There are three things that are required for a successful hunt. Three things that seemed simple in practice, but were difficult in execution. Three things that the Unicorn had learned over many dark and cold winters. Three things that had caught her a variety of prey over the years. Silently, she repeated her mantra to herself.
Be still. Be silent. Wait for the right moment.
The Unicorn exhaled slowly. She decided that it was time to once again check on her prey. Slowly she raised her head to peer over the mound of snow. She was nearly blinded for a moment as she took in the field of white in front of her. She squinted.
There. She had spotted her prey. A simple Earth pony, completely oblivious as to what was about to unfold. He would not make a difficult target, even a year prior when she would not have had the aid of magic. The Unicorn frowned. He was another innocent pony, just like all of her past victims. She knew in her heart that she could have easily been in the stallion's place, had fate turned out differently. That was one of the downsides of hunting. It left her time to think. Time to feel guilty.
Not that it ever mattered. No matter how much she agonized over it both before and after, the results were always the same. She just couldn’t stop herself. The thrill was too great.
And so, with another deep breath, she took aim at the red Earth pony and fired.
Sprout was humming a simple tune to himself as he worked. He couldn't help it, it was his favorite tradition. Every year, without fail, he would wait for the first deep snowfall. Then he would bundle up in his warmest winter clothes and head outside his mommy’s home to work on his creations. It was something that never failed to bring him joy, no matter how old he grew.
But this time was different. He could feel it in his bones. Sprout took a step back to admire his masterpiece. To an outsider, it was simply a slightly lopsided snowpony. But to Sprout, it was something to inspire awe and beauty in all who so much as glanced at it.
He wiped a tear from his eye. “I shall call you, Sprouticus minimus,” he whispered. He took a moment to bask in the sensation growing in his chest. It was the feeling that one came about when one had made a truly great accomplishment. Like finishing deputy training, or using xenophobic rhetoric to seize control of a small town. Sprout couldn’t wait any longer, he had to show somepony.
“Hey Mommy! Look what I- GAHHH!”
Sprout leapt into the air, startled by the snowball that collided with his flank. He stumbled for a moment after landing, sputtering and bucking the air in confusion. His ears stood straight up once they detected a high pitched giggle. He spun around to see a purple Unicorn partly hidden behind a mound of snow laughing to herself.
Izzy’s laughter quickly faded, however, once she realized her prey had spotted her.
“You!,” Sprout hissed. Then, without a word but with surprising speed, Izzy began running in the opposite direction.
“Get back here!” As Sprout began to make chase he felt his rear hoof collide with something. Terror raced though his heart as he slowly turned around. “N-no,” he whispered. “Sp-sprouticus minimus?”
For a moment he could only stare in disbelief at the remains of his greatest creation. The shock, however, quickly gave way to anger.
“Unicorn! You will pay for this!,” he said as he shook his hoof in the direction she had run off in. “YOU WILL PAY!”
Pipp was resting on top of a small cloud, idly scrolling through her phone. Below her was her sister and their friend Sunny. The two were sitting on a blanket on top of the snow, their noses buried in Zipp’s notebook.
“Maybe we could try this?” Sunny said, gesturing towards an equation.
“Hmm,” Zipp said, scratching her chin with her hoof. Sunny watched her as she worked the equation over in her mind. Eventually Zipp let out a groan of annoyance. “No, no that’s not gonna work,” she added.
Sunny sighed. She was excited this morning when Zipp asked for help with her research in weather manipulation, but she was getting a little annoyed with all of the dead ends they were hitting. Sure, capturing a cloud had been easy, but getting it to precipitate on demand was proving to be a challenge.
“Hey Pipp,” Zipp said, ending Sunny’s musings. “Did you find anything yet?”
“Uh… no?” Pipp said.
Zipp’s sisterly intuition immediately detected something was amiss. “You were doing research on your phone, right?”
“Well…”
“Pipp!”
“I was just checking on my Pippsqueaks! You know how they get when they don’t hear from me.”
