*INTERMISSION*

Central Hall, Tempest's birthplace
Fourteen years ago

The hall was small, but it was packed with lots of different ponies. Earth, Pegasi and unicorns were all inside banging their back hooves down on the wooden floorboards, whilst shouting and arguing with the opposite bench. There were three rows of benches, one behind the other going up towards the ceiling, on each side of the room. All of the benches were completely filled up with ponies, all of which were wearing smart clothing, and had pieces of paper, scribbled with notes and photographs which they believed to be their evidence in the event of an argument. Needless to say, it had come too soon.

"Order! Order!" A middle-aged unicorn stallion was in the judge's seat, banging his gavel hard onto his desk. No pony listened to him for the first time, continuing to throw insults at their components. "I SAID ORDER! Everypony sit down this instant and be silent! We'll never get anywhere if we act like this."

Inside, the room was hugely decorated. There were large portraits of ponies, some of which unnamed, while others were, including none other than Princess Celestia, which hung over the entrance of the courtroom. Diamond chandeliers and stands of candles were positioned all over the room, consuming all substances of darkness and shadows. behind the judge's chair, was a large, golden statue of Celestia, covered with sparkling diamonds. Her eyes were made of pure Wittelsbach-Graff, Equestria's most beautiful of all diamonds. The beautiful eyes of Celestia stared down directly to the podium of where a defendant would stand; almost as fierce and deadly as sharp spears pointing towards one's cold and black heart.

Eventually, the room's atmosphere died down and one by one, the ponies sat down in their seats and stopped talking. The judge cleared his throat and placed a tiny pair of glasses onto the tip of his muzzle. Whilst reading his notes, a dark red stallion rushed out of the main doors and raced across the room towards his seating position. Adjusting his glasses, Mr Berrytwist squeezed his way past the other candidates already sitting down and sat down in his seat. He placed his notes down and started to listen to the judge.

Each seat was made out of blue fabric, with golden thread strewn through creating decorative patterns and the initials of the candidate who would be sitting there. Sandals Berrytwist's was coded with the letters S.B. and had an additional symbol of Princess Celestia's head, mane, horn and huge wings. Around his shoulders, Sandals wore a furry judge's coat, that hung over the back of his seat.

"Sorry to interrupt!" Sandals whispered to the nearest ponies.

They ignored him and started to listen to the judge. Other important ponies, such as security guards, lawyers, witnesses and members of the public made their way in, and as soon as the last civilian sat down, the judge began.

"In the name of Princess Celestia, Equestria and lands beyond, will each and every one of you speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"WE WILL!" the audience replied.

An old grey mare was sitting next to the judge and occasionally whispered into his ear at random moments, usually about new information that had just come in. After she finished, the judge continued.

"We, as a civilisation, have come today in our Court of Law to discuss a rather serious subject among our kind. No less than a few days ago, there had been the sighting of a baby Ursa wandering around our village. Many witnesses have said that it lives in a cave, somewhere in the centre of our forest. It has been stated, in the secret police's report, that the baby Ursa was awoken accidentally by three ten-year-old students while they were on, quote, "a picnic", end quote. One filly, under the full name of Miss Fizzlepop Eleanor Berrytwist, was severely attacked by the Ursa. Her horn was, quote, "slashed off by the claw of the beast", end quote, causing her to have serious, but not fatal injuries. Witnesses include Miss Avon and Mr Star Myth, said to be fellow students and friends of Fizzlepop."

The sound of quills scribbling notes, typewriters tapping away and the odd conversation between two ponies filled the room as soon as the judge finished. Sandals Berrytwist, slightly embarrassed by this whole drama, slid down in his seat and pretended to not be present. Unfortunately, the judge then continued.

"Bring in the witnesses!"

Two security guards then walked into the court hall wearing sunglasses and black clothing. Behind them, two rather frightened ponies. One of which was a filly, light green, and the other was a colt, light blue. The guards directed the two ponies near to the front, where everypony could watch them. Before the judge continued, he was interrupted by the old grey mare again, whispering in his ear some more information. After she finished, the mare sat down and the judge continued.

