//------------------------------// // In the face // Story: My Little Dynamite: Book Two // by Fuzzyfurvert //------------------------------// “Happy new year! " "Yes yes..." Fleur-di-Lis smiled, nodding to the foals that passed her at a run on the snow-lined sidewalk outside her Canterlot home. "Be careful! You'll slip and fall!" She sighed and ran her hoof over her distended belly. "Where are their parents when foals need them most?" "Probably lagging behind at a safer pace than their children. Just like us." Sapphire Shores rolled her eyes and stepped over an icy patch of flagstone. "Trixie! Stop running or no fireworks!" The blue unicorn, ahead of the two mares at the stoop to their brownstone, skidded to a shaky stop and blew a strand of silvery-white mane out of her eyes. "The fast and sure-footed Trixie is ok, mom, sheesh! Fireworks on New Years is mandatory. " "She has a point, dear." Fleur chuckled and playfully bumped into Sapphire. "Besides, weren't we going to enjoy the evening together by the fireplace? I seem to recall that you promised me and the baby some of your toasted marshmallows on hot chocolate. " "Yeah, the secret family recipe, passed down through the generations. My father taught it to me and my siblings and now I get to do the same with you and our daughters." Sapphire smiled wistfully and held out her hoof when they reached the bottom step. "Tradition marches ever onward, doesn't it? " Fleur took the hoof in her own and gripped the railing with the other. "It might be a son this time. You never can tell." She grunted with the effort her extra weight was asking of her legs on the short climb to their door. Trixie was already inside and her booming hoof falls echoed through the house while her parents made their way in out of the cold. The house was blessed warm to their chilled coats, heavy drapes and Sapphire’s enormous hat notwithstanding. Sapphire shook the errant flakes of snow from her shoulders and turned to continue helping her wife. Their butler, Rover, arrived moments later and was quick to hang their discarded outerwear in the entry where it could dry before the mares made their way to the family room and the heat of the roaring fireplace. Fleur groaned happily and eased herself onto the wide couch in front of the fire. “Oh sweet Goddess, that feels good! I’m not sure which is worse, the bitter cold of this winter, or the aches in my knees. I swear that Trixie wasn’t this much work.” Sapphire chuckled and slipped onto the seat next to her wife and ran a hoof over her swollen belly. “Maybe it’s twins this time.” “If it is, then you can kiss that spring tour of your’s goodbye. I’m not feeding two mouths, watching your little hellion and designing a spring and summer line of clothing all at once.” Sapphire smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you take it easy? Don’t you deserve the down time, twins or not? Skip the designing and re-issue last year’s fashion, Princesses above know they’re still popular.” “I will not!” Fleur scoffed and held a hoof to her chest. “Besides, one of us has to bring in the bits, what with a new foal on the way and Trixie starting at Celestia’s academy in the summer.” “Yeah, well, I’m not giving up my tour either. Money aside, ponies and music lovers across Equestria are going to be waiting to see me. Tickets are already on sale.” Sapphire flipped her hair back out of her eyes and leaned over to kiss her wife on the nose. “Anyway, you have me all to yourself until the spring thaw.” “Ewww!” Both mares looked up in surprise as their eldest daughter gagged exaggeratedly in the doorway. “Trixie demands you both get a room! There are foals in this house!” “We have a room, my love.” Fleur giggled. “It’s just up the stairs, remember?” “Technically,” her wife interjected, “every room in this house is ours…” “Oh hush.” Trixie stuck out her tongue in childish disgust at her parents and dropped herself onto a cushion by the fire. “It is the new year, and Trixie demands the traditional telling of stories and hot chocolate!” “I agree with the hot chocolate demands.” Fleur eyed Sapphire pointedly. “Secret family recipe, remember?” The earth pony rolled her eyes and climbed back to her hooves. “Ok, ok, sheesh! I can handle the drinks. Can you handle the stories?” Fleur-di-Lis nodded and patted the couch for their daughter to join her. “I can do that. I think I’ll tell you about…” she tapped her chin in thought for a moment, “about Princess Cadance’s first new year as a Princess. Would you like that, Trixie?” “Trixie likes stories with explosions.” The young unicorn frowned for a moment, but she relented after a moment and climbed up to snuggle with her mother. “However, the accepting