//------------------------------//
// The Snow Family, Part 1: The Hearth's Warming Tree 
// Story: Hearth's Warming is Merry in Our Town 
// by Sketcha-Holic 
//------------------------------//

Sugar Belle sat on her bed, watching the snowflakes outside her window drift down to the street below. It was surely and steadily getting dark, and everypony in town was returning home to retire for the night. She could see them trotting through the streets, with some carrying home presents or goodies, a group going around singing Hearth's Warming carols, and a few couples strolling down the street, singing about how they were walking in a winter wonderland. 

At one point, she spotted Double Diamond and his father carrying some mattresses, which she knew were the ones he had commissioned the town tailors Dashing Cape and Garter Stitch to make. She giggled upon thinking of their reactions to having to make one mattress rather large, and then upon meeting the massive Powder Snow. 

Of course, her thoughts then wandered to how Party Favor's family must have reacted to the balloon mattresses that he made for them. And the thought of balloons made her cast her gaze at her dresser, with balloon flower that Party Favor had made for her earlier resting atop it.  

She felt warm upon thinking of Party Favor's never-ending desire to make her, as well as others, happy. It was something that equalization could not suppress, even when he couldn't remember how to make balloon sculptures, or access his own magic for that matter. When Sugar Belle thought she had been alone in being dissatisfied with the so-called equality in the town, Party Favor proved her wrong by admitting to her his lack of satisfaction as well, and they had started a real friendship in the process. They soon learned of Night Glider's doubts and brought her into their little fold. Their meetings brought genuine happiness to the three of them, momentarily freeing them from the dreary forced smiles of Starlight Glimmer's reign over the town. 

Of course, thinking of the days of Starlight, she frowned when her thoughts drifted to the reason she had come to the town in the first place, and she looked at her cutie mark. That purple cupcake once represented the standards that she could not meet, and the unpleasable father which had demanded them. What was supposed to be her greatest joy in life had been a nightmare, and intense pressure and fear killed any enthusiasm for her special talent. Hence why she listened to Starlight, who had seemed like the mother figure that she had desperately needed at the time.

How unfortunate it was that she had traded one hell for another. 

She exhaled, reminding herself that her current friendships were the great joy that came out of her sorrow, and that she loved her special talent now more than ever, and that sharing it with this town was one of the best things that ever happened to her. The satisfaction of seeing ponies happily munching on her treats often lifted her spirits, and the opportunities to give lessons to her friends or letting them help out with some little things were always fun. 

Her eyes went back to the snowy street. It was dark now, and the snowflakes were only seen in the light of the lanterns on each house. She could only wonder what kind of conversations her friends were having with their families as they settled them in. 

To think she was going to be a part of each family, if only for a day or two! Tomorrow, she was going to start things off with Double Diamond's family, since Party Favor and Night Glider wanted some time to smooth things out with certain family members before they had their turns to have her. It was fine by her, since she already considered Double Diamond a cool big brother.  The only thing she dreaded was that annoying brother of his that had made a fuss over minor mistakes in her fudge. 

She hopped off the bed and stretched. She trotted out of her room and down the stairs, planning to take inventory before she retired for the night herself. 





The next morning, she trotted down to Double Diamond's house, and knocked upon the green door. The white stallion answered the door, yawning and rubbing his eye. He smacked his lips before seeing his friend in front of him, and his face broke into a smile. 

"Didn't expect you this early, Sugar Belle," he said. "I thought you had some baking to do in the morning."

"Oh, Pumpkin Spice and Cuppa Joe are watching the cafe for me." Sugar Belle stamped on the porch to shake some snow off. "Plus, I thought having breakfast with you guys would be a good way to start the day."

Double Diamond was about to reply when he was interrupted by the shout of "This orange juice has too much pulp!" from Blue Square inside the kitchen. 

"Don't make me dump it on your head!" Black Diamond growled.

Double Diamond rolled his eyes, and shook his head. "Excuse my brothers, they always annoy each other."

