//------------------------------// // Ooh! More Traveling Companions! // Story: Snow and Wind // by Princess OtakuGeek //------------------------------// After catching their breath, the group hauled themselves to their sore hooves and trotted over to the nearby cave entrance. They were all pleasantly surprised when they were hit with a wall of warm air, courtesy of the natural hot spring in the back of the cave. Using the large, metal, dish-like brazier and the small stack of wood in the cave, Cadence and Spike started a fire as the jumped into the hot spring to warm up. "Mmmmm. This feels so divine." Rarity sighed as she sank deeper into the water so she could wrap herself in its glorious warmth. The spring was huge, almost the size of an Equestrian Games swimming pool and curved around in a somewhat bean shape with the bent in part carved into a set of steps leading down into the water. The whole thing was separated from the front of the cave by half a wall. Already, they could feel all their aches and pains melt away as they warmed up. "Ah here ya." Applejack agreed. "Ah ain't felt this relaxed or renewed fer a very long time." "Mom once told me that hot springs in the Northern Mountains are filled with minerals that are healthy for your body and coat." Flower Dance sighed. "I think she called it a 'mineral spa'." "Well it certainly feels like a spa!" Rarity exclaimed. "If it didn't mean pruny hooves, than I could spend my days here in this spring!" Everyone laughed at that and it seemed as though nothing was wrong in the world. After climbing out of the spring and shaking themselves to dry off, they made their way back to the front of the cave. A fire was burning brightly in the brazier and Cadence and Spike had prepared a simple but filling meal for them. As they enjoyed hay soup and dried flowers, Applejack decided to strike up a conversation. "So Flower, where did this wood come from?" She asked. "Well, customarily, the wood is replenished by anyone who comes to the cave and uses the wood." Flower Dance replied. "Huh. Replace what you use. Ah can get behind that." Applejack hummed approval. "An I wouldn't mind going out ta collect the wood." "You don't have to." Flower Dance said worriedly. "It's still very cold out and you just warmed up." "Now don't be silly." Applejack chided gently. "Ah won't let it be said that an Apple, especially me, was laying about when there was a job ta do. After dinner, I'll go straight out ta gather the wood." "And I'll come too." Rainbow volunteered. "I've done enough warming up and I think I can help AJ here with getting tons of wood. Remember, I chopped through three or four trees when I was setting up the campsite that time." "Yeah RD, Ah remember." Applejack sighed. "Now eat yer soup before it gets cold." With that matter resolved, the next to strike up a conversation was Twilight. "So Flower Dance, why a brazier?" She asked. "I mean, it would be much easier to just build a pit for the fire as opposed to forging something like this. Especially in, what I assume, is a little used area. So what significance does the brazier hold?" "The brazier is the hearth." Flower Dance answered. "And in a home, or any place, the hearth is the heart of any dwelling. It's where friends, family and even enemies gather together for many things. Eating, drinking, dancing, singing, telling stories or even just warming up together. It's a place where we grow closer together and enemies can become friends. Naturally, we hold it, and the fire it bears, in high regard." "That was beautiful." Sweetie said quietly as she slowly chewed her food. The other Crusaders nodded, too tired to add anything else. After dinner, the CMC, who were practically dead on their hooves, were tucked into their sleeping bags. Applejack, true to her word, went out with Rainbow Dash and Flower Dance to gather firewood. The little windigo filly went with them to show them where they could get wood. Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike and Cadence had gone to the hot spring, which left Twilight at the fire writing what she'd learned about windigoes in a letter to the Princess. Including a detailed report on the journey on The Mountain's Path. Normally she would leave such things out of her letters because she didn't want her mentor to worry, but Celestia had asked for such details for the relief teams she would send after contact was made and agreements were reached. Basically, they weren't just a diplomatic team. They were also a scout team. After finishing her letter with assurances that they were all safe, she rolled up her scroll and trotted to the back of the cavern just when Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were leaving. After requesting Spike to send the letter, she sank down into the spring and relaxed. A few minutes later, Celestia sent her reply expressing her relief that they were all well and safe and her thanks for the knowledge that Twilight had sent. When Applejack, RD and Flower Dance returned with a bunch of fire wood, they also warmed up in the hot springs before it was unanimously decided to call it a night and tuck in. ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ After breakfast, the group packed up and started off once more. The only way out of the small valley-like dip, was a pass that went through a cliff. After traveling down this pass through the morning, it finally opened up to a much larger area. Everything was covered in thick sheets of snow, but one thing that was still discernable were the step-like formations in the terrain. And they didn't look natural. "Hey Flower, what's with all these giant steps?" Scootaloo asked. "They aren't steps. Their terraces. For our fields." Flower said. "Here in the mountains, where everything is on a slope with almost no flat land, terraces are invaluable to our agriculture. It decreases both erosion and surface runoff which would render this land infertile." "Oh! I've seen these a few times before." Twilight exclaimed as she examined the terrace she was on. "I've seen ponies using these on hills and the like. Only it was smaller. So these are all fields?" "Mmhm." Flower Dance nodded. "Or, to be more exact, these are my village's fields. My village is the first village one encounters when the come into the mountains via The Mountain's Path. It isn't a frequently used path, but we did welcome and provide shelter for many a traveler that came through." "So this is your village?" Rainbow asked as they all glanced around the area in a new light. "My village's fields, yes." Flower Dance said. "The actual village is this way." She then led them to a strip of land between terraces that they quickly figured out was a path. It wasn't long before they found themselves at the village. Or what was left of it. The homes and buildings had been torn apart, some leaving little more than a wall or two, and scattered amongst the wood were a myriad of household objects. They ranged from cooking and dishware to toys and games. Some items they didn't recognize or looked like something familiar with a twist. Further into the village, they found what was left of a massive building that had been built near a cliff. The roof and front of the building had been torn off and inside there were some scattered remains of every day items. And at the center was a massive, dish-like brazier. It wasn't hard for Twilight to figure out what this building had been. "So this is the Cold Shelter, isn't it?" She asked. Flower Dance nodded. "There's another village Northeast of here that's a days travel away. And it's where my sister Rose Step lives." She said. "But my family and most of the village agreed that we would journey to the Capital when the storm destroyed the Shelter. That's also where the Keeper lives. In order to get there, we're going to have to travel North." "Well then, let's get started." Rainbow exclaimed and the others began to follow as well until Flower Dance spoke up. "Just a minute." She said. "Before I have to leave permanently, there's something I have to do." The group looked at her confused, but they followed her anyways as they left the building and went back to town. They finally reached a place near the outskirts. There was a single house and in front of it was a stone obelisk a little taller than Cadence. It had been covered in snow, but Flower Dance brushed it all off to reveal markings that she guessed were words, but she didn't recognize the language. A second later, she realized that she'd been seeing these obelisks around town, but had assumed they were some form of decoration. This idea was quickly shot down when Flower Dance landed, having shifted into her Snow Form to brush snow off the topmost areas, and then proceeded to engage in a sort of ritual. First she clapped her forehooves together, than placed them on chest and head then spreading them out before bringing her hooves back together and bowing. With this ritual done, she then spun about to face them. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to someone." She announced. "This here is Mountain Frost, my former mentor and trainer." At that moment, it clicked into place as to what this was. "This is a gravestone." "Pretty much, but here we call them markers." Flower admitted. "Does that mean that the other obelisks we've been seeing are all graves?" Rarity asked. "Markers. And yes." Flower Dance corrected then confirmed. "Anyways, Mountain Frost was this cranky old earthpony windigo who mostly kept to himself for as long as I could remember. He became my mentor the day I earned my cutiemark and he took my under his wing so he could train me. Turns out that he was a retired Wind Dancer who'd come to our village in the first place for so peace and quiet before he passed on. He put me through lots of training so I could be a great Wind Dancer and I started to look up to him as a sort of grandfather figure. Sadly, he died this past Harvest Time, which I believe you ponies would call Fall. Since then, I haven't been able to learn very much since he was the only other Wind Dancer in the village." "Hey now Sugarcube, Ah'm sure there are other Wind Dancers else where." Applejack said as she placed her hooves across her withers. "But don't most ponies usually say how they miss the ones they lost?" "Well of course I miss him." Flower replied. "But I've always been taught that those who pass on, never leave our hearts and our sides. Their always there with us, in their teachings and how they influenced us because all life shares a connection with someone. It could be a friend, a family member, even rivals and enemies share a connection. And even when their gone, we still feel that connection because they never truly left us. That's what those gestures meant." Flower Dance then raised her hooves to go through the motions again. "First, there's how they linger in our hearts-" she held her hooves to her chest. "Then