As winter was coming this year, Phos didn’t help with the preparation for the gems’ hibernation. Instead, he mostly got accustomed with the horn-less life he had to live. To this help, he was helped by the only other earth-pony gem: Jade. Jade was one of the strongest gems in the Great Oak, with a hardness of seven he used to fight a lot with Euclase before getting his cutie mark, a map of the island. He mostly did the morning briefings and organised the teams and battle plans for the rest of the gems now.

It also turns out that Phos was stronger than he had imagined. His new Compact Bones legs especially. The first week he had them, he accidently destroyed three doors by simply kicking them open. Once he knew to control his new-found strength, Phos had gone back to simply doing nothing.

The snow started falling on the once green island, and a few days before the actual start of the hibernation for the gems, Diamond took Phos out to collect some of the ingredients to make white powder for Rutile. On the west plain, they found the desired white berries.

“How are the new legs?” Asked Diamond, a sympathetic smile on his face.

“Strog and gud” Said Phos, a mouth full of berries he carefully tried not to smash with his teeth. He spat them in a bowl on the ground and continued: “I wish I could be more useful but it’s not like I could use this strength anyway.”

“Why don’t you try fighting, then? Jade used to be a really good fighter you know.”

“It’s not like the Princess would accept anyway,” replied Phos.

“Well, have you even asked her?”

Back in the Great Oak, inside of the mighty alicorn’s office.

“No, we’ve already talked about this a century ago,” was the obvious reply from the Princess. “Especially now that you just lost part of yourself, you aren’t fit for fighting, at all.”

“But Jade could fight without a horn or wings just fine! And he’s super strong like I am now, so why can’t I?”

“This isn’t about having more limbs or not,” scolded the alicorn. “Fighting the Lunarians is more than pure strength. Cinnabar should have taught you that, don't you think?” She rhetorically asked. “He wasn’t even supposed to be able to use magic due to his hardness, and yet he was one of our best fighters. He—more than strength—had the wisdom to use what little he had to its full potential. The day you can do this, I will let you fight. And not a second before.”

“Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine…” said Phos before leaving the room.

But as Phos walked down the stairs to the first floor of the Great Oak, a violet bubble of magic exploded in front of him. The Princess stood with a sly smile on her face.

“You know what? I have the perfect job for you, and it does involve fighting,” she announced, grinning.

Phos lit up at the declaration, eager to start his new assignment.

“I want you to meet me the day of the start of the hibernation; I’ll explain it all then,” she added before disappearing in another burst of purple magic.

The day just became a bit brighter for Phos as he helped with the preparations for the hibernation. On the third floor, there was a room full of very old story books the gems liked to read when they were still young. This room was big—as big as the main room without a doubt—and it is where Red Beryl was currently setting up the hibernation chamber with the help of both Amethyst twins. The gems truly used the hibernation to have a big sleepover where they would have fun for a day or two before the longer nights of Winter made them too sleepy.

“Ah! Phos!” Called both Amethyst as the gem in question entered the room. “We need your help, you’re strong. Help us put the mattresses down everywhere in the room.” They said, in a single, monotone, synchronous voice. And so, Phos did just that, with a smile on his face and thoughts of his future fights in mind, he helped as best as he could without a horn.

Winter was the season of snow, of cloudy weather and of peace for the gems. The Lunarians only attacked one or two times during the three months of hibernation the gems had to take each year.

This year, everyone finished their preparations in time and, the day of the beginning of the hibernation, went into the room. Most of them were already inside, playing various games that Pearl organised. Only Cinnabar, Phos, Jade and Bort were missing. Cinnabar, as always, was spending the winter on his own somewhere. Jade and Bort finalised the defense plan with the Princess in her office. Phos was waiting outside of said office, forcing himself to stay awake despite his growing fatigue. He couldn’t wait to finally go to sleep.

“Very well then Jade, I’ll make sure to transmit all of this information to Antarcticite when he wakes up,” acknowledged the alicorn with her calm voice as they all exited the room.

The green earth pony and the black pegasus nodded to the Princess, both visibly tired. “We’ll be going now, have a good Winter, Princess,” Bort exclaimed politely.

“Phos? You’re still up?” said a surprised Jade to the cyan earth pony. “Come on now, let’s go to sleep.”

Bort ignored the useless gem and went to the third floor for some well deserved rest. Jade still looked at him, awaiting an explanation. “He’s with me Jade,” answered the Princess in Phos’ stead. “I’ll have him try to work with Antarcticite,” she explained.

Jade looked shocked at the revelation. “B-b-b-but my plans… I never accounted for him to work during winter. How will he stay up anyway?”

Phos realised what the job he was about to get would be. Goodbye sleep, I’ll miss you. He thought to himself.

“Don’t worry, Jade, I’ve already taken care of everything, you can go sleep now,” reassured the alicorn.

“If you say so… Have a good Winter then, see you in three months,” Jade finished as he made his way to the sleeping chamber.

