45) Month 5 - Hearthswarming Eve
Fragrant found sleep eluding her, no matter how often she tossed and turned on her cloud bed she just couldn’t seem to get comfortable. Stupid Max! Stupid Thunderous! All they had to do was spend some time together, talk, bond a little. But instead they ended up getting into a brawl! And with King Fisher of all ponies! She sighed, to be honest she had imagined punching him in the muzzle a few times, but she actually had the self-control to stop herself!
No doubt Fisher had given Max and her brother plenty of reasons to hit him but ultimately, he was only one symptom of a greater malady, one which couldn’t be beaten with swinging hooves. To put it simply many of her ponies were caught in the past. The cloud cities had long maintained a distance from the rest of Equestria, both physically and socially. The other tribes didn’t have a choice but to mix with each other, but the pegasus could still choose to live apart if they so wished. In some way the pegasus were culturally two tribes, the sky pegasus of the cloud cities that she represented and those who chose to live closer to the ground interacting with the other tribes. Whereas the ground pegasus were developing alongside the other tribes her people were more and more rapidly being left behind. Technology and society on the ground was moving faster and faster and the cloud cities were being left behind. Telegraph could allow words to spread from one side of the country to another faster than a messenger could fly between cloud cities, trains could carry more supplies than the largest sky chariot. Many of her people were either leaving to join the new world or trying to withdraw more and more into the past, and it was that group that King Fisher represented.
She groaned again and tried to bury her head deeper into her pillow. She didn’t want to think about a problem which had no easy solution right now. This was supposed to be a holiday where she could enjoy herself! She didn’t want to think about Max’s actions and the trouble they would cause her. She just needed to sleep, it was Hearthswarming eve and she had a long day ahead of her. True, it was sort of sweet that Max had fought to defend her honour, but she was perfectly capable of defending herself and words couldn’t truly hurt her no matter how much they could sting. She turned over again and stretched out her wings seeing if that would be more comfortable. Why did her bed have to seem so big and empty? Why did Max have to be so infuriating, so honourable, so stupid, so protective, so, so Max like!
Cracking her eyes open she glared over towards the seat where Max lay. He was curled up around himself, his shaggy mane forming a pillow. She had to admit that he looked cute when he was asleep, all vulnerable and soft and shivering... shivering? It wasn’t that cold, was it? Was he sick? She sat up in bed her brow furrowed. Sure, it was winter in a cloud city so the temperature outside was probably below freezing but that wouldn’t cause any problem for a pegasus. Her eyes widened, Max wasn’t a pegasus! How could she have been so stupid? He wasn’t as resistant to the cold as her people were. The house would provide some protection but it was probably still cold for him, why hadn’t he said anything?
She sighed again, he had probably tried to be polite, he could just be so infuriating at times and she had to admit that it was one of the things she loved about him. He was just too nice! She picked herself up off her bed and padded over to Max. She reached out a wing and gently shook him. “Max, Max. Wake up,” she whispered.
“Huh, wha...” mumbled her coltfriend, still half asleep and half drunk.
“Max, are you cold?” she asked.
“A bit, don’t worry, Nulpar’s colder. I’ll be fine.” He curled up again.
Fragrant shook her head. Tomorrow she could get the servants to activate some lightning heaters, that should make the house more tolerable for earth ponies. There were probably some blankets around as well, they weren't often needed for cloud beds. In the meantime... “Max, I know you’re cold. Come with me, I’ll get you warm.”
She carefully helped the still dozy Max to her bed and gently levered him down before wrapping him in her plumage. That should keep him warm for tonight at least. “Don’t get any ideas,” she whispered, “I’m still angry with you!” His grip on her tightened slightly in response, she tried very hard not to enjoy the feeling of their bodies against each other, and failed entirely.
“Sorry Fragrant,” mumbled Max as he slipped back into sleep.
Fragrant couldn’t help but smile as she leant forwards and kissed him gently on the forehead. “Why are you so hard to hate?” she asked as she found herself quickly joining him in unconsciousness.
Max awoke feeling an urgent pressure in this bladder. He cracked his eyes open, blinking a little in the light now streaming into the chamber. It illuminated the still sleeping form of Fragrant clinging to him, her mane spread out in a sea around her head, her wings wrapped around him. For a moment he thought that he’d rather die than leave her side. Then he felt another twinge from his abdomen and decided that wetting himself would probably be even worse than death.
He carefully tried to unwrap himself from Fragrant’s grip, it was harder than he thought but with a little perseverance he managed it. He shivered a little in the morning cold before trotting to the bathroom. Once he had finished he thought for a moment about how the plumbing worked in Cloudsdale, then decided that he probably didn’t want to know and returned to the bedroom.
By the time he had returned Fragrant was awake and sitting up in bed. “Good morning,” she said.
“Morning,” he replied looking sheepish, “I’m really sorry about what happened last night, but he shouldn’t have said those things about you.”
“You are a very physical stallion Max,” said Fragrant, “but you have to learn to control yourself better. Learn a proportional response.”
“Yeah, well I was drunk,” he said rubbing the back of his head, “I wasn’t thinking right.”
“As if you ever do,” she replied lightly. “I’m surprised you are not hung over.”
“I don’t usually suffer all that much, some of it’s an earth pony thing, some of it’s just me being lucky I guess,” he shrugged. “Thanks for getting me to drink that water last night, that probably helped as well.” He rotated his neck a little. “I’ve got a bit of a headache, but it’ll pass. So, um,” he looked down at the floor, “Am I forgiven?”
Fragrant stared at him for a moment. “Not entirely, but this is a holiday for both of us, we should try to enjoy our time together rather than waste it being angry. Just try not to do anything else stupid, Max.”
“I’ll try, my best.”
“Good, that’s all I can hope for.”
After both of them had washed and dressed, Max felt the need to wear something given how chilly Cloudsdale was, they made their way to one of the dining rooms where they found the rest of the family. Forming and Edelweiss were tucking into their breakfasts while Thunderous was slumped onto the table groaning quietly.
“How are the two of you thiz morning?” asked Edelweiss loudly with a bright smile, causing further protests from Thunderous.
“I am well,” said Fragrant eyeing her brother as she sat down at the table.
