Raven Rawne

@@Pripyat Pony, The mare clasped her hooves in satisfaction. "Splendid!" She glanced at the new customer who the waitress greeted, more out of habit than anything else, and noticed the mare she met earlier. Crystal Clear smiled, seeing her without luggage - seems she reached the hotel. But first, the order. "I'll take a green tea like I mentioned, and those specially seasoned hay fries too please. Hm... I think I'll try the Sunshine Salad too, all those citruses are bound to taste interesting." She waited for the unicorn to write down her order, thinking of a good way to approach the other customer.

@@Nightmare Season, Crystal Clear layed where he left her for some time. She was still feeling the echoes of hs loving. The mare picked herself up and decided to pretty up, and of course clean herself up too. She experimented with her mane and tail these past days, and while she found the bow-like tailstyle and Hearts-Dream made manestyle to be most fitting her Queen status, she made some changes to be more seductive for her husband. Then she took a spot on the bed and waited, looking like a million bits. The crystal nightmare smirked at his comment when he saw her all ready to go. "Oh really? And what are you going to do about it? I suggest taming the beast. Rawwwwr!" She giggled as he went to get her. He sure did his best to tame her that night. Next morning was time to say goodbye. There were some tears and apparently Cadence's entourage had some lovebird, judging from a sad nightmare mare waving at the ship more feverishly than the rest. The royal nightmares were waving the ship off when she saw hoofsteps on the deck and a most unwelcome voice. "And off they go..." Crystal Clear looked around, slowly, feeling a wave of blind rage as her mane went to flame. "Snowflaaaake! What the hay are you doing here!? Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't send you to that ship with a fire bolt!" - Her hown started to glow as she readied that particular spell when Nightmare Season blocked her line of shot and told Snowflake to go someplace alse, but the ice brain decided her big sis is just kidding. He started rambling about his "genius" business ideas as Nightmare did his best to block Crystal's shot as she tried to give the stallion a fire bolt in the nose. Eventually he stopped rambling and her fire died out. Crystal was frowning very deeply and still had murder in her eyes when Nightmare whispered in her ear, She slowly nodded. "I need to send Radiance back to the ship with a letter. Knowing him, parents have no clue of his latest idea." She stomped past her brother back to tent. Soon after, a Phoenix flew from it. The mare locked herself in the bedroom with her foals, and even Sparks was a bit concerned when Nightmare met her in the main hall as she levitated the furnishings from the guest chambers back to storage - less cleaning. She seemed to connect the dots when she saw the crystal pony though. The crystal nightmare threw a cushion at the opening to her retreat as soon a the flap moved, although she clearly aimed at the height of a normal pony's face. "Get lost before I drown you in the sea and say it was an accident!" She huffed angrily as the little ones took notice of her frustration. She didn't hit who she thought she aimed for, but rather Nightmare Season's chest. She sighed as Crystal Flames decided to climb on her head. "It's you... Please hold me when he's around because I really, really want to do something rash. How could he just... stay?" Her husband tried to talk some reason into her, and Crystal pouted while she listened. "Okay, I won't snap his neck or do any of the very tempring things I have in mind, but he's under your supervision, okay? You can order him to count the sand grains in the desert if you want, as long as he's not causing trouble or annoying me. Maybe you'll teach him some responsibility this year. At least he won't cause any more grief to my parents while he's here..." She gave him a hug. "Thanks for stepping in back at the beach, I think I could actually hurt him. Good you're the more reasonable from the two of us." She gave him a thank-you kiss and nuzzled his neck, still keeping the hug. She just wanted to be close to him. The mare thought for a moment, watching her kids play together. "I'm sorry Nightmare." He wasn't sure for what. "I'm sorry for treating you like a bed accessory. Guess I got carried away with that... I should spend more time with my foals, or think of my subjects instead of trying to scratch an itch that seems to only get more severe. I hope I didn't ruin my reputation with the Crystal Princess because of that. Maybe I'll send an apology letter." Radiance flew in and landed on the stallion's horn. then dripped the letter before the mare. He shook her off and she flied to her perch, sqwawking. "Huh, seems parents were just as surprised as me. At least he had enough common sense to leave his luggage on shore." Crystal put away the letter and corrected her tiara from her son's earlier attempt to take it. "So, my Sultan, shall we break camp and head along the Great River into the unknown? We'll have to plan the expedition very thoroughtly since, apparently, we'll have to take the foals with us... Unless we find a volounteer to keep Crystal Flames fed with their dreams." She looked at the little devil. Sparks was a natural candidate, but she didn't want to put even more pressure on her.