Green Circle suddenly popped up from under her eldest brother, holding a stuffed bunny in one of her forelegs. "Ugh, don't get me started on what knuckleheads they are! Black Diamond always has to be such a grump, and Blue Square is a know-it-all doofus. Double Diamond's cool, but I do wish I had a sister."

Sugar Belle nodded. "Well, no worries, I'll be your sister for the next couple of days."

Greenie jumped and threw her bunny upward. As she caught the bunny, she exclaimed, "Sweet! Aside from Doofus 1 and Doofus 2, you're going to love spending these two days with us! We're gonna go out to get a Hearth's Warming tree, and go sledding, and have snowball fights, and explore that ski resort thing that you guys are gonna open soon! We'll have buckets of fun!"

Sugar Belle beamed. "By the way, that's a cute bunny."

Greenie blinked, looked at the bunny, and then slung it on her back. "Uh, thanks. Her name's just... Bunny. I've, uh, had her since I was five."

"Oh, I had a stuffed moose once. He was a birthday present from Grandma when I was four," Sugar Belle replied. She smiled as the memory came back to her. "Oh, I remember when I'd play tea party with Mr. Chocolate, taking him to the park, and baking with him! He had a little apron and everything!"

Greenie glanced back at Bunny, and mumbled, "Well... I take Bunny sledding."

Sugar Belle giggled. "Oh, there's no shame in still having a stuffed animal after you earn your cutie mark. I still had Mr. Chocolate when I was fifteen. He was one of my best friends..." She frowned and then sighed. "At least until he was shredded by the blender."

Double Diamond winced. "Ouch. I'm sorry to hear that."

Sugar Belle just replied numbly. "Oh, don't worry. I was too old for him anyway."

Double Diamond and Greenie looked at each other uncomfortably, with the latter taking Bunny off her back and squeezing it protectively. Then the former said, "Well, why don't you come inside and have some breakfast? We've gotta eat to have enough energy for tree hunting!"





After a hearty breakfast, Sugar Belle and the family first went down to the resort itself, which was down in the little valley that dipped lower than the town, and was accessed by a gondola not far from the main town. With cabins and lodges built both out of trees that once inhabited that valley and wood imported from elsewhere by the train, the resort promised comfort for the visitors that were to come upon the opening. Outside of that little village, the snowy mountains were promising fun times for all, from the nearby bunny hills for beginners, to the double black diamond trails for experts further up. 

As they were there, Powder Snow, his two eldest sons, and Sugar Belle just stood in their spot and looked around the hub, while Alta, Greenie, and Blue were exploring the hub, with Greenie prancing around in the snow, and Blue fussing over the cleanliness of the cabin windows and the smoothness of the wood. He seemed to have stashed sandpaper in one of his coat pockets, which he was using to sand the cabin walls. 

Powder Snow took a whiff of the frigid air. "Ah, nothing like the smell of pine to evoke that cozy mountain feel. Smells less dusty than the village up there."

"Oh, come on, Dad, our landscapers and gardeners have been at work making our town less of a desert," Double Diamond said. 

"Wait, it was a desert?" Powder laughed. "Sorry, couldn't tell with all the snow!"

Alta was walking in a circle in the center of the hub, staring at a patch of ground cleared of snow. "So... is the tree supposed to be right here?"

Double Diamond turned to his mother and nodded. "Yep! It's gonna be the centerpiece of this resort."

Black Diamond stood by Double Diamond, raising an eyebrow as he stared at the spot Alta trotted around. "The ground looks as if it was disturbed, as if somepony was digging there, filled with dirt that doesn't match the rest of the soil, and the unevenness is wide enough for a tree to have already been there." He paused for a moment to turn to face his older brother. "Why didn't you keep that tree?"

Double Diamond rubbed the back of his head. "We were gonna keep it, but the wood was rotten, so it wasn't going to last long anyway."

Black Diamond nodded. "Makes sense."

