I looked up from the story I was reading to my critters, through the window. I was giddy with excitement as I saw snow gently fall down. Maretime Bay was a beach town; we didn't get snow here, at least not to my memory. As I laughed, I tried to think of another time when Maretime Bay did have snow. I could only think of one, and it wasn't exactly what most ponies would expect. But it was an amazing day, the day it kind-of snowed.
I showed up at the lighthouse, realizing that Argyle's place was pretty different during the holidays than it was normally. There were lights, decorated trees, and shiny tinsel. After Grandma Figgy had knocked on the door, I smiled as it opened and revealed two welcoming faces. I walked closer to Sunny and we did our secret hoofshake as Sunny's dad and Grandma Figgy talked to eachother. "Up high, down low, Hitch it to a post! Flip it Sunny-side up and on a piece of toast!" We laughed and Grandma motioned for us to come inside, where we wouldn't get cold. It may have been a bit cold, but at least it wasn't snowing out. I shook my head playfully and walked inside with her.
"It was chilly outside, wasn't it?" Grandma Figgy asked, getting a snicker from Sunny and I. The day before, we had made a bet on who could stay outside in the cold weather the longest. It turned out we could've both stayed out for super long, and it would've been even longer had her dad not told us to come inside. If there were snow, it would have been even better a challenge. Besides, snow is really fun. At least from what I hear. "Why not have some hot cocoa to warm you fillies up?" she asked.
Sunny gratefully accepted hers, and I handed her three jumbo marshmallows. As Grandma Figgy and I liked to say, it was, "Enough to stick out of the top, but not to overflow." She just shrugged and enjoyed the warth of the cocoa, as I did soon after. I may have been colder than I thought. After that, we were supposed to reminisce together, but Sunny and I were a bit too energetic to sit still and share great memories. Argyle and Figgy laughed and decided we should move on to crafting cookie cottages. I smiled as I knew this was one of my traditions, as well. Who knew that Sunny and her dad celebrated Winter Wishday the same way my grandma and I did?
We rushed to her kitchen and started mixing ingredients. All there was in the recipe was eggs, flour, sugar, salt, milk, vanilla extract, and the add-ons that Sunny likes to add in all her cookies. I had no idea what was the right thing to do, so I just followed Sunny's hoofsteps. Grandma Figgy liked to "bake with her heart, not her hooves." Whatever that meant, it always confused me. Your heart is an organ used to pump blood throughout your body. And your hooves were used to hold things. It just didn't make sense. Also, following a recipe was like following the rules. No one can break a law, you know. Sunny was on the same page as me. Both metaphorically and literally. She liked following the recipe, as she had everything spelled out for her that way.
I was more new to the whole baking thing than Sunny was, but after our cookies came out of the oven, she tried it and said it was really good. I smiled and we started making houses out of the cookies we had baked. I made a cabin, as usual, but she crafted her lighthouse. She made sure to add a snowpony and extra snowflake sprinkles. I couldn't blame her, though—it was her home. Also, who could bear to spend all their holidays without snow? Even so, it stood out and didn't seem like a normal Winter Wishday tradition Grandma Figgy and I did anually. But everyone else seemed to allow it, so I did too.
We laughed as she started taking bites of her cookie cottage. I wanted to stop her, but I knew that nopony will side with me, since they seemed to all encourage it. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 9:00 P.M. I tap Sunny's shoulder. "Isn't it time for your special tradition?" I asked her. "The one you and your dad do every year? That you won't tell me the details of?"
Sunny turned to face the clock, her eyes widening when she saw the time. She said something which I don't know of since her mouth was stuffed with cookies. But she hopped off the stool and ran upstairs. The rest of us figured that we'd better follow her. When we finally caught up to her, she was peeking out of the tallest window. She smiled at her dad; he returned the smile. In unison, they looked back towards and out the window, shifting their gaze to the stars. I walked up to them, wondering what they were going to do, when all of a sudden a light filled the sky where Sunny and her dad were looking. After a bit of shuffling around, I caught a view of what it was. A wishing star!
"Make a wish," Sunny whispered to me, "on the Wishing Star. It's our tradition, and yours now, too!" I smiled and turned to face her. She thought for a minute, and then locked her gaze with me. Instantly, we realized what we both wanted for Winter Wishday this year, all day long. Kind of without even realizing it ourselves. Through giggles, we whispered the wishing chant:
"Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may,
I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight."
And then we made our wish. I'm not sure whether we whispered it to each other or made the wish in our heads, or even sent the prayer to the star. But something happened. A kind of holiday magic I like to call Loved Ones. Snow filled the air right then, and Sunny and I gaped, then smiled in unison. Then, a snowflake landed on my muzzle and I realized it was bubbles. For a while, we played with the "snow" until Argyle ran out of bubble juice. We then took a picture to remember the night. I forget if the bubbles were in the photo or not. I sure hope so.
As I watch the snow fall again, I think back to the wish Sunny and I made years ago. Maybe wishes do come true. Maybe it was just a delayed reaction.
Whatever it was, I knew now that I should never have stopped believing, sort of like Sunny. One night, I learned to be more like my persistent friend. This one night, my wish came true.
