VIII August
We Are Going To Chill
Aug 1: Tomorrow afternoon we're going to have another ice cream confectionery party, this time in the Treecastle. I think the dining room would be a good place. Rainbow Dash is going to borrow the ice maker again, Pinkie has the churns packed and ready to go and she has all the salt, milk, cream and sugar we'll need. I've made several large jugs of iced tea, Spike has apples, carrots and celery all set to be cut into sticks, and we baked a few dozen cookies too. I also invited Zecora and Fluttershy invited Tree Hugger (who happens to be in town). I'm curious to see what flavors they'll make. What flavor should Spike and I make?
As Rainbow Dash says, let's do this!
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Eight Fancy Flavors
Aug 2: As planned, this afternoon we had another go at ice cream confectionery, this time at the Treecastle in the dining room, festively decorated by Rarity, where there's ample room for everypony and all our material. This is also where I've decided to hang the Friendship Letter that the Blue Mare Group wrote.
Pinkie and Dash were the first to arrive, just as Spike was setting out the last of the mugs and dishes to go with the iced tea, vegetable sticks and cookies. Next Zecora arrived, followed by Fluttershy and Tree Hugger, then Applejack and Rarity. The teams we had last time worked well, so we kept those and Zecora teamed up with Tree Hugger.
I just had to show all my friends the Friendship Letter. Rainbow Dash was more impressed by all the signatures on the picture side. Anyway, that out of the way, we got down to making ice cream. It was a lot more fun this time without all the critters, but we still had a good laugh as we told Zecora and Tree Hugger what had happened last time.
Zecora made coconut cinnamon ice cream and Tree Hugger made a "harvest granola crunch" ice cream. Most of us made the same thing as last time, except Pinkie. She made "rocky road" ice cream, which in her case is tiny rock candy (secret recipe is secret!) in licorice ice cream. That was Spike's favorite. Our biggest trade was with Pinkie.
Fluttershy made two batches of dandelion, almond, sesame, marzipan, cherry ice cream, one for her and one for her critters. We stored her pail here in the castle. She also made a trade -- swapping for a fair amount for Tree Hugger's confection.
All that churning was hard work (I didn't have Spike do all the churning, I can turn a crank, most of the time). It was worth it. We have eight exotic flavors of ice cream and enough to last at least a week.
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Time For Some More Ice Cream
Aug 3: Spike and I have been eating so much ice cream. Our batch might not last the week after all. It's very hot out, premium ice cream eating weather. Fluttershy came by to eat some of her ice cream stash too. Her having to cross town to eat her own dessert is not an ideal arrangement.
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No News is No News
Aug 4: Several days of hot weather has made me feel grimy and ready for a trip to the spa with the gang. After a seaweed wrap and an ice bath, the six of us went for iced tea (and ice cream for Fluttershy) at the Treecastle, where we talked about Moondancer's quest. It's been a week since she and Lemon Hearts found that cave and still no news. Rainbow Dash is itching to leap into action and go find her but I'd rather wait another week or two. If we're wrong and they're OK, I don't want to look like we're muscling in on her research and stealing her glory. As Applejack said, I don't want to make a friendship problem, especially not one we can't fix.
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They Only Come Out At Night
Aug 5: The shooting stars are really active this time of year. For six weeks there are more stars than usual that go tearing across the night sky and we should get an all out meteor shower in about a week. Those are really fun to watch. I should organize another star gazing picnic for about then. East or west pasture?
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Melts in Your Mouth
Aug 6: Fluttershy dropped over to put another dent into her ice cream supply. Spike and I joined her and dug into what we had left. Rarity's chocolate saffron is gone, there's just a bit left of Pinkie's Rocky Road, a dab of Zecora's coconut cinnamon and a fair amount of our tart apple and peppermint ice cream left. If we make ice cream again, I think I'll try a sweet apple and carrot confection. With a raspberry swirl.
