Tears of Snow

Chapters

II - Sweetest Thing
III - Peace of Mind
IV - I'm Looking Through You
V - In My Life
VI - Can't Fight this Feeling
VII - Blowin' in the Wind
VIII - Scar Tissue
IX - Until I Find You Again
(NonCanon) Winter Wonderland
X - Happy Birthday!
XI - Boys Cry Tough
Thank You
I - I've Just Seen A Face

II - Sweetest Thing

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77

Chapter II - Sweetest Thing
Edited by - WeLCxAlphaPuppy and Rglloyd

"Because even the smallest of words can be the ones to hurt you, or save you."

~;~

Consciousness came back to me in pieces, the methodical snoring of Dad being the first thing I heard. The mattress creaked as I got up and shambled to the bathroom, turning the water on in the bathtub. As I waited for the pipes to warm up, I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to think of a way to hide my bruises. The entire right side of my face was purple, especially around my eye. The trusty patch hid some of it but was stained red, drawing even more attention to it. I hesitantly took it off and tried to clean it. I looked at the eye and saw discoloration, the deep scar standing out still.

I cautiously opened it, seeing a dull emerald green and instead of a healthy white, blood red. I squinted my left eye, holding the right one open as I tried to see it better. I lightly poked it and didn’t feel anything. I sighed as I laid the patch on the sink to dry and gingerly stepped into the tub, the hot water burning as it seeped into the cuts and bruises. I almost cried out in pain. I shoved a hoof in my mouth and bit down hard as I quickly cleaned my coat, careful of the fresh cuts.

I dried off and looked at the towel, stained with dried whiskey and faint red marks. I threw it in the dirty hamper and snuck into my room, briskly getting ready for school. I could hear my dad wheeze in his room, passed out in drunken stupor. I slipped on my saddlebags, careful of my new markings and walked out, the sun barely poking out over the clouds.

I wandered around the empty city, once again my only companion being the quiet hiss of the wind. I headed towards the park me and Snowdrop passed by the other day. Ponies started to trickle out of their houses, and I ran to the cover of a few trees to look around hoping nopony saw me. There was a small empty fountain away from everypony, a few birds sprinkled on the edge. I hastily walked towards it.

The birds rapidly flew away as I got closer and sat down on the edge, staring at my reflection. The water weakened the bruises and cuts so it was only just noticeable and not standing out. I sighed, sitting down and feeling the tears slowly falling. They splashed into the water, which rippled around them.

[....]

I was six before Dad finally took me on a trip to the park. I was so excited I hopped up and down the entire way there. He was still hungover, and regretted letting me talk him into taking me.

“What’s the big about some stupid park anyway?” He muttered, a hoof blocking the sun from his eyes.

“Because the park’s so much fun! So many other ponies there that I could play with!” I said, happily bouncing.

“What did I say about strangers Icy.”

“But Dad-”

“No buts Icy, we’ll stay for awhile, then I have to get home for work.”

I pouted, kicking the ground. “Okay...”

Finally we got to the park and I squeed, seeing the jungle gym and slide. I saw a swing empty and I rushed towards it, jumping in. “Dad, can you push me?” I asked, pleading.

“You’re a colt, you can push yourself.” He said, grumpily plopping on a bench, taking out a newspaper.

I sighed and pushed against the ground, the swing creaking. I heard fillies and colts laughing all around me. I looked around and saw a filly and her mom, who was helping them climb over a small hill in the monkey bars. I sat there, watching them as the filly cried in victory as she hugged her mom.

I smiled and looked at Dad. “Dad... where’s mom?” Dad froze up behind his paper. He never gave me a straight answer or would avoid the question. Now though, I’ll finally get to the bottom of it.

He peered at me over the tip of the newspaper, staring at me. “You wanna know where that two timing mare is? She ran out when you were born, and never once turned back.”

I stared at him, my mind trying to understand what he meant. “W-what do you mean?”

He threw the newspaper down before stomping up to me. “She left because of you! She couldn’t stand the thought of raising a foal that was already useless!” He yelled, the parents and their foals looking at us. I blinked a few times, tears starting to come down before he forcibly grabbed my hoof. “Come on, we’re going home.”

I forced down the tears as he dragged me home, the ponies around us unsure what to do. When we got home, he threw me into my room, slammed the door, and got ready for work. He left a few minutes later as I heard the front door open and shut. I laid down on my bed, and rocked back and forth, crying into my pillow.

[....]

I held the picture I drew yesterday, staring at it. ‘Mom’ happily hugged me, a wrinkle hiding her face. I felt the tears fall and tried to stop them, failing. My hooves shook as I wished it all to go away, the emptiness gnawing at my chest. I quickly held a hoof to it, pain blossoming as the world spun briefly, and I struggled to breath.

A moment later the pain disappeared, and I shakingly took a breath. I wiped my face, careful of the swelling, and stuffed the picture into my saddlebags. I slowly made my way towards the school, taking the long way. As I limped, I heard somepony behind me and turned my head towards the noise. Surprisingly, it was Snowdrop, walking quietly to the school building.

“Hey Snowdrop, what are you doing here so early?” I yelled, shuffling as fast as I could, trying to catch up to the filly.

She whirled around, her ears pointed in my direction. “I-Icy? What are you doing here?” She stopped and waited for me.

“I... er, usually leave this early so I don’t wake my dad... what are you doing out so early?”

She hesitantly kicked the snow. “It’s better if I get there before the others do.”

“Why’s that?”

“Then I’m not in the other’s way.”

“But you’re not-”

“It’s okay Icy, I know I am.” She sighed. “I always have been. It’s just a fact of life that I’ve accepted.”

I nudged her with my snout. “You aren’t in my way and I walked up to you. I don’t know why you’d ever think you were.”

She sniffed. “Because all the kids say I am...”

I rested a hoof on her shoulder. “Snowdrop, you're not in anypony’s way, ever.”

“But I bump into everypony and I-”

“So do I, and I can still see.”

She faintly smiled. “But the others-”

I gave her a hug. “Are just big bullies that need somepony to pick on...”

She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. “That’s what my Dad said too...”

“Then I can’t be wrong if a grown up said it, right?”

“I-I guess...” She said.

“See? I know a way to make this better, let’s go get some ice cream.” I said, grabbing her hoof and leading her into town.

“But I didn’t bring any bits...” She said, keeping up.

“Don’t worry, I got enough for both of us.” I said. “My grandma gave them to me.” I said, walking next to her.

“Really? When?”

“For a birthday, I think. She secretly hoofed them to me, and said not to tell my Dad, said to save them for something special.”

“Do you remember your grandma?”

“Sorta, but only feelings really. I know I lived with her for awhile.” I scratched my head. “I remember her, and my dad arguing a lot, and the yelling...” I smiled. “But I do remember this one time I found a baby bird that just fell out of its nest, its little wing damaged. I rushed inside to get her, and she gently picked it up, trying to soothe it. She did something and its wing was all better. The baby bird flew back up to its nest and the baby bird’s mom was so happy.” I chuckled. “The look on my grandma’s face when the two birds tweeted happily together was one of the only things I remember about her...” I paused, frowning. “Then she died, and I had to live with my dad again...”

There was silence as they walked along the path, ponies starting to emerge from their homes. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did she die?” Snowdrop whispered.

“From what my dad told me, of old age. She was really old when I lived with her...” I paused, trying to remember.

“Oh... I’m sorry to hear that.” She said.

“It’s ok, I got over that a long time ago. Her best friend said she enjoyed every moment we had together, and that she wishes my mom was still around, whatever that means.”

We finally got to the ice cream parlor, and I held the door open for her. She smiled, and walked through. The parlor was just opening. So there was only one other pony in there besides us, and that was the server. He had a chocolate colored mane with bright brown eyes. His coat was lighter color than his mane, with a bowl of ice cream as his cutie mark.

“Welcome to Thirty-One Flavors! My name is Basky Robbins, what can I-oh sweet Celestia, what happened to ya kid?” He asked, looking at me.

“It’s nothing, I sorta... fell.” I said, Snowdrop looking at me weirdly.

“From where? The top of the weather factory? Looks like you went a few rounds with a dragon.” Robbins said, shaking his head. “A-anyway, what can I get you two?”

“What would you like?” I whispered, looking at Snowdrop.

She fidgeted slightly, still staring at me. “Um... I don’t know... you don’t have to get anything...”

“It’s okay.” I said to her. “Um... how about...” I said, looking at the selection. “Two small bowls of cookies and cream.”

“Sure thing kid.” Robbins said, digging underneath the counter, grabbing two bowls, and the ice cream scooper. “Take a seat and I’ll bring it to you when it’s done.”

I nodded, lightly grasping Snowdrop’s hoof as I led her to a corner booth. We scooted across, and briefly stared at each other.

“What did he mean you looked like you fought a dragon?”

“Oh that? I was helping my dad unpack and I sorta fell off the ladder and into a box. Took a few bumps.” I said quickly. “It’s no big deal.”

“Oh goodness, are you alright?” She asked worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Didn’t even feel it.” I chuckled.

Robbins walked over, carrying the two bowls on his back as he slid them onto the table, the bowls stopping in front of us. “Enjoy.” He said with a quick smile before going back behind the counter.

Snowdrop looked at me as I dug in, the cookies and cream tasted great even on a cold morning. Snowdrop blindly felt for her spoon before grabbing it, next searching for the bowl. I got up, sitting next to her.

“Here, let me help.” I offered.

“Oh... um, you don’t have to, I’m okay.” She said, searching on the opposite side of the table.

“Please, I want to.”

“But I got it.” She said, clinking her spoon against my bowl and grinning widely at me, flipped the bowl as the ice cream flew straight into my face. I sat there, ice cream dripping from my face as she must’ve realized what she did. “Oh my Celestia, I’m so sorry!” She said, trying to find napkins. I licked some of the dripping ice cream and smiled.

I laughed as Robbins looked at the commotion. “What in the world is going on over here?” He asked, grabbing some napkins and hoofed them to me. I quickly wiped my face, still chuckling. He laughed, shaking his head. “Alright kids, I guess that one’s on the house. I’ll go get you another bowl.” He said, walking away.

“Thank you.” I said, turning to look back at her. Her face was bright red, her hooves covering her eyes as her body shook. “What’s wrong?” I asked, my hoof resting on her back.

She sniffled, turning away from me. “N-now you won’t be my friend...”

“What why would you think that? Is it because of the ice cream?” She nodded. “Snowdrop, that won’t make me stop from being your friend. It was an accident and besides, it tasted good.”

“B-but I spilt glue on Cumulo and she got so mad at me...” She muttered.

“That’s her, not me. So what, you got a little ice cream on me? It’s not like you meant to... It’ll take more than that to get rid of me.” I chuckled.

She faintly smiled, the tears stopping for the moment.”Thank you Icy...” She looked at the table. “I should’ve just listened to you but I thought I could finally do something on my own.” She sighed. “I’ve always had help doing the simplest things and I thought I could eat ice cream by myself. Guess I was wrong like usual.”

Mr. Robbins came back, placing the bowl in front of me as he took the empty bowl away. “Snowdrop it’s alright, everypony makes mistakes. I mean just yesterday I thought you were gonna fall through a gap between clouds. It looked a lot bigger to me...” I faintly smiled.

She tried not to smile. “But-”

“No buts, now are you going to eat this ice cream, or am I going to have to eat it?” I asked, pushing her bowl closer to her, helping her put the spoon in the bowl. I left her alone as she worked out a pattern.

She smiled, enjoying the ice cream, both of us silent.

“So, I was thinking.” She said, tapping her spoon on the bowl.

I turned to glance at her, a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth. “Yeah?”

“Maybe we can get my dad to start teaching us how to fly later today?” She asked hesitantly.

I shrugged. “Sure, I doubt it’ll be that hard.”

She smiled, nodding as she scooted her bowl, carefully, away from herself, the spoon clanging on the porcelain.

“So what did you think?”

“I thought it was good. How about you? Better tasting it then wearing it?” She asked.

“Oh most definitely. Granted, I doubt it’ll be good for hair gel. I’d keep eating it.” I said, rolling my eyes.

She laughed, lightly tapping my shoulder. “But sorry for earlier...”

“It’s alright, in fact...” I said, taking a bit that I had left and bopping her in the nose with it. I smiled as she looked at her nose. “Now we’re even.”

She stared at it, trying to get it off before she started giggling that turned into full blown laughter, wiping it off with a napkin. I started to chuckle as well, shaking my head as Snowdrop leaned against me for support, holding her ribs.

“I didn’t think it was that funny...” I said, looking at her.

She gasped, wiping a tear from her eye. “It’s not that, I just remember my Dad telling me a story about when him and Mom were dating. He did the same thing, thinking it was romantic or something and Mom flung the entire bowl at his face.”

“Well you already did that so I had to improvise.”

She blushed, getting off his shoulder. “Yeah... that was an accident.”

“Or were you trying to recreate the story?” I asked, trying to keep a straight face as I looked at her. Her face turned a deeper shade red.

“Hey kids, aren’t you going to be late for school?” Robbins yelled from behind the counter, wiping it down with a towel.

I turned, looking at the clock; it was a little before seven thirty. I quickly got up and grabbed our bowls, walking over to Mr. Robbins and paid for the ice cream.

He took the bits and put them in the cash register. “What about the drying ice cream kid?” He asked.

I shrugged. “Guess I got free mane gel.” I said, walking over to Snowdrop as we put our saddlebags back on and waving goodbye, trotted to school.

“Thanks for the ice cream Icy.” Snowdrop said, trotting happily.

“No problem, glad I could repay you for lunch yesterday.” I mumbled.

Snowdrop led the way to school, taking the back streets so we wouldn’t run into many ponies. The few ponies that we did run into however, stared at me in horror as they noticed my injuries. A few moved out of the way, stunned. We finally made it to the school, a pony stopping and asking what happened to me.

I opened the door to the classroom, the room full of fillies and colts. Mrs. Windith looked up from her desk as her eyes widened as she saw me. She quickly got up as the room suddenly went dead silent.

“Icy, what happened to you?”

III - Peace of Mind

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77

Chapter III - Peace of Mind
Edited by - WeLCxAlphaPuppy and Rglloyd

“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.”

~;~

Everypony in class stared at us, waiting for my response. I felt the blood rise to my face, highlighting the mismatched bruises. “Um... I-I got in a fight after school in the park.” I said quickly.

Snowdrop’s eyes widened as she looked at me and I knew Mrs. Windith didn’t buy it. She walked over to me, gently putting a hoof on my back. “We need to take you to Nurse Healium and have her look you over, make sure you didn’t get seriously hurt.”

“It’s alright, I’m fine.”

“Icy, you look like you were beaten up by a dragon. We’re going to the Nurses.” She turned to class. “Turn to page three hundred and sixty five. Read until I get back, then we’ll take the quiz.”

Before anypony could say anything, she dragged me out of the classroom and forced me down the hall towards the Nurse’s office. We both were silent, our hooves echoing loudly on the floor.

Mrs. Windith looked at me briefly as she opened the door. The Nurse’s office was a rather big room, a few beds tucked away in the corner. A brightly colored pegasus sat at a desk, organizing a few folders. She had a bright maroon blue mane, tied in a ponytail, the bangs just covering her eyes. Her eyes were a sparkling pink. Her coat was the same color as her mane, just a shade or two darker. She looked up as the door opened and our eyes locked.

“Oh my goodness, what happened?” She asked, quickly dropping the folder on the desk and walking over to me.

Mrs. Windith looked at me. “I... um... got into a fight at the park.”

“Hmm...” Ms. Healium muttered, looking at a particularly painful cut on my cheek. She looked up at Windith and it felt like some unspoken conversation happened right in front of me.

Windith minutely nodded. “I’ll go make sure my class isn’t in total anarchy. Icy, stay here till I get you.” She said with a faint smile as she slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

It was an awkward silence as Healium bandaged me up, taking extra care on the deeper cuts. She grimaced as she examined them more, bringing over a light to make sure nothing important was damaged. “I’m sorry.” She said, grabbing a pair of scissors and what looked like nylon thread. She rummaged around and grabbed a needle, the clean metal gleaming menacingly in the light.

The color drained from my face as she threaded the needle, making sure it was secure.

“I have to close this wound and band aids won’t help.” She said, smiling at me. “Don’t worry, I’ve done this a million times. You just need to lay down and relax.”

“Kinda hard when you have a giant needle in your hoof.” I gulped as I lied on the bed, trying not to shiver.

She smiled as she grabbed some disinfectant and gently dabbed some on the cut.

“Relax... just take deep breaths, it’ll only take a minute.” She said, the needle drawing closer. “Now you’re going to feel a slight pinch but you can’t move, understand?” I nodded. “Okay.” She took a deep breath. “So I heard you just moved here from Manehattan?”

I yelped as the needle pierced my skin. I closed my eyes tightly and took a shaky breath. “Y-yeah, me and my dad.”

“Where’s your mom, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“I... I’m not sure.”

“Oh?”

“Y-yeah, I’ve never met her. She left when I was a foal.”

“I see...” She said, silent for a few moments. “There, all done.” She said, grabbing the scissors and snipping the end, tying it into a knot. She put the needle down and grabbed more bandages, wrapping them around the stitch. “There we go, all better. Just take it easy and in a few weeks we’ll take them out.”

I smiled, moving my arm around, trying to get over the itchiness. “Thank you Nurse Healium.”

“It’s what I do.” She said, getting up and putting the needle in the sink. “Icy... you know you can tell me anything right?”

“Uh, yeah?”

She turned around. “Icy, I can tell those cuts didn’t come from any fight. That one there is too jagged.” She pointed to the cut on my cheek. “What happened?”

“I... I uh... you're right, I didn’t get in a fight.” I sighed. “I was helping my dad unpack and fell from the ladder right into a box. It was full of picture frames and I landed wrongly.”

She looked at me sadly. “Icy...” She was interrupted as somepony knocked on the door and it slowly opened, revealing Mrs. Windith.

She smiled. “How is he Healium?”

“A lot better now, looking good as new.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” She looked at me. “If you’d like, you can come back with me or stay here with Nurse Healium till you feel better.”

“I think I’ll go back to the classroom, it’s almost recess.” I grinned as the mares laughed, Windith leading me back.

She opened the door for me, the students looking up briefly from their desks. I noticed they were scribbling and saw a test as I walked by and sat down at my desk. Snowdrop was absent and I turned to stare at the chalkboard, waiting for the test to be over.

I seemed to slip into a daze, memories surfacing that I hadn’t thought of in a long time. The time Dad tried to get me to steal that loaf of bread from the Manehattan bakery... and how wonderful it ended. I’m glad they took it easy on colts.

“Alright class, I think that’s enough time.” Mrs. Windith said, half the class sighing. She walked around, collecting the tests. Snowdrop came back, holding her test and pencil in her mouth, passing it to Windith as she sat down. Windith placed the pile of papers on her desk before grabbing another, passing them down the rows. “As you all know, the Spring Sun Celebration is coming up and I thought we should start getting ready for it with a little group project.” She paused, letting everypony read the sheet. “I’m going to split you all into pairs and you two are going to come up with something to show Princesses Celestia and Luna. Now I’m sure most of you know your partners so get into little clusters and we’ll use the rest of the time till lunch to start planning.”

The class erupted into noise as ponies grouped together, pushing their desks into small rectangles. I walked over to Snowdrop. “Hey, you don’t mind working together, right?” She shook her head as I pushed my desk up against hers. We reached into our saddlebags, pulling out a pencil and paper.

I was silent, tapping my pencil lightly against the desk. “Um... Icy, can I ask you a question?”

I blinked, turning to look at her. “Sure, ask away.”

“Why did you lie?”

“What do you mean?”

She fidgeted. “Well... when you were telling Mrs. Windith that you got in a fight at the park after school... You couldn’t have, you came to my house.” She whispered. “W-why did you lie to her?”

“I... uh... didn’t want think it’d be that big of a deal...”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing, I um... I did get into a fight after I left your house.”

“You did?”

“Uh.. um...” I stuttered, trying to think of something.

“Icy, is everything-”

“Everything’s fine Snowdrop!” I yelled, slightly harsher than I meant to. Everypony looked at us for a moment before they went back to working, a few staring at us for a moment longer.

Snowdrop’s ears fell flat on her head as she stared at her desk. “Oh... okay...”

“Is everything alright over here?” Mrs. Windith asked, sneaking up on me.

I nodded. “Yeah, we just couldn’t figure out what to do for the Spring Sun Celebration...”

She stared at me. “Okay, well if you need any help, you could just raise your hoof and I’ll try and help.” She said, walking back towards her desk.

I sighed quietly, turning back to Snowdrop. “Um... Snowdrop, I didn’t mean to-”

“I was thinking of having us each make a cloud flower for each princess?” Snowdrop asked in a monotone voice, not looking up from the desk.

“Um... sure.” I paused, watching her write down the idea. “Are you alright?”

She nodded. “Do you know what the Princesses favorite flowers are?”

“N-not a clue... Snowdrop-”

“Then we’ll have to check the library and see if Ms. Dancer knows.”

I nodded, writing down a few ideas as we were mostly quiet, lost in our own thoughts.

I slowly opened the door and heard the water running in the kitchen. I closed it, dropping my saddlebags off at the door and poked my head into the kitchen. Dad was standing in front of the sink, washing the few piling dishes inside. His ear twitched as he turned his head to look at me.

“Icy...” He said, sounding... slightly concerned.

“Hey Dad...” I said, gulping.

