A Day so Cold
“Achoo” I sneezed.
I looked up from the snowpony I made and saw my sister looking at me through the window. I waved at her, and she gave me a smile in return.
“Oh, look at mine!” I heard Scootaloo say.
She was pointing at a snowpony she was making from the snow. I walked closer and giggled.
“I don’t think ponies have three legs,” I said.
She looked it over and nodded. “Good point,” she said before grabbing some snow.
“Did I do this right?,” I heard Applebloom say.
I walked over to her snowpony and saw something wrong. “Um, Applebloom?” I asked.
“Yeah? What is it?” She said looking at her creation.
“What am I looking at?”
“A pile of snow,” Applebloom said with a small frown. “the snow keeps falling apart when I try to make something with it,” She said.
“Have you tried packing it together?” I asked. Her face changed to realization and then confusion.
“How do you do that?” She asked.
I picked up some snow and then proceeded to smash it into a small ball.
“How does that help?” She asked.
“It makes the snow harder so it can stick together better. I learned it from-,”
I felt a cold blast hit my side before it exploded into a million flakes. “Hey!” I said.
“You can also throw ‘em!” Scootaloo said, before picking up some more snow.
“That sounds like fun!” Applebloom said before joining Scootaloo in throwing snowballs around.
I joined the fray, but decided against using my magic. I could do it with a some concentration, but it wouldn’t have been fair. Instead, I picked up the cold smooth snow and smashed it together before throwing them at my friends. I had to duck behind Applebloom’s snowpony to not get him by Scootaloo.
I stood up from the snow and lobbed another snowball at Applebloom, which hit her tail and got her attention. She threw a snowball at me and caught my nose before I could turn away. I rubbed off the snow and had just a second to jump away from another of Scootaloo’s throws. I slid in the snow and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop at the bottom of a small hill.
“You look like a snowpony now,” Scootaloo said when she walked up to me.
I stood up and looked down at myself. I was covered in a lot of snow. I couldn’t even see the outfit rarity made for me anymore. Wait… oh no.
“Ow!” Scootaloo said after being hit in the back of the head with a snowball.
“I win!” She said.
“Hey, I wasn’t looking. I want a rematch,” Scootaloo said.
“SweetieBelle!” I heard coming from my house.
“Oh no,” I said. I shook myself to get rid of the snow, but my clothes still had snow sticking to it. Rarity was going to kill me.
“Coming!” I said. She couldn’t see me over this hill, so maybe she didn’t see anything.
“I have to get going, see y’all at the party,” Applebloom said.
“I’ll get going too, take care guys,” Scootaloo said.
They walked away from me in different directions and I waved them goodbye. I looked down at my predicament and sighed. There was no getting out of this.
I walked towards my house but didn’t see Rarity around. I stepped into the warm house and noticed there were two extra pairs of winter boots at the door. I took mine off and walked to the living room. It was a spacey living room, covered top to bottom in decorations. Rarity had me put up all the bells and ribbons, and it took most of the morning.
There was no pony there, so I walked into the kitchen after hearing a familiar voice.
“There she is,” Rarity said when I walked into the room.
She was wearing a glittering white dress she made for her winter collection with a white hate to go with it. It looked silly in my opinion, but she liked it. Across from her was our parents. They were wearing simple scarves and coats. Lucky. I had to wear this dumb outfit.
“Sweetie, why are you wet? You’re going to get a cold,” Rarity said.
I looked down and realized the snow had melted and now her outfit was wet. Oh well, it’ll dry.
“She must’ve fell in the snow, don’t worry so much over it,” my dad said. He gave me a smile and I returned it.
“She wouldn’t have to worry if she watched her more carefully,” my mom said. I noticed Rarity’s eye twitched for a second.
“I do watch her, mom,” Rarity said.
“Obviously not,” My mom said before taking a sip of what I think is hot cocoa.
Before anything else can happen, I step in.
“Well, I’ll just go dry myself off then,” I say before stepping out of the room.
Sometimes I wish they would just make up and be friends again.
I dry myself with a towel in the restroom and look at myself in the mirror. My mane is still wet, and parts of it are falling to the side of my face. Suddenly, I feel inspiration. I grab my brush and with the help of my magic start to twirl the strands before clipping them behind my ears with one of Rarity’s diamond clips.
I look in the mirror again and I feel a growing pride. It doesn’t look bad at all. I wonder what Rarity will think.
