Through The Looking Glass
Oct 1: A quillpal suggested in a comment a few days ago that my ordeal sounded like I was experiencing a nightmare. I discarded that possibility at first since I had been trapped in a book and I hadn't been dreaming. Then Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came by yesterday to see how I was doing and while they were here they described the spells they had combined in enchanting that book. The dreamwalking spell is what has me reconsidering the quillpal's suggestion that I was in fact in a nightmare. If it neighs, give it hay. It was still both a nightmare of my own making and tailored by the narrative of the book. With some practice, I think I could probably quash my fears and shape my expectations into a positive outlook. I suspect that would make the story bland and predictable.
That's all moot. The book is nearly illegible and using Haycartes to read it is asking for trouble.
Princess Cadence, my brother and my niece are coming to see me in two days time. I received a letter from them this morning. It will be the first time Flurry Heart will have left the Empire. My parents were over for a surprise visit today. They tired me out. I didn't get much done.
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The Shrine
Oct 2: When Moondancer came to visit a few days ago she had news to share about the Epona exposition. Its popularity is unabated and the lineup is so long that it will be a long time before my Canterlot friends use their tickets.
Every so often Moondancer meets with a museum curator to see how the scrolls are holding up and to evaluate the progress of their restoration. Apparently, there are still a fair number of ponies who try to read the scrolls using Haycartes. Moondancer is thinking of publishing short passages from the scrolls in the local paper in hopes of tempting more ponies to make the effort to read them for themselves.
The real draw is Epona. Every day, everypony who gets into the the museum stops at the glass cabinet that holds Epona's skeleton. They stare at The All Mother. Those up front reach over the barrier and touch the glass. Every time in every group. I know how they feel. It's just a skeleton of a small earth pony, but in my mind I do not see bones. I see the All Mother, sleeping peacefully. It is all too much for many ponies. They have to be helped to stand up and they need to be half carried out. Many go right back to the back of the line and wait days to see her again. The museum has extended their hours again to try and accommodate the crowds, they're now open from four in the morning to midnight. But maintenance of the rooms must be done and the 50 pony limit must be respected to maintain constant temperature and humidity. The artifacts are fragile, even with magic fields to protect and hold them together.
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Beet Pulp Soup
Oct 3: Princess Cadence and Shining Armor arrived in time for lunch with my niece in tow. The Fledgling's Forbearance spell is holding well, and although she was crawling about everywhere and getting into anything she could reach, she didn't blow any holes into the castle or shatter it with a hyper-sonic screech. She did keep my brother very occupied. I had gone with Spike to the bazaar yesterday to pick up some fresh produce and today Spike cooked up a sumptuous lunch for our guests. I was going to decorate the dining room and set the table but Starlight Glimmer beat me to it. I showed Cadence, Shining and Flurry Heart around while they put the food on the table, then we went down to eat.
We didn't really get into talking about my adventurous reading ordeal until after lunch and after Flurry Heart had been trotted off to her nap. They had galloped straight to the Crystal Empire Medical Center when Moondancer had told them what had happened. They found me just after I had been admitted into Emergency and I was getting rushed to Trauma.
Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer were there filling in the admission paperwork. By the time I had been carted to the Medical Center, I was sweating profusely while shaking and shivering. I remember that my ears and feet were cold and being told that my gums were turning blue. I was also showing signs of confusion. I don't remember arriving at the Medical Center. Moondancer, Princess Cadence and my brother sat down with Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer and waited for news of my recovery.
An hour or so later an intern came to see them. She said that at first my pulse was rapid and weak and that I was breathing in short shallow breaths. I had lost consciousness shortly after that. I had been administered oxygen while being rehydrated with large volumes of an intravenous salt solution. They gave me something to combat stress induced muscle degradation, and vitamin E. I was still in Critical Care, but I was doing better. They allowed my friends and family to stay with me while I slept, but only one at a time. Moondancer had to return to Canterlot and Sunburst went home, the rest took turns keeping a vigil overnight and into the next morning.
I apparently woke up a few times that night but did not recognize Cadence, Shining or Starlight Glimmer, who were there by turn at my bedside. I remember none of this. I had much improved by morning. I was sleeping peacefully and when I did wake up, there was beet pulp soup laced with fresh raw spinach and soothing herbs for me to eat. I could smell the chamomile. Chamomile is mildly toxic. There was probably valerian in there too. I was moved to sub-acute care later that morning for observation. I was discharged the next morning and Starlight took me home.