He stared at me in silence and I was too scared to ask what he wanted. He shook his hooves off and walked over to me, putting a hoof on my shoulder. I flinched as I felt the reassuring weight gently pat my shoulder. I opened an eye, looking up into his exhausted face. He seemed to have bags underneath his eyes and they were bloodshot.

“Look... Icy, I..." He paused, seemingly at a loss for words. He sighed, turning back around and heading back to the sink. “Go get washed up and do your homework.”

I nodded, quickly stumbling over my front hooves as I left the kitchen. I paused, turning around. “Hey Dad... um... I’m sorry that I didn’t-”

“It’s fine Icy, get your stuff done. It’s my fault that we didn’t do them last night.” He said, motioning towards the dishes.

“Okay...”

“Wait, Icy.” Dad said and I froze. I could hear his hooves coming closer as I felt pressure on my back. “What happened?”

“I... uh...”

He was silent, his mouth slightly ajar as he ran a hoof over the bandages. I hissed in pain as he pushed against a band aid. “W-what happened?”

I didn’t know what to say, silent as my brain went empty, trying to think of an excuse. Dad turned to look at the sink, staring at it in horror. He walked over to it and grabbed a broken shot glass.

“D-dad...”

He ignored me, lost in his own thoughts. He flinched, closing his eyes as his wings rustled. He held his hoof to his head. I ran over holding his hoof. “Dad, what’s wrong?”

He took a sharp breath, opening his eyes as he backed up, staring at me.

“Dad-”

“Go do your homework!” Dad yelled and I fell back. Dad seemed furious, glaring at me. I ran out of the room, grabbing my saddlebags and charged into my room.

I leaned against the door, tossing my saddlebags towards the middle of the floor. I sat down, rummaging around inside them and pulled out my notebook and stared at the paper, trying to come up with the flowers the Princesses would like. I leaned against my forehooves, closing my eyes as I tried to think.

The wind blowed as I sat there, blinking as I looked around, lost. The moon was hidden by the clouds, snow blowing harder. I saw a filly sitting at the edge of the cloud, staring out into the darkness. I headed towards her, noticing it was Snowdrop. I heard her sniffle, rubbing her snout.

“Snowdrop, what’s wrong?” I asked, resting a hoof on her shoulder as I phased through her and fell. I screamed, landing quietly on the cloud.

“Why did he have to...” She gulped, trying to stop the tears flowing.

“Snowdrop-” I said, trying to wrap her in one of those hugs again but every time I couldn’t grab her, fading through her. She ignored me, almost as if I wasn’t there.

“I didn’t even get a chance to say I’m sorry... or goodbye...” She said, staring at the sky as I noticed she was holding a cloud flower.

I reached for it, my hoof resting on hers. “W-what are you talking about?”

Tears sprinkled the cloud. “He... he... said he wouldn’t leave me...” She looked at me, almost as if she could see me. “Icy... why...”

I blinked. “What do you mean? I’m right here.”

“Why did you do it... I thought we agreed to always be there for each other. I didn’t know you’d ever resort to that...” She paused, taking a shaky breath.

“Snowdrop...” I said, a fiery pain erupted my chest as I gasped, clutching my chest. I panted, the world spinning away as it shrunk to a pinpoint before everything faded to black.

I opened my eyes, gasping in pain, my chest still on fire. I held a hoof to it, trying to breath. What... what was that? I gritted my teeth, getting to my hooves.

The door flew open, Dad standing there. “Dinner- Icy, are you alright?”

“My chest... hurts...” I said, taking a step forward before fading to black and slumped to the floor.

Author's Note

Well then, sorry about that. Between being really sick, having quite a few family problems, work getting ready to start, and having some road block along with some side projects, I finally finished. Sorry it's so late and how I kept promising it'd be done by the end of the week, what 3 weeks ago? Hopefully it was worth the wait and what not. Any errors, problems, etc, PM me or leave a comment, I try to answer everything. Thanks for reading!

IV - I'm Looking Through You

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77

Chapter IV - I'm Looking Through You
Edited by - WeLCxAlphaPuppy and Rglloyd

“The heart becomes scratched and dented and repaired over time, and with one glance, you'd be able to tell your own from others.”

~;~

I stood in a continuous snowfall, the sky a dark black. I looked around, barely able to see anything in front of me. I stumbled around, falling face first into the snow. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the breathe slowly billowing in the breeze.

I could faintly make out the outline of a pegasus, her mane looked pink. Her coat, or what I could make of her coat, was a dull orange with red spots every now and then. My eyes widened as I recognized her.

“M-mom?” I asked, staring at the pegasus.

She didn’t turn around before dashing off into the distance. I quickly followed her, yelling over and over. Finally, she paused and turned around, her purple eyes gleaming with pride and sadness. Tears poured from her eyes, before she went to open her mouth.

“Icy...”

A voice said in the darkness, seemingly miles away. I paused, staring at her before realizing it was a voice I faintly knew. Everything was black, the snowfall heavy as I heard the voice again. The world suddenly glowed brighter before it felt like the sun was shining right next to me. The last thing I saw before the world vanished was the pegasus staring at me, tears falling faster from her eyes as she said something, her voice lost.

“Hey, I think he’s awake.” Storm’s face came into view, a bit blurry as I squinted against the light. “You think you can dim the lights a bit?”

“He’ll get used to it.” Another pony said, this time a pony with a clipboard in hoof appeared in front of me.

“W-where am I?”

“You're at the hospital Icy. I found you on a bench nearby, passed out.” Storm said, looking concerned. “What happened?”

I took a deep breath, squinting in pain as my chest flared up. “I’m not sure... my chest suddenly started to burn and everything went black.”

“That’s not the only thing. Looks like you’ve had some minor internal bleeding and a concussion.” The doctor grabbed my arm and gently lifted it, looking at a few bruises. “Also looks like you were cut with a serrated edge.”

“Icy, what happened?” Storm asked.

“I... I just fell into a box of pictures.” I stuttered.

Storm was silent, staring at me.

“Honest, I’m fine.”

“You sure don’t look fine... looks like a pony used you as a punching bag. Now, are you going to tell me the truth?” Storm asked calmly, staring into my eyes.

“I... I can’t.” I muttered, staring at the sheets.

The doctor cleared his throat. “I’ll take my leave...” He said, walking out of the room. Storm stared at me as I stared back at the covers, feeling his eyes pierce me.

“Icy, I’ve only known you for a day but this is serious. You can trust me, I promise nothing will happen.” He said, reassuringly.

“But... I... can’t.” I hesitated, knowing what’ll happen if he found out how I really got these wounds. He’ll be just like Ms. Peas.... I bit the inside of my cheek, hard, as I tried not to say anything.

He sighed, looking at me before getting up. “Well, I won’t force you to say anything but if you need to talk, I’ll be there if you need me.”

“T-thanks Storm and I’m sorry...”

“Don’t worry about it kid, just look after yourself.” He smiled faintly. “Take it easy, alright? And don’t worry about school, I’ll talk to Mrs. Windith tomorrow. I gotta get going, they’re probably wondering where I am.“ He walked out of the room, waving goodbye before leaving me alone in the dark.

I sighed, staring at the sheets before staring out the window, the moon bright in the sky. Maybe if I tell them, they could help... but what would happen to Dad? I know he’s gone through a lot because of me... I held a hoof to my eyes, feeling tears slowly trickle out. This is all my fault anyway... I should’ve just stayed quiet in Manehatten and none of this wouldn’t have happened...

The stars twinkled as I leaned back and rested against the pillows, hoping for sleep to take me once again.

The sun was rising, sneaking in through the cracks in the hospital room’s blinds. I lay there, my eyes riveted on the ceiling. When I go home, I’ll have to deal with dad. When I go to school, I’ll get yelled at by Mrs. Windith or Nurse Healium. And Snowdrop... she’s probably really mad at me...

“Seems somepony has a lot on his mind.” A voice said from the door.

I looked at the door, an older pegasus standing there with a faint smile. He had a dark tan coat, most of it turning sliver, which matched his mane and tail. His eyes were faded blue, just like Snowdrops. A white lab coat covered his cutie mark but I was sure it had something to do with an hourglass.

“Who are you? I asked, confused.

“A doctor of sorts.” He said, grunting as he sat down in the chair that Storm had earlier. He coughed, clearing his throat. “So what’s on your mind?”

I blinked. “And why should I tell you?”

“What’ll it hurt if a random stranger knows whatever is eating away at you? I doubt it’ll matter to anypony in the least. And besides, you seem to quite popular, if what I heard is true.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I heard Storm and Doctor Ravens talking about what happened to you. Internal bleeding, numerous cuts. They also discovered wounds that were years old, chipped bones, a fractured hoof, why you have that scar on your eye. Icy, it’s not good to keep those sort of injuries bottled up.”

“Who the hay do you think you are!? Waltzing right into my room and talking about me like I’m not even here!” I yelled, furious. I was tired of ponies always assuming that they knew everything, just because they were older. “You have no idea what I’ve been through, no idea what I’ve lived with...” I said, my voice cracking.

The pony looked at me sadly. “Me and you have a pretty similar foalhood. Mum’s no where around, raised by a father that could care less if you live or die. Beats you for trying to exist in a world that isn’t his, forces you to do what he says. I know a lot more than you think kid.” He sighed. “But the one thing that I’ve learned that you haven’t is other ponies do care.”

“No they don’t, not even a little.”

“Storm thinks differently and so does his daughter, what’s her name? Snowdrop?”

“How do you know her?”

“She was here when Storm brought you in, she went with him to the store. She was so worried about you.”

“But she’s mad at me...”

“There comes a time when being mad at somepony is pushed aside when they see the other in mortal peril. She was afraid the last thing she said to you was something that made you two argue.”

“But...”

“In hindsight, she’s probably so relieved that you’re alive that she’ll apologize for anything. But I have a feeling it wasn’t her that started the so called fight.”

“No...”

“She was asking you what happened didn’t she?”

I nodded, silent.

“Icy, she cares more about you than you can possibly know. You’re her first friend... I’m pretty sure you can tell her.”

“But I can’t... I just can’t...”

“Why can’t you tell your friend?”

“You should know if you lived through what I do... he’s my dad... I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

“Has he been a good father?”

“Of course he has!” I said defensively.

“Oh really? Beaten you whenever you broke a rule, made sure you didn’t have any close friends, manipulated you and let you take the fall for so many of his busts. From the sound of it, it sounds like-”

“Yes, he’s made some mistakes but I’m still his son! He loves me and I’ll gladly do anything to hear him say the same!” I cried, covering my mouth with my hooves.

“Ah, there we go. He’s never said he’s loved you before, has he?” I shook my head. “If you’ll let me, can I ask a question?”

“What?” I croaked.

“In the few days that you’ve known Snowdrop and Storm, haven’t they proven that they care about you?”

“Well yes but-”

“And if they know the truth, we both know that they’ll do everything in their power to help.”

“But I just can’t... he’s still my dad, no matter how much pain he puts me through.”

“As a father, raising a child alone can be very taxing and very hard on him.”

“How would you know anything about me! Or the situation I’m in?”

“I was once a father as well, my wife having died during the labor. I barely managed to control my daughter. She would drive me crazy, always complaining and asking for mom. I did the very best I could and tried to guide her.” He paused. “Then one day I get home from work and see a note on the table. She couldn’t stand not knowing her mom so she decided it was time to meet her.” He took a shaky breath, a few tears spilling out of his eyes. “I may be blind but you’ll find out that the eyes, while the most effective sense, can also be the most misleading. I know exactly how your father feels and I know exactly how your feeling. I don’t need to see, I can feel the echoes of pain on you.”

I could feel the tears falling from my eyes as well. “Why? Why would you tell a complete stranger that?”

“Because I don’t want you to do what I did... or what happened to me repeat itself. You’re a strong colt and you can pull through this if you just think about what you want.”

“W-what I want?”

“It’s funny isn’t it, to have somepony ask what you want and not what they want?” He pointed a hoof at me. “I can feel the insecurity in your heart, the uncertainty resonating. Never forget that you do have somepony that always cares for you, even if the one you want to admit it never does.” He got up. “Well, that’s enough soul searching for now. I do believe a good friend of mine owes me some muffins.”

“Wait, h-how do you know all this? And who are you?”

He smiled. “Know that there are things you only know through experience and a long life. Now, you got some decisions to make, which are best made alone.” He walked towards the door. “Just remember, when one door closes, another opens. You just gotta find it.” He said, shutting the door behind him.

I blinked, leaning back against the pillows before groaning in frustration. He makes it sound so easy... I closed my eyes, willing for my brain to decide what it wanted to do...

A few days had gone by since I got out of the hospital and no pony had said anything about my visit. In fact, I hadn’t talked to Dad since that night, the only time I’ve seen him is when he’s asleep. And the few times I caught him awake, he was complaining to his friend about work. It’s almost as if he’s ignoring me...

Snowdrop, on the other hoof, acts like she wants to say something but backs down every time I go to ask her. We barely had worked on the project, it’s still at the same spot it was from Monday. I wanted to ask what was wrong and if that ‘Doctor’ was right but I didn’t want to bug her more than I already did.

Cumluo, surprisingly, asked if I was okay and made sure that I had lunch and somepony to talk to. Everypony seemed to be afraid of me, either running from me every time I got close to them or flat out ignoring me. I sat with her, letting her rant about her day, as I offered a few words of my own, letting her get things off her chest.

While she wasn’t paying attention, I glanced around the cafeteria, seeing if anypony would want to talk. Cirrus was glaring at me, motioning for me to come to him. I gulped and got up.

“I’ll be right back Cumulo, I have to ask Cirrus a question.”

She rolled her eyes. “Alright, just be quick, I didn’t tell you the best part yet.”

I nodded, making my way over to him. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What the hay do you think you’re doing hanging out with her?” He asked.

“At least she’ll talk to me if you haven’t noticed.”

“What happened to Snowdrop then or did you want to upgrade?” He seethed.

I stared at him, stunned at the bitterness. “What’s your problem?”

“Nothing!”

“Like hay it is, something’s bothering you...” A lightbulb went off in my head. “You... you like Snowdrop, don’t you?”

He blushed and jumped up, knocking over his food. “How could I like such a useless pony?”

My face turned bright red as I glared at him. “I’m glad you don’t because she doesn’t deserve somepony like you! You’re the reason why-”

“Why what? Why she doesn’t have any friends? How can anypony be friends with her? We’ve all tried and nothing but bad things happen. I mean, look at you. You look like you nearly died and it’s all because of her.”

I grabbed him by the shoulders, pushing down to the ground. “She has nothing to do with this! If it wasn’t for her, I would’ve died!”

He paused, everypony looking at us. “W-what do you mean?” He asked.

“She was my first friend... she’s been the only thing that’s kept me sane. She helped me more than she could ever know!” I said, oblivious to everypony.

He stared at me, his mouth wide open. “I-is this true?” Snowdrop’s voice asked.

“Of course it is, I don’t know how I-” I stopped, just realizing who asked it. I turned to look at her. She stood in the doorway, her face bright red.

“I-Icy...” She started.

I quickly threw myself off Cirrus before taking off, running right past her. I didn’t care where I was going, just as long as I was away from everypony again.

I stopped, finding myself in the corner of the school, right next to the swings that I passed by on the first day. I hid behind the trees, a few snowflakes falling on me. I buried my head in my hooves. W-what was that all about? Where did that come from?

I could hear ponies calling my name but I ignored them, wishing for something or somepony to tell me what to do, how to handle these random emotions that came outta nowhere. I sighed quietly, hoping the ‘Doctor’ would come back and explain what he meant, what he’d do.

“I-Icy?” Snowdrop’s voice asked, coming closer. I took a deep breath, not answering. “W-well, if you’re here...then I just wanted to say thanks. I was afraid you were mad at me for the other day when I asked why you lied.” She nervously messed with the snow. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to talk to me... so I... I thought it’d better if I left you alone.”

I bit the inside of my lip, trying not to say anything. “But then I saw you lying there in the snow. I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t want my best and only friendship... to... to just end there, because of a stupid argument. So I just wanted to say I’m sorry and it’s none of my business...” She went to turn around.

“Snowdrop wait.” I said, scrambling to my hooves.

She paused, staring at me as I walked closer to her, her face turning red. “Y-you were there the whole time?”

“Y-yeah... look Snowdrop, I wanted to say I’m sorry. I was a jerk to you and you didn’t deserve that, especially after everything you’ve done for me. Thank you for letting me eat at your place, and showing me your awesome room... I just wanted to ask if-”

She pulled me into a hug, after a moment of trying to find me, her forehooves flailing about. “Of course I do... I didn’t want you to be mad at me...”

“I’m not... I just took out everypony asking me that same question on you... and I’m sorry.” I sighed, his voice running through my head. “I-if you really want to know... I-I’ll tell you what really happened...”

“You will?” She asked, tilting her head.

“Yes... but you have to promise me that you won’t tell anypony.”

She nodded. “I promise.”

I sighed, leading her over back to the tree and sitting down. “Are you sure?”

“Yes...” She whispered.

“O-okay...” I said, taking a deep breath.

Author's Note

Guess who's back? Yeah... sorry about that, Life decided to say hi again. I know you got plenty of blogs that told excuse after excuse so I thought it'd be good to actually follow through and finish the damn thing. Hopefully it was worth the wait... Let me know what you think, I'm looking forward to seeing the comments.

V - In My Life

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77

Chapter V - In My Life
Edited by - WeLCxAlphaPuppy and Rglloyd

"Knowing what it feels to be in pain, is exactly why we try to be kind to others."

~;~

Snowdrop stared at me, waiting for me to start. I cleared my throat as she sat down next to me.

“I-I’ve only told one other pony the truth...so I might stutter a bit...”

“It’s okay Icy, just take your time.” She said reassuringly.

“Are you sure though? It’s just me rambl-ouch!” I yelped as her hoof poked my patched eye.

“Sorry! I was trying to cover your mouth…” She blushed before moving her hoof down a bit, finally finding my mouth. “Icy, I want to know. So stop trying to stall and let me help...that’s what friends do.” She took her hoof off my mouth, tilting her head to look at me, waiting.

I sighed, closing my eyes. “Well… remember how I said you were my first friend?”

“Yeah...”

“The truth is...my dad didn’t want me to accidentally say our secret.”

“What do you mean?” She asked, baffled.

“Well, like I said earlier, I only told one other pony. And she told the authorities and they were gonna take me away.”

“Take you away? I don’t understand...”

I grabbed her hoof and gently placed it on a bandaid. “The truth is...m-my father... hi-hits me...” I whispered, dragging her hoof all over the bandages.

Her mouth opened wide along with her eyes as she stared at me, the gears in her head working overdrive. “H-how could he do that?” She asked in a quiet voice.

“It’s because this is all my fault.”

“What?!” She said, shaking her head. “Icy, this-”

“I know it is... I... one day back in Manehattan I found a diary up in the attic from my Mom. She was a thief that stole something and my Dad was sent to get her. She hurt him and he must’ve talked her out of something cause it said how she took care of him. Then... it ended with her saying she’s going to have a baby... and nothing.” I faintly smiled. “I asked Dad about it and he was furious... said it was my fault that she isn’t with us now...”

“B-but that doesn’t make any sense!”

“Yes, yes it does! If my mom could be here, she would be but I had to come into the picture and ruin it! He told me how they used to go on adventures and dance... and... and she couldn’t handle being a mother...” I looked away from Snowdrop.

“M-maybe you misread it-”

“I know how to read Snowdrop.”

“Then you must’ve misunderstood-”

“I know what he meant!”

“But how could anypony do that to their own foal!” She yelled back, both of us glaring at each other.

“Snowdrop… for my eighth birthday, all Dad gave me was a slip of paper that said I had to help somepony work with something…”

What?!”

“Yeah… he… he had a debt he couldn’t pay, said it was a medical bill from me and said I had to pay it back… I was a bus colt at the Cherrywood Inn. But it wasn’t that bad, met a few ponies that were nice...” I sighed. “I bet I’m not making any sense.”

She was silent for a moment. “So… he… he hit you and made you work off his debts?” She asked, dumbfounded.

I thought for a moment. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“How… how could you not tell anypony?”

“Honestly, I thought everypony was treated like I was… till I met Ms. Peas.” I faintly smiled as I remembered the green unicorn.

“W-what happened?”

“Ms. Peas was my first grade teacher.” I sighed. “Always seemed to know how to make everypony laugh.” I paused, scratching at the snow. “She could tell something was off with me, always talking to me and trying to make me laugh. One day I was walking home from the inn and she saw me. Asked what I was doing, said I was too young to be working. That day was really bad already. I had gotten into an argument with one of the guest’s colt and he hit me right in the eye. She saw it and I just… started crying like a foal. I felt so useless, crying and complaining to my teacher. She made me wait outside while she dealt with the inn, and when she came back, said I didn’t need to worry about working for them.” I paused for a moment, looking everywhere but at her. “T-the next day, guards showed up at our door, asking to speak with my dad about foal abuse… and one of them recognized him and they let him go… and here we are…”

She was silent, staring at the sky. The clouds were still there, getting ready for another big snowstorm. “But how could he?”

“Yeah but they were mostly my fault-”

“Icy, you need to stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Blaming yourself. Not everything is your fault.”

I chuckled. “Well this one is.”

“How?”

“Because I was born, he had to pay for medical-”

“Did he have a job?”