"And would Mr Sandals Berrytwist, the father of Miss Fizzlepop Berrytwist, step forwards as well?"

Everypony stared at Mr Berrytwist, who sunk into his chair to the point where he couldn't sink any further. He tried to cover his face using one of his notebooks, but the pony next to him grabbed hold of it and placed it to the side.

"Stop trying to hide, Sandals. You're not going to get arrested."

Hearing those rather thankful words, Sandals got up from his flank and made his way past the ponies sitting in the same row as he was, before trotting down the stairs towards the centre of the court. There, just next to him, were Avon and Star Myth. Sandals tried to give a reassuring smile back to them before facing back towards the judge and everypony else who watched him with deadly stares.

"My daughter, Fizzlepop Berrytwist, was just enjoying herself with her two friends. It was meant to be a lovely day for them to hang out; no school, good weather. As a father, I thought that she would be fine."

A pony that sat underneath the judge's chair tapped away at a typewriter, coping every word that Mr Berrytwist had just said. The pony then stopped and nodded towards the judge, who nodded back and moved onto the next question.

"So, you trusted your daughter to go out at this time of the year, along with her two friends? When it was snowy and dangerous?"

Sweat began to drip down Sandals' neck. The stallion started to fiddle with his hooves nervously. If Sandals had fingernails, he would already be clipping them away slowly. He sought reassurance from his wife, however, Eleanor wasn't beside him this time, just Avon, who looked as if she had no idea what was going on.

"I... we... there wasn't any warning about the baby Ursa, honest! We just thought the kids were going to spend some time together, that's all. Eleanor and I didn't know anything about the Ursa or where it was sleeping."

The pony at the typewriter tapped away, coping every exact word from Sandal's response. The judge waited for the continuous sound of the typewriter to cease before he continued.

"As a parent, you should have had the complete responsibility, including your wife, to watch your daughter and even her friends. Is it true that none of the parents of these two ponies was there to look after them? I find it shocking that a parent would allow a ten-year-old to go off with her friends, without the eyes of a responsible adult to watch them while they were out."

Heads of the candidates sitting down in the row of seats turned their heads towards Sandals. The already-blushing red stallion straightened himself in his seat and gulped loudly.

"My wife said that it would be okay. We're friends with each of the Avon and Star Myth's parents; they didn't have a problem allowing their children to hang out with my daughter. There was no serious warning until after the attack, that is. My knowledge of Ursas is, should I say, limited."

The nodding of heads in the room reassured Sandals that he was starting to be trusted as somepony who would hopefully be truthful in this unsettling event. The judge was going to continue but was interrupted by the rising sound of chatter among the long row of seats the stretched across the room. He waved his arms gently in the air, which brought the room back to its substantial silence.

"Well... er... we didn't know that there was a baby Ursa in the area, honest, your honour!" Sandals pleaded, "There was no news of its presence."

The judge straightened his glasses and cleared his throat. "As much as you seem to give us at least some information, Mr Berrytwist, the consequences of your actions have forced us to restrict young ponies from travelling alone, and the forest of which the incident took place is now forbidden to all civilians. It has come to my decision, including this village's government, that we have forced ourselves to seek help from beyond our home, looking as far as Equestria itself."

Mr Berrytwist shuddered as he spoke; "But... but, it was only an accident! Ursas haven't been seen in this area for years, let alone baby ones! It could have been prevented-!"

"Indeed it could have been prevented, Mr Berrytwist," the judge interrupted, "but thanks to your careless actions, we are left with a partially blind and hornless filly, including endangering the lives of two young ponies. It is an embarrassment to this village's history, especially your personal embarrassment, Mr Berrytwist."

Knowing that he could no longer argue, Sandals Berrytwist sat down in his seat and remained silent. Many of the Berrytwist's supporters started to argue back.

"It wasn't his fault!" cried one.

"The beast hadn't been seen before in this village!" cried another, "How do we protect ourselves? You blame this stallion for your job of protection?!"

Shouting and screaming at the judges for mercy, the crowd soon started to riot and protest loudly and caused mayhem all over the courtroom, only to be drowned by the sound of the judge's gavel banging against his desk loudly, ordering the chaotic crowd to sit down and silence themselves.