Zipp sighed. “Whatever. At this rate it doesn’t look like we’ll find anything.”
“Hey, come on,” Sunny said. “Do you think that in the Guardians' time they figured out how to change the seasons in a day?”
“No,” Zipp murmured.
“Exactly. I'm sure if we keep trying, we'll find something eventually.”
Zipp slowly began to smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re… Ow!”
Zipp spun around, giving an angry glare at the cloud. “Real mature, Pipp!”
“I didn’t do anything!” she replied. Suddenly Pipp felt something hard and icy collide with her rear. “Hey!” she cried.
Sunny spotted movement from the corner of her eye. She quickly dashed to her right, narrowly dodging the snowball thrown at her. She then whirled around, staring in the direction it came from.
Izzy quickly took cover behind a tree, silently cursing herself for missing. Maybe she hadn’t been spotted?
“Izzy! Is that you?” Sunny called out.
“Uh… no?” she replied, trying to come up with a good lie. “I’m… one of those old change-y things from ancient Equestria!”
“You mean a changeling?” Zipp asked.
“That’s right! I’m a changeling, here to eat your love! And I am totally not Izzy Moonbow, who is winning, by the way!”
Pipp flew down and landed next to her sister, the two briefly exchanging a puzzled look. “Okay. Some context please?” Zipp said.
Sunny suddenly looked a little embarrassed. “Well,” she began, running a hoof in her mane. “The other day I was asking Izzy about what traditions unicorns have for the winter months, and she mentioned snowball fights.”
“I kinda been the champion four years in a row back at Bridlewood,” Izzy said, poking her head out from behind the tree.
“Right. So, I told her that I used to be a killer at snowball fights back when I was younger, and well… we made a little… uh… wager.”
“A wager?” Zipp asked.
“Yeah, we bet who could hit ten ponies first,'' Izzy added as she stepped in front of the tree. “If I win I get free smoothies for a week. And if she wins I have to buy her free tea at Alphabittle’s for a week.” A smile grew on her face. “And I’m already up to nine.”
“What? How!” Sunny asked in disbelief. “I thought we agreed to start this afternoon.”
“Oh Sunny,” Izzy said, her smile growing more sinister with each word. “A game always starts the moment it’s announced. It’s something you learn the hard way with Alphabittle.”
A realization suddenly occurred to Pipp. “Wait. So we were considered targets for your game?” she said.
“Um…,” Izzy said, rubbing her knee and giving an awkward chuckle.
"Unbelievable!” Pipp sneered. “You're supposed to be my friend here! Do you know what could have happened when you hit me on that cloud? I could've dropped my phone!”
“Right. Because losing your phone would be such a tragedy,” Zipp dryly replied.
“Hey! Don’t joke about that! You know exactly what happened when I was offline for more than twenty-four hours! You saw the riots.”
“Riots?,” Sunny implored.
“You don’t wanna know,” Zipp answered.
“Sorry girls,” Izzy interrupted. “But all is fair in love and war. Aaaaand speaking of which…” Izzy’s horn lit up as she scooped up a pile of snow with her magic. “...I’ve gotta hit one more pony in order to win.”
Sunny’s eyes slowly widened. Before anypony could react she took off running.
“Get back here, you!,” Izzy shouted as she galloped after her. Zipp turned to look at her sister.
“Pipp, our friends are very weird.”
“Tell me about it.”
Izzy’s lungs were burning from exertion, yet she persisted. As she ran after Sunny she telekinetically whisked snow off the trees she passed and pressed them into a ball. She prepared to take aim at Sunny’s tail. However, concentrating on both her magic and running proved to be too much, and she missed her by a large margin.
Sweat began to form on Izzy’s forehead. She realized she had been slowling down and tried to pick up speed again. “Give… up?,” she said in between breaths.
“Never!,” came the reply with no signs of fatigue. Drat. She was too fast, and Izzy knew she couldn’t up her pace up much longer. If she wanted to win she had to try something more drastic…
“Oof!” Izzy said as she stumbled before falling onto the snow. Sunny, who had been glancing back occasionally, quickly noticed something was amiss.
