“Hello Creative, how are you?”

Creative lifted his head from his work and looked at me surprised. He clearly didn’t expect such a friendly voice from me after my long held cold attitude.

“Good, thank you”, Creative replied.

To be honest, it still took a lot of willpower. But I wanted to follow Golden’s advice from yesterday. She was right after all. I hadn’t really been myself for a long time. And in order to find happiness again, I had to find myself again. I had been cold, distant and irritable. Not only to Creative, but also everypony in Maren.

Yet like Golden had said to me yesterday, I couldn’t change the personality of everpony. But being sour all the time for it wasn’t healthy nor did it solve anything. It only made it worse.

My goals were to be myself again. To be the happy Spring Frost I used to be. Not only because my life had been better with the little interactions I had instead of having none at all. I did it because I face MY life and MY problems better being MYSELF. And not somekirin I am not.

“What have you been up to lately?”, I asked the pegasus and got to work on the sewing machine next to him.

Of course, that didn’t mean I would be friends now with Creative. For that I was just not able to fully forgive him. I still wouldn’t get an apology from him. And he still knew that he owed me one. He would pretend nothing ever happened. This was the simplest solution with the least interactions. But that didn’t mean it was the right way.

But let’s say, the fire of anger towards Creative was now gone and replaced with a burned landscape that still needs a lot of time to fully recover.

“Oh, nothing big, I have a vacation coming up”, Creative said.

“Oh really? Will you go somewhere specific?”

“And that is how you make egg fried rice. It’s super easy and still tastes very good. Plus, you can use old rice from the previous day if you have leftovers. If you ever go to Hono, you could ask anykirin and I am sure they could make a portion.”

Quick gave a slow nod as I finished my recipe for egg fried rice. It was lunch break, and I decided, instead of sitting alone, to take a place opposite of Quick Rush. I also haven’t talked with her for a long time and just like Creative, she hasn’t changed a bit. She still was unsure around me and there was this reserved aura she had. I don’t know if she ever would be willing to open herself to me. Most likely not.

But I didn’t let myself worry too much about it. I tried to interact as best with her as possible, but still give her the space she needs so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

“I see… uuuh… don’t you have to drain your rice?”, Quick asked shyly.

I looked at her, a bit shocked.

“But you lose so much flavour and starch when doing this. You do not drain rice! Why would you?”

Quick gave a barely noticeable shrug and said: “I… have to get rid of the water somehow. When I cook rice I fill a pot up with water, bring it to a boil, add salt and the rice and when the rice is done, I drain it.”

Oh dear Flames…

“This is rice, not pasta!”, I said shocked.

Dear Spring Frost

It is me, Maple Brown. This time it is me writing the letter, so you don’t always have to read Autumn’s hoof writing and hear from somekirin besides just her. Sure, she loves to write to you about everything that happened, I mean, you know her and how much she enjoys talking, but she understood.

Anyways, thank you for your last letter. Your new neighbour sure sounds nice and we all are sure you two will become good friends. We always enjoy hearing from you and your adventure in the pony world. Forest Fall and I actually took a trip through Equestria by both boat and train. And yes, I have to agree, pony places are like a completely different world. The train ride alone, an object moving on its own through the landscape for such a long distance. Both of us were blown away.

We went to Baltimare and there too, we were stunned. Buildings higher than the tallest tree, new strange technology and culture, far different than Hono. I could talk hours about it but then, you already know this since you are the kirin, living in such a strange new world.

I might feel a little envy, but I have to say, Hono also has its charm. Besides, we are getting more and more pony culture in Hono. Mostly trade goods but also other stuff. For example, they've built a proper train station at the foot of the mountain because we sometimes get pony tourists.

Don’t get me wrong, Hono is not the new hotspot for ponies. Everything will still be the same if you come for a visit. But it is nice that we have such a strong and healthy bond with the ponies. They sure are very friendly and very interested in us. They even made some new stamps with a nirik on it. Specially for us! I have used one for this envelope to show you.

Anyways, I get now why Autumn also complains about the short size of the paper because I too have to shorten it. How are things going with your new neighbour? You wrote in your last letter that she is from Manehattan. Is she able to tell us something about that city?

With love

And again, the signatures of all kirins followed. I folded the letter and took a look at the envelope. Indeed, the stamp (I had told them that they didn’t need to use ten for it) showed a jumping nirik. Coated in black with a blue and red flame and fully white eyes. It was very detailed and accurately drawn but I still couldn’t tell who it should be.

Could be Pumpkin Smoke, I thought.