in our minds-" her hooves moved to her head. "And finally, all around us." "And the bow?" Scootaloo asked. "That was simply a difference of respect towards towards those who have passed on. And because he was my master and teacher." Flower Dance answered. "Very interesting." Twilight said with a nod. "But its still very different how you bury your dead in town." "We don't bury our dead." Flower Dance said, catching them completely off guard. "In fact, windigoes haven't practiced burial for centuries. Mom told me that we used to do that a long long time ago, but not for a while." "Really?" Cadence asked in surprise. "When you live on a mountain without a lot of fertile soil, you can't go using it for the dead." Flower Dance explained. "We do something else instead. First, there's a ceremony where the deceased is cremated. This symbolizes that our bodies, a gift from the Hearth, are being returned. Then the ashes are scattered in the winds which is symbolic of how we are born children of the wind and snow and are returning to the wind. Finally, a marker like this one is erected to symbolize how the deceased walked amongst us and left their mark in our hearts and lives. And how they will always linger here among us." "That's beautiful." Fluttershy whispered with some tears gathering in her eyes. Twilight, like usual, had been taking all of this down when she noticed something. "Wait, you said that the hearth 'gifted your bodies'. What does that mean?" She asked. "Mother says that the Hearth granted a great gift to our ancestors, but I don't know the details." Flower Dance answered with a shrug. "Anyways, now that I've paid my respects, we should get going. We have a long journey ahead of us and we should start covering as much ground as we can before dark." And with that reminder, Twilight straightened and put away her quill and paper. "You're right." She said. "This isn't the time or place for questions. Let's get going." ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ It'd been three days they started this journey. Two since they'd left Flower Dance's village. Since then, they'd been traveling through freezing winds and snow and at some point, they'd had the climb a cliff. For their second night here, they'd had to pitch a tent to sleep in. They didn't find another Travelers Cave as they were called until the third night and it unfortunately not one with a natural hot spring. It wasn't until the fourth day of travel that they ran into anyone else. Just when they were coming out of a pass and into a wider area, Pinkie Pie spotted them. "Oh, oh, look! More ponies!" Everyone immediately turned in the direction the pink pony was pointing. Sure enough, about a mile away and coming out of another pass was a large group of windigoes. From there, it was hard to make out distinctive traits, but Twilight felt it was safe to assume they were windigoes as well. "Judging by how large the group is, they're most likely evacuees of another village." Flower observed. She squinted at them for a moment longer before breaking into a gallop towards them. Surprised, they took off after her. "Whoa now Sugarcube, what's the rush?" Applejack asked once they caught up. "Here in the mountains, its considered good manners while traveling to at least greet any other groups you come across." Flower Dance said. "Sometimes, groups will end up traveling together if their going in the same direction. In these treacherous mountains, group traveling is considered a very safest way to travel. Plus, if I'm right, its possible that I might know these windigoes." The ponies admitted it was a sound reason and followed Flower Dance all the way to the much larger group. They almost came up short as they got close enough the see the windigoes properly. When they thought 'windigo', they expected something smaller and more delicate than what they were seeing right now. True, the adults did have lithe, graceful figures, but they were still were amazingly tall. They were probably two or three heads taller than Cadence or half a head taller than Luna. And that was just the mare they ran came up to first. Setting aside her height, the aforementioned mare who'd seen them approach and had stopped along with the rest was dressed in a dark purple cloak and, to the delight of Twilight's inner scholar, a horn was jutting out from the hood. When they were closer, they were able to take in more details. Her coat was a dark blue and purple and when she flipped her hood off after taking a few steps forward, they could see that her mane was a pastel rainbow. The same could be said for her eyes. Twilight however, immediately zeroed in on the horn. It was shaped like a unicorn's, but was longer and more slender. And unlike a unicorn's horn, which bore a corkscrew pattern, this horn was covered in swirling lines. She was snapped out of her musings on horns differences however, when the taller mare spoke. "Flower Dance, is that you?" She questioned the filly as she stopped in front of her. Flower Dance flipped her own hood off and waved her hoof in greeting as she smiled. "Hi Midnight!" She greeted. She was then pulled close into a hug with the older mare and behind them, there was a buzz of activity, most of it relief that the filly was safe. "Oh thank goodness it is you." The mare said in relief. "Rose Step has been worried sick and your mother was near hysterics when she arrived in our village." "You saw my mom?" Flower asked and the mare