Sugar Belle blinked, and glanced at Powder. "How could he tell? We removed that tree a few months ago."

Powder chuckled. "Well, all my kiddos have been blessed with keen eyes and talents for observation and quick thinking. They just manifested in different ways, and are used for different things. Like you saw with Black Diamond, he can spot irregularities in the earth in any place. He also has good night vision. Helps him when he's working in the mines." 

Black Diamond turned to his father. "I appreciate you complimented my eyesight, but Blue Square's glasses aren't just for aesthetic."

Powder blinked, and then glanced at a glaring Blue Square pushing up the glasses on his muzzle. With a snort, the blue teenager continued to sand the cabin, and his father grinned sheepishly. Powder cleared his throat. "Okay, my bad there. So... where'd your sister go?"

Greenie suddenly popped out of a snow pile behind them, and they whirled around to face her. Brushing snow out of her mane, she asked, "Are we gonna look for a tree, or what?"

Then, Blue Square shouted, "But this wood on the cabin isn't smooth! Somepony could get a splinter!"

The two Diamonds replied in unison, "Nopony cares!"





Soon enough, the group was out in the woods, scanning each tree to see which one would fit the best with the ski resort. They were coming across plenty of pine trees, but none were quite the tree they were looking for. Some were missing branches, some had holes in the trunk, and some were completely bare. Some were too short, and some were too tall, and there were plenty that were a little too crooked. They kept walking deeper and deeper, and the temperature wasn't getting any warmer. Only Sugar Belle seemed to notice, and was amazed at how Double Diamond's family stood it. It was a good thing she decided to bring her jacket and beanie. 

Powder Snow was pulling a large sled through the snow, which held a two pony saw, a couple of axes, and some branch trimmers. Greenie was hopping around, pretending that the snow was lava, though she looked out for ice. The rest of the family and Sugar Belle trudged through the snow, waves of powder whipping away with every step. All the while, the ponies talked among themselves, whether it be telling stories, talking about events that had happened during the town's isolation, or just telling Sugar Belle about their hometown of Paddock City and how the kids grew up. 

"...and you should've seen the stars in Double Diamond's eyes when it turned out that Salt Lick City was hosting the Winter Equestria Games that year," Alta said, ducking under a snowy branch. "He was more than happy to witness the skiing events that were taking place in Paddock City's resorts, and, when doing a junior snow sport activity with his class later that month, he earned his cutie mark."

"Double Diamond's told us the story a few times, about how he was racing his friends down a hill with skis and sleds and he won," Sugar Belle said, telekinetically moving the branch out of her way. She turned to Double Diamond, who unfortunately was smacked in the face with a snowy branch. "Didn't that one colt break his leg, and another end up in a giant snowball? Who ended up in what again?"

"Pinewood Derby broke his leg, and Ever Onward was in the snowball," Double Diamond replied, wiping the snow off his muzzle. Biting his lip and looking away, he muttered, "I was a bit of a jerk for not really caring about those accidents, and instead focusing on my new cutie mark."

"Yeah, he had an ego," Black Diamond muttered. "Picked on me for being a late bloomer."

Blue Square huffed. "And me for needing glasses. It's not my fault for developing astigmatism! My poor forsaken cornea, being the shape of a hoofball instead of a sphere and messing up the way my eye takes in light, and breaking our family tradition of having perfect sigh--"

Black Diamond shoved a hoof onto his younger brother's mouth, his brown eyes looking almost red. "We get the picture, you chatterbox."

Double Diamond groaned. "Please don't remind me. I already had my wake up call years ago."

Green Circle hopped from rock to rock, and balanced herself on a fallen log. "Yeah, let's just think of the good stuff! Like how every mare we knew in Paddock City thought that Double Diamond was a dreamboat!"

Double Diamond flushed, turning redder as Black Diamond and Blue Square started laughing. "Greenie!"

"What? I saw them giggling and talking about you. You're clearly very handsome!" She turned to Sugar Belle and waggled her eyebrows at her. "Don't you think so, Sugar Belle?"

