Ponyville was a pleasant town. Rural, charming, a small place where everypony knew everypony. Or at least everypony knew Pinkie Pie. The air was cool and the trees were all painted in hues of orange and gold. It was the autumn, and soon it would be time to take down the leaves and bring in the snow. Doc stopped and breathed in the cool air. It filled his lungs and pierced his chest like a knife made out of ice. Except less painful. Gave him a bit of energy.
	He started at a brisk trot through the town, but he found himself slowing to a leisurely walk. No need to hurry, he thought. There was no sense in rushing past the day. Oh true, normally when a pony thinks of a “nice” day they think of those clear days in the spring and the summer, but an earth pony can appreciate every day of the year. An earth pony doesn’t merely divide the year into four seasons, no, an earth pony categorizes them further. There’s winter, yes, but there’s winter before and after the snow begins to fall. There’s the deep winter, where you stay inside with a roaring fire, and the lighter winter, where you go and have snowball fights.
	He looked around. The birds weren’t singing - the pegasus ponies had led them south for the winter. In one sense, it left a feeling of emptiness - there was no music this time of year. But on the other hand, it left a deep, quiet calm, where he could be alone in his thoughts (and he had many, many thoughts).