Parcly Taxel: Some public holidays in Japan were once linked to the Emperor and the Shintō religion, such as Labour Thanksgiving Day (勤労感謝の日) which was originally a harvest festival (新嘗祭). Such references were later removed, secularising the holidays but giving them rather unusual names.
 
Spindle: By far the most important one is the New Year (元日), because many establishments will close for a period around this date, say five days, in what is known as Shōgatsu (正月). This can be frustrating, even for locals, since it disrupts the rhythm of everyday life that would otherwise assert priority. Closures are timed to begin after Hearth’s Warming, though, so we would not face much of a problem before returning to Canterlot.
 
Parcly: We bought another one-day subway pass to facilitate our travels. The trains were crowded as ever during our journey to Shinsaibashi, with passenger movement bottlenecked at one of the exits in the Umeda interchange because of renovation works on an escalator. The streets themselves ringed with announcers broadcasting offers on all matter of products and ponies queueing up in response – the largest stores had queues stabbing the entrances wide open.
 
At a bar we had Chinese pork noodles with cabbage and karaage (唐揚げ) chicken for lunch. It seems that the ticket system for placing orders is gaining in popularity, perhaps as a gratification for increasingly impatient, multi-tasking ponies. Exiting through its back door, we encountered a quiet alley, an oasis of calm in an endless desert of chaos.
 
Spindle: Structured chaos, you mean? Crossing into the shopping street in Shinsaibashi, the bridge beside the Glico mare and the adjoining street of Ebisubashi (戎橋), regardless of what time it was or where we were, I could make out two opposing streams of heads with the left side coming towards me, the same orientation as Japanese cars and trains on roads and tracks. Within each stream, lateral movement was kept to a minimum, except when reaching for a store.
 
Parcly: After eating so much for lunch I felt queasy, my eyes refocusing over and over on the next junction or zebra crossing or pony in my path. Everything beyond five metres ahead was a blur; my larger Twilight-sized alicorn frame and the shelters reflecting noise back down weren’t helping either. In the end I managed to reach a beanbag indoors and lie flat on it, the polystyrene balls shifting to nuzzle against my wings. When I felt recharged, I had to brave just fifteen more minutes of congestion…
 
…and stepped out of Miyakojima, tension discharging into open air. Convenience stores in Japan are not only everywhere, but also packed with services from photocopying to oden to chairs. I walked into the second-nearest instance across the road, bought tiramisu as a reward for my recent efforts and basked in the peaceful silence enveloping the remainder of my way home.
 
Spindle: Rain settled in when we opened the door, its pitter-patter keeping both of us awake for a little while. Parcly soon gave in to her bottle’s gentle pull, her brain subliming, swirling inwards and mixing with her heart. I followed suit once this had happened.
 
Though windigos have evolved their technology in leaps and bounds, they still remember their role in creating Hearth’s Warming and are loved by ponies for that. The trio who chased the leaders of the old earth pony/pegasus/unicorn tribes – Beppine, Katiwi and Sivyalel – were also some of the first windigos, born when the winds of winter circled around an enchanted mountain. When they were burned by the fire of friendship, the remaining windigos realised they could help then-new Equestria remove its most hateful ponies by lifting them into spirits. Conversely, the ponies knew they could keep the windigo population in check by letting those who were ready cross over via the fire, which became a Hearth’s Warming tradition. However, because I had fallen for Parcly, I became immune to the fire, thus truly immortal.
 
Parcly: I released myself at half past seven, well into the night (indeed one of the longest by its proximity to the winter solstice), then showered. I still hadn’t had dinner, so what would I eat on this special eve?
 
Fried chicken. In Japan, turkeys have to be imported and are hard to come by, so this local food is substituted instead. I heard Scootaloo say that it all began when a pony in a chicken suit went to a school near Hearth’s Warming and started dancing, whence every other school followed. We had all parts of the chicken (fingers and nuggets included) purchased from different sources, as well as oden, beancurd sushi and a chocolate log cake!
 
Spindle: Happy Hearth’s Warming, everypony!