Correspondence
Jan 1: Spike sent my query to Princess Celestia this morning, just like old times. I dictated, he wrote, and he sent it off in a flash of fire and smoke. I even signed it "Your faithful student". Then I wrote a note for Moondancer. My Treatise was open besides me, but Haycartes still has that lingering dread for me. Spike ran off to the letter office to mail that and when he got back, he had a scroll from the Princess. She won't be able to make it to that dinner.
After lunch I knocked on Fluttershy's door. With so many critters either flown south or hibernating, her cottage seemed unusually bare and silent. She did have neat piles of books here and there; winter must be the time she does most of her reading. I proposed going to the Cloud Hopper lecture, admitting that this was very short notice (the lecture is in two weeks time). She said yes! So I went back to my library to write to the Canterlot Explorer's Society. I reserved my seat for the cloud hopper conservation lecture and asked if honorary members could bring guests, and if so, how many and are there fees associated? Then Spike ran down to the letter office again.
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High Society
Jan 2: Rarity popped into my study today. She had heard from Fluttershy that we would be going to attend a Canterlot Explorer's Society In The Field lecture. She's excited for us, the dinner lectures are a very posh and sought after society affair. Very proper and well to do ponies attend them to be seen by their peers. I had to stifle a giggle thinking back on how much fun Pinkie and Lemon Heart's table had had the night I gave my lecture there. I had a vivid flashback of flying croutons getting batted with bread sticks. Some very proper ponies must have been aghast.
Rarity is threatening to drag us to her boutique to try on some appropriate evening gowns from her collection. With chapeaus, but not big chapeaus, that would be gauche. She explained a big hat could block the view of the lecturer from anypony sitting behind us. There would also be the risk that an extravagant chapeau might knock over our wine glasses as we looked around. Very embarrassing and very unprincess-like. Then she fairly pranced out the door and down the hall, off to brainstorm our outfits.
Rarity's high spirits spurred Fluttershy to drop by a little while later. She was looking conflicted by the posh aspect. What if it's very expensive for her seat? Last time it was free, but this time... I'm waiting for the reply from the society. It's just one dinner, with a lecture. It can't be that bad. I told her not to worry.
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Fashion Genius
Jan 3: It's Rarity and Fluttershy's usual spa day today, and although I wasn't feeling particularly in need of a trip to the spa, it was a good opportunity to relax with both Rarity and Fluttershy together and talk about going to the Canterlot Explorer's Society In The Field dinner. It turns out that soothing Fluttershy's worries and processing Rarity's ecstatic enumeration of the benefits of making an impression at that dinner was so much of a distraction that we sat for half an hour in the sauna, then we were wrapped in seaweed and none of us panicked or even batted an eye.
After exiting the spa as fresh, and slightly more intrepid, ponies, we went to Rarity's Carousel Boutique. There, over tea and cookies, we had a look at what Rarity had on hoof and brainstormed what kind of ensemble we could put together from that. Or rather, Rarity brainstormed, sketched and built outfits on her couture manequins while we made encouraging noises. Fortunately, Rarity has a deadline to meet for a client, and we were only too happy to escape before she switched to using us as manequins.
Whatever Rarity comes up with, I'm sure we will look stunning wearing it.
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Between The Bears
Jan 4: There was a very nice meteor shower in the pre-dawn hours of the night this morning. I had to get up really early, but it was worth it. Not only was it mild out, but there were many shooting stars dashing through the sky, and even a few fireballs. Most of them seemed to prefer the company of the big and little bear constellations, galloping forth from the space between the two. I watched the show for a few hours, but then the morning twilight heralded the start of a new day and the constellations withdrew from the sky. The shooting stars then went back to wherever it is that they take their repose between showers.
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Made To Measure
Jan 5: Rarity is still hard at work on that order of hers, but she said she needed a break, and for her, showing us what she has put together for our evening wear is a relaxing break. So Fluttershy and I answered the call. I brought some lemon poppy seed cupcakes, which sat on a table by the door to Rarity's sewing room. We didn't dare eat them for fear of soiling the dresses.
Rarity explained that she had selected our outfits in colors and styles that were meant to both complement our coats and manes and to look good together. She brought out a pair of manequins, each sporting a blouse, a floor-length gown, boots and cloak. The dominant colors were greens, blues and yellows for the gowns, blouses and boots. As for the cloaks, the one meant for Fluttershy is dusty rose. Mine is burgundy with a wide sky blue trim, the inside is midnight blue with a scattering of gold stars.
