//------------------------------// // Winter Wonderland // Story: Little Memories // by Skijarama //------------------------------// With the closing of Nightmare Night, so too has the season come to an end. What little warmth was left has fled Equestria for the year, and a thick blanket of snow has enveloped the land. Winter is truly upon the land, now. For Twilight Sparkle, the new season presents an opportunity to distract herself from her own lingering self-doubts, and instead focus on the world she calls home. Winter stories and traditions envelop her attention, and none more so than the imminent Hearthswarming Eve… “Refresh my memory; you’re playing private Pansy, correct?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow from her place on one of the chairs in Fluttershy’s living room. A stack of parchment floated before her in her magic, each one covered front-and-back with lines upon lines of dialogue and information. Fluttershy was seated across from her on the couch, a white-furred bunny nestled into her mane and… glaring daggers at her? Strange. Fluttershy, unaware of the hostility emanating from her rider, lifted her head and smiled at Twilight. “Oh, uh, yes, I am,” she confirmed before looking back down at the pages and frowning. “Her boss is kind of mean, though…” “Commander Hurricane…” Twilight mused absently, flipping over to another page and checking the information of the pony in question. Historically a male according to the script, he was the leader of the Pegasus tribe from before Equestria was founded. Arrogant, short-tempered, and openly hostile towards any ponies that weren’t pegasi were his most defining traits. Twilight cringed. “Yeah… I bet Rainbow’s thrilled to be playing somepony like that.” Fluttershy hummed in response but elected not to say anything. The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, each one looking over their scripts. Twilight glanced up at one point to catch sight of Angel glaring at her again, his eyes narrowed and his little nose twitching. Moving slowly, he lifted up the carrot he was holding in his paws and took an ominous bite out of it before chewing slowly and loudly, making sure Twilight could hear every single tiny crunch as his teeth broke the vegetable down into a finely ground mulch. Twilight shuddered, feeling more than a little unsettled by the act. So, she did the only thing she could think to do; distract herself from the issue. She lowered her script and focused on the pegasus again. “Fluttershy? Do you mind if I ask you a question?” “I don’t mind. What is it?” Twilight looked down at her script again. “Do you have any idea why Celestia picked us to star in this play? I mean, I guess Rainbow and I put on a pretty good performance on Nightmare Night to help Luna…” she trailed off for a moment, her ears lowering before she shook herself and pressed on. “B-but I don’t know if we really stack up compared to professional actors.” Fluttershy hummed thoughtfully at that and set her script down on the cushion next to her. “Hmmmm… I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because Rainbow is a princess and we’re all her close friends?” Twilight slowly nodded, her eyes lighting up with understanding. “That actually makes a lot of sense. From all of the stories I’ve heard, we’ve all done some pretty heroic things over the last few years, and Rainbow’s status as a princess means basically everypony knows who she is. Not to mention that disasters we’ve averted were stopped by our friendship or something like that,” she pondered aloud before her muzzle scrunched up in thought. Fluttershy giggled to herself, one of her hooves flying up to cover her muzzle. “We did play a big role, but we weren’t the only ones doing work to save the day,” she reminded after a moment. Twilight’s frown deepened for a moment before her expression lit up with realization. “Oh, right! Thorax. He was in Canterlot for the big final battle, wasn’t he?” she asked, trying to make sure she had the story straight in her head. Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, he was, but before that he helped all of us survive long enough to get to the Empire,” she relayed, her eyes starting to mist over in fond remembrance. “He was so brave… He was disguised as a pony for most of the time we were with him, you know, and only you and Rainbow knew what he really was. But even surrounded by ponies that would probably hate him if they knew what he was, he stood by us and took such good care of Wind Whisper…” Twilight’s lips curled into a tender smile. “It sounds like you really care about him,” she noted. Fluttershy nodded absently. “I do… I really do. I hope I can get a chance to see him when we go to Canterlot. I’ve really missed him.” Twilight chuckled and shook her head in amusement before looking back down at her script, both of them falling into a comfortable silence yet again. They spent a while reading their lines, taking comfort in the presence of the other and enjoying the sound of the cold winter wind whistling by outside. After a minute, Twilight glanced up and caught sight of Fluttershy watching her with a curious look. Realizing she was caught, the pegasus blushed and quickly lifted her script to cover her face. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” she mumbled out. Twilight frowned and tilted her head. “It’s okay, but do you mind if I ask what you were looking at? Is there something on my face?” she asked gently, reaching up and wiping a hoof against her cheek. Fluttershy peeked out from behind her script, the blush dying down. “Erm… your horn. I just noticed that you look a lot more comfortable with your magic than you used to.” Twilight’s eyes shot up towards the glowing protrusion, and she smiled. “Ah. Yeah, I’ve been getting better. A lot of the more complicated spells are still way beyond me, and the theory is giving me migraines, but I’m making progress.” Now fully invested, her earlier embarrassment at being caught forgotten, Fluttershy put her script down and leaned forward. “That’s wonderful! Do you want to talk about it?” Twilight paused, giving Fluttershy a quizzical look. “Last time I started rambling about magic, most of it went over your head,” she recalled, thinking back on that day in the clearing before the running of the leaves. Fluttershy nodded. “I remember, but I know how much you love to talk about what you’ve learned. You’ve always been like that, no matter how much of it your friends don’t understand.” Twilight paused at that, her mind latching onto that tidbit of information and filing it away. After a second of reflection, she smiled again and began talking. “Well, alright… I have a few of the more rudimentary spells down at this point. A basic light spell, a heat spell used to light candles or melt snow, and I’m even figuring out how to harden my telekinetic aura into a solid form, like a barrier!” She frowned after a moment as one spell, in particular, entered her mind. “Although… there is another spell I really want to work up to, but it’s going to be a long time before I can even give it a try.” Fluttershy blinked and leaned forward. “What kind of spell is it?” Twilight sat upright, her brow furrowing as she thought on the spell in question. “It’s an abstract spell. Rainbow told me I nicknamed it the ‘failsafe spell,’ and apparently what it does is allow the caster to revert something back to a previous state, so long as they know what that state was, and so long as its current state was caused by an artificial means that’s weaker than the caster. It’s kind of like a universal counterspell.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened, her mouth forming an ‘o’ shape. “Ooooohhh. That sounds really useful. I think I remember you using it once, actually.” “Rainbow said the same thing,” Twilight nodded along before frowning. “Though she also said it didn’t work at the time…” Fluttershy hummed quietly, no doubt remembering the moment in question. Twilight briefly pondered asking about it in more detail, but ultimately decided not to press it for now. She had enough on her mind without having to sort through more facts about her past. After a moment, the pegasus across from her perked up. “Do you think you can show me a spell?” That got Twilight’s mood to jump right back up. A grin quickly spread across her muzzle as a spell immediately sprang to mind. She set down her script and sat up on her haunches, clapping her hooves together in excitement. “Oh, oh, sure! I could do a Transfiguration spell! Turning one thing into another, even if only for a short time! Do you have a salt shaker or something?” she asked quickly, her eyes darting back and forth across the room. Fluttershy giggled and pointed towards her kitchen. “Hehe, yes, I do. It’s in there-”  Twilight sprang from her seat and disappeared into the kitchen in a rush of purple feathers. Fluttershy blinked a few times before lowering her hoof. “...On the table.” “Found it!” Twilight called back before flying back into the room and settling back down on the chair with a salt shaker held in her hooves. She momentarily gave a silent thank you to Rainbow’s flight lessons, knowing full well how badly that could have gone if she were still a total newbie at using her wings. Fluttershy watched with interest as Twilight set the shaker down on the coffee table, an anticipatory smile on her face. “Go on, Twilight. You can do it. Woohoo,” she cheered in a normal speaking voice. Twilight was briefly confused by the seeming lack of enthusiasm but was quick to brush it aside with a reminder of Fluttershy’s quiet nature. She locked her eyes onto the salt shaker and focused, her horn lighting up with her magic aura. In her mind, she imagined a simple white teacup with a basic yellow pattern winding around the middle. Once she was sure she had a good and clear picture, she angled her horn for the salt shaker. And then Angel, with a sadistic smirk, threw his carrot at her. Twilight’s eyes shifted from her intended target and towards the oncoming projectile. She shouted in alarm, her focus on her spell broken just as it was released from her horn. It felt like somepony had hit the back of her skull from the inside with a welding mallet. She cried out and flailed back as colors exploded across her vision. She heard Fluttershy gasping and Angel squeaking. And then Twilight’s chair toppled back, sending her sprawling to the floor in a haphazard heap of limbs. She groaned, long and low, trying in vain to quell the thumping in her head with a  hoof. Well, that certainly could have gone smoother. What was that infernal bunny’s problem with her? “ANGEL?!” The sound of Fluttershy’s near-panicked shriek caused Twilight to throw