Sugar Belle sure was glad that Silk Shimmer had been her makeover partner that night, because she felt the prettiest that she had ever been in her entire life. Her eyelashes were fuller and yet amazingly soft, and she could actually feel how rosy her cheeks were now. Silk had chosen a deeper pink lipstick to put on Sugar Belle's lips, and worked a flowered hairband in her bouncy purple curls. When finished, Silk made Sugar Belle twirl around like a little filly, because "beauty should not be stiff".
"You were pretty before, but, it's always fun to figure out a way to enhance that!" Silk had squealed.
Sugar Belle's attempt at applying makeup on Silk didn't go as well. Poor Silk Shimmer ended up looking like a gingerbread pony.
Sugar Belle didn't mind that Silk wiped it all off when Party Favor laughed, but she herself wanted to keep her makeup on. Merry liked it, Party Favor liked it, and Quasar... well, he at least acknowledged that his daughter did a good job doing the makeover. So, Sugar Belle kept it on the rest of the night, even while having hot cocoa and sharing recipes for desserts with the family.
Even when she went home for the night, she still looked in the mirror and admired it.
She imagined herself back in Fillydelphia, striding down the street like she walked down a red carpet. Heads were turned to gaze at that pretty little unicorn, who beamed with the confidence she wasn't allowed to have in youth. They all cheered as she danced, and with with each stallion she twirled to, she gained a flower in her mane. Her old friends and her new friends joined her in her dance, laughing along with a joyful tune, and the whole city cheering for them. My, how she felt alive.
Then, all of a sudden, she was face to face with her father. She cowed at the sight of the older stallion's scowl, and was subjected to his painful grab of her horn. In her mind's ear, she could clearly hear him roar, "Wipe that gunk off your face! You look like a floozy!"
Sugar Belle winced under the pain of his grip. "But, Dad--"
"Don't you 'But, Dad' me, Missy! How's about you stick to learning to not bake garbage, instead of training to be a showgirl?"
"Can't I just feel beautiful for a moment?"
"Pfft, as if! Your mother never needed to dress up like a clown to be beautiful! Too bad that following in her steps is impossible for you, no matter how much I try to knock sense into you. You just have a knack for ruining everything."
Sugar Belle's heart sunk. She would never be the stunning beauty that her mother was. She would never inspire the number of awestruck friends that her mother did, nor would she strike a passionate romance like her. She would never match up to her mother's baking ability, which was rumored in her neighborhood to make taste buds sing and dance like it was a big holiday. She would never be as smart, as talented, or as reliable as the previous Sugar Belle was. The proof was in that failed business long ago, her last friend leaving her in a huff, and her fearful impulse to run away before the word could reach her father.
Sugar Belle wiped the makeup off. It was time for bed, and keeping it on would not be comfortable in her sleep. Tomorrow was Hearth's Warming Eve, and the second day with Party Favor's family. She wondered what traditions they were going to show her next, giving her a fuller picture of the Rune family Hearth's Warming--though one missing family member didn't allow her to complete it.
Then, as she slipped into bed, she wondered how it was going to go south. After all, each day had some sort of disaster happen, no matter who she was with. She felt like the bad luck charm of Hearth's Warming's traditions; maybe she should have stayed out of her friends' family affairs.
However, she huffed defiantly. No, she thought, she was going to enjoy this holiday like a normal pony, even if it killed her!
If there was anything that wouldn't lead to a big mishap, it would be making Hearth's Warming figures.
Sugar Belle could barely remember the days of her Grandma's needlework or school projects, but it was enough for her to pick up sewing quickly. They all sat around Party Favor's living room, each having drawn out designs for their individual figures and started their projects, be they dolls or statuettes. Or in Party Favor's case, a balloon figure, hence why he was the first to finish and put on a designated shelf. Now, he was just planning out other balloon figures of Hearth's Warming symbols.
"As you can see," Silk Shimmer said, pointing with one of her knitting needles. "He's an eager beaver for making holiday art in the best way he knows how. He's already got a balloon Hearth's Warming Tree in the corner, now he just needs to do everything else."
Sugar Belle looked at said tree, as finely decorated as any real tree despite having less detailed branches, and nodded in agreement. "You should have seen when he decorated for Nightmare Night."
Quasar Rune, who had been slicing away at a wood block, glanced up at his horn. "Balloon decor in a house full of unicorns. Can't see how that would go wrong."