Fluttershy's blouse is baby blue with an embroidered metallic green vine pattern all over it, as well as simple flowers picked out in sequins, gold thread and red garnets. For Fluttershy's gown, Rarity had chosen a cloth with a pattern of mesmerizing swirls of grass and forest green, so light and airy that it looked like it could float away. Along the hem Rarity had started sewing in little sparkling sapphire flowers.
My blouse is gold yellow with lavender buttons and my gown is deep blue with several diamonds and quite a bit of glitter to emulate the night sky.
Rarity is providing us with boots to compliment our dresses. I was thinking that we might be a bit overdoing it, even if it is a high society dinner. Fluttershy probably had the same thought because when Rarity brought out a pile of hats for us to try, we quashed that idea. No hats, but Rarity did get us to promise to get an elegant hairdo for the occasion.
The clothes are not yet ready to wear, they're barely holding together with pins at the moment, so we did not try any of it on. Instead, we went to the kitchen where Rarity brewed a lavender tea to go with our cupcakes. There we chatted until Rarity felt she was once again refreshed, creative and ready to get back to work.
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Slip Sliding Away
Jan 6: Pinkie bounded into my study around mid-morning, dropped a card shaped like a giant snowflake (stellar dendrite) in front of me, and bounced back out and down the hall before I could utter a word. The card was an invitation to go sledding, courtesy of Dash and Pie. I thought it was probably snowing out, or at least when I went for my morning stroll, I saw the weather ponies assembling a fleet of snow clouds. My other clue was the trail of melting snow Pinkie had left in the corridor. I cracked open a window to see outside and I was rewarded with a face-full of fresh snow. So I went over to the nearest balcony.
Sure enough, the balcony, the fields and Ponyville were now whiter than whipped cream and looking like everything had been transformed into pillows and overstuffed furniture. I also noted that the snow storm was ending. I went to get my boots.
Snugly outfitted with my scarf, saddle and boots, I went to get my toboggan, only to find Spike looking for me. He'd fetched the toboggan out of storage right after he'd gotten his invitation and he'd already left it by the front door. He was raring to go. Starlight Glimmer chose to stay inside.
It was hard work pulling the sled through all that fresh powder between the castle and the sledding hill. All the harder since Spike was sitting on the sled. Dash and Pinkie were already sledding and we waved at them as they sped past us on Pinkie's party sled and plowed into a deep drift of fresh snow. By the time I reached the top, I was so hot I removed my saddle. Spike wanted to go down the hill right away but I wanted to wait for the others, so gave the sled a push and sent him hurtling down the trail Pinkie and Dash had carved out on their run. I could see Applejack trudging up the hill.
Applejack had her silly giant bowl-like sled, which is a lot more fun than it looks, and soon Rarity arrived, pulling her miniature sleigh-like sled. The snow was too powdery for anything other than a toboggan, so when Spike, Dash and Pinkie got back up the hill, we all climbed onto Pinkie's sled, held on to anything we could find (I had a mouthful of Applejack's mane) and we pushed off! Halfway down a snowbank threw us off balance and we tipped over into a snow drift. It's harder to stay upright in deep soft snow.
The weather was mild, so each time we sledded down the hill, we packed the snow down. That made it slippery enough for the sleds on skis and for Applejack's bowl. Of course Applejack and Rainbow Dash raced. At first Dash's racing sled had the advantage, but as the packed snow hardened further into white ice, the bowl was the superior vehicle, even though it was nearly impossible to steer. Anypony on the hill had better jump out of the way or get bowled over. (Ha ha! Punny me!)
We called it quits in the early afternoon. We were thoroughly soaked, nopony had had lunch and the slopes were crowded with sledding ponies. We went to Café Hay for hot soup and hay fries, and then to Sugarcube Corner for molten chocolate cakes. It was a good day, made all the better with friends.
