Toboggan

by Magnum the Critic

Toboggan

The freezing wind lashed its harsh, biting sting upon three fillies: causing them to shudder underneath their heavy winter coats. The butter yellow earth pony wore a heavy full-body jacket, the snow-white unicorn wore a bright pink scarf, and the orange pegasus had donned a rainbow colored wool hat with cyan blue tassels that blew in the chilling wind. The trio stood atop the tallest hill and gazed at the frozen wasteland before them.

The blanket of pristine snow was utterly undisturbed, save for the tracks they left behind them from their trek from their homes. The powdery substance glistened in the morning sunlight, creating a glare so bright that they could not stare directly at any one spot of the barren landscape.

The weather team had scheduled a blizzard to hit Ponyville on Friday, and had alerted all the authorities to the expected severity of the storm three days in advance. Cheerilee; in response to the mental image of children drudging through the snow just to sit down in the single-room school, told all the children that school would be closed on Friday.

Most students went home that Thursday night with the thoughts of sleeping in until the afternoon; or of drinking delicious hot chocolate and eating s’mores. Others still envisioned the construction of snow forts and launching snow balls at the enemy encampment. But three particular fillies had bigger plans. Much bigger plans. This was the first guaranteed snow-day in the three years that they had been friends, and they were not going to waste it doing some mundane task like sitting inside. So after school had ended and Cheerilee had ushered out the last students, the unicorn offered up to her friends an idea that was revolutionary in its sheer brilliance. They gathered the necessary materials and travelled to their secret clubhouse with all due speed.

It was here that the ultimate device of winter fun was conceived. Born from the enthusiastic mind of the unicorn and crafted by the skilled hoof of the earth filly, they worked diligently for hours on end perfecting their ingenious contraption. It was a torturous, daunting task ahead of them, for the complexity of this plan was far beyond anything they had done in the past. The unicorn made sure every angle was just right, and the earth filly in turn corrected every fault along the construction of the miracle machine while the young Pegasus located a suitable testing area for their product. And when the flying filly returned with the coordinates of the perfect location, she felt her jaw drop at the glorious device that lay behind her eager and exhausted friends. The excellent craftsmanship of the country filly shone through as bright as a star as they all took in the fruits of their efforts. The amount of fun they could partake in with their creation was beyond estimation.

In short, they made a toboggan.

They now stood shoulder to shoulder with the sled at their hooves and excitement in their hearts. The hill the tomboyish pegasus had chosen was just right. Not too steep to be tiresome to climb, but with just the right angle of descent to make it a thrill ride. The hill they stood upon was the tallest in a large field of smaller hills that rose and fell like an ocean of snow. It was far enough from Applebloom’s farm that they could see it in the distance, but not so far away that it would take more than an hour to get home.

The white unicorn shuddered under her thick jacket in anticipation. They had snuck out without telling any of their parents or siblings, so if anything unfortunate were to happen, no one would be around to help them. Luckily, the entire field was completely barren of any trees or obstacles of any kind save for a mound of clumped together snow they made into a make-shift ramp. They stood ankle-deep in the snow, the toboggan resting in front of them, beckoning to the children to climb on and enjoy the high-speed winter beauty.

The orange filly broke the pristine silence by nudging her friends closer to the wooden fun machine that they had built with their own hooves. Without saying a word, they climbed in one at a time. Applebloom in front to use her strength to steer, Sweetie in the middle to hold the other two in place with her unicorn magic, and Scootaloo in the rear. Her job was the most important; using her wings to propel the sled forward. Holding onto the reigns with her front hooves, the country filly gulped nervously as she took in just how far down the bottom was.

She looked back to her friends, who looked at her in turn. All three faces filled with uncertainty and apprehension, but also with a childish desire to test the impossible. She nodded at Scootaloo and turned back to the front of the toboggan. The other two tensed their bodies and held on to the sled for dear life as the pegasus behind them revved her wings, creating a buzzing sound that blew a cloud of flaky snow behind her as the toboggan began inching to the edge of the hill. The curled front of the toboggan crept over the edge straight as an arrow before coming down and letting gravity work its magic.

The toboggan moved slowly at first, but the extra power from Scootaloo’s wings quickly sent them forward. Screams of terror soon melted into shouts of joy as they careened down the winter slope. The wind whipped against their manes, causing Applebloom’s red bow to flutter like a butterfly in Sweetie’s face.

The unicorn was hugging the yellow furred body in front of her with all her might, burying her face into her friend’s back out of fear. She sneaked a peek out of one eye, however, and steadily eased her grip on her friend to see the white world fly past them. Scootaloo, on the other hand, was whooping and hollering at the top of her lungs.

