//------------------------------// // XVI April // Story: Twilight's Blog // by Frith //------------------------------// Spring Foals Day April 1st: It's Spring Foals Day. This is the day that we give treats to expectant mares and to new born foals! So I decided to visit Cadence. She's the only expectant mare I know, and she is also my sister-in-law. There were a lot of ponies getting off the train at the Ponyville Station, but when I boarded, I only found a few headed to the Crystal Empire. According to my copy of the report from the Annual Assembly of Equestrian Municipal Affairs, there has been some immigration to and emigration from the Crystal Empire since it emerged from Sombra's spell, but not much. That includes a familiar name: Sunburst. That gives me an idea. I'd better check the Equestrian census data to see if this is Starlight Glimmer's Sunburst or another pony. Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns should also have a forwarding address for Sunburst. Yes! This would be perfect for a friendship lesson! Rekindle an old friendship! I'll add it to my list. I arrived in the Crystal Empire and went straight to the castle where I found Cadence getting buried in flowers, blankets, sweet treats and the like. I brought her a book. She is hugeand uncomfortable and my brother looks flustered and worried. It will be OK. This is Equestria, we have the best magic. They also look tired so I didn't stay long. Later, back in Ponyville, I stepped out to look up at the stars. The Crystal Heart is sending up a shower of colored lights that are drifting like ribbons across the sky. The crystal ponies are very proud of their princess. You can feel their joy all across Equestria. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Two Very Different Art Books April 2: The mail was good today. I received two books I was waiting for, The Artwork of Martingale Canter Etcher and The Art of Drawer by Sun True. M.C. Etcher's lithographs are delightful. She drew physically impossible scenes, optical illusions, warped perspectives, geometric figures and tiles of things and creatures that transform across the page but remain fitted together. It's like she took magic and made a drawing of it. Sun True's book is a classic and perfect for Rarity. Her Canterlot boutique is doing well and she told me she would like to set up shop in Manehattan as well. If the time Rarity nearly lost in that Manehattan fashion competition (when Suri Polomare copied her designs) is any indication of how hard it can be to get ahead in Manehattan, this book could give her an edge. After Princess Cadence foals there will be a Crystal Empire ceremony we will be invited to and my friends are coming over to discuss that tomorrow. I'll give her the book then. Today I spent time organizing Friendship concepts alphabetically by type. So much fun! Do you think I should have Starlight Glimmer go make some friends with griffons in Griffonstone? Advantage: they're not ponies. Disadvantage: they might not talk to her unless she pays them. Advantage: I think Starlight has an iron stomach and the food won't bother her. Disadvantage: she doesn't have a ready made mutually beneficial quest on which to build a common goal with griffons there, unless she's really good at spelunking through gale force winds. She would have to find common ground with griffons some other way. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° A Lesson Urned April 3rd: My friends made use of the throne room this morning to discuss the crystalling ceremony for Princess Cadence and Shining Armor's foal and Spike brought them up to speed on what that involves. When I was in the Crystal Empire on Spring Foals Day, Cadence gave me an urn painted in the old Crystal Empire style, showing what to expect. It has stylized images of us, Princess Cadence, Shining Armour and the as-yet-to-be-born foal, as ancient crystal ponies. Plus wings and horns. As you turn it, it shows scenes representing different stages of the procedure: choosing an honor guard, picking a crystal shard, all of us giving power to the crystal shard, which the crystaller transmits to the Crystal Heart. It's a wonderful gift, but not quite accurate. Only crystal ponies can power the Crystal Heart! But it's clear that all six of us are expected. By the time I managed to tear myself away from sorting through my reams of alphabetized friendship attributes and thinking up lessons for each one, my friends had finished discussing the crystalling and had moved on to the kitchen where everypony was putting together lunch. Oh well, I'm sure Spike did a good job. There wasn't much to explain anyway. As luck would have it, later that afternoon I received an invitation to Cadence and Shining Armor's crystalling! It's tomorrow. I went out, knocked on all my friend's doors and spread the news. We're catching the first train to the Crystal Empire tomorrow morning. On the walk back I couldn't help but notice a few ponies with prams out for a stroll. It really is spring. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Picking Up The Pieces April 4th: Remember what happened to us a few moons ago during the Crystal Empire Winter Festival? Well, my guess is that our flash back then did more than provide a light show. But more on that later. All six of us, plus Spike and Starlight Glimmer, boarded the train to the Crystal Empire this morning. Although he's not part of the ceremony, Spike's a national hero in the Crystal Empire. A royal crystalling is an important event, so of course he went. We were going for the crystalling and to see the foal, and Starlight Glimmer went with us because I found out that it's Starlight Glimmer's Sunburst who had moved to the Crystal Empire. Since he had been her best friend when she was a foal, I calculated that rekindling that friendship should be a breeze. It's not like Starlight Glimmer had broken his heart or anything. When we arrived at the station in the Crystal Empire, my brother was waiting for us. He was also asleep on his hooves. Now I had thought that I could go with Starlight Glimmer and coach her through her first lesson, and then catch up with the others in time for the crystalling. I had a checklist of catalysts and approaches at the ready. I was prepared. What I wasn't prepared for was a brother who was half delirious from lack of sleep. Don't they have help at the castle? Nannies? Foal sitters? So, change of plan. We'd all help with the foal and give my brother and Cadence a break and I wouldn't coach Starlight Glimmer through her first real lesson. But then Spike saved the day. Spike is an old hoof at friendship lessons. I've dictated enough letters on the subject to him. He took my checklist, like he'd done this a hundred times before, and off he went to find Sunburst's living quarters with Starlight Glimmer in tow. If ever I wanted a teacher's assistant, I see now that I already have one. It's Spike. So the six of us followed a dazed Shining Armor to the castle and the nursery. He told us before we entered the nursery that the foal might surprise us. I figured it was the fatigue talking again. Princess Luna, Princess Celestia and of course, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza were there. Cadence looked about as tired as my brother, and Celestia and Luna looked lost in thought. We didn't really notice that at first, we were intent on seeing the foal! And yes, she is surprising. First off, she's huge. With a huge horn. And really huge wings. She's an alicorn! Born of a unicorn and an ascended pegasus. It doesn't make sense, and yet, there she is. Like Pinkie's prescient Pinkie Sense. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna didn't have any explanations, and we didn't really take time to debate it, because right then, the alicorn foal let fly a magic blast that blew a hole through five floors of the castle above her. OK, learn something new everyday. An alicorn foal is an order of magnitude more powerful than a regular unicorn foal. She is also a really strong flyer. It turned out that Shining Armor wasn't going to get to rest quite yet after all. He still hadn't chosen an honor guard, or a crystal shard, or named a crystaller (which was going to be me). So while Pinkie and I foalsat my niece, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Rarity helped Shining Armor with the rest. That all went according to plan. We left the nursery and arrived at ground level to find everypony else waiting for us next to the spinning Crystal Heart. The ceremony was just about ready to begin! I separated my niece from Pinkie and gently deposited her into Cadence's grasp. My niece really likes Pinkie, and this did not please her. She let out a giant, magnified wail that resonated with the Crystal Heart. It shattered and rained to the floor in hundreds of pieces. Then all Tartarus broke loose. The primary function of the Crystal Heart is to create a warm, green oasis in what would otherwise be just another permanently frozen plain of snow and ice. With it smashed to smithereens, the wild clouds of the Frozen North were moving in and the temperature was dropping like a stone. Now we had an emergency. We had to restore the Crystal Heart and we had to do that fast. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna did not know of a spell that would restore such a powerful magical artifact, so they flew off to battle the storm to give us time to come up with something. The Crystal Empire Castle Library is nearly as extensive as the Canterlot Castle Library so Princess Cadence suggested that we might be able to find a restorative spell there. Unfortunately, the Crystal Empire Castle Library has not seen a librarian in a very long time. Maybe not ever. We combed the stacks on our own and it took a lot of searching to find something to give us a clue on how to fix a broken Crystal Heart. Meanwhile, my niece, while very cute and cheerful, was not helping. At all. We found a book on relics that looked promising. In it was a spell of Relic Reconstitution. I read through it once. It looked good! Then my niece burned a hole the size of a dessert plate through it. Ugh. While I wrote down the spell from memory, Starlight Glimmer went to get Sunburst so he could help us fix the Crystal Heart. Starlight said her attempt at rekindling her old friendship with him had failed. I didn't have time to go over that with her to see what she had learned about friendship in the attempt, but she had said that he was a powerful wizard. Coming from Starlight Glimmer, that's impressive. It sounded like help we could use. The storm outside was getting worse and worse. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were losing the battle with the wild clouds. Regardless, the crystal ponies were camped outside waiting for the crystalling! Shining Armor went out to order them to flee for the train station, and Cadence and I tried to fix the Crystal Heart with the spell of Relic Reconstitution. That failed. Then Starlight Glimmer returned with Sunburst. That pony knows his magic! He knew that the crystalling, a ceremony that uses the combined magic of the crystal ponies to strengthen the Crystal Heart, would be key to fixing it, along with Somnambula's Weather Abjuration, a spell that is in tune with the Heart's primary function. Fortunately, he'd crossed paths with the crystal ponies that had been on their way to the train station and he'd turned them back. The crystalling was on! I reassembled the shards using a different Relic Reconstitution spell that Sunburst provided for me, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia gave me a boost so I could hold it together long enough, and Starlight cast Somnambula's Weather Abjuration. Shining Armor gave Sunburst the role of crystaller, and once the crystal ponies had powered the crystalling shard, Sunburst plunged it into the fractured Heart, healing it! Completely restored, the Crystal Heart went back to spinning in its berth, dispersing the wild clouds and projecting the joy of the crystal ponies all across Equestria. It was a full day. Sunburst also had a gift for Cadence and Shining Armor: a spell called Fledgling's Forbearance for my niece. No more bolts of energy, teleportation or wild flights until she's old enough to do all that in moderation! I wish I'd known that spell. Well, my niece does have a name. After all the fun she put us through on her crystalling day, her parents have decided to name her Flurry Heart. It will be an easy name to remember. We didn't stay overnight (obviously), but my parents probably did. We met them at the train station. They'd missed the crystalling because of the storm. At least they won't be dodging bolts of alicorn magic while they're there. Maybe they'll convince Shining Armor to get a nanny or three. Now that I've had some time to wonder why Flurry Heart is an alicorn, I have a suspicion. Princess Cadence is a focal point of the Crystal Empire. She was pregnant with Flurry Heart when we caused that blinding flash during the Winter Festival. We may have caused Flurry Heart to ascend in utero! We are still the Elements of Harmony, even if we no longer draw on the Tree's relics. And when we come together in Friendship, in the presence of powerful magic, we channel it and we wield it. The outcome is not always what we thought it would be. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Practical Application of Optimum Principles April 5th: Fluttershy and Amethyst Star are out of town for a few days. They're off to attend the annual Biome Management Conference, held this time in Neighagra Falls. There will be talks and information sessions on the morning of the first day so they decided to avoid missing anything and arrive the evening before the conference. We all turned up to see them off, and while we waited for the train to pull into the station, Fluttershy told me that they are to present a paper on jackalope reproduction and report on the practical application of the principles of optimum hibernation den planning and location. I guessed that Amethyst Star would do the talking. I guessed right. But Fluttershy enjoys listening in on all the discussions and presentations and of course she is especially keen on the conference field trip. While she's gone, Spike is looking after her critters at her cottage. Starlight Glimmer and I had a postmortem on her friendship rekindling lesson. I see that Spike was not laying it thick, after the initial failure, she did succeed in rekindling her old friendship with Sunburst. With that one, key friendship secured, I think Starlight Glimmer looks happier! It might not be related, but I think she's getting better at finding her way around this rock maze the Tree built. It's been a while since the Tree sent us on an errand. Next time that happens, I think I'll send her along to see a Friendship problem get fixed. She'll probably want my notes on friendship concepts and attributes. I should see if Rarity can bind them for me. Which is better, one very large tome or say, five large volumes? °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Spring Fills the Air April 6: Cloudsdale delivered a flotilla of rain-clouds early this morning and the weather ponies gave all of Ponyville and area a light spring rain. By afternoon they'd cleared the skies and the sun made the perfume of fresh green growth and wet stone paths rise up off the ground. I brought my reading out on the big west balcony so I could enjoy the sun, the smell, and the delicate shades of green on the fields far below. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Please Send My Throat Some Soothing Tea April 7: Today I spent a good part of the day with Starlight Glimmer, discussing the various things I had learned about friendship. How they are as source of strength, how your friends will be there for you when you need them most, how a friend is someone you can share your feelings with and how friends can help you turn a bad situation into an event to be remembered and treasured. I'm not used to talking quite so much. Towards the end I was getting a little hoarse. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Mysterious Abundance April 8: Fluttershy and Amethyst Star got back from the BMC early this afternoon. We were all there to meet them at the station and after we'd said goodbye to Amethyst Star, we walked with Fluttershy to her cottage. The conference did her good, she was practically glowing as she talked about all the things she'd heard and seen. That included a report about startling growth in the Crystal Empire, and I'm not talking about Flurry Heart. The Crystal Empire delegation reported that this year they are seeing plants never seen in living memory emerging around the Empire and of animals flocking in astounding numbers. When we went there for Flurry Heart's crystalling, we totally missed that. Fluttershy wants to go back with Amethyst Star to see this for herself. They agreed on taking a day trip to the Crystal Empire two days from now, after they'd caught up on work here. Fluttershy said it would be best to go soon, before the baby season starts getting her really busy. Applejack and I are going to tag along. Her ears perked when Fluttershy mentioned new plants and I'm also interested in ecology. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° It's Going To Be A Trip April 9: Instead of four, we will be five ponies taking the train to the Crystal Empire tomorrow -- Fluttershy, Amethyst Star, Applejack, Starlight Glimmer and I. Starlight is going to drop in on Sunburst and I also want to see how Cadence, Shining and my niece are doing. But most of the day I'm going to walk the bogs with Fluttershy and Amethyst to see first hoof this explosion of life they'd been told about while at the Biome Management Conference. On Fluttershy and Amethyst Star's recommendations, Starlight and I are bringing belly-wader boots, wide brimmed pith helmets and head-to-tail netting to keep flying things like nosy-ems at bay. Starlight Glimmer isn't planning on joining us on our jaunt through the Taiga, but it's better to be prepared should her plans change. I've also looked up a few shield, strengthening and repellent spells that I can put into the netting if it's needed. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Explosion Of Life April 10: I'm back from the Crystal Empire, and it's true! The bogs are in bloom, the Taiga is swarming with life, and no pony has seen the like in living memory. I mean the living memory of the crystal ponies, since life was very bleak around there for a thousand years. We really did need those belly-waders. The moss-key toads were everywhere and hopping over to anything that moved. We attracted so many nosy-ems and butterflies that we soon couldn't see where we were going and our head-to-tail netting was collapsing. I used the repellent spell, which kept most of them far enough away to see again, and a strengthening spell on the netting as well. Quite a few nosey-ems just wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and their combined weight was making the net sag. I could see that Fluttershy was sad to see the butterflies repelled, so I modified the spread of the spell on her net so that the butterflies wouldn't be repelled from her pith helmet. It was the friendly thing to do. Before we went out to the raised bogs of the Crystal Empire to see this wonder for ourselves, we went calling on the castle. Princess Cadence had time to see us, and while my niece tottered about and drooled on Applejack, she told us that the Crystal Ponies are worried about their crops this year. On one hoof, it has been unusually warm and everything is growing like wildfire. They are already harvesting wild berries, the crystal corn is three ponies tall, and all the ewes are producing twins when usually it's one lamb every three years. But there are such huge swarms of creatures of all descriptions that it's possible that they'll eat all the Empire hay before it's ready to cut. I promised to bring that consideration to the attention of the Ponyville Hay Board next meeting and ask our Hay Board to send out requests that other jurisdictions also plan to put aside hay in solidarity and friendship in case of a crop failure in the Crystal Empire. Princess Cadence looks more rested than she had last time we saw her. I think my parents talked them into getting nanny and foal sitter help. Fluttershy and Amethyst Star were itching to get out into the field, so we said goodbye to Princess Cadence. Starlight Glimmer went off to find Sunburst. Apparently he's been spending a lot of time in the castle library, doing some research and reshelving books by classification. That library is going to need a lot of reorganization. So Starburst went down to see if she could find him there. We left the castle and took the same street north that we'd taken on the Biome Management Conference field trip last year. We passed the last of the cultivated fields and paused at the sight of what lay ahead. The riot of plant life, the colors, the swarms of every living thing, it was breath taking, and amazing! Fluttershy took pictures, Amethyst Star collected