Storm of Terror
Princess Luna yawned as she climbed out of bed. On the padded carpet beside it she stretched and shuffled her wings. It should be midday, now. Perhaps I’m early enough to join Celestia for lunch. Smiling at the thought, Luna climbed out of her crescent moon bed, slipped her shoes off to put on her slippers, and looked to the windows, curtains drawn to keep out the light and let her sleep through the morning. She drew all of them back with a flourish.
Her smile faded.
“WHAT!?” Luna ran to the windows and stared in horror at the spires of Canterlot. She shook her head and slowly stepped away. “No, this cannot be!” She turned and rushed down the hallway.
The guards at the end of the hall turned to her. “Princess Luna?” one of them asked.
“Rally all the guards at once!” she shouted as she ran past. “Assemble in the main hall!” She heard the guard shout to his companion in her wake. However, her mind was elsewhere. Celestia, please be safe! If she was outside… She stopped. No. Celestia will be safe, she can take care of herself. I must see to the castle residents first.
“You there!” Luna pointed to the nearest servant, a unicorn carrying a bundle of laundry in the air behind her.
The unicorn stopped and turned. “Yes, Princess?”
“Go to the kitchens and tell them to prioritize the cookings of perishable items first!” Luna thought over her command again. “And tell them to prepare a schedule of rations, take stock of all foodstuffs and estimate how much we would all need to last a month without supplies.”
The unicorn was taken aback. “What is amiss, Princess?”
“We are all in grave danger, my little pony,” Luna whispered, shaking her head. “Please, deliver my command with the greatest of haste, and when done go to the main hall for further instruction.”
The unicorn nodded and ran off. Luna ran down the hall to a balcony that overlooked a branching hall below. “You!” She pointed a hoof at a pegasi guard.
“Me?”
“Go to Cloudsdale at once and tell the head of the weather factory to prepare a warm wind to sweep over Canterlot, as hot as he can make it within reason!”
“Yes, Princess, but may I ask the reason?”
The walls shook with the force of Luna’s voice. “The future and safety of our civilization! No GO!” The guard nodded and flew off. Luna turned her attention to the other guard. “You, go into town and alert the criers. The peasantry has but an hour to gather all non-perishable foodstuffs they can and barricade themselves in their homes.”
“Criers, Princess?” The guard replied, confused.
“Yes, the town criers!”
“Canterlot has not had town criers for almost four hundred years.”
Luna huffed. “Then how is one to convey royal proclamations to the peasantry?”
“We usually just submit it to the newspaper.”
“And when can we expect them to relay it to the town?”
“They deliver every morning.”
“Morning!?” Luna slapped her forehead. “We could all be dead by then!” The guard gaped at her exclamation. Luna shook her head. “If we must then we must. Go to the papers and tell them the order as I’ve previously stated.”
“Right away, Princess!” the guard saluted and galloped away.
Alone, Luna took a deep breath. Food is to be rationed, the peasantry will be warned, the guards are massing in the main hall. What else is to be prioritized? She considered all she knew about the situation. We must warn the other settlements, but perhaps they have already taken notice? Or perhaps they do not realize the severity of the danger? It has been a thousand years, after all. Everypony seemed so calm in spite of the chaos outside. She nodded. Yes, first priority is to send word out across Equestria. Celestia will know a way.
Luna ran through the castle passages. When she reached the hallway to Celestia’s room, she ran down it and threw open the doors. “Sister?”
Sitting at a desk with some paperwork in front of her, Celestia looked up. “Luna? What are—” She stopped as Luna threw herself across the room and embraced her. Celestia blinked and looked down at her. “Um, it’s nice to see you, too, sister.”
“I was worried you were out there,” Luna whispered, squeezing tighter.
“If there’s something you need done, I could put off my daily errands to aid you.”
“Errands? Are you mad?” Luna shrieked, pulling back. “You cannot go out in this condition!”
Celestia turned her head to a mirror over her dresser. “Well, perhaps my coat could use a grooming, but it’s hardly reason for concern.”
“Not that!” Luna ran to a curtained window and pulled the curtains back. “Look!”
Celestia stood and walked to stand beside her. She tilted her head and frowned. “Is there something outside I should be seeing?”
Luna stared at her with wide eyes. “It’s SNOWING!” She turned back to the window where small, soft flakes of white dusted down and gently landed on the railing. The spires of Canterlot below were already covered in a thin sheet of it.
“Ah.” Celestia looked at the calendar hanging on the wall. “I forgot to change it last night.” She calmly flipped the calendar to the new month.
“It’s snowing outside and you’re concerned with the date?”
“I do keep to a strict schedule. Best not to fall behind!”