“Have a good night, Jade, I’ll pass by later to put the soundproof spell on the room.” The alicorn turned to Phos. “Now, Phosphophyllite, are you ready for some work?” Asked the Princess, grinning again.

“Yeah…?” hesitantly responded Phos.

“First, let me take care of your fatigue, I’m sure you’ll appreciate being a bit more awake.” As she declared that, her horn began glowing with a bright golden warm light. A small stream of golden magic floated from the Princess’ horn down to Phos before engulfing him in it. It filled him with a warm sensation, as if he was taking a sunbath, and this new energy immediately washed his fatigue away. “There, better?”

“What was that Princess?” asked a surprised Phos. “I… I’m not tired anymore, at all actually. Had I even ever felt this awake? This is awesome!” He noted with a cheery voice.

The alicorn giggled. “I’m glad it worked then. This is pure sunlight straight from my sun, it’s a very taxing spell so I can only use it one or two time per month, but it shall be enough for you to help all winter.”

So that’s how Antarc can stay awake. Thought Phos to himself. Wait, didn’t I see this spell already? Back in the ocean, maybe?

“Let’s wake Antarcticite up, you both have work to do.”

The now more-than-awake Phos and the purple alicorn went to the second floor, where most of the individual bedrooms were located. In a usually sealed room, however, laid a stone bathtub full of liquid. For the last few days, as the temperature dropped, the liquid had slowly been crystalizing into the form of a gem pony with both wings and horn. As the two entered the room, the body of Antarcticite was still asleep in it.

As Twilight levitated the still body out of the watery substance with a purple magic field. Phos asked about him: “Hey Princess, I never saw Antarc before, why is he an alicorn like you?”

“He’s not a true alicorn if that’s what you’re asking, Phos,” responded the Princess. “His body melts outside of winter despite whatever cooling spell we try to put on him. His very nature makes him change attributes each time he solidifies again,” she explained calmly while applying some white powder on Antarcticite’s body.

“Good, that’ll do it,” she announced after applying enough powder to cover all of his body. “I’m really not good at this, I should have listened to Rarity more for things like that.”

“Who?” Questioned Phos.

“Rutile, he’s the one who knows how to put the white powder correctly. I used to do it before he was born, but never really got the hang of it. I’m not a fan of makeup really.”

Antarc’s body now ready, the Princess’ horn glowed with the golden light again. This time Phos could see how hard it seemed to be, judging by her face. It engulfed the white alicorn with power as he slowly woke up.

“Princess? Is it winter already? What shape do I have this time?” Asked Antarcticite with a deep voice, one not unlike Bort’s but with less sass. Much less sass.

“Hello Antarcticite. Yes it is already Winter,” welcomed the Princess warmly. “The rest are already asleep. You will share your work this year with one though.”

“What do you mean?” He asked, looking around for a bit before spotting Phos beside the Princess. The small cyan pony didn’t really stand out next to the ruler of the celestial bodies.

“Oh. You,” he sighed, voice full of annoyance and exasperation already. “Do I have to?” he complained to the Princess.

“Now come on, Antarcticite. Didn’t you want somegem to help you out for winter?”

“Affirmative,” he exclaimed. “But I was thinking of someone more… useful like Diamond, Morganite or even Ghost Quartz, if he ever wanted to fight again. I must say, I don’t think Phos is strong enough to help me.”

Phos took offence at that last statement. “What? Look who’s talking, you’re as frail as me with a hardness of three remember?” he said, remembering a report.

“Phos is right, Antarcticite, you’ve proven that winter work doesn’t require much strength but it can be useful to have at least a little. Besides, Phos changed a lot last year as you’ll find out. I’m sure he’s ready to work with you.”

Antarcticite groaned, but quickly composed himself. “Fine, but you’ll have to work twice as hard as you’ve ever worked, Three-Point-Five,” he warned before mumbling to himself: “Wait, two times zero is still zero. Okay, let me rephrase that. If you manage to work even half as well as me after a month then I agree to let you work winter with me. If not, well, I guess you could still clean the Great Oak all winter.”

Not sure if he ought to be afraid or not, Phos nodded carefully. The Princess let out a chuckle again. “I’m glad you already are friends then. Antarcticite, Phosphophyllite, come to my office, we’ll go over Jade’s plan for this winter and then you can get to work.”

Both gems nodded again and they all walked together to the Princess’ office.

“By the way, congratulations on your alicornhood Antarcticite,” joked the purple alicorn as they walked, making the white one panic as he noticed the wings on his back.

Name: Antarcticite.

Mane color: Transparent / White.

Age: Never asked.

Hardness: 3

Cutie mark: A strange crystal tree with 5 branches of different colors.

Personality: Uptight, he likes to work and to please the Princess with his work. He can sometimes get wings or a horn or both when he wakes up at the beginning of each winter. He doesn't seem to be able to do magic though for some reasons.

Author's Note

I'm sorry for last week. The blame is on Persona 5 Royal.

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Alternative title: Winter.