“Not bad,” said Max with a little more sympathy.
“I hate you,” moaned Thunderous rolling his eyes towards Max.
“Sorry, earth pony metabolism,” he replied with a shrug.
“That bed felt like it was made of broken glass,” complained Thunderous.
“The guest rooms are not that bad,” said Edelweiss, “the beds aren’t really any worse from ours.”
“Yes, they are, they don’t have you in them,” Thunderous said struggling to pull himself off the table and kissing his wife.
“Flatterer,” she giggled with a blush.
Max was glad that the rift between the couple seemed to have mostly healed, like the one between himself and Fragrant. He would have hated to have been involved in anything which damaged their relationship.
“Ugh, not in public,” cried Dangerous as he entered the room. The stallion looked ungroomed and a little unsteady on his hooves.
“Morning dear, you're up late, how was your night?” asked Edelweiss.
“I just got in now actually,” he said grabbing a slice of toast from the table. “The Blizzards were amazing, totally off the cloud! I went backstage after their set and Icy let me try out her guitar! Then we went to an afterparty, then there was a lock in at Cumulus’s. I think I ended up crashing at somepony’s place for a few hours. Not sure who’s.” He yawned. “I’m going to grab a snack then go to bed. I’ll see you this evening,” he said heading for the door.
“Where’s Shimmer?” asked Edelweiss suspiciously.
“Shimmer? Not, sure we got separated some when, I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Is she coming to dinner tomorrow?”
“Nah, I think she said she was staying with her own folks,” he yawned again, “see ya!”
Thunderous rested a hoof on his head. “I really need to talk to that colt,” he said.
“Leave him for the holidays,” said Edelweiss, “At least he’s spending those with us. Anyway, you have work today, there’s lots to organise for tonight.”
“Don’t remind me,” he mumbled. “What are you planning to do Fragrant?”
“I thought I’d spend the day showing Max around the town. Would you like to come Forming? We could probably take in a museum or two.”
“I’d love to auntie,” said Forming as she chewed through a block of haybacon.
“Can I join you?” asked Edelweiss
“If it’s alright with you Max?” said Fragrant turning back to him.
“Sounds fun,” said Max, “I’d love to see your city.” And a bit of exercise and fresh air was just what he needed to clear up the lingering effects of last night’s drinking, he thought as he downed a glass of orange juice.
“We’ll need to be back in time for the pageant this evening,” said Edelweiss.
“Where are we going?” asked Max.
“It's traditional for the family to visit a school production of the Hearthswarming pageant each year,” explained Fragrant, “This year it’s Outer Cloud Elementary.”
“Sounds like a good evening.” It would be interesting to see how they performed the classic play here in the clouds.
Fragrant nodded. “Then we have the traditional Hearthswarming ceremony, but you can skip that if you want Max.”
“No, I’m sure I want to take part in your celebrations,” said Max. Fragrant looked at him strangely for a moment, then shrugged.
“Well if you’re sure, I don’t think there will be much you can do but every hoof is welcome I guess.”
“Good, sounds like a fun day!”
Fragrant had decided that the tour should start with the manor’s grounds. They were as expansive as they looked from the air, spreading out for acres in all directions. Fragrant proudly took him around the fields and greenhouses where a wide range of cloud based plants grew. It was very easy to forget that her mark was actually for botany until you actually saw her around plants. She spent hours explaining the various cross breeds that she had created from the original cloud growing plant she had first received as a foal. She introduced Max to the various gardeners and other staff who looked after them for the months that she spent in Canterlot and told him about the large-scale cultivation that Posey Weather was now carrying out. The production wasn’t that important for the perspective of feeding the city at the moment but it was slowly increasing and many of the flowers she grew were used in other sky gardens to brighten up the environment.
After they had covered the majority of the grounds she led her party into a nearby glass house where the newest breeds were created. Max was eager to see it all but Fragrant warned him not to stand too close to several of the new breeds in case his earth pony aura affected the results of the experiments. It seemed odd to him not to want the plants to grow as quickly as they could, but it was apparently important not to bias the results. He didn’t understand one word in ten that Fragrant was saying about the plants but he was just glad to see her so happy in her natural environment. His marefriend had mentioned a few times that she was considering growing a garden in Canterlot and if it made her this happy then maybe he should help her, perhaps Duke Greengrass would have some ideas as well? Although maybe not, the Duke was not a friend to Fragrant at the moment although after the help he'd given Buttercup he was growing a bit on Max. At least the present Max had gotten Fragrant would be useful.
It was early afternoon by the time Fragrant realised how much time had passed and apologised for wasting so much of the day. Max had protested that he’d quite enjoyed himself although Forming and Edelweiss had been looking rather less excited. Max guessed that they’d similar tours in the past so it was less interesting to them.
Although Max would have preferred to just trot through the city Fragrant had insisted they take the sky chariot into the city and they parked it near the centre. Then they stopped off at a nearby cafe for a light lunch before venturing into the oldest section of Cloudsdale.
“This is the Cloudiseum,” exclaimed Forming holding out her hooves and slowly spinning in the air to indicate the structure around her. “It’s the oldest structure in Cloudsdale!”
From the inside the building didn’t really look all that impressive to Max, apart from the scale. It consisted of banks of seating supported by tall pillars of cloud stretching up dozens of lengths looking down onto a flat central area. The place was apparently a popular tourist destination judging by the hundreds of ponies trotting around in small groups following tour guides. Several of them were carrying cameras and taking pictures every few paces. For the first time since he’d entered the city Max wasn’t the only ground based pony around. Although pegasus were by far the most common tribe the tourists included a fair number of unicorns and earth ponies as well.
Upon their arrival Fragrant had had a talk with one of the ponies in charge and had obtained badges for the whole of the party which had allowed them to wander the building away from the normal areas open to the tourists. Apparently rank had its privileges.
“It was constructed by the first pegasus to cross the great ocean!” continued Forming. “Cloudsdale is actually the oldest existent settlement in all of Equestria! The first Equestrian cloud city.”
Max frowned a little at that, he hadn’t exactly paid all that much attention at school but even he knew the Hearthswarming tale. “Hang on a minute, wasn’t the first pegasus city called Pegasothalus? Or something like that? That’s what we called it in our pageant back at school.”