Flurry Heart awoke from her nap (we could hear her babbling in the next room) and Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, satisfied that I wasn't going to keel over, made me promise to be careful with strange books, and packed up Flurry Heart to leave for the Crystal Empire. I walked with them to the train station where their locomotive was waiting for them. They don't travel by pegasus-drawn chariot like Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.
So they left. So soon. Maybe we could go camping sometime. When Flurry Heart is older.
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Farewell Summer
Oct 4: It's spa day and I joined Rarity and Fluttershy with the intent to wash that enchanted book muck right out of my mane! No mud please, no slippery seaweed wrap or even fragrant oil. I want to feel clean again! I didn't even want to watch Rarity and Fluttershy sinking into the mud. I couldn't. I shudder now just to think of mud. We steamed together in the sauna, and then, while they got covered in mud, I had a bath, a full rub-down massage and a hooficure. By that time they were cleaned up and the three of us had a long soak in the fragrant hot tub. I could feel the heat driving away the last of the chills. I was warm at last.
After the spa I felt so fresh and we all smelled and looked fabulous! We celebrated with tea and cookies at Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie joined us. We are getting fluffy now. My winter coat hasn't fully grown in yet, but it's getting there. Summer has gone.
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Earthpony Magic
Oct 5: The leaves on the trees in Ponyville are changing color, responding to the touch of passing earth ponies. Applejack is really good at coaxing glowing yellows out of trees. Junebug has a knack for brilliant reds. Daisy gets trees to burst out in orange.
Of course that's on the right trees. Junebug is not going to be able to paint the poplars red, nor can Daisy turn the willows orange, although she did coax out a pretty warm orange on the Golden Oak that one year. For the most part, the trees, when they're ready, respond to ponies and burst into color without the pony doing anything but walk on by. It gives the woods the look of a beautiful patchwork quilt. Greens, yellows, oranges, browns and reds. With a touch of pink and magenta. The fall colors are especially beautiful in the morning and I'm making it a point of taking my first cup of tea out on the balcony with a view of the town. I drink in the view and I play spot the difference while I start my day.
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A Thousand Points of Light
Oct 6: The air is pretty chilly out on the balcony tonight, but the air is clear and still, great for star gazing. I have my Double Bridle refractor telescope set up but I've come in to warm up a little and get a blanket before I go back out to look at the stars some more.
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Streaks of Fire
Oct 7: Luna's canvas is full of shooting stars tonight. Soon after Princess Celestia set the sun, there were shooting stars and fireballs leaving persistent trails of light around the Draco the dragon constellation. Princess Luna delayed raising the moon, probably so we could see the fainter meteors better. The action has died down now and Princess Luna has raised the moon. My copy of the Astronomer's Almanac states that there will be more early evening meteor activity tomorrow. I'll be watching!
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Fireball Encore
Oct 8: It's getting dark now as Princess Celestia is putting her orb to bed. In the purple twilight the constellations are taking up their positions and the stronger stars are starting to twinkle. I've got a pot of hot cocoa, a smidgen of hay, my Double Bridle refractor is pointing at the sky and I've collected a few warm blankets to wear as I rest on my big cushion. Bring on the fireballs!
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Soft Light, Bright Colors
Oct 9: Cloudsdale sent us rain, so the entire day it was cold and drizzly. I put on a rain blanket and brought my umbrella for my walkabout. That didn't keep my hooves dry. I strayed into the fields and the long wet grass left me soaked up to my belly. But it was worth it for the soft light on the autumn leaves. The fall colors are really starting to spread.
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True Colors
Oct 10: Rainbow Dash is on Wonderbolt duty today so it was other weather ponies who cleared out what was left of the clouds from yesterday's rain. It was also a bit cold today so my morning walk was cold and damp. But the sun was shining brightly and making the dew drops glitter. The damp also deepened the colors of the streets and houses and intensified the autumn splendor in the trees.
I decided pack my Piaffle game and go see if Fluttershy was busy. She was home and we played Piaffle and drank hot cocoa. We got to talking about about waxing wing feathers, about glitter and this segued to Fluttershy talking at length about startle displays, misdirection, crypsis and many other fun things critters do. Maybe I'll forego getting glitter on my feathers, but if I get into a situation where I know I'm going to have to deal with pony-eating creatures, I'll keep getting glittered as a possibility.
