SnowFlake Fields

The meal SnowFlake prepared was rather simple. The blend of local hay and grasses made the main section, with wild flowers on the side. Her personal favorite was bark which was thinly stripped during winter from the Ash trees, however, ponies and Dragons never ate bark. She had prepared some opal gems for the dragon, not sure what kinds he enjoyed. The three sat in the main room eating among the books, she had no kitchen. No need, most of the time she collected a meal along her way to the meadow.

The silence as they ate was being to make Twilight nervous, but she was still digesting her rude welcome to the town. Spike also sat crunching his gems without a word, unusual for the youth to be so well behaved. Maybe Celestas chat with them really sunk in about how valuable it was for them to be on their best behavior. The future of communications between races was at risk. A faint reminder about the Crystal ponies came to mind, yet, it would not be as simple as getting a gem heart away from a twisted ruler. A thought formed in Twilight mind, and she looked to SnowFlake. The deer did mention she was Maples daughter; maybe she could spread some light on the subject.

"So, SnowFlake. I wanted to thank you again for housing Spike and me during our stay. I hope it's not too much of an intrusion."

SnowFlake jumped at the statement and blushed.

"Honestly, I was so curious about seeing a pony folk that I didn't realize I even offered. But I'm glad I did, knowing mother you would have stayed with Butter Zoom... and well... his grandmother can be rather confusing."

"If I am correct, Butter Zoom is the grandson of Winter Zap, an elder on council?"

"That is correct, my uncle and her are the last of the original council."

"How did your parents get into the council?"

SnowFlake looked down at her plate, she had eaten all the leafy greens and now only blond stringy bits of hay remained.

"The previous members, Cult Caring and Wind Glider, had an accident when trying to remove a nest of Dragons from the caves around our village. That was about two springs ago, and my parents were on the search team to locate them. My father Oak Fields, found signs of a struggle. The scene was dismissed as some timber wolves fighting over territory. My mother however looked into the paperwork, trying to figure out if Dragons were even allowed in the village’s domain."

"Dragons never listen to rules." Spike chimed in as he picked his teeth with a claw. Twilight glared at him and he grinned back, cheeks touched a bit with a pink hue.

"That is true, but no evidence was found of that Dragons were even on the mountain. As time went on we needed to appoint new council-members to the team. My mother quickly nominated my father for his valiant effort in looking for the previous members. He was elected and my mother soon followed due to popular demand."

"Your father sounds like a very heroic deer. Any reason why he wasn't outside today?" Twilight asked, leaning closer to SnowFlake, the deer looked up to the Alicorn.

"Though most think he dislikes pony folk he simply is too busy with paper work and planning. He keeps track of the Maple trees sap production, and the local tree growth rates. His job before council was management of local forest growth. Now that he's on council he can really focus on keeping the mountain as natural as possible. I'd be surprised if he came out of his office at all."

"And what about your mother? If she has voted in on poplar demand, how did she gain that stance?"

Snowflake pushed her plate away, her hunger tainted from the conversation.

"I'm not quite sure, the townsfolk suddenly wanted her on council. When I asked how she got the towns folk to support her, she told me not to worry."

"You relationship with your mother seems complicated."

"Well... we don't see eye to eye."

A moment of silence overcame the group and SnowFlake looked around the room. She stood up then sighed.

"You're going to have a hard time with this town, somethings not right about it."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like everyone's been playing a part of a master plan, and the moment you do something Maple doesn't like, it becomes very hard for you to live in the town. I've been keeping under the radar, but... housing you might have been the last straw for my mother."

Spike suddenly tuned into the conversion, no longer focused on finishing his gems. He softly spoke as he pulled his tail closer to himself.

"Do you mean mind control?"

Twilight shot the dragon a stern look.

"Don't be silly Spike. A whole town? Besides if it was mind control SnowFlake wouldn't have offered us a place to stay."

SnowFlake nodded her head, but slowly gulped.

"I doubt it’s mind control, but it's got to be something. I've always been too afraid to look into it."

