The forest was not made of crystal, but in the snow and the gathering ice beneath the moon, the woods glittered and shone like diamonds.
Twilight Sparkle had always wondered why the weather teams planned such enormous snowstorms. In her younger days, she had always hated snow. She had been weak and short, and the long trudges between her home and her school or the local library had been exhausting. The situation was not improved by being the frequent target for unicorn foals and fillies frolicking through the Canterlot snow and ‘practicing their levitation’ by sending impeccably-aimed snowballs into the back of her cranium.
She was less affected by these storms after Princess Celestia took Twilight as her protégé. By that point she spent much more of her time indoors, as anything she needed was inside the palace, yet she was still buffeted and blown about every time she threw open the doors to the elements.
It remained nothing more than a yearly inconvenience right up until she became an adult. She had never appreciated why other ponies loved the wintry gales until she had met her friends; without them, she may have gone on with her life forever hating an entire quarter of the year. There was some sort of magic in winter; the cold brought ponies closer together by necessity, as they sought warmth in any way they could. The most she had ever seen ponies cooperate in her life was that first winter in Ponyville, with mornings cold and clear, and good cheer in the air despite the bitter temperatures. She had never understood the Hearth’s Warming spirit more.
It was far colder here in the mountains. Twilight had been visiting her brother and sister-in-law in the Crystal Empire when she had received a missive from Princess Celestia informing her that Sunset Shimmer was back in Equestria with the permission of the Equestrian Crown. Celestia had asked Twilight, Cadance, and Shining Armor if they would be willing to host her for some time. Neither of them had any strong feelings on the matter, so the decision rested upon Twilight’s shoulders.
She had responded to Celestia’s letter with a heartfelt ‘yes’, of course. Time and time again, she had seen ponies change around her from monsters to friends. Luna was just as respected as Celestia. Discord, while she found it tiring to be within his line of sight, generally had good intentions. Now Sunset Shimmer had been given a second chance at life and unicorn magic. Twilight had absolute faith in the mare that had become her friend in their adventures on the other side of the mirror. Sunset had shown her that she would not let her past define her future. As such, she volunteered to make the trek required to meet her friend at the train that came to the Crystal Empire’s depot once a week.
The Crystal Empire had been, until quite recently, a myth. This was the perfectly rational explanation for why its only connection to the outside world was a solitary train station, several miles outside the Crystal Heart’s protective influence. Unfortunately, this forced an arduous walk through a frozen forest on the longest night of the year to meet her friend at the station.
To her regret, she had not thought to bring a coat – she thought her self-warming magical cantrip would suffice. She soon found herself wanting more than just a spell to keep her warm in the winter’s arctic gusts. It was her feathers that suffered the most, as she hadn’t yet gotten the knack for keeping her new limbs warm, even with her spells. She had no company save the falling snow and the occasional keening of wolves in the darkness, beyond the path illuminated by her violet magelight.
It did not take long for her to reach the train station, despite the blizzard. Or perhaps it did, and she simply had nothing to mark the passage of time against. Either way, she came upon the lonely, snow-covered building to see a mare standing on the platform, all alone. Her horn, like Twilight’s, glowed with a soft light, casting emerald beams of light through the shadows of the trees. All around her, the snow and the night thickened.
“Have you been waiting long?” Twilight called through the gloom. The falling snow dampened her voice, and it returned to her sounding strangely muffled as it reverberated through the night. The mare turned to face her – she had been stuck in some reverie, staring down the tracks into the gathering storm. She wore a coat, a thick black woolen sweater, matching saddlebags, and a warm smile despite the cold air. No cap, however, and the little gazebo roof over the platform had not protected her from flakes of snow falling and accumulating in her mane. She looked cold and lonely in the night air.
“No, only a few minutes. Happy Winter Solstice, Twilight,” Sunset Shimmer said as she trotted over to meet the lavender mare. As she spoke, she left a tiny wake of frozen breath. “I really appreciate you and your brother letting me stay here for a while. There’s nothing for me in Canterlot, and even though Celestia’s forgiven me it’s a bit awkward around the palace at the moment.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Twilight assured her. “Cadance loves company.”
