Powdered Snow Falls Softly

by libertydude

The Offer

Pinkie Pie was tightening the bow around the crimson and gold box when she heard the pop across the room. Her first instinct told her that the balloons for the Hearth’s Warming party at the Riches had burst; they had seemed a little overfilled. The sight of a large white pony with wings outspread and a long horn atop her head soon changed her expression from annoyed to overjoyed.

“Princess Celestia!” she squealed, hopping clear across the table and wrapping the alicorn in a tight hug around her neck. “It’s so splenderific to see you again!”

Celestia chuckled as she returned the hug. “Likewise for me, Pinkie Pie. But remember: I’m not a princess anymore. I abdicated, remember?”

“Oh right!” Pinkie said, loosening her hug and dropping to the floor. “Sheesh, that seems like it was years ago…”

Celestia gave a thin smile. “Because it was. Three years and two months, if you’re into specifics.”

“No, I’ve always been more of a cupcake mare.” She suddenly looked around her room and gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry about the mess. It’s been a really busy Hearth’s Warming season this year.”

The eyes of Celestia wandered over the room. Nestled atop the local Sugarcube Corner bakery, Pinkie’s loft had normally been quite spacious and open (“You never know when you’ll need to host a party!” Pinkie had often exclaimed). Yet now the place seemed like a bomb filled with every Hearth’s Warming decoration had exploded in the middle of the room. Trimmings hung from the walls and ceiling, some strung along properly, but most just hanging limply down from their perch. Wreaths filled whatever parts on the walls the trimmings didn’t fill. Across the whole room were stacks of boxes. Some were party supplies Pinkie had bought in bulk, but most were empty gift boxes waiting to be filled.

“The Super Duper Party Pony has kept herself busy,” Celestia said, more to herself than Pinkie.

“Too busy,” Pinkie Pie sighed, hopping back to her table and the crimson-gold box. “Ever since Twilight took the throne, it seems like everypony in Equestria has wanted me to throw a party for them. Not just for holidays, but all year. I haven’t slept-in for two years!”

Celestia sighed. “Now you’re making me feel guilty. Luna and I have been sleeping in so much that we’ve had more brunches than breakfasts in our retirement.”

Pinkie finished tightening the bow upon the gift. “Well, after over a thousand years of punctual planetary placement, I think you deserve it.”

“That’s what Luna said,” Celestia chuckled. “She’s adapted better to retirement than I have. I keep expecting somepony to burst into our house and announce some new threat that’s attacking Equestria. Always ready to zip off to save the day, then I remember where I am.” She shook her head. “But you don’t need to hear an old mare’s musings at a time like this.”

“I don’t know,” Pinkie grunted, putting the crimson-gold box atop a pile beside her. “If I have to pack one more Supermare action figure, I think I’ll just move to Yakyakistan and spend the rest of my days building specialty snow forts.”

“What about infiltrating snow forts?”

Pinkie gave her a confused look. “What?”

“Well, not a snow fort exactly. More like an ice cave.”

Pinkie’s mouth opened and closed. “Did…did I miss a part of this conversation?”

“Oh, right,” Celestia said, bringing her hoof to her face. “I haven’t told you yet.” She sighed. “Days and moments blur together too easily in retirement. Okay, do you want the short version or long one?”

“The medium version!”

Celestia paused. “Alright. I want to get Luna a present this year and-“

“Ooh, you need gift ideas!” She zoomed across the room, Celestia’s mane flapping from the wind rush. Just as fast as she’d passed, she was back by Celestia and waving a paper catalogue under her nose. “I’ve got an entire catalogue dedicated to Moon-related presents for Hearth’s Warming and-“

“It’s not for Hearth’s Warming, Pinkie. It’s for the Winter Solstice in three days.”

Pinkie gasped. “For Winter Wonderday?!” She let out an excited scream. “That’s fantastic!” She zipped away again and reappeared with another catalogue. “Lunar-tics Limited just published an issue about the best Wonderday presents and how they-“

“I already know what I want to get Luna, Pinkie,” Celestia said patiently.

“Oh.” Pinkie’s excitement seemed to disappear in an instant. “So…do you need a special box or card to go with the gift?”

“Oh, I don’t have the gift yet. I just need your help to get it.”

“How?”

“Easy: I need you to accompany me to an ice cave cursed by an evil sorceress and filled with painful death traps to steal a cookie recipe.”

A few moments of silence pervaded the room. Outside, light snowfall continued to land upon the streets and houses. The distant hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers made their way through the windows, but even they seemed unable to break the quietude grasping the room.

