Half-Hour Horses

by HoofAndQuill

Platinum [Slice of Life?]

(The Prompt: This isn’t snow, it’s …)

Snow.

For nearly two years now, there had been only snow outside the window. I don't know what started it; none of us do. Even Starswirl the Bearded is ignorant of the cause. The pegasus ponies claim they aren't responsible, and though many of my fellows doubt them, I do not. The pegasi have been suffering along with the various earth pony tribes, and our own unicorn Kingdom.

It's good that we are all used to the cold. The grand entry hall for this castle was designed for warmer weather. Now, the many windows and high ceilings actively work against our attempts to keep the hall warm. Usually, I would have retired to my bedchambers by now, but as Princess Platinum is due to arrive this evening, we all must brave the deepening cold in the hall. The Summit of the Tribes has ended after what must have been a long, difficult week. I have hopes that the tribes all succeeded in finding some positive result, through my more realistic and pragmatic thoughts tend toward their failure.

The scouts call out, and the word travels quickly. The Princess' entourage has been spotted on approach. I draw my cloak around my body, and pull my hood up to cover my mane. Though the garment is scratchy, and rather unkempt for a royal adviser, Her Royal Highness would never allow her adviser to wear anything approaching her own splendid clothing.

Magic encases the castle doors, and they open outward, revealing the Princess' palanquin in the flickering torchlight. I rush forward, and walk alongside the bearers until they set her down onto the floor of the chamber. My horn lights, and I pull the Princess' favored indoor robe around her, as she rushes us both through the throng of questioning nobles. Their voices crowd in, but despite my small stature and humble attire, they know better than to test my magical abilities. Soon enough, we are in the private royal chambers, and free of their riotous questions and demands. They will still be there tomorrow.

The doors of the chamber close, and silence hangs over the room for a moment. Princess Platinum's weary sigh breaks the quiet pall, and she trots toward her bed, discarding her robe and her royal vestments as she goes. I catch each and fold them in my magic, setting them aside along with her crown. She crawls onto the covers, and speaks quietly. "Clover the Clever, I need you."

I sigh quietly, and discard my own cloak, tossing it to the floor before climbing into the bed with her. It's strange that me, a mare, being in a position that so many stallions would envy only makes me little more than a glorified heater, to help warm her covers faster. The Princess clings to me, and I hold her close out of obligation. After a moment, I speak again. "Your majesty, about the Summit... did the other tribes see reason, as I predicted?"

Princess Platinum nuzzles against my mane for a moment, but then sighs in resignation. "They do not recognize the superiority of the Unicorns, Clover. The pegasi continue to defy logic and deny responsibility, and the lowly earth pony tribes all claim to be out of food. After the third day, none of the other leaders would even speak to each other. It was a disaster."

I feel myself hold her closer, almost protectively. The room seems colder for the failure of the summit, and the wind howls outside of the Princess' thick, insulated windows. "Princess, we are running low on options. We have only enough food for another few months, and that's on very strict rationing."

The Princess speaks into my mane, her voice low and miserable. "I believe the other tribes are going to seek a new land. We must do the same. This place is no longer suited for the majestic Unicorn Kingdom, and we must not allow the pegasus barbarians or the filthy earth pony farmers to claim the best places before we arrive."

I pull away incredulously, but the Princess' hooves reach for me, and I sigh and go back to her. As she settles back against my coat, I speak as evenly and calmly as I can manage. "Princess Platinum, we can't leave the Kingdom. All of the great Unicorn culture, all of the knowledge stored in our libraries, my mento-- our... less physically capable citizens... We'd lose all of it. We would be throwing away the Unicorn Kingdom in order to save it."

The Princess huffs in a familiar way, and then clings to me as sobs wrack through her body. I hold her close, and stroke her mane as she cries. I understand the trust she places in me with this; no other pony ever sees her cry. She would never admit to any worry over her course, or her decisions, let alone enough panicked misery that she would go to tears over it. Yet here, alone in her bedchambers with her assistant, she cries into my coat.

I know her mind is made up. Honestly, we have no other choice available to us. Either we starve to death surrounded by our inedible art and books, or we leave to find more fertile lands, and lose everything that made us our own Kingdom. As the Princess clings to me like a scared little foal, I look up to her glass windows. The snow outside is only swirling white specks in the darkness of night, lit by the feeble torchlight that manages to escape the window.

But it's not just snow out there. It's death. It's the death of all that we unicorns have built for centuries, death to the pegasus warbands, and death to the earth pony tribes.

For the first time, I hold the Princess close, and I join her in shedding tears.