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The Hay After The Rides Before
Jan 7: Since the weather ponies cleared away all the clouds before nightfall yesterday, the temperature dropped overnight and I found it a bit crisp out this morning, even dressed in my saddle, boots and scarf. The rising sun made the world painfully bright, and even though the glittering snow was very pretty, I had to quickly return to my rock, tree shaped stable. I ate too much chocolate yesterday and I've felt a little off all day. The aches from half a day of hair-raising bumpy rides on a plank of wood didn't help. Not so Spike. Spike had borrowed Rainbow Dash's racing sled and after a hasty breakfast, he ran off to the toboggan run to spend the day going up and down, up and down, up... oh, my queasy stomach. I stayed indoors in my library, only venturing as far as the kitchen for another flake of the blandest first cut hay and some more weak mint tea. At supper, Spike said that the hill had been awesome, so slippery that he really had to dig in his claws to climb back up through the icy patches. For most of the day he had the hill mostly to himself. Small wonder. If half the ponies that were there yesterday feel the bruises I feel today, and if the other half couldn't walk up the hill without ice-climbing gear, I'd say Spike is going to have that hill to himself right up until the next storm.
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A Fleeting Glimpse of the Vastness
Jan 8: It's been two years now that I've kept this written record of my everyday life. It's a fun little project and a small window into another universe. Like a telescope pointed at the stars.
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Art Of The Dressmaker
Jan 9: Rarity has finished the order she was working on and she shipped that off to her boutique in Manehattan this morning. So this afternoon she invited Fluttershy and me over to try on the outfits she has put together for us. The boots and cloaks fit but the gowns aren't ready. We spent a good hour playing the part of living manequins while Rarity pinned the unfinished cloth every which way to get our gowns to drape elegantly from our withers to our haunches and tail. She'll have sewn that before we try the dresses on again. She adjusted the blouses as well so that they're snug but not tight. She said that she has more flowers and stars to sew into the cloth as well. I think we are going to look stunning.
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Clothes Horse Sense
Jan 10: No fitting for us today. Rarity has trotted off to Manehattan to unpack her client's order. If all went well, it will have arrived at her boutique around the same time as she did. Her plan is to hang the order and take it to the client for approval. She'll be back tomorrow, which is when she expects to finish our outfits. It's pretty clear that Rarity is living that dinner vicariously through us, although she tries to tell us it will be good for her business. Word gets around, she says.
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Mare About Town
Jan 11: Rarity was busy sewing today. I knocked on her door, but she didn't need us to try on the clothes again just yet and I could see that she was quite busy. I went to the bazaar instead and picked up a few jars of sweet and sour silage, and then on the way home I stopped by Sugarcube Corner for a bag of rock candy for Spike. I was wearing my "folly" red cape with the gold trim, the one Rarity gave me a few years ago, but it really was too warm out for a cape. So I wore it loose and open, with the hood down, enjoying the warm winter sunshine as I stepped lightly down the road to the Friendship Castle.
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Mares To Measure
Jan 12: Rarity was ready for us try on the outfits again today. We tried them on and I thought mine was perfect, but Rarity put in a few more pins to get just the right fold and flow. It's like she's working on a spell. Fluttershy looks stunning in her glittering green vines and red garnets on her blue blouse and in that mesmerizing pattern of interlocking curves and spirals of green on her gown. My gown sparkles like rainbows with all the tiny diamonds Rarity sewed to it. I recognized several constellations. Rarity knows how much I love the night sky.
The boots are adjustable to accommodate hoof growth and the cloaks fit loosely and don't need to be tailored. The cloaks are crushed velvet, plush and soft and similar to the cloaks Rarity gave us last year, but more plain, apart from the hidden clusters of tiny gold stars inside mine. They're meant to hide the dazzling gown and blouse underneath, thereby increasing the impact they will have when we remove our cloaks at the dinner. Only our boots1 hint at what's secreted under our cloaks. It's all in the presentation says Rarity.
Rarity calls my outfit Golden Nightfall and Fluttershy's ensemble, Summer Song.
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1 My boots are a deep blue with lavender laces and a gold trim, Fluttershy's boots are forest green with metalic green laces and a grass green trim.
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The Glitterati
Jan 13: Rarity dragged me away from my books and Fluttershy from her study of the ecological implications of the increase in hay field area in the region in and around Ponyville, to one last fitting. We tried on our ensembles, from boots to gown and blouse to cloaks and at last Rarity was satisfied. She had us parade around the boutique while she admired us. Our ensembles are so dazzling, it's like they have Made By Rarity stamped all over them. The dinner is in four days and she made it clear that she expects us to join her at the spa on the morning of the dinner, to get us looking our best. Fashion is serious business.
