//------------------------------// // Subject 123: Snowbrawl // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// I let out a horse-like wheeze with my tail standing up on end. I took a frantic glance around, and calmed down once I realized who it was. “Oh, it’s you. Stellar Flare, yeah?” “That’s right!” she strutted up to me with quite the smug look on her muzzle, “I’m surprised somepony that is as esteemed as you would bother coming down here. What exactly are you after, if you don’t mind me asking?” What an odd compliment. Anyhow, I hoped that she was prepared for the answer that I would give. “Time away from the stresses of work that have caused a deterioration in my mental stability. Stuff like that,” I said. “Oh my,” she replied with a blank set of eyes. Guess she wasn’t prepared. “I’m...sorry to hear that.” I shook my head in denial. While her words were appreciated, I ultimately didn’t want her sympathy. “It’s alright. I’m working to--no, I’m going to grow over these next two weeks as I take time off and spend it with my family...of sorts.” At that, she perked up as her face formed a bright grin. “Ah! Of course. Your family--I never realized that you were engaged with anypony. Who’s the lucky mare?” she leaned forward with lots of bated excitement in her eyes. That was not a question I wanted to answer so readily. So I dodged it for the moment. “I’m sure you’ll find her around here when you see me with her. But I appreciate how hospitable you are. I expected nothing less from the Mayor of this small town herself.” She put a hoof to her chest, and shot me a grateful smile. “Oh, why thank you. And I hope you and your family have a good time here as well. But if you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask, okay?” I nodded. “Of course. Thank you, once more.” I took my leave, and watched as she walked off towards the Town Hall. She was nicer than I had expected, honestly. But anyway, now wasn’t the time to worry about that. Cozy had gotten prepared for a...woah. In the amount of time I had spoken to Stellar Flare, the young mare had created an entire small fortress with four pillars! She wasn’t just ready for a snowball fight, she had prepared for a snowball war! “Cozy...just what is this?” I asked as I trotted up a small set of stairs made of snow to reach her. “Oh good. You’re here,” she said with a focused set of eyes that glared across the open field. “I don’t know why, but something about that mare across the line of Nopony’s Land strikes me as familiar. We have to take her out along with her general.” I tilted my head, and squinted my eyes to get a better look at the enemy snowfort. “...General?” “The older-looking Pony next to her,” she explained, “I’m gonna give her what for. Back me up, alright pops?” Oh dear. We started off like this, did we? I suppose it couldn’t hurt. “Alrighty then, kid. What’s our plan?” “Simple, we just take down the enemy base,” she shot me a dangerous grin, “The West side of their fort is weak, so you should totally flank around while I provide covering fire. It’s a foolproof plan, hehehe...” Yikes. That look on her face was reminiscent of her scheming ways. I knew that it was just a snowball fight, but whoever thought that she would take the time to come up with such stratagems for something that was meant to be fun. Then again, this probably was her way of having fun. So I obliged. First, I gathered some balls of snow and made a break for it. I galloped around the left side of the field and avoided other frozen projectiles on my way there. It was a difficult task since loads of other small snowball skirmishes had taken place around me. I grabbed a few spheres from the load that I carried, and chucked them at the side of the fort with as much might that I could muster. Then I heard a familiar voice call out. “Ah! Dad, they’re attacking from the West!” “Huh? I got it, Flurry!” Flurry? Could it be? Well speak of the devil itself. I dodged a few snowballs that were flung my way, and looked up to catch a better glimpse of just who manned this enemy fort. Turns out it was Shining Armor and Flurry Heart! They likely used the chaos of the snowball war to their advantage in order to have some fun without being harassed by regular ponies that wanted to meet royalty. I couldn’t blame them. I wanted to do the same. “Well, look at who we have here,” I commented with a grin as I gazed upon them both from the lower elevation at which I stood. “I hope you didn’t intend to keep hold of this little castle for very long!” Shining Armor was about to say something, but his daughter interrupted him. “Ooh! It’s you! Does that mean--wait. Is Cozy here? This is so epic! Maybe we could all team up! After we beat you guys of course.” “She is, but--she’s currently plotting to destroy your entire fortress,” I warned, “I recommend you take cover immediately.” “Oh?” Shining Armor asked with a curious look on his face, “Why’s that?” BLAM! A violent eruption of snowflakes occurred at their fort which blew it to kingdom come! Once the icy dust settled, I looked at the wreckage to find that both Shining Armor and his daughter were buried within the chilly blanket. “...That’s why. My apologies. She’s just a bit...enthusiastic, more or less,” I explained as I watched them climb out of the snow. “GOTTEM!” I heard Cozy shout from afar. She then flew over to check out the damage she had caused. The look on her face as Shining helped his daughter out of the snow was priceless due to how mortified and faded her face turned. “...Ohmygosh! I’m so sorry! Please don’t be upset! I was just configuring a cloud into a snowball cannon and I--” The white unicorn brushed himself off once he recovered his alicorn daughter. He wore a fluffy jacket with a green military camo pattern. “No harm done. I’m actually surprised to see you all here.” “This is awesome!” Flurry chirped. Her jacket was just as puffy and was colored hot pink, though her horn was hidden by the hood so she wouldn’t be recognized. “You gotta come sit and eat with us. We could talk about all sorts of things we’ve been planning for Hearth’s Warming.” Cozy, in a sheepish fashion, took a step behind me. “Um...I dunno. I’m not sure how your mom would take it if I showed up.” To my surprise, Armor wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea. “Well we won’t know until we try. What do you think, bud?” he addressed me. Also unexpected, but I wouldn’t exactly turn it down. “Sure, I don’t see why not. We just need to pick up Cheerilee and we’ll meet you there.” Meanwhile… Wow. Whoever thought I’d end up talking to Princess Cadance of all ponies. I was a bit surprised to learn that she was actually a very casual mare that spoke openly about her problems. We sat in the food court where our respective families could easily see us once they were done steamrolling each other in the snow. I would’ve joined in, but I feared that I would’ve gotten too...violent. Anyhoozle. Cadance was really fun to speak with as we sipped our hot chocolate. She spoke of numerous things that ground her gears as a princess while I returned with some things that irked me as a teacher. It was a nice little girl chat that I had with somepony new--how fun! “...and don’t even get me started on bedroom performance,” she finished off her rant. I replied with a giggle. “Hehe! Oh, want a secret on how to make sure everything lasts longer? There’s a trade secret among those of us down in little ol’ Ponyville.” “Please!” she cried out in a low tone to avoid attention being drawn to us, “Is there some sort of earth pony trick I can use with my magic that I’m not getting?” “Well, it all has to do with…” Once we had ended our playtime in the snow, we spotted the mares who spoke to each other at a table. But what Shining and I overhead caused us to quickly cover both Cozy and Flurry’s ears. We both called out to them to catch their attention. “AHEM!”