Fluttershy is all for a nice peaceful, night under the stars picnic. Six days from now works for her. I think I'll invite Princess Luna. If she's not busy. It would be interesting to talk about the stars with her. I'll send her a letter tomorrow morning.
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Yaks Abroad
Aug 7: After sending that letter to Princess Luna out with the morning mail I went for a stroll through the Ponyville open air market. I picked up some lettuce, raspberries, blueberries and I made arrangements with Applejack for delivery of thirty bales of first cut timothy hay. I have a lot of room in this Treecastle, I might as well put it to good use.
I saw a few yaks at the market too, visiting Equestria. I wonder what they bought? I bet Pinkie will find out sooner or later and take notes.
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Lofting Hay
Aug 8: Applejack and Big McIntosh delivered my thirty bales of first cut timothy hay today. Since I think Spike would have had an aneurysm if I'd hauled all that hay through the corridors, I had them stop outside at the front steps. I selected a guest room near the kitchen, stacked all the furniture in a corner, opened the balcony door and neatly lifted bales in through the balcony. There should be good ventilation in there.
I stacked them in order of size, big bales on the bottom, smaller bales on top; by weight, heavier, not as well dried bales in front; and by color, yellower sun bleached hay closer to the door, greener, leafier hay in the back. They're resting well off the floor on wood planks and away from the wall. Maybe I should store the second cut hay, after that harvest, in a different room.
With ninety bales of hay I should be all set for an entire year, but if I have guests, I may need more. I'm not sure my storage space is a good as the Ponyville hay barns. Maybe I'll just stop at sixty bales.
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Remembrance of Homes Past
Aug 9: The Treecastle smells like hay now, at least on the upper floors near the kitchen. I've read that ponies recommend opening a fresh bale of fragrant hay in a home that's for sale when potential buyers come visit. It's an improvement over the cold smell of rock, although I suspect to Princess Celestia, hewed stone smells like home. The Golden Oak had a warm smell of wood, earth, leaves and books.
Spike is worried that storing that much hay might make more dust. I think I can live with a little dust.
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Picnic Planning
Aug 10: Luna wrote back. She will be delighted to join our meteor watch picnic. I alerted my friends and we're going to the west pasture for this outing. Turns out there have been other ponies having stargazing picnics lately, to watch the shooting stars. We'd better get there early to get a good hilltop.
I'm starting to shed the short hairs on my back. Summer molt has begun and it's getting on my cushions. Spike is going to be grumpy.
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Fat and Sassy
Aug 11: It has been now two weeks and no news from Moondancer. Maybe the cave was a dead end and she's gone even further north. That last book-hop she did was pretty faint so it could be that she's out of range. Or it could be that I wasn't looking and missed her, or I wasn't on the right page. I'll wait some more.
My summer molt is in full swing. I feel itchy. So do my friends. At the spa I asked for the full scrub down, wash, massage and the Crystal Empire fragrant oil bath. Rarity and Applejack thought that was a great idea. The others skipped the oil and finished up in the whirlpool instead. Applejack says she feels sleeker than a greased pig. Rarity made a face. I don't know about the pig part, but I do feel silky and clean. I've also filled out a bit too with all the rich summer grazing. Winter is beautiful but summer is like a dear friend, a doting aunt and a soothing bath, all wrapped in one.
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Look At The Stars, See How They Shine For You
Aug 12: As day turned to dusk we entered the western pasture, four ponies and a baby dragon. We walked in hock high timothy grass, wet with evening dew, rustling underhoof and tickling our bellies enticingly. The crushed stems smelled so sweet and fresh we just had to slow to a wandering step, biting off tender mouthfuls as we made our way through scattered stargazing ponies. Ahead on our chosen hill top, Rarity and Fluttershy were waiting for us, lounging on a picnic blanket spread under a rising moon.