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Special Delivery
Jan 14: Rarity had finished sewing our ensembles yesterday but she didn't let us take them home yet. Instead, she packed them carefully in boxes and today she shipped our outfits to her boutique in Canterlot. She's afraid we'll crush, stain, step on or otherwise wrinkle the fabric on the train before we even arrive in Canterlot. Sassy Saddles will have the outfits ready, pristine and waiting for us at Canterlot Carousel. Now I'm almost afraid to consider eating at the dinner. What would Rarity think if I splashed salsa on my blouse? I wouldn't get away with asking for a bib, would I? It would be in all the papers and Rarity would fall over in shock. Then she'd pound a bee-line to my door in her haste to give me a crash course in dining etiquette. I'm going to see if I can find a non-stick spell that I can cast on my clothes.
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Winter in the Wild Woods
Jan 15: It was a nice day for a walk today and since it's been a while since the last time I spoke to Zecora, I decided to drop by her place. While it was mild and sunny in Ponyville, the Everfree Forest has its own rhythm. As I walked from Ponyville's influence to the Everfree, the air got noticeably colder. I was prepared for this. I had brought winter garments.
The Everfree is quiet in the winter. The whipping willows, the fillyhair trees and the running oaks are leafless and motionless. The only tracks I saw were those of timberwolves and manticores. The parasprites and unstable flies are snug in their crevices under the leaf litter, the cragadiles are submerged in the mud and the cockatrices are snoozing deep inside of rock piles. The forest seems barren and disturbed only by the wind, but that makes it only harder for a pony to hide.
I was adopting a crystal hare survival strategy by wearing white. I had on my long white hooded cloak which covered my head, my saddle bags and nearly everything else on down to my tail. For my feet, I had white boots. White, quiet and stealthy, I stepped carefully in my soft padded boots. I froze at every snap and every new creak and moan from the slumbering trees. The poison joke is safely blanketed with snow, but here and there the hooked seedheads of dragon claw burrs lurked in the undergrowth. I stuck to the wider trails to avoid those as best I could. They really cling to fur and cloth and the spines sting when you try to pull them off with your teeth.
I passed through a marshy area where I found sheets of ice in and around the trail I was on. It looks like there had been a rain shower on a milder day recently. The temperature must have had plunged afterward, causing the puddles to freeze on top before the liquid water could soak into the ground. That had left these crusts of ice that crunched underhoof. Walking on it could have been fun, but the sound was so loud that I was afraid of attracting unwanted attention. I picked my way around the ice and kept to the snow on higher ground.
I could smell the smoke from Zecora's hearth before I could see her hut. She lives in a giant, hollow, squat tree and I a felt a sharp jab of regret as I remembered the Golden Oak Library, my first home in Ponyville. My funk was washed away when the door opened and she welcomed me inside, ushering me over to a table where we were soon chatting and drinking one of her delicious herbal teas. Zecora's hut is so warm and bright and full of intriguing scents and smartly sorted herbs and vials. The hours just flew by.
All things have to end sometime and I bid Zecora farewell. My saddle bags slightly heavier with tea and spices, I stepped back out into the wild wood and made my way home through the lengthening shadows. White on white and wary.
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Pomp And Circumstances
Jan 16: Spike has been saddled with pet sitting Owlowiscious and Angel while we're gone tomorrow. Since it's a dinner and I have a place where we can stay in Canterlot, we're going to stay overnight. Owlowiscious isn't much trouble, but Angel will probably keep Spike on his toes.
Spike is going to be busy soon. The Crystal Winter Festival is coming up and Spike has already received a request to appear at both the opening and the closing ceremonies. I might take a day trip to the festival this year. I'll see what my friends have planned.
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(Gone to Canterlot. Leave queries with the dragon in charge.)
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Posh Evening in Canterlot
Jan 18: I'm back! Did you miss me? I think Spike was happy to see us, especially Fluttershy. He told me later that Angel took great pleasure in hiding in the castle and leading him on merry chases through the corridors and staircases, drumming his feet to keep Spike running and guessing where he was hiding. Spike said Owlowiscious wouldn't stop hooting, but I think the owl was trying to be helpful. It's just that Spike doesn't understand him, even at the best of times. So Spike was looking a bit rattled and very tired when we got back this morning. Fluttershy and I, on the other hoof, had a wonderful time.
We started our day yesterday with a trip to the spa, me, Fluttershy and Rarity. We were the first ponies there. We had our manes done, our hooves trimmed and shined, and we had our feathers waxed, with just a touch of glitter on mine. Rarity insisted the glitter would look fabulous with my gown. I think that the more something sparkles, the more Rarity likes it.
