The Winding Northward Road

by Rambling Writer

Day 29

Still in Hollow Shades; leaving tomorrow, Skydale’s coming with me. During breakfast, she asked where I was going, and when I said the Crystal Empire, she said that she was leaving tomorrow to visit friends. She wondered if I wanted a traveling companion (quickly adding that it was okay if I didn’t). Sure, I said, I’d be willing to wait a day so she could come with me. She was excited about that.

Since I was free that day, she offered to show me where shadowberries are grown; Skydale does work helping keep the “fields” properly irrigated. That sounded like fun, so once we finished breakfast, I followed her down a path deeper into the forest. Very clearly marked, so it’d be easy for me to find my way back to Hollow Shades if I didn’t want to stay out there the whole time.

Don’t know what to call the place where shadowberries grow; it’s not exactly a field, since it’s broken up by trees, but “field” is really the best word. Screw it, it’s a field.

Growing shadowberries is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. It’s not like back home, where you make sure they have good land, good water, good sun, and apply a little Earth pony magic to top it off. Since shadowberries can only grow well in the shade, you’ve got to be careful not to get too much sunlight on them, while also providing enough light for them to actually grow. There was a complicated system where ponies would pull aside branches in the canopy for a very specific length of time to let sunlight through. Some pegasi would sometimes pull in clouds through the branches for water, whether it was a quick spurt of water or extended rain.

Talked a bit with the supervising foremare about shadowberry care. Turned out to be a lot of botany stuff I didn’t understand, but I nodded and went “uh-huh” so she wouldn’t be offended. Watched the process go for I don’t know how long, then headed back to Hollow Shades alone.

Must’ve been about noon by the time I got back; canopy was letting some light through, enough to see easily, but not much more. Missed the sun a little, so I started climbing up a staircase on the outside of the town hall tree. Kept going up, then broke through the canopy rather suddenly. Many of the larger trees kept going up a little bit more, but their branches weren’t as broad, so they couldn’t block the sun as much. Were a few houses out here, as well as some platforms that I guess were for relaxing in the sun; even if you live in Hollow Shades, you probably wouldn’t want to stay out of the sun your whole life.

Stayed up there a little while, chatted with some ponies, then went back down explored Hollow Shades a bit more. Aside from its design, it’s actually not too different from Lareindo or Dodge Junction. It’s got all the amenities, but not much else. Fortunately, some of the much else it DID have was a bookshop; picked up a plant identification book that I really should’ve gotten back in Baltimare but forgot to.

Considering its isolation, I thought Hollow Shades would be very insular, but everypony seems to be at least a little aware of things going on in Equestria proper. And not just because of Tirek; they could usually talk about things well before then. They were usually welcoming of me, not “When are you going to leave?” like I thought they’d be.

Back in Skydale’s house, ready for bed. We’re leaving early tomorrow. Skydale says she knows a way to quickly get through the forest, so she’s leading.

Can’t come up with a topic for haiku, so I’ll just skip it today.