Luna landed just as we were laughing, tossing about cushions and spreading more picnic blankets as well as we could over the springy stalks. We bowed to the Princess of the Night and finished setting up the plates, cups, Spike's punch and my telescope. We spread out the contents of our picnic baskets and settled in to watch the night sky. It is starting to get chilly at night so I'd brought a blanket for Spike. Owlowiscious flew in and perched on a picnic basket, ready for night duty.
By now the cloudless sky was a velvet black canopy studded with brilliant glittering stars and constellations. Luna had lowered the moon for everypony to better appreciate the antics of the meteors. The sky looked so full and so close I felt like I could almost touch it. As I ate a dandelion alfalfa sprout sandwich, the first meteors flashed overhead.
Meteor showers are waves of shooting stars, the spirits of many ponies, galloping across the sky. Often, they're the spirits of ponies who died too soon. They run to be free, they run for joy, they run in memory of an event, they run to flee and they run to forget. They also run to draw the attention of those they left behind. They run across the sky to wave hello, and good bye. They run because waiting for you is a hard thing to do. And they run because they remember that they were ponies.
We were built to run.
Luna knew many of the stars personally while they were still ponies. Some of them were close personal friends. Four powerful ponies in particular. I asked her about her time as the Mare in the Moon.
Imprisoned in the moon was like becoming one with it. In the moon, life and the dance of the heavens happened too fast to make out the details. Everything was a blur, only the glowing rock seemed solid, a single constant in a grey smudge of sky. But Luna's friends remembered and the stars experience time's passing, faster than the living stones but slower than the ponies tied to the ground. They helped her escape, to give her a second chance, for friendship. They were powerful ponies in life, now brilliant stars in the sky.
We sat in silence, watching the stars twinkle and shoot by as they looked down and watched over us.
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The Hayloft Song of J. Alfalfafed Poolrock By T.S. Celerybit
Aug 13: Last spring I quoted a passage from The Hayloft Song of J. Alfafafed Poolrock. It was Hearts and Hooves day which may be why I felt the need to quote poetry.
Chemistry.
The point is that now I have a replacement copy of T.S. Celerybit's poetry, I can write it out for you. So, here you go!
The Hayloft Song of J. Alfalfafed Poolrock By T.S. Celerybit
Let us gallop, you and I,
When evening has spread over Celestia's sky
Like a salt-drunk pinto sprawled on a table;
Let us trot, to where pastures and forest meet,
Grass whispering at our feet
Of uneven ground hiding pitfall wells
And grazing soured by wood sorrels:
Errant trees with branches bent
On shade making commitment
To shape doubt and your hesitation...
Neigh, do not shy or fidget
Through the brambles let's go visit.
Into the clearing the stallions go
Talking of Mare. E. Angelo.
The yellow itch that lands uninvited upon your mane,
The yellow puff that trills uninhibited on your mane
Licked the brambles to judge their seasoning,
Lingered over flowers still wet from the rains,
Carried the dust that falls from the cones of evergreen trees,
Slipped from the forest, just for a small peek,
And seeing the night sky where the stars sparkle bright,
Nestled in behind your ear, so small and meek.
And indeed there will be room
For the yellow sprite that seems so sweet,
Trilling quietly deep in your mane;
There will be room, there will be room
To graze the grasses and choose the grasses you can eat;
There will be room to bite and to bait,
And room for bridles, bits and rope
That lead you blinkered toward your fate;
Room for you and room for me,
And room yet for jostling for position,
And for incursions and recursions,
Before rejoining the company.
Into the clearing the stallions go
Talking of Mare E. Angelo.
And indeed there will be room
To wander, a little here, a little there
Backing away from too dominant a mare,
With an eye twitch and an ear droop from her stare--
(They will nicker: "She will never fit in!")
My glossy coat, my mane fixed with a silver pin,
My rich aroma of crushed lavender, freshly rolled in--
(They will nicker: "But her withers are much too thin")
Am I mare
Enough to be adverse?
In a pace there is room
For notions and motions both forward and in reverse.
