Gate of Friendship

After the picnic was finish, Rainbow Dash announced to us that.

“Winter starts tomorrow.”

“Really now?” I asked.

“Yeah. Don't they have winter where you're from?”

“Of course they do.”

“Anyways, I gotta take off and get ready. See ya guys.”

Me and the five said goodbye as Rainbow Dash flew into the air.

“That reminds me. Trevor, do you have any winter clothes?” Rarity asked.

“No, I don't believe I do.”

“Then I must make you some clothes. Don't want to get cold during the winter now.”

Rarity started to leave.

“I guess so. But--”

Too late. Rarity had already left, and most likely wouldn’t come back even if we tried.

“And she's gone,” I thought aloud.

“What was your grandfather like?” Twilight asked.

“Didn't know him too well. I was a year old when he left.”

“Well you obviously knew a few things about him.”

“All I know is he was in the Navy during the Korean War.”

“He was in a war!?”

“Aye. Guess my family has a knack for it,” I half-joked.

“How many wars have happened where you came from?”

“Let's see. From what I can remember, The American Revolutionary War, the Civil, World War 1, World War 2, Korean War, Vietnam War, Cold War, War of 1812. And the current one is the Afghanistan War.”

The girls were surprised by my answer.

“Why were there so many wars?”

“Either people attacked us first, an argument got really out of hand, stuff like that. But that's why I like this place. No foolish wars.”

“Me too,” Twilight agreed.

The others nodded their heads in agreement, and the picnic ended soon after that. It was dark out so we all said our goodbyes and returned home. At the door there was a letter for me from the Princess.

“Dear Trevor: As you may know the disappearances have continued throughout Manehattan, but recently the disappearances have stopped, and we have gotten reports of the possible kidnapper identity. By the descriptions of the witnesses it looks a lot like your kind. If you know of someone else of your kind that may be here please, notify me. - Princess Celestia.”

Another one? This is certainly not part of the original story.

I had no idea if there was another human in Equestria. If there was then I certainly didn't notice it.

“Night,” I said to Twilight.

“Goodnight,” she replied.

I went upstairs, went to bed. The next thing I know, I'm in the middle of the desert during an eclipse. An army was in headed my way while I just had an emerald sword in my hand. I saw the leader of the army come out in front. His skin was pure white with black liquid on his mouth and eyes, and he had many rings on his fingers of occult-looking symbols. He also had long black hair and some armor on his body and legs that was made out of leather.

“Veniți fraților! Să ne ocupăm locul cuvenit în calitate de conducători ai acestei lumi și să trimită aceste jalnice oameni înapoi la locul lor! Pentru slava lui Dumnezeu! Pentru infinit!” He yelled.

“Where's my reinforcements?" I asked myself.

Risen from the sand, multiple soldiers in metal armor head-to-toe with nothing but their bare hands to fight with. As the opposing army drew closer and closer, the general looked at me and motioned to come to him. I stood my ground and pointed my sword to the general as a challenge. My soldiers took initiative and placed their hands on the ground. It started to rumble furiously for only a few seconds, then a demonic shaped hand rose from the sand and reached towards the general and his troop, more hands and a few sorrowful faces followed them, crushing the soldiers and dragging them down into the sand till they were buried alive. Some of the hands even threw them into the faces for them to swallow the captured soldiers. The hands sunk down into the sand after they killed all the soldiers, except for the general. He looked around at the blood-stained sand. He got on his knees and looked towards the sky.

“Dumnezeul meu, Dumnezeul meu. De ce ne-ai parasite!?”

I walked over towards him.

“Cum? Cum ne-ai depășit? Suntem mai puternici decât ai putea înțelege vreodată!?” He asked me.

“Can't say I understand what you're saying. However, you're death will most likely not be in vain. You seem like an honorable warrior," I replied.

He seemed to understand what I said and hung his head low. I stabbed my sword through his stomach, making him grunt in pain, and dark blood started pouring out of his mouth. I took the sword out and swung to the right, aiming right at the neck line. The cut was clean, making his head fall backwards while his body fell to the right. Then, I woke up. As the morning sun burned my eyes when I opened them, I noticed that there was another light coming from outside. I looked out the window and saw it was snowing, by the looks of it there was already three inches on the ground.

