Holiday Parole

by libertydude

Empress of the North Pole

The rest of the duo’s skating session was remarkably untainted by incident. Tempest guided Cozy along for most of the period, only occasionally letting go and letting the filly skate on her own. These brief moments of independence proved fairly fruitful to Cozy. Her balance largely maintained, and she found the right rhythm to keep her momentum going. Only once did she seriously risk a fall, but Tempest quickly grabbed her and prevented the catastrophe.

After their skating was done and the skates returned, the two set off into the fair. Tempest did lead at first, but Cozy always seemed to overtake her and dash toward a new excitement. The filly seemed to bounce around the fair like the festivities lay within a ginormous pinball machine. Each new attraction was a new fascination to be discovered and enjoyed.

Finally, Cozy came to a stop at one particular attraction. The area in question was an open area flanked by other stands and vendors. About fifty feet by fifty feet, no vendor or carnie stood at the entrance to the place; indeed, nothing filled the place but snow covering the ground and the odd snowpony created by long-departed colts and fillies. Above the entrance was a limply hung banner that read:

CREATIVE SNOW AREA

ALL AGE-APPROPRIATE SNOW CREATIONS WELCOME

PARENTAL ACCOMPANIMENT ENCOURAGED, BUT NOT REQUIRED

“Golly!” Cozy said, zipping into the open space. “Nopony seems to be here but us!”

Tempest stepped into the area, eyes scanning the whole place. “Indeed,” she said in her low voice. “Do you want to play here?”

Cozy stuck her tongue out. “Playing is for silly fillies! I want to create!”

Tempest flung her hoof out at the empty area. “Then create!”

Cozy zipped over to the nearest batch of snow and got to work. The general forms of ponies began to take shape from the powder. Though there were no rocks or sticks to give them eyes or props, Cozy found ways to mold the snow so that the differing designs could be made out.

For several minutes this process went on until six snowponies stood before Tempest. Three were colts and three were fillies, all around the same size as Cozy Glow and each with their own touch of individuality. One of the colts bore a dapper top hat molded atop his head. The most notable of the snowfillies bore a large Mohawk for a mane.

“Taking inspiration from somepony?” Tempest’s voice tried to sound serious, but was unmistakably amused.

Cozy gave a sheepish grin. “Um…”

“Don’t worry, I’m not mad. Actually, I’m pretty impressed you managed to sculpt that much detail.”

“Thanks! I learned to do it back home from my-“ Cozy’s mouth clamped shut and she turned away. “I mean, back at the Friendship School. You know, before I…” The words drifted off into the wind.

“Okay,” Tempest said, breaking the quietude. “I understand.”

Cozy nodded quickly and got back to her snow ponies. The touch-ups were unnecessary, but Tempest gave no protest. She simply watched Cozy Glow work until the amicable silence was broken by the filly’s contented sigh.

“There!” she said, taking in her finished creations. “My Friendship Army is finished!”

“Army?” Tempest said, eyebrow raised.

“Um, I mean, uh….Friendship Squad. Yeah, Squad!” Cozy Glow said with a smile just a tad too wide.

“Uh huh.” Tempest crossed her front hooves. “And just what does this Friendship Squad do?”

“They, uh…spread friendship! With absolutely no usage of excessive force or for military objectives!”

“That’s good. And what are their names?”

“Names?”

“Names. Surely you wouldn’t have so many friends without knowing their names.”

“Um, I…I didn’t really think about that. They were meant to be just, you know…”

“Soldiers?”

“Yes.” Cozy’s eyes grew wide. “I mean, no! I mean, maybe in like a metaphorical sense, but not actual sol-!”

“I know what you meant, Cozy.” Tempest’s face returned to its default hardness. “And what were these metaphorical soldiers and you going to do?”

Another silence reigned among the Snow Creative Area. The jubilation of other guests around the Festival echoed over the wind.

Tempest broke the vigil: “You were going to take over Equestria with them, weren’t you?”

Cozy gesticulated with her hooves. “Well, not literally, but-“

“In your mind, right?”

Cozy hemmed and hawed for a moment, before giving a defeated nod.