For I have roamed them all already, roamed them all;
Have roamed the roadways, forest paths, avenues,
My steps wear a rut along the path that I choose;
I roam the scents that crawl to their owners' call
Beyond the leaf curtain with their perfume.
So what rank dare I assume?
And I have roamed the words, roamed them all--
The words that lead you pursed lipped into a maze,
And when I am roped, trapped and penned,
When I am penned and cribbing on my stall,
Then through the yoke how do I tend
To signaling my experience and my worth?
And what rank dare I assume?
And I have known the necks already, known them all--
Necks that are arched and delicate and fair
(But with manes that cascaded with extended hair!)
Is it sight of a braided tress
That wills me to confess?
Necks that lie of home and stable, or drape on one and all.
And a rank dare I then assume?
And whose friendship do I win?
. . . . .
Shall I say, I have breathed the musk where grass and forest meets
And watched fireflies rise in blinking flights
On lonely twilight eves, weaving through the shadows?...
I should have been a pair of blue skin wings
Fluttering silently in the night breeze.
. . . . .
And the earth, the soil, beckons so invitingly!
Powdered to dust,
Soft... clingy... or it turns all to rust,
Stamped out in the glade, here beside you and me.
Should I, after teasing and styles and perms,
Kneel down and roll in the castings of worms?
But though I have stamped and mingled and stamped and displayed,
Though I have had my back (sagging slightly) piled high with blather,
I am no mule--and it's not what I'd rather;
I have seen my pace slide behind mares who were quicker,
And I have seen them look back in amusement, and nicker,
And left back, I obeyed.
And would it have been worth it, to stand tall,
After the jostling, the looks, the glee,
Among the fancy hats, who look down long noses at you and me,
Would it have been worth while,
To have summoned false charm and guile,
To kick down the door to my stall
To fling it toward the court in session,
To say: "I am Equus, the mare in red,
Come back to lead you all, I shall lead you all"
If one, with a dismissive toss of her head,
Should say, "You are not fit to lead at all.
Not fit to lead a herd, at all."
And would it have been worth it, to stand tall,
Would it have been worth while,
After the brambles and the clearing and the woodland meets,
After the baubles, after the gossip, after the long eyelashes that I wore--
And this, and so much more?--
It is impossible to neigh just what I mean!
But as if by magic my desire were laid bare like a Changeling Queen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, with a dismissive toss or in a mocking drawl,
And turning to the meadow, should say:
"You are not fit to lead a herd at all,
Not fit to lead, at all."
. . . . .
No! I am not a Princess aspirant, nor was meant to be;
Am an attentive mare, one that will do
To widen the path, test that which is new
Write to the Princess; clearly, on rule,
Deferential, quill of a goose,
Blue ink, no fuss, and luxurious;
Full of flourish, but not too loose;
Strong, succinct, almost spurious--
Almost, at times, the mule.
I grow old... I grow old...
I shall trim my mane and wear it rolled.
Do I share my mind? Do I dare to teach?
I shall linger in the taller grasses, and sample some of each.
I have seen the pegasi hovering, just out of reach.
I do not think they will land for me.
I have seen them riding clouds toward dawn
Combining the white clouds with the dawn at their back
When one horizon is silver and the other is black.
We have lingered in the wild meadows of the Everfree
By untamed things and giant weeds of red and brown
Till Celestia leads us, back to town.
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Head in the Clouds, Hooves in the Grass
Aug 14: The second cut hay harvest is due to happen soon. The first cut trimmed back the clover and other plants mixed in with the hay and has allowed the leafy grass to dominate the fields. That makes second cut hay softer than first cut hay. I have another Hay Board meeting to attend in a few days.
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Seasons Change
Aug 15: I reorganized my winter wear that I have stored in my cedar chest. I pulled out and refolded the lovely blanket Rarity made for me, and packed it back snugly with my matching scarf and boots. "Folly". What a great color. Rarity has such an eye for these things. But it's summer. Warm clothes are for another season. It's too hot to wear anything but the most breezy of dresses, and even then, I'd rather not. Especially not now. I'm still molting.
