-Barely Bearable Woods-
There was a small pink bunny with a horn, her name was Sugar and she was wandering through Barely Bearable Woods in the snow.
It was quite unfortunate for the attacking Drop Bear that they don’t hibernate for the winter.
The loudly growling bear came down as a growing shadow upon this innocent looking creature, which unfortunately for the drop bear was an Al-mi’raj or more commonly known as the deadly magical horned mirage rabbit.
Said drop bear slammed straight through the illusionary rabbit into the ground roughly. Drop bears were used to missing their targets, as such they had tough bodies that can survive terminal velocity drops.
What they weren’t used to, is being hunted by their targets. The bear, being far more than three times the size of the small rabbit shaped entity, had been assured of its victory.
The huge mound of snow next to where the drop bear landed erupted and a shining horn attached to a demonic looking rabbit with glowing eyes flew straight for the drop bear. Said rabbit was twice the size of the drop bear.
-one minute later-
The snow around the suspiciously clean pink rabbit sized creature was covered in specks of red and next to it was a pile of bones in the vague shape of a drop bear.
Sugar just licked the back of her paw innocently.
With this bit of strangeness, it was winter in Airship Mauled.
-Snickers, somewhere in the frozen north. Mostly west of yak territory and near ‘Middle of Nowhere In Particular’.-
Feel close! I be big smart and special knowing.
Cold, snuggle fur of friend!
“Coo!” Let big friendly white creature know we be near, can go from here on own.
“*Incoherent growling bear noise?*” Big fluffy creature be good friend.
“Coo, hiss, coo coo!” Big friend be accepting, now I fly and find happiness! Once I get cold stuff off first. “Coo coo?”
Large creature remove me from back and wipe cold stuff away from body, can fly now!
I wave goodbye to friend and follow senses that get stronger.
I am knowing stuff, big stuff of best strength. Happiness is here, need to find!
Looking… looking… found!
Fly into wood wall with circle thing twice and sit on ground to wait.
Too cold to stay out for long, hope response soon. I not good with cold, like warm and hot!
“Who’s there?” Out came pretty, now how to convince?
I not big smart enough to talk like great bond kitty. Bond is making me greater, but not nearly that great. I happy for bond, even if not mate bond. Want mate bond eventually, best strength make stronger.
“Coo!” Attention get, likely warmer inside. It cold, please help.
“What the… a turtle?” The pretty for cow crouches and looks at me, I clamp onto face and they stand up. “Gah… what in the world is a sweet little turtle like you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“Coo!” Sorry can’t tell, not big smart enough to speak you.
“Shouldn’t you be hibernating or something?” Nope, am finding you for cow! I am shaking head no. “You poor thing, you’re so cold. I don’t even know how you’re even awake in this weather. Also, I just noticed… you’re a sea turtle.”
“Coo!” I think pretty is big smart, I raise right limb and wave. Continue to hold face tightly with left, didn't want to fall.
“What’s a sea turtle doing all the way out here?” Pretty be bringing me into big wood cave, kind of like cave of great bond kitty. It nice and warm. “Well whatever you’re reasons for being out here are, let me bring you inside and help you get all warmed up now. Welcome to the town of ‘Middle of Nowhere In Particular’, you aren’t the first strange thing to appear here and you won’t be the last.”
Pretty be happiness for cow, senses are big strong!
-Blade-
I stalked my prey, she was unaware of my presence as I walked along the bottom of the tree limb and flared my wings in preparation for attack.
I would only get one chance at this and I had to make this count. While I hadn’t been tortured, my skills may have been atrophied somewhat in captivity.
This was the most perfect opportunity to strike.
I would not get another shot at this.
-Fizzle-
We were sitting near the never ending campfire outside, Jade and me specifically. She was looking pretty down even if she wanted to play in the snow quite badly.
Jade was a bit gloomy that Snickers still hadn’t returned from wherever she went, a cat and her turtle were hard to pull apart. When they were near each other and they both wanted to have fun anyway.
“I’m sure she’ll come back eventually Jade, maybe she just flew south for the winter?” I tried to comfort her and wrapped a hoof around her back and gave her a gentle hug.
