"I met a colt today." Princess Crystal muttered into her milk.
Her parents nodded over their own food, barely sparing her a glance as they looked over history records and sorted bits.
She blew a few bubbles in her glass, passing time between sentences.
"We're very close." She said, a little louder.
"Mm-hm."
"Yes, dear."
"Like, in love close." She nearly yelled, leaning closer to the couple. Her mother glanced up at her, smiling in the way strangers do when approached by someone they do not know.
"Good for you, dear."
Crystal swung her hooves in a wide arc, rearing up like a pony possessed. "I'm gonna have babies!"
Her parents showed no sign of reaction to her yelling.
With the frown she wore every time she tried to hold up a conversation, she calmly sat down, tucking her front hooves on the edge of the table in front of her. Slowly, like a snake about to strike, she pressed the sole of her hoof against her glass. And even slower, she dripped a single drop of milk onto the paper closest to her.
"Princess Crystal Heart, how dare you! Behave yourself!" Her mother shouted, glaring at her as she worked to remove the small stain.
Her father fumed, the pencil in his mouth breaking as he ground his teeth. "Go to your room, young lady!"
Crystal sighed, pushing back from the table. She left the table with grace and elegance, only needing half a hallway for the fury behind her to end. She promtly turned around, trotting through the dining room.
"Hi, mom. Hi, dad."
They grunted, not looking up.
With a deep breath, she tossed her mane back over her face, trotting outside with great dignity and purpose. As soon as she realized she was free of any passers-by, she broke into a full gallop, breaking away from the city streets and tracing a grassy trail against the rolling meadows on the outskirts.
tap tap tap
Outside of the barrier, a young Windigo shifted, snow falling from his gray back. He flicked an ear; something was making irritating noises.
tap tap tap
He pulled his head from the snow, vapor trailing from his phantasmal skin as the temperature changed. His ears drew his eyes towards the glowing barrier nearby, and the filly standing within.
Hello.
She startled, obviously not expecting the response.
I am sorry for scaring you.
"I forgot how you spoke." She admitted, "I missed you."
How did you miss me? Was I hiding? He tilted his head, trying to understand. Is bad vision an effect of lonely?
"Lonely is not an ailment." She replied, placing her hoof against the barrier and shivering as he did the same. "Lonely is a feeling."
What is a feeling?
"Do you not have feelings? Emotions? Hope, joy, sadness?"
I feel better when I am in the cold than when I am in the warm.
"That's an ailment. I read about you last night; you're a snow spirit, so you wouldn't like being in the warmth. That's why you exist in the Frozen North, where the sun's heat never melts the snow."
I do not know much about my kind. I do not know much about feelings. He sat down, pulling his haunches under him. Is there much more I do not know?
"I don't know. What do you know?"
I know my insides feel warm when you are here. He tapped his chin with a hoof, black eyes closing as he wondering. But it is not in the bad warm of light and fire. It is a nice warm.
The filly's mane hid half of her face as she reddened. "That is a feeling."
Is that lonely?
She shook her head. "Lonely is like being in a cold, dark place, with nobody around you who cares about you."
It is cold and dark out here.
She smiled, gently but heartrendingly. "Maybe you should try to come in."