“But of course!” Pinkie said, smiling. “Why didn’t you just say that from the beginning?”

Confusion filled Celestia’s face. “You’re…interested?”

“Well, duh! Anypony with a lick of common sense would risk their lives for cookies.”

“…Sure.”

“But why do you want me? Why not bring Twilight or Luna along? They might be able to help out if this ice cave is cursed.”

Celestia shook her head. “This curse plays havoc with any magic brought into the cave. I should be able to handle it by not using much magic, but I don’t want to risk anypony else falling victim to its power.” She pointed at Pinkie. “That’s why I need you. As an Earth pony, what magic you have is so minimal that you should be relatively unaffected by the curse. Yet you also have a strange set of talents that nopony can fully explain: You appear where you shouldn’t be able to, you manifest objects out of thin air, and you’re surprisingly durable to injuries that should maim anypony else.”

Pinkie grinned. “Just the old Pie genes in action!”

“Besides, you were the one to figure out that challenge in the Somnambulan Pyramid. A pony that can spot traps would be useful, and I’m sure you are the only Earth pony I know could survive whatever gauntlet this cave throws at us. I’m more than willing to give you whatever you want in return for-“

Pinkie put a hoof to Celestia’s lips. “As long as you let me taste these cookies, I will consider all threats to life and limb forgiven.” She paused, then said, “By the way, what kind of cookies are they?”

“Powder Cookies, made from a mixture of the softest, powdery snow you can find and a smattering of other magical ingredients.”

“Ooh, that sounds yummy!” She rubbed her chin for a moment, then said: “Hold on. How do you know about this recipe?”

“Because the recipe used to be mine, Pinkie.”

Pinkie let out a loud gasp.

“Let me explain. Seven hundred years ago, I gave the recipe to a sorceress named Kalamandra. She’d fallen in love with the cookies and I gave it to her as a gift for Hearth’s Warming. But, for some reason, she eventually became so paranoid and selfish that she cursed the recipe so that it could never be copied. If you tried to write it down on another piece of paper, the ink would disappear or the paper would catch fire. If you tried to memorize the recipe, you would forget it within minutes. Even any other copies that existed before the curse was cast vanished, just so nopony other than Kalamandra could ever make them again.”

“How mean!” Pinkie scoffed. “Deserts are meant to be shared, not hoarded.”

“Worst of all, the one surviving recipe had another strange property: The longer someone didn’t use it, the more the magic leeched out of the recipe and into the surrounding area. The magic would start to enchant everything around it, living or inanimate, all with the express purpose of defending the recipe from anypony ever touching it again. So when Kalamandra disappeared seven hundred years ago, I kept my ears to the ground about any strange magical occurrences. Then, one day, I was flying past the Macintosh Mountains and felt a surge. I followed the energy to the ice cave, and tried to cast a fire spell to light the cavern. But the spell backfired and nearly burned me alive. That’s when I knew that was where the recipe must be.” She stared out the window, out at the snow-covered roofs and streets of Ponyville. “Sitting for seven hundred years and infecting everything unlucky enough to go in that cave.”

She stared hard at Pinkie. “What else can I say? I may not be ruler of Equestria anymore, but I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t try to fix this.” Celestia hung her head. “After all, this is somewhat my fault.”

Pinkie put a reassuring hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. “No, it isn’t, Princ- I mean, Celestia. You couldn’t have known Kalamandra would go so far over a cookie recipe.”

Celestia nodded, then looked to Pinkie. “You still sure you want to come?”

Pinkie puffed her chest. “Being able to get the greatest Winter Wonderday gift ever for Luna and defeat an evil curse? I’d be crazy not to try!”

Celestia smiled. “Ready?”

“Oh, just a moment!” Pinkie bounded toward the stairs down to the first level and opened the door at the top. “Mrs. Cake!” Pinkie called down the stairs as she put on her magenta snow boots. “I’m going on a dangerous quest for a cookie recipe with the Artist Formerly Known as Princess Celestia!”

A moment of silence, then a light voice called: “Alrighty, dear! Stay safe and keep warm.”

“Thank you!” She shut the door and hopped back over to Celestia, pulling her scarf around her neck. “Just so ponies know where we’re going.”

“Of course.” With that, Celestia’s horn began to glow. A quick flash of white light, and the two ponies were gone from the cluttered room.

Comments

[Justa Dooda]

MOOOOOOOOORE!!!!