"Oh, don't worry, before the trip, I taught myself an indestructibility spell to cast on them so there are no accidents," Merry said, crocheting away. "I frankly don't want to pick up popped balloons like we've done every year, and no artist likes his artwork destroyed."
"Thanks, Mom!" Party Favor chirped.
Quasar groaned, and cringed when the squeaks of Party Favor's balloon modeling rang out again. From taking a peek at Party Favor's sheet and looking at the snowflake that he was crafting, he deduced that he was going to make a lot of those to hang from the ceiling. Just thinking about it was giving Quasar a headache, and he tried to focus on his wood carving.
"Did you always decorate with balloons?" Sugar Belle asked.
"Well, Party Favor always tried, but..." Merry paused in her crocheting and looked at her needle, which was a dark blue. "His brother had a habit of picking on him. I do admit, it feels odd to have balloon decor now that Kazam's not here to pop it all."
"We usually just decorated with lights, bows, and the usual tree," Silk Shimmer said. She smiled at Sugar Belle, still knitting without looking. "How about you? How did you decorate?"
Sugar Belle looked at the little pink pillowcase she sewed and coolly stuffed it. "We were not much of a decorating family. The most that ever happened was rearranging the furniture, and maybe getting a discount tree from the local market."
Party Favor, having built a balloon stepladder, was hanging a snowflake from the ceiling. "Wait, did you even decorate the tree?"
"Mm, yeah, with crafts I made at school." Which was all burned once Hearth's Warming was over. All that hard work of hers gone to waste, because her father didn't bother separating the art from the tree when using it as firewood. She sewed the tiny "pillow" up, and twisted it to make a head. "I honestly had more Hearth's Warming fun at school, with arts and crafts, sharing treats, and listening to Hearth's Warming stories."
"Oh, telling Hearth's Warming stories to each other is a tradition of ours!" Silk exclaimed. "What's your favorite? I liked 'The Best Hearth's Warming Pageant Ever'."
"I liked 'The Innkeeper'," Merry said, enchanting each snowflake Party Favor put up.
"'A Hearth's Warming Tale'," Quasar muttered.
"'The Ballad of Holly Daybreak!'" Party Favor cheered, jumping and slapping another snowflake onto the ceiling.
Sugar Belle shrugged. "Well, I guess I liked the story of Equestria's Founding. And the one about the nutcracker. And I've heard all those but the Holly Daybreak one. Who is she?"
Party Favor continued to put up balloon snowflakes, bouncing his stepladder around. "A pony that started many of the traditions we celebrate today, like candy canes, Hearth's Warming trees, and gift giving. When Hearth's Warming became an obligation to keep away Windigos rather than a celebration of friends and family, she started them as symbolism for what Hearth's Warming is supposed to be about and for ponies to have fun and strengthen bonds."
Once he put the last snowflake up, he hopped off and went back to his plans to decide what he should make next. "She traveled across Equestria to spread joy. She's kind of like... a party pony, in that sense."
"I don't know," said Quasar, his wood block now starting to resemble a pony. "It sounds like she may have ruined a solemn holiday with frivolities like that. No matter how much you sugarcoat it, her traditions have led to ponies making it all about the presents than about loving your fellow ponies."
Party Favor had started to make a model of a green mare--who Sugar Belle guessed was Holly--but stopped and looked up at his father with a glare. "Well, it's not her fault that some ponies miss the point. She just wanted to rekindle the joy of the holiday."
Quasar rolled his eyes. "With cheap fun and games, sure, good job, Holly. Well, if she's a so-called 'party pony', then I suppose that they all ruin serious matters by making light of them and making ponies avoid their problems rather than facing with them like an adult."
Merry gasped. "Quasar!"
With no indestructibility spell cast on that green balloon, a loud pop thundered through the house as Party Favor threw it on his own horn, snorting hotly. "Oh, I'm not facing my problems like an adult? Is that what you're saying? Gee, who was the one who started acting cold because I couldn't even lift an acorn with magic? Who was the one who insisted that it was a mistake when his oldest and favorite son ended up in jail because he misused magic? Who's the one who thinks it's okay to make snide jokes about my very nature as a party pony?"