Luna gaped. “Celestia, are you blind?” She thrust a hoof at the window. “It’s snowing!”
“Yeeees…” Celestia gave her a sideways look.
“I hoped you would have a way to get word out to as much of Equestria as we can.” Luna began to pace as she thought aloud. “If the windigos appear they will come from the north. We should prioritize the northern settlements first. The rest, I think immigration to the south is the wisest course…” Luna paused. She slowly turned her head.
Celestia was laughing loudly, holding a hoof to her chest. Her eyes closed in her merriment, she threw her head back, her laughter filling the room.
“Celestia?” Luna approached her. “Has the strain of the situation gotten to you?” Celestia’s response was to collapse to the ground, giggling. “Oh dear.” Luna swallowed heavily. “Then it falls to me to ensure Equestria’s safety. Sister, calm yourself as best you can, I will do what I must.”
“L-Luna…” Celestia gasped out between chuckles. “You don’t understand…”
“I am beginning to suspect so, yes.”
Celestia finally got her breathing under control and stood up. “It’s snowing out… because it’s the first of the month. The pegasi bring in the first storm today.”
“The pegasi?” Luna hissed. She growled lowly. “I always knew Hurricane was a treacherous sort, but to see his ilk stooping to this…”
“Luna!” Celestia shook her head. “There is no reason to fear. The windigos have not been sighted in over a thousand years.”
“They haven’t?”
“No. We schedule snowfall from the pegasi a month before and after Hearth’s Warming every year.”
Luna frowned. “Excuse me?”
“Hearth’s Warming,” Celestia repeated. “Remember?”
“Yes. I remember our annual festivals where we would gather in the castle to feast in tribute to the founders of our country and remember the peace and unity they delivered us.” Luna looked out the window. “But why should snow have anything to do with that?”
“As I said, it happens every year a month before and after. We began that about seventy years after your banishment,” Celestia said.
Luna looked over her shoulder. “You celebrate the founders of our land by allowing Equestria to be covered in the very weather they saved us from?”
Celestia made to respond and then stopped. “You make it sound as though it’s absurd.”
“There’s a reason.”
“Well, it’s a mistaken reason.” Celestia stepped up beside Luna. “I feel that allowing it to snow for a couple months allows us to appreciate the founders for stopping the windigos. We recognize how hard it would be for us to live in such conditions year-round and are thankful for it.”
“Perhaps… but, still.” Luna frowned. “I cannot imagine any being liking the snow, even for a month.”
“Really?” Celestia pushed the door to the balcony open. Luna shivered as a cold wind blew over her. “It’s not so bad once you get used to it.”
“As I remember from a thousand years ago, snow is cold and wet. Has the term ‘snow’ taken on a different meaning in the modern era?”
“No.”
“I question the value the substance will hold to me now, then.”
“Come here.” Celestia walked onto the balcony, her hooves leaving prints in the snow. Luna stepped up to the edge of the doorway, the snow beginning to reach the carpet. Celestia turned to face her, then threw herself back on the snow. Luna watched as Celestia wiggled her hooves and horn about. When she was done she climbed out and stepped aside. “See?”
Luna peered at the snow and the shaped impressions from where Celestia had lain. “What is it?”
“It’s a snow angel.” Celestia pointed as she spoke. “See? Those are the sleeves of its gown with the hooves coming out, and that is the halo around its horn.”
Luna examined the snow more slowly. “I suppose one could see a vague impression of a pony wearing a gown.”
“There is something else.” Celestia’s voice got Luna to turn her attention back to her sister. Celestia picked up a clump of snow in her magic and slowly shaped it into a sphere. “Do you know what this is?”
“No.”
“It is called a snowball. Do you know what it does?”
“You know I don’t,” Luna huffed.
Celestia smiled. “Close your eyes.”
Luna eyed the orb of snow but did as told. She waited, her brow furrowed. After several seconds of silence she frowned. “Celestia, what are you trying—”
A sudden blast of moisture and cold washed over Luna’s face. She cried out and stumbled, sputtering. Celestia laughed again. Luna turned her eyes inward and saw snow caked over her muzzle. She blinked as she realized what Celestia had just done to her.
Celestia stopped her laugh and winked. “Snowballs are for throwing. Usually at other ponies who do not expect them.”
Luna glared. “Is that right?” She looked down and levitated a bit of snow up to eye level. She slowly shaped it into a snowball with a small smile. “What of throwing them at ponies who do suspect them?” She looked for her sister and saw Celestia flying away. “Coward!” Luna grit her teeth and jumped over the balcony, her wings spread and her snowball floating beside her. Celestia had a head start on her but Luna gained quickly. She let her tongue stick out of her mouth as she aimed carefully and flung the snow forward. Celestia looked behind her and swooped to the side; the snowball sailed past her to splatter against the side of the castle wall.
