Hayboard
Feb 1: We had a boisterous Hayboard meeting today. The room was packed and everypony was in high spirits and very chatty. I think it's because of the snowstorm. Clearing the streets and trotways (they're called 'trottoirs' in Fancy) was a surprise community event that drew everypony together and left us with lots of fresh white snow to play with. There are snow banks everywhere along the streets, some carved into snow forts, into arches and into really big snow ponies. All day ponies have been running snowball battles, sledding and carving out snow mazes, race tracks and steeplechases in the fields. A lot of ponies were letting off a lot of steam today, and that energy and good cheer was making Mayor Mare's job of manetaining the decorum of the room difficult. Still, ponies managed to give their reports.
Well, we're not going to starve for lack of hay this winter. Our third cut hay stores should last us. While there were more yak buyers at the harvest market than the previous year, they were as picky as ever, avoiding what were irregular bales of perfectly good third cut hay. During the harvest the pegasi were in a panic, afraid that the yaks would buy all the third cut hay, but in the end our farmers had kept the usual numbers in their lofts, even though it was very tempting to cash in on the inflated prices. That demand translated into a boost in the reputation of our hay and increased sales of our surplus first and second cut hay. We might not have to use it as building material after all.
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Two For The Crystal Ball
Feb 2: Sassy Saddles was due to arrive in Ponyville yesterday evening and to spend the night at Rarity's place so that they both could leave for the Winter Festival Masquerade Ball together. Rarity told me that the plan was to go to the spa first thing in the morning, then catch the train.
I think it's the first time Sassy Saddles has been to Ponyville. With the fresh snow piled high everywhere, she probably got the impression that we get more snow than the Crystal Empire. Rarity had reserved their spots at the spa days in advance. She said that she knows that the Crystal Empire has an excellent spa, having been there, but why risk getting there and finding it closed or booked solid? She wants to look her best. I don't know how late the Masquerade goes, they may well still be there at this hour.
Rarity had made a little frilly froufrou outfit for Flurry Heart, with snap buttons so it's easy to take on and off. It's very sparkly, of course, and lined in soft fleece and silk. Princess Cadence was probably thrilled.
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Together We Will Always Shine
Feb 3: It's mid-winter tomorrow! While I've been holed up in my bookfort refuge, Pinkie has been planning out the Mid-Winter Party, rounding up the entertainment, getting the posters and fliers printed and distributed and splitting the cooking duties with Applejack. I found her in the Sugarcube Corner kitchen juggling hot cookies and muffin mix and generally getting splattered with batter. I asked if I could help and she gave me a bag that was full of crumpled bills and I.O.U.'s and quite a bit of flour. I went into the dinning hall part of Sugarcube Corner, found myself a table, and got down to the business of sorting the bills, dusting off the flour, and writing invoices in order to get municipal funds to pay the bills. Fortunately, I always carry quills, scrolls and ink in my saddle bags.
I wrote Pinkie's invoices, dropped them off at Town Hall and went to Sweet Apple Acres. There Applejack and Granny Smith were baking pastries and Apple Bloom was helping Big McIntosh set them out to cool and packing the pies and bread into their baked goods buggies. I got Applejack and Apple Bloom to calculate their costs and I found myself a place to write invoices for that as well.
When I went to drop off those invoices, I found Rarity and Sassy Saddles hard at work decorating the Town Hall. They had only returned from the Crystal Empire an hour earlier and the next train to Canterlot wasn't due for another two hours, so Sassy Saddles had offered to lend a hoof. I was making an itemized list of the things the two of them had repaired, improved or added to the decor when Pinkie arrived with a cart full of noisemakers, balloons, streamers and confetti. She also had a few more bills that required invoices. I got out my scrolls and ink and promptly wore out my last quill. On my way to Quills and Sofas for fresh stationary supplies, I saw Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flying overhead, their bags full of posters.
By early evening, most of the preparations were finished and it was time for a break. Rainbow Dash flew off to Sweet Apple Acres to get Applejack and we converged on Café Hay for dinner.
Over plates heaped high with winter squash, hay, lentil and mushroom goulash, hay tourtière, beet pulp and hay casserole spiced with saffron, and grated apple and carrot salad sprinkled with pine nuts, Rarity told us all about the masquerade ball.
In the Ice Castle they had a lovely String Quartet and smartly dressed waiters carrying platters of canapes and hors d'oeuvres. Rarity and Sassy Saddles wandered through the crowd together, chatting with masked strangers and admiring the many delightful costumes they wore. Rarity's contribution was a dazzling plumed headdress that trailed down her back and legs and dangled over a shimmering blue jumpsuit covered in sequins layered like dragon scales. And a mask, of course. Sassy Saddles wore a grande robe to compliment her commanding height, with her mane up, curled and layered to match, and a lacy mask. Rarity has both outfits on display in her boutique and after dinner we all went over to her place to see them for ourselves. Rarity plans to send them on to Canterlot next week. She is thinking of maybe making a Mare Day Grass inspired line, something vivacious and bright.
