A thick layer of snow blanketed Maretime Bay. That didn’t stop every pony from doing what they needed to be doing around the town. Being a coastal area, they were used to the biting cold wind coming from the sea and blowing over them. What was worse was when there would be a cold snap and the waves would come crashing onto the town. Then at night, the streets would become a treacherous, slippery hazard. Usually, the town’s sheriff, Hitch Trailblazer, and his deputy, Sprout Cloverleaf, would take turns to do gritting duty to prevent such hazards from occurring. However, there was nothing they could do with the snow.
Right now, the sheriff was off duty with his friends, making the most of the winter weather. Izzy, with her creative uni-cycling talents, along with a splash of dumpster-diving, went all out in knitting them all winter gear. Sunny was gifted with a turquoise scarf and woolly hat, a dark coat for Zipp, a winter cloak for Pipp, a purple scarf and hat for herself and a greyish-blue scarf for Hitch. They were all currently outside, with Pipp and Hitch in front of the other three ponies. They were currently at the top of the hill where Sunny’s new lighthouse, or Brighthouse, making their way into town so they could get something warm to fuel their cold bodies. The view of the snow-covered town was beautiful, to say the least, and the five friends spent most of their time admiring the view from the top of the hill.
“We never get much snow in Bridlewood,” Izzy contemplated as she looked around at the winter wonderland, “We live at the bottom of the mountains that lead to Zephyr Heights, so the mountains would always block the direction of the snow.”
“Living so high up, we always get snow in the winter at Zephyr Heights,” Zipp explained as she admired the snowy landscape surrounding the ponies, “It’s amazing to see snow someplace else.”
“Maretime Bay is always lucky or unlucky to have snow,” Sunny answered simply, “And today Maretime Bay has found one of its lucky days to have it.” The three of them watched as Pipp and Hitch exchanged conversations from a distance.
“What are they talking about?” Sunny asked.
“Right,” Zipp remembered, “Pipp has asked our mum about the prospect of doing live tours. One such location would be Maretime Bay as part of her new so-called Friendship Tours.”
“That sounds like fun!” Izzy piped up in excitement. She, as usual, was licking the snow with a hoof, receiving concerned looks from her two friends.
“Pipp is probably talking to Hitch about doing the show at the old Canterlogic site since it’s the only venue big enough to host such an event,” Zipp continued, “They’re probably finalising the plans.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Sunny praised, “Pipp is having a strong growing fanbase in Maretime Bay.”
“They are also talking about connecting Maretime Bay with Zephyr Heights so that a live-streaming event could happen there as well,” Zipp finished and the three of them watched the two ponies talk about their plans for the upcoming Friendship Tours.
“I bet Bridlewood would love an event like that as well,” Izzy nodded in excitement, “We usually have ponies doing jinxie poems. Pipp’s music would certainly get every pony shaking their unicorn flanks!” She went on, talking about unicorn customs and superstitions. She was only stopped when Sunny put a hoof to her mouth.
“That sounds like a great idea too!” Sunny and Zipp both agreed together to stop Izzy from going overboard. By now, Pipp and Hitch were a good distance away from the trio, and Zipp just had an idea of getting her sister’s attention.
“Hey,” She whispered, causing Sunny and Izzy to look at her. She said nothing else, but scooped up a lump of snow and formed a snowball in her hooves.
“Zipp?” Sunny asked with concern on her face, “What are you doing?”
“Relax,” Zipp started to snicker, “I’ve done this plenty of times to get her attention when we were back in Zephyr Heights. She would be so glued to her phone that this was the only way to get her attention. Her face was priceless when it hit her and she still falls for it every time.”
“You sure?” Izzy glanced at the two ponies unaware of the prank that was about to literally hit them, “They are very close together. What if you miss?”
“Trust me,” Zipp smirked, “I never miss.” She then flew off the ground and launched the snowball at her target. The other two watched the snowball fly through the air as Zipp landed back down, ready to make a new one.
It was then the sound of snow hitting a pony could be heard as well as a scream and then said pony hitting the ground.
However, there was something wrong with how that pony sounded.
It wasn’t the sound of a mare squealing in horror about her mane being messed up, but rather it was the sound of a stallion hitting the ground hard.
Zipp gulped as she was midway through forming her next snowball and her eyes looked at Sunny and Izzy. They both had a slight wince on their faces. So, carefully, Zipp turned towards the direction of her throw.
Pipp was still standing, a look of shock on her face as she looked down at the stallion who took the hit. Hitch had his front belly on the ground, hindlegs up at awkward angles. The snowball had taken a direct hit to Hitch on the side of his face.
“Hehe… Oops…” Was all Zipp could muster from her mouth.