@, "Welp, tough luck. Nopony knows a thing whether they even had parents in the first place, or any other siblings for that matter." She got up and checked her drying clothes, than sighed asshe looked out the window. "amn weather, time to go shovelling again..." She started putting on her winter gear and answered the other question. "I'm not sure what kind of special you mean really, there are no other alicorns that I know of, but probably countless important of otherwise famous ponies all across Equestria. Wanna lend a hoof with the shovelling? Or have that snowball fight? I should think about some snow screen to cover the door..."

@@Nightmare Season, The mare's grin was growing to silly proportions as she eagerly awaited when he took her with his magic, when a horn was heard all over the capital. Her heart sunk as she recognised the tone - sand cats. Nightmare dashed for his war gear, and she did the same e moment earlier. She felt like she did this countles times already, scrambling to repel an attack on camp. As she bolted out of their room, tail still in the elaborate style and ice blue mane flowing like a cape from the comb in her helmet, Prince Shining Armor showed up and tried to ask her what was going on. "Sand cats, no time to explain, get everypony to this tent and rally the guards to protect them!" She dashed off to where the horn was heard, following Nightmare Season. She saw the guards - nightmare and crystal - ralluing the civillians to the main clan tents for safety. Two nightmares were engaged with the cats, there were four of them, at least for now. Poor guards wouldn't hold for long. The crystal nightmare had a nasty flashback of the memory when her husband was carried lifeless after fighting the beasts, and she stomped a hoof in anger, taking a silent vow not to let another mare go through the same. Her burning hatred to those creatures fuelled her anger - her mane and tail went ablaze and she felt a rush of power channeling tgrough her, as if she had a connecton to some other source of power, far greater than she could store herself. The air around her went ablaze as he fore shield surrounded the mare. With suddenly boundless confidence, she charged in to join the fight, yelling curses at the feline monstrosities, as if these were the ones that hurt her husband. The fight was short, but fierce. Her shield didn't work against the cats who had no ranged attacks, but still glazed their coats into glass, momentarily impeding their movements before they broke their shells. Crystal Clear shot fire bolts left and right, and shashed with her sword like never before. The cats were too feral to run, so they all died one by one. Suddenly the mare was alone, shooting fire bolts at the places where each of her foes disintegrated into sand. "Come on! That's all you've got?! Where's the rest of you? I'll murder them all, ALL!!!" - she yelled at the piles of glass, still burning. Nightmare must've saw she was vctorious because he came to her to calm her down. Crystal felt a tap on her shouder pad and glared at who did this, but snapped out of her berserk rage sawing it was her husband. Her fires were starting to die out as she camled, until she had hair again. The mare have him a tight hug. "I couldn't let them hurt anypony like they did you, I couldn't!" He patted her back and let her settle down, then both went to investigate how it all started. A few ponies provided useful information, and it turns out it was probably a chance meeting with a hunting pride rather than a big raid like the last time. Sadly one of the nightmare ponies was injured in the fight, but it seemed he'll make it. The royals - Nightmare, Crystal and speechless Shining, went back to the main tent and said it was all clear. The ponies gathered inside started pouring out and life slowly returned to normal. Crystal Clear stood around in the main hall watching the ponies depart, tapping her hoof nervously. Suddenly she nibbled on her husband's ear and dragged him to their room. She waited long enough. Nightmare, once his ear has been released inside their bedroom and Crystal kicked the flap shut, decided to hold her off some more by taking his armour in a very deliberate fashion, almost as if it was a sacred object and needed to be treated with utmost respect. She let out a deep love starved sigh and put hers off on it's stand, albeit with much less decorum. Finally he decided it was time to activate the silence spell. Crystal shook her head and clumsily put the necklace on him with her levitation. "Na-ah, time for a complete package." She thought about letting him "interrogate" her about the third spell, but she decided against it- he needed to have some fun too. The crystal nightmare pounced on her stallion, knocking him on the bed. With a mad giggle, she motioned him to lay on his back. "Just enjoy the ride, love." She put her mouth to use on where it counted the most, and he quickly figured out what the third spell was. Crystal Clear watched in satisfaction as he squirmed from all the pleasure she gave him - the spell would increase the sensation several times. Now it was just a matter of time until he too got loud.... Unfortunately, their "no holding back", crazy love session didn't last till he rutted her unconcious. Wandering Sands called to them from the other side of the flap, knowing better than to peek inside. They of course heard it, as advertised. Nightmare was about to return the favour and Crystal was being levitated in a very "interesting" way as he took advantage of her defenslessness to get some milk, preparing for something way better. The mare found herself back on the bed, trying to catch her breath as Nightmare deactivated the silence spell and called to the other stallion to say what was the matter. Apparently a nightmare pony accused a crystal pony of theft and the Sultan was needed to settle the dispute. Crystal was in no shape to get up anytime soon, so he had to go alone.

