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The Fire of Friendship
Sep. 23rd, 2015 11:36 pmAt this point in the expedition, things got exciting.
Day 9 entry in my wax canvas field notebook: Yesterday we reached the blue glacier Rainbow had seen and what turned out to be not so much a cave as a large ornate entrance carved in the ice. Either by design or by trick of the darkness, the glacier looked like a tremendous waterfall had been flash-frozen. When we reached the opening, Pinkie unpacked her paper lanterns. Rarity put in fresh candles, and when each of us had a lantern, I delicately warmed the wax and lit the wicks.
Inside we entered a corridor of giant columns and ice walls that glowed a royal blue and rose to meet high above us in a pointed arch. Everywhere there were delicate ice crystals, frost that made every surface sparkle and shimmer until we couldn't guess distances any more. Two sets of hoofprints led down the hall. Stepping quietly in our insulated boots, we followed them, just the sound of our breaths, the creaking of our saddlebags and the soft crush of the frost on the floor disturbing the silence. The hallway opened up into a huge ice grotto, glittering in our lantern light and glowing deep blue in the shadows. It was filled with columns, arches, spirals and ramps, like a pegasus winter playground. The walls that were close enough to see were dotted with entrances, maybe passageways to other caverns or chambers beyond.
Straight a head of us on the flat, central part of this frozen blue underworld were dozens upon dozens of pony-sized blocks of semi-transparent ice, most of them thick with frost. We could just make out the shape of the frozen beings trapped inside. Pony, yak and griffin explorers. Almost all the ponies we could see looked like crystal ponies. They've been frozen for a very long time. And in the middle of them all we found Moondancer and Lemon Hearts! They too were frozen in ice, together, their horns touching and a small spark, like a flaming heart, floating above them. They were alive! They looked like they were sleeping standing up.
That spark -- Moondancer had studied the Hearth's Warming spell! Well, of course she had. I'd learned it too. I also had five of my best friends with me, pegasi, unicorn and earth ponies. I was prepared for this.
As we drew near the ice encasing Moondancer and Lemon Hearts we heard a deep soothing voice, talking to us, like he was midway through a bedtime story that never ends. The voice was like a soft breeze over snow and the tinkling of icecrystals rolling in swirling gusts of white. Distracting and hypnotic. It was Winter talking, alive and well, a gigantic figure that floated out from the shadows to perch on an arch directly above us. Staring down his long muzzle at us with knowing blue eyes, he was only too happy to see us. With every misty breath he was weaving a binding spell. I could feel anger and suspicion clouding my thoughts and ice was growing up from the floor. I drew my friends close to cast the counterspell, the Hearth's Warming spell.. Sing!
We began with the Heart Carol and remembered how all together we put on the best play Ponyville had seen in years. Winter's murmuring monologue faltered and I forgot what it was that I was angry about. We remembered our friendship and the good times we had together. I concentrated to embrace that joy. We sang 'Just Live For Today' and we relived Pinkie's surprise picnic. As we sang and talked the cold blue cave faded from sight. Winter's words were just the wind in the tall grass. We sang 'Find the Music in You' and we giggled over Fluttershy's trickery. I recited Friendship Letters from memory and we just hugged as we relived all the lessons we'd learned. As we hugged, a pulsing flame shot straight up from our circle, divided in two and curved in on itself, two ponies high. It hovered above us, red, brilliant and hot. The Heart Carol flame.
All around us the ice was melting. MoodDancer and Lemon Hearts revived and joined us. Beyond them other ponies were thawing out too, as were the yaks. It was a bit slower for the griffins. Winter was still talking, but he was also shrinking and the frozen mist of his breath was clearing. Pinkie pulled out a party cannon, balloons and hats. I don't know where. There was now confetti everywhere, singing yaks and Rarity and Pinkie decorating the place with ribbons and balloons. Winter retreated deeper into the cave. By now most of the griffins had thawed out.
I called for attention! I told the surprise (and surprised) crowd to grab a balloon, put on a party hat, find a stranger and make a friend! Each and every one is to tell the other their most happy memory, the best day or event in their life! They must do this now to feed the magic flaming heart that was warming us all. (I doubt there was a song we could all sing, there were even ponies with long floppy ears and a caribou in the crowd of revived explorers!)
That worked pretty well. Winter had shrunk to about goat size and had vanished into one of the passageways at the far end of the cavern. So we set up camp in the cavern with the flaming Hearth's Warming heart floating halfway to the ceiling above us. We were safe for the time being.
