Cheerilee moved carefully through the snow, using her chest as a plow to cut herself a channel in which to walk. She muttered to herself the whole time, and a well-cocked ear might have caught a few words she would never have uttered in the school room, and a couple more that by all rights ought to have at least softened the snow around her.

“How did I get convinced to go out in this weather, anyway?” she grumbled as she broke a slightly more solid patch of snow in front of her with a well-placed thrust of her hoof. With no answer forthcoming she continued pushing through the drifts toward the Everfree Forest.

Behind and to one side of her, the snow parted to reveal a black and white striped mane that stood straight up from its owner’s head. The top of a similarly striped face crept into view, bright blue eyes shining with anticipation in the afternoon light. The vision dropped back under the snow, leaving no trace but for the small spot of broken snow.

Just as Cheerilee was considering returning to her home she stopped, her ears swiveling in all directions and her eyes wide. She scanned the area around her, but saw and heard nothing moving in the crisp afternoon air. Slowly she relaxed, then shook her head and started forward again.

The faint ‘foof!’ of shifting snow behind her was timed perfectly with the next hard drift she had to break up with her hoof. Her eyes went wide as she was tugged backward by one leg, and though she flailed her hooves she could find no purchase. Before more than a small, gasping scream could escape her she was dragged beneath the surface of the snow. Only her earmuffs lay on the snow to mark where she had disappeared. For a long, tense moment, the meadow was silent.

In a burst of white flurries two mares broke through the surface of the snow, striped hooves wrapped happily around dark pink shoulders. Their laughter blended as they held each other, their joy and warmth driving away the cold.

Soon Cheerilee edged away from the zebra. “You sneaky old hedge-walker!” she said in mock admonishment, her smile still wide in spite of a touch of fear in her eyes. “You could have given me a heart attack!”

“Ha! I couldn’t resist the chance to pull you into a snowbound dance!” answered Zecora, shaking the last few white flecks out of her mane. “Besides, that path you’re taking now is rather long for you to plow.” She pointed back along the way Cheerilee had come, and when the teacher looked back she blushed to see how she had veered away from the trail she usually took to get to the Everfree.

“W... well, it’s easy in the new-fallen snow to... to lose track of the path you know,” she said, her cheeks flushing from more than the chill air.

Zecora shook her head, though her small smile stayed put. “You don’t need to rhyme for me; it’s more than sufficient just to see that even in this winter snow you’ll venture out with your cheeks aglow!” She ruffled Cheerilee’ s mane, then stroked her reddened face.

Gently batting the hoof away Cheerilee blushed even more darkly. “Not here,” she said in a hushed voice. She winced when she saw a bit of the joy fall from Zecora’ s face. “I’m sorry, I… I’m just not ready to be public about us,” she said, dropping her gaze.

Raising an eyebrow, Zecora snorted lightly. “And when will it be, my delectable mare, that you will admit to our affair?” She turned her head toward the ever-waiting Forest, her voice falling to a near whisper. “Would it be easier if I were a stallion, or would I then have to prove I’m not a rapscallion?”

She turned back, and there was a tiny spark of anger in her eyes, though even that was more than Cheerilee had ever seen. “Or is it because I am not a pony that keeps one part of your heart so stony? What do you fear will be said of us that makes this so hard to discuss?”

Cheerilee’ s face got even darker, and she sputtered incoherently, caught utterly off guard. “It’s not that!” she blurted out. “I don’t care that you’re a zebra!” She looked around frantically but saw nopony watching them - in fact, there was nopony out in the snow near the Everfree at all.

“Can we... can we please have this conversation later? In your home, in my home... just not here?” Cheerilee pleaded, her eyes shining.

For a brief moment, Zecora considered relenting. She had been very surprised when Cheerilee had responded to her gentle flirtations a few months back, and her own reticence at making a fuss in the town had led her to agree to keep their budding relationship quiet. But Cheerilee’s continued discomfort with any affection that might be witnessed rankled, and so she shook her head, a bit of hardness sneaking into her eyes.