“Izzy?” she asked as she turned around. She spotted her friend lying prone on the ground, unmoving. “Izzy!” Sunny galloped over and crouched down beside her fallen friend. She gently shook her shoulder.
“Izzy! Are you alright? Say something!”
Slowly Izzy raised her head, revealing a cheeky grin. Before Sunny had time to process this, her horn lit up, and a snowball struck the back of Sunny’s head.
“Ha ha! I win!” Izzy said. She then sprang to her hooves to do a victory trot in place. “Oh yeah! I won! It’s my birthday, it’s my birthday!”
Izzy stopped, however, once she noticed that Sunny was staring at her with an unreadable look on her face. “Sunny?” she said cautiously. “You know I was just messing with you right? Right? Sunny?”
Sunny shook her head, as if trying to dislodge the thoughts buzzing inside her head. She glared at Izzy with pupils shrunken to pinpricks. Her ears were back and her lips were tight. She exhaled loudly through her nostrils and began to pawn at the ground below her as her body tensed.
“Oh mayonnaise.”
“You want me to do what now?” Hitch groaned.
“I want you to press charges against that Unicorn!” Sprout shouted indignantly, stomping his hoof to emphasize his point. Phyllis was standing beside him, with a grin that was too cheerful to be genuine adorning her muzzle. She gently placed a hoof on his back in an attempt to calm him down.
“Now sugar cube,” Phyllis said, “I know you're upset, but remember what happened the last time you tried taking the law into your own hooves?”
“But Mommy! I’m not trying to take over the town again. I’m just trying to get somepony sent to prison!”
“So you’re not trying to circumvent the law, just exploit it,” Hitch deadpanned.
“See!? Hitch understands!”
Hitch brought a hoof up to massage his temple. “Look Sprout, how about the next time I see Izzy, I’ll tell her to come over here and apologize. Does that sound good?”
“What!? No! Absolutely not! What happened here was a crime, and somepony’s gotta pay!”
“Now sugar cube,” Phyllis added. “I don’t think hitting somepony with a snowball counts as a crime…”
“Of course it does! This is a clear case of assault and battery! Go on Hitch, tell her!”
Hitch sighed. Although part of him was glad that Sprout had remembered something from deputy training, he was really not looking forward to where this conversation was going.
“Assault is defined as an attempt to do some bodily injury to another, while battery refers to actual harmful contact,” Hitch said.
“You see! Then what are we doing here!? We should be out arresting her!”
The grin on Phyllis’ face finally started to falter. “Sprout, I think this has gone on long enough. You’re not even hurt, for crying out loud!”
“Maybe not physically, but emotionally I’m devastated! And totally counts, right Hitch?”
“Unfortunately yes,” Hitch grumbled.
“You see! And to think that she had the gall to do this when she must've known I was still mourning the loss of Sproticus maximus!”
It took Hitch a moment to process what Sprout had just said. “Wait, are you still upset that we dismantled your robot?”
“HE HAD A NAME!” Sprout shouted, pointing a trembling hoof at Hitch. On instinct Hitch took a few steps backwards. “He had a name,” Sprout repeated, his voice barely a whisper as he lowered his hoof.
“Okay, okay,” Hitch said. He cautiously placed a hoof on Sprout’s withers. “Look, I understand that you’re under a lot of… stress right now. Why don’t we all take a few deep breaths before we do anything too rash, alright?”
Sprout sighed, lazily stamping his hoof on the ground. “Fine,” he grumbled at last.
“Good,” Hitch said with his most encouraging smile. “Now, how about I go find Izzy? I’m sure the two of you will be able to talk things out.”
“Hitch!,” Izzy cried as she ran into view. She skidded to a stop in front of the three surprise ponies, gasping as she tried to catch her breath.
Sprout narrowed his eyes at the panting mare. “You!,” he hissed.
“Me,” Izzy replied between breaths. “Sunny… angry… coming… this way.”