Quasar dropped his half-carved figurine and stood up. "Oh, please tell me, who was the one who brought disaster to our home in hopes that he could please the fickle crowds of Canterlot? Who was the one who continually caused problems with those balloons, the damages of which we had to pay for? Who was the one who decided it was a good idea to run off and get his cutie mark removed because he couldn't stallion up and admit that he causes more trouble than it's worth?"
Party Favor stomped. "Oh, sure, make excuses like that instead of admitting that you just find my special talent stupid!"
Silk Shimmer cut in between them. "Seriously, you two? You're fighting now? We have a guest!"
Sugar Belle wanted to whack them with a spoon and tell them that they're both idiots, but at the same time, she really wanted to stay out of the fight. The fact that they yelled to Silk, "Stay out of this!" and that Quasar was a skilled mage that she couldn't hope to sway made her more reluctant to do anything--just sit and watch as the fight unfolded.
"Let me guess, you're going to go the route of 'You don't understand' like every spoiled teenager yells?" Quasar Rune growled. "Perhaps you don't understand how frustrated I am with how your special talent is nothing but a dead end!"
"And you don't understand how lonely I felt being just about the only unicorn in Canterlot who can't use magic! I've been bullied for years, and you did absolutely nothing to help! All you cared about was stroking Kazam's ego! And look where he ended up; I say I got the better deal."
"Oh, sure, joining a cult and having your cutie mark removed is the better deal. And where is Miss Starlight Glimmer now? Probably out to cause misery for somepony else because of her ridiculous vendetta against cutie marks."
"Hey, if she was mocked for her talent--or maybe lack of talent--and had to deal with a distant dad and a big brother bully, then I don't blame her for feeling that way! At least she'd have a better excuse than Mr. 'Show Off By Turning Las Pegasus Citizens into Vampires'!"
Once the two locked horns, Merry stood up, "Okay, that's enough! This fighting is getting us nowhere, and clearly you're both acting ridiculous! I just want us to be a happy family as we were years ago, before all this nonsense about magic and cutie marks tore us apart!"
"I shouldn't have asked about Holly Daybreak," Sugar Belle groaned, rubbing her temples. She turned to Silk Shimmer. "So, uh, where should we hide in case your father starts throwing furniture around?"
Silk Shimmer blinked. "Huh? Hey, Dad may be angry, but he does have self-control! Where'd you get that idea?"
Sugar Belle bit her lip. "Uh..."
All of a sudden, both Party Favor and Quasar Rune yelped, and all the girls in the room turned to see them apart, both rubbing their horns... and eyeing a beam of magic with horrified eyes. It bounced between the balloon snowflakes on the ceiling like a pinball, going through the hoops and loops of Party Favor's art. Left and right, back and forth, in arcs and zigzags spurred by the bouncy latex, the five unicorns could only watch helplessly, in hopes that it would fizzle out before hitting anything besides balloons.
It descended from the ceiling, sending everyone ducking for cover. It only bounced off the balloon stepladder, then the balloon tree, and then broke through the window.
After staring at the broken window for a moment, Merry turned to the boys and asked, "What happened?"
Quasar rubbed his horn. "I'm not entirely sure. I felt something shock my horn, and I involuntarily released some magic." He turned to Party Favor and looked at his horn. "It couldn't have been your horn..."
Party Favor shrugged. However, before he could say a word, there was a roar outside in the distance, followed by a foal's scream. Both he and his father's eyes widened, and their jaws dropped at the same time, in the exact same manner. As amusing as the family resemblance was, Sugar Belle could tell that they were likely thinking the same thought of "Oh, horseapples".
Silk Shimmer leapt off the couch. "Did it hit something? I think it hit something!"
Quasar's face turned grim. "We better make sure that foal's all right."
That magic beam had traveled quite the distance, as Sugar Belle and the Runes galloped for some time before they found out just what it did.
They came across Double Diamond and his family, who were throwing snowballs, rocks, and pine cones at a giant snowpony, which held Green Circle in its snowy grip. Try as the filly might, the snow was packed too tight for her to escape on her own, and try as her family might, the snowpony just absorbed the projectiles like nothing. The only thing that clearly affected it was when Powder Snow threw a boulder at it, causing it to stumble back and nearly fall. However, it did prevent any more boulders from coming by waving Greenie in the line of fire, easily stopping Powder from just grabbing another large thing to throw.
Double Diamond was quick to notice the others. "Hey! A little help over here, guys!"