She told us that as the evening wore on, the masquerade spilled out of the Ice Castle and in among the illuminated ice sculptures where another musician was playing minuets, nocturnes and the like on a piano. Rarity said the highlight of the evening was when it began to snow and everypony there turned crystalline, surrounded by the rainbow flashes of the whirling snowflakes, dreamily drifting to the ground.
This morning Princess Cadence and Flurry Heart had come to see them off while they were having breakfast in the guest dining room. Flurry Heart was fussing a bit. She was wearing the froufrou outfit Rarity had made and as soon as Princess Cadence put her down, Flurry Heart kicked off the dress and ran off giggling with Princess Cadence in hot pursuit. When she got back, Princess Cadence admitted that Flurry Heart wasn't keen on wearing clothes... unless she put them on herself. Flurry Heart was amusing herself by wearing the dress on her head like a hat.
After admiring Rarity's and Saddle's masquerade outfits, we all called it a night. Tomorrow, Pinkie has a party to throw, and we are of course going to help.
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Feasting And Feting The Middle of Winter
Feb 4: We had our Mid-Winter Party in Town Hall. It was much like last year's party, with a few differences such as Trixie's fireworks spectacular in lieu of Dash's Wonderbolt acrobatics, and the addition of glowsticks for everypony for the dance. We helped Pinkie with the details, like moving the tables, giving out sparklers, fetching water and lighting the lanterns. By the time the music started getting loud, I was ready to call it a night. Starlight Glimmer had already left to help Trixie pick up her things and take them back to her wagon and Applejack and Apple Bloom had gone home as well. I had helped Zecora pack her pots and ladles into her sleigh, so I pulled that and a sleepy Spike to the castle. Zecora will be by later to spend the night. Her guest room is ready for her. I gave her directions, but just to be sure she finds it, I stuck notes and arrows on the walls and doorways pointing the way. Nopony wants to get lost in a maze when they're tired.
Earlier today after I'd helped Zecora pull her sleigh through the Everfree and into town, I saw Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane and Cloudchaser pulling banners through the sky announcing the Ponyville Mid Winter Party. They even flew loops and patterns for a while. That was fun to watch, although it looked like they came close to getting their banners tangled a few times.
At two o'clock all was ready. Pinkie fired her party cannons, raining party hats, confetti and noise makers over the crowd waiting in the square. The party started, we threw open the Town Hall doors and let everypony in. Zecora was in charge of hot beverages and soups, Applejack, Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom had pastries and apples and the Cakes had set up a chocolate fountain. At three the Ponytones sang, at four Pinkie dropped hundreds of balloons into the hall. At five Mayor Mare gave a speech, then Rarity pulled back a long curtain to reveal buffet tables piled high with food and drink. Pinkie's DJ played dinner music and as the sun set, we lit dozens of paper lanterns. At six Pinkie climbed on stage to invite us to step outside for the Great and Powerful Trixie's fireworks display. On their way out the door, everypony got a sparkler. While nearly everypony was watching the fireworks, we consolidated what was left of the buffet to just two tables, cleared to floor near the DJ's podium for dancing and brought the boxes of glowsticks by the door.
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Time Off From Work To Play
Feb 5: After breakfast, Zecora and I accompanied Spike to the train station where he caught the mid morning train to the Crystal Empire. The train was packed with ponies again. It's the last day of the Crystal Empire Winter Festival, and Spike is presiding over the closing ceremonies. And lighting the fireworks, no doubt. Thus ends another successful Winter Festival. The ice statues will remain but the events are over and the ice castle will get dismantled so that it doesn't fall on anypony when it melts in the spring.
Half the winter is over. Before you know it, it will be time to wrap up winter and wake up the critters. I plan to enjoy the peace and stillness the cold brings us while I can.
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A Tale Of Fire And Ice
Feb 6: Spike said that the Festival organizers asked him to melt a ceremonial arch that had been carved out of ice especially for the festival. He said it was tricky because there were several ice sculptures near it, but he managed to reduce it to a large puddle without knocking over any of the sculptures. One of the organizers told him that they plan on adding more water and turning the area into a winter ice statue garden and ice rink. That sounds really nice, I should see with Pinkie if we could do something like that here.
A wind from the north picked up this afternoon, around the time Spike got home, and by evening the air was decidedly colder. I joked with Spike that the Winter Festival followed him home and it wanted its arch back. Spike just rolled his eyes.
