//------------------------------//
// Packing List & Waivers 
// Story: Lyra and the White Mares 
// by publiq 
//------------------------------//




Welcome to the Intercultural Winter Tour, the premiere interplanetary portal experience.  You will certainly gain an appreciation of strange species and their customs throughout your journey.

This immersion tour will take you through        Earth        and its resident     Humans         as they celebrate their winter holidays. Winter, no matter the world, is the premier time to explore other cultures and learn what makes them unique.




“I knew this already when I signed up,” snorted Lyra before flipping several pages farther in the welcome packet to a page that was clearly a form letter from a different template.




Given your departure station of       23 days past SSC      in  some pond near Ponyville in the Everfree  , we hope you have been taking the supplements and staying in air-conditioned rooms or deep caves to grow an off-season winter coat.  If not, we strongly urge you to buy some blankets to augment your natural weatherproofing.




Bon-Bon glanced at the shaggy green unicorn as if to telepathically communicate “CHECK!” but instead blew a kiss to her roommare turned lover.

“Bon,” Lyra said with an awkward smile, “You know I still find you attractive in your winter coat.”

Bon Bon stepped close to nuzzle Lyra’s shoulder.  Several breaths passed in silence before Bon Bon reminded Lyra of the untenable travel logistics.  Certainly, Bon Bon could easily secure half a moon of away time.  What she could not do is also schedule a full moon of light duty office work in preparation—nor would she want to: action mares had no patience for being trapped in the paperwork stalls, even if it was strictly necessary to avoid heatstroke.

“We still kept loving each other even when we were apart for years trying to fall in love with somepony else.” Bon Bon ended her reassurance, “Just because we’re married mares doesn’t mean we won’t suddenly tolerate a half moon apart.  Take lots of pictures for me.”

Lyra licked the side of Bon Bon’s muzzle to initiate a kiss before reviewing the packing list.

“Long winter coat?  Check.  Knickers, trousers, raincoat?  Check, check, check.  Monogrammed feedbag?  Check.  Ivermectin?  Check.”  She continued the litany for some time while Bon Bon patiently zoned out to the dulcet tones of her nickers.






Supplemental Warning for Human Interaction



To ensure your secure return to Equestria after your cultural immersion tour, it is imperative that certain conversations with the humans be avoided.  Namely, do not discuss Equestria’s past.  If the topic naturally arises before you can preclude such conversation, remember that humans are prone to misremembering and flights of fancy.

We hope you have a safe and secure return and look forward to your stories when you call your local booking agent for your next immersion experience.



Lyra turned to share breaths with her constant companion.  “What the hay was that about?” she finally asked.

Bon Bon snorted softly as she reread the supplement with attention before nibbling at Lyra’s shoulder as she collected her thoughts.  “Didn’t you have a classmate who was even more formalist and less intuitive in her understanding of magic than Twilight?”

“Oh, Moondancer.  I bet she’s now a G&T professor out in Fillydelphia or something.”

“She’d know the details, but I believe it has something to do with thermodynamics and forbidden information transfer.  Shanon complexity?  Stuff way outside my—what’s a fancy word for it?—bailiwick.”

“Or maybe that was Vinyl Scratch—she at least kept to herself as much as Moondancer in the year before she quit CSGU to earn a living making fat beats.”

“Isn’t she joining you?  Go earn some human bits making music together.”

Lyra continued to review the packing list with Bon Bon gently nibbling her overgrown coat.  Occasionally, the two mares shared a carrot swiftly followed by a kiss once no carrot was left.  Nostril-to-nostril breath sharing was their horsey love language while their prehensile lips rubbed each other to release happiness neurotransmitters.  Bon Bon’s robust fjord build provided physical and emotional sturdiness for Lyra; Lyra’s winter coat obscured her summer shimmer.