released her. "Your mother went hunting high and low for you after you disappeared." The mare informed her. "And since after your village was destroyed, our village was the last one on the outskirts of the mountains, she ended up there. It took three cups of Rose's specialty calming tea to calm her down. After that, Rose insisted that she return to the rest of the family while she'd keep an eye out for you. We've all been worried for you since." "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare anyone." Flower Dance apologized. "It's alright. You're safe now and that's all that matters. Out of curiosity though, where did you end up?" "Outside of the mountains." Flower Dance said and the mare's jaw dropped. "I wasn't able to return on my own, but I made some friends who helped me." It was then that the mare noticed the presence of seven mares and three fillies. All of them ponies. The mare wasn't sure how to react. Neither did any of the windigoes behind her. "Midnight, I'd like to introduce you to Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and her Number 1 assistant Spike and Cadence." She started with the adults and baby dragon before moving on to the fillies. "And these are the Cutiemark Crusaders, Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Midnight Aurora, the best healer in the mountains." "Oh, stop it you little scamp." Midnight Aurora said good naturedly as she ruffled Flower Dance's mane. "I'm just very good at my job." She then turned to the group. "So you all helped bring Flower Dance home?" "Yes ma'am." Applejack answered with a tip of her hat. Midnight tittered politely at that. "No need to be so formal." She said. "You've helped one of our own. In particular, a filly. For that, you can consider yourselves a member of the community in our book." Everypony behind her nodded and murmured agreement. "Oh, well thank you, but the ones you should really be thanking is the Crusaders." Rarity said. "Flower Dance here had gotten as far as Everfree where these troublemakers found her. The rest of us just helped her finish her journey." "Journey? Everfree?" Midnight asked, a little confused. "Yes. This courageous little filly made a long journey towards Canterlot to bring this situation to Celestia and Luna's attention." Twilight explained. "That's another reason why we're here. We're envoys of Celestia, Luna and the Crystal Empire sent to make contact with your leader." Midnight Aurora didn't answer and the windigoes behind her began whispering indistinctly. Before anyone could say anything however, a shout made everyone jump in surprise and at the sheer volume of the shout. "FLOWER DANCE!!!" Flower Dance was suddenly scooped up by a spring green mare with a pink and red mane who then proceeded to hug her as tightly as possible without harming or killing her. "Oh gosh Flower Dance, have you any idea how scared I was when mom told me?!" The newcomer demanded and from that sentence, the observing ponies could make a safe guess as to who this was. "I know Rose." Flower huffed out. "Midnight already told me. Can you let me go now? I'd like to introduce you to my new friends." When the mare dropped her sister, another round of introductions went around. Flower Dance introduced her sister to the ponies and the ponies to her sister, Rose Step. With introductions out of way, Twilight spotted something that peaked her curiosity. "Wait a second, Flower Dance and Midnight Aurora both have two tone coats, yet your coat is just one color." The purple alicorn muttered in interest as she grabbed Rose Step's leg to examine it better. The windigo earthpony was a little weirded out and pulled her leg from Twilight's grasp. "Uh, who are these ponies?" She asked as she took a step back. "Rose Step, these ponies are here as envoys from Celestia and Luna. They're here to speak with The Keeper." Midnight said. "And to learn about you guys!" Pinkie offered. "Princess Celestia also wanted to learn what we could about you and your culture so we could better understand each other. Her exact words were-" here Pinkie stood regally and pulled off a surprisingly flawless impression of Celestia. "-'Ignorance breeds misunderstanding which breeds the worst sorts or incidents'." Midnight Aurora nodded agreement. "It seems as though Celestia is as wise as they say." She said sagely. "If it is no problem, would you care to travel with us? We're headed in the same direction, so I believe it might be a benefit for us to travel together. Not to mention the fact that I doubt Rose Step will let Flower Dance out of her sight now that she's been found." "Darn straight I'm not letting her out of my sight!" Rose Step declared as she pulled her sister closer. Cadence chuckled. "How can I argue with that?" She asked rhetorically. "We would be glad to join you in your journey and I imagine that Twilight will be asking a hundred questions." Midnight Aurora smiled then gestured at the large group as she spoke. "Well then, welcome to our caravan!" ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ Dear Princess Celestia, Since I have last written we have made contact with a village sized group of windigoes and have joined them since we're all going in the same direction. I say village sized because these windigoes are the latest victims of these snowstorms, but moving on to more important things. Now that I have a much wider variety of windigoes, I've been comparing the adults to the children and the windigo versions of the three races to our more familiar three races. First the adults and children. The first thing we noticed was how tall the adults were. The mares are two or three heads taller than Cadence and have very lithe graceful features. The males, while half a head taller than the females and much sturdier than a female (like the stallions of our own kind), also possess lithe graceful features. The adults also possess thick coats like the children, but unlike the shorter coats of the fillies and coats (giving them a fluffy appearance) the adult's coats are much longer, giving them a more silky soft appearance. Another thing that I found was that the two tone coat that is characteristic of their kind, while common, not all have it. Further more, the fur that they shear from their bodies is also easily dyed and enchanted. Truely, a very multipurpose cloth. Rarity squealed so loudly, I thought our eardrums would burst. As for their three tribes, while they are familiar to us, there are also very distinct differences. Windigo unicorn horns are longer and more slender than unicorn horns and unlike unicorn horns, which have a corkscrew pattern, windigo unicorn horns are covered in swirling lines. When they activate their horns, the magic surrounding it, while similar to unicorn magic, it also has a wispy, ethereal appearance. I have yet to learn if there are also differences in spells but so far, levitation is the same. It's all so very exciting since its possible that the windigoes possess knowledge of spells that we don't know! I'll let you know if I learn anymore. Next is windigo pegasi. Windigo pegasi have larger windspans than pegasi and their wings are also half covered in a layer of fur with the primary feathers sticking out. I've been told that this fur doesn't interfere with flight and keeps the wings warm up here in the cold weather and high altitude. Windigo earthponies don't look much different from their Equestrian counterparts, but I've been told that windigo earthponies are the best at coaxing plant life from the mountain soil, a trait that's very well valued in this climate. Aside from these developments, its been a relatively uneventful journey. We met up with Flower Dance's older sister, Rose Step, who was ecstatic and relieved to see her sister safe. The rest of the villagers were similarly relieved to see one of their own safe as well. Rose Step told me that she's an herbalist in her village and a good friend of the local 'healer', Midnight Aurora. Midnight always used to purchase herbs from her for her patients and that's how they first met. Midnight Aurora is a windigo unicorn with calm but kind head on her shoulders. In contrast, Rose Step acts a little like Pinkie Pie and Rarity mixed together. Playful and dramatic but still very kind and gentle. In any case, its getting late and since its a long journey to the Capital, I should get some shut eye for the trip. Ever your faithful student and fellow Princess, Twilight Sparkle ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ Rainbow Dash huffed impatiently. She was bored out of her mind as she hovered in the air. Two days into the journey, they'd spotted a snowstorm. It wasn't this infamous village destroying snowstorm, but it certainly was bad enough that it would be suicide to travel in that. So here they all were, in a large cave waiting out the storm. There was a hot spring that Rarity had immediately jumped into since she'd 'been feeling grimy' lately. At first, it wasn't so bad. But after one day in close quarters without anything to do and with no sign of the storm letting up anytime soon, Rainbow Dash felt ready to risk the storm if it meant something to do. She could tell that a few of her friends were also feeling a little restless, but oddly enough none of the windigoes had any signs of cabin fever. "Hey Midnight, can I ask you a question?" Twilight asked, looking up from her writing and having noticed her friend's and Spike's restlessness. "Of course Twilight." Midnight Aurora answered. She'd taken off her cloak a while ago, exposing her cutiemark which was a white staff with a white star on top and wings with pastel rainbow wings spread out while two white snakes were coiled up the staff. When asked about it by the Crusaders, she told them that it represented her ability to heal. They translated this to mean that she was a doctor and they commented on how they'd already tried for their doctor cutiemarks.....and had since been banned from the hospital by Nurse Redheart. Barring any serious injuries of course. The older ponies and dragon who recalled the incident all shivered. Returning to the present, Twilight posed the question tugging at her mind. "Well I've been noticing my friends getting a bit of cabin fever, none of you windigoes seem very affected. Why is that?" "Here in the Northern Mountains, storms like this aren't unusual." Midnight Aurora answered. "So its nothing new to be indoors for days or weeks at a time. We enjoy the outdoors as much as anypony would, but we also don't have a problem with staying indoors. In short, we just don't get cabin fever that easily." "Uuugggghhh!!!" Rainbow exploded. "I'm so bored!!! There's literally nothing to do! Hey kid!" She called out to get Flower Dance's attention. When the filly looked up at her, the pegasus continued. "Didn't you tell us that time that at some point during feasts, you guys pull out stuff the do?" "Like games?" Flower asked. "Yeah, games!