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Cold Snap
Feb 7: It's cold today. So cold that the snow squeaks when I walk on it and my breath is like twin geysers of steam. Everypony I saw was trotting by fast while hunched in their horse blankets, scarves and saddles, trying to get quickly to somewhere warm. I could feel the pinch of the cold on my flanks right through my cloak and my hooves were like blocks of ice. I was still shivering for quite a while after I got back inside. All three of us at the castle are spending a lot of time warming our flanks by the fire in the sitting room. There is even frost on the inside of the window panes.
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Snow On The Brain
Feb 8: The cold snap hasn't broken yet and I think the cold is influencing my dreams. I usually forget my dreams about as soon as I wake up but this one stood out. I dreamed of snow, light, fluffy snow, blowing in a cold breeze, with the musical tinkling sound of ice crystals knocking together. In my dream it was mesmerizing, but strange. I like snow, but in that dream it was like I couldn't think of anything else. I think my sleep wasn't restful because I've felt irritable all day.
The next In The Field Dinner (Griffonstone, Then And Now) is in two days but I've decided not to go. If attending these dinners means getting all dressed up in a new outfit each time, I think I'll pass. I prefer written, cross referenced and peer reviewed material anyway.
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Chamomile
Feb 9: It's been really cold for days and I'm getting rather tired of it. I can't seem to remember the last time I felt hot, like really hot. Outdoors the wind is like a live thing, nipping at your ears and biting you in the hocks and belly. When I go out, I've taken to wearing a horse blanket under my cloak and lining my boots with straw. I'm going out as little as possible and staying away from everypony else. I feel snappish. It must be the cold. Again I had that annoying dream about snow and wind blown snow. I think my hay is contaminated with chamomile and it's affecting my mind, especially my sleep. Applejack should know better than to sell hay contaminated with chamomile. It's a toxic weed. I'm cold and cranky. Fortunately, I haven't seen Spike or Starlight Glimmer all day. They seem to be keeping mostly to their rooms.
I received a letter from Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. They wrote that the wild weather north of the Crystal Empire is acting up. There are icy cold winds blowing right up to the city limits. A party of crystal ponies out for a stroll got caught in a gust and nearly froze to death. All along the horizon to the north there's a wall of dark wild clouds. Everypony in the Crystal Empire castle seems to be withdrawn and on edge, but so far the Crystal Heart is keeping the wild weather at bay.
I went out for a few minutes late this evening, well after dark. Less of a chance to bump into anypony then. The cloudless sky was inky black and the stars stood out like pinpricks, sharp and distant. There were no streams of light from the Crystal Empire. In fact, I don't recall seeing or feeling anything from the Crystal Heart since the Winter Festival ended.
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Frostbite and Brawls
Feb 10: It's so cold. I just had to get warm somehow. The streets of Ponyville are deserted. I found myself by the spa and as if by programmed reflex, I could only think of the sauna. The hot, steamy sauna. I didn't want to see anypony, but I went in anyway. The sauna compelled me. Nopony was at the reception, I had to ring the bell, several times. Just when I was about to give up and go let myself into the sauna regardless, Lotus appeared. She was unusually gruff and short. Well, I just wanted get into the sauna and remember what warmth feels like. I didn't want anypony touching me or engaging me in idle chitchat, so when she didn't suggest a hooficure or a massage, I didn't mind. I got into the sauna and stayed there until I was sweating heavily. And yet I still didn't quite feel warm. It was very strange. I left and went home.
When I got home I picked up my mail, what there was of it. The Ponyville Express was only two pages, mostly saying it's cold (well duh!) in rambling, smudged articles that read like they had all been written by the same, sleep deprived pony. There was also a report of a fight over a bunch of carrots in the freezing cold and another about the hospital treating ponies for frostbite.
I'd better not dream about snow again. I spent hours going through my hay, stem by stem, leaf by leaf, flower by flower. I couldn't find even a trace of chamomile but that doesn't mean it's not there!
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The Biting, Bucking Cold
Feb 11: The wind is really howling and I think it's snowing, again! There are dark clouds spinning in the sky and there are drifts of hard packed snow blocking the paths. I haven't seen snow like this since trekking north of Yakyakistan. What's with Cloudsdale to be sending us all this snow, so soon after burying us the last time? It's freezing out! Can't they just stay in their cloud stables like sensible ponies? Has the snow factory gone berserk? If I see Rainbow Dash, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind.