I paused, trying to think back. He always seemed to bounce from job to job, always blaming having to take care of me for getting fired. “Y-yes…”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

“I-I just don’t remember…”

“Icy, we both know that you aren’t the reason everything happened to you.” She looked at me and faintly smiled, tears in her eyes. “When I first started going to school, I would get picked on because I couldn’t see and always ran into things. I always wanted to be alone, so no pony could see me as I failed at the easy stuff… I felt I did something wrong, that’s why I couldn’t see...” She took a deep breath. “When my dad found out, he told me that none of this was my fault and I shouldn’t be mad at myself. ‘There are things that happen that we can’t control nor understand,’ he said. I thought he was just trying to make me feel better but now, I’m not so sure.” She paused. “I’m beginning to think there’s another reason.”

“Oh? And what would that be?”

“For everything we’ve been through, we haven’t changed. We’re still us… you’re still you and I’m still me.”

“What do you mean? Of course we are.”

“What I meant is we’re not… bitter and cold.” She sighed. “When my grandpa passed away, my grandma became really mean and nasty. She’d yell at the simplest things and get really mad. Mom said that losing grandpa was hard on grandma and her heart grew cold.” She looked at me. “Even with everything that we’ve gone through, we still try. Most ponies won’t do that, they’d only be mean back.”

I paused, my words stuck in the back of my throat. We looked at each other for a few moments before I gently wiped her tears away. “It seems like you’ve thought about this…”

“When you’re always alone, you have plenty of time to think.”

“Well then, I got a promise for you.”

“And what’s that?”

“As long as we’re friends, you’ll never be alone.”

She looked at me, trying to stop tears. “R-really?”

I nodded. “With everything I just said, everything that I’ve done, you’re still here. Everypony I’ve ever met, including my Dad, they all leave. You… you stay with me.”

“Well I can say the same for you too.” We chuckled as I shook my head. “Icy, can I ask you a question?” She asked, scooting closer to me.

“Sure.”

“When you and Cirrus formed that group, why did you let me join? Did you feel sorry for me?”

I thought back, trying to remember. “Honestly yes.” I rested my hoof against her mouth. “But let me finish. Yes, when we first started talking, I did feel bad for you. Then I was angry at myself for complaining about my situation when you have it so much worse. It got me thinking, ‘if she can still be happy, why couldn’t I? Why did I always blame myself? As you can see, I still haven’t found the answer to either problem.”

“You don’t have to have all the answers. That’s what makes life fun. So what you’ve had a horrible foalhood? I mean, it makes you know what it’s like to be on the bottom… so you’ll never do it to anypony else.”

“You do have a point…” I sighed. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Have something to counter everything I say? You know what I need to hear… and just how to say it.”

“That’s easy, because I know how you think. You think a lot like I do and I know what to say to make it sound like a stupid idea.” She smiled. “Besides, you do too… always when I have a problem, you seem to be there, just to help me. Never to make fun of or push deeper in the mud…”

“Hay, somepony has to stick up for others.”

“They do and I’m glad that you help me… more so than you know.” She faintly smiled.

I chuckled. “That sounds oddly familiar, I just can’t place from what though.”

“Oh, I must’ve picked it up somewhere.” She said, resting her head on my shoulder.

We sat there, not talking as the snow drifted down again, the sunlight slowly slipping behind the clouds.

“So…” I started.

“So?” She asked, confused.

“Now that you know everything… are we still friends?” I asked nervously.

“Of course, why would that ever change?”

“Most ponies would leave… saying I carry too much ‘baggage’.”

“Well if you haven’t noticed, I’m not like most ponies. Us ‘baggage carrying’ ponies gotta stick together.” She said, holding out her hoof.

I stared at it for a moment before sighing, shaking my head and bumping her hoof. “You’re a very odd filly.”

“This coming from the colt that’s already had a job.”

“Touche…” I chuckled. “So is everypony still looking for me?”

“No, Mrs. Windith wanted us to go home early, she also cancelled class. It’s supposed to snow heavily today and she didn’t want us to get caught up in it.”

“Oh… wait, why are you still here then?”

“Looking for you, couldn’t leave you out in the snow all night.”

“I would’ve been fine.”

“Icy…” She said, glaring at me.

“Alright, alright.” I said, holding my hooves up defensively as the snow started to come down harder. “Maybe we should get going, don’t wanna be stuck out here.”

“Yeah, good idea. We still have to go back to the classroom for our stuff.” She said as we hurried back to the classroom.

Mrs. Windith turned and watched us rush inside, half covered in snow. “What are you two still doing here? I thought I sent you home early?”

“Yeah, I got lost…” I stuttered.

“I see… Well, you better get home soon before it hits.” She said, packing up. “If you want, I can walk you two home.”

“That’d be great.” We said at the same time.

“Alright, no time like the present.” Windith said, ushering us out of the classroom and locked it up. She led us out of the school, waving goodbye to the few remaining teachers. “So who is closer?”

“I think we’re about the same distance.” I said, scratching my head.

“Okay, how about I drop off Snowdrop first so then I can talk to your dad Icy and she doesn’t have to wait.”

“He’s actually on a work trip…” I mumbled.

Windith stared at me, an eyebrow raised. “So you’re gonna be all by yourself? For how long?” She asked.

I thought for a moment. “I think for the rest of the week. He didn’t really say for how long…”

“Why don’t you stay with us?” Snowdrop butted in.

“I couldn’t, I doubt you want to deal with-” I stopped, frozen by the glare she gave me. It felt as if the world had disappeared, frozen by those ice cold blue eyes. I gulped, slowly nodding. “A-alright, I’d love to… if your parent’s say its okay.”

She smiled and nodded. “Of course they will, I doubt they’d let you stay by yourself anyway.”

Windith shook her head as we walked in silence towards Snowdrop’s house. She looked at the house. “Well, I’ll see you two tomorrow. Have a good night.” She said, heading off towards her own house.

“Thanks again Mrs. Windith!” We said in unison, waving goodbye before we stared silently at each other.

“Um… let me just ask my mom and dad real fast…” She said, rushing inside as I stood on the doorstep, nervously kicking at the floor. For the moment I was alone, I sighed, a weight lifted from my chest. I was glad I could finally tell somepony I guess. I faintly smiled, shaking my head as the door flung open.

Before I could say anything, Primrose grabbed me and dragged me inside. I blinked, the sudden light blinded me as I felt somepony brushing the snow off. She smiled before pulling me into a hug, gently rubbing my back. “You had us so worried, how are you? Are you feeling better?”

I stood there, dumbfounded. “Y-yeah, I’m feeling a lot better.”

“I’m so glad to hear that.” She sighed. “Well Snowdrop was telling me that you’d like to spend the night?”

“Uh… if it wouldn’t be too much trouble...”

“Of course not, we’d be more than happy to have you over.” She headed towards the kitchen. “You can leave your saddlebags there, lunch is almost ready.”

I nodded, tossing my saddlebags by the door and went into the kitchen. Snowdrop was setting the table. I watched her for a moment, slightly amazed at what she could do, even being blind. I shook my head, helping her set the rest of the table.

“So Icy, when is your father coming home?” Primrose asked, finishing up a dandelion lettuce sandwich.

“Uh… not sure, he really didn’t say.” I blushed, scratching my neck nervously.

“Well when he does, me and Storm would like to have a little talk with him, if that’s alright.”

“Oh sure, I’ll uh… let him know.”

She nodded, turning around to hoof Snowdrop the sandwich. “So Icy, what would you like for lunch?”

“Just a sandwich will be fine.”

Primrose quickly prepared another sandwich, years of practice making it easy. She set the plate in front of him, his sandwich the same as Snowdrops. She walked over to the fridge and set a plate of sliced apples in between them.

I dug in, my mouth already watering as I savored the first bite. “Thank you very much.” I said, pausing before taking another bite.

“You’re very welcome.” She said, turning back to the sink to finish washing something. “Well you two can sleep in the living room if you’d like.”

“Thanks Mom! Did you hear that Icy? We can build a fort! Or stay up all night and play games…” Snowdrop excitedly went on.

I chuckled, finishing off my sandwich and waited for Snowdrop. We started planning the rest of the day, deciding to play some games before doing our homework. After she finished, we rushed into her room, and dug into our saddlebags, figuring out what our homework was. We put that aside, instead playing some more hide and seek.

She thought she had a good spot, hiding underneath the coffee table. But she didn’t know her tail was sticking out, wagging slowly back and forth. I smiled, walking around and searching everywhere but the table, making over dramatic movements.

Primrose was watching from the kitchen, leaning against the doorway with a smile on her face. She motioned me to get Snowdrop and I quietly snuck up on the filly, making sure I was as silent as possible. I finally slithered my way underneath the coffee table, Snowdrop still not hearing me. I went to poke her in the shoulder, my tongue sticking out slightly.

“Thank you…” She whispered as she turned to stare right at me, my hoof mere inches away.

I jumped, smacking my head against the table and lifted it momentarily off the ground. “For what?” I whispered back, gasping in pain.

“For telling me the truth… I know it must’ve been hard to tell that your dad hits you… especially to somepony you barely know…”

My head throbbed as I gingerly held it. “To be honest, I feel so much better once I told you, it’s like I could finally breath again.”

“Are you okay under there?” Primrose asked, walking closer and bent down.

Snowdrop quickly pulled me on top of her, smiling. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anypony.” She whispered so quietly only I could hear her. “Aww, you caught me! How’d you find me?” She giggled.

I blinked, my brain trying to catch up with everything as Primrose looked underneath the table right at me. She raised an eyebrow as I looked down, staring into Snowdrop’s eyes before I realized I was top of her. I quickly got off, frantically running from underneath the table. “Y-yeah know, your tail was sticking out from u-underneath the table.” I said, shaking my head.

Snowdrop smiled and followed right after me, standing next to me. “Icy, you have a bad lump on your head.” Primrose pointed out, disappearing into the kitchen and came back with an ice pack. She gently placed it on his head. “Now hold it right here for at least fifteen minutes.”

“Alright…” I mumbled as Primrose nodded, heading off upstairs. We walked to the couch and sat down, relaxing in the silence before I coughed. “So… how long did you know I was there for?”

“The entire time, just because I couldn’t see you doesn’t mean I can’t hear you.” She stuck her tongue out at me.

“Oh well excuse me for not being quieter.”

She giggled and rolled her eyes. “What do you wanna do now?”

“Not sure, what do you feel like doing?”

“Well we could always play with some of my toys...”

“Alrighty.” I said, sighing.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just a little tired.” I said, the ice pack numbing my hoof.

She frowned, grabbing a hoof and led me upstairs. She dragged out her toys and tried to keep me awake as we played with some of her dolls. The time flew by as we played house, reenacted a few of our favorite movies scenes, and did our homework. By the time we were finished, Storm had come home and pulled me aside, wanting to talk to me.

“So how are you feeling?” He asked.

“A lot better, thanks for saving me.”

“No problem kid, glad you’re alright.” He said and still knew I was lying. “If you ever need to get something off your chest, you know you can tell me right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, of course…”

He sighed. “Alright, well, go grab Snowdrop and tell her its time for dinner.” He said, walking off towards the kitchen but not before ruffling my mane. I stared at him and shook my head.

I walked back into her room. “Snowdrop, it’s time for dinner.”

“Yay!” She said excitedly, both of us charging downstairs for food.

After eating too much, again, I helped Primrose clean up while Storm spent some time with Snowdrop, her laughter very loud from the living room.

“D-dad stop! I-I can’t breath!” She said through laughing.

“Then you surrender against my tickling prowess?” Storm said in a dramatic fashion.

“N-n-never!”

“Then prepare for my ultimate attack!” He laughed evilly as her laughter rose an octave, the ruffling of wings as she feebly fought against him.

I chuckled as I helped Primrose put away the dishes. “Why don’t you go help her?” Primrose asked.

“I thought I’d be better help in here, don’t wanna get in the way.” I said, putting a plate on the top shelf.

“Nonsense, it sounds like she could use the help.”

We were silent, Snowdrop gasping for air. I smiled, putting another plate down as I rushed to her ‘rescue’. Even catching Storm off guard, we were no match for him, both of us surrendering a while later.

As we caught our breath, Storm shook his head and chuckled. “You two make a good team, you almost got me there.”

“Next time we won’t give up so easily, right Icy?” Snowdrop asked, holding her hoof out for me.

I pounded it. “Course, we’ll get you next time.” I said with a huge grin.

Storm laughed, puffing out his chest. “Then till next time little ones.” He said, laughing evilly as all of us started laughing. Primrose walked in, kissing Storm’s cheek.

“Did you two do your homework?” She asked as we both shook our heads. “Good, then I think we can spoil you a little.” She said, pulling out two cookies from behind her back.

Me and Snowdrop quickly grabbed them and devoured them, sighing as her parents chuckled. Snowdrop grabbed my hoof. “Come on, let’s go back to my room and continue our game!” She said, pulling me along.

I smiled, letting her lead me back to her room as we continued our game of twister. She was better than I thought she’d be, able to contort just right so she could hit the colors. I was impressed, considering I had to tell her where the colors were.

Finally, we were down to the last spin, right hoof green. I was above her and had to move my hoof with hers. I stuck my tongue out, trying to concentrate and not fall. After a few minutes, I got it and smiled, only for my hoof to give out. We both eeped as I fell on top of her, both of us staring at each other. Our faces turned bright red and time seemed to slow down, her blue eyes full of happiness. We both faintly smiling in silence, not sure what to say as Storm opened her bedroom door.

“Hey, it’s time for-” He stopped and I quickly hopped off her.

“Are you alright?” I asked shakily.

“Y-yeah…” She said quietly.

Storm cleared his throat. “Time for you two to go to bed.” He said, leaving the door open behind him.

We looked at each other before we scrambled downstairs, Primrose having already set up the beds on the couches. “Alright you two, let’s go. We got some fun things planned.”

“What are we doing to do?”

“Well if school’s canceled, I thought it’d be fun to watch some movies. Maybe play some games too.”

“That sounds awesome!” We both said at the same, Primrose kissing Snowdrop on the forehead before she hugged me.

“Sleep tight you two.” She said, disappearing upstairs.

“Goodnight!” We yelled, her parent’s door shutting as it went quiet.

Snowdrop turned towards me and yawned. “Guess we should be getting to sleep…”

“Yeah…”

“I can’t believe today went by so fast…” She said.

“Yeah, but it was fun right?”

“Of course!” She turned away. “Goodnight Icy… and thanks for spending the night.”

“Goodnight and thank you for letting me.” I turned to face the couch, wide eyed as I listened to wind hit the house. I was wide awake, my heart beating fast as I heard every noise, every creak of the house settling in for the night. I wasn’t sure how long I stared at the couch, cringing with every rattle of some random pipe. I curled up, trying to hide underneath the covers as I tossed and turned.

“Icy? You ok?” Snowdrop asked, her blanket slipping off.

“Umm… well, n-not really… I’ve never slept over at anypony’s house before… so I’m a bit ne-nervous…” I said hyperventilating.

She was silent, getting up and coming over to sit down on the couch with me. I leaned up, going to say something when she pulled me into a hug, kissing the top of my head. I froze, my face exploding in red. “W-when I’m nervous, my mom would hug me and… um… can I try something?”

“S-sure?”

She cleared her throat.

“Hush now, quiet now,
it's time to lay your sleepy head,
hush now, quiet now,
it's time to go to bed,”

she sung, her face almost as red as mine.

Her voice was soothing, my heart slowing down as my eyelids grew heavy. I snuggled against her chest, closing my eyes. I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly.

“Driftin' off to sleep,
exciting day behind you,
driftin' off to sleep,
let the joy of dreamland find you,"

she sung, gently rocking back and forth as her wings enclosed me.

I tried to stay awake, scooting closer to her, my head rested underneath her chin. Her heartbeat made it hard to stay awake though, the gentle beat making me sink deeper into sleep. “T-thank… you…” I trailed off, finally falling asleep in her hooves, her wings warming both of us.

Author's Note

So finally got it done! I'm so glad to have this published and you guys get to read it. This is probably one of the hardest chapter I've worked on this story for, and I hope it shows. Let me know what ya think, I'm looking forward to reading the comments.

VI - Can't Fight this Feeling

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77

Chapter VI - Can't Fight this Feeling
Edited by - WeLCxAlphaPuppy and Rglloyd

"Feelings that you have for each other will not be known unless you voice them."
~;~

Consciousness slowly came back to me, the gentle pat of snow hitting the window the first thing I heard. I yawned, opening my eyes before everything rushed back to me, and my face turned bright red. I felt somepony breathing on me, my ear flicking back and forth. I turned, my eyes resting on Snowdrop’s sleeping face. My face turned redder, last night replaying in full force.

She looked so happy and peaceful, a lot happier than when she was awake. She unconsciously strengthened her grip on me, her hooves tight around my back.

Some of her mane fell down across her face as she leaned forward, resting her chin against the top of my head.

I blinked, my face feeling hotter than the sun. I pushed her against the couch, trying to see her face as I brushed her mane back into place. She moved into my hoof, a small smile on her lips. The same part of her mane fell again, right to the same place.

I leaned forward, trying to get it to stay when our muzzles touched. I shot my head back and closed my eyes, expecting her to hit me. When she didn’t, I peeked through my eye, and saw her cheeks were red. I hesitantly leaned forward, our muzzles touching again. I watched her face get redder, and she pushed against me, our lips brushing for a moment.

My heart skipped a beat as she whispered something incoherent, my brain foggy. “W-what?” I whispered and leaned in closer, but she stayed silent, snoring softly. My tummy feels weird… I stared into her eyes as I fought the urge to press our lips together again.

Before I could try again, I heard hoofsteps coming down the stairs. I quickly closed my eyes, resting my head against hers. I opened my eye slowly, just enough to see Primrose and Storm looking at the two of us, a hoof to her mouth. They quickly went into the kitchen and I could hear them arguing. I made out a few words, “cuddling” and “wish I could take a picture.”

My ear flicked again as Snowdrop yawned quietly and I shut my eye. I felt her move, trying to stretch. “Icy? You awake?” She whispered.

I stayed silent, hoping she’d go back to sleep or go into the kitchen with her parents.

She sighed and took a deep breath. “W-well that’s good cause I’m not s-sure if I could tell you otherwise.” She stuttered.

I slowly opened my eyes, confused.

“I’ve been thinking about what we talked about yesterday… and I realized something. We’re pretty similar and we really do make a good team. What did you say, ‘between the two of us, we could maybe see normally?’ She smiled as her face turned red.

I went to agree but quickly shut my mouth as she stared right into my eyes.

“The only difference is, I had somepony to help me or somepony to make sure that everything was alright. You didn’t. You always had to rely on yourself…and n-not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just not right. I had my mom and dad to help me. Your dad…” She huffed, shaking her head. “A-anyway, what I wanted to say was…if you were okay with it, I wanted to be that pony. I wanted to be the one that you could talk to, who you can share your feelings with…I know you don’t like to trouble anypony with your problems, but I want to help. Knowing that I can make you smile or laugh makes me feel better, like I’m actually important.”

I bit the inside of my cheek trying not to say anything.

“So I-I just wanted to let you know that I will do anything I can to help you…be-because…I like you…” She trailed off, her face completely red.

My mouth dropped slightly as my mind tried to register what she said. She leaned forward, gently pressing her lips against mine. She’s…she’s kissing me! My upper wing shot out with a ‘pomf’ as Primrose walked out.

“Snowdrop, Icy, time to get-” She stopped, her thoughts trailing off as Snowdrop immediately broke the kiss and eeped, pushing me away from her.

Before I even knew what happened, I was on the ground and laid there, my brain still trying to gather itself after the kiss. D-did she…did she just kiss me?!

Primrose stood stock still, a hoof over her mouth as Storm walked in, his eyes going wide as he saw my wings rigid. He blinked a few times before he tried to suppress a laugh, that quickly escape and he laughed loudly, holding a hoof to his stomach. I tried to get up, my other wing making it even more difficult as it had decided it was time to go stiff as well. As I tried to roll onto my side, only to notice my left wing, Storm laughed even harder, buckling at the knees as he tried to breath.

Snowdrop launched herself off the couch and landed on my wing. I yelped in pain and she quickly backpedaled, hitting the couch and fell forward. I tried to catch her and my hoof touched her chest. We stared at each other, and I could feel her heart beat faster as her wings shot out with a ‘pomf.’ Both of our faces turned crimson as we struggled to get up, our muzzles bumping against each other.

“Why are your wings out?” Snowdrop asked, trying to get up without stepping on my wings.

“Why are yours?” I countered.

She blushed shaking her head. “I-I don’t know, can’t you just put your wings away?”

“N-no, they’re not listening.” I stuttered, willing my wings to close. They stubbornly refused.

She tried as well, her wings bending slightly before they shot back out. She pouted, looking up at her parents, asking for help. Primrose gasped, holding a hoof over her heart as she tried not to giggle. Storm himself was wiping tears from his eyes, finally calming down. He stood up as Primrose dramatically fainted, falling into his hooves. They smiled at each other, shaking their heads.

“D-dad? Why are our wings out like this?” Snowdrop asked.

All the humor left her parents as they shared a look. “W-well you see, that…uh, just means that you're both ready to learn to fly.” He said nervously.

“Oh…so it’s normal?” I asked.

There was an awkward pause as Primrose and Storm stared into each other’s eyes before he quickly put her down, walked over, and picked up Snowdrop. “Well, we don’t want breakfast to get cold.” He said, putting Snowdrop on the floor before they disappeared into the kitchen.

Snowdrop and I stared at the kitchen door before she turned around, feeling around for me. “For that to be normal, they sure are acting strange…” She said as she helped me up.