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Oh yeah, we do have games." She said as she pulled off her saddlebags and began rummaging around. "In fact, I've got a Mancala board right.....here!" She declared in victory as she pulled out a flat with her cutiemark carved into it. She opened the box to reveal a long board with six small indents on each side and two larger indents on each end. The board was decorated with flowers blowing in the wind and each indent had a line swirling in. "My parents gave me this for my cutiemark feast celebration." Flower Dance spoke as she gathered the pastel crystal balls and began sorting four to each of the smaller indents. "Uugh! A board game?" Rainbow groaned. "No offense, but I'm not much for board games. C'mon, didn't you mention racing and wrestling?" "There isn't enough room for a race, though I know a few who wouldn't mind a little wrestling." Midnight commented. "Yes!" Rainbow cheered with a hoof pump. "Well what we waiting for? Let's get going!" She exclaimed with gusto. Before she could fly off though, Applejack stood up as well "Think y'all can add me ta the roster?" She asked. "Ah've been ta plenty of rodeos in may time and Ah'm up fer some good old fashioned, friendly competition." "Well come on then!" Rainbow invited and the pair of ponies followed Midnight Aurora as she went to help them gather participants. "Don't mind them Flower. They've always been the more rough n' tumble sort." Rarity said with a casual wave of her hoof. "I for one am very curious about this game. If you don't mind, I would like to know how it's played." "Okay then. To start, you've got four pieces in each of the smaller indents and two bigger ones." Flower Dance started. "These bigger ones, called barns, are for each player. The right barn and six of the indents one the right side is for one player. The left barn and the left indents is for the other player. You move your pieces like this." She then demonstrated by picking up the pieces and moving them counter clockwise around the board while dropping pieces in each indent. "When you go past your barn, you deposit a piece but not if you go past your opponent's barn. The game end when one side in completely empty. If your last piece lands in your barn, you get a free turn. And if your last piece land in an empty indent, you capture that piece and all the pieces in the indent adjacent to it. When one's idents are empty, their opponent get to collect what's left in their indents into their barn then count them. The one with the most pieces wins." "Interesting." Rarity hummed as Flower Dance reset the pieces she had moved in the demonstration. "It truely sounds fascinating. If you don't mind, I'd like to play." "Okay, but I'll give you fair warning, I'm a champ and Mancala." Flower Dance said with a challenging smirk. "It's almost my favorite thing, seconded by wind dancing and before I earned my cutiemark, I believed that I'd get a Mancala related cutiemark." Rarity returned the smirk with her own challenging smirk. "Oh it is on." She said determinedly. ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ For as long as she would live, Twilight swore that she would never see another game played so intensely. Flower Dance wasn't lying when she said that she was good but even though she was a novice, Rarity wasn't going down so easily. In the end, the game ended in a tie so they played again....and again....and again.....and again. "Wow, they're really going at it." Rose Step commented as she approached. "I've never seen anypony go hoof to hoof with my sister like that." "Yeah. It's really cool though." Twilight said. "So where'd that game come from? I think I may have heard it before." "Mancala is originally a Zebrican game." Rose Step explained. "Legends hold that one of our ancestors saw two zebras playing the game and he became so fascinated with it that when he learned how it was played, he brought it home to share with everyone else. It quickly gained popularity amongst and one factor for that is that it can be played anywhere and not necessarily with a board. You can draw the board into the ground and use rocks if you need to." "It was from a time when our kind was still trying to find an identity for itself." Midnight Aurora added as she returned without Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "We have since grown past that stage, but you'll still find a few things borrowed from other countries and peoples like Equestria." "That's really fascinating." Twilight said with a touch of awe and she began to make notes on this new information. Wait till Celestia heard about this. Later, with her notes complete, Twilight decided to go walk around. By this point, there were groups playing other games full swing, some very unfamiliar but there were others that she recognized but with different styles. For example, there was a chess game where the pieces looked very different than what she was used to. The pawns were all carved snowflakes on these spindly little things. The rooks looked more like a castle spire, though not any castle she knew as they were twisted and curled around. The knights were rearing windigoes wearing armor and the bishops were also windigoes that were slightly older and wore robes with glasses perched on their muzzle. The Queen piece was a pair of blazing wings while the king piece was a roaring fire in a dish-like brazier. Twilight was certain that was some sort of meaning behind the pieces, but was hard pressed to figure it out. Other games that she saw was a chess game with snowflakes, Scrabble but with some words she didn't recognize, Chutes and Ladders with hills and valleys, Boggle without the box and a few dice added, Tic Tac Toe and even a few games that looked suspiciously like trading card games and tabletop RPGs like Shining Armor used to play in highschool. Spike had actually joined one of the groups playing one of these RPGs. She could also spot Cadence and Fluttershy with a group of mares, learning embroidery and swapping stories. Eventually, Twilight reached a realization. 