A knock on the door interrupted me. I already knew who that would be.

I floated the letter and envelope on the living room table as a reminder that I have to write one back to Hono.

I used my magic to open the door and the familiar sight of a golden maned pegasus mare greeted me. With her, she also carried a flat cardboard box on her back.

“Pizza delivery!”, She cheerfully said.

“What?”, was the only thing I got out.

“Pizza. Classical Manehattan pizza. Or at least I tried to make one. It is self-made so don’t judge when it is not as good”, Golden replied and pressed past me through the door. “A little offer from my side for all your invites, tea and cake.”

I gave her a look that made it clear that none of my questions got answered.

“What is pizza?”

Golden, who now had walked fully past me, froze in place, turned her head and looked at me with shocked eyes.

“You have never eaten pizza before?! Do you kirins live on the moon or do you just don’t know how to make good food?”, she asked me.

“Yeah sure. As far as I remember you didn’t complain about my tea cakes. And only two days ago I learned how you ponies cook rice”, I said and used my magic to take the cardboard box from Golden’s back.

“Fair”, Golden admitted and pointed at the living room. “Mind if we eat the pizza on the sofa? Has a bit of a nostalgic feeling for me. I often shared pizza with my friends while we sat in the living room.”

“Not at all. I will grab some plates from the kitchen. Do we need chopsticks for the pizza?”, I asked as I went into the kitchen.

“Only if you want to stab my eyes with them so I don’t have to see it!”

I had to chuckle at Golden’s joke and floated two plates out of the kitchen cabinet.

“Spring, there is a letter on the table. You don’t mind if I remove it, do you?”, Golden yelled from the living room.

“Not at all. If you want, you can read it. Maple Brown wrote it. She is an old kirin friend from Hono”, I said back.

When I entered the living room, I saw Golden finish reading the letter and look at the envelope.

Dear Flames, the nirik part! I completely forgot about it, shot through my head.

“Interesting stamp. It says in the letter that this is a nirik. But what exactly is a nirik?”, Golden asked.

“Oh, this is uuuh… a creature of fire that lives also in Kirin Grove... They’re very... emotional”, I explained. I didn't lie, I just… hid the truth.

“Well, that one sure looks emotional angry. And look at these flames. I wouldn’t like to meet one of these. Didn’t know you lived so dangerously back in Hono”, Golden laughed. “They look a bit like a kirin. Is that the reason why their name is kirin spelled backwards?”

“Yeah… we are… very close to the niriks. They sometimes can be unwelcomming. But we try to keep them in check…”

Golden seemed to be satisfied with my answer and laid the letter and envelope to the side to make some space for the pizza. I floated the cardboard box on the table and the two of us sat on the sofa.

With a proud grin Golden opened the box, and a smell hit my nose that made my mouth water. Inside was a round but flat bread with a red sauce and melted cheese on the top. That all was cut into eight pieces. I had never ever seen something like that before. But it looked yummy.

“I didn’t know what topping you like so I didn't use any. Just sauce and cheese. That way it doesn’t have something you do not like”, Golden explained.

“And how do you eat this now?”, I stupidly asked.

“With hooves”, Golden said and demonstrated it by taking a slice with her hooves. One grabbing the underside of the dough and one held the end, the bottom. She then took a bite from the cheese and red sauce bread.

Even though I could have used my magic (which would have been way simpler) I wanted to get the full experience out of it and did the same thing my friend did.

“Oh dear Flames…”, was the only thing I was able to tell after I took a bite.

“Hehe. From the expression I can say that you like it”, Golden chuckled.

With one single bite the whole slice disappeared in my mouth.

“Yuu ‘av’ do giv’ ee ge ‘ecige fo’ shad!”, I barely was able to get out of my full mouth.

“Slow down, hotshot”, Golden laughed. “First swallow, then talk.”

I realised what I just did and chewed with a guilty feeling until my mouth was empty again.

“I’m sorry. I lost myself there a bit. This pizza is so good that I forgot the pony etiquette. Kirins have a different one than you.”

"No harm done. I take it as a compliment”, Golden waved off but still had to chuckle a bit. “But sure, I can give you the recipe for this. How about this, in three days I do not have to go to work. So how about I come over and show you how to make your very own pizza?”

“Sounds like a deal I can only benefit from”, I meant.

And with that it was settled.

Author's Note

Well the preview year was marked with conflicts, war and politcal dilemmas. It was a year we do not like to think back. But then, it still is imporant that we do. Leaern from the past, look into the future. And with that i wish you a happy 2025.