There were no questions asked, and the Runes and Sugar Belle went in to fight. Quasar, Merry, and Silk galloped around and zapped it with magic, causing parts of the monster to melt. Meanwhile, Sugar Belle started to tear chunks of snow from the snowpony's legs, tossing them aside and digging through the snow to try and weaken it. Double Diamond and family followed suit to help her.
Party Favor molded a balloon into a sword and started to canter around, looking for a place to strike. This did not go unnoticed by Blue Square, who paused to stare at him incredulously.
"Mr. Favor," Blue said, adjusting his glasses. "A balloon would be utterly ineffectual against a giant monster--or anything for that matter--in this climate. The gasses in the balloon will contract in response to cold, making the balloon rather--"
Party Favor used another balloon to bounce up and slash the foreleg that held Greenie, which surprisingly cut right through. Snow hoof and Green Circle fell to the ground, and thankfully Sugar Belle was there to catch her, though the packed snow the filly was trapped in made it a little heavier than the pink mare liked. Nevertheless, despite some clear strain on Sugar Belle's part, she held it up long enough for Powder and Alta to grab their daughter and pull her out of the snow.
Blue blinked. "...deflated."
Sugar Belle gave him an exasperated glare. "Do you ever not talk?"
Greenie glanced at Sugar. "Sadly, he has to open his big mouth all the time."
Blue threw his hooves up in the air. "That should be impossible! That guy should be fined for breaking the laws of physics!"
Double Diamond slung a rock at the creature. "It's Party Favor, don't question it."
Black Diamond slammed a snowball on Blue's head. "Now, let's focus on destroying the thing."
Greenie frowned. "I worked so hard to build it."
Alta laughed. "Hey, it just lost a hoof. Beating that thing will be a piece of cake."
All the snowpony had to do was stomp on the ground and absorb more snow to regrow its hoof. It looked at its new hoof, grinned wickedly, and roared to the sky. All shuddered and covered their ears in response, and everyone instinctively backed away from the behemoth.
Alta looked at Greenie, and then gave her to Blue Square. "Buddy, could you take your sister back to the house? Also, bring me my pickaxe, I think it'll help with the fight."
Blue Square nodded. "Okay, Mom."
As Blue left with his sister, the Snow Family readied themselves for another round.
Meanwhile, the Runes were on the other side of the snowpony, trying to gauge any weaknesses it may have. Party Favor turned to his father, and said, "Hey, I think my balloon sword laid a pretty hard blow on that thing, so maybe I can keep chopping it up into pieces and showing you that maybe, just maybe, my talent isn't so useless after all?"
Quasar scowled. "It's not like you'd be hired on combat prowess."
"Hey! I'm the town's event planner already!" Party Favor snapped.
"Now's not the time to argue!" Silk yelled.
The snowpony swatted them aside, sending them tumbling through the snow. As they picked themselves up and pulled themselves out of snow piles, they noticed a boulder being flung at them, and resolved to roll out of the way before it landed, with the boys on one side and the girls on the other.
The snowpony had to turn its attention back to the earth ponies, especially Black Diamond, who was punching holes in its legs left and right. It attempted to stomp on the blue-gray pony, but Black Diamond was too swift. Even so, with each stomp, it managed to absorb more snow to fill the holes, no matter how many times Black Diamond punched its legs.
Once Blue returned and gave a pickaxe to Alta, she immediately jumped on the snowpony, climbing it effortlessly and then striking its back with the pickaxe. Elsewhere, Sugar Belle attempted to rip out more chunks, and the rest were trying to stab and dig at it with sticks.
The Runes galloped forth, with three zapping the snowpony with magic and the one slashing at it with his balloon sword. Blasting holes and slashing off limbs still proved to be fruitless, as the snowpony still absorbed more snow and would swat at the ponies every chance it got. It even absorbed Alta's pickaxe and bucked her off, sending her flying into the air and falling until her husband caught her.
At one point, Quasar Rune and Sugar Belle had been caught in one, and thrown several meters back into a snowy pillow. Both breathing heavily and feeling cold crystals dampen their coats, they looked at each other. With a mild glare, Sugar Belle asked, "Just how powerful are you to make a snowpony come to life and grow fifty feet tall?"
Quasar blew on his bangs. "Well, I can say that I can't turn anypony into a monster, or fuse anything, or remove cutie marks. However, perhaps I could think of a way to deanimate it. If only I had my spellbook to give me ideas..."