Twilight pushed her plate away and stood up now too, her doubts about helping this town were fading. No one should feel out of place in their own town. It's something her friends had taught her so long ago.

"I'll help you SnowFlake. We've got some time before I need to help the council decided if the decree should be lifted or updated. I'll help this town see, friendship is more important than anything."

The deer was shocked, but deep in the back of her head; she knew she could trust them. If her uncle had sent for them, maybe they were perfect for the job.

"Let's go to my uncles, Mossy will know just what to do to win the townsfolk over!"

***

It did not take long for SnowFlake to lead Twilight and Spike through the meadow, but their trip was cut short. A huge patch of dried, dead flowers was near the edge along the path to Mossy's home. The grass was curled downward and the ground was damn with mud. Flowers had been drained of all life. The area was a perfect circle, but as traumatizing as the scene was to the deer, what made tipped the scale for her was how cold it felt. In this dry hot day, the dead area was cold. It was radiating this deep frozen winter air. Twilight got closer to the area, taking a step into the circle; the tip of her hoof began to freeze. She knew this spell, but she could not remember where she learned it.

"Energy Tundra. It's a spell that drains energy by sucking it up. Common side effects often reflect the casters state of mine. For me, this area would have stopped blooming, but the plants would still be alive. I'd never cast such a risky spell."

SnowFlakes lip quivered as she nervously asked:

"Why's that?"

Twilight looked back to the deer as Spike looked closer to the flowers, and pointed to some bits of ice forming on the dirt.

"Because it's very hard to reverse and if used on a creature- could be fatal."

SnowFlake galloped away, running toward her uncles’ home. It took Twilight a moment to notice, but she soon ran after SnowFlake. As Spike ran alongside Twilight he remembered what Luna had told him:

"Twilight will be tested upon this royal request, but you will be tested as well. For a Dragon to befriend a pony is a more obscure concept then for deer to befriend ponies."

The Dragon clenched together his small claws and ground his teeth. No one will harm Twilight in his presence. No one.

***

When Twilight finally caught up to SnowFlake the deer stood before a strange cave near the mountain that Canterlot was built upon. A large slab of stone was lying before the entry way. The moss surrounding the area was an unnaturally bright green, and the vines has splayed out leafs which were covered in bright red thorns. The plants were defending against something. The deer began to walk into the area; her ears tilted downward, Twilight and Spike slowly followed into the darkened area. Twilight could hardly see so she produced a faint glow from her horn. In unison the three gasped.

The place was cold and everything had a thin layer of frost. Dried plants scattered the area and feathers lay upon the ground covered in dirt, as if stomped upon. Bowls of random contents were cracked, and thrown about. Upon the back wall, where Maples priced mask would have been, were three large clean cuts, as if someone had taken a butter knife, and cut some bread.

"What's going on here?"

They turned to see a deer in the doorway, the sun now lower in the sky making it hard to see who the figure was. The being stepped into the room, large antlers casting a shadow over Spike, he was tempted to hide again but knew better.

"Butter Zoom" SnowFlake spoke, "Something happened! Mossy might- "

"You three! You three did this!"

Butter Zoom turned fast, running down the pathway. SnowFlake looked shocked; Butter Zoom would never accuse her of attacking her uncle. SnowFlake turned to Twilight, a grim look upon her face.

"We'd been set up."

Spike looked to Twilight in desperation.

"Twi, what is going to happen to us?"

"I don't know. If we run, it'll only support the town’s claims on ponies being the enemy."

SnowFlake stopped her foot.

"But if we stay, the trial will not be fair. The council will..."

SnowFlake stopped mid-sentence. She raised her head high and looked toward the princess.

"...I'm done playing sidelines, letting things happen. Princess Twilight, keeper of friendship and magic and Spike, savor of Crystal Empire, will you help take down Maple Fields?"

Twilight and Spike looked at each other- they did not say anything because they knew. In unison they replied.

"We'll gladly help."