The sled carried the fillies down the hill, rapidly gaining speed and leaving behind a smooth trail in the snow. It moved at such a velocity that the dry air began to whip their faces, stinging the filly’s eyes and causing them to water slightly. The bottom of the hill came up abruptly to meet them, but they showed no signs of stopping. The country filly pulled sharply on the reigns, guiding the toboggan into a gentle curve as it raced up the side of a hill and down in a new direction.

The CMC threw their hooves up in childish glee and cheered the toboggan on as it approached the next hill. Sweetie Belle stopped looking at the world around them just in time to witness the spectacle in front of them. The upward slope made Scootaloo fear that they would lose precious momentum, and end their sled-ride prematurely. So she flapped her wings as hard as she could manage and propelled them off the hilltop so fast that the entire toboggan went airborne.

Time slowed for the three friends as they looked at the winter wonderland in amazement. They collectively “oooooed” and “aaaaaed” at the glittering world beneath them. The radiant dawn casted a glorious glow on the snow, and it transcended all other earthly forms of beauty. The pristine, silent landscape reminded the unicorn of some of the famous paintings Rarity showed her at the art museum.

They could see the whole countryside from this height, and they reveled in its splendor. Scootaloo was especially ecstatic; a grin stretched from ear to ear as she felt the wind under wings and pretended she was actually flying. Tragically, this moment ended too soon, for they landed smoothly back on the ground and carried on without a loss of momentum.

They were all pulled out of their daydream as the sled ran up and down and back up the hills like a roller coaster. Applebloom turned her head to her friends and screamed in delight over the shrieking winter winds,

“This is the most fun Ah’ve ever had!!” Her friends hollered back with approval. She turned back to the front, but a stray snowflake landed on her eye, causing her to wince as the ice soon melted into water against her eye. She wiped her face with a hoof, unknowingly jerking the sled to the right as she did so. She blinked a few times and shook her head to brush away the rest of the flake. But when she looked to the distance, her happiness vanished. There was a rock sticking up out of the snow. She quickly turned her head and tried to warn Scootaloo of the oncoming obstacle.

"Scootaloo! We're gonna crash!" The wind was howling so hard around them that she could barely hear herself. The orange filly moved her hoof up to ear, to hear her friend better.

"We gotta dash? Alright then!" Applebloom's face drooped in horror as her friend revved up her wings like a motor, propelling them faster to the rock. Her earth pony reflexes kicked in and she pulled the reigns of the toboggan with all her earth pony strength. But her efforts were futile. As the other two finally noticed the rock, the toboggan crashed headlong into it, making the back end flip up, catapulting the fillies into the sky. The children held their breath in shock as the snow came rapidly up to meet them.

They landed in the soft, freezing snow and tumbled head over heels as the momentum from the toboggan refused to leave them. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were sent hurtling through the snow, rolling over and under each other, making a giant snowball.

The snowball enveloped the children and continued moving like something out of a cartoon. The fillies could feel the ball moving up and down the hills, and it made them all quite dizzy as they spun around inside. The sphere of white reached a stop however, as it collided with something very solid. The snowball shattered upon impact and crumpled into a mountain of snow. The three fillies poked their unscathed heads out from underneath the icy blanket and shook the snow off their heads, with Sweetie spitting out the scarf that had ended up in her mouth.

Applebloom looked up and saw the large sign that read, “Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres” and exhaled in relief that they were home before anypony got worried. The three looked at each other in silence.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"....heh"

"Ha."

"hehehe."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!" The fillies couldn't control their laughter any longer, and flopped onto their backs and roared in childish glee. They sat in the snow for a long time, filling the calm morning air around them with the sound of joy. When they finally managed to control their giggles, they collectively shivered, realizing just how cold it was to sit in the snow. Applebloom helped her friends up, and they shook the powder off their coats. Applebloom chirped yet another brilliant idea to her friends.

"Do y'all want to go inside and have some hot chocolate?" Her friends did not need to be asked twice, and they all filed inside the warmth of the country filly's house.

Comments

[jmj]

It's a cute story for sure. The CMC are great in it. Also, your choice of music is exceptional and I feel it really added to the emotion of their thrilling ride. It was fun, easy to read, and well written. I'm amazed at the difference in your level of writing from your first chapter in your initial story. Keep up the good work, sir.

[Firebirdbtops]

Pretty good story, but I would say that real time dialogue would have helped me get into the feeling of the scenes more than the physical descriptions alone. Of course the trouble with that, is dialogue interrupts the flow of prose sometimes. It can be quite tough to slot it in. Still, good job.