I went to the kitchen to make myself a big pot of hot beet pulp stew. We're almost out of beet pulp and the bit of warmth I got out of it didn't last long. I just felt full and cold. I brought what was left with me back to my room. In the hallway, in front of my door, somepony had carelessly dropped a scroll. I bucked my door open, kicked the scroll so hard it bounced off the ceiling and landed on my bed, and slammed the door shut behind me. I was too full eat any more of the beet pulp yet, and it was no longer hot anyway. I wrapped myself tightly in more blankets and picked up the scroll. It was a letter from Princess Celestia. It seems that they're having cold weather and snow in Canterlot too. The weather ponies can't control it. And there was something about frozen ponies and I didn't read the rest.
I'm still feeling sleepy all day and it seems that as soon as I shut my eyes, I dream of ice, cold and snow. It's giving me migraines and I'm sick of it! I can't seem to think straight. The last bunch of days has become a blur. One minute I just want to kick holes in the walls, the next I'm burying myself under a mound of blankets and books.
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I Think I'm Losing My Mind
Feb 12: I can't take it. The wind is howling, howling. There is frost everywhere, on my walls, on my books, on my covers. I can't sleep, I can't stay awake. Nothing seems real. I think there are strangers walking the halls.
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The Cold Serves The Insensate
Feb 13: I'm in Tartarus. A frozen, howling Tartarus. My chattering teeth fascinate me.
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Things Are In The Saddle And Ride Ponykind
Feb 14: I woke up dazed and confused to the sound of somepony knocking on my chamber door. It was Zecora. I didn't want to see her, but she insisted. I opened the door and I was about to buck her from here all the way back to the Everfree, the hard way, when, without a word she held up a cup of something warm, liquid and green and with a smell. An indescribable smell.
I was drawn to that liquid. The smell filled my nostrils and my mind. I reached out with my telekinesis. (My hooves were buried under five layers of horse blankets and fleece, I was like a walking rug with just a small gap for my muzzle, to breathe and to see what was just beyond my nose.) I drank what Zecora offered me. First just a sip, then a gulp, then I drained the cup. I felt warmth pouring down my throat and spreading throughout my body. I felt days of sour moods and growing paranoia melting away. I was happy to see my friend Zecora, standing there, watching me, with a twinkle in her eye and a hint of concern. I dropped my cocoon of blankets, stepped into the corridor and I gave her a hug.
She told me that there was no time to waste, everypony must drink the green brew and do so with haste. We started with Spike. We had to dodge balls of fire until we got close enough to offer the brew. Starlight Glimmer hurled books and insults. It was a good thing that she was sobbing too hard to cast anything more lethal. With Starlight warmed up and sane, we set out to cure Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Fortunately, the wonderful, fresh and warm smell of the brew attracted everypony as much as it attracted me, it wasn't long until we had many ponies helping prepare and distribute the brew.
Zecora got to us just in time, but many ponies throughout Equestria also need to be reached, and some of them are in dire straights. I remembered reading somewhere about ponies getting frozen where they stood or as they slept throughout Equestria, and now that I was thinking straight, I reread Princess Celestia's letter, plus a few more that were in Spike's room. "Several ponies found frozen into a trance inside blocks of solid ice. Only the Hearth's Warming spell revived them." I realized what was happening, why it has been so cold and why I couldn't seem to stop dreaming about snow and ice, night after night. Winter. The ancient windigo from beyond the eternal twilight had come south, and he was laying claim to Equestria.
This time there was no Epona, no mare named Summer to save us. We had to save ourselves, Zecora's green brew only lasts so long. And I knew just the pony for the job. That pony, of course, is our Party Pony supreme, the Element of Laughter herself, Pinkie Pie. What we need to drive back Winter, to send him back to his castle of blue ice, is a pan-Equestrian party. The party to end all parties. I've put Pinkie to the task of setting up round-the-clock Hearth's Warming spell parties, starting with Ponyville.
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Taking Back Equestria
Feb 15: There are a dozen Hearth's Warming spell parties in progress all around Ponyville. Pinkie has been setting the mood, lighting bonfires, getting ponies to share stories, sing songs, tell jokes and believe or not, to play Tangle. My job has been to cast the Hearth's Warming spell, to check in to make sure it's still strong at each group, and to set up a rotating schedule for the ponies Pinkie picks for each group. This party must not end until Winter goes home!
There are also three flying wagon borne parties tasked with rescuing Dodge City, Appleoosa and Las Pegasus. We also hope they find Cheese Sandwich. They go equipped with sealed kegs of Zecora's reviving brew and they have the tricky task keeping the Hearth's Warming spell going on the fly.
Mail delivery has stopped, so have the trains. It's dangerous to travel alone, so everypony leaving town goes with friends and takes flasks of Zecora's green brew; the fire of friendship burning in their hearts and Zecora's marvelous elixir in their bellies. Tomorrow we'll be sending out pony parties traveling by hoof, charged with spreading magical cheer to small towns, farms and homesteads in all directions.