@ Crystal frowned a bit. So he kinda avoided a whole civilisation? "Name's Twilight Sparkle. She's been a princess for just a bit now, used to be Princess Celestia's protégé. There's a long story about her dad her friends saving the world a few times and, stuff like that, but I've been blissfully ignorant to any details. Basically they did a lot of heroic deeds together. Now you're going to ask about Princess Celestia, huh? She asked with a sly smile.

@ She gave him a questioning look. "She's their daughter, isn't it enough? Parents do what they can to protect their foals." She was starting to think he spent too much time in the cold. It's understandable that he haven't heard of the Empire, but how could he miss Equestria? "Uhh, you mentioned hives all across the continent and you ask what's South from here? Equestria, the land of ponies. Unless you mean South from that, but I have to idea if there even is something that way. And as far as I can tell, Spike the Brave and Glorious has a castle in Ponyville. Some town in Central Equestria. Although ponies from there say it belongs to the Princess of Friendship. Maybe there are two or something."

@ The mare walked back to her bed and sat on it. "I already told you, two weeks or so. Hard to be precise with that weather... He walks and pulls a sleigh. Sure, tough job but we marked several decent camping spots on the way and stashed some stuff to make a fire. So the trips would be a bit easier. Still, I guess he earns a lot for this job. I sure do." She thought for a moment. "The royal couple has a daughter, Flurry Heart. An alicorn foal no less. Other than that, just normal ponies if that's what you mean. Spike the Brave and Glorious lives down South, in Equestria."

@ She got up lazily from the bed. "I guess black suit you, yeah." Crystal walked to the stove to shove some more coal to the fire, then looked outside. It stopped snowing for now, but the wind picked up speed. "Maybe I'll say too much but, it doesn't matter how you look. It's who you are that matters and the Crystal Princess knows that. If, you, Aquarius are a good guy, she'll let you stay. I'm sure of it." She walked right in front of him and looked at him squarely. "Chin up, lovebug. It'll be fine."

@ Crystal Clear rolled to the side to have a better look at him. "Well, Thorax in the paper had no holes, yeah. But his... I dunno how you guys call your shell like bodies, it was green with some yellow, and red dots on his chest. Totally different that before." She smiled reassuringly. "I don't mind that you have holes, for once. You're different than regular ponies but there's no need to be ashamed of it."

@ Now it was the mare's turn to look confused. And concerned. "What do you mean "a better body"? I thought changeling are okay with their look. Besides, wouldn't it be wrong to take somepony's look? I bet they wouldn't be thrilled that their copy is having their own life." Snowballs could wait. There was something ahoof here.