Sugar Belle opened her mouth to reply, but was suddenly grabbed by the snowpony. Then, she screamed, "Think of something, quick!"
Quasar Rune quickly got to his feet, and stared in horror as the snowpony started to wave her around. He heard Powder Snow complain, "Oh, come on! Just when I got the boulder, too!", but could only try to decide just which way was the best to defeat it. Any idea of his required him to conserve energy until he could cast it. He hoped that everypony else could hold out longer.
Thankfully, backup in the form of Night Glider and Fleetfoot rushing from the sky to kick the snowpony in the face allowed him a bit more time. They were followed by their parents, and they hopped to the ground in order to join the others. Night Glider landed by Double Diamond and Party Favor.
"Okay, can you guys explain where the Abominable Snowpony came from?" she asked.
Party Favor pursed his lips. "Well, my dad and I had an argument, something zapped us, and he shot a spell that got out of our house and onto his sister's snowpony." He pointed at a glaring Double Diamond during the last part of the sentence.
"What do you mean 'something zapped you'?! My sister almost got eaten by that thing!" Double Diamond snapped.
"Well, we didn't do it on purpose! My dad at least knows better than to shoot magic willy-nilly!"
"Do you even know what that 'something' that zapped you is?!"
Party Favor shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
Night Glider looked up at the towering snow monster. "Let's discuss this later, 'cause it might eat Sugar Belle."
The boys turned their heads upward. Sure enough, Sugar Belle was now in its hoof and the monster had hungry eyes on her whenever it had the chance. It kept on getting distracted by the efforts of the others to knock it down, whether by the Snows' digging and throwing, the Runes' zapping, and the Wings' aerial strikes. It kept on absorbing snow to fill every dent made and to pack itself harder for an icy exoskeleton, much of which made strikes hurt for the flesh and blood ponies. It even made it harder for Night Glider's parents to pull Sugar Belle out of the hoof before being swatted away like flies, and Fleetfoot was swatted away by a snowy tail.
Party Favor gasped, and in an instant had his balloon sword ready. "Nopony eats any friend of mine!"
He galloped forward and leapt into the air, ready to strike the same way that freed Greenie. If he could do it once, he could do it again, and there was no way that he'd let that stupid snowpony eat his first friend. Plus, maybe his dad will finally give him a little respect.
The snowpony was onto him, however, and with a quick movement of the head, nabbed him with its mouth and swallowed him whole.
There was a collective gasp from everypony. There was a moment of silence as they all stood there in shock, trying to process what they had just witnessed. Sugar Belle had her hooves to her mouth. Numb as she was from her haunches down, she ached everywhere else at the sight of one of her dearest friends getting eaten in a flash.
The silence was broken by Merry Maykin's scream, and there came a barrage of magic blasts from the mother of the eaten, which Sugar Belle had to duck under. "How dare you?! Give me back my baby! He is not your lunch, you pile of dirty snow!"
"Mom, careful! Don't hit Sugar Belle!" Silk Shimmer cried.
The snowpony was pushed by the wave of magic, and backed up from the angry mother. It was blasted again and again, and several times, the beams nearly hit Sugar Belle, which left the pink mare unable to do much of anything under the constant threat of stray magic.
Quasar restrained his wife. "Merry! Control yourself! You might accidentally hurt not just Sugar Belle, but Party Favor as well!"
Merry spun around to glare at him. "Oh, sure, tell me not to hurt our son when you've been doing that yourself for years! It's because of you that he ended up in the middle of nowhere! I'm at least trying to be a good mother--you've barely acted like a father to him!"
"What?! This is an inappropriate time to scold me, dear! Besides, it was obviously the crit--"
"Shut your piehole!"
Merry blasted the snowpony again, not realizing that it was at the edge of the hillside that led down to one of the valleys. When it was hit, it tumbled backwards down the hill, becoming a large snowball in the process, with only the leg holding Sugar Belle out of the bell. It still didn't prevent Sugar Belle from having a wild, spinning ride down the hill, screaming the whole way.
The group all ran to the edge of the hill, watching as the snowball grew bigger and bigger, and rolled down toward the ski resort.
Double Diamond gasped. "That's just great! On top of that thing putting my friends in danger, now the resort's in danger!"
Black Diamond scoffed. "Oh, no, your vanity project's in danger, boo hoo."