"What's going on in there?!"

"I can't see. Let me have a look."

"Ow! Your hoof's in my eye!"

Just outside the courtroom was a dark, unused storage room which was just tall enough for a full grown pony to stand upright. There was no light, apart from some coming from a grate that allowed cool air to travel through the room and release hot air out. Three young ponies, one of which stood on top of the other two, were leaning on the grate, watching and listening to everything that was happening outside.

Fizzlepop Berrytwist had her right eye completely bandaged up, including the top of her head, so she used her right to peer through the metal grates that separated her from the courtroom. The top section of her scar peeked out from underneath her bandage, while the bottom part reached down over her lips and down to the tip of her chin. It was better, now, but was still clearly seen to be a scar, but her eyeball was still cloudy and its colour was replaced with a deadly grey.

Down below, Fizzlepop could see her father, being the centre of attention. The two sides fought against one another, with the judges throwing insults towards the stallion, while the civilians of the village tried to stand up for him, refusing to believe anything that the judge was trying to say.

"Daddy's in real trouble," Fizzlepop said, "they keep yelling at him. They think it's his fault... it wasn't, because it was..."

"Ours?" Star Myth finished, "Come on, Fizzlepop, nopony knew about the Ursa, especially a baby one! We just came past it by accident. It was never planned for you to be attacked and have your horn chopped off."

"Star Myth, please," Avon whispered, trying not to sound so loud, "that really doesn't help Fizzlepop."

"No, no, he has a point," Fizzlepop replied, trying to calm the tension between her two friends, "neither the three of us knew about the baby Ursa, nor where it was sleeping. My knowledge of Ursas is limited; there aren't many documented sightings of Ursas, especially baby ones. Oh, if only our school focused more on Equestrian beasts and creatures beyond the lands, instead of stupid stories of how many years it took ponies to discover fire or when Force Newton discovered gravity!"

Upset by her friend's anger, Avon collapsed onto her side, making the others fall beside her, and curled up into a ball.

"This is stupid," she said, tears welling up in her eyes, "all we wanted was to have a picnic, but instead we've caused the whole village to fight against one another and make this all one big deal."

Fizzlepop and Star Myth went over to their friend and helped Avon back onto her hooves. She smiled back and gave them a group hug.

"Don't worry, Avon!" Fizzlepop said, cheerfully, "As friends, we can solve the problem! Besides, now that I'm not staying in hospital 24/7, we can prove that we were the ones who did this and not my father!"

Avon and Star Myth looked at each other and then back to Fizzlepop. "Which means we get into trouble instead."

Fizzlepop frowned. "Oh, yeah, I didn't think of that."

The two fillies and colt looked back and continued to watch the session below. Everypony was still arguing and fighting against one another, making it seem as if what was going to be just a morning meeting would actually stretch into the afternoon. Avon looked at her ankle, where a small watch was wrapped around her. She looked at the time; it read fifteen minutes past one.

"The meeting should be ending soon," Avon informed the others, "We just need to wait a little longer-"

Unfortunately, Avon was then interrupted by the sound of the door opening quickly, banging against the wall. The three young ponies gasped in shock, almost traumatised by the unexpected surprise. All three ponies fell onto their backs like skittles that had been knocked down by a bowling ball, but managed to keep their heads up to see who had made them jump.

Standing in the doorway was the silhouette of Eleanor Berrytwist. Her bright red-pink eyes illuminated in the dark fill of her body, moving left to right, looking all over the room like a security camera. Spotting the three young ponies still lying on the floor, Mrs Berrytwist used her magic to flick on the light switch, illuminating the room and causing Fizzlepop to cover her eyes from the bright light. At first, Fizzlepop thought that her mother would be furious at them for running off and sneaking into the court, but she didn't raise her voice or sound angry at all.

"There you are, my little ponies!" Eleanor said, "What are you three doing here?! I've been searching all over the village for you lot! Your teachers said that left school and wandered off in opposite direction to your homes. I guess I did have some idea that you lot would be heading here, though."