Every explorer was well stocked with food and supplies, and now that every pony, griffin and yak was revived, we built fires, swapped food and stories and had the best nerd party ever! Every pony, griffin, and yak had stories and adventures to share, it was like a living library, like the Haycartes spell, spread over an entire library. Nopony wanted to leave. But eventually, the party has to end. We did keep the party going for several hours more, allowing my herd and the explorers to take naps by turn and to repack their belongings for the trek back south. I think Winter was beginning to revive because several of us caught glimpses of him peeking out of various entrances on the far walls. So we couldn't tarry much longer in his cave.
Some explorers were keen to explore Winter's home some more and we had to practically push them out the cave entrance. We had arrived by late afternoon and now it was the wee hours of this morning, day 9. We had to get some distance between us and Winter's stronghold!
It's early evening and we've made camp in a sheltered spot nestled up to Rainbow's ridge, well past the southern end of the valley of fluffy snow. Traveling is faster when you know your destination and you can make better decisions in choosing the shortest path. My friends and I have our homes to return to, but most everypony else that had fallen to Winter's grasp will have to start over.
We divided up the return expedition at the entrance to Winter's icy abode. The air was still crisp, but it seemed to have lost its bite. The yaks, Crystal ponies and what must be Cirrostratans were all set to make good time so we bid them farewell and they left first, their ancient cities unchanged with the passing millenia of their absence. Next, the pegasi and griffons took to the air. The sky was clear and the stars were helpfully pointing the way south. We soon lost sight of them in the night sky, only the winking of distant stars betraying their passage. Then all that were left were my friends and I, our guide and those for whom the landmarks and their destinations had moved or changed too much for them to find a familiar destination point. But by following us they could make better time than they would by just heading south.
For these ancient explorers, being living relics from a vanished time won't be too hard a situation to adjust to. These adventurers are used to being on the go and not really tethered to one spot, and hopefully the academics will quickly be too engrossed in catching up on research and writing papers about their findings to dwell on all the ponies they left behind. They'll make new friends quickly enough.
I'm exhausted. I didn't get any sleep last night. My friends and our guide will take turns keeping watch. For the others, this will be their first true, full night's sleep in a very long while.
Day 9 entry in my wax canvas field notebook: Yesterday we reached the blue glacier Rainbow had seen and what turned out to be not so much a cave as a large ornate entrance carved in the ice. Either by design or by trick of the darkness, the glacier looked like a tremendous waterfall had been flash-frozen. When we reached the opening, Pinkie unpacked her paper lanterns. Rarity put in fresh candles, and when each of us had a lantern, I delicately warmed the wax and lit the wicks.
Inside we entered a corridor of giant columns and ice walls that glowed a royal blue and rose to meet high above us in a pointed arch. Everywhere there were delicate ice crystals, frost that made every surface sparkle and shimmer until we couldn't guess distances any more. Two sets of hoofprints led down the hall. Stepping quietly in our insulated boots, we followed them, just the sound of our breaths, the creaking of our saddlebags and the soft crush of the frost on the floor disturbing the silence. The hallway opened up into a huge ice grotto, glittering in our lantern light and glowing deep blue in the shadows. It was filled with columns, arches, spirals and ramps, like a pegasus winter playground. The walls that were close enough to see were dotted with entrances, maybe passageways to other caverns or chambers beyond.
Straight a head of us on the flat, central part of this frozen blue underworld were dozens upon dozens of pony-sized blocks of semi-transparent ice, most of them thick with frost. We could just make out the shape of the frozen beings trapped inside. Pony, yak and griffin explorers. Almost all the ponies we could see looked like crystal ponies. They've been frozen for a very long time. And in the middle of them all we found Moondancer and Lemon Hearts! They too were frozen in ice, together, their horns touching and a small spark, like a flaming heart, floating above them. They were alive! They looked like they were sleeping standing up.
That spark -- Moondancer had studied the Hearth's Warming spell! Well, of course she had. I'd learned it too. I also had five of my best friends with me, pegasi, unicorn and earth ponies. I was prepared for this.