“She didn’t do that the first year though, never had I seen a flying turtle so determined to weather the cold.” Well Jade wasn’t wrong there, Snickers did stay awake throughout the last winter and had a lot of fun doing that. “It was rather heartwarming, I mean she’s part bird and she must have had trouble ignoring her greater instincts. Now I don’t know where she is… I should have paid more attention to her.”
Though I did see Snickers forcing herself not to fly south at times, which said something about how much Snickers wanted to stick by Jade’s side. It was a rather strong unexplained loyalty involved there, especially given that Snickers mostly wanted to take care of herself and be independent of Jade. I don’t think Jade did anything wrong and Snickers was always vocal when she needed something or was upset.
“I’m sure she’ll come back eventually Jade, now let’s go have some fun in the…” A ball of snow slapped Jade in the face knocking her on her back as soon as I had let go of her. I looked up at the assassin who was acting like she was laughing. Being mute because her voice was too powerful to use in normal situation, she had to physically emote things like that. “Snow. Okay… you just started a cold war that’s about to get heated!”
The once upon a time assassin known as Blade Bright was smiling upside down on a tree branch and was looking quite smug until a snowball hit her in the face knocking her from the tree. She created a neat pony shaped hole in the snow where she landed.
Jade then scooped a snowball, rolled it and threw it at the tree. Blade was just sitting up when she watched the snowball arc over her head and smack the tree making it shake.
Blade just gave Jade a look that asked if she was really that bad at throwing after the first hit, then she was buried under multiple large wads of snow that fell from the tree branches.
“Nice shot.” It really was nice and I had to compliment Jade on the delayed snowfall.
“Scoop, roll and throw. The three tenets of good snowball making.” She giggled slightly as eventually Blade dug her way out of the snow, how Jade could be so calm with that assassin around I’ll never know. She tried to kill Jade, and possibly me by association, once. For that matter why was I so calm, was I just that used to the absurdities that Jade attracted? “Also always use your environment to your advantage.”
I guess nowadays Blade Bright was a master sushi chef and happened to be exceptionally talented at chopping vegetables, she learned that with Kuril’s help of course.
Her cutie mark meant she was good with most forms of bladed weaponry, makes me wonder how ponies like her got their cutie mark. She had a cutie mark that translates into both cooking and combat, I was only a bit jealous that she could cook.
Everything I try to cook explodes violently, except for campfire foods. I could make a very good potato, vegetable and fish roast at the very least.
A snowball smacked me in the face, knocking me over into the snow.
“You’re the one that wanted to have fun in the snow Fizzy, get your head out of the clouds and start cheering me up!” After one long look at Jade, I shook my head and narrowed my eyes at her and my hoof scrapped against the ground building up snow in it.
“You’re right, let’s go!” I scooped, I rolled to the side avoiding an incoming snowball and chucked the snowball for her body. I ducked and another snowball flew over my head and I turned to see Blade tossing a perfectly round snowball up a few times. “Bring it thestral!”
Time slowed down as she threw the snowball, I rolled underneath it towards her and threw my own.
Blade bent backwards out of the way of it, it narrowly almost clipped her chin. Blade reached out with her right hoof to scoop up a snowball. She started to come back up ready to throw it when a snowball hit one of her rear hooves, it caught her entirely off guard and knocked her off balance.
Blade fell and the snow ball she was holding went up and slammed down into her face.
“Don’t leave me out of this guys!” Incoming Blackcap attack, dodge, dodge, dodge… I narrowly avoided Jacky’s three snowballs and was nailed to the side of her head by Jade who ducked around behind a tree.
We shouldn’t lose sight of her, Jade was a crafty cat. Blade was just getting up when two large rolling balls of snow slammed into her and Jade, and I was knocked over by a snowball to the back of the head. Rolling onto my back I saw Maries smiling triumphantly.
“Snow war!” Jade called out from inside the large snowball she got sucked into, it didn’t take long for everything to devolve into a whole mess of fun.
-An hour later, Jade-
“So nice of you Vikings to join us, but next time watch out for rocks when making snowballs.” I glared at Flamberge who had his tail between his legs, I had a bruise on the left side of my face and it stung.