@@Nightmare Season, The mare just laid on the bed, still trying to make her brain work. Her legs twitching after all he's done back there. At least she got away with one secret, though it was more because she wanted him to "question" her some more. Feeling a towel wiping her to a more presentable state made her moan again. She hear Nightmare talk to her and chuckled. "You got all wrong, dear, I said I didn't have experience. Never mentioned I didn't like it. And let's be honest, you're too good not to want more and more till I pass out on you..." Crystal Clear tried to reach him for a kiss, and he let her give it to him. "Thanks for the clean up. Seems we better try and learn that spell huh? Geez did I do all that mess?" She scrunched at the news he tricked her into believeing her family heard everything and gave him a boop. "Not fair, I'd last longer if not for that. I want a rematch." The mare needed a moment to let her hind legs work again as intended, make herself presentable again and pick a new dress. The nightmares went out of their bedroom, brushing againsttheir sides and taking sly glances at each other. "What took you so long?" - Laurel Wreath first asked when they approached the grandparents at the beach. Crystal looked at Nightmare. "It's the juice, mom, Oranges make a mess of a pony's coat, had to take a shower to get rid of it." She looked at the foals and hopped to join them in the sand. "How are my little cuties doing, huh? Digging a hole now, Crimsy? You want to be a miner?" The family had excellent time together, making sand sculptures and even taking a swim in the sea. Crysal wished they could spend evey day like that. Eventually, it was time for dinner. Crystal Flames was starting to lok at mommy in a certain way and Crimson Aurora also could use some food. Although she was like, 90% on solids now. Mainly mashed salads. The mare took her son for a snack toher bedroom and Nightmare spoon fed his daughter in the main hall as Sparks and Wandering Sands set up the table. The unicorn used less magic today, apparently she was tired from practicing her new spells. The crystal royal family also showed up for dinner, apparently they had a stroll around the camp on their own. They ate in good atmosphere, knowing full well that it's their last day together this year. The ship will head back tomorrow morning. Princess Cadence chipped that she and Sunburst came up with a way to use the spells, despite the nightmares poor magical prowess. Crystal Clear seemed really happy about that, but she downplayed the topic by the table. Once the meal was over, the crystal Princess asked to have a word with them, and the nightmares took her to the study room. She looked concerned. "I took a walk with Shining into the city, get some more shinies and the like. Now I don't want to sound..." Crystal cut her off with a sigh. "I know, slaves..." The princess nodded. Nightmare explained why the nightmare ponies took up the shameful practice in the first place, and how deeply it ran in their society. Crystal added. "I got two as a gift. Gave freedom to both. Sparks stayed with us, and the other one wanted to kill my husband on the first night. I was very negative about it and still am, believe me" - she instinctively tried to pry something loose on her neck, even tough she had nothing there - "But it'll take a lot of effort to convince them to abandon the practice. If I issue a ban, they won't listen anyway." Cadence thought for a moment, then nodded. "I see... Hopefully my subjects didn't see anything. Oh and the spells you wanted. Sunburst had some super old method of locking spells in items, and he made some for you." She led them to the main room and took something from a small bag that was there. "Put it where you want to keep quiet, and shoot this spell." she fished out a small scroll with an entry level spell. Nightmare tried it and a transparent dome formed around them, several steps across. Large enough for it's intended use. "The sound will still came in, so you'll hear the babies crying, for example, but nothing will escape it. Of course you'll be still visible, it's not a cloaking spell." She deactivated the crystal sculpture. "The rest is for you, I presume. We took liberty of fusing both in a single necklace - each stone holds one spell. Just put in on and it'll work." The princess held a crystal necklace with two larger crystals, that shone a bit, and presented it to Nightmare Season. "Have fun you two!" Cadence winked at the couple and went to her room without explaining the other two spells. Crystal grinned sheepishly at her husband who examined the necklace. "You know one of them, but I'm not talking about the other. Even if you made me sipill on the main square. You'll like it, no worries. It's a little gift for putting up with me all that time." She leaned to him and gave him a kiss. "Wanna try it out?"