After about an hour and a half, I was feeling about as lovely as Fluttershy looked, all soft and shiny with a bit of bounce in our styled manes, and smelling of peppermint and lavender. Before we headed to the train station to catch the Friendship Express to Canterlot, Rarity led us to her boutique. She had a couple of surprises for us that she had picked up in Manehattan, just for this occasion. It was jewelry that she'd picked up in a Saddle Row boutique when she was in Manehattan last week. She had a green wire and gem daisy-chain tiara for Fluttershy and a string of stars choker necklace for me. She reminded us that we had insisted that our ensembles should not include hats, so instead of hats, she wanted us to have these beautiful sparkling accents, and to wear them this evening. How could anypony say no to that? We put them back in their boxes, packed them into our saddle bags, and we were ready to catch our train.
Rarity walked us to the station and on the way she told us that she has been hard at work making copies of our dinner ensembles. They're almost finished and she hopes take them to Canterlot tomorrow herself, to place them on display in her Canterlot Boutique.
We caught our train and arrived in Canterlot in the early afternoon. We went immediately to the Canterlot Carousel Boutique to pick up our gowns, boots and cloaks, after which we ambled over to my old Canterlot apartment to get changed. We found Moondancer there, reading. She had gone over to consult some reference books, but, one thing led to another and she was lost in another book. I totally understand. You can loose all track of time while reading a good book.
We chatted with Moondancer for a while until it started to get late. We quickly donned our ensembles and the jewelry Rarity gave us, left our saddlebags and travel wear there for the evening, and rushed off to Canterlot Explorer's Society dinner.
They had us sit at the VIP table. We were the only VIP guests, so I think the chairpony was happy to not be the only pony sitting with the guest speaker at the VIP table. It might have been the subject matter didn't appeal to the crème of Canterlot. Their loss. We also looked stunning, thanks to Rarity, so we didn't look too out of place up there on display at the VIP table.
I didn't give these things much thought because soon after we arrived, the chairpony introduced Dr. Lek DeGraas to the diners and the lecture started.
We learned that in south eastern Equestria, a unique population of cloud hoppers that thrives on fertile waste clouds had established itself on a permanent cloudbank trapped in an eddy in the lower Horseshoe Valley breeze. Located over the Neighver Moor in the Hayseed swamps, this cloudbank had been fed by a steady stream of waste clouds and surfing clouds dropped into the lower Horseshoe Valley breeze by the residents of the pegasus town of Weathers. The formally popular pastime of breeze surfing on stratiform clouds has fallen out of fashion in Weathers and the local council had decided to move the town into a wind shadow high above the turbulent breeze. Thus, fewer waste clouds were getting dumped into the breeze at an altitude that would have sent them to the Neighver Moor. As a result, waste clouds were no longer getting dispersed over the Hayseed swamps and the density of the cloud cover in what had been prime cloud hopper habitat had fallen drastically. As their habitat fragmented and became poor in nutrients, the cloud hopper population crashed.
Enter Dr DeGraas. Thanks to a grant from The Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures and support from the Pan Equestria Aeronautics and Aerographical Society and the Canterlot Explorer's Society, DeGraas and his team of masters students, local volunteers and weather specialist consultant ponies, was able to piece together what had caused the cloud hopper habitat to degrade and what steps could be taken to reverse cloud hopper loss of habitat.
Since moving Weathers back to the turbulent area where it had been was not a popular option, Dr Degrass and the weather ponies undertook the task of mapping the flow of the lower Horseshoe valley breeze. They were able to locate other eddies in the Hayseed Swamps area that could be fed waste clouds from Weathers near its present position without moving the town out of the placid wind shadow it now enjoys. The council approved the move and since then pegasi have rounded up the remaining cloud hoppers and pushed them, clouds and all, to one of the newly fertile eddies. The animal specialist ponies are hoping that the population will grow to the point that they can move some cloud hoppers to other eddies over the Hayseed swamps and perhaps even downwind from other cloud cities.
After the lecture, small herds of waiters trotted out hot platters and we were soon dining in the company of Dr DeGraas. He and Fluttershy discussed rare creatures, habitat fragmentation, assessment protocols and sanctuary viability. At one point a photographer took some pictures of our table for the society newsletter.
The dinner finished too late for us to take anything other than an overnight train back, so we stayed the night at my old place. This morning we had breakfast in a Canterlot café and then we caught the early Friendship Express back to Ponyville.
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Day Tripper Roundup
Jan 19: I went around to see who wanted to go with me to the Crystal Empire Winter Festival this year. I proposed a day trip, perhaps on the third day, in hopes that the train won't be packed.