Winter. It's been a while.

When I went downstairs I saw Twilight and Spike eating breakfast.

“Good morning Trevor,” Twilight said.

“Morning,” I replied.

Twilight levitated a glass of water and set it on the table for me as I took my seat.

“Thanks,” I said.

“No problem,” Twilight replied.

As I took a drink of water there was a knock on the door. Twilight used her magic to open it, and at the door way was Rarity in winter gear and her saddle pack. When Spike saw Rarity I could see little pink hearts in his eyes.

Keep trying lover boy. Keep trying.

“Trevor, darling, I just finished your winter clothes and I wanted to know what you think,” Rarity said.

“Sure. Let's see what you got,” I replied.

Rarity used her magic to open the saddle pack and levitate a black, hooded thin coat and heavy white pants with flame designs on the sides.

“What do you think?”

“Fantastic.”

“I'm glad you like them.”

She levitated them over to me and I put the clothes on my left shoulder.

I wonder.

“Are you free today Rarity?”

“I have a few more orders to fill, but other than that I am.”

“Alright. I have a game that the eight of us can play.”

“Eight?” Twilight asked.

“You two and the rest of the girls, me, and Spike.”

“Really!?” Spike asked excitedly.

“Really really.”

“I'll get ready. Then we can see if the girls will play,” Twilight said.

Excellent. Might as well play some winter games while it's here.

I put on my new winter clothes over the ones I had on and Twilight had on yellow boots, a blue saddle with fluff around it, and a scarf. We walked out of the house.

“We should split up; we'll get more progress done.”

The others nodded.

“Alright, Spike you go to Applejack's, Rarity will go to Pinkie Pie, I'll go to Fluttershy, and that leaves Rainbow Dash with you Twilight,” I said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Spike said.

Then, the three of us left to inform the rest of the girls. As I saw the rest of Ponyville dressed up in winter gear, my body quickly remembered that my feet were bare, thanks to the small chills that were sent to them with each step and the slightly cold air wasn't exactly helping the rest of my body. When I got to Fluttershy's house she was helping the animals find places to hibernate.

“Good morning Fluttershy,” I greeted.

“Oh, hello Trevor. What are you doing here? If you don't mind me asking, of course,” Fluttershy replied.

“The girls and I are planning to play a game and wondered if you would be able to join us.”

“Oh I would love to join you, but Angel has been acting strange lately, especially when he gets near the forest.”

I've never heard of a rabbit being scared of the forest before.

“Hmm, could just be because it's winter.”

“That could be it, but I've just never seen him like this.”

“I’m sure he would be fine if you were gone for a few hours. Where is he now?"

"He's inside the house with the rest of my pets."

"Well, there you go. He's not home alone or anything like that. Plus, I'm sure the rest of the animals will help him out if he's feeling uneasy. So, will ye join us?"

She hesitated on answering, but came to a decision half a minute later.

“I will.”

Me and Fluttershy walked back to the tree house and saw the rest of the group waiting for us.

“Ah, there you are. What game are we playing?” Twilight asked.

“We're gonna have a snowball fight,” I said.

“Snowball fight?”

I grabbed a handful of snow, formed it into a ball, and threw it to the left and watched it crash into the ground.

“The rules are as followed. You get hit three times you're out. If you're too close to some pony, then you say 'mercy strike,’ which counts as a single hit. And that's about it.”

“Do we have teams or is it a free-for-all?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“We'll have teams. Team one is Me, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Team two shall be Spike, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack.”

The ponies and dragon got in their groups.

“Good. We'll split up in town and begin the battle there. Good luck, and may the best team win,” I said.

When we got to the entrance of the town, we split up in opposite directions, and huddled in a group when we thought they were gone.

“So what should we do?” Twilight asked.

“We'll do some sort of Roman maneuver. We'll leave two of our team in an area and wait 'til the enemy team starts firing at them, then the rest of us will attack from behind.”