“The ancient pegasus did indeed name their city Pegasopolis,” said Fragrant pronouncing the name carefully, “however after a few generations the city was renamed to Cloudsdale as the tribes grew closer and it was deemed politically unacceptable to have the city named after a single tribe. Unicornia was eventually renamed for a similar reason although it did take much longer for that to happen.
“Actually, the city is even older than that,” added Forming, “In ancient times the pegasus were nomadic and would form settlements each night to sleep. Each pegasus would create a cloud and merge them together into a single nest. At daybreak the settlement would be dispersed again but each pegasus would keep a small seed to form the next day’s nest from. When permanent cities were formed they were built from those seeds as well. When one city went on to found another, a section of the old city would be used to create the foundations of the daughter city. The same tradition is still upheld even today. Many modern pegasus houses are formed from parts of old ones, it is a common wedding gift to give the new couple part of their parents’ house to form their own dwelling from. Unfortunately, the name of the city used to found Pegasopolis has been lost over the millennia but in a way you could say that there is an unbroken lineage stretching from the first pegasus building to Cloudsdale!”
“Yes,” breathed Fragrant rested a hoof against the nearest wall, “this city has been in place for thousands of years, through strife and good times, war and upheaval, the coming of the princesses and the banishment of Corona. Through all of that Cloudsdale has soared!”
Max couldn’t help but smile at the pride Fragrant was showing about her city. Although it was much more humble and newer Max felt something like that about Sadlzburg. After all his family had helped to found it. “Were there Posey’s all the way back at the founding of the city?” he asked.
“Well, um, maybe,” said Fragrant suddenly seeming a bit embarrassed. “There are some legends but no real evidence. We’ve not always been as important as we are now, we’ve been the ruling house of Greater Cloudsdale for about three hundred years now and there are solid records of the house going back almost a thousand years. We rose to prominence during the reforming of Equestria after Corona’s banishment. Cloudsdale declared itself a sovereign nation for almost fifty years during that period. The Posey’s are noted as having fought for reunification during the brief civil war that brought that period to an end.”
“As we’re here we could show Baron Max the old records!” exclaimed Forming.
“Oh, I’m sure Max doesn’t want to hear about that right now dear,” said Fragrant hurriedly.
“Well I got to hear all ze juicy secrets before I married into the family,” said Edelweiss with a grin, “he should have the same opportunity.”
Fragrant looked towards Max with a little blush, he grinned and nodded. “Very well, but many of the older records are no doubt exaggerations if not downright fabrications.”
Turning Fragrant showed her badge to a nearby guard who nodded and moved aside and opened an ‘employee's only’ door. “Many of the records aren't on show all the time but they store most of them here.”
“That’s a bit odd isn’t it?” asked Max.
“Not really given the Cloudiseum’s original purpose. You do know what it’s for, don't you?” she said pointedly.
“Um, it's a sort of theatre, isn’t it? Maybe sports?” asked Max. Maybe he should have done some research before his trip, but he’d sort of expected to find out here.
“In a way, there were contests and shows put on here, there still are occasionally, but it was also a government building, like a town hall.” Fragrant explained as the four of them made their way down a stairway. “Debates and trials would take place here. When it was first built almost the entire population of the city could visit to hear their leaders speak. The system was more of less democratic, many decisions would be decided by a show of wings. Records have always been stored here, of course more recently there is a proper facility in place, but many of the older documents are still kept here. They’ve gotten rather good at halting the destruction caused by age by controlling the atmosphere the documents are stored in.”
They headed through a maze of chambers lined with cases occasionally passing a few members of staff or guards most of whom looked at them strangely.
“Oh, gosh!” exclaimed Forming. “Is that the city seed!” Max turned to see her pointing through a glass door with several guards standing around it. “I’ve never seen it this close.”
One of the guards nodded. “That’s it miss,” he said, “they bring it out for founding day each year and that’s it.”
“What is it?” asked Max glancing through the window at what looked like a rather normal if a little wispy cloud floating in the middle of the chamber in a glass box.
“You know what I said about cloud cities being formed from other cities? Well this is what remains of the original building block of Cloudsdale, the city seed it was created from.”
“The whole city came from that thing?” asked Max tapping on the glass door causing the guards to glare at him.
“In a way,” said Fragrant gently pulling him away from the door, “it’s had to be fed fresh water so many times over the millennia that whether it’s still the original is something of a philosophical question but we certainly believe it is.” She held a hoof up to the door. “It’s a link between the current population of the city, the current pegasus tribe and their distant ancestors, something no other tribe has,” she whispered.
Looking at her Max felt like there was a huge gap between the two of them. She had all this history behind her and he didn’t even know his family tree back more than a few generations. He didn’t know if he felt jealous or glad about that. He imagined the weight of the past must be crushing sometimes, and he preferred to look to the future, still to have all that behind you must be nice.
“Anyway, this isn’t what we’re here for,” she continued shaking her head before turning and striding down the corridor a short ways. “Here we are, the family genealogy, they did a display on it a few years ago. They have the skills to maintain it all so I let them keep the materials once it was finished.”
Eagerly, Max started to look through the notes, it was actually fairly dry stuff not the salacious rumour Fragrant’s reaction has suggested. Sure, there was the odd mention of affairs and infighting in the family but that had been hundreds of years ago. “Wait a minute, what’s this about being related to Private Pansy?” he called out, “The Private Pansy from the Hearthswarming tale? You didn’t say anything about that.”
“That’s just an unsubstantiated rumour,” mumbled Fragrant. “The surviving records of Commander Hurricane’s household refers to a Pansy Posey as one of his daughters. I think it was a mistake by the scribe, Pansy misspelled as Posey, Inner Fire made several similar duplications in her records.”
“His daughter? I didn’t think the two of them were related.” It certainly put their relationship in the Hearthswarming story in a different light.
“It is not impossible, he had a large family and they mostly made up his army. His household records listed over six thousand children and over a thousand wives and husbands.”
“Six thousand! And a thousand spouses!” He’d heard the drinking song, ‘Hurricane’s hundreds strong harem’ but he didn’t know it was literally true, he didn't even think some of the things described in it were physically possible. “That’s not possible, is it?”