'Where's Pinkie Pie?' ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ After gathering a few windigoes, Midnight Aurora left Applejack and Rainbow Dash in the capable hooves of Cliff Rumble, a very broad and intimidating brown and grey windigo pegasus with a darker grey mane. The two almost gaped at the size of the windigo, but held it in since it would be rude. The pegasus first took his hoof and used the tip of it to carve a visible circle into the stone floor. Big enough for two windigoes to move around. When he was done, he trotted up to the mares and spoke in a very deep, rumbling voice. "The rules are simple." He said. "First one out of the ring loses. No punching or biting and no aiming for the head. You only go for the lower neck, body and limbs. You can buck if you need to, but don't turn this into a punching match. Got it?" "Yes sir." Both mares answered immediately. That was the thing with this guy's voice. It demanded attention and respect. "Hey Cliff! We gonna get started?" And windigo earthpony called out from the ring. His coat was a deep emerald green while his mane was white and a frosty blue. "In a minute, Frosty. I just want to make sure everyone knows the rules." Cliff Rumble answered. "Now which of you wants to go first?" "Me. I'll go against him." Applejack instantly shot a hoof up. Cliff quirked an eyebrow but nodded anyways. Applejack turned and handed her hat to Rainbow Dash then stepped into the ring as a crowd began to form. "You go out there and show him who's boss Applejack!" Rainbow called out. "Yeah! Show him how its done, Apple style!" Applebloom added, having arrived just in time to cheer her sister on. Scootaloo had come with while Sweetie Belle stayed with Rarity. Applejack didn't respond to the cheers aside from a nod before facing her opponent. She braced herself in a fighting pose as he did as well. The two earthponies stared each other down. Cliff Rumble raised a hoof, then brought down with a bang, signalling the start of the fight. The two charged each other and butted heads, each pushing the other towards the outside of the ring. One advantage that Frosty had over Applejack however, was that he was bigger and was starting to push her back. Seeing that she was losing ground, Applejack quickly ducked out of the head lock and Frosty stumbled a bit, but not enough to throw him out of the ring. When he regained his footing, he swiveled around to face his opponent who was now on the other side of the ring. For a minute they circled each other as they stared into each others eyes. All around the ring, a crowd was cheering and making a rukus. Some were cheering for Frosty and some for Applejack. Finally, the two earthponies charged again. Frosty lowered his head as he came near, but Applejack swiveled around and raised her hindlegs. The two met with a bang. Frosty pushed, Applejack dug in and refused to give him any ground. Likewise, when she pushed against him, he refused to give up. Back and forth they pushed until finally both of them ended up out of the ring. "Tie!" Cliff Rumble declared as the two opponents helped each other up. "That was an impressive match there." Frosty said with respect. "How'd a young filly like you get so strong?" "Nothing much, just good hard work in the fields at Sweet Apple Acres." Applejack answered casually. "Heh! A fellow farmer eh?" Frosty said with a grin. "Eeyup'." Applejack answered as she took her hat from Rainbow and planted it on her head. "Ah could you were a farmer too. That's why I volunteered ta wrestle ya." Frosty burst out laughing. "Well now, how about that!" He chuckled then held out his hoof. "I don't believe we have been formally introduced. Name's Frost Fields, but my friends call me Frosty." Applejack grinned and heartily grasped his hoof with her own. "An' Ah'm Applejack Apple. Pleasure to meet you Frosty." ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ It wasn't hard to find where the wrestling was. Just look for a large group in a circle cheering like their at a sports match. Twilight ariived at the ring as Rainbow Dash was leaving it with her head held high and her chest puffed out. Very clear indicators that she'd won the match. After shaking hooves with her opponent, Dash joined Applejack, Applebloom and Scootaloo who congratulated her. Twilight speed trotted over to the group and got their attention. "Rainbow Dash! Applejack!" She called and they looked up at her and waved. "Hey the Twilight!" Rainbow greeted as she arrived. "What brings you here? Here to witness my awesomeness?" "Have any of you seen Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "I'm not sure when, but she's disappeared and I can't find her." "Sugarcube, if Ah know Pinkie Pie, she's probably off somewhere trying ta start a party." Applejack said. As if on cue, the cave was