They began trotting off through the forest, following Twilight’s earlier hoofprints. The tracks were soon covered by fresh snow. Soon it would seem to all the world as though nopony had soiled the immaculate snow beneath the waving trees. The hinterlands of the Crystal Empire blew with a bitter wind, growing more biting by the moment. Soon the two mares had pressed against each other as they walked into the driving winds, huddling for warmth.
“I’m freezing,” Sunset muttered as they walked. “It’s been too long since I’ve used magic. I can barely summon light, let alone keep myself warm.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t even realize,” Twilight apologized profusely. While Twilight could keep herself warm with her spell with no difficulty, it was difficult to extend to another pony without a great deal of practice. Any mistake on her part would quickly turn Sunset Shimmer into Sunset Cinders. Twilight opted instead to draping an amaranthine wing over Sunset’s shivering body. “Is that any better?” she asked.
“Hmm... much,” the other mare admitted. She looked over at Twilight, a rosy blush just below her cyan eyes. It’s a biological reaction to the cold, Twilight assured herself.
“I suppose you’ve been to the Crystal Empire,” Twilight mused hesitantly. She regretted her wording instantaneously. Moron, a tiny voice inside her head berated her, of course she doesn’t want to be reminded about that! You know she’s been trying to change!
She felt her companion stiffen beneath her wings. “I promise I won’t try to steal anypony’s crown,” Sunset muttered sullenly. She began to pull away from Twilight, just a little bit. Twilight found herself surprised to realize that she had enjoyed walking through the snowcapped mountain trees with this mare so close beside her, and didn't want her to pull apart.
“Wait,” Twilight pleaded. “I didn’t mean it like that – I promise I didn’t!”
After a moment Sunset relaxed. They were close, now, by necessity; otherwise the wind would force them to shout to be heard. “No, I’m sorry. I knew you didn’t mean that, but I blew up at you anyway. That wasn’t right. You’ve been nothing but kind to me, Twilight.”
Sunset paused a moment, turning her head to meet Twilight’s eyes briefly. “Yes, I have been there before, but that was the old me. It’s so weird, coming back here, it’s like I’m a completely new pony. I noticed things in Canterlot last week that I must have walked by every day, but never noticed because I was too self-absorbed. It felt like something completely new, and special. Just like y–” She trailed off in the middle of a word spoken into the howling wind, distorted too much for Twilight to make it out. She continued, “Hmm... just like I hope the Crystal Empire will be.”
What did she say? Twilight wondered. It was getting harder and harder to hear the pony trotting less than a foot away from her in the rising gale. Twilight didn’t want to force the issue, though. She remembered the stiffening in Sunset’s frame and the remorse in her voice the last time Twilight had been obtuse enough to bring up something the pony clearly didn’t want to talk about. Dense, dense, dense, Twilight! a nagging voice in her head screamed at her.
“You’re a good friend, Twilight Sparkle.”
Sunset had continued while Twilight was still somewhat lost in thought, and she almost hadn't noticed the yellow mare speak.
“Hm?”
“A really, really good friend,” Sunset repeated. Once more she had turned to meet Twilight’s eyes, and for a moment their eyes locked, a quiet moment of contemplation amidst the storm.
“Why?” Twilight asked, a little dazed by the sudden change in conversation.
“Hmph. Are you joking?” Sunset snorted. “You did a decent thing for me back on the other side of the mirror, you know.”
“Er... anypony else would have done the same,” Twilight stuttered. Why am I nervous? What am I nervous of? “I probably could have done a much better job sorting that whole mess out, and I just about abandoned you the next day. I mean–”
“But nopony did do the same, Twilight.” Sunlight interjected, stomping her hoof in the snow in an almost petulant manner. “You did something for me that nopony else had ever dared to do. You stopped me, and you showed me a better way to live. I was miserable my entire life and I didn’t even realize it. Then after I realized how powerful friendship is, I was shunned as an outcast, almost completely alone. I’m not sure what would have done if the girls hadn’t been there too. But you came back, and treated me like an equal when I had never given anypony that privilege myself. That you were even willing to speak to me after all I’d done was a blessing by itself. But you did more than that,” Sunset continued, “you accepted me for who I am, as well as what I was.”