@, Crystal made a wide "dunno" motion with her forelegs. "Ask him, not me. I've no idea how changelings do it and since you mentined eggs, I'm prettu sure I can live in blissful ignorance about that part. Also, I guess you should know that Spike the Brave and Glorious is, like, the biggest hero of the Empire right now. He's a dragon, by the way. So I'd recommend to keep that opinion private or amongst ponies you trust. Some may get offended or something." Shel laid on her back and looked up with a sigh. "So boring in here... Oh and good to know you'd like to come out clean. We don't need another city wide panic, and the royals should let you stay, or at least I think so. Although I don't know if they'll be generous enough to let you live in the Palace. My place is locked shut so you won't get in. Even if I had the keys with me. Hopefully they'll at least pay you a hotel room for some time." She raised her head with a silly grin and looked at him. "Hey, since you have some warm clothes, maybe you'd be up for a snowball fight? I know the weather is pretty bad and all but, come on, some movement at least!"

@, The mare shrugged and made herself comfortable by laying on her side. She kept her head propped up with a foreleg though. "It all started last year, whe the Empire was hit by a rumor that a changeling was seen nearby. The Crystal Princess and her husband had a nasty first encounter with them, since the hive under Queen Chrysalis basically invaded Canterlot. So of course the guards were looking everywhere and the city started freaking out, to the point of not leaving homes and the like. But Spike the Brave and Glorous found him and, who knew, he was actually a good guy. Sure, he was in Canterlot but he came to the Empire as a stray, a bit like you, I guess. Once he and the royals had a chance to actuaylly talk, he was declared to be safe and allowed to stay. Like I said earlier I never spoke to him, but he popped up in gossip or an odd newspaper article every now and then, and mostly in good light too. This Spring he left the Empire and... I don't know the details but basically dethroned Chrysalis and took over her hive. So that makes him King Thorax, I guess. I've heard there was something about the changelings appearance too, like they changed when he took over. But you should ask somepony who actually follows that kind of news, I just skim over them in the morning paper." The mare decided to ask a question too. "So was curious, when you get to the Empire, what you'll do? Come out like I adbised or try to feed off the ponies and go your merry way when you have enough?"

@, Crystal Clear gave him an appraising look as he donned the borrowed clothes. She walked around him and pulled at some places to smooth out the overcoat. "Hmm, not bad actually. I was thinking you'd look like you raided the closet of a younger sibling but with the long hoofboots you can't see the short sleeves. As long as you don't breathe too deep or sttretch in weird angles, you should be good." She smiled at him and allowed herself to pat him in the back reassuringly. "Cheer up, with that gear you can easily spend a few bours outside, if you keep moving. Now let's get you out of this suit before you get a heat stroke hehe!" The mare helped him out of the clothes and stacked them neatly in one place. "So these are yours now. You'll need them to get back to the Empire with Northern Lights anyway." Crystal Clear stretched her back a bit and looked around the cabin. "So... we're stuck here for the rest of the day, and it's too early to sleep yet, so what shall we do to kill some time? Normally I'd listen to music or do something silly. Probably both. Any ideas?" She raised an eyebrow at him as she sat on her bed. The mare kicked the drawer back to it's place earlier.

@, The mare smiled at him. He looked funny when he seemed taken aback by a good deed for him. "It's recent, we put it together this Spring. Nopony was visiting these areas and for good reason, but with the huge demand for crystals, especially after the Equestrian Games, we need much more than we can obtain in traditional ways. So a plan was made to look in the Mountains. I don't remember who designed it but I made some parts, like the beds, table, and some other stuff. I work with crystals." She announced with pride. Crystal took some rough measires of the changeling with her eyes as he stood by the window. She walked to the bed and pulled a wheeled drawer from beneath it, making some noise in the process. She started taking out clothes. "I hope you like white... Those pants should fit, I guess. I'm more, ahem, bottom heavy than you. The overcoat might be too tight in the chest, but just check it. Hmm, not sure about the hoofboots but try them on, who knows. A scarf... another cap... I have spare goggles so you won't get snowblind." She tapped her chin thoroughtly, looking at her wardrobe. "Guess that's it. More or less a ful outfit at least. Try it on, let's see if it's any good."