and patient Trixie also enjoys stories about Princesses.” “How about I try to slip in a few explosions in there too?” “Trixie would appreciate this.” Fleur giggled again and took a slow breath to focus her mind and thought back to a tale that had been told to her just after she had come to live in Canterlot with her old modeling mentor, Silk Spinner. It must have been about… Fourteen years ago Silk Spinner, at the height of her career and fame, announced her retirement from the international modeling scene at the end of the fall season. She retired, rather publicly, to Equestria, and to Canterlot’s narrow snow-choked streets specifically. Under the spotlight from the community, it became clear that she had started a relationship of sorts with Princess Celestia herself. Silk Spinner wasn’t the only new addition to the castle, however. Much earlier in the year, a new alicorn had been discovered and brought to the castle to be raised as a Princess. She was a pretty mare, born as a pegasus in distant Cloudsdale, with a warm pink coat, feathers and a curly mess of a mane. She had a blue heart for a cutie mark and brought love and happiness wherever she went. Her name was Cadance and she was just about your age at the time. “Trixie brings more happiness to those around her. She is also prettier.” Perhaps, now let me tell the story. “Trixie still demands explosions!” Duly noted. Moving on. Now, Cadance had never spent the holidays away from her birth family before, and she was very sad. The snow was lovely, the food was tasty and the presents were very nice, but they were no substitute for family. She spent a lot of her time in her room at the castle crying. Thankfully, Princess Cadance had one friend, Twilight Sparkle. “The great and powerful Trixie’s hero! Twilight Sparkle will make the explosions!” Well, remember, this was when they were both fillies. Battle Mage Twilight didn’t have that reputation yet. She was still training in Princess Celestia’s Academy. “Like Trixie is?” Yep. Anyway, on New Years Eve, Princess Cadance was sadder than normal and had spent all day locked in her room, crying. The guards couldn’t get her to come out. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia couldn’t get her to come out either and they were very sad. So, in the afternoon, Twilight Sparkle came to Princess Cadance's room and she decided to try something different. She went outside into the snow and walked to Princess Cadance’s window. Twilight Sparkle then took some snow and shaped it into a ball with her magic. Then she threw at Princess Cadance’s window! “With her magic?” Probably. But Princess Cadance didn’t respond. So, Twilight Sparkle threw another. And another and another. Until finally, Princess Cadance opened her window and wiped the tears out of her eyes. She told Twilight to stop bothering her. And can you guess what Twilight Sparkle did? “Did she blow up the wall?” Er...no. She threw another snowball right into Princess Cadance’s face! “Wouldn’t that get you arrested?” Maybe. Don’t ever try it. But, Twilight Sparkle is Princess Cadance’s friend and Princess Celestia’s student, so she can probably get away with it. “Twilight Sparkle is the coolest pony Trixie knows!” Anyway, the snowball to the face made Princess Cadance very upset! She wasn’t going to let Twilight Sparkle get away with that! “But you just said!” Hush, who’s telling this story, me or you? Thank you. So, Princess Cadance jumped out of her bedroom window and glided down to the snow using her pretty pink wings. Twilight Sparkle used her magic again and made more snowballs and levitated them in the air around her. She laughed at Princess Cadance and said she couldn’t stop her from throwing more of the snowballs. That made Princess Cadance even more upset! She wanted to teach Twilight Sparkle a lesson, but she couldn’t get close with all those snowballs. So, Princess Cadance had an idea. She would make her own snowballs and beat Twilight Sparkle in glorious battle. Her horn started to glow and she concentrated really hard, but snow is a lot tougher to make move than clouds are. “Trixie can easily control snow. She learned it already.” Good to hear. Keep up your studies and you might become a Battle Mage, just like Twilight Sparkle. “Trixie will be an even better Battle Mage than Twilight Sparkle!” That’s my girl! Now be quiet and let mommy finish. Well, Princess Cadance tried really really hard, but she was still new to unicorn magic and she couldn’t make any snowballs. So, Twilight Sparkle threw another one and hit Princess Cadance right in the mane! That was too much! So then, Princess Cadance charged! She ran straight at Twilight Sparkle and into a hail of snowballs, but she didn’t