I went out on the balcony, under the stars, to brush out the loose hair again. While I was brushing my throat a couple of meteors flew by, straight overhead. They were headed straight north. I told them to look out over Moondancer and Lemon Hearts. I doubt they heard me, or that they could assist Moondancer in her research, either.
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Hay Board
Aug 16: We held the second cut Hay Board meeting this afternoon, The cutting and drying starts tomorrow, as does the collection of the hay slated to be made into silage. For the rest, baling will be as soon as the cut grass is dry. The grass is looking good and the farmer ponies on the Board are hot to trot. Yakyakistan relations has opened up another market and the yaks are especially interested in our second cut. Most of their buyers are coming first to Ponyville. We will probably have to be careful with our inventory this winter and expand our pastures next spring.
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Harvest Work, Harvest Party
Aug 17: We're nearly two thirds the way through summer. Lots of crops are ripe and gracing our tables; fruits, berries, roots and leafy vegetables. But the queen of the greens is hay and the second cut has begun! Naturally, this calls for a party.
We had the 2nd cut party at Applejack's barn. Applejack specializes in apple cultivation, but she does have a hoof in the haying. To free her up for Pinkie's Second Cut Party, Dash, Fluttershy, Spike and I spent the day helping the best we could, mowing her parcel, and then harvesting, sorting and preserving the day's pickings. While we were doing that, Pinkie and Rarity were hard at work setting up the party, from the food on the plates to the banners in the rafters.
Finally, after a refreshing dip in the Apple Family water hole (I really needed that dip, it was so hot working those fields), we feasted and feted 'til the cows came home and joined us, and then we feted some more.
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Spurred Into Action
Aug 18: Three weeks! No news, not a peep from Moondancer. I don't think she'd have returned to Canterlot and not drop me a note or any such thing. This does not look good. If she's still out there, in the field... summer will be over soon! I'm going after her, and I'm taking all my closest friends.
We held a planning session in the map room. Before we go several of us have work that needs to get finished up. Applejack has the Jersey Macs and the Paula Reds to buck and store, Pinkie and I will help her with that; Rarity's fall line up is planned out, she just needs to sew forty dresses for some clients, Fluttershy will help her with that; Fluttershy's summer broods are just about ready to fend for themselves; Dash has to put in a few days in the Wonderbolt Reserves and she can do that now; and Pinkie is calling in Cheese to hold the fort while we're gone. Spike will mind the Treecastle while we're away.
This is going to be an expedition and it's so nice to be able to have time to plan ahead, or at least to have more time to plan than we usually do. Usually we have to just drop everything and run.
There's still the possibility that Moondancer and Lemon Hearts are just fine, but I've waited long enough. We're doing this.
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Pomiculture
Aug 19: Day one of preparations -- helping Applejack get ahead in her pomiculture. I got up before sunrise and had a good breakfast. It was first cut hay and beet pulp mash, to give me steady energy, without giving me the fidgets. At dawn I was out the door. Pinkie appeared at my side on the way to Applejack's orchard.
Applejack was already setting out the baskets under the trees with the ripe apples when we arrived. Then it was harvest time! Applejack bucked and coordinated, I picked and sorted, Pinkie stored. I'd forgotten how tiring it is to just harvest, sort and store all those apples. We drank a lot of apple juice.
We were at it all day and we didn't stop until after Celestia had lowered the sun. Oh but it felt good to soak in the Apples' water hole and watch Luna's moon rise gracefully up above the horizon. Another day and we should be finished. Big McIntosh and Granny Smith will handle the rest while Applejack is gone. We should be back before the McIntoshes are ready for bucking.
