Reflect

Pinkie Pie giggled out loud. "Oh, that is hilarious!"

"Hilarious, yet a silly attempt on your part, Trixie, " Rarity wrinkled her nose in amusement, leaning fondly against her yellow pegasus friend. "You should have known that Discord wouldn't fall for the old water bucket on the door top! That's far too simple a trick for somepony like him!"

The blue mare rolled her eyes at that. "That's why I did it! The simplicity should have worked on the old fart!"

"Old fart? You wound me, my dear blue friend!" The draconequus pretended to faint in a princess dress, falling right across the showmare's back. "I thought Hearth's Warming was a time for kindness and goodwill towards others?"

Above his head, Rainbow flashed him an amused yet quizzical look. "Uh...Dude, aren't those the exact same things?"

"No, Kindness is spelled with a K." He said with a cheeky wink, earning an unamused sigh. "You should get Twilight to give you a refresher course on grammar."

"Maybe I could give you a refresher course on how unbelievably heavy you are!"

Fluttershy's entertained smirk slowly melted away into surprised confusion with her Hearth's Warming surroundings. "Hmmm...Where is Twilight, anyway?"

"Pfft, she's right here next to..." Starlight started to point in Pinkie's direction, only to blink at the absence of the purple alicorn. "...Wasn't she sitting next to Pinkie a while ago?"

The party pony nodded eagerly. " Oh yeah, she was! Wonder where she went off to..."

Applejack, who had been giving away the last few cups of Apple cider, wandered over to the assembled group. "Howdy, gang! What's happening?"

"Twilight was standing here with us, but now she isn't," Fluttershy explained.

Spike walked over as well, having finished cleaning up a spilled drink. "Maybe she's in the bathroom?"

"For the past forty-five minutes? Unlikely, " Discord remarked as he leaned off of Trixie at an awkward angle. "Unless she had particular spicy cupcake, hmm?"

Pinkie gasped in horror. "I put too much black pepper in the cupcakes!"

Rainbow gagged slightly. "You put black pepper in the cupcakes?!"

Rarity rolled her eyes, though she did eye the cupcakes in worry. "Girls, we are getting off track here! If Twilight is in the bathroom, we should go see if she's alright and not suffering from an upset tummy!"

Spike raised a claw. "And maybe only a handful of us should go, just so it doesn't look like we were all worried sick or anything."

Trixie inspected her hooves. "I'm content to stay here with Starlight and maaaaybe Discord."

Discord raised an eyebrow. "Thats the most flattery I've gotten from of her all year."

Since the bedrooms worked with their own personal bathrooms as well, the girls went straight to Twilight's resting chamber and waited as Rarity knocked three times. They expected to hear a muffled noise from behind a second door, but we're surprised to hear a very calm sounding: "Come in, "

They opened the door to find the room in a state of cleanliness and mild darkness as well. In fact, one might call it a room of black, grey and white. They discovered their friend sitting in front of her large window with her back to them, her shoulders slouched in a peaceful stance. The snowfall outside was heavy and as bright as fire, illuminating the dark world of Twilight's room in a way that could give anypony tranquility. The Alicorn didn't turn away from the snow, even as they all marched up to either side of her.

"Um, Hey Twilight." Fluttershy blinked at her.

"Hello, Fluttershy." Twilight said simply.

"Jes' what in tarnation are ya doing in here? We was wondering where you went off to!"

Twilight blinked and finally tore her gaze away from the snow to frown at her greatest friends. "Oh. I'm sorry, girls. I didn't mean to worry you, "

Rainbow Dash playfully nudged her. "Then let us know whenever you're gonna run and...uh, what are you doing anyway?"

Twilight smiled softly. "Staring at snow."

Applejack tilted her head. "We know that, sugarcube. The why part is beyond us, "

Pinkie Pie squealed excitedly, clinking the tips of her hooves together repeatedly. "It's because she wants to play in the snow!"

"Maybe she's waiting for somepony, " Fluttershy suggested.

Rarity pursed her lips. "Maybe she thinks she sees something buried in the snow?"

Rainbow snickered aloud. "I bet she's doing egghead calculations in her head, to learn how to win a snowball fight!"

Twilight rolled her eyes and raised a hoof to silence them all. "No, it's none of that, girls...I'm just...reflecting."

Rarity looked at the snow. "That water's too frozen to get a reflection, darling."

The Alicorn sighed, then went silent thinking about how best to explain the matter. Her friends patiently waited as she swallowed and began. "I remember almost all of my Hearth's Warmings. I remember the one when I was just a little filly and I remember last year's."

She scanned the snowy horizon, watched the white blankets cover everything. "I remember my grandmother, always mingling with all of our family members. She always had stories to tell us around the fireplace, always had hugs to give. But around two years ago, I noticed that she would disappear from the main room to go to her bedroom."

Pinkie smiled a little. "Must've been a sleepy old mare, "

Twilight rolled her eyes, but still smiled. "I'll admit, I thought the same thing back then. When I visited her room to ask why, I saw her facing the window...staring at the snowfall outside. She told me she was reflecting."

Snowflakes fell past their noses beyond the window, some melting against the glass. "She told me that...as I grow older, I'd reflect on my life more. Try and savor the little moments as well as well as the big ones. It's why she was gazing, "

Fluttershy glanced at her. "...To savor the sight of snowfall."

"Yes. Snowfall is such a calm thing, she told me. It doesn't stop falling down, and when it reaches the ground it just rests. Relaxes." Twilight smiled slightly, her eyes far back in time. "We talked some more, and eventually I asked if I could watch the snow with her every Hearth's Warming. She said yes...and that's what we did for two years."

Rainbow Dash quirked an eyebrow at the purple princess. "A tradition, huh? Well, why didn't did you invite her over to this party? It would've rocked to meet her!"

Twilight's smile fell slowly.

A slow, heavy silence settled over the entire room, with different reactions on everypony's face. Rarity frowned uncomfortably, Pinkie looked shocked, Fluttershy was crestfallen, Applejack looked sympathetic and Rainbow Dash looked more guilty than ever. The cyan pegasus swallowed.

"I...uh...I didn't know...y--"

"It's okay. It's been a while since then, anyway. Not long after the last Hearth's Warming. We got one last look together, at least." Twilight tried to sound happy, but it sounded like forced optimism. "She was so happy when she saw me again. She said she looked forward to seeing me again next year, "

There was another stretch of silence, but it was short lived. Twilight straightened herself and gave a sad shrug. "So...Yeah, I guess I-I'll be picking up where she left off."

The five friends exchanged glances with each other and then focused them on Twilight. The white glow from outside bathed the Alicorn in a lonely light, a light they didn't want her to bask in for a second more. They gathered closer to Twilight, who blinked in confused surprise at the mares huddling around her.

"Hope you don't mind, " Rainbow shrugged as she joined the others in admiring the snowfall. "If we join you."

The silence that followed was no longer sad, but filling with a hopeful sort of silence. Twilight slowly developed a warmed smile, one that she shared with each and every one of the girls.

"Yes. I'd like that very much." She simply said.

And the six of them watched the snow.