aside her own complaints and sit up so she could get a look at the scene. The moment she did, she froze, her eyes going wide and her jaw hitting the proverbial floor. Cradled in Fluttershy’s now-trembling hooves was the very teacup that Twilight had envisioned. Except it had bunny ears poking out from the curved handle. And little paws and legs flailing around in a rage. And an image of Angel’s face on the side, showing the exact instant that the creature had realized how poor his recent life choices were. The color steadily drained from Twilight’s face. “Oh dear…” Some time passed in a frantic haze as Twilight and Fluttershy tried desperately to find a way to turn Angel back to normal. Neither of them knew how long it was for sure, though. It could have been ten minutes or a couple of hours, but with the transformed bunny refusing to hold still and Fluttershy panicking the entire time, it was hard to keep track of anything, much less the conventional passage of time. But, at long last, the spell wore off, and Angel popped back to normal, quite annoyed. The friends, now very relieved, made a mutual arrangement to never talk of this to anypony anywhere ever again and settled down in the aftermath to just relax. Angel now sat on top of Fluttershy’s head again, the most bitterly humiliated glare etched onto his face. “I’m so sorry about all of this,” Twilight profusely apologized for what must have been the millionth time, using her magic to tidy up the disheveled stack of paper that was her copy of the script. “I really should have looked up the counterspell, first.” “It’s fine, Twilight,” Fluttershy assured her with an understanding, if tired, smile. “At least we got it all sorted out.” “But Angel could have shattered!” Twilight protested weakly, gesturing towards the bunny in question, how growled in response. “If that had happened, I dunno what I could have done to-” Fluttershy shook her head and lifted a hoof to interrupt the alicorn. “It’s fine, Twilight,” she pressed before sighing and slumping back down onto her couch. Angel was still for a second before slowly turning to face Twilight. He lifted one of his paws and drew it across his throat with another high pitched growl before turning and leaping from his perch to run away and vanish deeper into the house. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, causing both Fluttershy and Twilight to jump and emit startled squeaks. They both turned just in time for it to open up and Rainbow Dash to stick her head in. “Hey, Fluttershy. Have you seen Twi-” her eyes found the alicorn in question, and she smiled. “Oh, there you are! You about ready to head back? We gotta catch our train tomorrow and Spike’s wanting to go to bed kind of early. He’s already getting dinner...” Twilight’s face turned a brilliant shade of vermillion as Rainbow’s voice trailed off, the pegasus’ eyes slowly drinking in the scene of carnage before her. On the couch, Fluttershy took her mane in her hooves and used it to cover her face like a stage curtain, hiding from view. “What… happened?” Rainbow slowly asked as she mindlessly trotted inside. She spun in a slow circle, appearing both to be confused and somewhat impressed by the mess left in the wake of Angel’s involuntary stint as a cup. Twilight cringed, her horn lighting up and levitating over her scarf and beanie from their place by the door, as well as her script. “You don’t wanna know,” was all she said before looking back at Fluttershy. “Sorry again, Fluttershy. Are you sure everything’s fine? I could stay and help you clean up if you’d like?” she said despite already having grabbed her things. The timid mare shook her head behind her mane. “No, that’s fine… I can clean it up myself. All that hard work will help me sleep for the play tomorrow.” Twilight was already walking for the door, casually grabbing Rainbow’s tail as she went to pull the pegasus along. “Okay, if you’re sure about that…” she called over her shoulder. “What’re you- HEY! Lemme go!” Rainbow protested indignantly as Twilight dragged her along. Fluttershy waved weakly before Twilight used her magic to close the door, finally putting a solid barrier between herself and the scene of her gratest shame. Twilight took a deep breath before gazing out at the world before her. The lightly forested area in front of Fluttershy’s home was, much like the rest of Equestria, coated in a few inches of freshly fallen snow. A blanket of gray clouds stretched across the sky, and still more flakes were falling to join their kin on the ground. A biting breeze washed over them, making Twilight shiver and pull her scarf tighter. It was at about this time that Rainbow tugged her tail out of her vice-grip. “Okay, Twi, what the actual hay just happened in there?” she asked while leaning down to glare into her friend’s eyes from the front. Twilight shook her head and started walking. “No.” Rainbow followed after her, her indignation only growing. “Whaddya mean ‘no?’ I didn’t ask a yes or no question, ya know.” “No.” “Twilight…!” “No.” “GUH!” The two fell into an awkward silence after that, trotting through the small patch of dense forestation that served as a natural wall between Fluttershy’s cottage and the rest of Ponyville. Twilight took the opportunity to take in the cold air with a series of deep breaths and clear her mind of the madness she was leaving behind her. Eventually, they passed back out of the trees and returned to Ponyville proper. Twilight’s expression softened, and the tension fled her system as she looked on at the various decorations that had been arranged across the many buildings. Where Nightmare Night’s themes were all about the scary and the ghoulish, the decorations that were up now were the sort to fill the soul with a sense of awe and serenity, even amid the cold. Colorful lights hung from the roofs, giant candy canes poked up from the yards of many homes, snow ponies were being erected by eager foals dressed in colorful and warm clothes, and the glow of lit-up trees could be seen through the windows. Hearthswarming. That was the holiday these decorations was for. The celebration of the foundation of Equestria, and the principles on which the country was based. Love, compassion, acceptance, and above all, friendship, even amid a blizzard of rage and confusion and hatred. And Twilight and her friends had been summoned to Canterlot to play a part in a play recounting the events of the country's formation. Humming to herself, Twilight hovered the script she carried in front of her before glancing over at Rainbow, who was seemingly over her earlier disgruntlement over being kept out of the loop. Twilight smiled and held her script closer to her neck before speaking up. “So, Rainbow… how’s the script reading going? Got your lines memorized?” Rainbow jumped on hearing Twilight’s voice before looking back at her and smiling. “Uh-huh. Totally. At least…” her smile became a little crooked. “I think so? I dunno? Maybe?” Twilight’s eyebrow slowly went up. Rainbow sighed and let her head droop. “Ugh! I’m trying, okay?! Cool as this play is - no pun intended - It’s no Daring Do!” she protested to the alicorn’s skeptical look. “I got the important bits down. I’ll read through it all again while we’re having dinner, and maybe on the train to Canterlot.” Twilight’s face softened with amusement, and she couldn’t stifle a giggle. “Alright, if you say so, Rainbow,” she said in reassurance before focusing her eyes forward on the path ahead of them. As they went, she couldn’t help but smile wider at the snowy landscape. It was beautiful to her eyes, something she had only seen back when she was in the Crystal Empire.  But even then, the city didn’t have any snow inside. The only time Twilight had really gotten to look at the snow was when she was hundreds of feet in the air in a carriage pulled by some lunar guards. This was the first time she had seen it up close. She stopped for a moment in the middle of the path and looked up into the sky, losing herself as the snow fell around her. And then a big, fat wad of snow hit her right in the side of the neck. Twilight gasped involuntarily as it clung to her coat, her entire body tensing and shivering uncontrollably. With her hooves scrambling over the assaulted spot, she turned and gave a very stinky glare in the direction of a certain giggling princess. “Rainbow Dash! What as that for?!” Rainbow managed to get a hold of herself just long enough to utter out a trembling answer. “S-sorry! You were just - ha! - Too wide open! I couldn’t resist!” Twilight’s expression slowly scrunched up into a very displeased pout. With a huff and her nose upturned, she used her magic to scrape the snow off of her neck. She trotted past Rainbow, who was still giggling and refused to look at her directly. Then, with a sly smirk, Twilight picked up more snow in her magic from the ground behind Rainbow. She didn’t compact it into a ball, though, instead opting to keep the wide sheet of snow as she had found it. She then dropped it on top of Rainbow, who was only then getting her mirth contained. The pegasus squawked and gave off a very undignified squeal as her head and the entire length of her spine became coated in about half an inch of snow. Her wings snapped open and gave a mighty flap while her entire body set about shaking itself, little exclamations of displeasure coming between her short breaths. Once she was clean of snow, she turned and glared at Twilight, who only smiled innocently back at her. “Sorry,” Twilight teased before continuing on her way. “You were just too wide open. I couldn’t resist~.” “Why you…” Rainbow seethed before taking a deep breath and following after Twilight and coming up to her side. The two walked in silence for a minute, both of them trying to avoid looking at the other. Every so often, though, they would glance at the other, and sometimes they would catch the other looking. Every time they did they would quickly look away with a humph or similarly-dismissive noise. It couldn’t last. Twilight’s ear twitched when she heard the barest hints of a ‘snrk’ from Rainbow, making her turn to look. The moment she did, she was met with the face of a pegasus trying desperately to keep a straight look and failing miserably. Her cheeks were twitching, and the way her lips were so comically downturned was nothing short of a hilarious dead giveaway. And so Twilight’s own frown began to melt, slowly morphing to match Rainbow’s. This, in turn, drove Rainbow’s composure to crumble even more, which led to the same for Twilight’s.  In the end, neither of them could keep up the charade any longer, and both broke into a fit of delighted giggles as they made their way back for the Golden Oaks Library.