“Why baron, it’s only about one child conceived a day for two decades, I think a suitably virile stallion could easily keep up that pace, don’t you?” said Edelweiss with a grin. “I can think of one or two who’d like to try to break the record, given a chance.”
Fragrant sighed in annoyance. “They probably weren't literally his children. Back then before the migration to Equestria there was a lot of fighting between different pegasus clans, back and forth tit for tat raids. Hurricane was the first ruler to unite almost the entire tribe. He was a tactical genius, almost unbeaten in battle, but unlike the common perception of him he was also a political animal as well.”
“Or a horny old goat,” added Edelweiss.
Fragrant glared at her sister in law before returning to her lecture. “Although fighting between clans was common, fighting within families was taboo in pegasus culture. So Hurricane’s solution was simple, he married his defeated enemies and took their children into his own house. Polygamy was common in his society so it didn’t matter if his foes were already married or not. He beat them on the battlefield and then married the survivors bringing their surviving forces into his own. In less than a decade he united almost the entire tribe.”
“Well that would certainly make the Hearthswarming story more interesting,” said Max with a smile.
“Historically it’s fairly sure a commander Hurricane existed, probably several the name became something of a title, but it’s not clear if the character in the tales is the same as the real life one. Still it is a fascinating period.”
“The architecture is almost entirely lost,” added Forming, “but the records which do survive show it was a time of great innovation, many of the modern techniques have their roots in that period.”
“See, history can be fascinating without looking for the ‘juicy bits’,” said Fragrant staring pointedly at Edelweiss.
“You like what you like, I like what I like. Now look here at the number of duels fought for the hoof of Lady Jezebel Posey, and then she ran off with one of the staff,” said Edelweiss wiggling her eyebrows, causing Fragrant to quietly groan.
After spending a little more time looking into the Posey family history the party moved on to a nearby art gallery. Max had to admit that he didn’t necessarily get art all that much, to him a picture was just a picture. He got the purpose behind portraits, it meant you knew what a pony looks like, and landscapes could be nice, but rarely as good as the real view. But pictures which meant other things, they tended to go over his head. Still he had a fairly good time just spending time with Fragrant and her family. In addition to paintings the gallery had a small selection of photographs, which Edelweiss apparently didn’t rate all that highly and a few cloud sculptures which Forming seemed to like.
By the time they left the gallery it was already dark outside and they quickly made their way back to the chariot which flew them back to the mansion. By the time they arrived the inside was a hive of activity, Thunderous seemed to have taken his work home with him and a large number of weather ponies were present in the main dining room pouring over what Max assumed were maps. They looked more like tiny sculptures to him, but he guessed weather maps had to be in three dimensions rather than the normal two.
Not wanting to get underhoof Max quickly made his way back to the room he was sharing with Fragrant and had a shower to freshen up for the school pageant. He was just drying himself when Fragrant entered to wash herself. It was a shame she hadn’t turned up half an hour earlier, they could have saved some water. Still her freshly cleaned coat looked extra shiny and he enjoyed the look of herself easing herself into a new dress. He thought she might have noticed him looking as she seemed to writhe around a little more than was strictly necessary to get clothed.
Once they were both ready they met up again in the sitting room. The entire family was there, including Dangerous who had apparently just woken up. His mother fussed over his appearance for a while until deciding he looked as good as he was going to and they all set out on a chariot to the night's entertainment.
Feeling rather awkward Fragrant sat down into her the chair in the front of the audience. Outer Cloud Elementary was hardly one of the most prestigious schools in the city and couldn’t afford as comfortable seating as she was used to. In addition, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that everypony was staring at her. The hall was packed with not only parents but some of the local nobility, she was fairly sure most weren't here to see the play but rather to be seen in the same room as her. Still that was part of the point of the night, her presence would boost ticket sales and raise more money for the school. For that cause she could live with being uncomfortable for a few hours.
“So, do you come here every year?” asked Max from beside her. She had worried that sitting her ‘guest’ next to her might give away their secret but it wasn’t too unusual for other ‘favoured’ nobles to take such a position, and she was getting increasingly tired of the charade as well. Max had been very understanding of her near breakdown at Baron Dramatic's party but she wished she could have dealt with the matter better.
“No,” she said, “the school we visit is chosen at random from those in the city. My mother started the tradition to provide additional funding.”
“That was nice of her.”
“Yes, she did a lot to help the foals of her skies. She had considered enlarging the program to all the schools in the entire province but the logistics were too complicated.” She’d seen at the gala how well Max dealt with children, and how much of a problem they could still cause her.
“I wonder how they’ll deal with the three tribes, I guess the school’s entirely pegasus?” That was an issue she had been worried about since their disastrous night at the opera of a few months ago. He cheeks still burnt at the memory, Max had seemed to take things in his stride at the time but he must have been somewhat discomforted by the portrayal of his tribe and the fact that she just hadn’t recognised the issue until it was too late. Not for the first time she cursed Saltpeter’s incompetence. Before Fragrant could think of an answer to Max’s question the lights started to dim.
“It’s starting!” muttered Max, she couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. Fragrant couldn’t say that the play was her favourite. She did enjoy the message it was trying to put across but she also saw how much it simplified what was actually a very complicated time in pony history. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the school had decided to indicate the various tribes by the colours of the tabards worn by the young actors, blue for pegasus, white for unicorn and brown for earth ponies rather than using any makeup. Oddly the only grounded member of the cast, a rather heavy set unicorn filly had been cast as a background earth pony. She was a little surprised by the number of griffin in the production as well, in fact commander Hurricane was played by a pink feathered hippogriff. The only other surprise was that she recognised one of the small actresses, Loop De Loop from the weather factory party yesterday. The filly had been cast as one of the background pegasus.
The play was over fairly quickly without any great disasters taking place. As was traditional the pageant ended with the audience singing the Heart Carol. Next to her Max belted out the song, she had to admit he wasn’t that good a singer but he did make up for it with his enthusiasm. The entire cast came onto stage and took a bow much to the glee of the parents making up much of the audience, the nobles were a little more reserved, in fact a few of them were already leaving. Of course Max stomped the ground as if his life depended on it. Him and Dangerous seemed to have a contest as to who could make the most noise and Thunderous was getting in on the act as well. Rolling her eyes at her stallion's antics Fragrant redoubled her own efforts not to be left behind. Once the applause died down the teacher acting as the director came onto stage thanking the various backstage crew and even, rather embarrassingly, Fragrant herself for having graced the performance. Fragrant politely nodded back but as soon as the lights were on again she stood to leave, she had a lot still to do tonight.
