopping for books. Her favorite bookseller had a good selection of speculative fiction, mostly published by Dell Neigh, Pace Speculation and Zebra Science Fiction. I picked up Foalhood's End by Halter C. Cart plus a few reference books. I looked at books on stone masonry, ceramics, topiary, meditation, embryology, cabinet making and at cookbooks. Shopping for my own collection is not the same as stocking a public library. So I got a cookbook and the book on meditation, plus The Art of Invisibility Spells and Thornhoof's Brief History of Canterlot (two books I lost when the Golden Oak was destroyed). This reminds me, I should see if Applejack will lend me her past issues of Poplar Mechanics magazine. After buying our books we went to a nearby café to eat. Moondancer passed to me two of the five books she had borrowed from the ancient castle library. Snow Flake Architecture, and Star Formation. She had finished reading them and asked me to return them. We talked of the mirror verse that Sunset Shimmer is studying, how it must be artificial, unlike the Breezieverse. We mulled over whether it could be a real, independent universe or just a magical reflection of our universe. I argued that it is probably the latter. Sunset Shimmer, Spike and I all changed form and gained clothes on passing through the mirror. Every entity there has an Equestria equivalent. The fact that some species are apparently not mirrored neither supports nor refutes either side of the argument. (Namely, dragons, griffins, cows, sheep, zebras.) And final argument, Star Swirl used it to trap three sirens 1,000 years ago and they haven't aged or changed attitude in all that time. That does not sound like an independent universe ticking along on its own and mirroring Equestria by sheer accident. Before we parted ways and I headed back to the train station, Moondancer told me that she is to be a guest lecturer at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, presenting her research and field data on the windigo, Winter! That's in four weeks time. I'm going to sit in on that, I wouldn't miss it for anything! Well, almost anything. Moondancer is going to see if Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts and Lyra Heartstrings are free to attend the lecture I'll be giving for the Canterlot Explorer's Society. If they all say yes, that will be 11 guests. I guess my parents would like to attend too. I should ask them. And my brother, and Princess Cadence and Princess Celestia... °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° October Horse Oct 15: I read about an Earth practice called "the October Horse". It involves a race between pairs of horses and the horse on the right side of the winning team gets slaughtered. As in speared. And then the townsfolk squabble over his or her head. Ugh. What a way to reward somepony that ran a race for you. Hopefully you've stopped doing that. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Making Plans Oct 16: Applejack has about bucked all the apples there are to be bucked this year. I'd like to go on a picnic by Saddle Lake. I wonder if everypony else is up for a hike. I'll ask around tomorrow. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Picnic Food For Thought Oct 17: I guess we're overdue for a picnic and a short hike is no biggie, not after two weeks of marching through snow and ice. Everypony said 'Yes!' Rainbow Dash said it will be warm and mostly sunny in two days' time, so that's when we'll go. What should I take? Bread and my assortment of jams that we all made? We have to eat them sometime, don't we? °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Juggling Invitations Oct 18: It was cold out today. Almost cold enough to see my breath. I got an answer from my brother and Cadence. They can't go to the lecture. They have duties to attend to in the Crystal Empire and they're preparing for their foal. Decorating a room, buying clothes, scheduling private Lamare classes, preparing the celebration announcements... I think they've also been up to their ears in the retelling of being under Winter's spell from all the crystal ponies we rescued. As for Princess Celestia, She's an honorary member of the Canterlot Explorer's Society. It's a rather old and posh society. I suspect Princess Celestia has been given an honorary membership by quite a few of these prestigious societies. So Princess Celestia might be there. And Princess Luna too. I'll ask if they're going. So for guests, I'm still at six from Ponyville and five from Canterlot, out of fourteen. Room for two parents and one yak! Spike has been baking bread today. Two loaves, one bran bread and one oatmeal. If we run out of food, we can graze. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Picnic at Saddle Lake Oct 19: As scheduled, it was a warm and sunny day with just a few fluffy white clouds in the sky. The rendezvous for our departure was at the Treecastle, 9 am. When everypony had arrived, we set out at a leisurely pace, going east over fields and following trails, heading for Saddle Lake. The trees are still mostly green out this way, past the east pasture and off the beaten path. That changed as we passed. The tall grasses were just waiting for this moment to turn golden yellow and burst into seed. Around us the low-growing maple boughs broke out in yellow and red spots on their green leaves. The stands of sumac looked like somepony had splattered them with red paint. We walked on, a sea of green before us, a wake of warm colors spreading behind us. We chose a nice high spot by the lake. Close enough to the water to get a drink and high enough to see Canterlot, Foal Mountain and way off in the distance, Rambling Rock Ridge. We spread our picnic blankets and gathered up some wood and rocks. Pinkie was keen to roast marshmallows! She had also brought graham crackers and chocolate. While Spike lit the wood Applejack and Dash had collected (without incinerating it all at once this time), I set out the jams and the bread by the food everypony else had brought. Salad, apples, tea, baby carrots and rough bedstraw sandwiches. Perfect picnic fare. After lunch Applejack went around touching the trees. As she rested her hoof on their trunks, one after the other, they went off like fireworks. They burst into color, the crowns of the maples holding on to a delicate yellow green at their core with a halo of salmon red at the tips of their branches. The larches and aspens went golden yellow, with a few stray branches of green. The oaks preferred browner shades and the few stray apple trees remained green but with redder apples. Blue sky with white fluffy clouds above, and all around us a riot of color. We lounged about for a few hours, soaking up the sunshine, chatting and enjoying the scenery. Fluttershy picked a few bouquets of asters, cattails and tall grasses, taking care to not cause the cattails to fluff, then we packed up our things and headed back home. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Foalhood Friends, Check Oct 20: With all the excitement of the expedition and the exhaustion and recovery time when I got back, I'd neglected to leave my Haycartes' Treatise on Ponies open, in case Moondancer wanted a quick word with me. It was only after my book-buying trip to Canterlot that it occurred to me. So it's been back on the end table by my reading couch, open and at the ready, except the few times Spike or Owlowiscious re-shelved it. As luck would have it, I looked over at the Haycartes book this afternoon as I was refilling my tea cup, only to see Moondancer staring at me. She'd been trying to get my attention, but I was reading at the time. She said she could tell by my replies that I wasn't paying attention. She was about to give up and write a letter to me instead. Well, she had my full attention now. Moondancer has spoken to all four of our mutual foalhood friends and all four said they could make it to the Canterlot Explorer's Society dinner and lecture. I told her that Shining Armor and Princess Cadence couldn't make it but that I planned on inviting my parents and our yak guide, if I could find him again. I also need to write to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to ask if they will be attending. Our guide's name is Machur Lulach, which means 'small calf of the plains', I think. I don't know how common that is. The search might take a while. I'll see if any of my friends are up for a short trip to Yakyakistan to look for him. Sharing a daunting task with friends can make it both easier and fun. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° I Dream of Sheep Oct 21: I had a weird dream last night. I was in a restaurant run by sheep. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were already there, sitting at the corner of a large table and I went over and joined them. They were uneasy, they had something to tell me and while I never found out what it was, I felt that it wasn't anything that important. The restaurant was huge, with lots of ponies and heaps of food on big tables everywhere. We were sitting somewhere near the middle of the room. I don't think I could even see the walls. Sheep were running about with dishes. They were also serving as table ornamentation. A sheep would get up on a table saddled with a very large dish on his/her back and then magically become completely immobile until the patrons had finished with the dish. Then the sheep would come back to life and run off. I guess I went to sleep hungry. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Autumn in the Everfree Oct 22: While it is just fairly chilly in Ponyville, there was an early freeze in the Everfree Forest. I went for a stroll this morning, south of Ponyville to the edge of the Everfree and I could feel the cold air rolling out. I decided to drop in on Zecora. The sun was actually breaking through the gloom from time to time as I picked my way along the path. Where it struck a tree, the heat would cause a sudden cascade of leaves to rain down, like huge snow flakes or like green, yellow and red butterflies. I stopped to watch the flashing leaves fall. The sound was like a sudden shower of big rain drops and everywhere the floral scent of fresh fall leaves. It was magical. I walked on through the fragrant patchwork carpet of leaves, beautiful overlapping patterns of scattered foliage on the path, each tree's shed mixing in with the next. I took care to step lightly. The leaves were fresh but they did rustle loudly if I dragged my hooves. I didn't want to attract attention in the Everfree Forest. I arrived at Zecora's home to find that the swirling mists had given it a sparkling coat of frost. She had lit a fire against the cold and inside, a pot of hot tea awaited. I knocked and I was greeted by Zecora's rhyming chatter. A welcome oasis in the Everfree. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° In the Mail Oct 23: I received two interesting letters in the mail today. First off, there was a letter from the assistant editor of the Canterlot Explorer's Society publication division. It turns out that they are expecting a written account from me about the expedition for which I've been invited to speak. The deadline is two months after the dinner and it will go through the usual review process to ensure that my article is in line with their preferred format. My written account is to be published in a subsequent volume of the Society's quarterly journal. This is a bit more formal than I anticipated. As my expedition was mounted in support of Moondancer's venture and it was she who determined, through her own research, that there was something worth investigating, I wrote back to the Society requesting that I have the option to invite her to the podium to outline her findings and the impetus that led her to head north in the first place. That will make citing her and summarizing how it was that she ended up in Winter's ice castle that much easier. In a different letter, this one from the In The Field lecture series planning committee secretary, I've been asked to provide the names of my guests and any restrictions or special accommodations they may require. I have a few weeks to submit that. Meanwhile I'm waiting for letters from my parents, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Table D'Honneur Oct 24: Princess Celestia wrote back. She will be attending the Canterlot Explorer's Society lecture series on the night that I will be guest speaker and she is looking forward to seeing me there. The Society heads and the guest speaker dine at a table on a raised part of the floor, up front, by the stage, and when they attend, that is where she and Luna are usually seated as well. Otherwise, their table is set on a large balcony overlooking the stage. It occurs to me now that I won't be sitting with my friends. That explains the even number of guests I can invite. I received Princess Luna's reply today as well. She will be there, and she "would hear more about the pegasus constellation that rescued us from Winter". And finally, a letter from my parents. They will be there too. Good! All that's left is to go to Yakyakistan and find our guide. Applejack and Rarity have volunteered to go with me. We just have to choose the date. It will be a two-day trip. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Farm Fresh Macoun and Braeburn Apples Oct 25: Applejack dropped by late this afternoon. She told me that the apple harvest is winding down. Macoun and Black Oxford, Braeburn, Winesap, and Spy are the last apples still on the trees. She brought me two saddlebags full of Macouns and Braeburns which I set out in baskets on the kitchen counter. She told me that she'll have a bit of a breather between the last apples and the third cut haying. Next week would be good for her for moseying on over to Yakyakistan. When I last spoke to Rarity, next week was good for her too, although I think the term she used was 'sashay'. I think I'd prefer to just trot to Yakyakistan. That earned me a raised eyebrow from Applejack and Spike just rolled his eyes. Well, I thought it was funny. I've already written to Princess Cadence to see if they can accommodate the four of us for two nights. Spike is coming too. That way we can get an early start when we 'mosey' our way up the road to Yakyakistan, and after we 'sashay' back, we can have a soft bed waiting for us where we can rest our trot-weary hooves. I should get an answer soon. Spike said he will make an apple crumble with some of the Braeburn apples tomorrow. Today we just ate a bunch of the Macoun apples. So sweet and juicy! °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Apple Crumble Oct 26: Spike baked up a delicious apple crumble after lunch, and while it was still hot, we invited ourselves over for tea at Rarity's Carousel Boutique, the platter of apple crumble in tow. Rarity was in, working hard on concepts for her winter wear line. After our expedition through the snow and cold, she's aiming for warmer clothes this year, like long and flowing cloaks. So it's decided, we are going to Yakyakistan next week to look for Machur. And to shop for fabric, and to look around and see what apple products sell in Yakyakistan and the Crystal Empire. Well, if I happen to trip over any booksellers... I think I'll carry a few extra bits in my purse. We ate all the apple crumble. Spike will make another tomorrow. In case of apple crumble emergencies. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Quiet day Oct 27: The day just flew by, interrupted by an occasional apple crumble emergency. I think I'll go out on my balcony and see what the constellations are up to. There were some nice shooting stars last week. Maybe I'll see a straggler or two. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Fresh Hay and A Place to Stay Oct 28: I received a reply from Princess Cadence about our stay next week for a night or two in the Crystal Empire. She wrote that we can come any time next week, three rooms will be prepared. She invites us to dinner if possible, otherwise the royal kitchen will provide until late at night. That's wonderful! We won't have to hunt around for a place to stay and we can get an early start walking the rest of the way to Yakyakistan. We should be on the train to the Crystal Empire a week from today. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Home By The Hearth Oct 29: It was a miserable and wet day today. Windy, chilly, with the rain beating down on the windows. A day where it feels good to hide under the covers, only to emerge for a hot bowl of oats, chocolate peppermint tea, and light reading by the fire. Well, it's autumn and the ground was due for a good soaking. On a day like today, Applejack would be baking and rotating her apple stores in her cellar. Rarity would be designing rain gear or reading detective novels. Dash would be herding clouds. Fluttershy would be having tea with Angel, or maybe Discord (was that today?). And Pinkie would be helping the Cakes, maybe by foalsitting. It was a good day to stay home. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Piaffle With Fluttershy Oct 30: I went to Fluttershy's cottage today for tea and a quiet game of Piaffle1. My game uses the old pony runes (the stamped script) so I also brought along Samule Lawnson's Whinnypiafficon of the Equestrian Language, which is the definitive dictionary for spelling in old pony runes. We drank a lot of tea, quietly moved our tiles and consulted the whinnypiafficon. I won two games and Fluttershy beat me at one. She managed to put an eight letter word on the triple word score space, making over a hundred points in that one turn. --------------------- 1 Piaffle is derived from piaffe, to hit or dig at the ground with your hoof. It's also a dance move where a pony looks to be trotting but stays in one spot. Since the old pony written script was adapted from codified hoofprints piaffed in the dust or clay, piaffing is also synonymous with writing. Piaffle is a word game where each player has seven characters on square tiles selected at random from a finite set. They use them to try to spell out words on grid. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Reaching the Audience Oct 31: I've started working on my Canterlot Explorer's Society talk. Making an outline, prepping flashcards. I need to make transparencies. According to Ponetic's Guide to Effective Speeches, Dissertations and Discourse, in order to reach the whole audience, a presentation must consist of three components: statistics, personal stories and tangible objects or illustrations. I have the personal story aspect in spades, it's the numbers and tangibles that I have to flesh out. Pinkie took a few pictures, I can use those. My fellow explorers will be there, I could invite them on stage... I need to find a star chart that goes as far north as possible. I need to draw a map of our route as well. If I could borrow one of Rarity's mannequins and dress it up in the full winter garb I wore when it was coldest, that would make a great prop. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°