Pinkie said yes of course, she wouldn't miss a party if she can help it. She might go back a few times during the two week festival. Applejack wants to see what treats are being sold and which ones are the most popular, so that's a yes. Rarity isn't sure yet. She'd like to scout the crowds and stalls for new fashion ideas and material, but she also has her spring collection to finish. Maybe if we go to the costume ball. Rainbow Dash thinks it's worth going back this year, she particularly liked the events like the snowshoe races and the ice archery, so she's in too. Fluttershy would rather avoid the crowds, so she's staying put in Ponyville. That makes four of us for sure, maybe five.
Rarity wanted to know all about our high society dinner at the In The Field lecture. Fluttershy had come with me when I went to the Carousel Boutique to see Rarity but alas for Rarity, we had only really socialized with the chairpony and Dr DeGraas. Neither of us had noticed if we'd caught the eye of the other ponies present. We were happy to tell her all about cloud hoppers (Dr DeGraas had shown us several pictures that he hadn't included in his lecture, they're very cute, even if they like to eat unsavory pony waste). Rarity was mollified that our pictures had been taken. She hopes some mention of our attire will appear in one of the gossip columns in the Canterlot papers.
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Fashion
Jan 20: Rarity rushed breathless and almost prancing into my study today, a Canterlot newspaper bobbing merrily in a levitation spell behind her. Our attire had been mentioned in a gossip column. In summary, it stated that Princess Twilight Sparkle and a fashion model1 had appeared at a Canterlot Explorer's Society dinner lavishly attired in a pair of ensembles designed by the haut couturière, Rarity, just for this occasion.
I don't recall anypony asking us about our outfits that evening, but somehow somepony had figured it out. I suspect that Sassy Saddles, Rarity's boutique manager in Canterlot, had a hoof in this. Regardless, getting a moment of fame in the Canterlot society pages made Rarity's day.
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1 That's not entirely inaccurate. Fluttershy was a fashion model for a while, thanks to a photographer named Photo Finish. You can't really expect to get to proofread a journalist's column for accuracy at the best of times, and even if you do, they still manage to make mistakes or to exaggerate some things. I guess for Fluttershy, fashion model sounded more appealing than wild animal care specialist, even though the latter makes more sense in the context of the subject of the lecture that evening.
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Cookies And Tea
Jan 21: Fluttershy came knocking on my door today. She brought some homemade carrot chip peppermint cookies, those that she could keep out of reach of Angel. They were really very good, I imagined Angel back at Fluttershy's cottage, snoring in his cot in a carrot cookie coma. I made some jasmine tea to go with the cookies and as we chatted, Fluttershy revealed what it was that had spurred her to drop by.
After Rarity's excitement over the mention of our evening wear in the society pages, it occurred to Fluttershy that maybe the other ponies at the dinner had paid a lot to be there. She wondered how much her seat at the dinner cost, she hoped that it had been free, she didn't want to be a burden. Well, it wasn't free, but I just told her it was way, way less than the usual price, which is true. It was about what a normal, good dinner and a show should cost, divided by two since we both had dinner. Thus, a very good deal for a fancy dinner and an interesting lecture, made all the better by going with a friend. Truth be told, the dinner itself was spare and more interesting to look at than to eat, but that meant we spent more time talking with Dr DeGraas and less time being distracted by food. So we touched tea cups and toasted to friendship and good food and I ate another cookie. By the time Fluttershy left, we'd eaten them all. Don't tell Spike.
I had paid for Fluttershy's seat before we'd left, of course. When I had first inquired, the Society had written back to tell me that seating at an In The Field dinner is very limited, especially at the VIP table, so yes I can bring guests and no it is not free. One guest at my table will cost me thirty bits and my guest and I might have to sit at one of the regular tables if the VIP table is full. Any subsequent guests will have to reserve their own seating at the usual rate of three hundred bits and the reservations fill up weeks before the lecture. That's a lot of bits.
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A Spike in Transit
Jan 22 The Crystal Empire Winter Festival has begun! Spike is there now, no doubt looking important, waving to the crowds and helping out with the announcements and such. He left on the train this morning and we all went with him to see him off safely. I was surprised to see just how packed the train to the Crystal Empire was this morning, even with two engines and twice as many passenger cars! Spike managed to squeeze in through the forest of legs and find a perch in one corner (I could just make him out through the fogged windows). I hope that the trains won't be as packed a few days from now, when some of us plan to go. Rarity looked doubtful and I'm near certain she's not going if the trains are crowded. Dash says she'll just fly there when we go. As for Fluttershy, she's happy that she's staying home, where it's quiet. Spike will be back in a few days.