Tempest sighed. “I should’ve known you had an ulterior motive.”

“Tempest, I-“

“I go through all this trouble to give you a good time, and you’re still trying to take advantage of me.”

“I…” Cozy felt smaller than she’d ever had before.

“There’s only one thing left to do now…” Tempest growled.

Cozy slammed her eyes shut. She knew the portal to Tartarus would open any second. If she was going to fall through that horrible passageway again, she wasn’t going to look at those terrible colors and-

POW!

Cozy tumbled backwards upon the snow. Her eyes shot open to blurred vision. She shook her head, causing snow to fall off her face. The image of Tempest looking at her, snowballs in her front hooves, greeted her.

“I am not a mare to be trifled with, Cozy Glow,” Tempest said, tossing a snowball up and down in one hoof. “Your crimes of felony fibbing have earned you a spot on the Snowball Sandwich list.” She caught her tossed snowball and grinned. “And you look like a filly who wants seconds.”

For a moment, Cozy didn’t move. The whole event was too fast, too unbalancing to grasp in a split-second. Only perplexion filled the little filly’s face, her blue curls bobbing the last bit of snow off the top of her head.

Then, Cozy gave a fiendish grin.

“I declare war on Commander Tempest, General of the Snowball Alliance!” she hollered.

Tempest gave an equally menacing sneer. “And I declare war on Empress Cozy, War-Mistress of Tomfoolery!”

At these declarations, both ponies zipped sideways from each other. Cozy quickly gathered up the necessary snowballs and launched her barrage at Tempest. The unicorn moved too fast, however, and the balls whiffed harmlessly overhead.

“Stay still!” Cozy called, dashing away from Tempest’s own onslaught.

“Never!” Tempest said, smiling. “No rest until total victory!”

“Then eat snow!” Cozy gave another snowball a heave, but the toss was thrown with a limp wrist and little power. But its intention of making Tempest duck was successful. With this temporary reprieve, Cozy zipped along the ground and packed the snow into balls. So swift was her flight that Tempest had barely straightened before she saw Cozy flying overhead with a dozen snowballs in her grasp.

The filly gave a maniacal grin, her wings flapping furiously. “Snow drop!”

Immediately, all the snowballs fell from her hooves down toward Tempest.

“Aaaaaagh!” Tempest screamed as the payload struck home. A puff of snow filled a twenty foot area around where Tempest had once stood.

“Ha ha!” Cozy laughed, landing close to the blast zone. “I win!”

Her laughs soon died down, for the pile where Tempest had been remained unmoving for several seconds. More and more snow poured from the sky and seemed to build an even bigger heap than before.

“Tempest?” Cozy Glow said. She took a nervous step forward. “You okay?”

No response came from the unmoving mound.

“Tempest?” Cozy repeated. She trotted over to the mound. “Can you hear-?”

“Raaaah!” The mound burst into a hundred pieces as Tempest shot out. Cozy didn’t even have time to react before the unicorn had grabbed her and wrestled her to the ground.

“The Snow Alliance shall triumph!” Tempest mightily proclaimed, her back hoof perched upon Cozy’s belly and her front hooves posted on her hips in a heroic stance.

Far from the fear Cozy had previously shown, the filly let out an ear-piercing giggle. So heavy was her laughter that her whole body convulsed upon the ground.

Tempest looked down at her, grinning. “Do you surrender, Empress? Or do you need another Snowy Bushwhack?”

“I give up!” the little filly laughed. “I give up!”

Author's Note:

I thought about deleting this scene, but I felt it was needed to show both Tempest as able to be a goofball and the carefree little girl Cozy Glow must've been at one point. It's the first real moment they're on the same page.

Also, the chapter title is a play on the movie Emperor of the North Pole. It's about a hobo played by Lee Marvin and a conductor played by Ernest Borgnine fighting over a train. One of the manliest movies of all time.

Comments

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

okay that was super cute

[AvoidingFever17]

The filly gave a maniacal grin, her wings flapping furiously. “Snow drop!”

Snowdrop: Ow! HEY! Watch for the blind mare!