“Well I enjoyed that,” said Max. “It’s one of my favourite stories, how the tribes all met up and started to work together to defeat the Windigo!”
“Well yes, but it’s not all that historically accurate is it?” pointed out Fragrant. “For a start the old homelands sunk, they didn’t freeze, and the archaeological record shows that the actual migration took generations, maybe hundreds of years to play out.”
“You don’t have to be such a Snowfall Frost you know,” said Max pulling a face.
Fragrant rolled her eyes. She was a little surprised Max had read that book, it had only come out a few years ago, but had quickly become very popular. “Me not believing in Windigo will not result in the end of Equestria!”
“Well maybe not,” admitted Max. “Still there has to be some truth to the sorry hasn’t there, the tribes did work together so at some point the founders had to have met up and become friends.”
“The tribes did eventually meet up and merge to form Equestria, but I doubt it occurred after one cold night. It was most likely a slow process that occurred for political reasons linked to surviving in the new land. The historical character of commander Hurricane lived almost a hundred years before the first pony crossed into Equestria, it’s likely much the same for Platinum, Puddinghead and the others. They were historical characters dropped into the story over the years.”
“I’m sure all that is true,” said Max with a smile, “But a story doesn’t have to be true to be true. Maybe the ponies who became friends weren't called Pansy and Cookie and Clover, and maybe they weren't trapped in a cave by Windigo, maybe it was just a normal cold night or something else entirely,” he shrugged, “still at some point ponies of different tribes did meet up and they took the decision that instead of fighting they’d be friends. That’s the story, that it’s better to be friends than enemies, and that’s what Equestria is about even today all those years later!” She blinked at the certainty in his eyes and had to fight very hard against the instinct to kiss him right then, despite them being in public.
“That is,” she fought against her voice cracking, “that’s a very, um, passionate review of the themes underlying the story.”
“Well I might not know all the background like you do, but I do know the story. I know what I like.”
She rested her head against his as they stepped into the chariot. “Trust you to find wisdom in a children’s play Max.”
“Hey, children can be very wise, they seem much wiser than most of the nobles back in Canterlot sometimes,” he said with a grin.
She giggled. “You know, I want to disagree, but I can’t.” Trust Max to simplify things to their lowest level, still it didn’t make the fact any less true. Equestria was founded on friendship, and maybe she should remember that a little more often.
The mansion was, if anything even more busy than it had been when they’d left, the staff had laid out a buffet meal which the various weather ponies were gratefully tucking into while they continued to plan whatever they were doing. Max wondered if there was some sort of weather emergency going on? Nopony had mentioned anything to him, but could some sort of hurricane be approaching which required the whole force of Cloudsdale to counter?
“Fragrant,” he asked cautiously, “Is something wrong?”
“Wrong? No not really, just the usual organised chaos, we have most of the year to organise the operation and there are still things that don’t get done until the last minute!” A mare rushed up to her bearing one of the strange three dimensional maps, Fragrant examined it for a moment before nodding. “We’ll have squads A, B and C start from this side while D and E redirect the warmer air from this side, that should clear all the snow in a few hours, given the drainage we won’t need to worry about flooding. Once they’ve finished they can reinforce the group over the park.” The mare nodded and flew off to join a group of her fellows.
“Um, organise what operation?” Max asked, even more confused than before.
“The Hearthswarming ceremony. The snow clearance. The symbolic defeat of the Windigo?” She sighed at Max’s still blank face. “You really don’t know do you? Did you read anything about Cloudsdale traditions before you came?”
“Well I was sort of busy,” mumbled Max, “and I meant to, but you see...”
Fragrant sighed. “Most major towns and cities in Equestria try to clear up the majority of the snow overnight on Hearthswarming Eve to represent the Windigo being defeated. So that when the foals get up on Hearthswarming day they can see that once again love and friendship have returned light and life to the world.” Max nodded, he’d heard of the tradition but it wasn’t really kept in Nulpar, too much effort from the scant population. “Well a few hundred years ago Trottingham was struck with a feather flu epidemic around the holidays and most of its weather ponies were taken out of action. Cloudsdale was nearby and offered aid in cleaning up the town. From then on it became traditional that each year Cloudsdale would pick a major city and clear the snow on Hearthswarming night, it gives the city's own weather ponies the chance to spend the night with their families and builds good will between the cities.”
“That’s an excellent tradition!” exclaimed Max, “It’s a great way to show the tribes working together!”
“Yes, well the organization is rather time consuming and of course my family are expected to take the helm. I suppose there are some benefits, it is one of the few times I actually get to do some hooves on weather work although really it’s mostly management and organisation.” She smiled. “Still I try to spend at least a little time pushing clouds and clearing snow with the rest of the volunteers. It takes all night at best. I probably won’t be back until the morning, you’ll have to find some way to amuse yourself tonight. I won’t be happy if that involves getting falling down drunk and brawling again,” she growled.
“Actually, is there anything I can do to help?” asked Max. It all sounded like a very nice tradition but Fragrant seemed rather stressed about it. He supposed having to give up her own Hearthswarming Eve night each year wasn’t all that much fun, but it was for a good cause.
“Not unless you sprout wings in the next few hours. If you want you can come to the ceremony on the ground where we kick things off. You could talk with some of the Manehatten government, maybe you could see if you can work out any trade with Nulpar? I’m sure I can spare a pony or two to get you back to the manor when you’re tired.” Max nodded slowly, there had to be some way he could help Fragrant.
“And what if I don’t want to?” came a cry from the middle of the room. Max turned to see Dangerous and Thunderous hovering over the main table, snouts practically touching as they snarled at each other.
“It’s tradition!” yelled the older stallion. Around them a space was forming as the room's other occupants suddenly had an urgent need to be somewhere else. “You’re not a foal anymore! All members of the family help organise the clear up. All of them!”