I got to my hooves, our wings finally calming down and folding at our sides. “Well uh…guess it’s time to start training, right?” I asked.

She paused, smiling. “Yeah! I can’t wait.”

I chuckled. “Me too…but breakfast first.” I said, leading us into the kitchen. Primrose and Storm already sat at the table, heads close together and whispering rapidly.

We walked in and they went quiet, smiling as Primrose got up, helping Snowdrop into her seat before grabbing us a plate and filling it with pancakes. It was silent around the table, both Primrose and Storm looking like they wanted to say something.

“So um…Dad, what were you and Mom talking about?” Snowdrop asked.

“I was just asking her what she wanted to do today. Since we have to wait till the snow calms down. I thought it’d be nice to just relax and spend some time together.” He said, picking up everypony’s plates and putting them in the sink.

“So what do you two want to do today?” Primrose asked, looking at both of us.

“Oh! I know, I know!” Snowdrop said.

“Why don’t we let Icy pick, he’s our guest.” Primrose suggest. Snowdrop huffed and crossed her forehooves over her chest.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure…I’ve never played games with my dad.”

“What do you mean?” Primrose asked.

“He was always busy with work…never really had time to play anything. He’d come home exhausted.” I said, watching her and Storm’s eyes widened slightly.

“Oh…well, what would you like to do then? We can play hide and seek, watch a movie, play charades.”

“I hate charades, Dad always wins…” Snowdrop muttered.

“Years of experience kiddo.” Storm chuckled.

“So…I can choose?” I asked, nervous as everypony watched me. Both of her parents nodded, silent as they waited. “How about…um…” He paused, wracking his brain before he blushed. “I-I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook.”

“Well then you’ve come to the right household. Primrose use to be a professional chef.” Storm said, grinning over at his wife.

She blushed and raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” I shook my head and she got up. “Alright then, Snowdrop and Icy, wash your hooves while I see what we can make.” She said, walking to the pantry.

We quickly washed our hooves as Primrose ordered us to gather what we could to make pie. We stumbled over each other as we tried to get the stuff out of the pantry as fast as possible. We’d barely started when Snowdrop grabbed the flour and ripped the bag in half, a white mushroom cloud following. I tried to stop her from tripping in it and landed face first into it instead.

After a quick trip to the shower, I came back. Primrose was helping Snowdrop measure out the remaining flour. Storm was sweeping up the floor, and threw away the ripped bag. I helped him sweep the rest of it up. Finally, I was able to go back and finish getting stuff without stepping in the flour landmine.

I placed the butter and rolling pin on the counter, turning back to grab the salt. “Icy, do you think you can help Snowdrop for a moment while I go get the pans?” Primrose asked.

“Sure.” I said, helping Snowdrop measure the last of it, pouring the extra back into the new bag. We smiled at each other, glad to have finally finished the dreaded flour.

Primrose came back, a pie pan and bowl on her back. She slipped them onto the counter, right next to the measuring cup. “Alright, now we just need to measure out some salt, pour them in the bowl, and whisk them together.”

“I’ll get the salt.” I said, darting into the pantry for the forgotten salt. I carefully walked over, Storm chopping up butter into squares to make them fit into the bowl. I poured a teaspoon of salt as Snowdrop, with the help of Primrose, poured the flour.

She hooved me the whisk and I stuck out my tongue, trying to get the salt and flour mixed well. After a few minutes, Primrose tapped my shoulder and made sure to show me how to mix the edges as well. I looked over and saw Storm messing with Snowdrop with an ice cube, holding it gently against her wings as they twitched.

We all chipped in as we threw the butter into the flour, mixing it as Primrose stopped Storm from starting a buttercube war. He pouted as we started to mix the butter and flour together, Snowdrop flinging some into my face. As me and Snowdrop mixed, Primrose added teaspoons of water, checking the dough every few minutes.

She stopped, putting the glass of cold water down next to Snowdrop and me as she rinsed her hooves. “Alright, I think that’s enough mixing. Grab the two pans and divide them into two parts. Press them into the pans while I preheat the oven.” She said as she turned around.

Me and Snowdrop grabbed the dough, our hooves touching as our wings twitched and we blushed. Her wing smacked against the cold water, knocking it over as it went down her back. She eeped, flinging the bowl straight into my face. I backpedaled and fell backwards, lying on the floor. Primrose turned around and saw what happened, sighing as she held a hoof to her forehead.

After quickly making another one, Storm and Snowdrop filled the pans before passing them to Primrose and me. Then we put them in the stove. She shut the oven and we all sighed. “Well that was an experience.” Storm chuckled.

“Is that how it usually is?” I asked.

Primrose shook her head. “Not really, there are those nights were a certain somepony starts a batter war but its very rare.” She said, looking at Storm as he nervously chuckled. “Anyway, why don’t you two go up and play for awhile, it won’t be ready for some time.” She said, turning back to start picking up the kitchen.

“Okay.” Me and Snowdrop said together, racing up into her room. We waited a moment before she launched into planning a surprise attack on her dad, trying to figure out how we were going to win. I paused, not sure if this was a good idea. I tried to talk her out of it, knowing that we’d only get in serious trouble. After a few minutes of debate, I sighed, relenting as she raised a hoof in victory.

We knew a frontal assault wouldn’t work, so we thought of a few tactics, both hoping it’d be enough. We gathered the necessary supplies, and listened to them talk downstairs, waiting for the best time to strike.

We snuck down the stairs, peeking around the couch to see Storm standing in the kitchen door, completely unaware of us. We grabbed our pillows and with a war cry, launched ourselves at him. He jumped and turned around before grinning as he laughed maniacally. Snowdrop continued to attack him as I peeled off, bouncing from the side. He easily blocked her attack as I came a split second later, nearly missing him, afraid of hitting Snowdrop as he used her as a shield.

I paused, watching as he continued to use her as a shield, tickling her the whole time. “Come on Icy, what are you going to do?” He grinned evilly, Snowdrop gasping for air.

I thought for a moment before I threw my pillow just below Snowdrop. I turned around and jumped over the couch, grabbing more pillows. I chucked them as hard as I could, hoping to distract him as I ran closer. He smiled, seeing through my ploy as he dodged them all expertly, the pillowing bouncing harmlessly against the doorframe.

“Is that the best you have?” He cackled.

Suddenly he was smacked in the head by Snowdrop, her weapon clung tightly in her hooves. He stood there, stunned for a moment before he closed his eyes and we grinned as he dramatically fell, making sure he hit the floor and not her.

We ran up to each other and hugged as soon as our hooves met. “We did it!” We yelled, grinning at each other. Before I knew what happened, I leaned and kissed her cheek. Our faces went crimson as our wings ruffled.

I quickly pulled away. “I…I uh...s-sorry, I don’t know what we-” I stopped as she kissed my cheek as well. I stood there dumbstruck as those butterflies in my tummy flapping their wings.

“D-don’t worry about it…” She whispered, blushing.

I stood there in a daze as Primrose cleared her throat. “Alright you three, I think that’s enough for one day.” She said, Storm on his hooves as they cleaned up the pillows.

Afterwards we rushed upstairs, going back to playing Twister. Then we did the dreaded math homework we didn’t finish yesterday. We struggled for a good hour, both going back and forth before we had to ask Storm for help. He explained it so well we felt stupid for not getting it the first time. He chuckled, saying it’ll come in time before leaving us to read the other chapter we’re supposed to read for a quiz.

It seemed like time flew by as we played in her room, the once organized books and toys strewn all over the place. Her bed had become a mobile fort or the only safe place from the lava floor.

Storm opened the door just as I jumped, landing on her toybox. “Dinner will be ready soon you two.” He said smiling.

“Okay Dad.” She said, her tongue out just a bit as she jumped and landed next to me.

“Alright.” I said, looking for our next target. He shook his head, shutting the door as I jumped back onto the bed. I turned and she was next to me. “Well then, guess we better head down.” I said.

“Do you think we could make it without touching the floor?” She asked.

“And how would we do that?”

“Well, if we used the banister like a rope and slid or climbed our way down, we wouldn’t touch the floor.”

“Hm… sounds risky and could get us yelled at. Let’s do it.” I grinned.

“Yeah!” She said, hopping onto her saddlebags.

I jumped next to her as we made our way slowly to the door and I opened it as we hopped to the banister, latching on. She started crawling first as we shimmied our way downstairs, our tails wrapped tightly around each other. We made it halfway down the staircase before we realized a rather large oversight. How were we supposed to get to the safety of the kitchen?

“Seems you guys are stuck.” Storm said as he rested against the couch. “I’ll help you out but you have to clean it up.”

“Okay, we promise.” Snowdrop said.

He nodded and tossed a few pillows, spaced just enough so our jumps had to be dead on. Snowdrop stared at the pillows, her ears flicking as they hit the ground. She squinted, glaring at the pillows before taking a deep breath and she jumped, landing nicely on the first pillow.

She looked down in shock as Storm whistled, messing with her mane. “That’s my filly.” They looked up, waiting for me to follow.

I gulped, looking at the pillows before sighing, scooting to where she was moments ago. I took a deep breath, swinging a bit before flinging myself in a barely controlled jump. I landed awkwardly on the edge of the pillow, my hind hoof nearly in the ‘lava’ before Snowdrop saved me, pulling me in as I leaned against her.

I sighed as we went into the kitchen, our pie sitting on the counter to cool. Primrose grabbed it and put it into the fridge. She grabbed something from the oven and set it on the table. “I wanted to try something new…so I made some three-cheese lasagna.” She said, cutting it out of the pan and serving us each a slice. She sat down, taking a deep breath. “I haven’t made lasagna in a long time so I’m not sure how it’ll taste.” She said, waiting for us to take a bite.

We all looked at each other, shrugging as we dug in. It was silent before we devoured what was on our plates, asking for another helping. She smiled, hoofing us each another slice, that we finished fast. She ate hers, after saying it wasn’t her best. Which all three of us disagreed with.

Me and Snowdrop got the living room to ourselves again, her parents retreating to their room after cleaning up after dinner. We laid on the couch, an awkward silence hanging over us.

“So…”

“You’re warm.” She whispered.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“I didn’t need a blanket last night because of you…you kept me warm…”

“Y-yeah…” I paused, taking a deep breath. “So… um… co-could I be your blanket again?” I asked, blushing.

“You’d want to?”

“Of course… why wouldn’t I?”

“Well… most ponies think that’s weird… and wouldn’t…”

“Well I’m not most ponies…” I said, getting up and sat next to her. I wrapped my hooves around her and rested my head on her chest. “Your heart… it… it lets me sleep easier…” I chuckled.

Her hooves wrapped me and she sighed contently. “I’m glad… because I wouldn’t want to spend time with any other pony.” She whispered, leaning back as we closed our eyes, falling asleep as the snowstorm wanned for the night.

Author's Note

Yay! Another chapter finished! And look at that, within a month. I may be getting better bout that schedule. Now this chapter is probably one of the favorite things I've ever written. It's so mundane and probably really boring... but it means so much to Icy, never having a moment like this before. Hopefully you've enjoyed reading as much as I did writing... and next chapter, they get to learn how to fly! Woo!

VII - Blowin' in the Wind

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77

Chapter VII - Blowin' in the Wind
Edited by - goticBlake and Rglloyd

“I’m learning to fly, around the clouds. But what goes up must come down.”
~;~

The next couple days followed that pattern; we’d wake up, have breakfast, and then Snowdrop or I would pick what we did that day. It’s funny, they’re so different than what I thought a ‘family’ should be. Here, they laugh, goof around. Hay, Storm plays with her every day. If I acted like this around Dad, he’d throw his bottle and tell me to leave him alone.

Even when I asked to learn to cook, they didn’t yell or tell me to ‘buzz off’... they taught me eagerly and showed me how much fun it was. Last time I tried to ask Dad to teach me to cook, he burnt the pasta and threw it at me. Said it’d toughen me up for how many times I’d fail at cooking.

On the last night of the blizzard, I stared at the ceiling, thinking, while Snowdrop used me as a pillow. I looked down at her, cuddled against me for warmth as she shivered. I pulled the blanket higher, and she nuzzled my chest. Huh… maybe… maybe this is what she meant…

We sat at the breakfast table, Primrose once again making excellent pancakes as Storm walked in. “So, now that the blizzard’s finally over, guess I gotta teach you two how to fly, right?”

Snowdrop and I grinned at each other. “Yay!” We said simultaneously.

“Talked to a good friend of mine a while back. Pulled some strings and he’ll let us train at the Wonderbolts Academy.” Storm said, chuckling as he sat down and grabbed some pancakes.

Our mouths drop and our eyes grew. “Y-you mean the Wonderbolts Academy?” Snowdrop asked.

“Unless you know of another Wonderbolts academy.” He said, finishing a pancake. “Honey, these are really good, did you change the recipe or something?”

Primrose shook her head. “No, Icy helped me make them.”

He turned to me and grinned. “Good job kid, these are pretty good.”

“B-but how did you-” I asked, both me and Snowdrop barely able to stay in our seats.
Storm looked at Primrose, who wasn’t really paying any attention to us before leaning in. We leaned towards him too. “Well… if you really wanna know, I talked Rapidfire into-”

“RAPIDFIRE!?” We exclaimed together.

He blinked and tried not to smile. “Well yeah, unless you know somepony else named-”

“The leader of the Wonderbolts? Who took on three griffons-” Snowdrop started.

“All while dodging lightning strikes and griffin assassins!?” I finished, both of us long gone from our seats as we huddled next to Storm.

He chuckled. “I guess so, if that’s how they’re telling it nowadays.”

“Bu… how do you know him?” Snowdrop asked.

“We were friends back in high school, before I met your mother.” He sighed. “Anywho, he gave us special permission to come onboard and watch them train. Said he might even give you two some pointers.”

We squealed and sped off to her room, coming back a moment later with our saddlebags. Storm laughed, shaking his head. “Not yet, we gotta wait for a bit.”

“But Dad…” Snowdrop pouted.

“You two have to shower and make sure all your homework is done before school tomorrow. And your mother has to make sure she doesn’t need your help.” He said. “Don’t worry, it won’t be that bad.”

We dragged our hooves as we moped back into her room and made sure we had everything ready for school, our homework finished. We had gone over the quizzes as I helped Snowdrop with a few problems. Primrose didn’t need our help, having things already under control. I let Snowdrop shower first as I made sure I had everything packed, not looking forward to going back home after training. I… I don’t wanna go back…

“Icy, it’s your-everything alright?” Snowdrop asked, her mane wrapped in a towel.

I shook my head and forced a smile. “Yeah… just thinking that I have to go back home after training…”

Snowdrop frowned and stared at the floor. “O-oh… yeah…” She paused. “So let’s have as much fun as we can right?” She whispered and looked up, smiling at me.

I walked over and hugged her, her fur still wet. “Yeah…” I muttered before letting go and hopping in the shower. I took off my eye patch, hissing in pain as the water hit it.

We held hooves and hopped around Storm in tandem, happy that we were finally leaving as he led us towards the Academy. As we walked there, me and Snowdrop talked about all the tricks we were gonna learn, trying our best to mimic the Wonderbolts.

Finally, after what felt like forever, we stood outside the Academy, two Wonderbolts standing guard over the entrance. I stared up at their cold faces as a shiver of fear tingled down my back.

The building was at least three stories tall, the sloped roof hanging over the second story. Several large windows dotted the outside, the view probably amazing from inside.

We paused right before the steps as a pony walked towards them, his slick back amber mane was littered with gray streaks. His coat was dark gray, all color lost in his old age. He saw us, pulling his sunglasses off so we could see his red eyes. He quickly walked over and stared at us, him and Storm having an intense stare-down.
After a few moments, a big grin spread across his snout as he hoofed Storm. “About time you got here slacker, thought you’d never show.” He said.

“Sorry Rapid, had to show the kids around.” He said, pointing at us.

Rapidfire turned and stared at us coldly, an eyebrow raising as both me and Snowdrop quickly got to attention. We gulped, trying not to freak out as Rapidfire continued to stare at us.

Slowly, a grin worked its way on his face. “Seems you taught the kids well.” He said before bending down and offering a hoof. “Wonderbolt Captain Rapidfire, who are you two?”

“I-I’m Snowdrop…” She said, blushing.

“Icy…” I stuttered.
“Well Snowdrop, Icy, welcome to the Wonderbolt Academy. I’d love to stay and give you a personal tour, but I gotta go to a meeting.” He slightly pouted. “But I’ll try and make it back before the windbowl.” He chuckled, waving goodbye before disappearing down the street.

We watched him leave before we squealed, jabbering between the two of us as Storm led us inside. We gawked at the large building, Wonderbolts walking freely inside. They were each huddled into their own groups with most ignoring Snowdrop and I. Several of the Wonderbolts nodded to Storm, pausing to salute or chat with him. Me and Snowdrop looked at him suspiciously, surprised that they would stop and talk to Storm like he was one of their own.

Suddenly, we were stopped by several Wonderbolt trainees surrounding Storm. They barraged him with things to sign and questions about the ‘old days’. They squealed over him like we did Rapidfire, Storm embarrassed with all the attention.

Snowdrop leaned close to me. “Why’d we stop?”

“A bunch of Wonderbolts are talking to your dad-”

“You're the reason I wanted to become a Wonderbolt! When you helped save Princess Celestia from those griffins!” A Wonderbolt said as Storm nervously chuckled.

Me and Snowdrop stared at each other before turning to look at Storm. “As much as I’m flattered, I really must be going.” He said.

“Oh, of course sir! Sorry that we interrupted.” They said, walking away as they talked amongst their group, comparing signatures.

Storm sighed and turned to us. “Phew, thought they’d never leave.” He chuckled.

“Dad, you were a Wonderbolt?”

“That saved Princess Celestia?” I squeaked.

He blushed. “That was a long time ago.” He ushered us forward. “Come on, we don’t wanna miss the windbowl.”

Both of us were frozen, our mouths almost touching the cloud. “YOU WERE A WONDERBOLT!?” We said in unison.

“Yes, yes I was.”

“But why did you quit?”

“Are all the stories true? That they make you fly blindfolded?”

“Can you really do Buccaneer Strut and Blind Frontal-Flip?”

“Oh, what about the Cloud Skimmer?”

We continued our interrogation as his face got redder and redder. “Guys!” He finally yelled and cut off my question as several ponies turning our way. “That’s enough. Now I want you two to be quiet till I say so, okay?”

We looked at the floor and nodded as he sighed and led us outside. It was awkward between the three of us, none wanting to speak after getting yelled at.

A while later, we stood outside the academy building, a huge sunken part of the cloud in front of us. Both of us stared in wonder, Snowdrop backing up slightly.

Storm sighed. “Look, I’m sorry I yelled at you two earlier, but that was a long time ago…”

“We’re sorry too Dad… it’s just, why didn’t you tell me you were a Wonderbolt?”

“It’s a long story, remind me to tell you another day.” He said before he cleared his throat. “Before you is the windbowl, a special training device created by Starswirl and Princess Celestia.” He said. “There’s only a few in existence, the magic necessary to create one far too strong for normal unicorns, and even the Princess has to rest afterwards. In the center of the bowl, strong currents swirl against the sides, creating the momentum needed to move the city.” He paused. “I believe we’re in time for a demonstration.” He said, motioning to several trainees blindly jumping in.

The wind tore at their uniforms, their wings refusing to stay at their sides. “The wind tears at any open you give it. Any weakness it can find, it’ll grab on and tear at your resolve.” Storm said coldly, watching as the trainees were already struggling to stand.

Several of the trainees quickly bailed out, their uniforms ragged as they panted on the sides. “You go numb in moments, the feeling leaving your body as the wind ceaselessly pulls at you. You can’t open your eyes or they’d dry out faster than flying in a desert. Your ears are buffeted by the pressure, your head feeling like it could burst any minute.”

Only two trainees remained, gritting their teeth as their wings slowly worked with the wind. It seemed that they finally got the hang of it, going with the wind. Me and Snowdrop watched in horror as one of the trainees wing dipped him too close to the ground as he bounced around the bowl before being spit out. He laid dazed on the cloud as his exhausted teammates rushed over to make sure he was alright.

“You have to learn to harness the wind, make it a part of you. You can’t control it, wind is a natural element, able to destroy any that stand in its way. Once you learn its ebb and flow, the gentle nuances. Once you do, well… see for yourself.” He said, motioning at the remaining trainee, who was hovering off the ground, his body shaking. Finally he slowly and sluggishly walked out and slumped right outside the bowl. “Funny thing is, sometimes they aren’t so lucky and are flung right off the side.” Storm said and pointed at the other side. “The bowl was made so one edge was always at the end of Cloudsdale, extra incentive not to fall out. If you fall out… well, the earth ponies and unicorns usually send us the remains.” He shrugged as the trainees stumbled inside, the survivor dragged. Storm clapped his hooves. “So, who wants to go first?”

We quickly backed up and I stood in front of Snowdrop as we shook with fear. I could feel my face pale as we shook our heads no. Storm gazed at us coldly before a small smirk appeared on his face. “I’m just kidding you two.” He started to laugh, holding a hoof over his face. “Can’t believe you thought I’d throw you in there… you should see the look on your faces.” He chuckled, taking a calming breath. He walked right passed us and when we didn’t follow, he turned around. “So do you want to fly or not?”

We scrambled over each other and followed right behind him as we left the windbowls.

