Half-Hour Horses

by HoofAndQuill

Snow Day [Slice of Life]

(The Prompt: Winter fun.) (With tags suggesting Twinkie shipping and ice skating)

(This is just a silly aside, as I had no real ideas for Twinkie ice skating. Still, had fun writing it.)

Princess Twilight Sparkle looked out over the nearly endless expanse of flat ground in front of her. It was midwinter, and they were far north of Ponyville, so of course the ground was entirely covered in a thick layer of snow. Twilight turned her head to look up at the pony who brought her here: her mentor and fellow alicorn, Princess Celestia. "Um, Princess Celestia, no offense, but it's just a field. You told the royal guards we had important diplomatic business to attend to."

Princess Luna took a few steps to stand alongside her sister. "We do, Princess Twilight. Today, this will be the site of a great battle!"

Twilight blanched and folded her ears back. "A battle?! Equestria's not even at war, and we're in the middle of Equestrian soil. The nearest foreign nation is The Crystal Empir-"

Princess Celestia gently pressed a hoof to Twilight's lips, and the younger alicorn silenced herself immediately. Celestia's own muzzle bore a small, gently amused smile. "Twilight, every pony needs a day away from work every so often. Today, we princesses will be having a snowball fight here. We're far enough away from Cloudsdale and Neighagra Falls that nopony will see us."

Luna nodded. "'Tis listed at Equestrian wargames practice on the schedule."

Twilight blushed slightly, and then took a few steps back away from the two older princesses. "A snowball fight? Really? And you invited me?"

Princess Celestia smiled gently again. "Yes, my most faithful-"

Celestia's quiet, confident, elegant voice was cut off by the soft paff of a loose ball of snow breaking over her muzzle. Twilight brought a hoof to her lips to try to stifle a giggle at the sight, and Celestia turned and looked upward toward her sister. Luna flew several yards away, with a dark blue magical aura holding a half dozen more spheres of snow in the air next to her. "The battle has commenced, sister!"

Twilight couldn't help but laugh, but only managed a couple seconds before another snowball flew down from above, knocking into her mane and leaving cold snow over her purple coat. She looked up and only barely managed to hop to the side to dodge the second attack from Luna, and then laughed again as she ran a short distance away to gather some ammunition.

--

"Twilight Sparkle! Thine fortress is only half finished!" Princess Luna stood confidently behind the walls of her own fortress, which while much less immaculately accurate than Twilight's, was at least complete.

Twilight looked up from her work, and then her eyes widened and she ducked down again as a larger snowball broke against her perfectly straight front wall. "Luna! I'm not ready! That's not fair!"

A sudden hail of snowballs rained down on Princess Luna from above, causing a very unroyal squawk of protest, and uncharacteristically light laughter from her sister above. "Remember, Princess Twilight, do not rely solely on walls to protect you. Allies are important as wel-"

Another attack puffed away on Princess Celestia's cutie mark, and she looked down in surprise, to see Twilight Sparkle sticking her tongue out at her. "You can only count on your allies until the common enemy is beaten!"

--

Princess Luna and Celestia circled one another with the kind of skilled battle flight that was rarely seen in the skies of Equestria in this era. Each carried a number of projectiles, though neither could easily find purchase against the other's quick maneuvers. Princess Luna slipped more into her older style of speech with the excitement of competetion. "Thy aim is abyssmal, sister! Oh! Ha, such dishonorable attacks from behind will not save thee!"

"I have had a thousand years of practice since we last battled, sister!" Princess Celestia dropped in elevation, and then lunged toward her sister, pressing a snowball against her muzzle directly with a hoof, instead of flinging it with magic.

Luna shook her head quickly to clear the snow and laughed again as she threw a dozen projectiles at once, overwhelming any attempt at dodging. Snow glistened and sparkled as it fell from the impacts on her sister's coat.

However, only a second passed before a much larger snowball whizzed past Luna, and a frustrated "Shoot!" sounded down below.

Both princesses looked down, mouths agape at the medieval-era catapult made of magical projections, from a somewhat irritated looking Twilight. Twilight stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth, and then loaded more snow into the catapult. "What? I read a book on magical constructs yesterday! You might want to dodge, I think I fixed the aim!"

The catapult fired a cloud of loose snow upwards, and both royal sisters scattered across the sky, laughing gaily.

--

Celestia landed on the snowy ground, now pocked with dozens of boulder-sized snowball impacts, and a half dozen ruined snowforts. She looked up at the mid afternoon sun, thinly visible behind the cloud cover. Celestia permitted herself to wipe her brow with her pastern, despite the unroyal image. "It may be time to stop this, our guards will be concerned."

"Hah! Thou art only retreating because you are beaten, sister!" Princess Luna stood triumphant in her hastily constructed cloud fortress. "While there is snow on the field, we shall do battle!"

Princess Celestia smirked, and then lowered her head, her horn glowing. The sunlight brightened, and the clouds over the field seemed to evaporate away. Soon, the snowy ground nearly glowed with sunny warmth and brightness. It couldn't last long under the light of day.

Princess Luna winked at her sister, and then flew slowly up from her cloud, forelegs outstretched. A shadow fell over the sun as the moon raised in front of it. "No, dear sister! Remember this day, for from this point onward, the fight shall last... forever!"

Princess Twilight's eyes widened, and she disappeared immediately in a flash of purple magic.

--

Princess Celestia flew over the blue-black field in the artificial night, dodging snowballs thrown from above. Her wings were tired, her body ached, and she was laughing happily despite it all. Snow paffed against her wings, and seeing a flash of light below, she feigned defeat and soared downward in a spin, landing more roughly than usual.

Princess Luna lowered herself in the night sky, and her eyes widened as she saw a familiar sight. Six brightly colored mares below her, five arranged protectively around Princess Twilight, all looking up at her with angry expressions. Luna shook her head quickly. "No, subjects! You misunderstand, this is not-! I am simply at play, and-"

A snowball paffed against her muzzle again, and she looked down to see the pink earth pony giggling madly as she scooped another pile of snow and formed it between her hooves. "Come on, girls! Let's use the Elements of Snowpony to protect Equestria!"

Luna laughed again and turned tail to flee the hail of projectiles headed toward her as the battle was rejoined. Being a princess of Equestria was fun, it was an honor, and sharing a castle with her elder sister was important to her after so long in isolation. But there was truly no substitute for a day spent simply having fun with friends.

Comments

[HoofAndQuill]

3875912
The Chrysalis/Shining/Cadance chapter? I like them being a bit silly together.

3880130
I'll have to see after this season is over. it's sort of looking like Twilight's going to end up with her own kingdom or something, and it would be possible to swing this story that way with a little work.