Snow practiced the whole morning and was soon able to use levitation magic proficiently. But she tired of moving rocks from place to place and begged Crystal for something else to do. Not one to pass up such a golden opportunity, Crystal showed her “things to do”… all various shop chores, starting with the ones Crystal hated the most.
But despite the mundane nature of cleaning, organizing, preparing, gardening, and restocking, Snow did each cheerfully with a spring in her step. Crystal was happy for the freedom, but sometimes found it hard to concentrate as Snow moved from task to task singing softly to herself and giggling at odd intervals for no apparent reason.
When the chores were done, Snow would find a space nearby where she could watch and ask questions:
“So what are you sculpting? Do you have any brothers or sisters? What’s your favorite place in Canterlot? Have you ever eaten honey before?” and so on…
Between the chatter and the irritating cheerfulness, Cyrstal was surprised that she was getting anything done at all, but little by little, the stone was giving way to a shape… though what shape, Crystal didn’t yet know.
On the fourth day, Snow had another accident and broke a window. As usual, she over-reacted and practically went into hysterics; apologizing and fighting back tears. With a sigh, Crystal used her gem-mending to seal the cracks; explaining to a stunned Snow that glass, being a form of rock, could be easily fixed.
But not even an hour later, Snow knocked a few wooden bowls from the upper level, splitting them clean in half on impact below. She huddled into an apologetic ball and wouldn’t listen to reason until Crystal took her across the square to the wood shop to order replacements.
Her face had positively lit up at the chance to meet new ponies, though if Crystal was reading right, one of the colt apprentices was even happier to see her. Ever since then, she spent a fair amount of time out in the square socializing instead of being a distraction.
But during those times when Crystal’s concentration should have been uninterrupted, Snow was constantly on her mind. She’d often look at the windows trying to see or hear… something. What, she wondered, is that pony doing?
The artisan community was not well known for welcoming strangers and some of the masters in particular were grouchy old colts that could be downright hostile. Snow’s bubbly presence and relentless questions should be causing quite a ruckus in the square.
Worried, Crystal accompanied a surprised Snow the next afternoon. “I’m overdue for calling on the other masters,” she explained truthfully.
So she went from shop to shop to chat politely about business and upcoming construction with the other masters: stubborn Blockhead the wood master and his gruff neighbor, Stonewall. Then there was Ripple Gleam, the water master and her brother, Deeproot the garden master. Next the earth-shaping master, the glass master, the clay master, the iron master and so on.
Amazingly, each smiled and greeted Snow by name. Though she knew each for less than a week, she spoke to them as if they were her dearest friends. At each shop, master and student vied for the privilege of showed off their talents while Snow vapidly cheered and clopped her hooves happily. If Crystal hadn’t known better, she’d have thought Snow was manipulating them magically.
Once they returned, Crystal brooded as she worked. Snow had taken the most unruly, unfriendly ponies in Canterlot and melted them like butter. She seemed to know just the right tone and choice of words to wrap anypony around her hooves.
She still didn’t believe the white pony had any sort of ulterior motives, but how much did she really know about her anyway? In the time they’d been together Snow learned plenty about her host, but without revealing anything of herself.
Crystal paused and leaned around the slab to look at Snow who, upon noticing the attention, waved and smiled.
Crystal scowled and lifted her chisel again. In the next hours, she tried casually asking about her guest… with frustrating results. Snow cheerfully answered what she could, but met more than half of the questions with a sad look and silence.
In the end, the effort was wasteful. Maybe the white pony was a master spy and infiltrator, but the far more likely option was that she was exactly what she appeared: a lost and confused pony who possessed natural charm… possibly related to her forgotten talent. Either way, Crystal would keep her at leg’s length until the project was done and Snow returned to where she came from.
It’s better that way, Crystal reminisced.
An image of a young colt flashed in her mind. His gleaming smile filled her with warmth, his mane flowing picturesquely in the breeze. But then faceless masks surrounded him, whispering; laughing; sneering in Crystal’s direction. The picture of the smiling colt rippled and became blurry… changing to a mask of disgust and disdain. Soon, his face became indistinguishable from the others.
Never again, she thought bitterly.
***************
As the days passed, the two ponies settled into a routine.