Sugar Belle glanced at the embarrassed Double Diamond, and replied, "Oh, he is. I'm just not interested in him in that way. I'm perfectly fine with the two of us being friends." 

Double Diamond sighed in relief. "Thank you, Sugar Belle!"

"...of course, that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of options for him in town anyway. I've heard plenty of ponies talk about him being a 'dreamboat' in my cafe." She held a teasing smirk and winked as she said this, and the three siblings of Double Diamond laughed again.

Double Diamond was blushing again, with a little scowl on his face. "I take back my gratitude."

"Ah, don't do that just because she's teasing you!" Alta said, backing up to Double Diamond's side and patting his back. "You're a big boy, you can take it."

"Hey, didn't you like the attention back then?" Blue Square asked. 

"Oh, I did..." Double Diamond ran a hoof through his mane. "I'm, just, uh... well, I don't think romance is an option for me right now. I've got other things to worry about."

"Well, whatever works for you," Alta said, tousling his mane. "Don't want to pressure you, little buddy."

Suddenly, Powder Snow boomed, "Ah! Now there's a nice tree for the resort!" 

The others were quick to catch up to Powder, and they beheld a tall, majestic tree, which seemed to reach about fifty feet high, with a fine point that was just begging for a star. It bristled with blue and green needles, all arranged perfectly so that there was not an inch of any branch uncovered, and appeared strong enough to hold up tinsel, candy canes, and all sorts of ornaments. The heavens opened up, and the snow glistened under the sunny spotlight, as if it was a sign that this was the right tree. 

All eyes were wide as the group gazed upon it, and they all simultaneously let out an "Oooooooh".

Powder looked back at the group with a smile. "Black Diamond, mind testing the sturdiness of this tree?"

Black Diamond blinked with his usual serious demeanor, dug through the snow, and then plucked a rock from the ground. Popping his neck and walking forward, and tossing the rock in and out of his hoof repeatedly, he narrowed his eyes at the tree. Then, in a flash, he chucked the rock at the trunk. 

The impact reverberated through the tree, shaking the snow off and scaring whatever birds were roosting in the tree, and the thud echoed through the range. They stood there and stared for a moment, half expecting the tree to fall. 

Powder unhitched himself from the sled, and then turned to it to grab one of the tools. "Well, dare I say, it's a perfect--OW!"

He was nailed on the back of the head with some sort of projectile. Rubbing the sore spot, he turned and stared at the thing that had hit him, which was now lying in the snow: a pine cone. 

He looked behind him, seeing as only Black Diamond was closer to the tree, and even then, he wasn't close enough to be within reach of any pine cones. Blinking, he muttered, "What the hay...?"

Another pine cone launched from the tree, this time hitting Black Diamond's ear. With a pained shout, he glared at the tree and growled. "Hey!" 

A third pine cone flew out, this time heading for Double Diamond. He jumped out of the way, only for Blue Square to get nailed on the forehead. With a yelp of pain, he snapped, "Okay, who's up there ejecting pine cones with enough force to launch it at speeds of 25 miles per hour?" He groaned. "Gravity makes it worse!"

And then, they saw the culprit. It was perched halfway up the perfect tree, glaring down at them with dark eyes. It was covered in coarse, brown fur, matted with dirt, tree sap, and snow crystals. Its claws were sharp enough to rip open skin and draw blood, and the teeth that were bared could tear the flesh off a pony. Its ears resembled the horns of a devil, and it's thick tail whipped back and forth violently, showing that it was ready for a fight. It was a true beast, one that clearly had great strength, and it had issued a challenge for the ponies who had dared to disturb it. 

It was a squirrel.

Alta wrinkled her nose. "Looks like Good Ol' Chipparooney has a cousin equally as vicious."

Sugar Belle turned to Double Diamond with a confused look on her face. "Who's 'Good Ol' Chipparooney'?"