I received news from Canterlot -- I contacted Moondancer via Haycartes. Moondancer is spearheading Hearth's Warming Spell parties in Canterlot with the help of Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts and Lyra Heartstrings. Lemon Hearts is a Canterlot palace event organizer so she has been a big help. She was a little slow out of the gate, because of the dreams. She remembered only too well getting trapped by Winter the first time and her losing struggle to help Moondancer to ward off the windigo with the Hearth's Warming spell. The return of those dreams had led her into a panic. But organizing Hearth's Warming spell parties has allowed her to regain her self control by doing what she does best. The spell parties are strategically scattered throughout the city as all of Canterlot is affected equally. Some ponies warm up and join the parties slower than others, but eventually the giant flaming heart gets everypony to shake off Winter's influence. Thus, we won't need to revive Canterlot, but Canterlot should be able to send parties by train to Baltimare and Manehattan soon.
I hope the Crystal Empire is weathering this attack. If any ponies are adept at turning back wild winter weather, it's the crystal ponies and their Crystal Heart.
Getting trapped and helpless like this, time and again, is getting old. Maybe if I'd chosen a different line of research, something a bit more academic, like gravity waves and quantum mechanics...
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For Friendship's And Harmony's Behoof
Feb 16: I felt an immense burst of happiness and contentment this evening, about an hour after dark. It was so intense that I galloped out onto the nearest balcony, nearly colliding with Spike and Starlight Glimmer on the way. Outside, through the thin veil of clouds overhead, I could make out the rainbow colored glow of something immense racing toward us from the north at tremendous speed. I felt giddy with happiness. Spike was dancing in circles and Starlight had burst into tears. A first wave passed overhead, clearing away the clouds and we were hit by a blast of mild air. The frost that had covered the castle blew right off and evaporated into a thick mist. Then a second ring brought another blast of mild air and that sent the mist flying off into the night. The third ring was slower. It brought a feeling of peace and as it passed, the wind died down until all was still. I looked toward town and I could see dozens of ponies in the streets, standing stock still and looking up at the Crystal Empire lights. It struck me then just how much I had missed them.
In the still air I could hear ponies singing Circle Of Friends, the Hearth's Warming Carol.
The fire of Friendship lives in our hearts
As long as it burns we cannot drift apart
Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few
Laughter and singing will see us through (Will see us through)
We are a circle of pony friends
A circle of friends we'll be to the very end!
A dozen Hearth's Warming hearts were floating in the air in Ponyville, glowing brightly with the fire of friendship. From the north, the familiar glowing ribbons of colored light were once again spreading happiness all over Equestria.
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There's A Star Mare Waiting In The Sky
Feb 17: I heard a train pulling into Ponyville so I trotted down to the station to chat with the conductor. He told me that a few trains are running again and things should get back to normal as soon as the Canterlot office straightens out which trains ended up where. Meanwhile they are traveling slowly and on a limited schedule. Ditto for mail service by rail. This train was heading for the Crystal Empire so I pulled out a scroll and ink and wrote a letter to Princess Cadence asking what had happened. About right after I had mailed that, I met Pinkie, then Rainbow Dash and finally Rarity who all told me various versions of rumors that somepony had heard from somepony else who had flown in from the north that a star pony had come to the aid of the Crystal Empire. This, if it's true, is very exciting news. We know of one such star pony, we met her before. The constellation we called Summer.
Our scouts have been coming back to say that last night's light show has wiped away Winter's influence. One group had been trying to revive a frozen family when the waves hit. It thawed them right out. The party stated that the family was confused but in high spirits.
It's fortunate that the Crystal Empire was able to pull off that triple burst of joy (a sonic joy boom?) or we would have been fighting a long, slow battle pushing back on Winter. As it is, we've called off the Hearth's Warming spell parties, but we've left stacks of wood over the ashes of the bonfires so we can start them up at a moment's notice.
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Clear Skies
Feb 18: It's been so bright and sunny out today! And mild! It was nearly too warm for my scarf. I passed a lot of ponies out sunbathing by their homes. The stars this evening were so bright it's like they were closer to the ground. That may well be, those bursts of power from The Crystal Empire rolled like waves through the sky and pretty much jostled all the constellations out of position. They look like they're all back to their usual spots now. Our pegasus and foal constellations are up tonight, but not Summer. I think she keeps vigil somewhere in the skies of the icy north.
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If We Can Sparkle
Feb 19: Cadence wrote back, sending her scroll by airmail since mail delivery by rail is still sporadic. She wrote that things had been getting pretty dire in the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Heart was keeping Winter at bay, but a week of unrelenting pressure was grating. It was taking everything the crystal ponies had, and they were starting to falter. Most of them are still traumatized by having been enslaved by Sombra and it doesn't take much for them to become withdrawn. Then this enormous pegasus constellation just walked in out of the north.