I walk back to the kitchen and I hear a hushed conversation end when I walk into the room. They look to me with fake smiles and then I see Rarity frown.
“Sweetie, what have you done to your hair?” Rarity asked.
“You like it? I did it myself,” I said.
“Creative,” My mom said. She inspected my work and smiled at me.
“It could use some more work on the top, and a red clip would work better than the diamond,” Rarity said.
“Give her some praise, dear,” My mom said to Rarity.
“I am, but I’m also telling her how she could make it better,” Rarity defended.
“I think it’s perfect the way it is,” My dad said. He still had that smile on his face that made me smile in return.
“I wouldn’t say perfect,” Rarity said in a quiet voice I could barely hear.
“What did we just talk about?” My mom asked entirely directed to my sister.
“If you don’t fix a mistake, a pony will continue to make them,” Rarity responded.
“Not everypony is perfect, Rarity,” my mom said.
“If only,” Rarity said more to herself than us.
It was quiet for a few seconds after that. It was an awkward silence that I didn’t know how to break. Finally, Rarity said something.
“I have to get going. I have a hearths warming party with my friends soon. I don’t want to be late,” Rarity said.
“We understand,” My dad said. He had a sad look and I saw that his smile wasn’t there anymore.
“Sweetie, you coming?” Rarity asked. She was heading out of the kitchen and turned to look at me. I looked back to my mom who was looking at the living room.
“Actually, I think I’ll pass. Tell Scootaloo and Applebloom ‘Happy Hearths Warming’ for me,” I said.
Rarity nodded and then headed out the door without another thought. I turned to my dad who had a smile on his face.
“So how have you been kiddo?” My dad asked.
“Great! My friends and I have been doing all sorts of stuff. We’ve been having a lot of fun,” I said.
The tension in the room had vanished and everything became smiles. My mom even smiled when I started telling her about the time my friends and I went to another land and it turned out it was really zap apple orchards.
I told them about our adventures, and my dad grew more and more interested. I could tell my mom was worried, but I reassured her that I stayed safe.
I asked them about themselves, but they wanted to hear more about me. I talked to them a good hour before my mom finally stood up and motioned for my dad to go with her.
“Sweetie, thank you for… this. We know you want to go with your friends, and we think it’s better you spent the rest of hearth’s warming with them,” My mom said.
“But I like spending it with you too,” I said.
“You spent a lot of hearth’s warming eves with us, your friends will remember it better if you were there with them,” My dad said.
“We’ll walk you there. Our train leaves soon anyways,” My mom said. I nodded reluctantly and we headed out.
I walked with a slow pace. The only time we spoke was so I could tell them which direction it was to Sugarcube Corner. I took in all the sights while we walked. Everything was covered in snow and the sun had started to set. The snow was glowing an orange light from the sun and it made everything look shiny.
When we reached Sugarcube Corner, my parents gave me a smile and nudged me toward the door. I knocked and heard hoof steps approach the door. Rarity opened the door and saw me standing there.
“Sweetie, glad to see you could come,” Rarity said.
Then Rarity looked up at our parents. Our father gave us a smile and I returned it. Then, our mother gave us a smile and waved goodbye. I looked up to Rarity and saw she was waving goodbye with a smile of her own. My parents had turned away and Rarity let me inside before closing the door. I took off my boots before I walked to the steps.
“Your friends are upstairs, we have some time before the snacks are ready, so go ahead and play,” Rarity said.
I nodded and raced up the steps. I found Applebloom and Scootaloo making a fort with Pinkie out of gingerbread cookies.
“Wow,” I said.
“SweetieBelle, you made it!” Scootaloo said.
“Yeah,” I said.
“What kept you so long?” Applebloom asked.
“My-, oh no, I forgot. Be right back,” I said.
I rushed down the steps despite their protests and nearly fell down them. When I reached the bottom I headed out the door and left it open in my hurry. I ran down the path and felt my hooves freezing but I didn’t care. I saw my parents over the hill and yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Happy hearths warming eve!” I yelled.
They turned from the road and responded but I didn’t hear them. I didn’t need to. I saw my mom with the biggest smile I’ve seen in a long time. My heart felt warm and I turned back to Sugarcube Corner. My hooves were freezing now.
I walked inside and saw Rarity had noticed the open door.
“SweetieBelle, you could get sick without your boots. It’s cold outside,” Rarity said.
