A Winter wonderland

Journal entry of Mark Robertson

5am, woke up abruptly this morning. I had to shower and change per qui nocturno pollutus in somno. Worse still, I remembered what I was dreaming about. Once I was clean, I prayed.
'Anima Christi, sanctifica me. Corpus Christi, salva me. Sanguis Christi, inebria me. Aqua lateris Christi, lava me.' It was prayer for purity. After a while I gave up, seeing little point in it. I needed actual advice. After thinking it over a cup of tea, I have decided to write to Celestia.

Letter to Princess Celestia from Mark Robertson

Dear Princess Celestia,

When I first arrived in your kingdom, you very kindly told me to feel free to write to you whenever I wished, especially if I had any concerns. It has been two years, 7 months and 2 ½ weeks since then, and I am glad to say that I have seldom had cause to trouble you with anything, though I have of course written to you regarding my progress in settling in. As you know, it has been remarkably easy – indeed far easier than I would ever have imagined.

Everypony has been warm and friendly (with the rare exception) and as accommodating as possible with my needs, be it my need for taller furniture and doorways all the way to getting me meat, which I know is a tough ask for many ponies. My job keeps me busy, and has turned what was a hobby of mine into a comfortable source of income. I am genuinely surprised that my calligraphy is so popular, even though it lacks the perfection of a magically controlled pen.

Anyway, the reason I am writing to you now is that I am greatly troubled lately. As I've said, almost everypony I've met has been very kind, and I've made many friends. The trouble is, well there's a mare I know, and well - I think I love her. The realisation has been a while coming and it finally hit me in the early hours of this morning.

I completely unsure of how to feel, much less what to do. On the one hand, in terms of her personality she's just the sort of woman I would have loved to be with back in my world. On the other hand there is still a part of my mind that says “She's a pony, a dumb animal!”. And yet I find myself thinking about her in all the ways I would a woman of my own species.

I'm sure you remember the legal & moral objections to intimate relations outside of marriage for the purpose of procreation that I mentioned in some of our first talks? I admit that I was never terribly religious before arriving, but in a strange new world I found comfort in the prayers and in the hope that God was real and might yet hear me. Besides which, I was raised in the faith and a lifetime of learning is not easily overturned.

I am hoping that you might spare me some of your wisdom and offer me some advice about how best to proceed.

Yours faithfully,

Mark Robertson

Letter to Mark Robertson from Princess Celestia

My dear Mark,

I am glad that you have settled in well, I was always worried that you might face certain difficulties. The news that you are doing well with your business reached me some time ago, and it is good to hear that you are happy in your work. I have seen some of it and in my humble opinion it is fine work, showing a mastery of the materials and with a quality not found elsewhere. You should be proud of it.

As to the matter of what to do about this mare that you love, I say, just talk to her. I hope you will forgive me for saying so, but I think that you believed that nopony would ever want to get romantically involved with you, and perhaps still do. Perhaps at first you were glad of this, but I sense now that you have come to desire companionship. You would be surprised at just how many ponies are open to a cross-species relationship, give her a try. You don't have to make a grand gesture, just ease into it. Spend more time with her, get to know her better, and then – when you're ready, let her know your feelings. The running of the leaves is coming up, why don't you suggest that you run together?

If there is anything else I can help with, please do let me know.

Yours sincerely,

Celestia

A recollection of Mark Robertson

I remember when I first met her like it was just yesterday, I had been open for most of the morning, and having done all the urgent jobs I was just doing some busywork before taking my lunch break.

I was just reading over some invoices, when the bell above my door rang and shut with a smart “click”.

Looking up, I saw a pegasus mare with slate grey fur and pale blue eyes under a short messy mane that was silver-grey and shone like silk.

'Hi, I'm from Cloudsdale weather factory, I'm here to pick up the diplomas. Are they ready yet?' she asked

'Ah, you're early, I didn't expect you until this afternoon.' I replied, glancing over at the stack of diplomas ready to be presented to the next class of qualified weather technicians who would graduate the following Saturday

'The unicorn chap who does the anti-counterfeiting spell just left, it will be another half-hour before the spell takes effect.'

The anti-counterfeiting spell was to prevent the name being changed or the text being copied to prevent any fraud. It took a while to “fix” during which the document had to remain absolutely still.

'Oh I see, well then I'll just wander around a bit.'

'All right then, sorry to have disappointed you.'

'Hay, it's no bother.' she answered, wandering off to look at the ready made works on display

Since the conversation was seemingly over, I returned to my invoices.

After a few moments, she broke the silence

'Wow, this is some seriously nice work!'

'Huh?' I responded, looking up from my desk

'This poem, it's really beautiful.' she said, indicating a copy of "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" hanging on the far wall

'Oh, that? Thanks. It's one of the few poems I happened to remember, so I wrote it down and put it up for sale.'

'You made it?'

'Yes, I make all these. I mostly do bespoke work, but I also do pre-made stuff as well. Poems, inspirational quotes, that sort of thing.'

'So you're like me, an artisan!' she enthused

'An artisan?' I queried

'Well, I make snowflakes, my speciality is the “big events” like if we have snow for Hearths Warming. Then the snowflakes have to be especially beautiful.' she said proudly

'So you make special snowflakes?'

'I sure do!' she answered, and showed me her cutie mark

It was a trio of stark white, picture perfect snowflakes

'I guess that means that you have a name to match your talent then?' I asked

'You bet! My name is Winter Wonder!'

On a sudden wild inspiration, I took a scrap of thick, cream coloured paper, ran it through the guillotine to straighten the edges and wheeled my chair over to my workstation

'Here, come and watch me at work, see what you think.'

She trotted over, her face full of curiosity.

I dipped my pen into a pot of silver ink and began writing her name out in fine cursive. As I worked, I was aware of the awed expression on her face. I edged the letters in stark black & added an embellishment of a golden snowflake in each corner.

'There!' I said when I was done

'Oh my gosh! I can't believe you whipped that up just now! You're a real master!'

I recall that my face warmed, and I hastily changed the subject.

'Oh, hey, the diplomas will be ready now.' I said, pointing at the clock

'Right, then I'd best be off!' she replied

I got up, put them in a protective envelope and brought them over to her

'Do you mind?' she asked, pointing her flank at me.

She was asking me to put them into her saddlebag for her.

'No, not at all!'

I stowed them securely and then I remembered

'Ah, don't forget your name!'

I quickly jotted down my details at the very bottom, and when I was satisfied that the ink had dried, I put it in her saddlebag as well.

'Well, it's been a real pleasure meeting you Winter Wonder, good luck!'

'Thanks, likewise.'

And with that, she left.