"Vicious squirrel that threw acorns at us," Double Diamond said. "And the occasional rock--I still have a scar from when he chucked a rock at me."

The cousin of Chipparooney let out a high-pitched, squeaky battle cry, and squirrels ranging from brown to gray to red all popped out of the branches of the tree, chattering and holding up pine cones of every shape and size. They glared at the ponies with utmost intensity, and then proceeded to rain pine cones upon the group. 

Powder snow got pelted with a few before scooping up Black Diamond, and then they and the rest of the family all galloped to the nearest log, where they all crouched behind. The raining pine cones pittered and pattered on the log for a few moments, though the screeches of the squirrels did not cease. 

Double Diamond peeked out from behind the log, only to get nailed on the forehead by a pine cone. He yelped, went back to ducking, and rubbed his head. "Ow... those little buggers are strong! Why are squirrels so strong?"

Blue Square peeked from behind the log. "Judging by their size, muscle mass, and the fact that we're now several feet further than we intially were--" He ducked to avoid another pine cone. "They shouldn't be able to hit us at all!"

"Magic," Greenie said. "I bet those squirrels are chuck full of magic."

Sugar Belle pursed her lips. "That, or they have some sort of killer workout routine."

"Well, looks like our 'perfect tree' was their home," Powder huffed. "Guess we better leave and look elsewhere."

"Our equipment's still back there," Black Diamond stated. 

"Well, maybe the squirrels will stop when we tell them we're leaving!"

Black Diamond glanced at his older brother. "Hey, Mr. Mayor, surely you know a thing or two about diplomacy."

Double Diamond peeked at the squirrels, and ducked under pine cones. "Well, yeah, I do, but--"

"Put it to work!"

Double Diamond snorted, and then climbed up onto the log. Clearing his throat, he called out, "Squirrels! We ask that you put down your pine cones and listen. We mean you squirrels no harm, and we realize now that we shouldn't cut down your home. We were wrong to intrude upon your territory, and all we ask is that we can get our equipment, and then we will go look for a Hearth's Warming Tree elsewhere."

The squirrels all glanced at each other, and then let loose a barrage of pine cones on Double Diamond. 

Jumping off the log and bearing a few bruises from the bombardment, he glared at Black Diamond and growled, "I was going to tell you that I don't speak squirrel!"

Black Diamond pursed his lips and looked away, spitting, "Sor-ry."

Alta peeked over the log again and grimaced. "Dang it, they're scurrying to the sled! I think they're planning to take the axes and kill us."

"That's worse than Chipparooney!" Greenie complained.

Sugar Belle sighed, and then picked up some snow with her telekinesis. "Well, I guess since diplomacy didn't work... we might have to fight them to get our equipment back." As she said this, she compressed the snow into the shape of a pie. Then, popping up from behind the log, she yelled, "Eat snow pie!" and chucked it at the tree. 

It hit some of the branches, and shook the squirrels on them enough for them to fall. They snagged some lower branches in their fall, and cried in dismay, along with their brethren that hadn't been hit. Looking at Sugar Belle, they prepared some more pine cones to throw. 

Green Circle popped up as well and chucked a snowball at the squirrels approaching the sled. "We declare WAR!" 

The squirrels chirped in fright at the sudden snowball, and then looked up to find more snowballs coming their way. With a shriek, they scurried back up the tree, grabbing any pine cones and rocks to throw at their pony attackers. Soon enough, the exchange of pine cones, rocks, snowballs, and mudballs was under way. 

From both sides, it was raining the various dirty projectiles, with the squirrels being shaken out of their perches by Sugar Belle's various snow creations and startled by the snow covered rocks that Black Diamond had thrown, and the ponies narrowly avoiding being nailed by pine cones and rocks. At one point, the squirrels started to create snowballs from the snow in the trees, putting sharp pine needles in to make them spike balls. 