“The sheriff is down! I repeat! The sheriff is down!” Izzy sounded an imaginary alarm.
“Oh, I’m so going to get arrested for that,” Zipp said with worry, though Sunny did catch a hint of sarcasm in her tone.
“I’m sure Hitch will understand,” Sunny reassured her.
At the sound of the girls behind him, Hitch scrambled back to his hooves with the aid of Pipp and turned towards the three. Then his eyes fell on Zipp and the unfinished snowball in his hooves. Zipp realised that she was still holding onto it and promptly let it fall. Hitch then smirked at the white pegasus.
“You dare assault the Sheriff of Maretime Bay!” He pointed at Zipp with a cocky smile that Sunny recognised. It was a smile that meant payback was about to be served in the name of justice. Hitch bent down and made a snowball for himself.
“Face this, criminal!” He cried as he launched the snowball back. However, it turns out his aim wasn’t sheriff material in the slightest.
The snowball veered off its course and Sunny had little time to react. It hit her right in the face and exploded on impact. Sunny stood there, blinking snow from her eyes. Her face changed to one that Hitch recognised as ‘not being in the mood for this.’
“Sunny!” Hitch tried to save himself, “I’m sorry! Really! I was aiming for Zipp and-“
Sunny had already formed a snowball and it was now flying towards the two of them, but it seems her aim was also off.
Pipp squealed as she too was hit square in the face with a snowball.
“That’s where I was aiming for!” Zipp declared in giggles. Pipp glared at her sister as she bent down to make a snowball for herself and threw her ball of snow at her sister. However, she wasn’t as strong as her sister and the snowball fell short of its target. Instead of a tennis ball, a snowball now sat on top of Izzy’s horn.
“Now that’s creative,” Izzy giggled, “I can feel how cold it is on my horn!”
It was then Izzy had a smile plastered on her face. It was that smile Sunny and her friends knew well. The ‘I have a glow-up idea.’
“This gives me a great chance to practice my new magical skills!” Izzy smiled. Then her horn lighted up and the snow surrounding her glowed with a purple aura. Zipp and Sunny backed away in trepidation as they watched the lumps of snow being separated and formed into individual snowballs.
“Izzy?” Sunny asked slowly as her eyes slowly looked like they were going to bulge out of their sockets, “What are you doing?”
“Ever heard of dodgeball?” Izzy smirked.
Every pony’s eyes widened in horror.
Izzy simply said one word.
“Run.”
The snowballs flew towards them like a barrage of arrows.
The group ran in all directions, Pipp and Zipp taking to the sky as Sunny and Hitch were left running around on the ground. Pipp was not as agile as her sister. With one snowball on the head, she landed on the ground with a thud. Zipp used her agility to dodge them, but she couldn’t dodge all of them at once. Her wings were so heavy with snow between her feathers that she ultimately took cover in a nearby tree. The two earth ponies didn’t fare any better. Sunny and Hitch were both covered in snow and ran around Izzy.
Eventually, the barrage of snow stopped and Izzy was jumping up and down on the spot in a fit of giggles. Her friends, covered in white snow, looked at each other before a wicked idea formed amongst the group. As Izzy continued laughing her flank off, her friends formed many snowballs of their own. It was when Izzy stopped laughing that she noticed her friends’ plans.
Her friends started throwing their snowballs before she could even react, Pipp and Zipp taking to the air for an aerial assault. Eventually, Izzy was soon covered in white snow, her knitted gear all wet and soggy.
“And now we’re all even,” Zipp smirked in triumph. The four of them gathered around the new pile of snow where their unicorn friend was buried under.
“I feel like a snow pony,” Izzy commented, “Any pony got a carrot?”
The four of them laughed at Izzy’s comment and soon Izzy joined in the laughter of her friends, shaking herself free from under the pile.
“But seriously, I’m hungry now…”
“Now then,” Hitch said, “Why don’t we all head into town and get something warm to eat and drink? I know this great place that serves freshly baked doughnuts and warm coffee and hot cocoa on the go.”
“There’s also that place where Sprout gets his pizza,” Sunny also suggested, “He’s still on community service and I would catch him drooling in front of the mirror.”
"And I thought I told him he shouldn't be stalling on the job," Hitch grumbled, "It was bad enough when he made that giant huckleberry plant."
The four of them nodded and together, they made their way into town to warm up.
Author's Note
Hello guys.
I know, Hearth's Warming comes after Nightmare Night, but I just wanted to get this one done and dusted. My job is taking off a lot of time for me to write and this is the best I've got right now.
Anyway, I hope you like this one. It was a fun idea when this artwork popped up on DeviantArt by this amazing artist.
Happy Reading,
Quotey