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Storin' Apples in the Cellar Below
Aug 20: Day two of helping Applejack. I had a bigger breakfast and two cups of Zecora's chocolate peppermint tea to start my day. It was a little harder to get up and get going, but I still managed get to the orchard a bit past sun up. Pinkie was her usual bouncy self. Big Mac is taking care of baling the hay we'd cut a few days ago and for lunch, Granny Smith served us a few of the pies she's baked from the apples we harvested yesterday. We just managed to finish up packing the last of the Jersey Macs into storage by evening twilight. Applejack looked as pleased as punch. I just wanted to flop down in the pond and float 'til morning. Pinkie did a victory cannonball dive. The wave nearly threw me out of the pond. Maybe I should have eaten more sugar.
During the mid-day break I wrote to Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lyra Heartstrings, asking if they had any news from Moondancer and Lemon Hearts.
Tomorrow I'm sleeping in. I just know I'm going to be sorting apples in my sleep all week.
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Stitched in Time
Aug 21: Rarity's last dress has been sewn, primped and is ready to ship. Pinkie and I are going to Manehattan to deliver that order tomorrow morning, and Rarity and Spike are heading for Canterlot, back same day. After that, Rarity has a few ensembles to sew for a local client.
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Dresses Delivered to Their Addresses
Aug 22: Pinkie and I delivered Rarity's dresses to her customers without a hitch. As we walked back from the train station, I saw Dash fly overhead, making a bee-line for her home. So she's back from Wonderbolt reserve duty. She looked exhausted.
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Loose Ends
Aug 23: Fluttershy's cottage is now guest-free although most of the critters didn't disperse far. They're hanging about in nearby bushes and nooks. Spike will be filling the various feeders with critter and bird food while we're gone. Fluttershy spent the day coaching him. Spike has mixed feelings about this responsibility. The critters are a bit demanding.
Got a letter back already from Twinkleshine. She's had no news from either Moondancer or Lemon Hearts since they left. She's going to ask Minuette and Lyra if they've heard from Moondancer or Lemon Hearts yet, and if they have, she'll send another letter.
Dash is looking more rested today. She brought word from her pegasus connections: Cheese was in Vanhoover and he is headed for Ponyville. I guess Pinkie won't have to write to him.
Tomorrow morning I head to Canterlot for research. I want to see if Moondancer and Lemon Hearts left any clues that could help us to find them.
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Investigation in Canterlot
Aug 24: I'm off to catch the morning train to Canterlot! My plan is to knock on Minuette's door, pick up Twinkleshine and Lyra Heartstrings and together we'll see if we can find clues at Moondancer and Lemon Hearts' houses as to where exactly they were headed. I'll be staying overnight. Wish me luck!
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Scraps of Paper
Aug 25: It has now been four weeks since Moondancer and Lemon Hearts embarked on their journey. Searching through what they left behind with the help of Minuette and Lyra, we didn't find much in the way of clues. Moondancer had a rough sketch of a saddle-shaped mountain range in with her waste paper and Lemon Hearts had a list of mountaineering equipment and arctic gear. She also apparently bought a lot of alfalfa-oat-nut-honey power cubes. The wrapper of the one she ate smelled delicious. I caught afternoon train back from Canterlot and tried to remember every detail, every word Moondancer had said about this expedition. I need more information.
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Research
Aug 26: I'm reading up on mountaineering, avalanches, inflatable saddlepacks (for avalanche survival), snow shelter building, orienteering, Yak culture and history, snow blindness, frostbite, sledges, food caching, local guides and how to hire them, water purifier spells, high calorie long burning food that won't give a pony colic, wild plants and creatures of the far north... Fortunately Princess Cadence has sent me quite a few books from the Crystal Empire and they tend to cover these kind of subjects.
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Trail of Crumbs
Aug 27: I still have much material to read through. Finding them, if they are truly lost, is going to be tricky. I need to know what they knew so I can recreate their journey. We'll also inquire around as to if anypony, or being, has seen them.