Flamberge the Fiercely Flammable wasn’t exactly the bravest of dragons, but he had a lot of enthusiasm to make up for it.
“I am Fortitude the Fantastically Fragrant!” Fortitude declared that so much, that I lost count after five hundred and ninety seventh time he said that. He still smelled like a dumpster full of rotting eggs and durians. “Yak had fun, like old yak times even!”
“Well it looks like everyone had a nice time outside while I’ve been in here slaving over a pot of soup and making sweet corn bread.” You were also watching your potions more carefully mom, especially after the out of body experience I had a while ago. “I even made dessert that everyone, except my kitten, will enjoy.”
“Thanks mom, we’re all cold and hungry.” That potion really felt weird when it wore off, it was like my body just slurped me back up through a straw and I was never going to forget how disturbing that felt. “Also is it Fruit Cake?”
“Yes, the one seasonal thing that you don’t like and everyone else does that has fruit in it. I’ll make it up to you with a pineapple pizza recipe I’m working on later.” Mom knew me so well, she avoided my petty kitty wrath today.
People always said pineapple doesn’t belong on pizza because it is sweet, so what did that say about cheese or a tomato sauce? Heck, mom already made an apple chunk dessert pizza that Fizzle couldn’t get enough of.
“Try adding the pineapple to your apple chunk cinnamon pizza.” I received a curt nod from mom and with that we sat down to eat a slightly spicy soup, ugh my tongue was so sensitive to spicy things. It made my mother joke that I wasn’t her daughter, because she’s enjoyed spicier things like liquid rainbow. “Also Flamberge, I’m going to do something I hardly ever do. I’m giving you an early warning that I will go petty kitty mode on you when you least expect it.”
“Do your worst, I have nothing to fear from you!” His words made me give him a creepy smile, everyone including my friends shivered at my smile directed towards him. He was obnoxiously loud and I think my favorite of the Vibrant Viking trio was Generic, mostly because he never raised or lowered his voice to a decibel that hurts or strained my ears. “Maybe I have a little bit to fear!”
“Good, you’re not dumb at least. Be prepared at all times for me to do something petty and mean spirited as a form of revenge proportionate or otherwise to the enacted action that led to it, in this case the snowball rock you hit me with.” I turned to our teacher Cheerilee, she’d only be around for one more year. “So Cheerilee, how do you feel about getting a real class soon?”
“Jade, the school here is a real class. Whether most of you are ponies or not doesn’t make a difference to me.” Cheerilee sounded a bit offended that I thought that we weren’t a real class. “I think I might actually miss all of you, except for Jade’s improbable math skills that can possibly destroy the world as we know it.”
“Wait… what?!” What in the world did she just say, my math skills can do what?
“Nothing that you need to worry about Jade.” Funny thing Cheerilee, it certainly sounded like something I should be informed of for a second there.
-Fizzle, after dinner-
“Jade, I want you to eventually kiss me.” I was not going to make demands of her, but I wanted to be kissed. Sure she was moving at my pace, but I wanted her to do a little more.
“With or without tongue?” I don’t think there was a moment when Jade wouldn’t pay attention to me if I absolutely wanted her attention, unless she was paying attention to Maries which I was perfectly fine with.
“Without for now.” Jade crouched, grabbed my cheeks and rubbed her nose against mine, then kissed me on the cheek. “How about that?”
“That works…” I had to be blushing, my entire face has to be red right now. Jade pulled me into a tight hug and then released me.
“Okay now I need to get the mistletoe down, before mom gets any more smart ideas.” Wait… what? Jade got a step ladder and removed the mistletoe from the ceiling. “To assure you I didn’t just kiss you because of the mistletoe, I’ll do this…”
Jade plants a soft kiss on my nose and I felt my face heat up even more.
“Just know that you can always ask me for some love Fizzy, just remember that I might actually say no depending on the situation.” What kind of situation would you deny me in? She slid her tail up under my chin and then flicked me on the nose as she walked away. "Like at a really inopportune moment while we’re climbing out of an active volcano.”
When was that likely to… wait… that could actually happen.