Beneath the Northern Skies

A biting northern wind howled through the station, forcing the three ponies to huddle behind its walls for shelter. Rarity huffed as her luggage fell into the cold snow. “Twilight, could you please ask Cadance to do something about the station once we get back to Ponyville? No wonder fashion ponies don’t visit the Crystal Empire more often if that’s what they have to expect! If I—”

She was interrupted by a soft snowball striking her side. “It’s just a bit of snow,” said Rainbow Dash, holding back a snort at the sight of mild indignation on Rarity’s face. “Relax, Rarity. The train should be here soon.”

“The northern weather is always the worst around this time of the year. Nopony really knows why it does… well, that—“ She gestured at the piles of snow growing slowly around them “—but, according to the latest research, there might be a magical component to these snowstorms that makes them so persistent and difficult to predict.”

“Magical snowstorms?” Rainbow Dash opened her eyes a little wider. She shook her head. “That is totally not cool.”

“Possibly magical snowstorms,” corrected her Twilight.

Having finished shaking off the snow from her newest winter jacket, Rarity stepped forward. “Regardless of what it is, I just wish it waited until we were gone. I promised Sweetie Belle I’d be back as soon as I can, and now our train is delayed!”

“Rainbow Dash was right. I’m sure it’ll be here any moment now.” Twilight looked around, but nopony else seemed to await the train with them. “How did your weekend go, girls?”

“It was awesome! To be precise, I was awesome!” Rainbow grinned, showing off a golden medal attached to her saddlebags. “I won the jousting tournament again! Some of those crystal ponies were pretty good, just not nearly as good as me.”

Rarity smiled and rolled her eyes in mock frustration. “And not half as modest as you, either? I wish I could say I had as much success as you did, but apparently it is not yet the time for the crystal ponies to embrace fashion. I was sure my Hearth’s Warming collection would be what makes them change their minds!”

“You’ll get them next time, Rarity. I don’t know much about fashion, but if there’s anypony who can do it, it’s you. How about you, Twilight? Did you have fun with Cadance and your brother?”

“Absolutely!” Twilight sat down on the snow and excitedly clapped her front hooves. “We had a lot of catching up to do, but we found the time to celebrate Hearth’s Warming, too!”

Rarity’s eyebrows rose in confusion. “Excuse me, dear, but isn’t that tomorrow?”

“My parents and Spike are staying for a week longer, but we’ve agreed to celebrate ahead of time. I wish I didn’t have to go back so soon; it’s just that Princess Luna asked me to assist her with some time-sensitive dream magic that’s really important to her. It’s the first time she’s relying on somepony other than Princess Celestia.”

Rainbow Dash blinked a couple of times. “Luna asked you personally? That’s amazing!”

“She is, isn’t she?! I—I mean, yes, yes it is.” Twilight looked away, blushing profusely. “We’ve kept in touch since Nightmare Night, and it just sort of came up in our letters.” She pawed at the ground.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash exchanged a meaningful look.

They were interrupted by the sound of the stationmaster’s whistle. The stallion who emerged from the station was a young crystal pony with a teal coat and bags under his eyes. “Attention all passengers! Due to the exceptionally poor weather conditions, the Canterlot train cannot safely reach the Crystal Empire station at this time. It will wait for the snowstorm to subside for up to one day, after which it must turn back to Equestria to resupply. If it comes to that, a replacement train will be dispatched as soon as possible. On behalf of the Equestrian Railways, I apologize for the delay.”

“You can’t be serious!” cried Rainbow Dash. “That train looks like a tank!”

“It was built to withstand the cold and wind, but the snowstorm blocked off the tracks,” he explained in a dejected tone. “We can’t do anything about that. I’m sorry, miss.”

“Twilight, do you think we can stay at— Rarity, what the hay are you doing?”

Rarity set her luggage aside after taking out several articles of winter clothing. “What does it look like, darling? I’m preparing,” she said, putting enough emphasis on the last word to let it cut through solid ice. After closing the last suitcase, she moved the substantial pile of packaged outfits next to Twilight. “Could you take care of my winter collection for me, Twilight?”

“Do you plan to brave a snowstorm that’s too strong for a magical crystal train?” Twilight shook her head and stood up to look Rarity in the eyes. “Rarity, I know that you hate regular cold! And what if you get lost?”

Rainbow Dash crossed Rarity’s path. “Yeah, snowstorms are no joke! They’re really dangerous.”

Under the questioning gaze of her friends, Rainbow forced a small chuckle and added, “No big deal for me, obviously, but I’d be worried about any unicorn trying to make her way through one.”

Rarity shook her head slowly. “Thank you for your concern, girls. I appreciate it. But I cannot wait, either; I promised Sweetie Belle I’d be home for the holiday.” Her expression was firm, and her gaze was focused on the horizon. “The train can’t be too far off. I only need to find it.”

“Find it in the middle of a blizzard? You can’t go!”

“It will be impossible to miss it if I just follow the tracks.” Rarity furrowed her brows. “And I’ll have you know that we have braved a worse storm in the past. I’ll be fine.”

“But you could still—”

“Nah, she’s right.” Rainbow Dash stepped to the side with well-feigned nonchalance, masking the small stutter in her words with a flip of her mane. “I’ll… I’ll go with her, Twilight.”

Rarity practically jumped up in surprise, “You will?”

“Well, duh.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and struck a pose. “It seems important to you, and with me around, there’s no way we’ll fail.”

Twilight retreated a few steps before looking into the snowstorm raging not far from them. Her voice was weaker than before, and she half-whispered, “I could join you, although…”

“I won’t ask you if you don’t want to go, darling,” said Rarity, stepping closer and putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “We’ll be fine. We will only need to go in a straight line. And besides—” She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper “—I’d be thankful to have somepony I can trust making sure that all my dresses arrive home safely.”

Twilight raised her head and smiled. “Just promise me you’ll also stay safe, you two.”

“We will, Twilight. See you back in Ponyville!” answered Rainbow Dash. Turning to Rarity, she said, “Lead the way, Rarity. It was your idea in the first place.”

“We’ll be leaving shortly, Rainbow, but we should buy some food first, just in case it takes us a few hours. Walking on an empty stomach would be most unpleasant.”