At first, Fizzlepop, Avon and Star Myth struggled to think of a reply. They expected Fizzlepop's mum to be much more serious and angry at them; but after hearing her speak so calmly, they didn't know exactly what to say. Fizzlepop then trotted up towards her mother, but stopped just short of a metre away.

"We... I couldn't just let Papa go there and have ponies shout at him without me being there!" Fizzlepop explained, sounding upset and slightly frightened, "They're all so horrible to him. It... it was our fault, not his! Now thanks to us, nopony feels safe with a baby Ursa wandering around our village!"

"Avon and I were supporting Fizzlepop and her father, Mrs Berrytwist," Star Myth added, "We didn't mean trouble, honest!"

Mrs Berrytwist grinned, rolling her eyes in the expectancy of the reaction from her daughter and her friends. "I know that you lot weren't meant to cause trouble. You little ponies didn't know about the baby Ursa; nor did anypony else. At least I've found you three; that's all that matters. Just... don't go running off again, will you?"

The three small ponies pulled apologetic expressions on their faces and lowered their heads with guilt. "We're sorry." They said together, almost as if they planned it.

Pleased by their politeness, Mrs Berrytwist decided to change the mood. "Here's an idea; why don't I take the three of you for some ice cream or a drink at the cafe? It'll certainly be somewhere better than in this dark and damp room, now won't it? I'm sure Mr Berrytwist won't be long. Does that sound like a fun idea?"

Fizzlepop, Avon and Star Myth nodded together. Mrs Berrytwist then led the three ponies outside, before switching off the light and closing the door behind her.

The snow had become worse during winter. It covered the ground like a thick blanket, seeming to be a struggle to remove. The temperature was well below freezing. Even with fur, ponies in the village had raided every winter resort shop, leaving its stocks nearly empty besides a few pairs of skis, moth-eaten furry coats and an out-of-season woolly hat. Ponies in the town mostly wore snow shoes or skis, either lumbering along or sliding across the snowy surface. In the distance, on top of the hills, ponies skied down the mountains and would either fly up or use a gondolier to travel up the mountain to the very top.

The wind was the worst part of it all; it blew across the village like an unsettling storm, raging across the land like it was taking part in a long-during battle. Some ponies were wearing balaclavas, covering their faces from the snow that would blow into their faces. Snow would pile up on top of houses and even block doorways, making ponies grab their shovels and dig for most of the day, dumping snow into large piles set in the middle of the road.

Luckily, the cafe was still open. Fizzlepop, her mother, Avon and Star Myth waited patiently in the queue leading up to the counter in the cafe. It was one of the few businesses in the town to have central heating insides, as many other shops, restaurants and amusement centres had their heating bust. On top of the shop was chimney producing smoke. A light breeze went flew past them, making Fizzlepop shiver in the cold.

"How long did they say it would be snowing, mummy?" Fizzlepop asked.

Mrs Berrytwist placed a hoof to her chin and tried to think. "I believe that the weather forecasters said that it would be snowing non-stop for a few days. There's been no news of when it'll end."

Fizzlepop and Avon sighed.

"Well, at least we can play in the snow while it lasts," Star Myth added, "besides, thick snow means no school!"

Fizzlepop lit up. "Yeah! Besides; who would want to be in a freezing-cold classroom, learning boring stuff, while having all of this on our doorstep?!"

Avon, though looking as if she agreed with the opinion, seemed unsure wherever it would be practically, as many of the students were forced to stay at home by their parents, after the rumours of the Ursa attack and the possible rise of sightings later to follow. After the large quantities of propaganda had spread across their village, the civilians feared about every small possible thing that they believed could go wrong. Especially with a large blizzard near to hitting the village very soon, nopony really had the urge to stay outdoors long in the freezing cold weather.

Making their way down the queue slowly did take an awful lot of time, but eventually, they made it to the front desk. Mrs Berrytwist placed her front hooves onto the desk and the mare on duty started serving them.

"Welcome to the Pony's Cart Cafe! What would you like to buy, miss?"