This colossal being of connected stars walked right up to the center of town, taking care to avoid stepping on any buildings. She was almost as tall as the castle. There she stopped and gave a nicker so deep that Cadence could feel it through the castle stones and through her hooves. It was so warm, so comforting that everypony in the city came tumbling out of their stables and galloped up to stand beneath her. The mother's call. Irresistible.
Cadence and Shining grabbed Flurry Heart, heeded the call and came out of the castle to stand with everypony else, looking up at and through the belly of the constellation. The star mare looked down and Cadence said she felt as wobbly legged and as energetic as a foal. Then the constellation spread her wings and as one, everypony held their breath. All were in awe. She nickered again and everypony laid down with a collective sigh right were they had been standing and touched the ground, like in a Crystalling ceremony. Love and happiness poured forth from everypony and flowed up the four giant pillar-like legs of the constellation, jumping from star to star, rising through her body and climbing up her neck and finally to the brilliant star on her forehead. She bent toward the Crystal Heart and beamed all the power of the crystal ponies straight at it. The crystal heart sped up until it was spinning so fast that it was a chevron-shaped blur of light. It shot rainbows back at the constellation where they collected, the pegasus became a crystal pegasus and blindingly bright, Cadence wrote that it was like looking at the sun. The constellation then reared up and beat her wings. The first beat lifted her off the ground and blew everypony flat. The second beat took her higher and Cadence opened her eyes in time to see that with each wing beat, a brilliant flash radiated out of the star mare in all directions. The constellation beat her wings a third and final time, sending a third expanding ring of crystal pony power racing across the sky.
She glided down, far enough away to avoid stepping on anypony, gave one last reassuring nicker, then she walked out of the city, to the north and into the night. Cadence finished her letter by writing that they all slept like newborn foals that night and everypony woke up in very good spirits.
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Bouncing Back
Feb 20: Ponies have been taking advantage of the mild winter weather to start decorating their homes for Hearth's Warming, which is less than a week away. That means it will be spring in just one moon. This year we may not need to be reminded just how real the danger of a ice-bound Equestria can be, but everypony looks eager to celebrate our victory. The snow has been perfect for building snowponies and whole herds of snowponies are adorning yards and nooks all around Ponyville. There is a certain satirical theater aspect to these happy white sculptures, mocking the fate that we so recently escaped. There are garlands on the doors, bows on the snowponies, ribbons on the trees and more to come. I think I should do something extra this year.
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Pinkie On Ice
Feb 21: That long spell of severe cold and high winds has left Ponyville with an unforeseen gift. It swept away the snow off Saddle Lake and thickened the ice. Then four days of mild and sunny weather brought on by the Crystal Empire's triple blast has caused the surface of the ice to melt during the day and to freeze over again at night. As a result, Saddle Lake is now a giant skating rink with a mirror finish. That warm spell seems to have run its course and it was too cold for the ice surface to melt today. This had ponies running for their skates.
Pinkie announced that she was going to break in her spiffy new speed skates and with that much perfect ice, she hoped to go very fast. We made an outing out of it, packing a picnic and following Pinkie to a spot by the lake far from where most of the skating ponies were, to avoid collisions. Pinkie went down to the shore to tie on her new speed skates and we found a high, snow covered embankment which gave us a commanding, and safe, view of Pinkie's corner of the rink. We spread out a few picnic blankets over the snow, and since it was cold, we all had horse blankets. We combined them and nestled together while we cheered Pinkie on. Pinkie remembered how the speed skaters at the Crystal Empire Winter Festival propelled themselves with long smooth strokes and she had picked up a few pointers when she bought the skates as well. After a few false starts, she was starting to pick up speed. We got the apple juice with cinnamon out of Applejack's basket which Spike heated up to steaming and I served to everypony. We sipped our spicy drinks and tried not to spill them when Pinkie slipped and crashed into a snowbank. She did that several times, climbing out back onto the ice, giving us the diver's OK (bonking herself on the head with her skate) and having yet another go at speed skating. Pinkie has a masochistic streak.
After eating yet another snowbank, Pinkie was feeling the chill. Skating that fast is like dancing in a cold wind and usually speed skaters wear a kind of warm jumpsuit. Pinkie had just her scarf, tuque and ear muffs, and the dives into the snow weren't helping. She hopped out of her skates and jumped right into the middle of our horse blanket pile. Brrr. There was ice stuck in her fur which melted as we all pushed up closer to share our warmth and hot apple juice with her. Rarity promised to sew her a speed-skater's jumpsuit. Pinkie said the new skates were really stiff and chaffing. She's going to wait until her hooves are a little less sore before practicing some more. Rainbow Dash looked like she was toying with the idea of trying them out, but probably not tomorrow. Tomorrow we decorate the castle.