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Fan Fair Do
Oct 11: In Newspaper today I saw an announcement for a Daring Do fan fair that's coming up. What's even better, A.K. Yearling herself will be there! I'd like to go to that. I bet Rainbow Dash would like to go to that too. I'll see if she will be free then.
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Friendship Summit
Oct 12: Spike coughed up a scroll from Princess Celestia during lunch today. The Princess wants me to attend a one day friendship summit in Griffonstone, of all places! I should be getting more details in the mail soon, but from what she wrote in the scroll, I gather that Princess Celestia wants to teach the benefits of cooperation to the griffons. Dash told me Griffonstone was pretty run down when she and Pinkie were there about two years ago. Princess Celestia said her envoy will be getting back to us shortly with a venue and dates. I hope it won't be in the middle of the winter.
Rainbow Dash can come to the Daring Do convention! We're both very excited at the prospect. A. K. Yearling never goes to fan conventions, this is an opportunity not to be missed! Hundreds of Daring Do fans, in the same convention center, discussing the books, and with A. K. Yearling! Wild horses couldn't keep us from this convention. We've already mailed our bits to buy our advance tickets, just to be sure. Rainbow Dash is going to dress up to look like Daring Do. I teasingly called her a nerd. She made a face, but she's still going to go in costume.
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Red Queen Dilemma
Oct 13: I received a communication book message from Sunset Shimmer. It's been so long between messages that it took me a while to find where that weird rattling and buzzing noise was coming from. I had to track it down by ear to the miscellaneous books shelf in the corner. She wrote to say that her school went on an organized spring camping trip. The Star Swirl reflections of me and my Ponyville friends all went, as did the alt-Celestia and alt-Luna entities. I'm almost jealous.
She said that she's bonding well with both the reflections of my friends and the alt-me. My doppelganger is feeling inadequate and introverted and Sunset is teaching her strength and confidence through friendship! She also wrote to tell me that the magic wielded by her and the reflections of me and my Ponyville friends is getting stronger and no longer requires music to be activated. This is not good.
What really struck me, even more than the rise of magic in a magic-free pocket universe, was the last sentence in Sunset's note. She wrote, "So far, it's been an eventful year". It's been way more than a year. Since that night when I woke up to find Sunset Shimmer stealing my Element of Harmony, nearly three years have gone by in Equestria. During that time, Sunset Shimmer has experienced six months. Time, in Star Swirl's mirror universe, is slowing down.
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Tasty Treat Maker
Oct 14: Applejack is bucking the last of the apples out of her orchard trees. She's still pretty busy baking and delivering pies, but she will be at a small lull in the harvest within the next few days. I think we should go on a fall picnic before the third cut haying kicks in, like we did last year, so I said as much, between mouthfuls of pie. It was delicious. I brought one home for Spike and Starlight Glimmer.
Applejack is all for a picnic. We'll probably go to the same place we went last year, Saddle Lake. It's so much fun seeing the colors change from lush summer green to the fiery fall finery as we walk by. I'll see what Pinkie has to say.
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Serial Prankster In The 'Hood
Oct 15: My morning started with Fluttershy knocking on my door and calling for an immediate Friendship Council Meeting. She was really worked up about something, so while Fluttershy stewed in the hallways, I sent Spike to get Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack and I went to find Dash. We all then rushed to the map table room to find out what was wrong. Well, I wouldn't call it an emergency meeting because there was no emergency. It was just urgent, for Fluttershy. She was furious with Rainbow Dash for having scared her witless last night.
While we got down to trying to explain to Dash that not all pranks are funny, I found out the hard way that she'd slipped a whoopee cushion onto my chair. Case in point: the whoopee cushion illustrates that simple pranks can be really lame. I mean, we're ponies. We have gas. I can't even remember the last time I'd seen a whoopee cushion. I would not be surprised if Dash had bought the cushion at deep discount at the bazaar, along with two other things she didn't want and the one thing that she did. Somehow, both Pinkie and Dash thought it was hilarious. They were the only ones.
Well, Fluttershy didn't get the apology she wanted, but she did get our sympathy (that's what friends are for), and as for Dash, I think we miscommunicated. She thought that we meant that a truly funny prank has to be big and elaborate. At least, she didn't get the message that the pony getting pranked has to find it funny too. Pinkie seems to know this at some level, but she didn't do a very good job of sharing that wisdom with Dash.