“So who will be the decoys?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Shouldn't have opened your big mouth.

“Glad you volunteered yourself Rainbow Dash.”

“What? But I didn't--”

“Oh come on now. If they know that you're there, then they won't think we're doing a sneak attack. Plus you'll be a major asset.”

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her chin and thought about it for a few seconds.

“I'll do it,” she said, putting her hoof down.

“Excellent. Now who will be alongside Rainbow Dash?”

“Um, I'll do it, if you don't mind,” Fluttershy said.

“Good, good. Alright Twilight, that leaves you and me to fire at the enemy team.”

“Where will we be at?” Twilight asked.

“We'll go to the bakery. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, I'll have you fake searching around ‘til they start attacking, then I'll need you two to take cover and attack. Me and Twilight will try to cover you as much as we can.”

“Right,” the three said.

“Let's set off!”

We marched towards the bakery and got in our positions. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were at the entrance while Twilight and I were on the rooftops, thanks to me carrying her. I was on the bakery's rooftop while Twilight was on the rooftop on the other side of the street. It didn't take long for the other team to show up. All four of them were in a group and watched out for attacks on the streets. As soon as the other team saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy they quickly made snowballs and threw it at them. The first few missed the two, which helped them realize what was going on. They quickly took cover and started firing snowballs. I grabbed some snow, mushed it into a snowball, popped up from cover and threw it at Spike and watched it hit the top of his head before going back into cover to make another snowball.

That was lucky.

“What about the previous plan Trevor?” Twilight asked.

“Change of plans. We'll take a sniper’s attack.”

She seemed to figure out what I meant by ‘sniper’, and started firing at the enemy below us when I got out of cover to choose my next target. Twilight and Rainbow Dash were firing snowballs at Applejack while Fluttershy was hiding behind Rainbow Dash. The enemy team soon started throwing snowballs at me and Twilight, one of them even got close to hitting me in the head if not for it hitting the ledge instead.

Well looks like things are getting worse.

I saw Spike was still in and that Rarity had taken two hits, though Applejack and Pinkie Pie hadn’t been hit yet

The sooner I can lower their team the better.

I threw the snowball at Rarity. It was just about to hit her until Spike got in the way of its path and got hit instead.

“Don't think you'll have lover boy to protect you next time, Rarity!” I yelled.

The response I got was three snowballs tossed in my directions. One of them hit me in the left shoulder as I was ducking behind the ledge.

I need to be more careful.

I moved my position, fired a snowball at the team, and repeated the process. I managed to hit Pinkie Pie and Applejack once and fired at Rarity again. The snowball was headed directly towards her, and this time I thought I was gonna get her. But like history, Spike got in the way when it was close to her and took a hit in the chest. Rainbow Dash seized the opportunity to end off Spike with a perfect throw to his left shoulder, and he wondered off the battlefield. Applejack and Pinkie Pie kept firing at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, while Rarity was firing at me. At the times I wasn’t being fired at, I managed to see how Twilight was doing, and noticed that her snowballs were going nowhere near the team, acting more like mortars than anything.

Well, it's even teams I suppose-- Wait... mortars.

That was when I had formed a “high risk, high reward” plan. I made a bunch of snowballs and held them in my arms.

Let's hope those gliding lessons will pay off.

I ran towards the ledge and jumped off the roof, expanded my wing, and started gliding towards the roof Twilight was on. I looked at the ground and saw I was right above the enemy team.

Surprise pony ladies.

I dropped all the snowballs I had and landed on the rooftop Twilight was on. The plan worked almost worked. The snowballs dropped on the team, but only for Applejack and Rarity. As they left the battlefield, Pinkie Pie was loading up the snow that missed her in her party cannon.

Oh dear Gorlog.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy tried to hit Pinkie Pie, but they couldn’t seem to hit her in time. Pinkie Pie fired the cannon where the two were at; the shot was bigger than the cover that the two were behind.

That's gonna hurt.

It was a direct hit. The two popped out of the snow-cannonball that swallowed them and turned the cannon towards me, and of course, I took off running.

Not good.