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Hearth's Warming Spirit
Feb 22: This morning after breakfast we got to work decorating the Friendship Castle for Hearth's Warming. Together we retrieved the decorations from storage and sorted it for easy deployment on the larger balcony. Fortunately, everything had been folded neatly and packed away in a dry upper story room, well away from the flood we'd had last year. Rainbow Dash and I took care of the wreaths and draping the gigantic ribbon around the top spire. Rarity ironed out the wrinkles on both bows and stiffened them up with magic so that they would hold their shape. Pinkie and Fluttershy started stringing up the lights and Applejack and Spike set up the star-shaped lamp posts.
It looks like word got around about Saddle Lake. While we were wrestling with bolts of cloth and untangling strings of lights in the frosty morning air, half the town walked by headed that way, carrying picnic baskets, horse hockey equipment and the like. The horse hockey equipment was especially distracting for Rainbow Dash.
We stopped for lunch and to warm up, then we got right back into the saddle. Dash and I wrapped the lower part of the castle with the extra wide bolt which Rarity stiffened to hold while we held it in place, then we lifted the giant bows to their positions. Rarity took care of getting the lower bow to stick to where the ribbon crossed and we tied the upper bow to the pinnacle of the castle spire. While we did that, Applejack, Pinkie, Spike and Fluttershy finished hanging all the strings of lights. It was hard work but we finished by late afternoon. Then Applejack and Rainbow Dash galloped off to play horse hockey on the lake. Pinkie bounced off after them. Her hooves are still sore from breaking in her new skates so she just went to cheer them on.
The cold has brought a halt to building and rebuilding snowponies in Ponyville but in their stead several ponies are carving big blocks of ice into pony-sized ice sculptures. They get their oversized ice blocks from the ponies who carve ice-box blocks out of a small spring-fed lake in the winter. That gives them clear clean ice that they store underground packed with wood shavings and straw to keep it all from melting in the summer. They take care to collect clean ice so that as the ice melts in an icebox, it doesn't release stuff that can clog the drain.
I was talking with Pinkie after we'd gone over the castle decorations checklist one last time (before she left to catch up with Applejack and Dash) and we decided that the entrance hall to the castle would be a great place to throw a Hearth's Warming party for all of Ponyville. Pinkie is going to make sure it doesn't interfere with any last minute plans from town hall and that our friends are on board with this. Hearth's Warming has been made very real and personal for everypony this winter and it's probably about time we entertained more than just ourselves here. It should go better than that reception we prepared for the yak Prince, Rutherford. What a disaster that was.
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Decking The Hall
Feb 23: Pinkie bounced into my library while I was reshelving the 'm's (should Making Magnifying Optics from Magnetic Materials be under optics, magnets or levitation?). The Hearth's Warming party is a go! She's already started to put up posters. I finished up shelving the 'm's and I went to find Rarity. Together we went to Town Hall to see what we could borrow to decorate the entrance hall of the castle.
We signed out quite a few decorations, probably more than enough to make that cavernous lobby festive looking. While Rarity sorted and stacked the lights, ornaments and bolts of cloth she was going to borrow, I went to Sweet Apple Acres to fetch Applejack and her cart. Applejack was too busy going through her pie tins, lining up her bags of flour and getting apples out of storage to pull a cart at the moment, so Big McIntosh came back with me instead. By the time we got to Town Hall, Rarity had built up quite a pile. She was especially enthusiastic about the sleigh bells she'd found and the shiny gold streamers. It all barely fit into the cart.
Pinkie caught up with us as Big McIntosh gingerly pulled Rarity's mountain of decorations toward the castle. Applejack is in charge of pies, the Cakes are baking pastries, there is going to be a big cauldron of hot cinnamon spiced apple juice for everypony, as well as candy canes and Chancellor Puddinghead plum pudding. Then Pinkie galloped off to round up the candy and start juicing apples.
We got to the castle and unloaded the cart, and while we were doing that Rarity recruited Big McIntosh to bring her a big fir tree and several small ones, as many as he could fit in the cart. She is going to set up a tree and make a lot of wreaths. So far she has wrapped ribbons around everything.
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Finishing Touches
Feb 24: Rarity and Fluttershy arrived early today and continued the task of stringing up the lights, putting up the tree, making half-wreaths to fit over the doorways, hanging more bows and draping swags of colorful fabrics from the ceiling. I transformed an alcove in the hall into a large hearth for the party. I then brought down firewood and a cauldron and set it up in the hearth so it would be ready for the hot apple juice tomorrow. There wasn't much I could do to help Rarity and Fluttershy except to make sure that they take breaks. Spike was keeping them supplied with tea and food. Rainbow Dash has gone to Cloudsdale to get some clouds packed with festive snowflakes for tomorrow.