So Dash came up with a new prank today. She baked two cakes. One cake was a layered cake three ponies high! She succeeded in squeezing that gigantic cake into the Carousel Boutique undetected along with a second cake, one that looked exactly like a sewing machine. It fell to pieces when Rarity tried to sew with it. I think that if Rarity hadn't been annoyed with Dash in advance, she would at least have appreciated the artistry.
I hope that was the end of it. She demonstrated that (a) she can bake and (b) she can pull a big and elaborate prank. It wasn't funny, but it was big and planned out. Rarity is going to be eating cake for a while.
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Serial Prankster Redux: Her Just Desserts
Oct 16: That wasn't the end of it. During the night Rainbow Dash succeeded in moving Applejack, bed and all, out of her house and into the pigpen while she slept. Applejack had even taken the precaution of stringing up bells and trip wires all over her bedroom, just in case. Apparently, if we need a stealthy pony for some daring doing, we should send in Dash. Or, Applejack is just a very sound sleeper. It's probably a bit of both.
Rainbow Dash did not stop there either. She was off to the races, flooding the pranking void. She gave Pinkie a fright, switched Cranky's toupee for a skunk, hid a brick in Mr Cake's sandwich, swapped out Cheerilee's blackboard lesson with a crude drawing, pranked a number of other ponies in town and was generally very busy. I guess when we said "lazy pranks" weren't funny, her solution was not just to be ingenious, but to be industrious as well. Spike didn't find getting tricked into flooding Princess Celestia with scrolls, again, to be that funny. Not with the cramps he got when she sent them all back in quick succession.
Everypony came to see me, and so we went to see our resident expert on all things funny, Pinkie Pie. She was a bit perplexed as to how it could be that everypony had suddenly lost their sense of humor, but she agreed to go ask Dash to quit pranking. Then she came up with a better plan.
This was the evening that Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had set to sell Filly Guide cookies door to door in Ponyville and Dash had told Pinkie that she planned on swapping those cookies with joke cookies that leave a rainbow stain when bitten. This gave our Party Pony a unifying idea. Cool Rainbow's zest for pranks and build community at the same time. Through theater! It's a shame that Starlight Glimmer is out of town, she would have loved this, even though we didn't break out into song.
While Rainbow Dash was stealthily swapping the real Filly Guide cookies with her ersatz cookies, Pinkie was filling everypony in town in on what they had to do, and with amazing speed. Dash volunteered to help Rarity and Applejack escort the fillies door to door, just to watch the cookies get delivered and to be there when everypony had realized they'd been pranked. But it didn't quite work out that way.
Pinkie had instructed everypony to wait until nightfall, bite into a few cookies and then shuffle slowly outdoors like they had a high fever, looking for Rainbow Dash and moaning for COOKIES. It worked. Rainbow Dash panicked. She rounded up Applejack, Rarity and the fillies and hightailed it out of town and into Applejack's barn, with all of Ponyville moaning and shuffling after them. Barricaded in the barn, Applejack and the others bit into some cookies and did the plaintive moaning and shuffling act. Dash was frightened to tears and ruing that she had apparently unleashed some ghastly infection on all her friends. But she recovered after Pinkie explained the sting, enough to joke that she'd have to come up with an even bigger prank. That had better be a joke.
My friends were in no mood earlier in the day to think about planning a picnic together, but after the townsponies had gone home to sweep up the cookie crumbs they'd left everywhere and we'd helped the Apple family fix the mess made by barricading and breaking into the barn, everypony was ready to talk picnic. We'll go in three days, to Saddle Lake. It will be sunny and probably not too cold.
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Duty Calls
Oct 17: I received the date for the Friendship Summit in Griffonstone. It's on the same day as the Daring Do convention. As the Princess of Friendship, I can't not go. So I'm going to miss the fan fair.
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Getting Ready
Oct 18: Now that I have a deadline, I've been working hard on flash cards for the subjects we're going to cover. The theme of the summit is Building Bridges Through Cooperation and Friendship. A lot of it will be semi-informal round table discussions on trade, technology, and joint ventures. Princess Celestia aims to strengthen our ties with the griffins and where necessary, to give them the tools they need to rebuild their culture. So we're going to sit at a round table and talk. The event is the brainchild of Prince Blueblood, who will be the moderator during discussions. Apparently he's quite good at diplomacy, regardless of how boorish and self-absorbed he was with Rarity that first time we went to the Grand Galloping Gala.
