A fresh layer of snow covered the streets of Canterlot, newly formed flakes floating by on the bristling winter wind as ponies filled the streets. Carolers bundled together for warmth beneath the Hearth’s Warming lights as they belted out memorable hymns, Santa Hooves stood on just about every street corner offering good tidings to passing ponies and the scent of roasting chestnuts filled the air. With Hearth’s Warming Eve just around the corner, everypony was bustling about in a rush to get all of their holiday preparations done on time, lest they get buried in the crowd of last-minute shoppers the night before like last year.
“Let’s see…” Octavia stepped aside to let ponies pass as she scanned her shopping list, her saddlebags almost bursting at the seams with gifts. “I’ve bought gifts for mother and father, Princess Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Miss. Hooves and little Dinky… hmm…” As her eyes drifted down the list, Octavia couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that she was forgetting somepony—
“Tavi, think fast!”
Octavia barely had time to cock her head to the side before she was pelted in the side of the head with a snowball. “Ah!” she shrieked as the wet slush dripped down her fur, turning to glare at her assailant. Oh, right… She couldn’t even muster the motivation to roll her eyes as she locked eyes with the white mare standing nearby. “Vinyl, must you?”
Vinyl Scratch nickered. “Oh, lighten up, Octavia! It was just a snowball!”
Octavia huffed. “Be that as it may, I would appreciate it if you put your energy towards helping me finish this list instead. That is why you accompanied me to Canterlot, yes?”
Blowing a lock of mane out of her eyes—having left her shades at home at Octavia’s urging— Vinyl snagged an offered candy cane from a nearby Santa Hooves with her magic. “Remind me again why we had to come all the way to Canterlot for this? Couldn’t we have stayed in Ponyville and gone shopping there?”
“Nothing against Ponyville, but Canterlot has a far greater selection. Next to Manehattan, I would dare say it has quite possibly the largest shopping centre in all of Equestria.”
“And the longest lines...” Vinyl mumbled as she rolled the candy cane back and forth in her mouth.
Ignoring her, Octavia returned her attention to her list. Now, where was I— “Eek!” Octavia flinched as another snowball collided with the back of her head. “Vinyl!” Growling through clenched teeth, she whirled around to find Vinyl looking away, unconvincingly whistling to herself. All she needed to complete the look was a halo floating above her head.
“Hmph!” Glancing back down at her list, Octavia silently counted to three before twisting her head to the side, a third snowball whizzing past her ear. “Ha! Missed m—Oof!”
Vinyl laughed as snow dripped down Octavia’s face. “Nailed ya right between the eyes!”
“VINYL!” Kicking her hooves against the cobblestone, Octavia charged the giggling mare, tackling her and sending them both rolling back into the snowdrift in an explosion of snow.
Sticking her head out of the snow, Vinyl gave a quick shake of her head to dislodge the snow from between her ears. Glancing around, she noticed the absence of one grey earth pony. “Tavi? Where’d you go—” She was silenced by a snowball clipping against her ear, whipping her head around in time to catch the barest glimpse of a dark grey tail disappearing behind a snow covered bench.
“Oh, it’s on now!” Leaping out the snow, Vinyl used her magic to quickly construct a snow fort to hide behind. That done, she rolled up a new snowball and wasted no time in hurling it towards Octavia’s barrier, grinning as she heard her opponent let out a shriek. “Bullseye!”
Dashing out of cover, Octavia launched one projectile after another at the unicorn, two striking against Vinyl’s barrier while the third managed to slam against Vinyl’s shoulder.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that!” Vinyl taunted as she used her magic to levitate a trio of snowballs, firing them one after another towards Octavia.
As the last snowball smashed against the bench, Octavia leapt out of cover, snowball at the ready. Her eyes widened at the sight of barrage of snowballs hurtling down at her. “Eeek!” Just barely diving back behind cover, she cowered with her hooves over her head as snowballs hammered away at her barricade without end.
After what felt like an eternity, the rain of snowballs finally ended. When nothing came flying at her after several moments, Octavia tentatively poked her head out, scanning for even the tiniest glimpse of electric blue hair. “Where did she—”
A sharp whistle sounded from behind her. “Yoo-hoo!”
Octavia whirled around in time to catch a snowball to the forehead. How Vinyl had managed to sneak up on her was a question for another day, as she was swiftly bombarded by a volley of snowballs. “Ack, Vinyl!” She squealed, throwing her hooves over her face to protect herself. “Quit it!”
“Victory!” Vinyl cheered, grinning from ear to ear as she lobbed one snowball after another at the helpless mare.
Fighting through the assault, Octavia managed to get to her hooves and take off running. Vinyl took chase after her, cackling like a madmare as she continued hurling snowballs at the fleeing earth pony. Weaving and dodging from the barrage, Octavia dashed behind a nearby tree for safety, causing Vinyl to skid to a halt in front of the tree.
Now I’ve got her cornered, Vinyl thought with a chuckle. “Come on out, Octavia. You can’t hide forever.”
“Hey, Vinyl!”
Vinyl’s ears shot up as she heard the thud of hooves striking against the bark. She had but a split second to look up, squawking in terror as an avalanche of snow rained down from the treetop and buried her head to tail in snow.
Stepping out from behind the tree, Octavia giggled as she brushed a hoof against her coat. “Think fast.”
The snow pile shook for a moment before Vinyl managed to poke her head out. Blinking, she glanced down at the earth pony standing before her, a smile across Octavia’s muzzle as she held a snowball in her hoof. “Er… truce?” Vinyl pleaded, chuckling nervously under Octavia’s gaze.
Octavia hummed in thought, menacingly bouncing the snowball up and down in her hoof. Eventually, she dropped the snowball at her hooves. “Very well, a truce it is. I have more shopping to do anyway.” With a flick of her tail, she turned and began trotting back towards the main plaza.
“Er, Octavia? I think you’re forgetting something!” Flailing her head around, Vinyl struggled to try and free herself from her icy prison. “Little help here?”
“Oh, I’m certain somepony will be around to help dig you out,” Octavia called over her shoulder, pressing a hoof to her lips to suppress a giggle. “Eventually…”
“Ha, ha, that’s a good one, Tavi! Now help dig me out! … Octavia? OCTAVIA!”