“Here we go, some peace and quiet.” He said as we stopped. We were on the farthest part of the academy, away from everypony. “Alright Icy, I’ve already taught Snowdrop a bit of flying, so we’ll have to catch you up to speed.” He sighed. “Snowdrop, do you remember the cloud flow that I taught you?” She nodded. “Good, I want you to teach Icy.”

She blinked. “W-what?”

“The only way to show me that you mastered it is to teach it to somepony else.” He said calmly. “Don’t worry, I’m right here.”

She gulped and turned towards me. “A-alright… Icy, close your eyes.” I did as she said. “N-now… do you feel the tug on your hooves from the cloud?”

“Uh… no?”

“Spread your hooves out and just breath, keep your eyes closed. Feel around you.”

“Everypony has inert magic inside them. It’s what gives the pegasi the ability to shape the weather. First you must learn to feel the magic inside. Then harness it… then you can merge with the wind.” Storm said, a cold breeze flowing through.

I shivered, feeling something prickling inside. “I’m not feeling anything… except cold.”

She walked up to me and placed a hoof on my chest. “Relax, you're too stressed.” She paused. “Dad taught me to see through this, look for everypony’s faint outline… I can see that you’re too wound up.”

I bit the inside of my cheek and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Another breeze hit us, this time gliding over my back. I twitched as I felt something. I was startled, my body relaxed by itself.

“Ah, seems like its a bit windy…” Storm chuckled.

It felt like a small fire was lit in my chest, the wind tugging at it, making stronger. “Do you feel it Icy?” Snowdrop asked.

“Y-yeah…”

“Feel the breeze glide over you, feel it take hold of your wings…” She whispered, our wings opening by themselves.

“Good job kid, you're a natural.” Storm said. “Now that you can finally feel it, we can start learning to jump.” He said as he began to show us lift off. “Never lift off against the wind, always go with. Learned that the hard way and nearly broke my wing.” He chuckled.

Both of us practiced with Snowdrop easily taking to it more. She seemed to understand how to time in between gusts to keep hovering. It was a lot harder than I thought, even with a few tips from Storm.

“I did it!” I said, finally hovering just above the cloud. My wings were gently lifting with the wind. He grinned at the two as my wings flapped, the small uptake keeping ‘em aloft.

“Congrats kid.” Storm said, rustling my mane as I smiled.

Snowdrop hovered over, small beats of her wings pushed her forward. We bumped hooves as Storm cleared his throat. “Now that you know how to hover, let’s try actual flying.”

We landed as he took off, showing us the stance we want to take off in, when to flap our wings, which way to tilt to turn. It seemed so complicated, tipping your wing and leaning left, all the while keeping a steady rhythm. It took me awhile and several face plants into the cloud before I could even hover off the cloud long enough to start moving. I did my first semi circle, finally grasping a few tricks he showed me.

I looked over at Snowdrop as she expertly flew through the air, dipping right with the wind and using momentum to keep herself airborne. It was almost as if she could see the change before it happened, dipping easily with a gust of wind.

“Seems she’s a natural.” Storm said, watching with pride.

“Yeah… its almost like she can predict the future.” I said, hovering around.

“Well in a sense, she can. She can see the energy clearer and I’ve taught her little tricks since she was born blind.” He sighed. “Even if she can’t see normally like us, she can see the energy clearer… what takes us years of practice takes her about half the time. Our biggest problem is being clouded with sight, but she doesn’t have to worry about that.” He turned to me, scratching his neck. “Look, I know we’ve had this talk before… but I just can’t help it. I know how much you mean to Snowdrop… and I worry about you. You’re a great colt and have quite the unusual outlook on life. I know you didn’t want to say anything… but what’s the real reason your dad isn’t here? He’s not on business, is he?”

I turned away, my wings buzzing to keep me afloat. “I… uh, don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Icy, I’m not going to force you to say anything… Just know whenever you need somepony to talk to, I’m here, okay?”

“Yeah… I know…”

“Good.” He faintly smiled. “Oh, and Icy?” I tilted my head. “You and Snowdrop make a cute couple.”

I face planted in the cloud, my wings going stiff. Storm roared with laughter, almost falling down as Snowdrop landed next to us. “What happened?”

I shook the snow off my head, my face on fire. “N-nothing…” She looked at me quizzically as she helped me to my hooves, patting the snow off.

“ICY!!” Somepony’s voice yelled.

My fur stood on end as I dived behind Storm. Storm and Snowdrop quickly looked towards the voice, a stallion flying towards them. “Who the hay is that?” Storm asked.

“M-my d-dad…” I whispered and gulped as the stallion landed. Dad had a dark navy blue coat, silver starting to show. His mane was short and thinning, the remaining was silver. His ice cold blue eyes glared daggers at me as he marched over. His silvery blue tail swished agitatedly. His cutie mark was a shield over the sun.

Storm intercepted him. “It’s nice to mee-”

“What the hay do you think you’re doing?!” Dad yelled.

Storm blinked. “What?”

He reached around and grabbed my hoof, pulling me away from them as Snowdrop gasped, tears in the corners of her eyes. “What do you think you're doing with my son!? Teaching him to fly?! That is a sacred tradition between father and son and you took it away from me!”

“Excuse me! He’s old enough to learn and he needs to! He deserves to be taught, with or without his father’s help. Every pegasus needs to know how to fly.”

Dad glared at Storm before pulling me away and forced me on his back. “I’ll teach him when I think he’s ready.” He paused and poked Storm in the chest. “And you stay the HAY away from my son!” He said, flying away.

I turned around and looked at Storm, scared, and tried not to cry as Dad took me away. The last thing I saw was Storm quickly trying to comfort Snowdrop.

Author's Note

Phew! Finally got that done! Glad to finally get the chapter released... also, the windbowls aren't my idea, all that credit goes to Rglloyd. Go check out his Dashaloo series, he explains it way better.

So, time for some announcements. The next chapter... is going to be pretty short but it's gonna be probably the most painful to read. It might make you cry, I know I did when I wrote it... So I'll post that within a week. And with that, more sad news. Tears of Snow is wrapping up pretty soon. I only see maybe 4 more chapters. But... it will get a sequel. I decided to break up the story into a trilogy... so expect more Icy and Snowdrop adventures.

Don't forget to leave some comments! I always enjoy reading those! Till next time.

VIII - Scar Tissue

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77

Chapter VIII - Scar Tissue
Edited by - Rglloyd

“Our injuries will heal as long as we’re alive. But the scars will remain.”
~;~

“D-dad, why are you so mad?” I asked, baffled as he flew home. Dad refused to answer, fury radiating off him as he squeezed my hoof tighter.

“What did I say?! Don’t get too close to anypony!” He finally answered.

“Why not?”

“Just in case you screw up again and we have to leave.” He muttered.

Snowdrop’s words echoed in my head. “But its not my fault…” I whispered.

“What?” Dad asked as we landed in front of the apartments. We opened the front door, Mrs. Dancer’s smile quickly faltered as she saw the looks on our face. We walked right past her as we made it to our house.

“I… uh… said it wasn’t my fault?” I stuttered and wished for Snowdrop’s help.

Dad’s eye twitched as he flung open the door and pushed me inside. I smacked into the couch. He slammed the door shut, the door itself shook. “EXCUSE ME?”

I gulped, shriveling up as I backed away. I didn’t see the blow coming, his hoof cracking into my head. “What did I say about talking back?”

I held my head, tears already trickling out of my eyes. “I-I’m so-sorry…” I whimpered.

He stood over me, picking me up before whacking my wing. “After everything I’ve taught you, all that effort I put into raising you to respect your father… this is how you pay me? Looks like I didn’t teach you hard enough.” He said, my back cracking against the table. “I can’t believe you would even think that this isn’t your fault! How could it not be? Before you, I had a job, a loving wife… a career!” The table cracked and caved as he battered me around and I cried,curling into a ball like I learned to do. He glared at me and forced me to my hooves. “Get up and stand your ground! I thought I taught you to be tough, to take anything that life threw at you?” He paused before a grin stretched across his face. “Oh… it was that filthy blind bat eh? Made you soft… but I can see why you’d fall for her, you’re both a pair of rejects… destined to be the bane of your parents.” He chuckled. “I can’t believe my son fell for such a defective pony… but I guess that’s just like you? No matter how much I try to teach you, you still are just as useless as she is. How… how they even manage to be proud of her is amazing! If she was my filly, I would’ve dropped her off a cloud and be done with it! But-” My hoof met his jaw with a sickening crunch as I glared at him.

My hoof throbbed as I stomped it on the ground. “You aren’t a pony, you're a monster! My ENTIRE LIFE you’ve treated me like trash… but now, I’m finally happy. Why?! Why do you hate to see me happy?! Is it because you saw how much of a better dad Storm is than you?! You know, living with them for the week, I realized how much of a horrible dad you really are!” I took a shaky breath and stared Frosty right in the eye. “You aren’t my father anymore, I’m leaving.”

He stared at me, a tear slowly falling out of his eye. “You wanna know why I treat you like trash? Why I even put up with you?” He took a step closer. “Because you killed your mother.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Because I promised her that I’d look after you, no matter what. Even when she left me alone, with you, I still took care of you. I could’ve tossed you aside and forgot about you, but no. I suffered every day, watching you grow up and had to deal with it alone.” He wiped the blood from his mouth. “But you know what the worst thing is? You have her eyes… Every time I looked at you, all I saw was her… Every time I hit you, I hoped they’d change, hoped it was all an illusion. That the same eyes I fell in love with didn’t stare back at me in fear.” He grabbed me and ripped off my eye patch. “Even when this one died, it still looked like hers! I couldn’t escape it!” He pushed me to the floor as he sighed. “So I thought, maybe if I hit him enough, he’d go away on his own… or maybe some pony would notice and I wouldn’t have to deal with you.”

I staggered to my hooves, tears pouring even faster. “B-but you told me...”

“She left… Yes… you drove her away. My beautiful wife died and left me alone with a spoiled brat and a defect. Why…” He paused as he stared at the ceiling. "You know, after seeing her eyes, I thought about killing you so I didn't have to see them again. But I didn't want you to get to see her and spend any time with her. No... you should suffer for what you put her through, live every moment alone... like I've had to do... knowing you were responsible for her death."

I stood there, staring at the floor as all the lies… all the hidden meaning Dad’s said over the years came back. Mom… mom died because of me? My body deflated as all my fantasies of Mom coming back shattered, the ashes spinning around.

YOU KILLED HER!! It shouted as I closed my eyes, shaking my head.

I could feel my chest burning, my hooves going numb. Bu… I couldn’t… It can’t-

The picture I drew for class appeared in my head, Mom crying. Why… why did you do it Icy… The vision I had, Mom tearfully looking at me before she disappeared, it all made sense.

I… I really did…

Frosty sighed. “But now that I finally got that off my chest, I’m going to do what I should’ve done a long time ago.” He said, his hoof sending me flying.

I didn’t feel a thing, my body went numb a long ago. He picked me up, tossing me like a ragdoll into anything close at hoof. Finally he grabbed a piece of the table, standing over me. “This is for your own good Icy…” He said as our front door flew open, Storm standing in the doorway.

Storm quickly looked around and saw all the broken furniture and me, barely breathing. He turned his eyes onto Frosty as the stallion in question turned towards him. “Who the hell do you think you are, breaking into my house?”

“Protecting my colt.” Storm answered, his wings a blur as he launched himself. Frosty swung the wood like a club. Storm ducked underneath as his forehooves connected with Frosty’s chest.

The air left Frosty’s lungs as he stumbled back. Storm followed him and grabbed the wood from Frosty’s hoof, ripping it out of his grip and smacking him in the snout with it. Frosty yelped, his hooves going to hold his injured snout as Storm went for another swing and connected with his stomach. He folded in two as the wood splintered on his ribs. He cried out in pain, a few drops of blood dripped out of his mouth.

Storm grabbed Frosty’s mane, pulling him up. “YOU NEVER HIT YOUR COLT!” He screamed. “The one thing that your WIFE asked you to do and this is how you’re keeping your promise?” He punched Frosty in jaw where I hit him. “You’ve taught Icy nothing but being afraid of others and how to never trust anypony!” He punched him again, Frosty gasping for breath. “My daughter was barely able to speak after she told us what you’ve done to him, she couldn’t stop crying. How could you do such a thing to your own flesh and blood?”

I felt hooves wrap around me as I opened my eye. Primrose was holding back tears. “It’s going to be alright Icy, I promise. I won’t let him hurt you anymore.” She said and gently pulled me into a hug, her wings protectively around me. I buried my face into her chest and screamed, unable to contain anything anymore. She tried to rock me back and forth but I screamed louder.

“Get away from me!” I screamed as I tried to push myself away from her. Instead, I found myself trying to get closer to her, trying to hide from the pain. “I’ll just kill you too!” I muttered as I gasped for air. “I already killed my Mom, I don’t want to kill Snowdrop’s too!” I cried.

Primrose paused and looked down at me. She kissed my forehead and wiped a tear from my eye. “Icy, what mothers want most in life is to see their foals grow up to be ponies that are happy with their choices. We may never have met your mother, but we both know that she’d want you to be happy and not blame yourself for a horrible accident. She may have died during foalbirth, but she made sure you came into this world. I’ve only known you for a few weeks but you’ve been like a colt to both me and Storm…” My heart skipped a beat, the pain pausing for a moment, “and we’ve been thinking of finally sitting you down and have you tell us everything. I wish you would’ve told us sooner… If we’d known, we could’ve stopped this.” A tear rolled down her snout as she hugged me, trying to push away the pain. “I wish I could take your pain away and make you happy Icy… I would give anything to see you happy, truly happy.”

My heart picked up, my body finally going into shock as everything started to go dark. “Mom…” I whispered and feebly wrapped my hooves around Primrose.

She bit the inside of her lip as she gingerly picked me up. Making sure I was alright, she quickly took me from the apartment. The last thing that I saw before the world went black was Dad on the floor as Storm stood over him, his jaw clenched in anger.

Author's Note

That was the most painful chapter I've ever wrote. And now with this out, I have some confessions to make. Icy is based a lot on what I experienced growing up, what I delt with on a daily basis. Now, I exaggerated a few times, but every flashback, every beating... was based on truth. On a side note, my mom isn't dead, but that's another story.

I thought I should at least explain a few things and give some perspective as to why this story is so personal for me. Maybe it'll hit stronger knowing what I went through and how its affected me, maybe it'll make you think I'm weak. I don't know... thought I should mention it in this chapter.

Sadly, my life wasn't a story and no one came to save me nor did I have somepony like Snowdrop to help me through, but hell... if I did, I wouldn't have wrote this story. Guess it's worth it then.

I'm gonna stop rambling now, kept you long enough. I truly hoped you enjoyed the chapter and story so far. I know it's been a blast writing it. Made a good friend out of it too. Don't forget to comment and I'll see ya next time.

IX - Until I Find You Again

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77
Chapter IX - Until I Find You Again
Edited by - WeLCxAlphaPuppy

“Life that has been lost cannot be brought back again. That very truth is what shows us the meaning and value of living.”

~;~

I could hear ponies mumbling, their voices quiet and far away. I opened my eye, everything fuzzy. I tried to talk, my mouth feeling like it was full of cotton balls and my tongue was numb. Some sort of mask went over my mouth and darkness took over again.

I heard ponies frantically talking, the steady beeps of some machine going off in the background. It seemed like they were worried about something as I could faintly feel a pinch in my hoof. I twitched, trying to move and stretch but nothing happened as I greeted the darkness once more.

The alarm clock echoed through the house as I groggily opened my eyes, and stared at the ceiling for a moment. I leaned forward, scratching my head. My nose told me Mom must have made something good for breakfast, my stomach loudly agreeing. I flung the covers up, and stiffly walked into the bathroom.

“Icy! Breakfast’s ready!” Mom yelled. I heard hoofsteps in the kitchen.

“Okay!” I yelled back, walking out of the bathroom and bumped into Dad, my head bouncing off his armor. I rubbed my head, trying to soothe the pain.

“Sorry Icy, didn’t see you.” He said and bent down, pushing my hoof away. “You alright?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I huffed, shaking my head.

He smiled and ruffled my mane. “That’s my little soldier.” He paused and squinted at the little lump. “Maybe we should ask Mom to look at it...”

I quickly pushed his hoof away. “I’m fine Dad!” I said grumpily.

He chuckled and picked me up, careful of his armor. I wrapped my hooves around his neck and we walked into the kitchen. Mom was waiting for us, her vibrant violet eyes and orange coat glowing in the morning sun. She leaned in and kissed Dad as I hopped off his back and sat at the table.

Dad grinned and nuzzled her cheek. “I’ll be home a bit late today, gotta show the recruits some tips on how to patrol without causing a ruckus.”

“Alright, be careful.”

“Always am.” He winked at her before he turned to me. “Make sure you pay attention in school today.”

I rolled my eyes. “I will…”

“Good. If you do, I’ll teach you a few moves.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Only if you do good in school.” He said, waving goodbye before he left, the door shut behind him.

I yawned, rubbing my eyes as I watched Mom finish making breakfast. She paused, staring out the window. “Mom, you okay?”

She turned around, and tears were pouring down her face. “Mom, what’s wrong?” I asked, scared as I jumped out of my seat, and rushed over to her.

“Why?” She whispered, the plate dropping and shattering on the cloud.

“What?”

She fell to her knees as the color slowly drained from her face. “Why did you kill me?” She asked, her voice weak.

I stopped, and stood in shock. I blinked as my ears flicked. “Bu-I… I didn’t.” I stuttered as I cried.

She looked up at me, our eyes locking as her hoof touched my cheek. “B-because of you… I… I died…” She muttered, her body shaking. “I bring you into this world and this is how you repay me?”

I tried to grab her but I was frozen, locked in place as I watched her twitch uncontrollably. Her body flailed about, her wings lying useless on the ground. Her eyes never left mine, the pain and betrayal she felt stabbing into my heart. She grew still as her body began to glow like a torchlight. The light took over her eyes, the pupils vanishing as she took a deep breath...

It felt like I stood in fire as I watched her body disintegrate, the remains still glowing faintly before seemingly going dead. I took a hesitant step forward, my hoof touching where my Mom laid. “M-mom?” I asked hesitantly.

There was rustling as something moved within her ashes. I took a step back as a wisp of smoke drifted from the pile. “WHY DID YOU KILL HER?!” Dad yelled, his body bursting out her ashes. His body was on fire as smoke swallowed the house. His eyes liquified and morphed into Mom’s, fear and pain shining through. “WHY?” He bellowed again, his mouth opening wide as smoke poured out.

I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move as I felt the fire eat at me. Something compressed against my chest, and I gasped for air. I heard a loud crackling as fire burst from his mouth. The last thing I heard before the world vanished was somepony crying and calling my name.

I jolted awake, Dad’s eyes still glaring, accusing me. I tried to calm down and took rapid breaths as I slowly looked around, everything blurry and bright. Something was pinching me and found a needle embedded in my arm, held there by tape. I went to reach for it, everything in slow motion.

“Thank goodness you’re finally awake.” Primrose said, quickly walking over to me and wrapped me in a hug.

I blinked a few times, my mind fuzzy as I wrapped my hooves around her and yelped in pain when I tried to move my right hoof.

She placed her hoof on top of mine and gently pushed it down. “Don’t move it, it’s not fully healed yet.” She said quietly. I buried my face into her chest, closing my eyes and listened to her heart. She ran a hoof through my mane and kissed the top of my head. “I’m so glad you’re alright…”

I gasped as everything flooded back to me and I quickly pushed her away, gritting my teeth as I forced my arm to move. “You gotta get away from me!” I yelled hoarsely, my mouth dry.

She looked at me sadly, shaking her head. “Why would I do that?”

“B-because… I’ll kill you too…” I whispered, staring into the bed sheets. “I already killed my Mom, I don’t want to do the same to you…” I muttered, barely audible. I sniffed, trying to keep the tears at bay.

“Icy, there’s nothing in the world that would make me leave you.”

“Please… I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you… Snowdrop would hate me and Storm would do what he did to Dad.”

“Icy.” She said quietly and I forced myself to look at her; she was crying, a few tears falling down her face. “Nothings going to happen to me, I’m perfectly fine. And if anything did, no pony would blame you. Ever. Things like this happen out of our control and what happened to your mom… oh, I’m so sorry. No pony should never have that happen to them.” She wiped away the tears. “But you have to know that you always have a home with us and I may not be your mom but I’ll do everything I can to make sure that you’re taken care of.”

“Why? Why are you doing all this for somepony like me?”

She paused, opening her mouth a few times but closing it before saying anything. Finally she sighed and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. “When I was a little filly, my mom always told me to help who you can, no matter the cost. And as a mother, it hurts me to see any filly or colt going through what you are. Maybe its because you mean something to me, even though we’ve only known each other for a few months. You’re apart of our family and I know it hurts Storm to see you hurt… and unable to do anything to help.” She took a deep breath. “Family care for each other and make sure that everypony’s taken care of. If something happens to one then we all chip in and make sure they’re taken care of.”

“You think I’m f-family?”

“Of course you are, why wouldn’t you?”

“I… I thought you just let me come over cause you felt sorry for me…”

She shook her head. “Icy, family isn’t restricted by blood, its by who you love and trust. We may not be related in any sense but I love you just like I love Snowdrop. I want you to be happy and taken care of. Something… something that you haven’t had before.”

I didn’t say anything, too afraid to speak. Somepony knocked on the door. “Come in.” She said as the door opened and a very familiar pony walked through.

“Ms. Healium? What are you doing here?” I asked.