I got a letter from Cadence and there were some details I knew would interest Fluttershy. So during lunch I read part of it to her. Ancient beasts thought to be extinct, pronghorns and mammoths, have been spotted wandering the snow-covered tundra outside the Crystal Empire. Cadence thinks Summer's Crystal Heart blasts may have attracted them from Celestia knows where, or even revived them from Winter's sleep. No pony has been able to approach them. The mammoths are terrifying to behold and the Y horned pronghorns run like the wind.
Rarity and Fluttershy had just finished decorating the entrance hall by lunch time, so after lunch Rarity headed to her boutique to make winter hats. She has the crazy idea that she wants to give out at least a dozen tuques to our guests. They will be able to keep those, unlike the sleigh bells which we will have to return to the Town Hall storage.
Spike and I decorated the sitting room as we do every Hearth's Warming, and we put our dolls up on the mantle. There's one for Starlight Glimmer, although she doesn't seem to be too enthusiastic about this tradition.
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Hearth's Warming Eve
Feb 25: Late this afternoon Spike and I opened presents. We don't wait until Hearth's Warming Day for that, unlike most ponies. I think my best gift for Spike was a book on How To Draw Comics The Mare Vale Way, by Stall Lead. Spike reads a lot of comics and with this book, now he can draw his own!
Starlight didn't want to participate in the gift exchange so it was just me and Spike opening gifts in the sitting room and eating Chancellor Puddinghead pudding. After sundown Spike and I went to the Hearth's Warming Pageant, again without Starlight. She preferred to stay home and study. After the pageant, Pinkie recruited everypony to form a parade through town. Everypony has had so much practice keeping the Hearth's Warming spell going, we made it part of the parade. Rainbow Dash and some Cloudsdale pegasi had parked some snow clouds over the parade route, and as the parade wound through the streets below, Dash bumped the clouds into action. And so, there were dozens of hearts glowing above a procession of happily singing ponies parading through the gently falling snow as they followed Pinkie through the streets. It was quality snow too, big fluffy stellar dendrites. And finally, there was the party in the castle foyer.
I tried to get Starlight to put down her studies for a while and come join us down in the lobby, but she didn't see the point of the whole Hearth's Warming exercise. She was turned off by what she took for a frivolous excuse to wallow in the exchange of material goods and eat sweets. She missed how sharing strengthens the bonds of friendship and how that helps strengthen community. I offered to read A Hearth's Warming Tail to her, a story in which the protagonist also rejects the waste and conspicuous consumption of Hearth's Warming and decides to magically excise the day from the calendar. If Starlight has a weakness, it's morality plays. Well, except for the Hearth's Warming pageant. In the end, the story opened her up to the concept that Hearth's Warming, by drawing ponies together in friendship, is essential to maintaining Equestria, and not just by keeping windigos away. As we experienced recently, Hearth's Warming on its own won't keep windigos away. Starlight did join the party after that, probably not from a fear of windigos, but for the spirit of friendship.
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Hearth's Warming Day
Feb 26: Hearth's Warming Day is over and between the caroling and house hopping today and the party in the castle last night, I think I'm all partied out. At least Starlight Glimmer joined us as Spike and I shared stories of fun and happy things that we experienced this year. We pulled up a bunch of cushions by the (temporary) hearth in the castle lobby and offered treats to ponies who came knocking. Although we had quite a bit left over from last night, it's all gone now. Starlight Glimmer had a few pleasant experiences to choose from for her contribution, like going to Manehattan with Trixie to see a Bridleway show. She drew the line at going caroling, so this afternoon when Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo dropped in to pick us up, we went into town without her. Tomorrow Rarity will be coming over help me and Spike take down and pack the lobby decorations. We have to return all the things we borrowed to Town Hall.
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Return To Lender
Feb 27: Taking down all those decorations, folding and stacking it all neatly and counting everything before packing it was a big job. Starlight Glimmer helped a lot, and Applejack came by with her cart in the afternoon to help us take it back to Town Hall. The wreaths and the tree are still in the lobby. I'll remove them tomorrow, along with the hearth.
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Winter Break
Feb 28: Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash where down at Saddle Lake again today, taking turns trying their hooves at speed skating. Spike and Fluttershy went to watch but I stayed home. After six days straight of decorating, celebrating and undecorating, I was overdue for a book break. I picked out a few scrolls and a pile of reference books and settled in the sitting room by the fire, some hot cocoa within easy reach. Starlight Glimmer came in to join me for a few hours with her own collection of scrolls. She needed to consult a few of the books I'd pulled from the library too. We had a nice, quiet winter's day.
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