Blue Square huffed. "And you pick on me for getting worked up all the time."
Double Diamond shouted, "Shut up, twerps!"
"All three of you, shut up!" Alta snapped. "We need to get down there, and fast!"
Fleetfoot looked at Powder Snow. "I'd offer for our family to carry you, but that guy lookth a little... heavy."
"Refrain from commenting on others' weight, Flopfoot," Night Glider said.
Fleetfoot glared at her. "You're just asking to be punched."
Quasar shot a fountain of purple sparks from his horn, catching everypony else's attention. "Enough! I'll get us down there!" Not letting anypony else comment, he started to cast a spell. There was a flash of light, and they had all disappeared from their perch on the hill.
The snowball had rolled right into the resort plaza, and crashed into the main lodge, mowing over the Hearth's Warming tree in the process. It reformed back into its monstrous pony shape, climbed onto the lodge, and roared like a dinosaur. It held a dizzy and nauseous Sugar Belle in the air, as if she were nothing more than a trophy to be won.
Sugar Belle looked down, and saw just how high above the ground she now was. She wasn't sure how many stories to estimate, but she felt like she was on top of an office building, stuck in a snowdrift. And now, seeing as she was now alone with the monster, she realized that it was going to try to eat her.
She was brought face to face with the monster, who now licked its lips. She noticed the snowpony had somehow picked up a log on its roll down, which jutted out of its forehead like a unicorn's horn. And seeing all the pine branches and rocks having formed into a messy mane, she noted, much to her horror, just how much it looked like her father.
You're weak, the face said, despite how much she didn't want to hear it. You're stupid. You're shallow. You bake garbage, your art is garbage, you couldn't run a business if you tried, and you never seem to learn your lesson! She covered her ears and gritted her teeth in an effort to block the message.
I'm a merciful stallion; I gave you many chances to improve that so-called special talent of yours, but you just keep baking garbage! Why do you even have that cutie mark? If I could, I'd rip it right off so that the world can see how much of a talentless hack you are!
As the snowpony opened its mouth, she heard, "I wish you had died on the day you were born, instead of your mother."
"Shut up!" she shouted, confusing the snowpony. While there was an opening, Sugar Belle ripped one of the snowpony's rock eyes out, and then let it fall. "I have had it with your expectations, and how you keep moving the goal posts! Stop making excuses to treat me and my special talent like garbage!"
She ripped out the snowpony's other eye, and then let that fall too. "Is it too much to ask for real love and family like my friends have?! Stop being a selfish jerk and start loving me like a real dad!"
The snowpony roared in reply, as if it was denying all the pleas that she had ever made. She still glared at it, but it still hurt to hear the message. With a lump in her throat, she responded, "Well... thanks for reminding me why I didn't invite you."
The snowpony prepared to eat her once again, but was startled by a muffled pop within it. It was another few moments before the snowpony tried again, but it was yet again interrupted by a pop. Then, after a few moments of silence, the biggest pop came, with a brief expansion of its barrel and a jerky movement that dropped Sugar Belle and sent her falling stories down.
It was then that the rest of the party teleported over, and once Silk Shimmer saw Sugar Belle fall, she galloped over and summoned a bubble to catch her. This time, her bubble caught the intended pony, and Sugar Belle bounced face first into the snow, otherwise unharmed.
Silk lifted Sugar Belle off the ground and onto her hooves. "All right, I've got you now."
Double Diamond and Night Glider caught her in a hug, out of relief and to warm her up. Fleetfoot and Black Diamond stood by, looking up at the snowpony, with the former asking, "Okay, now how do we get rid of the Abominable Thnowpony?"
"At least it's blind now..." Black Diamond said looking up at the damage on the snowpony. He looked at Sugar Belle. "Did you do that? If so, that's hardcore!"
Sugar Belle looked at the snowpony and bit her lip. It was a good thing that it was just snow and not an actual flesh-and-blood monster. "Oh, my... did I really do that?"
"Well, it's a good thing it takes a lot to tick you off," Night Glider muttered.
The snowpony hopped down from its perch, and started to stomp around blindly around the plaza, scattering the ponies every which way. As Sugar Belle, Night Glider, and Double Diamond took cover by the fallen Hearth's Warming tree, Sugar Belle asked the other two, "Hey, has Quasar Rune made a plan yet?"
Double Diamond shook his head. "Not yet. He better have a good spell before the resort is destroyed!"