“IZZY!” Sunny shouted. She had stopped running, and was now glaring daggers at her friend.
“Should we be concerned?” Phyllis asked Hitch.
“Eh, I think she just needs a minute or two to calm down.”
Sunny then shut her eyes tightly, her face contorting into a grimace. Suddenly a translucent, golden horn appeared on her forehead, which was quickly followed by a matching set of wings. Sunny then began to hover a few feet above the ground as she was enveloped in a sphere of shimmering magic light. Her eyes then snapped open and immediately narrowed in on Izzy, who swallowed nervously.
“On second thought,” Izzy said, turning towards Hitch and the Cloverleaf family. “Maaaybe you guys should head inside.”
Izzy then watched as Hitch ushered them into the safety of the house. Once they were inside she turned to look as Sunny again. The Alicorn made a sweeping motion with her hooves before drawing them close together near her side.
Suddenly a sphere of glowing magical energy appeared between her hooves. Thinking quickly, Izzy gathered up as much snow as she could with her magic and then formed it into a sphere, which she then held in front of herself like a shield.
“Ka-me-ha-me-HA!” Sunny shouted as she thrust her hooves forward, releasing a powerful beam of magic. It collided with Izzy’s shield, and the world dissolved into an explosion of white.
Hitch set his mug down with a satisfied sigh. “That is some fine hot cocoa right there, Phyllis,” he said.
“Why, thank you,” she beamed. “It’s a recipe me and my little sugar cube stumbled upon a while back.”
“Mommy. Please don’t call me that in front of my friends,” Sprout whined.
“Don’t worry, I won’t embarrass you,sugar cube.” Phyllis replied with a chuckle. Sprout grumbled, burying his head in his hooves as they rested on the kitchen table. Phyllis then gently put another two mugs of cocoa on a tray. With a smile she brought them to her other guests.
The two mares were on the couch, having not moved since they were brought inside and were still shivering despite being covered by many layers of blankets. Phyllis set the tray down on the coffee table in front of them.
“Th-thank you, M-Miss C-Cloverleaf,” Sunny said as she grabbed a mug which she soon was cradling in her hooves.
Phyllis then noticed that Izzy appeared to be shivering even harder than before. “You okay there, huh?,” she said, pressing her fetlock against Izzy’s forehead.
“I-I’m f-fine,” Izzy muttered. “J-just really c-cold.”
“You know, you two are lucky that we were there to pull you out of the snow,” Hitch said after wiping his muzzle on his cannon.
“We k-know,” Sunny muttered, keeping her head down in shame.
“And the two of you should thank the stars Maretime Bay has no laws about reckless magic use,” Hitch said. He then took a sip from his cocoa for dramatic effect. “Yet.”
Hitch’s speech was suddenly cut off by a knock at the door. “I got it,” Sprout said as he went to open it.
“Is everypony okay?” Zipp asked as she and Pipp forced their way inside. “We saw the explosion and were worried that… um…” she trailed off as she noticed the ponies around her. “Um… what exactly happened here?”
“My o-own hu-hubris got the b-best of me, and we both p-paid the price,” Izzy wailed.
“Hoo… bris?” Pipp asked.
“It means you’re not allowed to build a snow pony without a Unicorn ganging up on you,” Sprout grumbled.
“Actually it means-”
“Oh my gosh!” Pipp beamed, cutting her sister off. “There’s a snowpony? Oh, I gotta get a pic of it!”
“There was,” Sprout said bitterly, before softening his tone: “Well, I guess I could make another…”
“What are we waiting for?” Pipp suddenly grabbed Sprout and began to force him out the door. “My Pippsqueaks are going to looove this. It’ll be trending by tomorrow…”
The remainder of her plans were cut off by the door closing behind the pair. Zipp turned to Hitch, who was sitting in the kitchen with a sympathetic smile.
“Want some hot cocoa?”
Author's Note
Howdy howdy,
Shout out to EverfreePony, for pointing out random errors and providing corrections. Thanks again, Ever