Mrs Berrytwist listed out all the different flavours of drinks that Fizzlepop and her friends wanted, before handing over her bits and collecting her order from the counter. With the fillies and colt by her side, Mrs Berrytwist levitated the tray of drinks from the counter and trotted to a nearby table, where she sat down with the young ponies. She handed the drinks over to Fizzlepop and her friends, before starting to drink a coffee placed in a large cup. A white marshmallow floated in Mrs Berrytwist's hot pool of coffee like an iceberg, slowly melting into a marshmallow liquid, leaving a white spiral design in the drink.

"Do you two ski?"

Avon and Star Myth look at each other and then back to Mrs Berrytwist.

"Yeah, sometimes, with mum..." Avon replied.

Star Myth shook his head. "No, not yet. I would like to, though."

"Ah, you should have a go at it, Star Myth!" Mrs Berrytwist suggested, "You should love it! It's great to just ski down the hill and feel the cold air brush in your face. Oh, and the cabins up there provide the best hospitality, including food and accommodation. This Hearth's Warming, we'll be going up there for a little holiday, one to get away from all the stresses! Oh, and mustn't forget to mention that there's a spa up there!"

Fizzlepop nodded. "Papa knows a lot of the ponies up there. When he was younger, he used to work up there and worked on the machines that take skiers up to the top of the mountain. That's where he met my mum, and they've been together ever since!"

Avon gasped excellently. "You met at a ski resort?!"

Mrs Berrytwist laughed. "Well, it was all an accident really. I was still a student and my class were on a holiday trip to the resort during the winter. The first time I laid my eyes on Sandals was when he was completely covered with dirt after working on the gondola lift that took us to the mountain. We were friends for a while, but it wasn't until a few Hearth's Warming holidays later that, on New Year Day's, we had our first kiss in front of the fireworks."

"That sounds awesome!" Star Myth said, "What's it used during the summer, though?"

"I believe it's used for summer camps," Fizzlepop replied, "like the Colts' Brigade, the Cadets, Scouts and other fun activities. Plus, when it's Hearth's Warming, they place a huge, tall tree in the centre of the village up there and we sing carols and get presents!"

"We sometimes meet up with Fizzlepop as well!" Avon added, "I remember when I was sick, and Fizzlepop and her parents came to visit me and my mum in my room for Hearth's Warming Day. Honestly, Star Myth, you should come along as well!"

Star Myth smiled. "Well, I could ask my parents for this year's Hearth Warming. We haven't booked anything yet, so it's still possible."

"Always dream big, kids," Mrs Berrytwist said, "when this chaos with the loose baby Ursa wears off, we'll have the chance to go and try lots of different things.

Fizzlepop sipped her drink and wrapped her arms around her friends' shoulders.

"Don't worry, you lot. If I can survive an Ursa attack, then we sure can easily have the holiday of a lifetime! And if we can't all do Hearth's Warming, then we can go up there for the summer holidays instead! There's camping, eating great food, lots of different activities, places where we can go walking, lakes where we can fish and swim."

"You know, Fizzlepop?" Avon said, poking a hoof gently at her friend's chest, "I think you'd be a great holiday planner. You just seem to know every possible thing that's out there to do! No wonder you spend so much time in the school library!"

Fizzlepop blushed. "Ah, chucks, you guys! I wouldn't call myself of a nerd, though. I'm not the best student at school."

Avon raised her eyebrow. A shocked expression pulled on her face. "Are you kidding?! Fizzlepop, you manage to even take control of the lesson sometimes! Every history lesson, fictional works lecture, maths workshop; how can you say that you're not the best?! We're your best friends, remember?"

Slowly, Fizzlepop smiled, suddenly staring into the distance. "Friends." She looked out of the window; it was nearly dark and there was more snow pouring down. Hearth's Warming decorations were being placed up, lighting up the darkness, and everypony outside, despite the freezing cold that rippled through the village, looked so happy. A pony was pulling a cart along the road, with another pony at the back picking up snow and placing it into the back of the cart. Near to them, a group of fillies were singing Hearth's Warming carols, and two ponies, a mare and a stallion, were kissing under a hanging mistletoe.

Best friends, Fizzlepop thought, unicorns forever.