She smiled as she walked in, her nurse uniform gone, replaced by a simple blue blouse, a pair of saddlebags hung off her sides. “Good morning to you too.” She said, shutting the door behind her. “It seems as if those ‘thugs’ came back, huh?”

I coughed as Primrose looked at me curiously. “Uh, you see…”

“It’s alright Icy, I know what happened. I really wouldn’t be a good social worker if I didn’t.”

“S-social worker? But I thought you were the school nurse?”

“Part time nurse; not many filles or colts get hurt. Just happened to be at the right time to patch you up.” She said, sitting down and grabbed some files from her saddlebags. “Since then I’ve been digging around, just in case those bruises turned into something more… serious.” She coughed before turning to Primrose. “Have you told him anything?”

“No, I didn’t think it was the right time.”

“He does have a right to know.”

“He just woke up, I thought he could at least relax down a bit…”

“Hello? Right here.” I muttered as they nervously smiled.

“Right… well, as much as I like to sugarcoat it, it’s been pretty hectic week.”

“WEEK? I’ve been out for a week!?”

They nodded. “First couple days were touch and go, it was quite scary. The doctors weren’t sure how bad the… um damage would be.” Primrose said quietly.

“Damage?”

“Do you remember what happened at your house?” Healium asked.

I closed my eyes, trying to remember. “I… remember arguing with my dad and punching him… and then he told me what happened to Mom…”

“I see…” Primrose looked away as it got eerily quiet.

“What?”

“Icy, during your father’s ‘breakdown’, he slammed you into your table. The impact was hard enough to dislocate your shoulder. But the table couldn’t handle the continuous hits and shattered. A piece of the table pierced your shoulder and ripped through the connecting tendons and muscle. They were able to fix most of it, but some… couldn’t be repaired.”

I was silent, staring at my hoof in the sling. “So… what does that mean?”

“It’ll heal and get stronger but… because of how the wood cut them, the muscles won’t heal right and you’ll have a slight limp.”

“Oh...” I mumbled.

“It won’t really be noticeable but you won’t be able to run any marathons any time soon.” Healium joked.

It was silent in the room, no pony sure what to say and Healium cleared her throat. “I know its a lot to handle, but we need-”

“We can deal with that later.” Primrose interrupted, glaring at Healium. The two waged a silent battle before Healium nodded slowly. “So there’s something else you should know.” She finally said.

I looked at her. “What?”

“While you were... incapacitated, the Princesses arrived for the Spring Sun Celebration… and Snowdrop won.”

I paused and faintly smiled. “I’m glad, what did she give them?”

“A snowflake.”

“Snowflake?”

She nodded. “Everypony takes winter for granted and hates the cold and snow. Snowdrop made them realize that winter is just as important, it brings us together and rejuvenates Terra, the water giving the ground life again.”

“It seems everypony had a lot to learn from Snowdrop, myself included. I always hated winter but she made me realize its just wonderful and pretty as any other season.” Healium agreed.

I looked at the bed, trying to hold back tears. “T-that seems like something she’d do…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Snowflakes… they’re little gifts for the winter and everyone is different right? What happens at the end of winter? They melt and disappear… just like ponies.”

“While that may be, there’s a big difference between us and them. Even if we’re gone, everypony that knew us will keep us alive in their hearts. As long as you don’t forget about somepony and think about them, they’re never really gone.”

“But that’s the thing… I never had the chance to meet the pony I want to remember…”

Healium rubbed the back of her neck as she seemed to purposely lose herself in her saddlebag. Primrose faintly smiled as she scooted closer to me. “Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy. Snowflakes are like stars, so even if she is gone, she’ll surround you with her love.”

I looked at her, my vision blurred with tears. “A-are you sure?”

“Of course I am, I’ve never been more sure in my life.”

I leaned forward, resting my head against her chest as I closed my eyes. I felt her hooves wrap around me, squeezing my gently. “It’s going to be alright Icy, we’ll always be here for you.”

“As much as I hate to ruin this moment, we do have some pressing matters to attend to.” Healium said.

Primrose sighed and nodded, letting me go as I fell back against the pillow. “She’s right.”

“What do you mean?”

Primrose’s wings rustled. “Well… it seems Princess Celestia asked for a visit…”

I blinked. “What?”

“Princess Celestia wants to meet you, but I told her she’d have to wait till you get better.”

“Uh…” I stuttered, shocked she’d say no to Celestia. “I… uh, guess whenever’s good for her? B-but why would she want to meet with me?”

“Your dad was a former sun guard and she said it was her responsibility to make sure you were okay. Paid for everything too, no matter how much I tried to stop her.”

“Oh… I… uh… not sure what to say…” I mumbled, once again at a loss for words.

“Do you want me to go get her?”

I nodded. “Yeah… I mean, not like we can say no-”

“Are you sure? Because I can tell her to wait for a little while longer.” Primrose said calmly.

I gulped. “N-no, I’m alright…” I paused. “Is… is Snowdrop here?”

Primrose smiled. “Yes she is. I’ll bring her in too.” Primrose got up and left the room, the door shutting behind her.

Healium took a deep breath. “Well I never thought I’d find somepony that’d say no to Celestia, Primrose is scary…”

“Yeah…”

“I know this is a lot to take in right now but just know I’ll do what I can to make sure this gets settled fast.” She said, searching for a something in her saddlebag. “Primrose and Storm made it perfectly clear that they plan on adopting you as soon as you can leave the hospital and the judge agreed, so you’ll be staying with them.” She paused before staring me in the eye. “They also want you to go on trial against your dad, apparently the doctor’s testimony wasn’t good enough. The judge also said you’re to inherit all your father’s possessions so Primrose, Storm, and I are going to pack them up and move them over to their house.”

“Wh-”

“I know its confusing but I have to be there to take anything that might be considered evidence. Just relax and let us handle everything.” She said as the door opened. Guards rushed into the room, making sure it was safe. “I’m sure the hospital is safe.” Healium said sarcastically.

The guard looked at her coldly. “Just doing my job ma’am.”

“That’s quite alright Clashing.” A very calm voice said as Princess Celestia walked in. Everypony bowed as I tried to do the same, my body refusing to move. She held up a hoof and motioned everypony to rise. “It’s fine Icy, I don’t want you to get hurt anymore than necessary.”

“Pr-princess Celestia, its an honor to me-meet you…” I stammered, not sure what to say.

She smiled. “The pleasure is all mine. So how are you feeling?”

“I… uh… guess I’m doing alright your majesty.”

“I see.” She looked at her guards. “I think its safe enough for me to be alone.”

“But your highness-”

She raised a hoof. “I’m sure no pony is going to try and hurt me in a hospital.”

The guards looked at each other before nodding. “Yes Princess, we’ll be waiting outside.” Clasher said, the guards leaving me and Ms. Healium alone with the Princess.

Celestia sighed. “Now that they’re gone let’s try this again, how are you feeling?”

“Well… I have been better…”

“Icy…” Healium said, glaring at me.

“It’s okay, a little humor is always good in these situations.” Celestia. “Well I’m glad to see that you’re alright, after everything that’s happened.”

I gulped. “Princess? If I may ask a question.”

“You just did but yes?”

I faintly smiled. “N-not that I’m not thankful for your visit… but… why are you here? I’m sure you have a million other places to be.”

“You are right, I’m sure there’s quite a few places I should be but I think this is the most important.”

“Really? Why?”

She looked me in the eye, pain and concern clearly shown as she bent her head. “I was hoping to ask for your forgiveness.”

Ms. Healium and my jaws dropped. “Wha… my… my forgiveness?” I squeaked.

Celestia nodded. “It seems that I overlooked something that led to all this…”

“Please Princess, it’s alright. I… uh, forgive you, just please, stop bowing. I don’t deserve this.” I quickly said.

She stood up and gazed into my eyes again. “Once I heard about what happened, the name… sounded so familiar to me. I looked it up and it seemed like your father had quite the reputation with the guard. I talked to his old sergeant and was told that he had to have a weekly meeting with your father, usually talking about his aggression.” She paused, closing her eyes. “In fact, I remember meeting him once about this problem, I could sense a lot of pent up anger at something but could never figure out what. I ignored my sister’s warning and let him continue to serve as a guard. If only I had listened, maybe this all wouldn’t have happened. And for that, I’m truly sorry.”

I blankly stared at her, my mind numb. If that never happened, he never would’ve met Mom… and she’d still be here…

“Whether we like them or not, the past is the past and we can’t change that, not even you Princess.” Healium added.

“Yes, I know. But things could’ve been vastly different if I had listened.”

“He could’ve never met Snowdrop and give her the inspiration for the snowflakes.”

“That may be.”

“Wait, what?” I asked. “I… I inspired her? How?”

“Why don’t you ask her?” Celestia asked, using her horn to open the door.

Primrose and Snowdrop stood there, uncertain what to do. “We… we were waiting till the Princess said everything that she needed to.” Primrose said nervously.

“I believe I have.” Celestia got up and smiled at me. “I wish you the best Icy and know if you need anything, I’ll always be there to help.” She said, wishing us goodbye before walking out, the guards trailing her.

Primrose led Snowdrop to the bed, Snowdrop trying her best not to cry. Healium and Primrose shared a look before Healium got up. “Well I think I have enough to work with, I’ll come by tomorrow and see how you’re doing.” She said, packing up her saddlebags and leaving quickly, shutting the door behind her.

Snowdrop was quiet and I was too afraid to say anything. Primrose poked her with a wing. “He’s okay Snowdrop, go ahead.”

Snowdrop felt blindly for me and I scooted closer to her. She quickly latched onto me, careful of my hoof as she started crying. I patted her back with my good hoof, looking as Primrose. Primrose was crying as well. “She was so worried… she barely even slept. Every day she’d come in and hope that you’d wake up…” Her voice cracked. “She barely smiled lately and nothing I or Storm did helped.”

I took a deep breath. “Hey Snowdrop…”

“Are you okay?” She asked before quickly pushing herself off me. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, I’m fine Snowdrop.”

“No your not, your… your hoof is hurt…”

“It’ll get better.”

“Not for a long time… and I… I heard about your mom, I’m so sorry…”

“Snowdrop, its alright, its not your fault, its mine.”

“Icy, what did we-” Primrose tried to say before I interrupted her.

“I know! But if I wasn’t born it means she would be alive! Even if it wasn’t my fault, I still caused her to die. That’s fact, Celestia even said she could’ve stopped it… but she didn’t…”

“It’s not your fault.” Snowdrop whispered.

“How isn’t it?!”

“Because somepony as nice as you couldn’t have!”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not nice, I’m a monster.”

“STOP SAYING THAT!” Snowdrop yelled, tears falling down her face. “This past week, I waited for you to wake up, to make sure you were okay. And every day it was the same, you’d be asleep… mumbling, crying. Nothing I did… helped. I was useless.” She paused. “You were my first friend… the first pony that actually saw something other than a blind reject, a hopeless cause… And here I was not able to do anything!” She paused and wiped her eyes. “I wished and prayed on the snow, hoping that they’d hear me… and it seemed to work, cause you're finally awake. But now that you are, you're blaming yourself for something no pony had any control over! I understand nothing we say will change your mind, you have to believe it yourself. But answer me this, could a monster help a blind filly find the one thing that she’s been searching for her entire life? Just one… friend?”

I refused to meet her gaze, staring at the bed sheets. I didn’t know what to say, my mind and heart battling against each other. She’s right… I didn’t kill my mom… something happened and it wasn’t my fault… but… if I wasn’t here, then she would be… “I… I don’t know what to say…” I whispered.

She grabbed my hoof. “I don’t want you to just say something to make me happy Icy. I want you to believe it, you to understand that something that was supposed to be beautiful turned into something so horrible.”

“But how… how can I live-”

“Would she want you to blame yourself?” Primrose asked quietly.

“No but…”

“You still see yourself as a horrible pony for what happened and I understand that.” She paused, steeling herself. “The fact remains that yes, in a roundabout way, you killed her.”

“Mom!” Snowdrop said, horrified.

“Let me finish sweetie. Icy, everypony can spend countless hours saying that it wasn’t your fault, you didn’t do it, it was all a horrible accident. But when we leave, it comes back. Only you can change the way you feel, not me, not Snowdrop or Storm. We’ve done all we can to try and help you see it... and I don’t want to see you hurt anymore than you already are.” She sighed. “You have to look deep inside and take a deep look at yourself and really think if that’s who you are, a monster. Or are you just a victim of a horrible circumstance?” She got up, picking Snowdrop up and putting her on her back. “I think its best we leave you alone to do some thinking.”

“Wait.” Snowdrop said, turning around and looked at me. “If you think that just because you were born that you killed her… what about me? I was born blind, does that make me a monster?”

“No…”

“Then why are you?”

“But… you didn’t…”

“I know but I must’ve done something to be born blind. What did I do Icy? Was a bad pony for merely existing or was it just a cruel accident? I’ve learned things I never would've if I could see… Just… just think about that okay?” She said, waving goodbye as they shut the door.

I leaned against the pillows, the sun starting its descent, the shadows growing in the room. I sighed, staring at my injured hoof. What… what do I do? Tears streamed down my face. I… I don’t know how to feel… everything’s just going too fast… I… why… I held a hoof over my eyes, trying to stop the tears. Please… somepony… just tell me how to feel…

“No pony can, only you can decide that.” Princess Celestia said, the door shutting silently behind her.

I quickly leaned up. “P-princess? What are you doing here?”

“Something felt wrong when I left…” She turned to look at me calmly. “Primrose told me what happened. Icy… no words can describe how sorry I am.”

“Sorry? SORRY? That’s all any pony can say! Guess what, I’m sorry too! She’s dead… and everypony says its not my fault… but I feel deep down that it is! Every time I try and think its not, the truth comes back.”

She was silent before her horn was coated in a golden aura. She walked up to me and gently pressed it against my chest. I could feel the pain, the concern, the agony that she had buried deep away, but also the happiness, the compassion for everypony. “All my years, I’ve never been able to grasp how the universe works. Things happen for a reason and not even I can understand all of them. My negligence led to your father being able to continue his aggressive ways, until he met your mother. My thoughts is she kept him in check, making sure he didn’t go overboard.” She faintly smiled. “I can’t imagine how happy they were when they found out they’d soon be having a foal. They got so excited and waited for months… then something happened and she passed on. Your father was devastated and he had to care for you. I don’t think anypony can understand how your father put all his anger on the world on you, but it happened. And because of that, you lived a life of fear and pain, always stepping cautiously and making sure not to anger him. But it didn’t matter, you still were hit and abused, just for existing.” A tear fell from her eye. “Then you make a friend and everything finally seems to be going right. The power of friendship and love can heal many wounds but the scars, they’ll still be there.” She paused, taking a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say little one, even though you’ve been through so much and taken so much responsibility for one so young, I think you’ve become a stronger pony because of it. You try and help any way you can because you know how it feels to be hurt… and lonely. Snowdrop is a very good example.”

“What do you mean?”

“I sensed she was quite alone and depressed before you came along. Having a friend can mend a broken heart, somepony to voice your fears to, your problems, your hopes and dreams. She had her parents yes, but they can’t be with her all the time. You gave her hope and mended a broken heart full of neglect from her peers. Now tell me if a monster would do that?”

“No…”

“Part of growing up is taking responsibility and how to cope with life’s ever changing curves. You’re a very intelligent colt Icy and I’m sure if you put your mind to it, you’ll see what everypony has been saying all along.” She said, the glow of her horn fading. “I’ll see you in the morning, I believe I may have a gift for you.” She said, walking to the door before she turned to look at me one more time. “Goodnight Icy.”

“Goodnight Princess.” I said, the door shutting once more. I rested against the pillows, my mind going a million miles an hour. I closed my eyes, trying to stop the tears, knowing it was going to be a long night.

“Icy? Are you awake?” Snowdrop’s voice drifted through the darkness.

I opened an eye, my body sore as I leaned forward. She was holding a book tightly, looking nervous. “Yeah… what’s that?”

“Well, we were going through your house… and we stumbled on your mom’s diary…”

My eyes opened. “But dad said he threw it away…”

“I don’t know, Mom wouldn’t open it and said I should give it to you.” She said, hoofing it over.

I looked at the cover, the stains still there from last time, the string barely keeping it close. I undid the knot and opened it, the book barely held together. I skimmed through, remember reading it the first time. A few pages sprinkled out and I put the book down, grabbing them with my good hoof.

“We also found, buried in a photo album, some of the missing pages.” She said, holding the picture.

It was a picture of Mom and Dad, smiling at the camera as Mom’s stomach was big and they stood in front of a foal crib. I took the picture, staring at it. I put it down and looked at the pages. “These… these are the missing pages…” I muttered.

May 16

He asked me out on a date! I’m so excited... but what if somepony notices us? That’d be so bad... And he won’t tell me where he’s taking us! Why are all stallions so thick headed?

May 29

We’re going on our third date, the last two must have been dreams... I just wish we didn’t have to run from his guard buddy... That was a fun chase though. But something feels weird about tonight and he’s being extra jittery tonight.

July 30

I’m pregnant! I can’t believe it... I went to the doctor’s, thinking I was just sick or something and he said that I was gonna be a mom! I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be a colt... we’re both so excited, he’s even told a few of his friends and they’ve come over to congratulate us.

Nov. 20

Just had a checkup; the foal is nice and healthy, it’s gonna be a colt too! We can’t wait, already thinking of names. He wants Frizzy but I was thinking maybe Mystic... or Icy. Yeah, I like Icy. Maybe I can convince Frosty to that name.

Feb 19

Something’s wrong; I haven’t felt Icy move in a while. Went to the doctor and they’re getting ready to do a more thorough look and make sure he’s okay. I’m a bit nervous and scared. What if something happened to my baby before I even got to say hi to him? Oh Celestia, I hope nothing's wrong with him... Frosty is freaking out too. He doesn’t think I don’t see it but I do. I know him well enough by now.

I read them out aloud, my voice cracking. I paused, trying to calm down before I read the last one.

Feb 20

They’re going to do an emergency C-section, they say it’s the only way to save him. I’m hoping its not too late, come on Icy... hang in there, mamma is doing what she can.

It switches over to some pony’s writing, I can’t tell who's though.

Breezy... she didn’t make it. There was complications during the surgery and she... she didn’t get to see her foal with her own eyes. The one thing that she wanted most in the world was torn from her before she could even welcome it. If Icy didn’t need to come out now, I could’ve taken her to Canterlot, gotten her better doctors. If only Icy wasn’t such a pushy colt, she’d still be here... Well I hope he’s happy. His first decision cost his mother her life.

Me and Snowdrop were silent, neither sure what to say. I put the page down, my hoof covering my eyes. “So… I was right…” I croaked.

“Flip it.” Primrose said. She stood in the doorway with Storm. They both looked like they had been crying. “I didn’t mean to read it but when it fell out, I caught a glimpse at what it said.” She said.

I flipped it over, an entry undated.

Icy, if you’re reading this, then something must have happened. I’m not sure what but something told me to write this little note. If you are reading this, then welcome to Equestria! I know I won’t be the first to welcome you on this planet but I’m your mother, dang it! I should still be able to say it.

Second, I bet Frosty has been rather harsh with you. I know he probably hasn’t said it yet but he loves you. He’s just... awkward with showing emotions. Do you know how he told me he loved me? By slapping hoofcuffs on our hoofs and saying we’ll always be together! I mean, romantic but just slightly creepy.

Third is, I wish I could say this in pony but odds are, I can’t. So... I love you Icy. You will always be my little colt, no matter what happened or is going to happen. I’ll always be there if you need me, in your heart. I know we’ve never met but a piece of me will always be a part of you.

Know that whatever you decide to do with your life, I will always support you, behind every fall I’ll be there to catch you. Every time you get hurt I’ll be there to make sure you get better. I’ll see the day you become the very best you can be. And hey, maybe one day I’ll get to see my grandfoals. I bet you're all the rage with the mares, probably have to beat them off with a stick.

Well we’re off to the doctors to get checked out and make sure everything is alright with you. So if I don’t see you, just know I love you and you were the greatest thing to happen in my life. See you one way or another.

My hooves shook as I read the page. I couldn’t hold back the tears as I cried, the tears hitting the page. I finished, dropping the page as I sat there, my mind numb. She… she doesn’t blame me… she… she loves… me

Snowdrop wrapped her hooves around me as I buried my face into her chest, finally letting the last barrier dropped. I cried, my body shaking. I could feel more hooves encircle yeme as Storm and Primrose joined the hug. Time seemed to fly by as we just sat there, my tears long gone. Finally they broke the hug, Primrose and Storm trying to smile.

I looked at them, something clicking into place. “I… I guess you were right…” I said. It felt as if some heavy burden was taken off my chest, finally able to let go.

They smiled. “Feel any better?” Primrose asked.

I nodded. “Yeah… I feel… I feel a lot better.” I faintly smiled.

Snowdrop kissed my cheek, both of us blushing. “I’m so glad your better…”

“I… I can’t thank you enough for putting up with me. All of you...”

“Don’t worry about it kid, its what families do. We take care of each other.” Storm said.

They spent the rest of the day catching me up, apparently the doctors wanted to keep me a few days, make sure everything was okay. Celestia still said that she’d cover it, even with everypony trying to convince her otherwise. Dad was locked in a jail, not having said anything since that day. The doctors quickly fixed him before he was arrested. Storm was put under house arrest for a few days. Even though he was defending somepony, especially a colt, he still broke in and assaulted somepony. It was a very strange case and Celestia lowered the sentence. Ms. Healium was appointed my social worker and looked after my case, making sure everything was in order. Everything was mostly moved out of the apartment, waiting for me to decide if they should keep it or not.