@@Nightmare Season, The crystal nightmare eagerly took the invitation to feed on his dreams tonight. Although her husband's offer to give her some more love tonight took her by surprise - it didn't occur to her they could do it in a dream. Still, if he thought it was safe, she sure took the offer without as much as a second glance. It still felt awesome but, also different. His dream body didn't feel quite the same to her. Still, he made her scream alright. Feeding on the sweet dream energy and getting the best care from her stallion, she sure hoped the night would last forever. Unfortunately, her ride was about to be cut short. Somehow she heard Crimson crying, like an echo through the dream So she could hear what he did? Interesting. She also had a gut feeling he would wake up soon. The crystal nightmare reluctantly stopped her husband and left the dream. Crystal Clear materialised by the bed and her ears confirmed the filly was crying in her sleep. She took comfort in the afterglow of their loving as Nightmare woke up herself. If they kept at it she would be probably walking funny on the next day, but whatever. They went to the nursery. Nightmare said he'l get their son from the filly's dream and she would stay to comfort her. The crystal nightmare smirked when he came back with a tiny black fery lantern of a colt - Crystal Flames was shining and looked very happy. Unlike his sister who was now soaking her mother's coat with tears. "There there, it's just a bad dream..." She comforted the filly and stared withher till she fell asleep again. Nightmare moved the colt to their bedroom so he would feed on his parents instead. Their dreams were ironclad with their regular root intake, so there was no way he could cause them a nightmare anyway. Crystal Clear was surprised to see the Princess in her night gown, all sleepy, entering the nursery. Seems the crying woke her up and sde decided to check in whether the parents need any help. The crystal nightmare thanked for the offer but they had it all under control now. The mares came back to their beds. The rest of the night went in peace. The next morning was usual - clean up, grooming, breakfast... Princess Cadence tokd them she had the scrolls with spells Crystal Clear asked for. That picked everypony's interest but she played it down, saying these were just small things to help lighten the burden of foal care. It was true, mostly. The princess took the nightmares out to show them the spells and hopefully teach them too. They took their foals too, since most of them were centered around them. There was a spell to instant change the diapers, cleaning spell, calming spell for a last resort if they couldn't do it with any other means... Crystal Clear took a back seat since she could barely lift her brush, so this was waaaay above her level. Nightmare also had a hard time, and she couldn't help but be amused by his attempts, but he did manage to get a few simpler ones to work. Finally Cadence shook her head and said. "Hate to break it to you guys, but you have a lot to learn about magic. Your nanny is a unicorn, how about her? You think she could manage to pull off those spells?" They both nodded and sgreed to ask Sparks if she'd be interested. Crystal went to get her and the mare agreed - it would make her job easier, and lessons from Hearts-Dream made her easily the most potent magic user in the house. With the princess's guidance, she managed to pull off the spells with just little issues and was presented with a stack of scrolls containing them. Still, Cadence had three more with her. "Hmm, these are the "other" spells you asked for, but judging from your earlier persformance, there's no use even starting to teach you two... I'll talk to my court wizard, maybe he'll be able to help." Crystal was a bit dissapointed, but she knew there was no way they could pull them off. Nightmare asked her what the scrolls contained as they went back into the tent, and she gave him a mischevious grin. "Oh nothing special love, just some... improvements." Cadence snorted as she overheard the mare and shook her head as she went to find Sunburst. The royal couple went to the main room to play with the foals and Crystal's family. The ship would depart tomorrow, and she wanted the grandparents to have as much fun with their grandfoals as possible. Nightmare Season kept bugging her about the spells, but she decided that it'll be more fun if she keep him in the dark a little longer. "If Sunburst figures out something, you won't be dissappointed, promise." At some point Crimson Aurora spilled a big cup of juice she'd been occasionally drinking from on her mother. Crystal had no other option than t excuse herself and wash - Queens don't wear stained dresses and have sticky coats, after all... She was in her bedroom, the gown laying on the carpet as she scrubbed her chest with a wet towel, when she felt being lifted with magic and brought to the center of the room. With an audible eek, she tried to fight it but couldn't. She saw it was Nightmare Season that grabbed her, and now levitated her in an... interesting position. "I won't tell you, do your worst if you wish!" She decided to defy his will to tell him what the spells were, and he decided to "make her talk". Well, she tried to resist his "interrogation", but there was only so much she could take before starting to get loud. Finally her embarassment took over and she told him, panting hard and with her back legs twitching funny. She'll need to rest and clean up after this, but it was just so awesome! They'll have to try it again sometime. He let her go on the bed and watched with amusement how she tried to figure which way is up. Seems that cleaning spell would be the first on her list of magic tuition priorities, judging from the look of her, and the carpet where she was suspended.