“You missed!” She called back.
“A test fire!” Luna declared. She ducked down to sweep over a snow-covered rooftop and scooped up as much snow as she could. Three snowballs took shape and Luna put her focus into her wings to gain on Celestia. She aimed carefully and waited for Celestia to look back at her, and then fired.
Celestia ducked and turned to avoid the first two, but Luna had aimed well; as she moved to dodge the second snowball, the third struck her in the wing. Celestia cried out in surprise and fell, her wing shuddering. She struck the top of a tree and spiraled out of control, landing in a large pile of shoveled snow next to the paths through the castle gardens.
“Sister!” Luna landed on the path and ran up to the snowbank. She began to shovel the snow aside with her magic. “I’m so sorry, sister! Please forgive me!” As she worked, she noticed the snow moving and stopped.
Luna saw Celestia’s head emerge from the top of the snowbank, followed soon by the rest of her. A cold, narrow glare marred her face, Luna’s view of it obstructed by a large ring of snowballs orbiting her in an aura of solar magic.
Celestia smiled and the snowballs stopped.
“No.”
Luna turned and ran, snowballs pelting the path at her heels. Behind her Celestia floated forward, her eyes turning side to side. As her arsenal launched itself at her hapless sister, more snow floated off the shrubbery and condensed into more snowballs to replenish her supply. Luna ducked and weaved, the back of her hind hooves caked in snow from numerous near misses. She looked back and stopped as Celestia fired again. The snowball flung itself at Luna’s head. She snapped her head up and the snowball surrounded itself with a blue aura. It reversed course and struck Celestia in the face. The solar alicorn dropped to the ground, her snowballs landing and splattering around her.
As she shook the snow out of her eyes, Celestia saw a shadow loom over her. She looked up and saw Luna standing above her, a snowball hovering next to her head. Luna smiled in triumph.
“Yield.”
Celestia scowled.
“Never.”
Her eyes darted to the side. One of her fallen snowballs launched what was left of itself towards Luna. She saw it coming and moved her snowball to block it, but Celestia used the momentary distraction to take hold of her sister and hurl her through the air into another snowbank. Celestia stood up, her wings extending.
“You cannot win, Luna!” she crowed. “You battle one with a thousand years of experience in the ways of the snowball fight and never has she tasted defeat!”
The snowbank shook and Celestia readied herself for an attack. Then the snowbank itself began to move across the snow. As the mound inched towards Celestia, a hole lined with light blue magic appeared on the front. Celestia had a moment to contemplate the green eyes looking out at her before part of the snowbank fired forward. She pulled aside and the clump of snow sailed past her. Another clump fired.
Celestia backed away from the advancing pile of snow that Luna had forged into a mobile fortress. The snowballs she was firing struck glancing blows on Celestia’s hooves and wings, yet none made contact with the main body. Celestia looked around and spied a nearby tree, snow filling the branches. She ran in front of it and levitated into the air, her hooves spread. The snow on the tree glowed with yellow light and rose up, forming into more snowballs.
Luna’s snowbank stopped, and Celestia allowed a moment for her sister to fully realize what she was about to do, before she snapped her hoof forward and sent forth the bombardment.
The doors to Luna’s balcony opened. Luna fell as much as landed, pulling herself through the snow into the room. Shaking with laughter, she wiped snow from her muzzle and grinned. “That is the most fun I’ve had in years!”
“Me too!” Celestia landed next to her. “It’s impossible to find servants willing to throw snowballs at me, much less any with the skill to keep up with an alicorn.”
“And now you find one who can more than keep up, but she can win!” Luna declared.
“I won!”
“I kept score.”
“You don’t even know how snowball fights work yet! There is a very precise and formal scoring system.”
“I made up my own system, and within its rules, I won.” Luna stuck out her tongue.
Before Celestia could continue the argument, somepony knocked on Luna’s door. Luna quickly stood up and shook herself to get rid of the snow. “Come in!”
The door opened and a guard stepped inside, saluting. “Princesses, we are assembled in the main hall ready for orders. I’ve been told that Cloudsdale has received its emergency orders, the newspapers are working to have a special edition with your decree on the front page out by dinner, and the kitchens report a proper meal schedule able to last the entire castle residence two months is prepared for your review.”
Luna’s eyes were wide as she listened to the guard’s report. When he finished, Celestia leaned over to her.
“Luna, is there anything you would like to tell me?”
“Not at the moment, no.”