“You know I don’t want anything to do with weather work! It’s not like the ground pounders appreciate what we do for them!”
“You have responsibilities Dangerous! You can’t just do what you want to all the time! Your sister isn’t a weather expert,” he shot a hoof out towards Forming who winced, “But she’s still organising the clearance of a part of the city.”
“Forming would cut off her wings if you told her to!”
“Don’t you talk to about your sister like that. She knows how to work as part of the family!” His voice quietened. “Please Dangerous just try this, just once, actually do something for the family!”
For a moment a look of remorse flashed over the younger pegasus’s face then he spun around putting his back to his father. “What’s this family ever done for me!” he mumbled.
“What has this-!” yelled Thunderous his face turning almost as red as his mane. Quickly, Max hopped up onto the table sending various maps flying, hopefully none of them were all that important.
“Look I know this might seem like an imposition, lad,” said Max, “But I’m sure your father wouldn’t have given you the responsibility if he didn’t think you could handle it.”
“Yeah,” added Forming approaching her brother, “think of it as a challenge, I’m sure you’ll get it done. Eventually,” she added with a little smile.
“A challenge, eh,” mumbled Dangerous, his brow furrowed.
“Well, if you can’t do it,” said Max picking up on Forming’s thinking, “I’m sure somepony else could take over, I might even try my hoof at it.”
“I didn’t say I couldn’t do it,” he protested, “Just that I didn’t want to!”
“Well if you do help out I can give you a hoof when I’ve finished my area,” added Forming.
“As if!” exclaimed Dangerous, “I bet I can get my section cleared quicker than you!”
“So, you’re going to help?” asked Thunderous.
“I didn’t... Well yeah, I suppose so,” said Dangerous eventually, “But I don’t want an easy section, let me look over the plans, I’ll chose where I work.”
Thunderous looked like he was going to argue for a moment. Then he sighed and nodded turning to the maps Max hadn’t knocked away.
“Thanks,” said Fragrant quietly resting her leg on his back as father and son started to pour over the documents.
There was just enough time for Max to graze from the buffet before it was time for the family to meet up with the various other nobles of Cloudsdale and make their way down to the city below. He was a little disappointed that Fragrant didn’t want him to stay with her for the presentation, instead he was sent down in a separate chariot. She thought it was too public a location for them to be seen together. She was probably right, but it still hurt a little.
The trip down had highlighted just how big Manehatten was, its snowy vista stretched almost as far as the eye could see from the docks to the suburbs surrounding the city itself. It seemed almost impossible that the entire thing could be cleared of snow in a single night. Then Max turned back and saw just how many pegasus were involved in the endeavour. It looked like the entire city had turned out, flock after flock of winged ponies either hovering over the city or resting on cloud perches looking down. There were thousands, tens of thousands, maybe more, and these were just volunteers from the weather factory! It really showed how big Cloudsdale was and it wasn’t the entirety of Fragrant’s lands, she ruled a third of Equestria’s skies! He could hardly imagine the responsibility she must live with on a daily basis, he had enough problems with less than ten thousand ponies in the whole of Nulpar.
With a gentle bump the chariot landed near the edge of the large park in centre of the city that was being used for the ceremony, Max wasn’t sure what it was called. He was rushed to a small stand set up for the great and good of the city and shown to his seat near the back. Just in time as well, as the ceremony was about to begin.
The mayor of the city, a rather tubby stallion with a thick head of curls stood on a stand flanked by various officials. He tapped a little nervously at an electric microphone placed in front of him causing a booming sound from the various speakers set up around the park. “Greetings! Greetings everypony!” he eventually began. “I hope that everypony is looking forwards to a happy Hearthswarming.” There was a round of light stomping from the audience. “Good, Good. Now as I’m sure you all know this city, like many in Equestria, has a tradition of clearing the winter snow on Hearthswarming night to show ourselves that once again the flame of friendship can banish the cold of the Windigo, at least for one night.” He gestured into the distance and narrowing his eyes Max could just about make out the form of the Statue of Harmony on its island, it’s torch burning bright in the sky. “Normally we have our own noble weather ponies to thank for this feat but this year, for once, they can spend the day off with their families. Instead of racking up the overtime payments,” he added in a sotto voice causing some laughter from the crowd. “This year the good ponies of Cloudsdale have offered to take up their duties as a show of friendship between our two cities. So without further ado I give you Duchess Posey and Lord Mayor Squall of Cloudsdale.”
With a loud thunk and a hum two huge electric lights were swivelled to point up towards the sky. There dropping down from the clouds was Fragrant, she looked magnificent in a long white dress with shimmering gems covering it making her look like a mass of stars. Next to her flew an elderly stallion in a dark blue suit, presumably the mayor. Flying behind them in a rough V was the rest of the Posey family, Thunderous and Edelweiss, Forming and Dangerous. Despite his earlier outburst the younger stallion was behaving himself flying in formation with his sister. Behind them were various other nobles and members of the city council. Max’s hackles rose as he made out King Fisher among them.
Fragrant and the mayor landed on the platform to a riot of stomping from the crowd. She nodded politely to the Manehatten mare. “Thank you lord mayor Prescolt,” she said into the microphone. “Thank you ponies of Manehatten for your welcome to your city. As you all know since before the founding of our nation there has been an ancient covenant between the pegasus and the other tribes that we control the weather to keep you safe and in exchange you see to our needs. Today Cloudsdale comes to you to fulfill that ancient duty.” There was another round of stomping which Max enthusiastically joined in with. “Thank you, thank you. As in that ancient time when the tribes worked together in friendship to drive away the cold of disharmony I swear to you this night that come the dawn there will not be a spot of snow remaining within the city limits! Tomorrow the whole city will see the true power of harmony!” Holding out a leg she gestured towards the sky where on cue several dozen weather ponies dropped to the ground and started to pile up snow onto clouds before transporting it away from the park. At the same time a whole line of pegasus started to make their ways across the area wings moving in a pushing motion. After a moment Max felt a warm breeze starting to blow across his coat, around him frost started to fade under the increase in temperature.
“Thank you, duchess Posey,” cried Mayor Prescolt as Fragrant and the rest of Cloudsdale delegation took to the air again and began to spread out around the city, flocks of weather workers following them.