Night Glider peeked through dry branches at the snowpony, who paused to inflate a bit, only to pop inside and let extra air out through burping. "How does that thing have gas? It didn't have any soda."
"No, but it did have Party Favor," Double Diamond said. "Duh, he's trying to break out!"
"But, doesn't he have a cork to stop his horn from popping it?"
Sugar Belle rubbed her chin. "Wait, I've got an idea. Where's Quasar Rune?"
Night Glider peeked over the tree, and spotted him, his wife, and his daughter hiding beside a cabin. "Oh, there he is!" She grabbed both Sugar Belle and Double Diamond. "Come on, let's see if Party Favor's stiff pop will go along with... whatever you have in mind."
She flew them over to the Runes just as the snowpony stepped on the tree, and startled the unicorn trio as they landed in front of them. Before any one could say a word, Sugar Belle said, "Mr. Rune, do you know that indestructibility spell your wife learned?"
"Huh? Of course I do, but how will that help?" Quasar asked.
"The thing has gas because Party Favor's trying to break out," Night Glider said.
"The balloon keeps popping, and we know Party Favor is better than that," Double Diamond said. "There's obviously something sharp in there stopping him!"
"His horn?" Quasar deadpanned.
"So... maybe you could cast the spell on his balloon so he could escape?" Sugar Belle asked.
Quasar Rune scratched his chin. "Perhaps, but that would require getting into the snowpony to hit the right target. I don't want the thing to be indestructible. I'm also considering adding a deanimation spell to make sure it can't just put itself back together."
Night Glider grimaced. "Does getting in there mean..."
"Oh, no, no!" Quasar said. "I can just teleport in there. I imagine being eaten is... unpleasant." He shuddered at the thought, as did his wife and daughter. Then. after a brief moment of meditation, he disappeared in a flash.
The five remaining of the party peeked over the corner, watching the snowpony march around in its blind daze. They watched for any signs of "gas", hoping that the creature would inflate soon. Merry looked as if she was about to faint, while Silk rubbed her back to keep her calm. Sugar Belle, Double Diamond, and Night Glider were quiet, hoping that this plan would work. Elsewhere in the plaza, the other families were peering out of their hiding places, wondering what was to happen net.
The snowpony bulged, only this time the bulge grew bigger. It grew and grew and grew, and the snowpony screeched in both horror and agony, realizing of its fate. It tried to burp, but to no avail, and anything could only go so far before it broke apart. And thus, there came an epic explosion of snow, rock, dirt, pine needle, and a pickaxe, flying away from a balloon that was inflated bigger than any normal pony could manage and dumping piles of snow all over the plaza. Hanging on to the balloon was Party Favor and his father, covered in ice and wet snow, but otherwise all right.
Everypony climbed out of their hiding places, while Party Favor and Quasar landed on the snow. All sat down to take a breath, and Party Favor was jumped by his mother and sister and friends, who were more than happy that he was all right. And Alta was happy that she got her pickaxe back, though she laughed when Party Favor blamed it for his difficulty in escaping. However, not everyone was happy.
While Double Diamond did give his hug of relief to Party Favor, he also looked around at the ski resort plaza, with piles of snow covering the cabins and street, rocks everywhere having dented the cabins and knocked chimneys loose, and the bristles of the knocked over tree just poking out like blades of grass. Biting his hoof, he griped, "Aw, yikes! The opening's supposed to be tomorrow and the whole thing's a mess! We lost our tree and it'll take forever to clean up this snow!"
His parents looked around, with Powder Snow muttering, "Oh, dear... it looks a lot like that avalanche years ago."
Double Diamond growled and kicked some snow. "Well, this is different! Back then, I was an irresponsible little twerp who only cared about cheap thrills; now I'm trying to be responsible and getting this town more money with this ski resort, and I still blew it! I don't even know why anypony trusted me to take care of this stinkin' town after Starlight took off!"
Party Favor frowned. "I'm sorry, Double Diamond. I didn't know we were here until... after my escape."
Night Glider then said, "You know, technically this happened because of a mysterious 'zap' that you and your Pop felt. Do you have any idea what the heck it was?!"
Party Favor shook his head, and Quasar shrugged as well.
To that, Wingspan shouted, "What do you mean you don't know?! Aren't you a magical unicorn who knows magic? Because, really, it's not like a mini storm cloud floated in and shot lightning at you!"