Still, she cared for the frightened teacher, so she did her best to weave kindness into her firm tone. “This has waited long enough, and now I’m going to call your bluff: why is it, then, that you fear to show the affection that we have come to know?”

When Cheerilee hesitated, her eyes looking everywhere but into hers, Zecora felt a rush of compassion. She reached up to stroke the other mare’s face gently. “I do not care what others think, or even if they raise a stink. This is more than some wandering affection that might melt away at the slightest inspection!”

Looking as though she might bolt, Cheerilee stared at Zecora for a long time. Tears fell from her face, making little holes in the snow around her.

“I... I’m sorry, Zecora. I didn’t mean...” She stopped herself, then shook her head, snorting in frustration at her own fear. She took a deep breath, then chuckled wryly as she sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Pardon me,” she said quietly. “Let me start that again.” She took a deep breath, then slowly lifted her gaze to meet Zecora’s.

“Not everypony thinks it’s okay for two mares to... to love each other,” she said, her cheeks burning anew. “Nor for ponies to..." she searched for a reasonable word, twirling one hoof in the air. “...consort with zebras,” she finished, glancing nervously at Zecora only to be answered with a bemused nod.

“And while I might be able to deal with that on my own,” Cheerilee continued in a rush as she got her mental hooves under her, “being a teacher makes it harder. Anything too strange makes the more conservative parents nervous at best, and some of them actually seem to like finding ways to make teachers’ lives hard!” She stomped her hoof in the snow, fuming silently, before turning a guilty grin toward Zecora.

“And you let that become a part of your thought,” Zecora said gently, “Instead of a thing to resist, and be fought.”

Cheerilee nodded sadly, fresh tears lurking at the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry, Zecora. I never meant..."

Zecora moved forward and wrapped her forehooves around Cheerilee, holding her close and stroking her back. “Hush, hush, I do understand. It’s hard to be strange in this part of the land,” she said softly.

Taking a half-step back to look into Cheerliee’s eyes she continued quietly, “But please know this: you are part of my life, and though I might wish us to be without strife every couple, no matter their color or form has trouble, some winters, with keeping hearts warm.”

The fear left the teacher’s eyes, and her smile became more relaxed. “Thank you, Zecora,” she half-whispered, wiping the corners of her eyes. “I really want this to work.”

She stepped back to lock gazes with Cheerilee, one hoof still on her withers. “Just believe, as I do, that we’ll be strong together. We’ll survive nasty parents,” she smirked, “or inclement weather, or anything else that this world throws our way! And I’ll have your back, no matter the fray.”

Her face lit with joy and relief, Cheerilee gave a happy cry and threw her hooves around Zecora’s shoulders, laughing and crying and kissing her cheek. Subsiding, she stepped back to look into those lovely blue eyes, a conspiratorial smile on her face.

“You are so right,” she said, and with that she leaned in and kissed Zecora firmly, then warmly, then with a soft moan as her lips parted to taste the odd, but enjoyable flavor of the zebra’s mouth.

Reluctantly, Zecora broke the kiss, a beaming smile on her face. “That was lovely, my dear, but might lead to some things that are indeed best left to a more private fling.” She turned to lead Cheerilee into the Forest, smiling back at her over shoulder as she broke the snow ahead of them.

“Now listen,” she said with a touch of pink on her cheeks, “I’ve made something new! A potion inspired by an old mentor’s brew.” She blushed further as they approached the undergrowth. “It’s made with vervain and a strong, tasty stock! But the best thing about it? It gives me a..."

The last word was lost in the loud rustle of the ferns and bracken through which they plunged. Had there been any listeners, they would have heard a shocked but happy gasp, followed by delighted laughter and animated chatter from the two mares as they walked deeper into the forest.

Author's Note

Inspired by Snow Shark. Linked with permission - the artist was quite tickled by my making a story out of it.