Fall of the Trossels

Frostburn was skipping home, very excited to tell her brother and sister about some very important. Frostburn had her long red and blue mane tied back in a ponytail (pun not intended) and a large pink bow around her red and light blue tail and her pale blue coat was spattered with several dozen freckles. When she came home, her brother was paging through a thick book. He looked up and saw his baby sister staring back him, her large yellow eyes sparkling and welling up with anticipation. Infernalo had a dark red mane, which streaked shades of bright yellow into, along with his white tail. His coat was dark grey, practically black. Her eager expression reflected back in his blue eyes, looking back at her in a look of discontent and annoyance.

"What," he asked, a bit annoyed. "I was reading." Frostburn looked over his shoulder curiously.

"Whatcha readin', big brother," she asked. Infernalo turned away from her.

"Eltigo Morose's Interrogation of a Soldier," he answered. Frostburn cocked her head to one side in confusion. "It's too complicated to explain to you, and would take much more time than I have. Do you want something, or should I just chalk this up as another chunk of what's left of my life that you've thrown out the window?" Frostburn tapped a hoof on her chin in thought, and beamed.

"Oh, now I remember," she said excitedly.

"Great," her brother said sarcastically. "Take it somewhere else." Frostburn nodded and skipped away. Infernalo sighed in relief and continued his book, when Frostburn burst back into the room. "Seriously? Can't I have just five minutes to read?"

"Do you know where Stonebolt is," she asked, inquiring about her twin sister. "I just learned this new trick, and I thought I'd be cool to show it to her." Infernalo glanced up.

"She said she was going out with a few friends," he said, desperate to get his baby sister out of his hair. "Now, leave me alone." Frostburn skipped out of the room, and Infernalo resumed his reading. Frostburn returned shortly after. "What," he demanded. "What is it this time?" Frostburn looked back at him, a bit guilty.

"I just wanted to apologize for interrupting you, Infernalo," she said, a bit depressed. He sighed, as Frostburn disappeared into a void under her feet which shortly receded.

A giant black void appeared and spat out Frostburn before disappearing. Frostburn looked out if the bushes and saw her twin sister Stonebolt, with her tan coat and bright yellow mane and tail, blotched with shades of brown. Just like Frostburn, Stonebolt had her face spattered with dozens of freckles. She walked along the road with her best friend Zephyroak, who had her mane styled in a variety of different shades of salmon and brown and light blue. Her teal coat glistened in the sunlight as many other boys whistled at them.

"Get a life," Stonebolt shot back. A small pale green filly with a light pink and lilac mane and tail trotted up to them, her orange eyes looking up at the older ponies.

"Leafwind, go home," Zephyroak ordered. Leafwind shook her head in disobedience.

"No," she said. "I wanna hang out with you guys, and if you don't, I'm telling Aunt Charlotte." Stonebolt looked over at Zephyroak with her bright green eyes.

"C'mon, Zeph," she said. "Let your cousin hang out with us. What's the worst thing that could happen?" Zephyroak sighed.

"Fine, she can come," Zephyroak said in defeat.

"At least Stonebolt is nice to me," Leafwind said. Frostburn leaned in to listen closer to the conversation, but fell through the bushes and tumbled in front of the three.

"Frostburn," Leafwind squealed excitedly. Frostburn got back to her feet and brushed herself off.

"You were bothering Infernalo again, and he sent you here," Stonebolt asked. Frostburn nodded while shaking the dirt from her hair. "What are you doing here? Last time Infernalo transported you to see me you said that you were flying weird."

"Turns out it was something I ate," Frostburn said. "Anyway, I learned this really cool trick with my powers. Watch!"

"Oh boy," Leafwind said, bouncing up and down excitedly. "This is going to be so cool." Zephyroak placed a hoof on the little filly's head to cease her bouncing, which succeeded. Frostburn took a few steps back, and flew into the air and spun around in a blizzard of ice. When she stopped, she was standing on top of a large glacier. Frostburn floated around it, shooting fire out of her front hooves on the way down and trying to melt the ice before landing back on the ground.

"That's it," Zephyroak asked in confusion. Frostburn stomped at the ground and the ice shattered away in a flurry of snow, leaving behind an ice sculpture of herself, Stonebolt, and Infernalo. A gentle wind began blowing away the snow as Leafwind looked up at the scene.

"Wait a minute," Frostburn said in disbelief. "There isn't a cloud in the sky. How is there any wind?" Leafwind looked up at the snow made from Frostburn's statue and watched it dance in the wind. The snow whirled around her, and eventually vanished. In its place, however, an image a leaf caught in a current of air appeared on her flank.

"Yay," Leafwind squealed excitedly. "I finally got my Cutie Mark! See? It looks so pretty."

"Congratulations," Frostburn said.

"That's so great," Stonebolt added. Zephyroak patted her cousin on the head in appreciation before glancing over at the sunset.

"It's getting late," she remarked. "See you tomorrow, Stone." She trotted off with Leafwind, beaming proudly about her new Cutie Mark as Frostburn and Stonebolt departed in the other direction.

They walked in, as Infernalo looked up from his book.

"You're late," he said. What confused Stonebolt was that it wasn't in his usual cold domineer as usual, but more grateful and a bit morbid. "I'm just glad that you're home safe. You know I worry about you."

"We know, they said."You just don't show it enough," Frostburn pointed out. Infernalo glanced over at the light on the wall and blinked, causing the light to vanish. He continued this with every light on the way to their bedrooms.