Fragrant sighed as she looked over the reports starting to filter into her desk. She had set up her command post on a large batch of cloud between Cloudsdale and Manehatten. Although Thunderous was the member of the family with the most experience in weather work she was technically in charge of the whole operation so everything came to her and, so far only a few hours in, things didn’t look that good. Manehatten was a big city, the biggest city in Equestria by population, and she didn’t really have the ponypower they needed to clear it all. The Numbers of volunteers were down on last year and had actually been reducing for the last decade. In a way she couldn’t argue with her ponies, there didn’t seem to be much point to spending time on an old tradition when you could spend it with friends and family instead. It wasn’t like the cities they helped seemed all that appreciative of their efforts either. Once the actual ceremony was over their population seemed to spend their time complaining about small errors rather than recognising how hard the task actually was.
Despite her words earlier she doubted the whole of the city would be cleared by the morning, there were always some alleys and hard to reach areas which were forgotten, still they were usually able to clear out the larger open areas. Despite the demonstration in the park it wasn’t possible to just raise the temperature over most of the city. Such work was far too exhausting and specialised for most pegasus, not to mention that melting that much ice would cause a flood. Instead most of the snow was transported physically away from the city and either stored in the surrounding areas or returned to Cloudsdale where it could be recycled.
She glanced up at the main board showing the slow progress split between the various parts of the city allocated to her and other noble families. In reality the nobles were only figureheads, most of the work was organised by actual weather teams, still some conflict always occurred between the various groups and as duchess she was required to deal with such disputes. Only an hour or so in and already there were some allegations of snow being dumped from one area to another. She rubbed her head, it was going to be a long, long night at this rate. She idly wondered what Max was doing to entertain himself.
“So what’s next?” asked Max to one of the ponies near him as the swarm of pegasus disappeared into the sky.
“That’s about it really,” she said. “You missed the warm up, the meeting with the Cloudsdale delegation is the end of the night. Now everypony heads home to enjoy the rest of the night. Say,” she looked in up and down for a moment, “you wouldn’t like to go out for a drink, would you? I know this little place not that far away...”
Thinking back to what happened last night Max didn’t think a drink would be the best idea right now. “Sorry,” he said, “I probably shouldn’t.” There had to be something he could do. Around him the crowds were starting to thin already as ponies streamed out of the park on their way home. The mayor was still on the plinth talking to various advisors. It didn’t seem fair that the pegasus had to clear the whole city by themselves, it had to be a big job. There had to be something else he could do to help, even if only offer encouragement.
Without really thinking he started to rush down towards the stage leaving behind his rather disappointed looking former companion. He trotted up to the stage only to be stopped by the aura of a rather large unicorn bodyguard. “Mayor! mayor!” he called.
“Do I know ya?” asked Prescolt looking Max over with an eyebrow raised.
“Um, no probably not, I’m Mounty Max, baron Mounty Max of Nulpar.”
“Never heard of ya, but you seem in a hurry so I’ll give ya thirty seconds, go!”
“Oh, well um, I thought you could organise some support for the pegasus while they’re clearing the snow. Maybe a band or something? Singing? Even a drink or something would probably be welcome.”
“Really?” he said disbelievingly, “And who’d pay for all that?”
“I’m sure some ponies would like to just donate their time, it’s not much.”
“Look, they’re going to be very busy up there and probably don’t need us getting in their way. We got enough problems down here.”
“Please,” begged Max, “It is Hearthswarming!”
The mayor looked at him for a moment, then sighed. “Sure, tell you what,” he nodded to the microphone, “knock yourself out, see if you can get some support. You get enough Ponies together and I’ll see what I can do. Happy?”
“Yeah,” said Max with a smile. The mayor nodded and the bodyguard released him from his grip. Straightening his clothes Max clambered up to the mic. There didn’t seem to be any button or anything so he just talked. “Hello? Hello?” he heard his words bounce around the park, various curious faces turned to him. “Hi, um, I’m baron Mounty Max. I was wondering if anypony would like to help Cloudsdale in their work tonight?” he was greeted by surprised silence.
“You might not have noticed, but we ain’t got wings, genius,” came a cry from a wit in the crowd.
“I didn’t mean that way, Hearthswarming is about the three tribes working together all in their own ways. Maybe we can’t melt the snow or change the weather but we can help them out in other ways. It must be cold up there, we can get them drinks or snacks, we can thank them, play music, anything to make them see that we appreciate what they’re doing.” Max looked out at the sea of faces and for a moment he was worried nopony else would be interested, that he’d make a fool of himself. Then there was a yell.
“I make the best coffee in the Big Orange,” cried an earth pony trader pulling a large wagon labelled Expresso’s Coffee. “For tonight any Cloudsdale Pegasus can drink for free,” he proclaimed. “That should keep them working all night!”
“I got some donuts left over,” called a zebra nearby, “Any pegasus can have one.”
The band that had been playing earlier huddled together for a moment. “We’re not doing anything for a few hours,” said the leader, “We’ll do what we can.”
A mumbling started up amongst the crowd as more and more ponies started to shout offers.
“I can bake up a batch of cake in a few hours!”
“I’ve got a shovel!”
“I can dance!”
“Looks like you’re onto something, Max,” whispered Prescolt, putting a hoof over the microphone. “Ok, folks,” he said out loud pushing Max aside. “Let’s see what we can do to show those Cloudsdalers how generous us Manehattenites can be!”
It was past midnight now and Fragrant had to admit that they were doing well. After a rocky first few hours her ponies had really picked up the pace, they were actually ahead of schedule. She was proud of how well they were working. She’d have to talk to Thunderous about whether some sort of reward could be organised. Given how things were going she’d decided now was a good time to make her way to the front lines and see the weather clearance in person. She might even get a chance to do some work herself, to feel the actual snow beneath her hooves or direct a breeze. She really didn’t get to spend enough time on things like that.
As she approached, she noticed a number of weather patrol pegasus hovering not far above the ground steaming cups of liquid clutched in their hooves. She frowned, they weren't going to get finished in time if her ponies were on break. She flew over to a pegasus stallion with a supervisor's hat on.