Blue Square was hit in the cheek with one of these spike balls, and in retaliation, he picked up pine cones that were laying around after the squirrels had thrown them and threw them back. Unfortunately for him, he didn't throw them very far. Green Circle threw farther than he did, and managed to knock some of the nearby trees to dump snow on the squirrels. Unsatisfied with being useless, Blue Square decided that the best course of action for him was to fortify the log further, and went to collect snow and mud to pack onto their protection. 

Double Diamond had taken to using his scarf as a sling. Molding snowballs and setting them onto the thick, purple cloth, he twirled his makeshift sling, and hollered, "Don't fail me now, lucky scarf!"

The snowball that was slung nailed a squirrel directly, and the dazed rodent ended up falling out of the tree and landing into a pile of pine needles, leading out a squeaky groan. Double Diamond felt sorry for the squirrel, but it was short lived as he was hit in the forehead with a pine cone, and resumed slinging snowballs and pine cones at the squirrels. 

Powder Snow took note of the various snow creations shaped like desserts that Sugar Belle made and threw, and commented, "Say, you've got some pretty strong telekinesis for such a cute little unicorn such as yourself."

Sugar Belle threw a large snow cake at the tree, and winced when she broke some of the branches. "Oh, that's because I moved furniture a lot."

"Ah, so you moved a lot?"

Sugar Belle bit her lip. "No, I've lived in Fillydelphia since I was born, and only left a few years ago. I was just... inspired to rearrange the furniture by my father."

Powder scratched his beard. "I don't know why some ponies like to rearrange furniture so much..." 

Before he could muse about it further, he was hit in the back of the head, and heard some squirrels laughing at him. With a hot snort, he created a large snowball, and chucked it at the squirrels. 

And so the war dragged on. The ponies' fur was being matted with mud as they dug deeper in order to both fight the squirrels and fortify their log, and their rumps and hooves were freezing the longer they sat in it. Their hooves felt like ice as they molded snowballs and mudballs, and dripped with dirty water as the melting snow and mud mixed. They still ducked when the squirrels brought about their barrage of pine cones and snowballs. Later on, much to the ponies' disgust, they had summoned some birds to drop a few "bombs" on them. 

About an hour or two in the war, the squirrels were low on pine cones, and the ponies seized the chance to hop over their fortress, grab the sled and the tools, and hightail it out of there. Even as they galloped away, the squirrels kept on throwing pathetic little snowballs at them. 





"Ugh, I need a bath."

"Me too."

"Me three."

"We all need a bath."

"...at least we found a tree."

The tree they had set up in the ski resort hub wasn't quite as perfect as the squirrel tree, with some bare branches, some of the needles being a sickly brown or yellowish green, and one huge branch was missing. However, it was nice and sturdy, especially once Powder Snow had secured it, and the point was fine enough for a star to be balanced on top of it. And for all it's faults, it was still a nice looking tree. 

The some couldn't be said for the family and Sugar Belle. Their hair and coats were wet and matted with mud, bird poop, and tree sap. They stood there, shivering and sniffling, and all tired and aching from the squirrel war, chopping down their other option for a Hearth's Warming Tree, and towing it back to the resort. It had been a more eventful day than anticipated, especially since Green Circle now laid in a snow drift, moaning about how soft it was. At the very least, the group accomplished their task. 

Sugar Belle looked at Double Diamond. "I never thought squirrels could be so vicious."

"That was worse than Chipparooney," Double Diamond said. Shaking himself off, he said, "Anyway, since it's getting dark, it's time to go home."

Black Diamond was resisting rubbing his eyes with his mud-covered hooves. "Please plant a tree there for next year. I'm not sure we want anypony to fail getting that tree for future Hearth's Warmings because of General Pine Cone and his nutty army."

Double Diamond glared tiredly at him. "I'll keep that in mind."

Alta picked up her daughter, and said, "Okay, let's just get to the gondola already. I'm tired of smelling like bird crap." 

Blue Square was getting increasingly annoyed by the stain on his glasses. "I hope tomorrow's baking lesson is kinder to us than the squirrels."