As we drew near the ice encasing Moondancer and Lemon Hearts we heard a deep soothing voice, talking to us, like he was midway through a bedtime story that never ends. The voice was like a soft breeze over snow and the tinkling of icecrystals rolling in swirling gusts of white. Distracting and hypnotic. It was Winter talking, alive and well, a gigantic figure that floated out from the shadows to perch on an arch directly above us. Staring down his long muzzle at us with knowing blue eyes, he was only too happy to see us. With every misty breath he was weaving a binding spell. I could feel anger and suspicion clouding my thoughts and ice was growing up from the floor. I drew my friends close to cast the counterspell, the Hearth's Warming spell.. Sing!
We began with the Heart Carol and remembered how all together we put on the best play Ponyville had seen in years. Winter's murmuring monologue faltered and I forgot what it was that I was angry about. We remembered our friendship and the good times we had together. I concentrated to embrace that joy. We sang 'Just Live For Today' and we relived Pinkie's surprise picnic. As we sang and talked the cold blue cave faded from sight. Winter's words were just the wind in the tall grass. We sang 'Find the Music in You' and we giggled over Fluttershy's trickery. I recited Friendship Letters from memory and we just hugged as we relived all the lessons we'd learned. As we hugged, a pulsing flame shot straight up from our circle, divided in two and curved in on itself, two ponies high. It hovered above us, red, brilliant and hot. The Heart Carol flame.
All around us the ice was melting. MoodDancer and Lemon Hearts revived and joined us. Beyond them other ponies were thawing out too, as were the yaks. It was a bit slower for the griffins. Winter was still talking, but he was also shrinking and the frozen mist of his breath was clearing. Pinkie pulled out a party cannon, balloons and hats. I don't know where. There was now confetti everywhere, singing yaks and Rarity and Pinkie decorating the place with ribbons and balloons. Winter retreated deeper into the cave. By now most of the griffins had thawed out.
I called for attention! I told the surprise (and surprised) crowd to grab a balloon, put on a party hat, find a stranger and make a friend! Each and every one is to tell the other their most happy memory, the best day or event in their life! They must do this now to feed the magic flaming heart that was warming us all. (I doubt there was a song we could all sing, there were even ponies with long floppy ears and a caribou in the crowd of revived explorers!)
That worked pretty well. Winter had shrunk to about goat size and had vanished into one of the passageways at the far end of the cavern. So we set up camp in the cavern with the flaming Hearth's Warming heart floating halfway to the ceiling above us. We were safe for the time being.
Every explorer was well stocked with food and supplies, and now that every pony, griffin and yak was revived, we built fires, swapped food and stories and had the best nerd party ever! Every pony, griffin, and yak had stories and adventures to share, it was like a living library, like the Haycartes spell, spread over an entire library. Nopony wanted to leave. But eventually, the party has to end. We did keep the party going for several hours more, allowing my herd and the explorers to take naps by turn and to repack their belongings for the trek back south. I think Winter was beginning to revive because several of us caught glimpses of him peeking out of various entrances on the far walls. So we couldn't tarry much longer in his cave.
Some explorers were keen to explore Winter's home some more and we had to practically push them out the cave entrance. We had arrived by late afternoon and now it was the wee hours of this morning, day 9. We had to get some distance between us and Winter's stronghold!
It's early evening and we've made camp in a sheltered spot nestled up to Rainbow's ridge, well past the southern end of the valley of fluffy snow. Traveling is faster when you know your destination and you can make better decisions in choosing the shortest path. My friends and I have our homes to return to, but most everypony else that had fallen to Winter's grasp will have to start over.
We divided up the return expedition at the entrance to Winter's icy abode. The air was still crisp, but it seemed to have lost its bite. The yaks, Crystal ponies and what must be Cirrostratans were all set to make good time so we bid them farewell and they left first, their ancient cities unchanged with the passing millenia of their absence. Next, the pegasi and griffons took to the air. The sky was clear and the stars were helpfully pointing the way south. We soon lost sight of them in the night sky, only the winking of distant stars betraying their passage. Then all that were left were my friends and I, our guide and those for whom the landmarks and their destinations had moved or changed too much for them to find a familiar destination point. But by following us they could make better time than they would by just heading south.
For these ancient explorers, being living relics from a vanished time won't be too hard a situation to adjust to. These adventurers are used to being on the go and not really tethered to one spot, and hopefully the academics will quickly be too engrossed in catching up on research and writing papers about their findings to dwell on all the ponies they left behind. They'll make new friends quickly enough.
I'm exhausted. I didn't get any sleep last night. My friends and our guide will take turns keeping watch. For the others, this will be their first true, full night's sleep in a very long while.