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Witness The Wandering Weaves That Waft And Waver
Jan 23: The streams of light floating south from the Crystal Empire have been breathtaking and soothing. The crystal ponies are enjoying sharing their winter festival with the throngs of ponies that have ventured their way. I can feel it in the night air when one of the Crystal Heart's ribbons of light drifts over Ponyville. I hope Cloudsdale sends some more snow our way soon.
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The Train Less Traveled
Jan 24: Spike got back today from the Crystal Empire via the late morning train. There was enough time for him to get to the station on time for the train following the evening parade, but it was packed with returning ponies last night and by the time the train reached Ponyville, it would have been so late that he could easily have slept through the Ponyville stop. Today the trains headed to the Crystal Empire are full, but not packed. I bought our round trip tickets for tomorrow's day trip.
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Crystal Empire Calling
Jan 25: The early train to the Crystal Empire had extra cars and it was full but we all found somewhere to rest our hooves. We didn't have to stand the whole way there like we did last year. Rarity and Fluttershy stayed behind, but Spike was with us, in disguise. It's still hard to believe that a hat, coat and sunglasses are enough to fool the crystal ponies. He was walking on two legs and his dragon tail was sticking out from under his coat! It still worked and Spike didn't get hauled off to light any fireworks or sign autographs.
We headed straight for the fairgrounds on arrival. We had an early lunch in the market area where we wandered from stand to stand picking out tasty treats. Of course we all ate big sticky gobs of ice flower nectar on the snow. Then Rainbow Dash and Pinkie practically dragged us to the giant ice slide and I screamed most of the way down. On the bigger jump my wings opened by reflex and nearly sent me sailing off my toboggan and out of my groove. I closed them and belly flopped back on my toboggan with a bump. Ouch.
There were some really impressive ice sculptures, more of them than last year and still more getting carved. There was an Ursa major (not life sized), a giant bust of singer Sapphire Shores in a feather headdress, a timber wolf, a dragon, a miniature replica of Canterlot Castle, a caribou explorer (looked somewhat like Leaf Hairrakesson), lots of ponies, a manticore, fish... Most were in an ice sculpture section of the fairgrounds, next to the Festival Ice Castle, but there were many others scattered here and there, like treasures to be discovered. The Masquerade is to be held in the Ice Castle, which is also used for the Festival dinners. While we were there I bought two tickets to the Masquerade for Rarity.
We grabbed some more treats and followed the crowds to the ice archery semi finals and the speed skating competition in the Crystal Empire stadium. It was like Equestria Games all over again. Dash was impressed with how fast the skaters were going and Pinkie wants a set of those special speed skates. I was a bit alarmed at how long it took the skater who fell down to stop sliding on her side. She hit a rail pretty hard and it looks like she gave herself quite the gash with one of her skates.
After the winning speed skaters had climbed onto the podium to receive their medallions we headed back to the fairgrounds to go to the open air concert. On our way we passed through the market section of the fairgrounds. It was late afternoon and the food and souvenir stands were closing. Pinkie still managed to score a big bag of crystal popcorn and Spike bought a snow globe, with his statue inside it. The vendor didn't even bat an eye. The crystal popcorn was strangely sparkly and faceted but it still tasted like popcorn.
We found the open air bandstand and a spot where all five of us could stand together with a good view of the stage. The sun set, fugelhorns sounded, a master of ceremonies trotted out on stage. He was proud to announce... he turned while a curtain parted, The Beach Bays! The entire audience squealed and whinnied, except maybe Spike. Rainbow Dash was grinning ear to ear and nudging Applejack. The Beach Bays is one of her favorite harmony groups. They played a forty minute set. Behind us, the spinning Crystal Heart sent streaks of colored joy up through the clouds.
After the concert had ended we crossed through the darkened fairgrounds, our way illuminated by ice sculptures. As we reached the street leading to the train station, it started to snow. This time we knew what to expect and we stopped and looked up. A wave of crystal pony happiness hit the Crystal Heart many streets away and rebounded tenfold through the falling snow. As we turned crystal, the falling snowflakes began to spin, sparkling like tiny diamonds, whirling in time with the crystal heart and drifting slowly to the ground. The air was full of rainbows.