A Dream Width quill pal seems to think I'm heading to a pony version of the Mountains of Madness by Lovecraft. I looked it up and I don't think it will help me prepare for what our expedition will find. Moondancer didn't describe city ruins and as for Old Ones, we've already met our Old One. It's the Tree of Harmony. The are scary beasts in Equestria, but I don't think there are any powerful entities older than the Tree.
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Getting Prepared
Aug 28: Well, I told my friends to gear up for winter and to get ready for something ancient and deadly cold. Rainbow Dash said she was born ready. Pinkie said she's readier than ready. Applejack thought we were already ready. Rarity and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. My friends are nuts.
I asked Pinkie and Applejack if they might make alfalfa-oat-nut-honey power cubes for all of us, a week's supply. I lent them the book that has recipes for a few variations on power cubes, tailored for different energy requirements. That wrapper really smelled good. Rarity is looking into light weight full-body horse blankets for really cold weather. And boots for all of us.
I'm going back to Canterlot to go through the books that Moondancer checked out at the library to try and learn what she learned.
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Read All the Books
Aug 29: I flew to Canterlot to save time and I spent the day in the Canterlot Mane Library. There I got help from the librarian looking for books related to old legends from the north and to the Hearth's Warming tale. I was especially interested in those that Moondancer may have consulted. The librarian brought me a lot of books to go through. The books that she had only consulted and reshelved while at the library had no record, of course, but those from the rare book archives require signing in, help from the librarian, and signing for each book, even though they never leave the archive. They're very strict with their old books there. Moondancer is interested in everything and even shortly before she left she was reading a variety of texts.
I spoke to her bookseller friend too, to inquire as to what she had been looking for that might be related to her research trip. I took down the names of a few field and travel guides.
So I am still vague as to what her plan was. I guess it was to go north, look for deep snow, an ice field and a cave by a frozen waterfall, and something about beyond the Twilight Plain. The more beautiful the frozen scenery, the closer you are. That's a bit vague. But if it was easy, Winter would have been found years ago?
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The Stage Is Set
Aug 30: Going through my updated checklist. Rarity's winter clothes. Check. Applejack and Pinkie, power food. Check. Fluttershy, field research gear including camping equipment. Check. Rainbow Dash, maps. Check. Spike, instructions, lots of instructions. Check. Letter to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor that we'll be passing through the Crystal Empire. Check. From me: a game plan. Check.
We just need Cheese.
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Farewell Party, Winter Theme
Aug 31: Cheese Sandwich popped up out of the blue and threw an Adventurous Rescue Expedition Party for us this afternoon in the middle of town, with a winter theme. I don't know where he got all that ice. He must have borrowed several ice makers from Cloudsdale to pull off what amounted to an instant winter in the middle of Ponyville. Pinkie probably helped. There were ice slides, ice cream, ice sculptures, apple, carrot, peppermint and other flavors of sweet slush drinks, snow forts, snow ball fights, an ice castle... A winter festival in August. It has been hot weather this week, and what with the summer molt slowly bringing in the winter coats on ponies, everypony has been having a great time. The party is still going strong. I hear fireworks.
With Cheese here, everything is ready. Check, check!
I have my canvas field notebook, my notes from my investigation in Canterlot, Moondancer's discarded sketch and my five best friends. We will be unstoppable! (Princess) Spike will hold down the fort while I'm gone. He'll have the care of all the pets and Fluttershy's wards to keep him busy. Fortunately, he's a tough, honorable dragon. And he's done it before.
We leave tomorrow morning.
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Huh? Don't you mean glance? I'm confused.
11147020
'At first glance' is synonymous to the 'at first blush' idiom. See: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/at+first+blush Thus, you are not wrong in that is what 'at first blush' means, but it also means 'at first consideration' and that is the sense I'm leaning toward here. I feel that 'at first glance' is too cold, too clinical for the context here.
I had a short, violent sob at this one. Especially this line in particular.
I can't find the words to express the intricacies of what this poem made me feel, but I hope it should suffice that I say it's beautiful.