I'm going to give a friendship workshop as well. I hope some griffins will attend that. I'm pretty much the only pony who has made a dedicated study on the subject of Friendship, so that severely limits the number of ponies I can call on to give dissertations. I think Princess Celestia's priority is the rebuilding of Griffonstone. That takes cooperation, and cooperation is integral to friendship. Ergo, I have to sell the concept of friendship as a valuable asset to the griffons.
Pinkie already gave them the key to baking good scones. That is something they can once again take pride in. Maybe I should find something else to build up that pride even more. Something to cheer for. Like a sport team, maybe. Cooperation, pride; friendship. It's worth a try. There were griffons competing at the Equestria Games, so they could conceivably build their own sports teams.
Tomorrow we hike to Saddle Lake for our fall foliage picnic! The weather will be warm and clear. In anticipation, Spike and I sliced a load of carrots into sticks and ground up a batch of sesame seeds into a paste. Tomorrow morning, before we go, we'll puree alfalfa sprouts, mix in the paste and some salt, and we'll have a fresh dip to go with the carrot sticks.
Starlight Glimmer isn't coming. She has decided to forego this picnic in order to study. A hike with friends is good for a pony. Maybe I should have insisted.
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Over The Fields And Through The Woods
Oct 19: My friends arrived a bit earlier than planned at the Friendship Castle, all saddled up and champing at the bit. Spike and I were in a bit of a panic as we finished up our carrot dip, tripping over Starlight Glimmer in the kitchen as we pureed the alfalfa spouts into a gooey mess, added quite a bit of salt, and succeeded somehow in stirring in the stiff sesame paste until it went from goop to dip. Food preparation is magic! Into empty jam jars it went, on with the lids, packed into my trusty saddle bags with the carrot sticks, blanket, guide books, survival kit, tea, tea kettle, cups, writing material, sample jars and magnifying glass (check, check, check-ity check check and check on my check list). One pony and her Number One Assistant, all set to go!
We headed east, walking single file through the long grass still heavy with dew, and veered south at the river to the nearest bridge. On the other side we continued east and into dappled sunlight in the deciduous forest, a herd of six chatty ponies and one baby dragon. We chose a forest trail that headed north toward our destination, the east side of Saddle Lake.
The trail was narrow and green with ungrazed grasses and as we progressed, fewer and fewer of the trees had changed into their fall finery. Six ponies walking together changed that. Reds, yellows and orange rushed into the leaves as we passed. We brushed through the grasses and now golden, they burst into seed. They'd only been waiting for this moment to arrive. Pony magic let the changes be.
Though dips and meadows, we set our little winding trail ablaze, and cresting a hill we looked back to see the fiery spread of our hoofwork being communicated by the mycelium network and working its way up to the higher branches. A river of autumn brilliance in the verdant sea of summer's bounty. Fall is Princess Celestia's favorite time of year, and I can see why. It's the sunset of the time of plenty.
Ahead, the blue waters of Saddle Lake shimmered in the sun and spurred us down the hill, through a final patch of forest and out to the lakeside prairie. We scouted about until we found our picnic hill from last time, a high, dry spot close enough to the lake to get a drink and with a good view of Canterlot, Foal Mountain and Rambling Rock Ridge.
Dash, Pinkie, Applejack and Spike galloped down to the water to splash in the shallows, kick up gouts of spray and generally get soaked. The rest of us watched from a safe distance as we spread out our picnic blankets and assembled the food items. Three wet ponies and a baby dragon climbed back up the hill to join us as we basked in sun before lunch.
After lunch we roasted marshmallows and Pinkie tried to write our names in the green meadow. That didn't work out so well as the golden hue spread so fast that soon there was no more green left. But where she had walked the wild asters bloomed, so there we were, our names inscribed in flowers for any passing bird to read.
Spike took a nap and I lounged in the sun, chatting with Rarity while watching Fluttershy collect a few big bouquets of asters, cattails and tall grasses to take home. Pinkie prospected for interesting rocks to send to her sister and Applejack had fun coaxing the trees into dazzling color. She found a few crabapples she liked and she collected some branches to graft onto her trees back at the farm.
All too soon it was late afternoon and time to return home. We collected our things, I helped carry one of Fluttershy's bouquets (resisting the urge to nibble on it), and we plunged into the warm cathedral of fall stained foliage that our journey this morning had wrought upon the forest.