suddenly filled with what sounded like a violin playing quickly followed by several other instruments like drums and guitars all playing a lively tune like a jig. In response to the music, most if not all of the windigoes got up and started to dance along with the music around the fire in the large dish shaped brazier. Their dance steps were lively like the music and the ponies started to feel like dancing too. "See? What'd I tell ya? That filly just can't help but start a party." Applejack said with a smile. Applebloom and Scootaloo grinned as well before leaping in to join the fun. "Surprise!" Pinkie cried out as she appeared right next to Twilight, making the purple alicorn jump in surprise. "Isn't this fun! When Rainbow Dash brought up when brought up what Flower Dance told us about feasts, I remembered that she also told us that some would play music and sing and dance and I thought 'that would be so much fun'! So I've been running around looking for someone who would play and I found a group willing to play so traditional windigo dance music and ta-da!" After she spoke, the song ended and the players moved on to a different song. This one felt more powerful than the jig and had some sort of flute, but the windigoes danced to that as well. "Very impressive Pinkie." Rarity commented, having arrived just in time to here the explanation and make Twilight jump a second time. "Rarity! When did you get here? I thought you were trying to beat Flower Dance." The startled alicorn asked. "Even a lady such as myself must admit defeat at some point." Rarity said as the music change to a lighter fare but with lots of drums. "Eventually, Flower Dance and myself both admitted that we were each worthy opponents then I stepped aside to let Sweetie Have a turn while I took a walk around. And it looks like she and Flower Dance chose to join the festivities." She gestured with her hoof and the girls could indeed see the Crusaders and Spike were all dancing together amongst the windigoes. The next song to play was at first a violin solo, somewhat sad, but then it picked up pace when a drum came on and soon the windigoes were stomping their hooves in time with the music. Cadence and Fluttershy emerged from the crowd, Cadence laughing cheerily and Fluttershy smiling. "This some party, isn't Twilight?" The pink alicorn said. "You can thank Pinkie Pie for that." Twilight replied. "She's the one who went hunting for a band and got them to play. Things just went from there." "Enough chit chat." Pinkie declared as she wrapped her hooves around her friends and pulled them forward. "Lets dance!" ✴❄✴❄✴❄✴ The music, song and dance continued until everyone was tired and it was decided that they needed to gat to sleep since it appeared as though the storm was winding down and by their estimation, they'd be able to leave by morning. As she tucked herself into her sleeping bag, Twilight pondered on how the day had gone and smiled. "It really was a fun day today, wasn't it?" She asked her friends surrounding her and they hummed agreement. The fillies and Spike followed not to far behind after Twilight asked him to send her latest letter to Celestia. "Ah know Ah've made some pretty good friends today." Applejack said with a yawn. "Me too." Fluttershy whispered. "Wool Thread was kind enough to show me how to embroider my cutiemark in traditional windigo style." "And Cliff Rumble is a solid guy." Rainbow Dash added. "Real awesome and you know that I don't give just anyone that title." "And Hill Song and her friends played the best music." Pinkie said with aa satisfied grin. "Which makes this my first ever windigo party!" "It's amazing how joyful and loving these windigoes are when they've recently lost their homes." Cadence said. "I really hope we can do something to help them." "Me too." Twilight replied, feeling a touch of nervousness. "I wonder what this Keeper of The Hearth is like?" "I'm sure she's a great pony." Pinkie said. "I mean, she'd have to be to earn the respect of all these windigoes, right?" Everyone blinked at her surprising insight. "Who did you...?" Twilight started then trailed off. Pinkie shrugged casually. "It was as obvious as the muzzle on your face." She said. "Remember, I pay attention to these kinds of details so I can help everypony have fun." Another round of blinks followed by sighs. Pinkie would be Pinkie. "Well, whatever the Keeper is like, we won't know until we meet her." Rarity declared. "So we should get some rest for our long trip tomorrow." "You're right." Twilight said. "Goodnight everypony." "Goodnight Twilight." Pinkie said with a yawn then a think when she dropped to her pillow like a puppet with it's strings cut, fast asleep. "Goodnight darlings." Rarity said with a more polite yawn before gently sinking to her pillow. "Night' Sugarcube." Applejack said before stretching a little. "Yeah, night everybody." Rainbow said as she settled into her bed muttering on how much better a cloud bed was. "Goodnight everyone." Fluttershy's tired whisper was barely audible, but they heard it. "Goodnight Twilight." Cadence said with a gentle kiss on the purple pony's forehead. "And try not to worry about that too much. You need your rest too. Big day tomorrow and all." "Yeah, okay. I'll try not to stress it too much." Twilight said quietly. The purple alicorn was the last to fall asleep, thoughts and worries about the upcoming meeting still nagging in the back of her head s her eyes slid closed.