It was a while before somepony knocked on the door. “Come in.” I said, and the door opened to reveal Celestia.

“Good afternoon Icy.” She said, smiling as we all bowed. She shook her head. “It’s alright, we don’t need to be so formal with each other.” She sat down, a pair of saddlebags floating behind her. “So how are you this morning?” She asked me.

“A lot better…” I smiled.

“That’s wonderful news, I’m happy to hear it.” She turned and looked at Snowdrop. “Did you make your decision yet little one?”

Everypony paused as I looked at her, confused. “What decision?”

Snowdrop blushed. “N-no… I haven’t really thought about it…”

Celestia nodded. “I understand, just make sure its what you want to do.”

I looked at Snowdrop. “What decision?”

Celestia tilted her head slightly. “You haven’t told him yet?”

“We thought it’d be better to wait for awhile and let things calm down.” Primrose said.

“Could somepony explain what’s going on?”

“After the Spring Sun Celebration, my sister offered to take Snowdrop as her apprentice. Once we found out about the… situation, we gave her some extra time to think.”

“Oh! That’s great!” I said, giving her the best hug I could.

She returned it after hesitating for a moment. “Y-yeah…”

“What’s wrong?”

“If I do… that means I’ll have to leave and stay at Canterlot.” She said, staring at the bed.

It felt like somepony had punched me in the chest. “Oh… right…” I stuttered.

“I was going to tell you… just after everything… I wanted to make sure it was the right time.”

I forced a smile. “It’s alright Snowdrop… I understand. It’s been a bit hectic.” I chuckled. “Do what you wanna do, I won’t stop you.”

She went silent for a moment. “Yeah, okay…”

Celestia cleared her throat. “I do apologize for springing this on you, I thought you told-”

“It’s alright Princess, I guess I’m glad he knows…” She muttered.

Celestia looked at her sadly before her horn once again was surrounded in a golden glow. “Well… the reason I stopped by, other than to check on you, was to offer you something that I’ve had for a few years.” She said, levitating a small wrapped object. It floated over to me and I grabbed it.

I looked at it, it wasn’t that heavy, maybe about as heavy as a bit. I looked up at her, confused and she motioned for me to unwrap it. I unwrapped it, squinting at the small medal in my hoof. “What is this?”

“Your father’s Medal of Wings. Even if he had his moments, he still was a guard. During one of his patrols, he helped break up a vicious fight and he broke several bones trying to save a mare in the middle. I thought you’d like to have it, considering its your fathers.”

I rubbed my hoof over the cold metal and smiled. “Thank you Princess… I do want it.”

“Then its yours.” She said, getting up. “Well, I should let you get back to your rest, have a good night.”

“You too Princess.” We said, the Princess leaving us alone.

We were silent, none of us sure what to say. “Well… its getting late and its been a long day.” Storm said, watching the sun wane.

“Can’t we stay for a bit longer?” Snowdrop asked.

Primrose and Storm shared a look. “Alright, but just for another hour. Icy should get as much rest as he can.”

“Yay!” Snowdrop said as we smiled at each other and briefly hugged each other. We talked about the Spring Sun Celebration and how scared she was, and how the others making fun of her. Primrose and Storm left to go get us something to eat as Snowdrop snuggled up to me.

“Hey Snowdrop?”

“Yeah?”

“I… I just wanted to say thank you… for dealing with me after everything.”

She smiled, her cheeks red as she nuzzled me. “No need to thank me Icy, I’m glad I could help. It’s the least I could do for my best friend.”

I sighed, resting against her. “So you’re going to train with Princess Luna right?”

“I… I don’t know yet.”

“Why wouldn’t you? This is too good of an opportunity to miss.”

“But then I’d leave everypony… and I can’t just leave you now…”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.” I paused. “If this is because your worried about me getting hurt, forget it. I’ll be fine-”

“It’s not just that…” She interrupted. “Icy… its not like I don’t want to go, its just…”

“Just what? Worried about Primrose and Storm?”

“Well yes but-”

“I think they’d want you to go, I mean… imagine what you’d learn!”

“I know and I can’t believe she offered it to somepony like me…”

“Then what’s stopping you?”

She seemed to wrestle with something before she turned to face me. She leaned forward, our snouts inches away as she kissed me. I stood stock still, my wings rustling under the bandages. She broke the kiss and her face was as red as mine was. “After this week, I learned how fast things could be taken away… and I want to spend as much time as I can… with you.”

“Snowdrop… I… I know what you mean and I want to spend all the time I can with you… but you can’t just ignore this because of me.”

“Yes I can!”

“No… no you can’t. I want you to be happy and we both know that you want to study with her … It wouldn’t be right to ignore her for me.”

“But its my decision and I don’t want to go!”

“Yes you do, you’re just scared. I’m scared too but you’ll see in the end that its the best thing to do.”

She looked at the sheets. “Are you mad at me?”

“No, why would I?”

“You’re trying to get rid of me… I… I must’ve did something!”

I put my hoof under her chin and made her look me in the eye. “Snowdrop, there’s nothing you can do that’d make me mad. I just want you to be happy… and in the future, you’ll be upset with not taking this.”

She was silent. “I… I don’t know, I need to think about it.”

“Okay.” I said, wrapping her into a hug.

Primrose and Storm came back with dinner and we ate in silence. Finally, it was time for them to leave, everypony giving me a hug. As Primrose hugged me, she kissed the top of my head. “Thank you Icy.” She whispered and before I could ask what she meant, they left.

I rubbed my eyes, my eye patch sitting on the table. I grabbed the medal and stared at it, trying to think what to do.

The next few days seem to fly by, too many ponies stopping to visit me. Cirrus, Mrs. Windith, Ms. Healium, Primrose, Storm, and Snowdrop. Ms. Healium talked to us about the legal mumbo jumbo and I dozed off for most of it.

Cirrus and Mrs. Windith came by and dropped off my homework and let the two of us talk while she talked to Primrose.

Finally, the doctor came in and gave me a final check. He scratched his chin. “Well, as long as you take it easy, you should be ready.”

I grinned, my good hoof in the air. “Yes!”

Primrose, Storm and him chuckled as they helped me out of bed, the sling making it awkward to walk. “Now that’ll take a little bit to get used to. And I want to see you in a few weeks alright? Just want to make sure everything is healing properly.”

Primrose nodded. “Alright, thank you again Doctor.”

“It was my pleasure.” He smiled as our little group left the hospital for home.

Author's Note

Wow... haven't written a chapter that long in a good while. I hope it wasn't too boring! I wanted to get all that hospital-goodness out of the way in one go, so it isn't 3 or 4 chapters of him sitting in a bed. So if it feels a bit rushed, I'm sorry... that was my fault. And I hope it was worth the extra wait... and now, only 2 chapters left. :( I'm glad I'm actually finishing a story... but I'll miss this one. Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas!!

(NonCanon) Winter Wonderland

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77
Winter Wonderland
Edited by - WeLCxAlphaPuppy

Pre-Author's Note - Just thought I'd say this real fast before you start reading. I've wanted to do a Christmas/Hearth Warming chapter since that episode debuted but wanted to make sure it was Christmas time... and I missed it twice. So I thought to just make this chapter and post it. It won't have any part of the story, since this story will end before Hearth Warming and I didn't want to make it a one-shot. So... yeah.

~;~

“I still don’t understand what the big deal is…” I muttered as I watched Primrose set the final piece on the table. “It’s just a stupid holiday…”

“I love Hearth Warming Day!” Snowdrop said, carrying another strand of lights to Storm.

“Icy, do you know the story?” Primrose said, making sure the center piece was center on the table..

“Of course I do, everypony does. The pegasi, unicorn, and earth ponies were at war with each other till the leaders got some sense in their head and started working together.”

She smiled. “While that may be, do you know what that ‘sense’ was?”

“Uh… no?”

“It was friendship.”

“Friendship?”

She nodded. “When the leaders went into a cave to talk about a pact to work together, they kept bickering. Everypony wanted the same land and each was willing to wage war to get it. It wasn’t until their seconds in command made them realize that if they helped each other, the land would flourish. They didn’t want war, war would only lead all of them to ruin.”

I scratched my head. “How did friendship save them then?”

“When you care for somepony, you start to make compromises. They wouldn’t think of it otherwise. With the compromises came promises, which built friendships. The more they worked together, the better everypony became. The lands flourished and Equestria was founded to symbolise their ties together.”

“Then I got a question.”

“Alright.”

“Why are we decorating trees and stuff?”

“Did you never do this with your father?”

I shook my head. “No, he always thought it was a stupid tradition.”

“I see… Well, as we decorate the tree, we spend time together and help one another. The tree is built, like bonds, with each other’s help and improving on each other. It’s a family thing, to have everypony here to decorate. When we gather, we reminisce about those we lost this year or all the good times we’ve had, the memories we’ve created.”

“It’s also the time where we gotta suffer a visit from the in-laws.” Storm chuckled as he finished putting up the garland around the staircase railing.

Primrose rolled her eyes. “Yes, we have to have Mom and Dad over.”

“I’m just kidding.” Storm smiled. “It’s one of the few times where we can ignore any problems we have and be a ‘family’.”

“Oh…” I said, nursing my right hoof.

Primrose frowned. “It’s been hurting again, hasn’t it?”

“Just a little sore, I’m fine.”

She sighed. “Why don’t you take a break? You’ve been helping all morning.”

I picked up a plate. “I’m fine, its just-ouch!” I yelped, dropping the plate as I moved my hoof. It shattered on the ground and Snowdrop rushed over.

“Are you okay?” Snowdrop asked.

“Yeah… just can’t go that far yet. Sorry about the plate… I’ll clean it up…”

“It’s alright, I’ll do it.” Primrose said, heading over to the cupboard.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Storm cleared his throat. “So… when are Spring and Sketchy coming over?”

“Not till later, they have to pick up a few things.” She said. sweeping up the debris and I sighed.

Storm patted my good shoulder. “It’s alright kid, things happen.”

“Yeah, just a lot happens to me.” I muttered.

Primrose threw away the broken plate, putting the broom away before rummaging around the cupboards for a new plate. She looked at the clock. “Well, I guess all that’s left is to wait for them.” She sighed.

“Come on Icy, let’s go play upstairs.” Snowdrop said, dragging me upstairs.

Our room was a bit messy, Snowdrop’s stuff strewn everywhere. “So what do you wanna do?” I asked, sitting down on my bed.

“Well…” She tiphoofed to the door, silently shutting it before running back over, going through her stuff. “I wanted to see what you thought of this.” She said, pulling out a small snowflake flower. She hoofed it over and I stared at it. It was a snowdrop flower, made out of snowflakes.

“How did you…”

“Princess Luna helped me.” Snowdrop smiled. “She also made it so it wouldn’t break if I drop it.” She scooted up to me. “So what do you think?”

“It’s beautiful… Primrose will love it.”

“Yes!” She said. “Do you want to make it from both of us?”

“No, its your gift. I already got her something else.” I said, hoofing her back the flower and walked over to my desk. I rummaged through it, pulling out a small wrapped box. “I went to the store with Storm and found a small hoof bracelet of a butterfly perched on a rose. He said it was her favorite flower so I thought she’d like it.”

“I think she’s gonna love it…” Snowdrop said before blushing. “Um… Icy?”

“Yeah?”

“Think you can help me wrap my gift?” She asked.

I chuckled. “Of course. Let me go get the wrapping paper.” I said, heading back downstairs to get the wrapping paper. It took a good hour to wrap that flower, neither one of us good wrappers. Eventually we got the paper to stay on the flower long enough to tape it shut. We smiled at each other, covered in tape as she held the wrapped gift.

“Now that I think about it, probably would’ve been easier to put it in a bag.”

I shook my head. “Oh now you tell me.”

We laughed as she leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Th-thank you for helping me.”

“N-no… problem Snowy.” I grinned. “So now what do you want to do.”

“Hmm…” She thought, placing the present on the desk before poking my side. “Your it.” She said before disappearing.

I blinked and looked around, just catching the door shutting behind her. “Oh real fair!” I said, chasing after her.

Me and Snowdrop relaxed on the couch as Primrose paced back and forth, making sure the kitchen and living room were spotless. Storm tried to calm her down, to no avail. Snowdrop rested her head on my shoulder, dozing lightly when somepony knocked on the door. “They’re here!” She yelled, me and Snowdrop jumping. She walked over to the door and opened it, revealing two pegasi.

The mare had a light pink coat, silver starting to streak through. She had a pure silver mane and tail, her mane put up in a ponytail. She wore a pair of red ringed glasses, her ruby eyes sparkling. Her cutie mark was a canvas with a rose wrapped around it.

Standing next to her was a dark yellow coated stallion, his fur dotted with grey spots. His brown mane was slicked back, his temples streaked with grey. His brown eyes looked around the room, a smile quickly forming as he saw Primrose. A pair of saddlebags were around his waist as they walked in.

“Mom, Dad, its good to see you.” Primrose said, giving each of them a hug.

“Good to see you too sweetheart.” The mare said.

Storm walked up to the stallion and shook his hoof. “It’s good to see you Spring, how’s the stove working?”

Spring chuckled. “Seems to be holding together, mind helping out of these saddlebags? Bloody things are heavy.”

Storm shook his head, helping the old stallion. They placed the saddlebags on the ground as the mare came over and hugged Storm. Storm smiled. “It’s good to see you too Sketchy. How’s the art class?”

She beamed. “It’s going fantastically, I love teaching the little fillies and colts how to paint. There’s one colt in the class, such a natural. Always going on about painting happy little mountains and trees.” She giggled and turned around to Snowdrop. “Sweetheart, you're looking pretty as ever.” She said, picking up and hugging Snowdrop.

Snowdrop blushed, hugging her back. “Thanks Grandma.”

Sketchy put her down before turning to me and gave me a hug. “Well Icy, don’t you look as dashing as ever? I bet you have to keep the fillies off you with a stick.”

Everypony chuckled as my face burned red and tried to hide it. “T-thanks Sketchy…” I stuttered, not sure how to respond.

Spring came over and rustled my mane before picking up Snowdrop and giving her a hug. Finally, with the pleasantries out of the way, we made our way to the kitchen, Spring and Sketchy in awe of Primrose’s work.

“Sweetheart, this is amazing.” Sketchy said, staring at the table.

Dinner looked delicious; a big bowl of salad, right next to that was fruits, rolls piled several layers high. In the middle sat a plate of pissaladiere, cut into rather comfortable pieces. Next to it sat a crockpot full of soup, the steam still coming out the top. The smell was intoxicating, everypony’s stomach growling.

We sat down as I pulled the seat out for Snowdrop, Storm and Spring doing it as well. Primrose served us each a good portion, everypony waiting till we all had food.

“Well, dig in everypony. I hope you all like it.” Primrose said, everypony quickly following her instruction.

Dinner seemed to fly by, everypony talking and laughing. The food was just as good as it smelled, Primrose blushing as we complimented her. Sketchy told us a few stories from her art class. Apparently one pony split all his paint on the canvas, his friend came over and somehow managed to salvage it, saying, “there’s no mistakes, just happy little accidents.”

Afterwards, Primrose brought out an apple pie along with some freshly baked muffins. We dug into the desserts, our stomach about to burst. We relaxed in our chairs, Snowdrop resting her head on my shoulder again as everypony continued to tell stories.

“So do you still think its a stupid tradition?” Snowdrop whispered.

“No… I see why you love it…”

She smiled. “Yeah, I wish we could get together like this every day…”

“Me too.” Sketchy said, smiling at us before turning to Spring. “We should visit more.”

He chuckled. “Sounds good to me, been meaning to get out more, retirement’s driving me crazy.”

Storm laughed. “Oh, I was rather looking forward to mine.”

“You think that, just wait till you’ve been doing it for a few years and run out of side projects.”

Storm nodded. “Why don’t we move into the living room? Probably more comfortable in there.”

Everypony agreed, getting up and moving to the living room. Primrose stayed in the kitchen, trying to pick up. I kissed Snowdrop’s cheek. “I’ll be right there, just gonna help out.”

“Okay.” She said, following Storm.

I grabbed a few plates, balancing them on my back. “You don’t have to help Icy, you should go visit.” Primrose insisted.

I shook my head. “I want to help, besides its the least I can do. You're always helping me out, I think I can help you with cleaning.” I said, the plates and silverware piling up in the sink. Music drifted into the kitchen as we finally finished, heading into the living room. Storm had turned on the gramophone, gentle music filling the room. I sat down next to Snowdrop, relaxing on the couch.

It was quiet, everypony relaxing and trying to not fall asleep after eating all that warm food. “Everypony looks half asleep honey, are you trying to drug us?” Storm joked.

“Maybe, you’ll just have to trust me.” Primrose said, kissing his cheek.

“Oh no, whatever are we gonna do?” He grinned.

“Well before it gets much later and we all fall asleep, I think its time for presents.” Sketchy said, reaching over and grabbing her saddlebags.

“Mom, every year I tell you you don’t have to get us anything.”

“I know but I want to. Its a tradition.” She said, hoofing Storm and Primrose each a wrapped box.

Storm and Primrose looked at each other before tearing through the paper and opening it. Sitting in the middle on top of tissue paper, was a small ticket. “What’s this?” He asked, reading it.

“Well… I thought it’d be nice for you two to have a vacation, so we got you a trip to Horseshoe Bay.”

“You shouldn’t have…” Primrose said, opening her box to reveal a piece of paper similar to Storm’s.

“Thought it’d be nice, but that’s not all.” Spring said.

They placed the tickets aside, reaching in. Storm pulled out a very familiar black fedora. He grinned and placed it on his head. “Wow… its a replica from that movie! How’d you get this?”

Spring chuckled. “Had a few friends owe me a favor, almost lost the darn thing a few times now.”

“Thanks so much!” Storm grinned.

Primrose smiled, rolling her eyes as she moved the tissue paper, her eyes going wide. She pulled out a small golden necklace. Her eyes began to misty as her hooves shook. “Is this… Grandma Sapphire’s necklace?”

Sketchy nodded, tears slowly trickling out her eyes. “Yes, it was Sapphire’s favorite. I think its time I pass it down to its rightful wearer. I know she would’ve wanted you to have it.”

Primrose hoofed it over to Storm, who undid the clasp and slipped it around her neck. It seemed to fit in well, the small sapphire gem going with her coat. She got up and hugged her and dad, the trio having a moment. She wiped her eyes, heading over to the tree. She grabbed two presents and hoofed them. Spring and Sketchy looked at her before sighing, taking them.

They opened them as Sketchy pulled out a painting of Canterlot, the night sky full of stars. Ponyville sat nestled underneath the castle city. “Oh I love Vincolt Van Goh!” She giggled. “I know exactly where I’m going to hang this!” She said, beckoning Primrose back over, hugging her.

Spring grinned, opening his present. “This must’ve cost a fortune.” He said, pulling out a new weather suit.

“Don’t worry about it, thought you could use it if you ever get bored in your retirement.” Storm said.

“Will do, might get you to actually do something.”

“Hey, I still work ya know. And here I thought I could help you out…”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry… Mostly.”

“Okay you two, that’s enough.” Sketchy said. She reached over and hoofed me and Snowdrop each something.

“Icy, do you think you can help me?” Snowdrop whispered.

“Yeah.” I said, helping her unwrap the gift. I let her open the small box and my eyes widened, it was a small mane clip, a snowdrop surrounded by gold. “Wow…”

“What is it?”

“A mane clip of the flower you were named after.” Spring said.

I gave it to Snowdrop as she felt it, her face a tinge pink. “T-thank you…” She said, smiling at them.

I took it from her, pushing her mane back as I gently clipped it on, the gold glinting in the light. “There…” I whispered.

She blushed harder as she kissed my cheek. “Thank you.”

“You look beautiful sweetheart.” Sketchy smiled. “Isn’t that right Icy?”

I nodded, my face burning. “Ye-yeah… you look beautiful.”

Her face went redder as she smiled. “T-thanks…”

“Now come on Icy, its your turn.” Sketchy said.

I looked at my gift. “You didn’t have to-”

“Nonsense, you're part of the family now.” She insisted.

I sighed and ripped through the wrapping paper. Inside nestled a golden pocket watch. I clicked it open, a gentle creak as the lid slowly opened. On the inside of the cover, somepony wrote “Family isn’t determined by blood, its who you trust and love. Welcome to the family Icy.” I stared at it, my nose running.

“What is it?” Snowdrop asked.

“My father’s pocket watch. Wouldn’t leave without it.” Spring said with a smile.

I read the inside to Snowdrop as she smiled. “It’s true you know.”

“I… I know, thank you…” I said, sadly smiling at them.

They nodded. “Happy Hearth Warming Day Icy.”

“You too…” I said.

They stayed for awhile longer, reminiscing about Hearth Warming Days and the memories they have. Everypony laughed and cried, wishing the ones they lost were with them here. I wrapped my hoof around Snowdrop, my eyes closed.

“You okay?” She whispered.

“Yeah…”

“Icy, we both know your lying.”

I sighed. “It’s just… times like this, I wonder why he never wanted to celebrate or even mention Mom. I know its hard, but something… to remember her by would be nice.”

“Everypony deals with grief their own way, maybe it was better if he buried it away.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“But if its any consolation, I’m glad I could spend my Hearth Warming with you Icy.”

I hugged her, nuzzling her cheek. “Me too Snowy, you have no idea how much this means to me.”