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Call of Booty
Oct 20: The Map Table roused again! Unfortunately, it wasn't me that it called, it summoned Applejack and Fluttershy and it sent them to Las Pegasus. I've never been there, but I've read that it's a sort of stationary entertainment complex or town, built on clouds. It's supposed to be earth pony and unicorn accessible, so getting around shouldn't be a problem for Applejack. Neither Applejack nor Fluttershy looked at all pleased with the prospect of venturing into Las Pegasus, but if the Tree chose them, then they were the best team for the job.
It's a long train ride to Los Pegasus, and although they left this morning, it's little wonder I haven't heard back from them yet. They might be gone for days. Their train went through Whitetail Woods, so they should have had some nice scenery to look at on the way.
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Putting Out a Fire With a Pair of Matches
Oct 21: Los Pegasus held no charm for Applejack and Fluttershy. They caught the overnight train back to Ponyville after just spending the day among those bright lights and tourist attractions. But they found and fixed the problem the Map chose for them. Applejack came by to tell me how it went this afternoon.
They found a pony using lies and false friendship to take advantage of ponies in his employment. By pitting his employees one against each other, Gladmane kept them from developing their expertise and becoming superstars, in the way that Sapphire Shores is a superstar. Thus they felt compelled to remain as sideshow entertainment for Gladmane's hotel. The weird thing was how Fluttershy and Applejack solved this deception -- two of the employees being deceived were Flim and Flam, and they were encouraged to deceive the deceiver into revealing his means of operation. That healed the friendships of the deceived ponies, but left the hotel under the care of the two scoundrels, Flim and Flam. Applejack wasn't pleased with that outcome, but she was relieved to get away from "that wild vacation spot".
Was there a friendship lesson in this? If a friendly pony says your best friend is saying bad things about you behind your back, don't take their word for it. Go talk to that best friend to make things right once again.
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They Only Come Out At Night
Oct 22: I got up very early today, a few hours before the morning twilight. The nights are long this time of year and when it's dark, ponies that wake up before the twilight just roll over and go back to sleep. That makes for long periods of dark and quiet at night, a time where the constellations have settled down and the crystal ponies aren't sending ribbons of color down from the north. This is when the shooting stars come out to play.
My almanac predicted an early morning meteor shower, one of several that we get at this time of year, and that is why I was up and scanning the night sky this morning. Princess Luna had set her moon early, leaving just the night's stars and constellations to glitter like diamond dust up above. The meteors were shy and fleeting and I managed to see ten before the night ended. The constellations took their bows and reached down to touch the far horizon, hastening to exit as the early twilight spread across the sky like a playhouse curtain.
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Failing Marks
Oct 23: The trio of fillies, the ones with matching cutie marks and who call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, had me all excited about a griffon friend of theirs that they said had acquired a cutie mark. Turns out it was painted on. The griffin, named Gabriella, wanted to help the CMC succeed in giving her a cutie mark, and since that was impossible, she faked it.
I don't know when it was that I became so gullible. Griffons do not get cutie marks. I had researched that question earlier today since the CMC had come knocking to ask if griffon cutie marks were possible. No griffon cutie mark had been documented in the literature that I've seen. But when they came back to announce that they had succeeded in bringing out a griffon's cutie mark, I just wanted to believe it was true. Their special talent is helping ponies fathom their cutie marks (these fillies have cutie marks that match), which lent credence to their claim. It didn't help that there is that Griffonstone summit I'm preparing for. Teaching griffons about cutie marks, and demonstrating that we ponies can help make them happen, that would have been astounding. It was also too good to be true. I think I have griffons on the brain.
True to form, the CMC did succeed at what they excel at. They found out what Gabriella's special talent is. That talent is helping others and she is really good at it (but not good enough to help the CMC achieve the impossible). So they made her a Cutie Mark Crusader as well, and gave her a pair of wooden plaques carved and painted to match their cutie marks, but with a trophy in the middle to represent Gabriella's skill at being helpful. They even threw her a cute-ceañera, a party ponies have to celebrate when they acquire their cutie marks.
I'm going to write to her to see if she would like to help at the friendship summit in Griffonstone. I could really use the help of a local to help me navigate the do's and don't's of griffon society.
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Investing In Hay Futures
Oct 24: The third cut haying starts tomorrow, so I decided to get the jump on the yak buyers and order 18 bales from Applejack today. Since the yaks demand perfection, they inspect every bale before buying and they don't buy hay before it's been baled. I'm buying a few more bales than last year, just in case I have more guests.