The morning started with Snow waking up at ungodly hours while Crystal remained in her ever-growing pile of blankets by the window. Snow would head downstairs to clean the debris from the previous night’s work and then head out to tend the garden.
At some point, Crystal would walk/tumble/slide down the stairs to the kitchen where Snow waited with breakfast and a "Good Morning!" that was far too cheerful for anypony to deal with before noon. As she ate, Snow went through the shop throwing aside and tying back drapes. First the small ones by the stairs then the lower shop… circling slowly to the kitchen so Crystal had time to acclimate to the day.
Next, Snow would clear the dishes while Crystal, who was mostly awake by that point, made her way down to the shop with minimal tumbling. As she prepped her tools and work area, Snow set to work with bucket and cloth, obsessively cleaning any dust and grime from the windows.
Crystal tried to tell her that it wasn’t necessary, but discovered Snow had a bit of a stubborn streak. She wanted to be sure “that there was enough light to work”. Crystal scoffed, but only at first. She had never realized how much light the dust on the windows blocked.
It was hard to admit, but things were a little bit better with Snow around. Sure, she was irritating and an obstacle and a distraction and an imposition and…
Crystal paused from her work and leaned sideways to look at Snow … and her breath caught at the sight.
Snow was sitting on her haunches by the open shop door staring slightly skyward. The light wind gently set her mane to waving and the sunlight glimmered in streaks through her bright hair. The chisel and hammer twitched in Crystal’s grip as inspiration struck, but she hesitated.
Until now, Snow’s irritating joy was always present; even in the quiet moments. But now she seemed… lost? Crystal leaned back and stared at the stone; trying to see the shape inside, but only seeing Snow’s sad face instead. Something had to be done.
“Snow!” she exclaimed, tossing her tools noisily to the bench.
“EEP!*SMACK*” came the reply.
Crystal walked to the door where she found Snow splayed out on the floor, facing the opposite direction from the moment before. She definitely would have apologized for startling her if she weren’t trying so hard not to laugh.
“Ahem! We’re *Cough* running low on some things in the pantry and the weather’s nice. I was thinking about going to the market. Would you like to go?”
“YES!” Snow responded, pouncing in Crystal’s direction with an enormous grin.
Well that did the trick, Crystal thought as she placed floated a cloth over to wipe the dust off of her coat. Meanwhile Snow had excitedly pulled a saddlebag from the cupboard and put it on.
“It’s backwards,” Crystal said.
Snow pouted but didn’t object when Crystal removed the buckle and corrected the bag’s placement. When the strap was finally pulled tight, Snow was trotting lightly in place and looked painfully into Crystal’s eyes:
“Can we go now!?”
Crystal smiled and pulled out a bag of her own attaching it as she walked up the stairs. She stepped out into the late morning light of the square while Snow eagerly stepped to her side with a wide smile on her face.
***********************
The two ponies walked down the street which was becoming busier and more crowded by the moment. Crystal faced forward, but could feel the excited energy emanating from the white pony who walked beside her.
Crystal smiled smugly. You haven’t seen anything yet!
They rounded a building into full view of Canterlot’s market square and Snow skidded to a halt; her mouth gaping open. As she took it all in, Crystal indulged herself in a moment of gloating. After all, she and the other craftmasters all had a hoof in its construction. And while most would point to the castle as the city’s grandest structure, the masters knew better.
The square was enormous, with tall buildings on all sides and a series of tents and stalls specifically placed to maximize the efficiency of vendors and their patrons on both the ground and in the air. All of this surrounded a vast park measuring nearly six gallop/seconds* across and a full ten gallop/seconds long. Fountains were placed strategically to provide water to travelers and divert hoof traffic to prevent loitering in walking areas. Trees served to provide shade in all the right places in spring and summer, but would lose their leaves in the winter to let in more light and warmth. And even though tall buildings stood in every direction, some trick allowed bright sun to shine down on every corner from early in the morning until late in the afternoon.
Crystal had always wondered about that one, but her talents were in stone, not city planning. Regardless, it was a marvel which left a certain white pony dumbstruck and looking as if her jaw were about to detach.
Actually starting to wonder if the shock would cause her injury, Crystal decided it was time to stop gazing and start walking.
“Let’s go,” she said as she led the way through the packed square.