I gave her a big hug. “But it’s warm in here. Happy hearths warming eve, sis,”
Author's Note
Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve everyone! I’m probably a little late, but I didn’t think I was going to do something like this. I have something planned for the second part tomorrow, but until then…
I hope you enjoyed!
A Heart so Warm
Hearths Warming is the best time of year. I spent the whole night playing with my friends, I guess I must’ve fell asleep. I heard Rarity calling my name but I couldn’t get my eyes to open. Did somepony glue my eyes shut? No, that would be too mean. I must be really tired then.
“Swetie!” I heard Rarity once more.
This time, I managed to get one eye open and raise my head. My other eye opened now too. Rarity was covered in ribbons and it brought a sleepy smile to my face.
“You look silly,” I said. The ribbons were wrapped around her so much I couldn’t see her dress.
“Oh, this? We were just having a little fun,” Rarity said giggling.
I looked around me and noticed that my friends had also fallen asleep. I was going to prod them awake, but Rarity stopped me.
“Let them sleep, it’s very early in the morning right now,” She said.
“It’s morning?” I asked.
I looked out the window and saw that light was pouring in. I also saw the glitter of the snow on the windowsill and it brought a smile on my face.
“Shall we?” She asked, motioning to the door.
I nodded and followed her out of Sugarcube Corner. I was glad I put my boots on this time, because it was so much colder than before. I was wide awake now. When we reached the Boutique my face had ice on it.
“Do you know what day it is, SweetieBelle?” Rarity asked me.
“It’s Heaths Warming Day,” I told her. She smiled.
“And I have a present for you,” Rarity said.
Rarity walked upstairs to get me her gift, and I was doing the same. I took out my two small boxes and set them beneath the fashionista tree, eh, the Hearths warming tree.
“Sweetie, I know you’re going to enjoy this,” Rarity said when she entered the room.
She must have noticed my own gifts because she gave me a big smile.
“I got you something too,” I said.
I gave her the biggest of the two boxes and she started unwrapping it with her magic.
“Why thank you SweetieBelle,” Rarity said. She lifted the perfume out of the package and inspected it. “But I’ve never seen this brand before, where did you get it?” She asked.
“I saw it at Canterlot a few weeks ago and I thought you’d like it,” I said. “The salespony said it would remind you feel like you’re still in Canterlot.”
“Oh my,” Rarity said, sniffing the top of it. “This smells heavenly,” She said, closing her eyes to take in the smell some more.
“And I have this for Opalescence,” I said. I showed her the smaller box.
“And he’ll appreciate it when he gets back, let’s just set it over here for right now,” She said.
I saw Rarity had placed my present on the table near the tree. It was then that I noticed there was something hidden next to the couch.
“Now I have something I want to give you,” Rarity said.
She levitated her present towards me, which was a well wrapped box. Mine weren’t wrapped the best, but compared to this I’m jealous.
“Go ahead and open it,” Rarity said.
I used my hooves and ripped the wrapping off without hesitation. Underneath I found a decorated box, and lifted the lid off the top of it. Inside, I found pink pajamas that were extremely soft and had swirl patterns of magenta along the front and back.
“This is so soft,” I said, rubbing my face against the fabric.
“I hope so, I had to import the fabric from two different countries to get it just right,” She said.
“You made this yourself?” I asked. I should have known.
“Of course, you deserve no less,” Rarity said.
“Thanks sis,” I said.
“You’re welcome, and that reminds me. There’s something else you should see,” Rarity said.
Rarity walked to the couch and pulled out a wrapped box similar to the one she had given me.
“This is also for you,” She said.
I looked at the box and noticed the writing.
To: Our Little SweetieBelle
From: Your loving parents
Happy Hearths Warming!
I opened this gift more carefully before taking out what was inside. It was a stuffed bear holding a heart with a picture of our family on the heart.
“Wow! This is the best present ever!” I said.
Rarity was watching with a small smile on her face.
“Better than mine?” She asked.
I could see that she looked a little sad but I noticed she still had the ribbons wrapped around her.
“Of course not, yours was the best,” I said, sitting the bear on the floor.
“But you didn’t get this excited about my gift,” Rarity said.
“Not that gift,” I said.
I grabbed the ribbon from the bear and put it on Rarity’s nose.
“You’re the best gift,” I said.
She pulled me into a hug and I embraced her back.
“Happy Hearths Warming, Sweetie,” She said.
“Happy Hearths Warming, sis,”
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed!
Happy Hearths Warming Everypony!