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Specialty Hay
October 25: The weather is clear and bright and will remain so for several days, the time it takes for cut timothy grass to dry. Applejack and the hay specialist farmers were out after the morning dew had evaporated, mowing the fields. Dash had her team of pegasi coax a gentle breeze over the fields to help with the sun-drying. I get a great view of the mowers transforming the sea of green into rows and parallel lanes of cut stalks, following the contours of the hills, ponds and field edges. It looks very abstract.
This third cut harvest is happening two weeks earlier than it did last year. The whole point is to give the grass time recover and build up energy reserves before winter. There are still a few warm days in the weeks ahead and that will help.
Even though the third cut has barely begun, the bazaar is sporting a hay theme. I picked up a few bundles of fresh cut (not dried) timothy from one stand and a couple bales of specialty hay from another stand, which I had delivered. One bale was a second cut hay with a high alfalfa and clover content, and the other was a high fiber, extra low protein first cut bale that had dried to perfection to a faded green. As we chose a spot to store them in the pantry, I joked with Starlight Glimmer that I'd bought the high fiber bale to cure the bloat we were sure to get from eating too much of the high alfalfa bale. Starlight said she thought that was a good plan. It was a joke, not an invitation. I didn't take Starlight for a mare who binge eats rich food. Maybe I should buy another high fiber bale, just in case.
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Green Grass Soup
Oct 26: For lunch, Spike made green grass soup with some of the fresh cut timothy I bought yesterday and with some fresh cut alfalfa he picked up at the market today. That was delicious with oat crackers. Starlight Glimmer told me that today she was reading The Art of Invisibility Spells. I bought that book last year in Canterlot to replace the copy lost when the Golden Oak Library was destroyed. For dessert we had apple crumble.
In the hay fields around Ponyville, ponies are still mowing. We have more fields to mow this year due to the expansion. Since it was a warm sunny day, I opened a few of the smaller windows in my library room and let the sun shine in. It also let the aroma of curing hay waft in from the surrounding fields. Sunshine and the smell of hay makes this rock stable feel less like a cave. It's still cold and huge and prone to small hurricane drafts shooting up the staircase when the front door is open, but maybe Applejack was on to something when she tried to turn parts of the castle into a barnyard. She did go overboard with that idea. The thing that my friends did settle on, the tree root chandelier, has the fact that it's less intrusive going for it.
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Selling Friendship By The Pound
Oct 27: The cutie mark specialist fillies' griffon friend, Gabriella, burst into my library today. I see she got my letter. She's so enthusiastic about every little thing that she's hard to keep up with.
According to Gabriella, griffons can be a bit unfriendly and most griffons don't pay much attention to each other, except to squabble. Gabriella, who prefers to be called Gabby, is an atypically friendly griffon, and yet I wouldn't discount the capacity of most griffons for friendship too quickly. Dash has a strong friendship with Gilda, there was a griffon team at the Equestria Games, and instead of dispersing to the four corners of Equestria, griffons have chosen to continue living in close proximity in Griffonstone.
Ergo, Gabby might be too bubbly for the average griffon, but the capacity for cooperation and friendship is definitely there. Gabby brought me up to speed about the griffon gestalt of monetary worth. Anything worth sharing is worth paying for, or conversely, anything given freely is either worthless or it has a hidden cost.
This tells me several things. I am going to need to take a bag of bits to this summit. I am going to have to demand payment or no griffon will listen to anything I have to say. I am going to have to present friendship and cooperation as a cost/benefit balance and thus, I'm going to have to borrow heavily from Fluttershy's explanations of ecological and behavioral strategies as well as dipping into economic theory.
It's going to be a bit abstract, but with Gabby's help, together we should come up with talking points for the round table discussions and something to hold the attention of the griffon audience during my workshop. We're going to try and monetize friendship! I just hope griffons are at least half as good at math as Gabby says they are.
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Harvest
Oct 28: It has been three days since the start of the third cut and some of the grass has dried enough to be baled. It has been tedded, turned and raked into windrows and around midday ponies were out in the fields hard at work baling it. Some of those first bales went straight to market where they sold fast. The first yak buyers had arrived on the morning train and they were waiting in the bazaar. Yaks prefer "perfect" bales and they don't buy in advance, they pick and prod each bale before buying it. The best hay sold for three times the going rate for second cut hay, but there were plenty of takers for the hay that wasn't up to yak standards.