“Much’ss,” he mumbled before swallowing a mouthful of something. “Sorry, duchess, glad to see you. Everything’s going to schedule,” he reported. Around him his subordinates started to hide drinks and snacks behind their backs.
“Where did you get the drinks?” she asked. The various workers looked around like foals who had been caught raiding the cookie jar. Fragrant hated that part of her role, that everypony seemed to think she was going to punish them for something. “I do not have a problem with you taking a break, I just wondered who serves food at 2am on a Hearthswarming morning.”
The lead pony pointed towards the ground. “There’s a stand down there, and a band actually.” Frowning in puzzlement Fragrant swooped down into the street being cleared below. She was surprised by how festive it was, several squads of weather ponies were clearing away the snow but there were a few groups of earth ponies and unicorns with spades in their mouths helping to pile up the snow. Meanwhile other natives of both Cloudsdale and Manehatten were huddled around a cart apparently serving soup and drinks. Nearby a small group of musicians were singing carols. She was somewhat taken aback, it wasn’t normally like this, usually by this time of night the streets were almost empty apart from the pegasus toiling away to remove winter for the morning. This actually looked like the locals were helping them.
She looked around in astonishment, why were things so different? Nopony had told her this had been organised. She blinked as she recognised one of the ponies moving the snow, was that the mayor with his shirt sleeves rolled up holding a shovel?
“That’s not how you use a shovel,” he exclaimed to the stallion next to him apparently unaware she was present. “Colts these days, what do they teach you? In my day we used to- Oh, hello duchess, how are things up top?”
“Mayor Prescolt, I, well I am surprised, I was not aware that your city would be giving us such support. I welcome it, but it is unexpected.”
“Don’t tell the press but I can’t take all the credit for it,” he grinned. “It was that guy over there’s idea. And, well, the people of the big Orange can be a real friendly bunch once you get to know us.”
Fragrant turned to follow Prescolt’s hoof. To be honest she knew who would be there before she saw him. Who else but Max would get a bunch of complete strangers to do anything so generous? He turned and gave her a smile she really wanted to kiss. “Oh, hi Fragrant, how are things? Would you like a coffee? I know you prefer tea but I don’t think they have any.”
“Max, however did you do all this?” she asked gesturing around the area at the ponies at rest and play.
He shrugged. “I just had to ask really. I just reminded everypony what Hearthswarming actually meant, the various tribes working together as one, not one tribe doing all the work while the others sleep.”
She literally could not help herself from throwing a hoof around him and pulling him into a hug. “Thank you.” she whispered. “To get all these ponies to help you. To get them to help Cloudsdale. It’s like a miracle.”
“Well, it’s not just these. We started in the park and then a bunch of ponies went off to get their friends and family and so on and so on. There are little places like this all over the city.”
“The entire city!” she gasped.
He shrugged. “It’s not like it’s everypony, most are still sleeping but it’s a good chunk of the population. We have some ponies helping to move the snow so your pegasus can take it away, some serving food and drink, some entertaining, everypony's got something they can do to help.”
She looked around again feeling her heart swell at the happy ponies talking and mingling around her. Clearing the city was no longer an imposition, not just a tradition to be fulfilled, now it was a celebration of the unity of Equestria.
Fragrant collapsed onto the bed with a groan, feebly flapping her exhausted wings, she could not believe how tired she felt right now. Happy, but tired. The latter wasn’t unusual for a Hearthswarming morning in her household, every year as far as she could remember it had been dawn before she returned to her chambers after the winter clean up. Still the former was rarer, she enjoyed the time spent with her family but there always seemed to be something missing. A certain spark lacking from her life.
This year’s clean-up had been one of the quickest on record, they’d been done hours before the sun rose. However, this time rather than just returning to her home once things were completed she and almost the entire volunteer weather patrol had been invited to a spontaneous party to celebrate their achievement by the ponies of the city they were working on.
The main party had taken place in Central Park, but other smaller gatherings had organised themselves around the city. There had been food and drink and music and dancing until after the sun had risen. Then the first of the foals had started to awaken and looking out into the streets saw that once again the windigo had been driven out by the three tribe’s unity and they could come out and play in safety. And she had the pony getting onto the bed next to her to thank for it all.
“How are you feeling?” asked Max as he wrapped his hooves around her limp form.
“Tired,” she mumbled luxuriating in the feeling of his body pressed against her own. They had managed to get some time to discretely dance during the night. One reason why her hooves were so sore right now. She hadn’t been the only one, she had seen Thunderous and Edelweiss proceeding through the party, Dangerous surrounded by a large group of admirers. Even Forming had spent much of the night dancing with a nice unicorn stallion although Thunderous had been keeping a very close eye on the two of them.
It had been such a good night, such a good start to Hearthswarming and now all she wanted to do was to lie here with Max and feel herself just drift away.
“Not too tired I hope,” added Max with a grin as he gently nibbled on Fragrant’s neck sending shocks up and down her body. She really wanted to reciprocate, the spirit was willing but the flesh was exhausted.
“Too tired,” she managed to slur again her eyes drifting closed as she snuggled against him. He took the hint and rested his muzzle on her shoulder.
“Happy Hearthswarming,” she heard him whisper as she drifted off into blissful sleep.
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7816105
I think my last blog post was several years ago so I'm not that used to using them. You can link them to specific stories now can't you? So yes that might have made more sense although this way if anyone starts reading now will know why the story skips.
IRL, New York is "The Big Apple". I found out that Toronto is "The Little Apple". Is there a "Little Orange"?
7816477
Ah, well if that is the case I'll try to change things but it's going to be a few days before I'll be at a proper computer where I can fix it.
I know that feel...particularly when it comes to pegasi, my favorite tribe. I keep wanting to examine what their culture is like.
7816538
Trotonto in Equestria maybe?
7823009 I always picture ancient pegasi as Romanesque and Hellenic in culture.
The research of Fragrant Posey could be useful if a generational apocalyptic war should ever break out against Zebraica, culminating with the Zebras destroying ground-cities and Cloudsdale with BaleFireBombs, leaving the surviving Pegasi isolated above the clouds. Luckly, that will not happen as long as the Ponies and Zebras trade enchanted gems for coal.
¿Do the Pegasi store their documents in Argon?
I see what you did there.
So, Max for Princess?