Picnic in the Snow
Mar. 5th, 2015 08:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
twilightponyMy friends came over and pulled me out of my book fort. The sun is shining! So we went for a picnic.
We chose a sunny spot just outside of town and sheltered from the wind. As I helped Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity to spread out a big blanket, Dash and Applejack build fortifications a little further away and launched a snowball fight. We sat down to watch Applejack and Rainbow Dash pummel each other with snowballs. Spike investigated the contents of our picnic baskets and distributed the turnip sticks that Fluttershy had prepared. So we settled in, calling out encouragement and strategy while snacking on turnip sticks. The battle ended in a draw and a cease fire.
Rarity negotiated the peace treaty and reparations were paid in firewood (Rainbow Dash) and starting a campfire (Applejack). To ensure the peace held, we observers melted down the ammunition in a pot over the campfire. Spike stirred in dried sugar beet pulp from Dash's saddle bag and made a hot soup. It was delicious and went so well with the dried daisies on alfalfa crackers that Applejack had prepared. For desert Pinkie produced a big bowl of rock sugar bits.
After lunch we lounged in the sun on the picnic blanket and sipped chocolate peppermint tea. Rainbow Dash got antsy and she challenged Applejack to a game of horseshoes.
Most of Fluttershy's wards are hibernating or have migrated. She has Angel and a few mice to keep her company but not enough food to keep all the critters active all winter. She's looking forward to spring. Only two more weeks until Winter Wrap Up! She told us that Land Management has approved recruitment in the bunny population to five live births to compensate for projected loses due to spring thaw mishaps and other mortality factors. The approved recruitment is lower than in previous years due to a projected lower carrying capacity of actual rabbit habitat. Discord's vines and the perpetual near-twilight while the Princesses had been abducted put a real dent into the primary productivity last growing season. There are still no limits on Jackalope breeding. It's just so hard to juggle the antler casting, to get them into season and then to time the delayed implantation just right, even for Fluttershy.
Eventually Applejack and Dash had enough of horseshoes (and digging around in the snow to find the throws that missed). It was a tie. They rejoined us, tramping snow all over the blanket. To Rarity's relief, the conversation soon segued to supply, finance, advertizing, commerce and the whims of pony fashion and showhorseship.
Time raced on, the sun got low, and even wedged between Fluttershy and Rarity I could feel the creep of the cold.
We shook the snow off Rarity's picnic blanket, gathered up the dishes Spike hadn't already put away, and headed home. Time flies fast when you're with your best friends.
We chose a sunny spot just outside of town and sheltered from the wind. As I helped Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity to spread out a big blanket, Dash and Applejack build fortifications a little further away and launched a snowball fight. We sat down to watch Applejack and Rainbow Dash pummel each other with snowballs. Spike investigated the contents of our picnic baskets and distributed the turnip sticks that Fluttershy had prepared. So we settled in, calling out encouragement and strategy while snacking on turnip sticks. The battle ended in a draw and a cease fire.
Rarity negotiated the peace treaty and reparations were paid in firewood (Rainbow Dash) and starting a campfire (Applejack). To ensure the peace held, we observers melted down the ammunition in a pot over the campfire. Spike stirred in dried sugar beet pulp from Dash's saddle bag and made a hot soup. It was delicious and went so well with the dried daisies on alfalfa crackers that Applejack had prepared. For desert Pinkie produced a big bowl of rock sugar bits.
After lunch we lounged in the sun on the picnic blanket and sipped chocolate peppermint tea. Rainbow Dash got antsy and she challenged Applejack to a game of horseshoes.
Most of Fluttershy's wards are hibernating or have migrated. She has Angel and a few mice to keep her company but not enough food to keep all the critters active all winter. She's looking forward to spring. Only two more weeks until Winter Wrap Up! She told us that Land Management has approved recruitment in the bunny population to five live births to compensate for projected loses due to spring thaw mishaps and other mortality factors. The approved recruitment is lower than in previous years due to a projected lower carrying capacity of actual rabbit habitat. Discord's vines and the perpetual near-twilight while the Princesses had been abducted put a real dent into the primary productivity last growing season. There are still no limits on Jackalope breeding. It's just so hard to juggle the antler casting, to get them into season and then to time the delayed implantation just right, even for Fluttershy.
Eventually Applejack and Dash had enough of horseshoes (and digging around in the snow to find the throws that missed). It was a tie. They rejoined us, tramping snow all over the blanket. To Rarity's relief, the conversation soon segued to supply, finance, advertizing, commerce and the whims of pony fashion and showhorseship.
Time raced on, the sun got low, and even wedged between Fluttershy and Rarity I could feel the creep of the cold.
We shook the snow off Rarity's picnic blanket, gathered up the dishes Spike hadn't already put away, and headed home. Time flies fast when you're with your best friends.
no subject
Date: 2015-03-07 01:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-08 12:09 am (UTC)