specimens of berries, flowers and aromatic herbs for her herbarium, and Applejack remarked that all this growth was springing from an apparently poor soil that was either a thin layer of dirt and moss on weathered rock, or just peat and water. I picked some fur-leaf for Zecora and took notes as they dictated them to me. I managed to get moss-key toad bites on my nose. They're pretty potent, there's still a bit of swelling. They're also huge and diverse and some are quite pretty. Amethyst Star was very excited about those, and Fluttershy kept rattling off names of butterflies, it was hard to keep up. There were also what looked like miniature tatzlwurms, a flower I'd only seen once before when Discord sent me and Princess Cadence to collect one a while back. That tatzlwurm was gigantic, so these are probably a different species. They were lunging out of the ground, writhing about and snatching moss-key toads left and right, moss-key toads that had been following us and were now fleeing madly in all directions. It was in patches of these voracious plants that we found crystal hares. We could get quite close, much to Fluttershy's delight. They didn't want to leave the safety of the miniature tentacled flower patches. Fluttershy had me note that the crystal hares were cooperatively joining up to raise their young in small groups. In each and every instance she observed, the creche kits were at the center of a circle of adults. Fluttershy suggests that this is to protect the small kits from the tentacled flowers and perhaps from the moss-key toads as well. Amethyst Star and Fluttershy chose a belt transect method to conduct some random sampling and data collection. That took us through patches of enormous picture plants, lush blue berry bushes, fluffy white cotton grass and soft, tasty pussy willows, where we flushed out gangs of bright yellow lemnings, running like liquid gold for cover in some other thicket of greenery. Applejack got bored with the data collecting process and left us to go to the Crystal Empire corn fields to talk with the farmer folk. We kept going until late afternoon, gawking and recording, but we had to stop. We hadn't had anything to eat since this morning and we were due to meet up with Applejack and Starlight at the train station. We found them there, and we all went to the same restaurant that we'd gone to when we'd come back from our expedition to find Moondancer. The food was still excellent and, no surprise here, on our plates we became reacquainted with wild plants like those we'd been admiring today out in the Taiga. Applejack sighed wistfully at a missed opportunity and in jest, Amethyst Star told her that under no circumstances were her herbarium specimens to be eaten. We finished our meal and made our way to the train station in the evening light. It was late by the time we rolled into Ponyville. Starlight and I bid a good night to Fluttershy, Applejack and Amethyst Star, and we went home, to the castle. It was a long day of walking on springy moss bogs and my legs are tired. I think I'm going to turn in now. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Tapping On My Roof And Walls Apr 11: Starlight Glimmer had a great time with Sunburst yesterday. I suggested she write letters to keep in touch, to keep their friendship strong. She could trade what she's learning about friendship with what he's learning about magic. Sharing is also part of the magic of friendship. Otherwise, I spent most of the day relaxing with some good books. It was a rainy spring day in Ponyville. I got good and soaked during my morning stroll, and after I'd dried off I just wanted lounge on my couch and read. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Spring Greens That Sting Apr 12: The rain tapered off in the night and this morning Rainbow Dash had risen early to clear away the clouds. I think she has Wonderbolt reserve duty for the next few days. So when I stepped out I was greeted by blue skies, low mists and everywhere the sparkle of dew. I went back in, got my saddlebags and packed them with books, fur-leaf, crystal corn meal and some of the aromatic herbs from the Crystal Empire raised bogs. It was a good day to go calling on Zecora! Apparently Zecora thought it was a good day to go out as well. I got lucky and met her along the path to her cottage as she was prospecting for spring growth. The Everfree Forest is having its usual slow start to spring and everything is still rather brown and covered in fallen leaves. There are no ponies here to rake up the leaves or to stimulate the plants, but Zecora did find some skunk cabbages just pushing up out of the leaf litter. Skunk cabbage wouldn't be too high on my list of things to eat, Zecora had to pull delicately on them with her teeth to avoid getting the stinging juice on her tongue. She also dug up the rhizomes. The spring shoots can be eaten after being boiled twice, if you can stand the smell, and the rhizomes have several medicinal applications. At Zecora's cottage, as she put her skunk cabbage on a shelf and prepared some tea, I unpacked my saddle bags to give her the things I'd brought for her from the Crystal Empire. We chatted about the spring over mugs of something hot and spicy, I told her all about the crystalling and how the raised bogs of the Crystal Empire are teaming with life this year. She thinks there's a connection. I think she's right, but which connection? The wild clouds freezing the bogs when the Crystal Heart shattered? Something Flurry Heart did before a damper was put on her magic? Our magic flash during the Winter Festival? Zecora told me that Apple Bloom is braving the Everfree Forest to come learn more about potion making under her tutelage. She's in good hooves here. I haven't had her or her friends over for "Twilight Time" in quite some time, not since they finally got their cutie marks, all at the same time. I guess they've moved on. Zecora started preparing the skunk cabbage, while it was fresh. I didn't stay for lunch. That stuff smells lethal! °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Science Is A Slow And Careful Endeavor April 13: I received a letter and another scroll of notes from Moondancer in the mail today. The notes consisted mostly of an inventory of the items from the tomb, but in the letter Moondancer says she found, via her bookseller friend, that Hoofton Muffin publishes an illustrated book on unnatural snowflakes and where to find them! Oh wow! I've got to get a copy of that! I'll send a request for a copy to Hoofton Muffin publishers tomorrow. Meanwhile, Moondancer is still making progress on transcribing the scrolls. She's wrote that she's getting better at prizing out the words where the gold scrolls are damaged from cold melding, and that careful documentation and preservation in the unsealed tomb continues. Moondancer is mum on a museum display but I expect that that will happen eventually. She wrote that reading the age-darkened scrolls is very hard as it's like trying to see in thick smoke on a moonless night. Moondancer says she can only maintain the spell for a few minutes at most and she comes out of it coughing and covered in dirt. It's really hard on her health so she been spending more time helping with the other artifacts and writing papers for publication. But this has given her and professor Quest an idea for a restoration project. She wrote that she'll tell me about it in greater detail later, after they've worked out their plan some more. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Chilling With Friends April 14: It was hot and sunny today in Ponyville. The Treecastle is, as always, cold. Unless I light a fire in the hearth. So Starlight Glimmer and I packed some reading material and we went to find a sandy spot in the sun in the east fields. After several hours spent sprawled out on a picnic blanket squinting at books, we agreed that we were well toasted. I proposed we find some sorbet at Sugarcube Corner. We weren't the only ponies looking for a frozen treat. It was a fairly long wait until it was our turn. While we waited, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie walked out Sugarcube Corner, balancing fried waffle bowls piled high with ice cream on their heads. We were nearly in the door, so they trotted off to a spot in the shade to wait for us while they ate ice cream. By the time we got out with our sorbet cones, they'd already finished eating their gigantic portions of ice cream and they were shivering in the sun. I bet they competed to see who could finish their ice cream first. So Dash is back from her Wonderbolt Reserves duty. Since we're all back in town, I suggested we could have a pot luck supper. Pinkie jumped on the occasion. She wanted to have it tonight. It's almost zap apple season, so we should have it soon, but tonight was way too short notice. We settled on tomorrow night. I let Pinkie handle getting the word around. Not an hour later she delivered three invitations to the castle, one for me, one for Spike and one for Starlight Glimmer. So that's that. Pot luck supper, here, tomorrow night. What shall we cook? °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Sharing Food Between Friends April 15: This was Starlight Glimmer's first pot luck supper! For her, it was a new friendship experience. Since the time, date and place were already set, we went straight to the next step: what to bring to the table? Spike suggested we go to the Ponyville market for inspiration and to see what we could find. So Starlight and I tossed our saddle bags on and the three of us trotted down to the market. We met Pinkie on the way in and Rarity on the way out. We resisted the urge to peek furtively into each other's saddle bags and baskets for clues as to what the other had planned. That would spoil the surprise! It's still early spring and Ponyville isn't experiencing the riotous spurt of growth that is going on in the Crystal Empire, so fresh anything is a bit rare right now. We picked up a bag of sesame seeds, some eggs and milk for baking, a box of raisins, a bag of carrots, a few jars of apple butter, dried rose petals, a small bag of rosemary, thyme and another of sage, and some early cattails. Then we went back home to work out what to fix. Since there are three of us, it follows that we should provide three dishes. Plus fill in any gaps (like beverages) since we're hosting the supper. After a bit, we settled on baking a bread, to serve with the apple butter, a salad, mostly grated carrot with diced cooked cattail, and third cut hay, because hay is a must. We got to work, or rather, Spike and Starlight Glimmer got to work mixing and cooking, I just kept track of the recipes. The bread was a sesame raisin bread, and Starlight whipped up a silage sauce for the carrot/cattail salad. I fluffed up a flake of third cut hay and mixed the rose petals we'd bought into it. I called it a harbinger of the hay harvest. Because it smelled of summer. By the time the bread was cooked, the table was set, and our friends started to arrive. As always, there was too much to eat, and we had a great time chatting. We never got around to breaking out the games. That will be for another time and another friendship experience for Starlight Glimmer. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Apple Brown Betty Apr 16: To the host goes the spoils, so for us, the pot luck supper did not end last night. My friends did take home some of the left-overs, but we were left with most of the apple brown betty, carrot salad, hay, carrot and beet casserole, carrot cake, three bean pumpkin bisque and vanilla oat swirl ice cream. With so many desserts on the menu last night, there wasn't much left in the way of casserole, bread or the bisque. So for breakfast we polished off the apple brown betty with vanilla oat swirl ice cream, in lieu of whipped cream. Applejack had left the tray she'd used to serve the apple brown betty on so I went over to Sweet Apple Acres to return it after breakfast. When I got there I learned that they'd been woken in the night by howling timber wolves. That means one thing: zap apple season. While I was there I helped carry baskets to the zap apple orchard for a few hours. The baskets would be better described as wooden tubs. They're heavy. That's to keep them from blowing around during the electrical storms that are due to blow in from the Everfree starting tomorrow. At the moment the zap apple trees are still leafless. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Lightning In A Jar April 17: On my way down the hall to my athenaeum this morning, I paused to look out the door to the front balcony. I could see that an electrical storm was raging over the zap apple grove at Sweet Apple Acres, so I took my morning tea out on the balcony to watch. It looked pretty exciting. Black roiling clouds, flashes of light and I could hear the rumbling of the thunder several heart beats later. It reminded me of time the Blue Mare Group had a concert in Ponyville. Scared me half to death. So here we go, the next step in the zap apple season. By now the Everfree Forest transplants will have sprouted leaves and AJ and Big Mac will have started to water them. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Biomass And Energy Flow In The Crystal Empire Taiga April 18: We've polished off all the leftovers from the pot luck supper so it was time to return the dishes my friends had left behind. Spike took care of most of the deliveries but I took Rainbow Dash's ice bucket back myself. Dash's house is on a cloud and Spike doesn't have wings. On my way back I dropped by Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy and Amethyst Star have been analyzing the data we collected last week and comparing their results to what's in the literature. They summed up the number of species, estimated their relative abundance and the living biomass, worked out the trophic structure of the communities, the net productivity in relation to the biomass of the plants and the food chain efficiency of the communities. In calculating the species richness index, Fluttershy pointed out that the diversity in the study area would not have increased, the previously unrecorded species would have always been there, it's just that they had been dormant or hidden during previous surveys. Still, the new observations bumped up the estimated diversity of the Crystal Empire taiga, regardless of which formula you might use to express it. What bugs Fluttershy and has her doubting her data is the biomass pyramid. From her calculations of the energy transfer from the plant trophic level to the herbivore trophic level, the food chain efficiency is reminiscent of some aquatic environments where single celled plants breed so fast that they can maintain a stable population despite being outnumbered by their tiny grazers. But in this taiga, these are not multi-generational fast breeding species with low energy costs. These are complex plants and animals, often with one or only a few breeding cycles per season. Even if you discount sunlight and temperature dependent growth, nutrients would be a limiting factor. With all the nutrients drained from the poor soils of the taiga and raised bogs and held in the above ground growth and animal life, this level of productivity is unsustainable. The nutrients just can't be recycled fast enough. Although it's possible the activity of the tazlewurms and lemnings may dredge up legacy nutrients from deep in the permanently frozen subsoil, there is going to be a crash. Probably in the fall when it will be colder and the plants naturally slow down and die back. In short, Fluttershy and Amethyst Star are still working on it. Meanwhile, in the Sweet Apple Acres' parcel of amazing growth, Applejack and Big Mac were out watering zap apple trees. This afternoon, another storm rolled in, with crows, and the trees bloomed. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Stardust April 19: It's the fourth day since the Timber wolves woke up the Apple family. Shortly after sundown today, there were shooting stars in the dusk darkened sky above the zap apple grove. Even though that event is not in The Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy, I was ready and watching through my telescope. It sure looked like a regular meteor shower. The next meteor shower in the almanac isn't due for another three days. Why would flowering zap apples attract meteors? Well the shower was short and the trees should now be laden with unripe fruit. Perhaps the meteors fertilize the flowers somehow. It's all quite strange, but then, they come from the Everfree Forest where a lot of the plants and animals are strange. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° The Mellow Rain April 20: The zap apples on Sweet Apple Acres are still ripening. It won't be long now before that one day harvest. I went to the Everfree with Starlight Glimmer to call on Zecora for tea. The sun was shining in Ponyville, but the minute we stepped into the Everfree Forest we walked into a light drizzle. It felt oddly refreshing and peaceful. By the time we reached Zecora's woodland dwelling and tapped on her door, I was feeling as one with the soft wet understory, full of potential and nascent vitality. It was time we got out of this rain. We found Zecora at home, meditating while she reboiled a batch of acorns (they keep better when raw). We stood there, just inside the door, getting greeted by Zecora in her rhyming phrases. The vague euphoria of the Everfree rain slowly drained off as I stared at the puddles of water around my feet, watching rivulets trace hidden channels across Zecora's floor. I looked up to catch Zecora watching us in amusement. She invited us to walk over and settle down at her table. So we did. It seemed like the harmonious thing to do. I regained a wider focus after a few sips of chocolate peppermint spice tea. My favorite! I think Starlight Glimmer was trying to figure out what musical note her cup made when she stirred her tea with her spoon. I asked Zecora if she had found where the zap apples grow in the Everfree and if she had picked any. I told her about Granny Smith's zap apple trees and how she had come to have a grove of Everfree trees on pony-tilled soil. It turns out the Zecora does know where zap apples grow in the Everfree and she does pick some when they're ripe. But she has to be quick and she picks only as many as she can carry. Where there are zap apples, timber wolves are never far away. She said stealth and timing is important, but she will consider carrying a couple of pots to bang together as a backup defense. She said that the trees she knows of are bearing unripe fruit at the moment and will have ripe fruit soon, probably tomorrow. She also said that the mellow showers we were shaking off happen while the zap apple trees are going through their leafing and fruiting period. She gave us some peppermint sticks to chew on during our walk back home. That helped a lot. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Electroshock Harvest April 21: It's the sixth day following the harbinger howls of the timber wolves. I had anticipated the final meteorological event so this morning I was watching from the front balcony with Spike and Starlight Glimmer. The thunderstorm rolled into Sweet Apple Acres, ending in a brilliant rainbow over the zap apple orchard. That's it, the zap apples are ripe! There was no time to waste, they have to be harvested today. Starlight Glimmer, Spike and I finished breakfast, piled the dishes in the kitchen, and trotted down to Sweet Apple Acres to help. Since we can't use magic to harvest these apples, we had to slowly hoof pick them, taking care to avoid bumping into the trees. I made use of my wings to pick the top apples, the ones growing too high up to be easily picked by the Apple family. At first I had Spike on my back, I'd fly and he'd pick, but after I'd bumped into a tree for the second time Spike decided to go help Applejack instead. Those trees pack quite a wallop. Starlight Glimmer was laughing in her mane up until she backed into a tree by accident. Even without Spike on my back, I still managed to brush up against the trees as I picked apples. So did Starlight Glimmer and Spike. By noon we'd had enough shocks and jolts and left the picking to the experts. I think Pinkie and Fluttershy had planned on helping too. They probably dropped by later, during the afternoon. But we didn't leave empty hoofed. We brought home two dozen zap apples. I only ate one so far. I'm exhausted and my flank is still twitching from where I last bumped into one of those trees. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Getting Unzapped April 22: Starlight Glimmer and I got pretty well zapped by the zap apple trees yesterday. We were both stiff and sore and our manes were still frazzled. We smelled a bit like burned fur. Spike looked like he had fared better than we had, or he's better at hiding sore muscles. I proposed a trip to the spa for the three of us. The vote was unanimous, after breakfast we went to the spa. We have several zap apples left, so I packed six in my saddle bags to give away. On the way we stopped by the carousel boutique to see if Rarity was up to a trip to the spa. She was too busy to go, but she was delighted with the zap apple I gave her. Before we continued on our way, she had me wait a minute while she trotted off to somewhere in the living area of her home and boutique. She came back with a small gift wrapped box and she told me not to shake it or open it until I got home. A surprise gift! I tucked it into my saddle bag and we cantered off for the spa. At the spa I gave Lotus and Aloe one zap apple each. Many ponies are familiar with zap apple jam, but few get to taste the fresh zap apples themselves. So they were delighted. I ordered a massage, sauna, coat restorer bath and hot tub soak for my sore muscles and my singed mane and tail. Starlight Glimmer and Spike joined me for the first two, but Spike decided to roast a while longer in the sauna and Starlight Glimmer got a Crystal Empire oil bath and a hooficure while I was going from shampoo to fragrant soaking. I'd brought the cerulean foulard Rarity had given me last year and after Lotus had finished drying and styling me, I put it on. It matches my saddle bags. All three of us felt and looked like a million bits when we stepped out of the spa. To celebrate, we had sorbets at Sugarcube Corner. I gave the Cakes two zap apples. On the way home, I spied Rainbow Dash napping on a cloud (it was just about the only cloud over Ponyville, so kind of hard to miss). I flew up, woke her, gave her the last zap apple and flew off. Successful fly-by zap apple-ing: check! Thus, we have liquidated more than half our zap apple supply. They are so good and they go so fast. But the path to bliss isn't paved exclusively with zap apples. I have chocolate cinnamon spice tea, my big Double Bridle night and day refractor telescope and tonight, a whole sky full of shooting stars to watch! But first, what was in the box from Rarity? Remember some weeks ago when I dropped by Rarity's Carousel Boutique a few times to give her fresh material for her felted figure project? Well, she made one that looks like me. She used some of the mane hair she'd collected to give it a coiffure and panache, it has a tiny sparkling tiara, and I must have dropped some feathers too because it even has tiny wings! It's very precious. I put it in the library where it can watch over the books. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° I Was Up Before The Dawn April 23: I was up late. Spotting the dimmer, more timid shooting stars in the moonlight was hard, even from the shaded parts of my balcony. But Luna lowered the moon a few hours before sunrise, just in time for a spectacular wave of meteors to gallop across the sky. They were shooting out in all directions, although quite a few liked to launch themselves from the Lyra constellation. Lyra is one of those placid constellations that generally does not move, even when frisky shooting stars are ricocheting off its strings. It was twilight before I got to bed and late morning before I opened my eyes again. It was worth it. When I wobbled down to the kitchen for hay and chocolate peppermint spice tea, Spike was up to his wrists in bread dough and there were seven jars of zap apple jam on the table! Spike tells me that Apple Bloom made these herself. This afternoon we opened a jar and had some on fresh baked rolled oat bread. Apple Bloom has her granny's touch. Delicious! °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Mad Mare Season April 24: I think we're overdue for some rain in Ponyville. It's been a week or more since I've seen any rain, apart from that psychotropic drizzle in the Everfree Forest. Ponyville looks a bit dusty and the fields smell a bit limp. I'd packed up a picnic blanket and a few books this morning, but after a short stroll I decided against lounging in the pasture grass. I don't want to get that much dust in my books. I decided to put down my bags, roll in sand and gallop like a mad mare up and down the grassy knolls. Well out of sight of any houses. I felt much better. A little shake to get the sand off, a little breeze on a hillock to dry off the sweat while I stared off into the dreamy distance, I gathered up my regal saddle bags and strode royally off into town. The perfect crime. In the shop windows I saw romantic-themed sweets and treats. Here and there, couples, dining at tables for two at Café Hay, strolling flank against flank in quiet conversation, one mare had a braided dandelion coronet. It's Hearts and Hooves day again. Little wonder I'm feeling frisky and distracted. I went to the market to see if I could find some dandelions for lunch, but sadly, everypony was sold out. I did get the last tub of chocolate sesame ice cream. I trotted off to the castle to eat it before some other mare asked for it. Starlight, Spike and I polished it off before supper. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Laughing In The Purple Rain Apr 25: I said we were overdue for rain, right? Right! And rain it did today! A hard rain. The weather ponies overdid it. I still had the urge to go out trotting, so instead of reading I went out and soaked in the rain and splashed in the puddles. Behind the castle. In gutters when nopony was looking. Up to my belly in the river. I had to get out of that in a hurry! The current was a bit surprising. Still, I got soaking wet! It was great. I rapped on Fluttershy's door. It was really crowded in her house and Fluttershy was not a happy camper. Critters homes were getting flooded and her cottage is on high ground. That put a damper on my mood, but not for long. I stayed out in the rain, trotted back to the road and galloped through town! Back to the castle and once round it, laughing like a filly. I stopped by the front door, my sides heaving, blowing great gouts of hot vapor, more wisps of steam rising from my sides. I closed my eyes and pointed my muzzle into the air, letting the water flow through my mane until I cooled down. Relaxed, I entered my stone edifice, shook off as much water as I could and went looking for a towel. That really felt good. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Remembrance of Things Pasture Apr 26: Yesterday's rain did Ponyville a world of good. The greens are sharp, the leaves are perky, everything looks fresh washed, and the smell! The air smells of fresh grass! Fresh trimmed grass. I so want to go out to the pasture and gorge myself. But that would be bad. Instead, I went to the Everfree to visit Zecora. Far away from the siren call of the spring green pastures. It was the usual grey and dreary atmosphere in the Everfree, no rain, especially none of that all too soothing drizzle Starlight Glimmer and I walked through last time. After standing around at the edge of the forest, testing the air and peering up into the gloom, I decided it was safe enough and I tread intrepidly down the forest paths to Zecora's snug oasis of zebra lore. I had in my saddle bag a jar of Apple Bloom's zap apple jam to give to Zecora. Not only as a treat, but to show off Apple Bloom's mastery of zap apple jam making. When Zecora invited me in, I wasted no time in giving the jar to her. She put the jar up on a shelf and took down some things of her own to show me. She had managed to collect zap apples out from under the noses of the timber wolves, and in the usual Zecora manner, she'd extracted their medicinal properties. She had made a paste to treat inflammation of the articulations, a tincture that smelled strongly of fermented apples and which corrects irregular heartbeat and fatigue, and an oil extract. She had used pungent rosemary oil to extract a lipid-soluble compound from homogenized zap apples. A sniff of that mixture jolts memory. After tea I left Zecora's home with a vial, a bottle and short wide jar, each with a bit of Zecora's zap apple extracts in them. They're to give to Granny Smith, a gift from one specialist to another. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Hush Now Quiet Now Apr 27: I've been meaning to have a slumber party in the castle since I don't know when. I'd even ordered a new copy of Slumber 101, not that I couldn't cobble together a new schedule of events from memory, but because that book was integral to my early exploration of the Magic of Friendship, with the help of Rarity and Applejack. So I took my book down from the shelf today and moved it to the top of Starlight Glimmer's reading pile and I told her that it was required reading for her next friendship lesson. She is to invite all of us to a slumber party, the sooner the better! She's never had a slumber party before and I told her, neither had I until I'd moved to Ponyville to study Friendship. This is going to be perfect! Her first slumber party, my second slumber party, and a new, wonderful memory for this stone home. Starlight Glimmer did the rounds and she has managed to wrangle the lot of us into an overnight, day after tomorrow. This afternoon she was already looking nervous and excited at the prospect. She got lost a few times looking for the reading room, then the room where we store the stationary supplies and bookmarks, then where we might keep spare pillows and mane curlers and snacks, then the front door so she could go buy supplies... I think I should take her to Zecora's for breathing exercises. A slumber party! Day after tomorrow! For seven ponies and Spike! Good thing this castle is so big, we could, should, all sleep in the same room. But that's up to Starlight Glimmer to decide. I must resist the temptation to organize. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Imported Mud Apr. 28: On my morning stroll I dropped by Sweet Apple Acres to call on Granny Smith and to deliver Zecora's gifts. Granny Smith was impressed with the concoctions. She said she would be sure to put the ointment, tincture and oil to good use. Back at the castle, I found Starlight Glimmer building pillow and mattress fortresses everywhere. I wonder if she is planning a game of capture the bed sheet or something. In the kitchen I found enough marshmallows, crackers and chocolate for ten sleep overs. Then I followed a swampy smell in one of the hallways to one of the larger wash closets. There I found so many buckets of mud, fresh from Neighver Moor, that I could imagine that Starlight Glimmer was trying to set up her own swamp. I suggested she might find better smelling mud at the spa. Otherwise, I've refrained from interfering. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° Sleepless in the Castle Apr 29: Everypony is in the sitting room, roasting marshmallow, drinking hot chocolate and making smores. I slipped out write a little update and to get the apple juice. We've had an epic combination grab-the-rag and pillow fight that had us running all over the castle. It took team-work to grab those rags, not easy when both teams are swatting the other with pillows and trying to stand on top of a teammate to reach the rag, or tip over the crate or pull on the rope... There was also truth or dare, and we started with a few games of Tangle. We were going to read books together, but sadly, that got voted down. I can read a book tomorrow. We told jokes instead. It was going to be ghost stories, but that would have been hard on Fluttershy, and Fluttershy's version of a horror story is a bit hard to follow. I have to gallop on back! I bet Starlight is about to reveal what she intended to do with all the mud. Maybe mud wrestling? °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`° The Morning After The Night Before April 30: It was really late, or really early, before everypony went to bed. I think I slept about three hours before Applejack shook me awake to ask how I lit the cook top. We have a magical tree-chest castle heat transfer cook top. So I stumbled down to the kitchen and bumped into the right rocks and stood there in a daze for a while. There was a pink and orange blur in the kitchen. After a coffee or two, bought in Canterlot just for occasions like this, it occurred to me that Applejack and Pinkie were cooking breakfast. Pancakes! I could go wake the others. No, bad idea, I'd fall asleep just about as soon as I saw a bed. I sat down in the kitchen. I must have fallen asleep at the table. I blinked and there were pancakes on the table, a big pile, on a tray, and oh did they smell good. I helped carry the pancakes, butter and syrup to the dining room table. Rainbow Dash, Starlight Glimmer, Fluttershy and Applejack were already there. They'd just finished setting the table. Rarity had gone to wake Spike. Pinkie was right behind me with tea, milk, sugar, whipped cream, hay, more pancakes and more syrup. We had three syrup flavors on the table, strawberry, zap apple and peppermint. I think some of those used to be jams. We ate everything and chatted up a storm. There were so many conversations going at once and crossing over, it was hard to keep track. But all good things don't last forever and our friends went home after breakfast. Spike, Starlight Glimmer and I set about cleaning. That collect the rags game had us picking up feathers in a lot of rooms. We'd even left trails of feathers in the hallways between the rooms. Last night, after the rags had been collected, Starlight Glimmer would announce the next room and we'd race off to get there first. Starlight Glimmer was on my team and she was no help in getting us there through the castle maze. Rarity's team had Spike, so they had an edge over my team. One room had the rag loaded in a confetti cannon. Starlight Glimmer had collected all the confetti cannons (she's particularly good at bumping into the ones Pinkie stashed everywhere) into one room, and while we pounded each other breathless with pillows, the cannons would fire. Feathers and confetti everywhere. That room was harder than the others to clean up today. Some pillows might have confetti in them now. The clean up is finished and I've had a long afternoon nap. It's been a really short day. I'd say that Starlight Glimmer's slumber party was a success. °Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°Øo.¸¸.•*´¯`°