I was a little apprehensive when we turned crystal and I stole a few glances at my friends, but unlike last time, we didn't cause a flash. I think it's because Rarity and Fluttershy weren't there with us.
We had a train to catch, so I nudged my friends along. We walked in awed silence through the sparkling snow to take our seats in the Friendship Express, Ponyville bound.
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Tickets
Jan 26: I gave Rarity the pair of tickets to the masquerade ball. Why two? So she could take a friend. She doesn't know yet who she'll take. She asked me if I wanted to go, but no. None of us that were at the festival yesterday wanted to go to the masquerade, or we would have bought tickets. Not even Pinkie. She has a prior commitment for that day. But somepony might change her mind, or Rarity will think of somepony else. Rarity told me that while we where at the festival, she learned that Princess Luna has purchased a Golden Nightfall ensemble. Rarity is headed to Canterlot tomorrow to take Luna's measurements and start tailoring the blouse and gown. I think it will look beautiful on Princess Luna.
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A Second Helping
Jan 27: Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash went back to the Crystal Empire today. What drew them back so soon was that today in the stadium the events were snowshoe races and jousting. They probably stayed for the concert too (Bronco Beat on stage), and of course for the always impressive geyser of light and goodwill shooting skyward from the Crystal Heart. Especially since the nightly snowfall brings that amazing synergy between the delicate ice crystal snowflakes and the spinning Heart of the Crystal Empire.
I wrote a letter to Princess Cadence telling her that Rarity and a friend will be attending the Winter Festival masquerade and asking if they could stay overnight at the castle. I know that would make Rarity's masquerade trip more enjoyable.
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Barklava
Jan 28: Pinkie found a vendor selling speed skates at the Winter Festival yesterday and she bought a set. She brought them over today so I could admire them close up. I'm a terrible skater, so I certainly am not tempted to try them out. She also brought me a few bags of crystal corn soup mix, with instructions on the bags. It looks simple enough, but I'll ask Spike to make the soup. She also brought me an ancient specialty dessert that the crystal ponies have revived. It's called barklava, but it's not hot, it's sweet. We ate it for dessert after supper and it's something different. As far as I can tell, it's mostly layers of birch bark (the inner bark), ice flower nectar and pine nuts. It's good but very rich and chewy with a strong minty, wintergreen smell.
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On The Ball
Jan 29: Rarity is back. Tailoring Luna's ensemble took two long days. The Princess is so tall! Rarity had to sew her ensemble from scratch, it wasn't like she could just let out the hems. Now that she's back, she's working on her masquerade dress. Sassy Saddles will be going with her. I didn't tell her that I'd written to Princess Cadence to see if she and Sassy Saddles could stay at the castle overnight. I'm waiting for a reply and I don't want to give her false hope.
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Loose Ends
Jan 30: Castle accommodation for Rarity and Sassy Saddles, achieved! I got the letter this morning and I trotted all the way to the Carousel Boutique to give Rarity the good news. She was having a late breakfast after staying up late working on her masquerade getup, so I followed her back to the kitchen and delivered the news over a cup of jasmine tea. Rarity was ecstatic! She hadn't attacked the accommodations aspect of her Crystal Empire trip and she didn't relish the thought of having no place to get changed and being obliged to hunt for rooms before going to the ball. The last thing she wanted to do was rush to the train station to catch the last train to Ponyville while the masquerade was still in full swing.
She didn't let me look at her outfit yet, it's still a work in progress. But she did tell me that it would be very glittery. I was not surprised.
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Thick Blanket of Snow
Jan 31: Starlight Glimmer and Trixie caught the morning train to Manehattan to see Manespray on Bridleway where they will be staying overnight. I think Trixie looked reluctant to leave without her wagon.
Soon after they left, Cloudsdale's weather ponies sent us a snow storm. It's been a while since the last snowfall and Dash told me they were playing catch-up on our snow cover. They over did it a bit. Many of the snow drifts were withers-deep! Fortunately it's cold today and the snow is very light and fluffy. Ponies have been able to barrel through it, although maybe not the foals, not at first, not until most of the streets had been partly cleared. It's been like a mini Winter Wrap Up with everypony shoveling or pushing snow plows. Spike was in charge of clearing our walkways. With careful blasts of flame, he melted us free and then did the same for Rarity's place, without setting anything on fire. Then he melted his way to the top of the tobogganing hill and went sledding until dark.
I wonder if Trixie has skis for her wagon.
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