11194638
I hope someday someone will write a story about the ponies that became the meteors in that "once every one hundred years" meteor shower in Owl's Well That End's Well.
I'm...actually alittle conflicted here. While they went to such great lengths to go after Moondancer and Lemon Hearts, just because they were both friends of Twilight's, and rushed through their jobs as fast as possible, they still took days to do so. That's days that Moondancer and Lemon Hearts could be lying in a snowbank, on the brink of death. Those few extra days they spent doing jobs could be the literal difference between life and death. Why not leave immediately after gathering all the needed supplies? Yes, Rarity's customers will be disappointed/angry, and the Acres may suffer, (Dash could just explain to the Wonderbolts, and they'd understand, if not actively join in, plus she'd have an official excuse from a princess), but these are lives we're talking about.
When Big Mac's cousin, Jersey Mac, came to Ponyville around the same time as Twilight Sparkle's step-cousin, Evening Twilight, the two hit it off immediately, but were just too stubborn to admit it. So, the Apple clan and the princess decided to lock the two in the cellar together.
Berry Punch often looks quite pleased with herself, doesn't she?
Doesn't Lyra live in Ponyville? Or practically so? Why would Twilight need to write her when she could just trot across town and ask? Or send Spike to fetch her to TreeCastle?
Discord maybe? He was defeated before the Starswirl got together with other original elements, who were the ones who planted the seed that became the Tree in the first place, so he existed before it? Not that Twilight knows when/how the Tree formed at this stage.
11207982
I consider the trek into the frozen north in search of Moondancer and Lemon Hearts in the same vein as missions to find the Franklin Expedition in the frozen Arctic ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition ) and the Stanley expedition to find Dr. Livingston in Africa ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone ). It takes time to prepare and without communication, it's not clear that the ponies they were going to find needed any help. If Moondancer was only a train ride away, then sure, rush on over and be back for breakfast the next day. But for something that far, that uncertain and which requires a long absence and supplies for over a week in a desolate wilderness? That requires a balanced approach, including considerations for the careers of the Mane Six. After all, chances were good that this would just be an extended camping trip in the snow. If it was certain that Moondancer and Lemon Drops were in deadly peril, then they could have sent in the Wonderbolts. Except this is way outside of Equestria, I don't think anything short of a carefully planned and slowly executed expedition would have happened regardless of who went north.
After well over a year of being locked up and with nothing better to do, they've multiplied and their offspring, all named Jersey Mac, keep slipping through the bars.
She's in good spirits most of the time. The rest of the time she's sleeping it off.
Lyra is from Canterlot but she comes to Ponyville to visit BonBon frequently. At the present time she was in Canterlot.
Discord may well have already existed when the Tree was created by Star Swirl and the Pillars, whose tokens became the Elements of Harmony, but there are two big 'buts' in this: first, (as you stated) Twilight did not know Star Swirl and the Pillars created the Elements; and the other but: she did know that Celestia And Luna used the Elements to turn Discord to stone that first time, which for Twilight means the Tree predates Discord. There's a further twist: the Tree of Harmony is unstuck in time. It predates itself. By a lot.
Such a good ponification of Prufrock. This will be my Best Thing Today, I'm sure of it.
Nitpicks:
Don't rhyme a stressed syllable with an unstressed one. The reader will stop, go back, and mentally re-verbalize each line at least once, trying to get them to match.
should probably be
11319393
Fixed the which! Thanks!
As for the sorrel (plant, not horse) and the emphasis which is giving me difficulty, I replied [a href="https://www.fimfiction.net/group/1089/poetry#comment/445453"]here first[/a] and came up with this:
Let us trot, to where pastures and forest meet,
Grass whispering at our feet
Of uneven ground hiding pitfall wells
And grazing soured by wood sorrels:
Errant trees with branches bent
On encumbrances meant
To shape doubt and your hesitation...
Is that better? I'll make the change if it meets muster (cuts the mustard?).
I hope you liked the I Met a Mare parodies too. ^_^