Applejack didn't take any hay to market today. Her strategy is to sell her hay in the early morning while the fields are drying and then she spends the rest of the day harvesting and baling with Big McIntosh. She says that dealing with yak buyers is slow and tiring. They haggle over every bale but they pay well. What with the field expansions and the chaotic marketplace, Braeburn is coming to Ponyville to help sell the Apple Acres hay, which will give Big Mac and Applejack more time for their chores and to work the fields. A pony can't be in two places at once.
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Harvest Picnic
Oct 29: I went on a picnic in the western pasture today with my friends. It was warm and sunny with a gentle breeze, intended to dry the last of the cut grass before it gets baled. Pinkie, with Gummy clinging to her tail, led us to a tall hill dotted with hay bales awaiting collection and a great view all around. The theme was harvest pet date, so Spike and I brought Owlowiscious and fresh alfalfa sandwiches. We spread out our blankets, put down our baskets and admired the autumn splendor in the trees while we waited for Applejack to arrive. We saw her approach from far afield, a tiny dot trotting straight to us, a smaller dot running circles around her and barking. Opal saw them too. She stopped trying to stalk Owlowiscious and found a nearby tree to climb. Applejack arrived, smelling of fresh hay, and we opened our baskets. Angel hopped right over the apple and carrot treats and helped himself to one of my alfalfa sandwiches.
Applejack should finish baling and storing her hay by tomorrow and then she'll help the neighbor with her hay. The harvest is going quite well and what with the extra volume from the first and second cuts, Ponyville's storage facilities are almost full. Fortunately, there are a lot of hay buyers from Yakyakistan, and most of Applejack's hay has been going straight to market where Braeburn has been selling it almost as fast as it arrives.
Applejack didn't stay long. As soon as she had finished eating, she was up and trotting back to the bazaar to give Braeburn a lunch break. We remained a while longer, enjoying the sun and the smells of the fall. The days are getting shorter and it won't be long before winter's blanket puts all the fresh greens to bed and we depend on our jams, pickled beets, silage, root cellars and dried stores to remind us of the summer past and the spring to come.
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Hay Train to Yakyakistan
Oct 30: There were Yak buyers everywhere today! The morning south bound train arrived jam packed with yaks, hay prices have skyrocketed and each train heading north for Crystal Empire left heavily burdened with hay. Around mid afternoon, after they had bought all the good hay they could afford, the yaks turned tourist and wandered around taking in the sights and posing for pictures in front of the Friendship Castle. They've all followed their purchases north now and I imagine there are long rows of hay carts getting slowly dragged up the steep trail to Yakyakistan. There could maybe eventually be an extension of the Equestrian rail line to Yakyakistan, or maybe not. It's a steep climb through deep snows and a constant danger of avalanches.
Applejack has sold all the third cut hay she's going to sell. She's kept a hundred mostly irregular bales in reserve, partly for her own consumption, partly to sell to ponies later in the year. Braeburn will be leaving for Appleoosa tomorrow morning with thirty bales of third cut hay. He'll be back later for some first and second cut hay as well. Like Applejack and Big McIntosh, he often requires the energy boost from the second and third cut hays for farm work. My 18 bales are to be delivered tomorrow. My pantry is ready.
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Can't Say Neigh to Freshly Harvested Hay
Oct 31: There were more hay buyers in town today, mostly yaks. The third cut is winding down, all the timothy grass has been baled and nearly all of the bales are out of the field. The fields look so clean and bare now. That was the last big harvest of the year for Ponyville, but there are still several other crops to be harvested, such as the alfalfa and the root crops.
My new batch of hay is permeating the castle with delicious odors. If I'm not paying attention, I've found that my hooves follow my nose to the guest room that serves as our third and second cut hay pantry. That's happened more than once. Starlight Glimmer isn't immune to the siren's call of fresh sun-dried hay either. On one of my distracted aroma following walks I found her with her head in the pantry door, taking deep whiffs. Naturally, we had third cut hay for lunch. Who could resist that?
We are due for rain soon. Rainbow Dash is expecting Cloudsdale to send us showers by tomorrow afternoon. The fields need it recover in time for winter.
Applejack is trying to grow crystal corn from the kernels she brought back from the Crystal Empire last year. She managed to get several plants to sprout, but they've remained stunted and they have yet to flower. There is something missing and Applejack hasn't figured out what just yet. On the other hoof, the Crystal Empire can't grow many of the apple varieties that Applejack farms.
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