Merry hopped in between them. "You mean like that one that your daughter released that hurt my baby? You're lucky that this weird party pony magic thing was protecting him!"
Quasar interjected, "It's called 'jester magic', dear."
Merry glared at her husband. "Oh, what do you know? You didn't bother trying to understand, before!"
Quasar shrugged. "Well, I did find a few things in the library..."
"Oh, be quiet!" Merry turned back to Wingspan. "Anyway, if my baby had died, I'd rip your wings off!"
Star Catcher flew in. "Hey! You rip off my husband's wings, you'll have to deal with me!"
Fleetfoot followed suit. "Hey, it wasn't my dad's fault! It was my sisthter's."
"Hey!" Night Glider snapped. "What's the big idea putting the blame on me?!"
"Because you were the one who released the cloud, sthupid!"
Night Glider scowled, and said to Silk Shimmer. "Trust me, you do not want a sister. They drive you crazy."
"Oh-hoho, you have no idea what it's like to have brothers!" Silk Shimmer said. "They always find their own special ways to drive you crazy! If they're older, they mock you for not being as magically talented as them, and if they're younger, they break your stuff!"
"I said I was sorry!" Party Favor complained.
Double Diamond laughed as he approached Silk Shimmer. "Oh, let me tell you about my brothers! One of them has to be a total downer all the time and the other is a know-it-all who just won't shut up!"
Black Diamond and Blue Square shouted, "What?!" Then, shoving his younger brother aside, Black Diamond marched up to Double Diamond and growled, "Oh, you think you're an angel? Well, putting up with your utter arrogance and bullying for years just because you were the best at sports was no picnic! Maybe the fact that you caused an avalanche and lost the trust of Paddock City residents was just the karma that you needed!"
Blue Square piped up. "Not to mention I doubt your competence in managing an entire village, even one as small as this one. Even as an adolescent you ditched babysitting us just to have your adrenaline rush in the backcountry! In laypony's terms... you fail at being the eldest!"
"Not like either of you would do better, Mr. Grumpy and Mr. Fussy!" Double Diamond argued.
"Now, now..." Party Favor said. "Let's be real, the one who really failed at the eldest is my brother. You guys try having a brother in jail! I feel dirty just for being related to him!"
Sugar Belle just watched in horror as it all devolved into one big argument involving... well, everypony, except for her. She caught snippets of each pony's grief, be it about blaming someone for a mishap during the week, the whole problem with having siblings, criticizing parenting, or bringing up each reason why one of her friends joined the village in the first place. There was even an aggressive snowball fight starting between Double Diamond and his brothers, which soon dragged most of the others into it.
She tugged at her hair, actually hearing Starlight's philosophy ring through her head after so long. After all, Starlight had reasoned, the reason ponies fight is because they were different. Even when they were part of the same family, they were all clearly different ponies, and they couldn't settle those differences. Sugar Belle had accepted that long ago, because wasn't the reason her father hated her was because she was different from her mother? Didn't her friends leave her because she was living a different life from them? Didn't her attempt at a business fail because she and her last friend had different ideas and ponies had different tastes? Heck, she was still different for not having any family here at all--good thing, too, as that clearly lent itself to frequent fighting.
Finally, she screamed, "STOP!"
Everypony froze, some of them in mid-throw. They all turned their attention to her, and grimaced at the sight of a dirty, glaring, and misty-eyed Sugar Belle, who breathed heavy mist in the chilly air.
"You know, maybe I should have spent Hearth's Warming by myself this year! I've already dealt with my stupid angry father every Hearth's Warming until I came to this town, and I don't want to deal with any more stupid angry families trying to fake being happy families! If Hearth's Warming is about family, then maybe I shouldn't celebrate the stupid holiday at all!"
She turned around and started to head for the resort's gondola, which was still far enough away that it wasn't ruined. However, when Party Favor tried to follow her, probably in hopes of explaining that it wasn't really like that, she just snapped, "Leave me alone!"
Party Favor backed up, his eyes shining with hurt. Sugar Belle hated seeing him upset, and her heart ached at his expression, but she was to angry to try to correct it, and continued marching forth until she boarded the gondola. She didn't want to look back at the three families, and she didn't care if they regretted anything. Her father never regretted treating her the way he did.
Still, as she was lifted back to town, she couldn't help but cry.