A warm light glowed from the windows of the Carousel Boutique as little snowflakes drifted lazily down from the night sky. Winter in Ponyville had come early, blanketing the peaceful city in white. Nitevision loved the snow, though he had never seen it before. Bounding through snowbanks, digging holes and tunnels, then curling up by the fire listening to his mother tell stories until he fell asleep. Berry Punch also loved the snow, because it brought with it hot cider season. Inside the boutique, Rarity and Berry Punch sat and talked, sipping their mugs of hot cider while the filly named Sweetie Belle played contently on the floor with her new best friend, a foal by the name of Nitevision. When Rarity had heard that Berry Punch had adopted a baby, she simply had to meet him. The fact that he was a bat pony made him all the more adorable in her eyes. Rarity knew that her younger sister didn’t have many friends, so she saw Nitevision as an opportunity for Sweetie Belle to meet new ponies.
“So then what happened?” Rarity asked, twirling her wine glass around her hoof to stir the liquid inside as she listened intently to Berry’s story. The earth pony swallowed her drink and chuckled.
“I hear this little crash coming from the kitchen, right? So at this point I’m all like, ‘Where’s Nitevision?’ Because you know, little kids like to disappear in shops. Since he’s got wings I’m twice as worried right?” Rarity nodded. She knew very well how fillies liked to vanish into thin air.
“So what was the noise?” She asked.
“Well, I turned around to look, pretty worried at this point about what could have made it. So when I look back, there’s Littlebat,” At the mention of Nitevision’s nickname, Rarity couldn’t help but grin. “Absolutely covered in flour. Like,” Berry Punch snickered. “His fur was as white as yours” The unicorn nearly shrieked with laughter. After a moment, she had to put down her wine glass to avoid spilling it as a result of laughing so hard.
“Oh…” She laughed. “My sides hurt…” Berry Punch put up a hoof to stop her.
“It gets worse!” The mare explained. “You’ve been around Pinkie Pie long enough to know what happens when you mix flour and water, right?” She asked, smile growing larger and larger at the sight of Rarity turning absolutely pink from laughing so much. At the sound of her sister’s laughter, Sweetie Belle looked up from the rug that she and Nitevision were playing on.
“What’s so funny?” Sweetie Belle asked. Rarity covered her mouth with one hoof, waving off her sister with the other, laughing all the while. The filly looked at Nitevision, and both shrugged, then resumed their game. Nitevision had brought the little blue ball that his mother had given to him a week after he had been adopted. He rolled it over to her, and she caught it with her hooves before using her magic to try and levitate it back to him. The ball made it half way between them, and dropped. Nitevision caught it before it could touch the ground.
“You’re good at this game!” Sweetie Belle said, her words accompanied by a slight whistle created by wind rushing between her newly formed baby teeth. Though he would never admit it, Nitevision found this little whistle adorable.
“I’ve had a lot of time to practice. Only a couple of younger ponies wander into mom’s tavern. I usually have to play with a wall, or a stool. It doesn’t usually throw the ball back very fast, but I still have to catch it quickly, so I can keep playing.” Sweetie Belle looked at him carefully, as if assessing whether or not he was lying. Finding no indication that he wasn’t telling the truth, she simply shrugged.
“I’m certain Rarity would let me come play with you after school, but only to keep me out of her mane. She doesn’t like to play with me because she has too much work to do, or something like that.” The unicorn filly flashed a broken smile. Nitevision smiled back, as he tossed the ball back to her.
“I don’t have many friends.” The bat pony foal admitted sadly.
“You have me…” Sweetie Belle replied. “What more do you need?” The foal looked up at her, a grin spreading rapidly across his face.
“You really mean that?” He asked shyly. The unicorn nodded in reply. Neither noticed that both Berry Punch and Rarity had stopped chatting, and were silently observing the interaction between the two. Rarity nodded slowly as she watched Sweetie Belle’s expression.
“She really means that.” The unicorn explained. “Sweetie Belle cares about making friends, but she cares more about keeping them.” Berry Punch smiled at her friend.
“From what I can tell, Littlebat is exactly the kind of pony that Sweetie Belle needs in her life. He’s more loyal than any pony I’ve ever met. Sweet kid. I think they’ll be great friends.” Rarity watched Nitevision as he extended his hooves, offering the ball he had been given to his newfound friend. Sweetie Belle blushed, and took it gently, setting it aside before reaching behind her to pick up a little wooden block. The filly set the block down in front of Nitevision, who looked down at it, then back up at her. Sweetie Belle nodded, answering the question that he hadn’t asked. Nitevision looked at the block, then back up at the unicorn filly. Rarity and Berry Punch looked at one another, not sure what was about to happen. Both mares watched as Nitevision stood up, walked over to Sweetie Belle, and embraced her, wrapping his wings around her back. She hugged him back, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she realized she had just made her first true friend. Berry Punch and Rarity once more looked at each other.
“Aww…” They whispered simultaneously, as they both realized that the two young ponies would grow up to be friends for the rest of their lives.