@ The mare was back in twenty minutes or so. She stepped inside, covered in snow and cursing under her breath as she took off the wet clothes to dry again. "If I won't push off the snow, we may get snowed in. Whoever designed this hut was an idiot." Having declared her view on the architect, Crystal Clear pinned the clothes back on the ropes to dry and sat by the stove to warm up. "I don't know if tomorrow will get any better... You want some warm clothes from my closet? They'll be a tad small but better than nothing, right?"

@ The mare nodded at her guest's explanation. "Then I'd like to ask you not to disguise as me. And don't worry, I'm just heading out to clear the snow from around the cabin so we can go out when the weather gets better. It's still snowing so, no trips today I'm afraid." She tied her hoof boots, put on the goggles, face mask and cap, then reached for a snow shovel and went to the doors. "You might want to stand away, it's going to get cold." Crystal shouldered the doors and they opened a bit, letting cold and snow in. She did it two more times before the doors opened eider and she walked out, closing them behind her. Aquarius could hear her shovel scraping at the crystal building as she worked.

@ She covered her eyes instinctively from the flames. When she lowered the hoof, Aquarius was a massive alicorn stallion. Crystal whistled in approval. "Seems like your friend is quite a stallion. Unless you can disguise as a pony you haven't actually seen..." She raised an eyebrow as she put on the overcoat.

@ She took off her clothes from the drying ropes and started putting them on. The mare cocked her head curiously at her guest. "Wouldn't that, I dunno, make you more love starved if you do it? Well I wouldn't mind seeing a changeling take a disguise up close, so if it's safe for you, sure, why not."

@ The mare perked an ear at him talking. When the changeling finished, she patted her chin with a hoof in thought, and replied. "...Delusional?" She looked back at him and shrugged. "I guess you imply he's an alicorn or something, but I'll believe when I'll see. So you're looking for him here? He lives here or also loves to stroll in places that could get him killed in a dozen ways?" She finished the plates and wiped her hooves, then looked out the window. "Buck, I'll need to clear the doorstep soon..." Crystal went back to finish her tea.

@ Crystal Clear turned around property and suspended her kitchen chore. She gave him a sympathetic look. "It's okay, I have an old map. You can show me where to look. But I need to spend as much time outside as possible. It's my job to seek those sites and catalog what can be found there. Ponies trust in me to do a good job in here, you see. I'm sorry but I'll have to leave you alone here every now and then." She resumed cleaning.

@ The mare seemed interested. "Hmm, would you be able to lead me to them? Or give directions if my assorted clothes don't make the cut in keeping you warm?" She took a glance at the table to make sure she didn't miss anything and started cleaning. Again, she had to talk over the shoulder since the table was behind her as she washed the dishes. "His name is Northern Lights. A crystal earth pony, and a big guy too. Unfortunately, he's usually too busy talking about himself to even check whether his audience is listening... I could swear he's trying to hit in me but he's just soooo missing the mark, it's kinda sad actually." Crystal Clear smirked at the memory of the stallion's previous attempts to gather her interest. "If it wouldn't ruin my reputation, I guess you could squeeze some love out if him if you disguised as me. Or maybe he's just trying to get under my tail." The mare shook her head and looked at her guest either an amused smile. "Listening to me ramble, you're probably asking yourself if I'm even remotely sane, do you?"