Under the bright moon of the night, the snow twinkled off of the small beams of moonlight before decorating the ground with another layer of dazzling crystal. In this empty night, a diamond dog looked to the sky and watched as the snow danced through the wind; descending onto his nose before vanishing.
His kin were under the earth, resting, sleeping out the cold, but this one loved the cold air and the spectacle of the gleaming flakes of ice. A small but visible smile curled on his lips as he stuffed his front paws into the pockets of his vest, empty of gems; for not even their sparkle was enough to bring him the joy like a night such as this could.
He looked back down and took his first step away from his hole into the new, icy blanket. He walked through the silence, bringing only the crunching of snow to his ears. His breath puffed out small clouds before him, and even this brought some small joy into his heart, as if he were adding some tiny, brief accent to the beauty all around him.
No mine he had seen, however full, could compare to the feeling he could find on nights like these. He always snuck away, unnoticed, for fear that to share this beauty with his kin would only spoil this most treasured of rituals for him.
The one jewel he had kept, connected to his collar, chilled his breast slightly where it laid. He placed a single claw to it, feeling the tiny etching he had made resembling a snowflake.
The wind picked up for a moment, blowing snow lightly onto his face and dampening his muzzle, causing him to close his eyes for a moment. He brushed the flakes out of his eyes and opened them once more, realizing he had walked quite a way in his bliss. He was at the edge of the pony settlement his group had settled near.
With a quick look around, he saw nobody was walking about, and decided to wander in.
The lights in the houses were off, so all the ponies must have been asleep, and that worked just fine for him. He had his silence, the moon, and the snow. There was the occasional light from one or two streetlamps, making it just light out enough to keep the magic of the night.
Approaching the center of the town, the dog noticed a frost covered, frozen fountain. Drawing closer, he looked into the ice and saw his own reflection, fragmented and broken like a shattered mirror. It was almost dreamlike.
He turned his ear at the sound of a meek, painful groan from the other side of the fountain, making his heart jump slightly. He leaned over to the right, peering past the snow covered sculpture to try and see the source of the noise. His eyebrows rose in interest as he saw a pony frowning, her tongue stuck to the ice in the fountain.
Again, the dog looked around to make sure nobody else was around, unsure if he should help or not. When he was sure no other ponies were out, he walked over slowly, pulling a paw out of his pocket and holding it up to show he didn’t mean any harm. The pony’s eyes widened at the sight of the new creature wandering around this late.
He noticed the wings and realized she must be a pegasus. She flapped them and pulled back on her neck to try and pull her tongue free of the ice, but stopped as tears welled in her eyes and a small ‘Eee’ whimpered out of her throat.
He walked over closer and met her gaze. Her striking eyes were large, and seemed larger from tearing up. The look she gave him said what she could not, pleading for what help he could give.
He didn’t know how long she had been out here, and she must be terribly cold. He let out a large cloud of breath and walked over beside her to try and gauge the situation.
He noticed a small slip of paper in front of her that read “One Lick=One Wish” and he couldn’t help but roll his eyes and grin. He looked back to her and pointed a thumb to the paper. She blushed and turned her gaze away.
With a sigh, he began trying to scratch at the ice around her tongue, though it didn’t take more than a few seconds for him to realize this wasn’t going to work.
He brushed aside the snow nearby and pressed hard against the ice to see how thick it was, and it resisted. He wasn’t going to be breaking her off either.
The dog crossed his arms and began biting his thumb in thought. The pegasus mare let out a small, contained sneeze through her nose and he noticed her shivering. He shook his head in pity and looked around for something to warm her, but to no avail. He put his paws back in his pockets, feeling defeated, before looking down and smiling, smacking himself in the head with the large pad of his paw.
He stripped his vest from his body, placing it around the pony. She had to tuck her wings in for him to fit it around her forelegs, and it was a little big on her, but she smiled nonetheless as he zipped her up to try and keep her warm.
The dog kept brushing fresh snow away from the pony’s tongue to keep it from getting any colder, and eventually his own paws began to feel cold. He brought them to his mouth and let hot breath onto them, rubbing them together. It was then he got another idea. He brought his face down close to the ice, very near the pony’s tongue, earning a strange look from her.
He began to breathe on her tongue, panting out hot clouds to try and thaw her from the icy grip of the fountain. Soon, she pulled back and was free.
The dog stood up and shook the snow from his face, turning to view the mare, but the moment his eyes opened, he saw her rush for his face, planting her lips against his and resting her front hooves on his shoulders. His eyes stayed wide, looking at her in amazement before she pulled back to smile at him, her large eyes staring into his own.
She leaned in and kissed him again, under the snow and moon, and he stood there in the freezing night, warmer than he’d ever felt in his life.
Author's Note
Picture by Praetorius or mr27s