stop. When she reached Twilight Sparkle, Princess Cadance leaped and tackled the unicorn! They both went down in a cloud of snow and rolled around on the ground, fighting for dominance. Until finally, the snow settled and Princess Cadance was on top of Twilight Sparkle and pushed her back into the cold snow covered ground. She was breathing hard and huffed and puffed while Twilight Sparkle lay there in a shocked daze. It was just then that a fresh snow started to fall. The two fillies were as still as statues as the new snow started to erase all the signs of their fight. Then, Twilight Sparkle started to laugh. She laughed and laughed and that made Princess Cadance very confused. But, as Twilight Sparkle continued to laugh, Princess Cadance came to realize that they weren’t really fighting. “They weren’t?” Nope. Princess Cadance realized that Twilight Sparkle had tricked her into coming out and playing, just as she had in Cloudsdale, before Princess Cadance became an alicorn. Twilight Sparkle was showing her that she didn’t have to be sad, because she had a friend and you can’t be sad for long when you have good friends. So, Princess Cadance started to laugh too. She laughed so hard she fell down in the snow next to Twilight Sparkle and since Twilight was such a good friend, Princess Cadance showed Twilight Sparkle how pegasi make snow angels. Fleur-di-Lis smiled at Trixie and then looked out at the fresh snow that had started to fall. “Isn’t that a heartwarming story? It’s just perfect for this time of year when so many of us have to be away from family and loved ones. We count our blessings each year that we get to spend together as a family over the holidays.” Trixie nodded and then frowned. “Wait...you promised Trixie there would be explosions! And how do you know that Twilight Sparkle had a snowball fight with a Princess?” Her mother chuckled. “Oh dear, I did, didn’t I? Sorry about that. Well, you see, I know it happened because I saw it.” Trixie raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Fleur winked and leaned in close to her daughter to whisper. “I was there at the castle that day. I saw the whole thing happen while I sat with my old modeling coach, Silk Spinner and Princess Celestia herself. We were having dinner together to celebrate my first modeling contract here in Canterlot. Ms. Spinner was Princess Celestia’s special somepony at the time and she missed the whole thing because she was focused on making kissy faces at the Princess.” “Ew! Trixie wanted explosions, not kissy stuff, in her story!” The unicorn gagged. “Where is godmother Spinner this year, anyway?” “Didn’t you read the card she sent with your presents?” Fleur’s horn flashed and she looked up over the fireplace to lift a glitter covered card and opened it. “She says she is in Zebrica this winter. It’s warm there and the weather agrees with her old bones.” She turned the card around to show Trixie the flowy hoof writing. “See? I hope you are going to write her back to thank her for the cloak and hat she sent.” Trixie huffed and blew a strand of her mane out of her eyes. “The grateful and caring Trixie is working on it. Why doesn’t she stay in Canterlot with the Princess? The castle is warm.” Fleur shrugged and looked into the flames of the roaring fire and placed the card back on the mantle with her magic. In truth, she didn’t really know why, but she suspected that there must have been some sort of falling out between Silk and the Princess. “I wish I knew, sweetie. Granma Spinner has always been one to do things her way for her own reasons. But I like to think she secretly sneaks back into Canterlot and peeks in on us when we sleep, to make sure we’re safe.” “That might explain some of the odd noises I’ve heard in the house when it gets dark.” Sapphire interjected, walking in from the kitchen with a tray balanced across her withers that carried three wide mugs. Steam wafted gently from the mugs and the smell of sweet coco filled the air. “Or maybe that’s just a certain filly sneaking around for a midnight snack?” She grinned at Trixie’s huffing and took a seat carefully next to her wife. “Here, the Shore’s famous family recipe hot chocolate! Just as I promised. Did I miss story time?” “Mostly.” Fleur sighed, her magic levitating the mugs off Sapphire’s back and passed them around before taking her first sip. “Mmm...you never fail to impress, my dear. I was just reminding our little one to write a thank you letter to her godmother.” “When Trixie writes, she will tell granma Spinner she can stay with us next year.” Trixie leaned against Fleur and followed her gaze into the dancing flames of the fireplace, hot coco gripped firmly in her hooves. “It’s warm here.”