She fired the canon and the shot was headed straight for me. I couldn't avoid it if I went left or right, so I tried something else. I jumped in the air and formed my body in a crescent moon shape and barely managed to avoid the snow-canon. After it went passed me I fell down to the street, quickly formed another snowball, and turned to Pinkie Pie, who was right beside the loaded cannon.

“You have two choices Pinkie. Surrender or be destroyed,” I said.

“Not gonna happen Trevor. I studied all your moves,” Pinkie Pie replied in an Australian accent.

So be it.

She fired a shot that was bigger and faster than the two shots previous. I jumped in the air, just scraping the edge of the cannon, and threw my snowball at Pinkie Pie as soon as I saw her. I flipped and landed on my back, but managed to sit up just in time to see my snowball hit Pinkie Pie on her right front hoof.

Can't believe that actually worked.

Pinkie Pie came up to me.

“Good job Trevor,” she said.

“Aye.”

We shook and Pinkie Pie went back to her fallen teammates while my teammates came to me.

“So what should we do now that the battle's over?” Applejack asked.

Hmm. Have I made a snowman yet? No, this is the first day of winter.

“We shall make snowmen. Or snow-ponies in your case.”

“What's a snowman?” Twilight asked.

I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle in response.

“A snowman is a man made of snow. It won't be a perfect replica but it'll be something.”

“Could you build one for us?”

“Let me see what I can do,” I said with a grin.

I tried to figure what kind of snowman I would make. I didn't want to make a regular snowman, but something I haven't created yet.

I made the giant, the dwarven guard, and a colorful one. What to make this time?

But instead of actually planning out my snowman, I just made things up as I started to build him. First, I made the three balls bigger than what one would usually do. Then, I put a little line on the snowman’s head, like an outline for a hood, than rubbed the face down so that the hood had more depth than the face. And finally, put the famous Assassin’s Creed logo on the hood.

“This is a snowman, an assassin snowman to be exact, except he’s missing two sticks for arms.”

“What's his name?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Can't say I've given a snowman a name.

“Umm… His name is Altair.”

“Altair?” Twilight asked.

“Yep, he’s one of the most famous assassin’s where I’m from. And for good reason too.”

Rainbow Dash hovered in front of the snow-assassin.

“This is a snowman? Doesn't look like much,” Rainbow Dash commented.

“It's a simple design. There are people like me far more skilled in making snowmen.”

“Still isn't that cool.”

"Think you can do better?"

"I know I can do better."

"Then prove it."

She and the rest of the group accepted my challenge and started making their own snow-pony. Pinkie made a huge cupcake, Twilight made Celestia, Applejack made Granny Smith, Fluttershy made Angel, Rarity made prince Blueblood, and Rainbow Dash made a crude-looking version of Spitfire.

"These are quite impressive, though yours could use some work, Rainbow Dash," I said.

"Oh come on, mine isn't that bad," Rainbow Dash retorted.

I took another look at the snow-pony. It was indeed Spitfire, but her legs varied in sizes, one wing was a quarter smaller than the other, and had rough edges on her face.

"Though you did manage to get your snow-pony's body and head to stay off the ground, that's something I certainly can't do."

"So you're saying I'm better than you at making snow-ponies."

"I'm saying that we're basically even in snow creation making."

"You just don't want to say that I'm better than you."

"That's not it at all."

"So you admit I'm better than you, and you just don't want to say it."

"What!? I told you already that that was not the case at all."

As you'd expect, the argument went on for a while. Once we stopped though, it was starting to get dark out. I let out a semi-fake yawned and rubbed my eyes.

“Didn't think strategic snowball warfare could wear me out so much. I'm gonna head back home and get some sleep. ”

“Right now? The moon isn't even fully out yet,” Twilight said.

“It's surprising how dreams can keep you up.”

That was somewhat true. When I woke up in the morning from a dream back home I would always feel like I was awake during the dream, but if that was common for other people or not I had no idea. I said my goodbyes and the group replied with a “good night" as I walked away. I got inside the house and almost collapsed on my bed.

So tired... must die of sleep now.

It didn’t take long for me to fall into a deep sleep.