“Well, you had the girls, they helped you just as much as–”
“How could I possibly not love you?”
What?
Twilight’s mind moved too slow to process that sentence; her body was too slow to react to what happened next.
Sunset leaned over, swiftly nuzzled up against the purple mare’s muzzle, then pressed her lips straight against Twilight’s.
Twilight’s immediate reaction surprised even herself; she let Sunset take whatever she wanted. After a moment she returned to her senses, closed her eyes, and kissed Sunset Shimmer back with a passion she’d never known herself to have at all, let alone directed towards this mare, who had once been her enemy. She lost all track of time once more, and for a brief few magical minutes neither the cold nor wind nor driving snow mattered at all, all that mattered was their embrace, their heat, the two of them were the only things in the frozen world. Twilight became acutely aware of her other senses as she abandoned sight, the smell of Sunset’s mane, the new feeling of her feathers tingling as they traced lines over Sunset’s flank, the sound of the wind howling through the mountain valley, the taste of the other mare’s lips, the beating of their hearts...
At length, they finally broke apart. It was a slow affair, shattering their embrace; neither of them wanted to let the other go. Then, with one last nuzzle against Twilight’s neck from Sunset, it was over. Dumbstruck and not knowing what else to do, Twilight slowly began walking through the night once more. The aurulent mare levitated her saddlebags to where they had, before, sat on her back– Twilight had not noticed, but they must have fallen off at some point. Sunset Shimmer then leaned against Twilight’s withers once more, humming a happy melody and utterly content.
“Ha... um... wow,” Twilight stammered, eventually.
“Look,” Sunset said, slowing to flick a hoof lazily skyward. “It’s the aurora.” She was right. Twilight had grown so accustomed to the aurora borealis in the time she had spent in Cadance’s domain that she almost didn't notice it anymore. At the moment the lights were, as Sunset had pointed out, spreading across the sky in every color of the rainbow. The wind had died down, and white petals of snow drifted lazily from the sky. It was so pleasant just to be walking here, through the chilly air, beneath the light of the stars and the aurora. Sunset Shimmer leaning on her was more a welcome, reassuring presence than a weighty burden to bear.
“I thought you might never get the hint, so I took decisive action.”
“I... I think I get it, now. Very – heh – subtle, right up until the end.” Twilight was stunned near speechless by confusion and excitement. On a rational level, she wanted to pursue this new path open to her; but slowly, and carefully. Something deeper, however, more base and animal, wanted more right now. “I’m often very dense when it comes to these things, even after all these... years...”
She trailed off. Sunset Shimmer’s body was growing warmer despite the brutal night temperatures, even as the mint-green light of her horn grew stronger. She was casting exactly the same spell as Twilight. All the snow in the mare’s crimson mane was melting before her spell, revealing its proper colors unsullied by the snow- the red and orange of a hearth’s fire on a winter night. Her eyes were the color of ice, but had in them such ardor that they seemed to radiate warmth and compassion.
Twilight snorted in mock indignation. “Hmph. Liar. You told me you couldn’t warm yourself and you had to snuggle to keep warm, just so that you could get that chance? Rude. Clever, but rude.”
“I lied, yeah.” Sunset replied with a dazzling grin. “All’s fair in love and war, right?” She was shockingly beautiful, Twilight suddenly realized. How had she never seen it before? Sunset Shimmer was everything a friend ought to be, but somehow... more, in some indescribable way. Maybe this feeling was just the cold air and the desire for companionship talking. Maybe it was love.
Twilight laughed. It carried through the snowstorm, crisp and clear, like the song of birds in spring. It was a strange sound, even to her own ears, but she thought she might rather grow used to it. “Come on, Sunset. It’s a cold night and we have a long way to walk. Let’s keep each other warm.”
The two mares forged on, undaunted, while the snow-laden trees swayed beneath the aurora borealis.
Author's Note
This is my first time ever writing fluff. Please tell me what you think, bad or good. I need all the criticism I can get.
