//------------------------------// // Winter Tears // Story: Winter Tears // by maplesandwichtree //------------------------------// Pinkie looked out the window with a longing look as the snowflakes gently floated down. Collecting on the ground, it was at least one hoof tall, and rising. Rainbow Dash had told her that Ponyville was scheduled for a deep snow, but not the exact amount. Her eyes reflected sadness and the ice, her mane looking like it was flattened in a flat iron, and colors darkened. She let out a sigh. Everypony seemed busy, and those who weren’t were snowed in and couldn’t travel. She was one of those ponies, so she couldn’t just go out and walk to her friends. All the shops were closed because it was a town populated by Earth ponies. They had no wings, or horns. They had to walk everywhere, and the snow was too deep and cold. Thinking baking might take her mind off things, Pinkie got up and walked downstairs. She went behind the counter and opened the door leading to the kitchen. She collected flour, a cup of water, sugar, frosting, eggs, and batter. First, she cracked the eggs in to the bowl. They were ooey and gooey and weird, but the chickens didn’t mind it, and there were never any chicks inside. Pinkie always wondered why, because weren’t they like babies? Or were they like food? Did the chickens eat them? But didn’t eating a raw egg make you sick? Shaking her head to focus, she poured the batter in the same bowl, and then put a cup of water in. She picked up a wooden spoon and mixed it around, holding the bowl still with her hooves while holding the spoon in her mouth. It felt funny when the mixture got on her face, and she had to giggle, her color slightly returning. She never knew why, but when she was left alone or didn’t laugh for a while, her mane went flat and her colors darkened- that or when she felt avoided. Moving on, she poured in half the bag of sugar, then the ‘special ingredient’. Ponies always cringed when she said that, and she never knew why. Was it because she never told anypony what it was? There always was a little something crunchy in the pastries she made that gave it an extra flavor. Putting it in reminded her of Maud, probably because Maud was the pony who found it. The special rocks weren’t just in the rock candy she made, but the pastries too. She got to wondering; what did the ponies think it was? They acted like it was a pony in there! How silly was that? Uh oh, off-topic again. She playfully stuck out her tongue at how silly they were all being, then went back to baking. All that was left was the frosting- she didn’t do it the way she was supposed to. Instead of doing it first, she did it last. She put a “pinch” of sugar in the frosting, (pinch wasn’t the best description) and then mixed it up. She then poured the batter into the cupcake baking tray, some of it splashing about. Pinkie set the timer and put it into the oven. This part of baking was fun for her since she got to watch it rise. Sure, it took a while, but the oven lit up when she got in front of it; she went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The oven darkened, lit up, darkened, lit up, darkened, lit up. After a while, the cupcakes were out, and she carefully carried it over to the counter to let it cool. Once it was warm, not burning, she put the frosting on; rich, creamy, frosting.. Snapping back to reality, she looked down at the cupcakes. A whole dozen! I can’t wait to share these with my- oh… right.. She looked down, but got an idea. Ooh! I know! Maybe Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake want some! Her colors lightened completely and her mane poofed up. She skipped up the steps to the nursery room where Pound and Pumpkin slept. She opened the door; they were playing with some building blocks, then noticed Pinkie. They started cheering and laughing, letting out baby noises, which was pretty normal considering the fact they are babies. Pinkie decided to split the cupcakes in three- but that would mean 4 per pony, and babies can’t have 4 cupcakes at once, they’ll get a tummy-ache! When Pinkie decided what she would do to make it fair, she was shocked by what she saw; Pound and Pumpkin Cake were both sucking on their hooves and licking their lips from the frosting and crumbs collected in their coats. The empty tray with crumbs over it was right in front of them. “Oh, no!” As if on cue, the foals’ bellies made gurgling noises. Pound Cake looked sick, and Pumpkin got a case of the hiccups. They both started crying. Pinkie, not knowing how to burp foals, made silly faces to cheer them up. Needless to say, it didn’t work. Remembering the thing that always made them laugh, she threw flour on herself. “See, look? It’s okay! You don’t need to cry!” It would’ve worked except for the fact they were crying because of a hurt stomach, and flour was a baking material. Eyes darting around the room, she had to think fast. Hoofsteps approached the door and opened to reveal a confused Mrs. Cake. “Oh my! What happened here?” She looked from a flour-covered Pinkie to her two foals crying with an empty cupcake tray in front of them. “Oh, thank goodness you’re here, Mrs. Cake! I was gonna give Pound and Pumpkin a cupcake, but I got distracted, and next thing I knew, the cupcakes were gone!” “Sounds to me like they need to be burped!” Mrs. Cake rushed over to the two foals and burped them. The crying was hushed a little. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Cake! I made cupcakes and wanted to share them, but the snow was too deep to go outside..” “It’s alright, Pinkie; would you like to take a break? Sometimes being in one place for too long will make a pony lonely.” Pinkie nodded and went to her room. She looked out the window at the snow; it was even deeper. That was when she got an idea. The snow was deep and soft, and the window inside her room wasn’t blocked. If she jumped out, she’d be safe and able to talk to her friends- pegasus friends, at least. Pinkie then noticed her reflection; her mane was straight again. She guessed it was from the whole tummy-ache incident. She put on boots, a scarf, and a sweater, then slid open the window. The cold wind wasn’t as bad when she was wearing all that clothing. She jumped down and landed on soft snow. Though her landing wasn’t quite as graceful as the magnificent snowflakes above, it wasn’t too bad. She looked back up at the window; it was going to let in cold air, but it was too late for that now. Not wanting to spend too long in the freezing snow, she resisted all urges of making a snowpony, sledding, or have a snowball fight, and walked ahead. The thick fog mixed with the falling snow didn’t let her see more than 5 hooves in front of her, but she didn’t mind. A sudden flash of light from behind made her jump, and she whipped around. Instead of a spooky ooky ghost like she was expecting, she saw a familiar pony with a hat and scarf on. “Oh, hey Pinkie!” The unicorn waved at her. “Hi, Lyra! What’cha doin’?” She waved back. “Trying to get to the store before they close. Bon Bon wants to have everything in check in case the snow somehow makes all the food go away.” Lyra held back from rolling her eyes at her roommate’s worries. “What’re you doing out here?” Pinkie thought. “I don’t really know!” She giggled, Lyra joining in on the laughter. “It’s really cold out, though. I don’t think even the snowflakes could stand out here for too long.” “I know, I’ll hurry!” “Well, see you later!” Lyra waved goodbye and galloped off. Pinkie waved after her. The party pony went back to her search. She passed by a lot of the houses. Berry Punch and Colgate’s house was covered in snow like the pegasi were playing a game to hit it just right on there. Lyra and Bon Bon’s house had a snowman in the front with twigs as arms. It had some light shining on it, so she guessed that the pegasi got confused and tried to figure out what it was. The Hooves’ house had a few letters scattered about on the front door step, which made her guess Derpy might have dropped a few letters. Reaching the town hall, she looked around. She didn’t plan on what she would do when she got there. She just kept walking, though. And walking, and walking, and walking. The cold got a little too much for her as it started to seep in to her fur coat, chilling her skin. She must’ve gotten frostbite. The sudden cold made her realize where she could go; Carousel Boutique. She had seen Rarity working on all these new dresses and outfits for the cold. She sluggishly moved on, trying to get to Rarity’s before she froze like an ice cube. “Pinkie! What’re you doing out here when it’s so cold?” Her ear flickered as she heard a voice. Looking up, she saw rose eyes looking down at her with concern. “You’re gonna freeze if you stay out here more than five minutes!” The pegasus swooped down to her and landed. “I can walk you back to Sugarcube Corner if you need to.” Rainbow Dash looked to her friend with confusion. “Are you gonna talk?” Pinkie found the words. “Oh, thank you, Dashie!” She pulled her friend into a hug. “Come on, Pinkie, I’d help you out anyday.” The two friends started walking to their destination. Pinkie’s mane poofed up as she walked with Rainbow Dash. When they finally got to Sugarcube Corner, the door was blocked, so Rainbow Dash lifted up Pinkie to the open window and followed behind her, closing the window as to not make the whole house freeze for too much longer. “Wait here!” Pinkie called, bouncing down the stairs. “Uh.. okay.” The party pony took a while, but came back with hot chocolate. “Aw, Pinkie, you didn’t have to. I was just doing what any friend would do.” “Yes, but you’re not just any friend!” She hugged her. They both snuggled up in a blanket, while drinking hot chocolate and marshmallows. Rainbow Dash looked over to Pinkie; she was no doubt having a nice dream. Rainbow Dash still lay next to her, but fell asleep as well, not even bothering to move the cup aside- unfortunately, she’d be in for a big surprise when she woke up with a face full of hot chocolate, though.