“It means a lot to us too kid.” Storm chuckled.

I blushed. “I’m glad you’d let me be apart of it.”

“You know your family Icy, stop acting like you just live here.” Primrose said.

I smiled as Spring and Sketchy got up. “Well, I think we better leave, its getting late.” Spring said.

Everypony hugged them, wishing them a final Happy Hearth Warming Day. They left as Primrose sighed and looked around the house. She went by, picking up again, before standing in front of the dishes.

“Another happy Hearth Warming Day.” Storm said, kissing Primrose. “Dinner was wonderful.”

“Thank you for dinner!” Me and Snowdrop said.

She smiled, looking really tired. “Your welcome, now why don’t you two play before bed?”

We nodded, rushing off. “Icy, one moment.” She said.

I stopped and walked back. “Yes?”

“Do you still think its a stupid tradition?”

I was silent before shaking my head. “No… I’m glad Dad was wrong… I can’t describe it, just feels right.”

She nodded. “Good, now go have fun.” She said, turning back to the mountain of dishes.

I rushed back upstairs, Snowdrop fidgeting with her present. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure she’s gonna like it…”

“Of course she is, why wouldn’t she?”

“I don’t know…”

“Exactly, come on. Let’s go give them their presents.” I said, grabbing her hoof after stacking all the presents on my back. We went into the kitchen, Storm and Primrose working on the dishes. “Mom, Dad?” Snowdrop said.

They turned around and smiled. “We told you guys not to get us anything…” Primrose said, drying her hooves.

“Well… we wanted to thank you, for putting up with us. All the problems we caused… we just wanted to say thank you.” I said, smiling.

Primrose sighed and hugged me. “You really shouldn’t have.”

“Its what family does right?”

She nodded and accepted the gifts, sitting down at the table. Snowdrop hoofed Storm his gift. Primrose gasped as she opened my gift. “Icy, its beautiful…”

I blushed. “Storm helped me pick it out.”

She leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “Its wonderful, now I’m gonna have to put both these on.” She said, taking off her other necklace, slipping mine off its chain and putting it on the other. She clasped it back on, the two dangling in the center.

Storm opened his and smiled, pulling out a small badge, ‘Equestria’s Best Father’, and a record, the cover covered in signatures. “How in the world did you two get this?” He asked, holding the record.

Me and Snowdrop looked at each other and winked. “It’s our little secret.” She said.

He chuckled, kissing her and hugging me. “I’ll take it. Thank you two.”

Snowdrop passed Primrose her gift and Primrose looked at it. “Hmm…” She said, opening it up, the flower resting on the table. She stood it up, the snowflakes sparkling in the light. She turned to Snowdrop. “How did you…”

“Princess Luna helped me. Said it’d help to have something that reminded you of me while I was away…” Snowdrop said sadly.

Primrose and Storm quickly hugged her, the three starting to cry. “Come on Icy...” Primrose said after a moment.

I joined the hug, closing my eyes as we sat around each other for a moment. Finally, we broke the hug. “Alright… I think that’s enough for tonight. It’s pretty late and we have to get up early tomorrow.” Primrose said.

We nodded, giving them one final hug before we went upstairs. As we laid down, we heard them come upstairs, the door to their room shutting quietly. I sighed and turned towards the wall, staring at it in the dark.

“Icy?”

I turned towards her. “Yeah…” I trailed off, Snowdrop having a gift in her hooves. “What’s that?”

“Its a gift for you silly.”

“But I don’t-”

She shoved it into my hooves. “Too bad, I wanted to get you something.”

“Snowy…” I muttered opening the gift. It was a picture of Dad and some mare. The more I looked at it, the more she reminded me of Mom. “What’s this?”

“Its a picture of your mom and dad. Princess Celestia found it while rummaging through the guard files. Thought you’d want to have it. But there’s something else.”

I picked up the picture and saw another one in a frame. It was a picture of us on our first ‘date’. She’d bopped me on the snout with a bit of ice cream, both of us smiling. I looked at her. “I thought you’d like to have some thing that’d remind you of happy memories. I know I haven’t been the best mare-”

“Snowy, you’re the best friend I’ve ever asked for…” I hugged. “Thank you… thank you for the gift, I’ll treasure it forever.” I said, kissing her cheek. “Now I got something for you, I was going to wait till you left but…” I said, getting up and rummaging around in the dark. I finally found the simple hoof ring. I gulped, turning around… “I wasn’t the best wrapper so I hope you don’t mind.” I said, hoofing it to her.

She held it and unwrapped the small box, flipping the lid. She felt inside and grabbed the ring. “Is... is it a ring?”

“Yeah, its a special ring. Storm said you give it to somepony you want to stay with for the rest of your life…”

She slipped it on and smiled. “Then I’m glad I made that choice a long time ago.” She nuzzled me. “Happy Hearth Warming Day Icy.”

“You too Snowy.” I hugged her before lying down in bed. I felt the covers lift up and she snuggled in, resting her head in the crook of my neck.

“Goodnight.” She whispered.

“Goodnight Snowdrop.” I said, wrapping my hooves around her as the clock downstairs chimed the time.

Author's Note

Like I said earlier, nothing in this chapter actually happened *yet*. Probably when I get to that part in the sequel I'll write an actual Christmas chapter and delete this one, who knows. Well, I hope you enjoyed it, I had a lot of fun writing it. Might be an early Christmas gift as well, just depends if I remember.... Till next time!

X - Happy Birthday!

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77
Chapter X - Happy Birthday!
Edited by - WeLCxAlphaPuppy

"The world is full of choices unseen. With the willingness to notice, anyone can choose a world of their very own, from an infinity of choices."
~;~

We finally left the hospital, Primrose carrying me as Storm carried Snowdrop. She was worried I’d get hurt even more, despite me and Storm trying to convince her otherwise. It was quiet in our group, my face buried in Primrose’s mane. It was comforting to hear her heartbeat, knowing that’d she’d be there to help.

It felt like the trip went by faster before we stopped outside their house and Storm opened the door, leading us inside. “We weren’t sure what you wanted to keep so we put everything in the extra room. You can go through it later but first…” Storm said as Primrose put me down and Snowdrop hopped off him. “Why don’t you and Snowdrop go relax? It’s been a hectic few days.”

“But I-” I started, only for Snowdrop to grab my hoof.

“Come on, I wanna show you something in my room.” She said, dragging me upstairs.

I sighed and let her lead me, a final glimpse of Storm and Primrose walking into the kitchen. Inside her room, instead of her desk was, a second bed had replaced it. “It was a bit cramped in the extra room and Mom thought it’d be better if we slept in the same room… E-easier to get used to the house...” She blushed, rubbing her hoof against the floor.

I chuckled. “Anywhere is better than those hospital beds, very uncomfortable.” I tried to joke.

She smiled before hugging me tightly, her face buried in my neck. I looked at her, confused, as I hesitantly hugged her back. “I’m so glad you’re back…”

I closed my eyes, resting my head against hers. “I am too…”

It was quiet in her room before she sighed and let go, wiping her eyes. “I-I’m sorry… its just been…”

“It’s alright Snowdrop, I understand. I’m sorry for putting you all through this.”

She poked me in the chest. “Don’t even start that mister.”

“But it-”

“Icy, how is it your fault? Did you tell your Dad to do what he did to you? It’s his fault. You need to stop blaming yourself for everything.”

I paused, staring into her eyes. “Y-you’re right… I do need to stop doing that. But its just so easy…”

“I know but it won’t help if you try and take all the blame. It’ll only hurt you.” She said, grabbing my hoof. “Trust me, I know…”

“Yeah…” I coughed. “So, what did you want to show me?”

She froze before quickly pulling her hoof out of mine and rushed downstairs. I blinked, not sure what to do as I heard Primrose yell at her before she reappeared, a small box on her back. She took a deep breath and shivered, grabbing the box in her hooves. She stared at the floor, her face bright red.

“Snowdrop?” I asked as she shoved the box into my hooves. I almost dropped it, it was cold. “What is it?” I looked at her.

She fidgeted, refusing to look me in the eye. “Its… um…”

“Snowdrop, what did we tal-” Primrose opened the door as we glanced up. She frowned at the box in my hooves. “Is that?”

Snowdrop hastily grabbed it from my hooves. “No! Its… it doesn’t matter.” She said, tossing it on her bed.

I scratched my head and looked at each of them. “Uh…”

Primrose smiled at me. “Lunch is almost ready, why don’t you two come down?”

“Alright!” Snowdrop grabbed my sling and dragged me out of the room, Primrose watching.

She stopped Snowdrop and gently pulled the sling out of her grasp. “Relax, you can give it to him later.” She whispered as I readjusted it, my hoof burning. She led us down the stairs and into the living room. Overhead, a ‘Happy Birthday’ was strung up along with a few balloons and a small pile of presents.

I looked at her as Storm came out of the kitchen. “What’s this?”

“It’s your birthday party… Happy birthday.” Primrose said, pulling me into a hug.

“How did you guys find out?”

“Ms. Healium told us, said we should know in case you didn’t say anything.” She said, letting go. “But why didn’t you tell us it was coming up?”

I shrugged. “I dunno, didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Its just another day.”

“It’s your birthday, of course its a big deal.”

“Well not everypony has been happy that I was born…” I said awkwardly.

“Right…” Snowdrop went quiet and Storm rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well I know several ponies that are happy you were born and are gonna celebrate it every year.”

“But…” I gulped as Snowdrop gave me a glare. I limped over and hugged both Primrose and Storm. “Thank you…”

“Don’t sweat it kid, glad we could get you outta the hospital. I hate celebrating there.”

“So what do you wanna do? It is your party.”

“I’m… not sure, I’ve never really had a party before…”

“Usually we play some games, talk, relax. Then we open presents and have cake.”

“Why don’t we do that?”

“Sounds like a plan.” He said, leading me and Snowdrop over to a pin the tail on the pony game. After explaining how to play, he let Snowdrop go first. Surprisingly she was really close, only off by a few hoofs. When it was my turn, I got so dizzy that I hit right underneath the window sill. After a few more party games that I actually knew, we finally settled down, me and Snowdrop on the couch as Storm was on the chair, Primrose in the kitchen. “So Icy, have you given it any thought what you wanna do when you grow up? You’re almost at that age now.” He said.

I thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “I wasn’t sure at all, never really thought about it. Then me and Snowdrop talked about it while I was in the hospital… and I found out about Mom and Dad. I’m not sure how to put this so I’ll just say it… I want to be a guard.” I said as Primrose carried in the cake.

It was awkwardly silent as Storm and Primrose stared at me, both seemed to take a second for what I said to register. “But… you can’t.” Primrose was the first to recover.

“Because I’m blind in one eye and have a limp?” I asked.

“Well…” Primrose started nervously.

“Pretty much yeah.” Storm said calmly. “Icy I was a guard once, the training is brutal and dangerous. I nearly quit several times…”

“I know but I have to.”

“Why?”

“Because… my father was a guard and I have to make sure our name isn’t dragged in the mud because of him. And…” I took a deep breath. “When I was with Dad, I was scared of the world and ignored everypony, afraid that I would do something to make Dad hurt me more. Then I met you guys and I finally saw what family truly is all about.” They smiled as I could feel my face starting to burn. “And when I was in the hospital, I wondered if there were any other ponies like me… and knew that I wanted to do everything I can to help them. I know what its like to be there and know how much just one friend helps...” I went silent, my face red.

Primrose and Storm shared a look before Storm sighed. “Well that’s… very mature of you to say. Are you sure about this?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then we’ll support you every step of the way.” Primrose said. I went to say something when my side suddenly burned and itched. I turned to look at it as something slowly materialized. My eyes widened as Primrose and Storm’s mouth opened slightly.

“What’s happening?” Snowdrop asked, looking between me and her parents.

The pain subsided as we stared at the mark on my side; it was a sightless eye, a void of dark blue as white wings sprouted at the corners. “I got… I got my cutie mark…” I muttered in awe.

“Oh what is it?”

“A eye with wings…” I said before turning to look at Primrose and Storm. “But what does it mean?”

“I… I’m not sure.” Storm said, scratching his head.

“Neither am I, I’ve never seen one like this before. Oh right!” She said, just remembering the cake on her back. She let it slide down her wing onto the table in front of me as she lit the candles and Storm quickly turned off the lights.

“Everypony ready?” She asked and they nodded. “One, two three-”

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Icy, happy birthday to you.”

They sang to me as I blushed, my face bright pink. Snowdrop scooted away from me as they were singing, hoping I wouldn’t notice. She seemed to be sad… Was it something I said?” I ignored it and kept an eye on her as I blew out the candles. Storm turned on the lights and they clapped.

Primrose quickly grabbed the candles and took them out, heading back into the kitchen for the knife, plates, and ice cream. She cut up several pieces and passed them out, Snowdrop staring at hers.

I took a bite and savored it as long as I could. Mmm… chocolate… I gobbled my piece down fast, half way through the ice cream when somepony knocked on the door.

Primrose got up and opened the door and blinked. “P-princess Celestia, what are you doing here?” She said, quickly bowing.

Everypony quickly hurried to do the same, Celestia shaking her head. “Please, no need for bowing. I’m just here to check on Icy before I leave. I was told that he went- is that cake?” She asked, staring at the chocolate cake.

“Uh yes it is your highness, its his birthday today.”

She blinked. “Oh I’m sorry Icy, I didn’t get you anything.”

“Its alright Princess, no worries.”

“Well I should let you get back to your party, I’m sorry for interrupting.”

“It’s quite alright Princess.” Primrose said.

I gulped. “Princess?”

“Yes Icy?”

I walked over to the cake and cut a slice. “Would you like a piece of cake?”

Princess Celestia blushed slightly. “Well… since you offered…” She turned to look at Primrose. “And you sure I’m not imposing?”

Primrose smiled and opened the door, letting the Princess in. “Not at all, we’ll be honored if you’ll join us.”

She looked around, graciously taking the offered cake and sitting down on the couch. Guards stood by the doorway, their gaze sweeping the house. “So Icy, how are you?”

“I’m doing a lot better now.” I said.

“I’m glad to hear that and how is the arm?”

“Was hurting earlier but it stopped now.” I chuckled.

She smiled as she took a bite of the cake. She closed her eyes and smile formed on her lips. “This cake is delicious, did you make it?” She asked.

Primrose nodded. “Cakes were one of my favorite things to bake.”

“I can see why, you must have made a fortune.”

Primrose smiled. “You could say that.”

Snowdrop got up and carefully made her way into the kitchen as I watched her silently. Celestia turned to look at me and noticed my cutie mark. “Congratulations on your cutie mark as well Icy.” She squinted. “What is it?”

“Its um… a eye with wings Princess.”

She paused, enjoying another piece of cake. “Quite interesting…”

“So you know what it is?” I asked, hoping she’d be able to explain.

“I have several ideas… but I’m afraid I can’t help you. Only you can determine what your cutie mark means.” She said, finishing the piece.

I frowned. “Of course…” Snowdrop slipped upstairs as Primrose offered Celestia another piece.

“I really shouldn’t… but… oh, who am I to resist another piece?” Celestia said, smiling as she took a bite.

“Would you like some?” Primrose offered the guards.

They shook their head. “Its alright, you two can have some.” Celestia said.

“I’m sorry your highness but we have to keep a watch while you're away from the castle.” A guard said.

She sighed. “As you wish.” She turned to Primrose and Storm. “I do apologize Storm, I wish I could’ve lessened the punishment.”

He shrugged. “Its alright Princess, I take full responsibility for my action and don’t regret what I did.”

“That may be…”

“Icy could’ve died and if being locked in the house for a month is my what I get for saving him, it won’t bother me one bit. Besides, I can use this time to teach Icy a few things about being a stallion.” He grinned.

Celestia and Primrose smiled. “I see, well, I am glad that everything worked out in the end.” She minutely motioned me to follow Snowdrop and I blinked, sure I saw her wrong. “Go on Icy.” She said quietly.

I stared at her. “Okay.” I rushed after Snowdrop.

“Quite the pair…” I heard Celestia say before I was in Snowdrop’s room.

Her window was open, a gentle breeze tugging at the curtains. I looked out the window, scanning for her. I hopped out myself, trying to stop from screaming when I hit the snow. I landed on my bad hoof and pulled myself up, gritting my teeth as waves of pain shot through my body. One hoof in front of the other… I hobbled, having an idea where she ran off too.

I panted, out of breath as I went back to the cloud I ran away too on the first day of school. Sure enough there she was, turned away from me, buried in a cloud. I sighed and her ear twitched, but she didn’t turn around. I hopped across the little gap and sat down next to her. We didn’t say anything, staring at the sky.

She scooted closer to me as I lifted up one of my wings and rested it on the middle of her back. “I’m sorry…” She whispered, still refusing to meet my eyes.

“It’s alright Snowy… you okay?”

She turned to look at me, her eyes red and puffy. “Are you seriously going to become a guard?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I think I have too.”

“Says who?”

“Me.”

“But Icy, it’s dangerous! Dad told me a few stories of his training days… and… and it nearly killed him!”

“I know but…” I closed my eyes. “Snowy, you taught me what one friend can do to a pony. If I can do some the same, be there for somepony that thinks no pony cares. I feel like I should.”

She was silent, closing her eyes before resting her head against mine. “O-okay… just be careful okay? I don’t like you getting hurt.”

“I’ll try Snowdrop…”

“That’s all I ask…” She sighed before her face lit up. “Why’d you stop calling my Snowy? I liked it.”

My face burned. “Well… you see… I… uh… thought you didn’t like it…” I stuttered.

“Of course I did silly.”

“O-okay…”

She gave me a hug, wrapping her hooves around my neck. “Hey Icy?”

“Yeah?”

“Do… do you remember that thing I was gonna give you?”

“Of course.”

“Can… can I give it to you now?”

“Of course you can.”

She pushed herself away from me, reaching into her wing and pulling out that box from before. She held it out for me, her hoof shaking as she gulped. I grabbed it and looked at her quizzically. “Just… open it.” She said.

I glanced at her one final time before I slowly opened the box. Inside, a simple snowflake rested on some cotton, a sheen from the liquefying ice. I looked at her. “Is this?”

“When you were in the hospital, I wished for a way to help you… a way to prove that I wasn’t useless…” She started to cry, a tear slid down her cheek. “Nothing happened and I thought they ignored me just like everypony else did and I’d lose my one true friend… but… then I heard a whisper, a small voice telling me how to make a snowflake.” She rested her hoof on mine. “That was my first one… I-I made a few others and Mom helped me pick the best one to show the Princesses. I… kept the first one… and promised if you got better…” She trailed off.

I smiled and hugged her with my good hoof, patting her back. “Thank you Snowy… its beautiful.” I whispered, staring at the jagged edges.

“But the others said-”

“It doesn’t matter what the others said. I can tell you tried your best and put all your feelings into this one. And that’s all that matters to me. I just wish I could do something for you in return…”

“W-well… I’ve been m-meaning to ask…” She said, her voice getting progressively quieter.

“Yeah?”

“Will… will you be my…” She turned away, her face and ears red.

“What?” She said something too quiet to hear. “Sorry?”

She turned around. “Will you be my… coltfriend?” She whispered.

I blinked and stared at her, my mouth opening as my face burned even more than before. “O-oh…”

“J-just ignore that! I was just kidding! You know… I…” She stuttered as I leaned in and kissed her. Her eyes widened and when I broke the kiss. she stared at me slack-jawed. She stuttered a few times, trying to find her voice. “S-so is that...?”

I smiled. “Yes.”

She squeed and hugged me tightly, the snowflake dropping onto the cloud. She wouldn’t let go, no matter how much I begged for air. Finally she let me go, standing over me as she smiled, the moonlight glinting off her mane. “You could’ve made it easier… I thought you didn’t want to be with me…”

“Sorry, was kinda caught off guard…” I gasped, reaching out to grab the snowflake. I leaned up as she nuzzled my cheek and wrapped her hooves around me.

Suddenly it felt like a shadow was draped over her, the happiness leaving her face. “Icy.”

“Yeah Snowy?”

“I… I need to tell you something.” She tensed, almost afraid I’d hit her.

“Of course. What’s up?” I asked, pulling her close.

“I… I decided to take Princess Luna up on her offer.” She said.

“Oh…” It felt like a knife stabbed my heart. I swallowed and tried to stop the tears, glad she couldn’t see them. “Why ask if your leaving?”

“Because…” She closed her eyes. “I-I wanted to show how much you mean to me… and to prove that I want to be with you.”

“Snowy… I…”

“B-but i-if you wanna break up, I understand.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “It’ll take a lot more for that to happen. I’m happy that you're going… but I’m going to miss you.” I turned to look her in the eyes. “What did Primrose and Storm say about this?”

“They were upset but understood… kinda like you actually.” She faintly smiled, hugging me again. “I… I don’t know if I made the right choice Icy…”

“One pony does until later… you just have to go with your gut.” I kissed her cheek. “I’ll be there whenever I can and I know Primrose and Storm will visit. We won’t just leave you Snowy.”

“Really?”

“Really. I wouldn’t be me if I abandoned anypony, especially my fillyfriend.”

“Thank you Icy…” She said, nuzzling her way under my chin. She sighed before looking back towards home. “We should probably be heading home huh?”

“Probably.” I said, getting up and offering her my hurt hoof. “Let’s go together.”

She nodded. “Every step of the way.” She said, her hoof gripping mine tightly as we made our way home, not letting go the entire way.

I opened the door for her and saw Primrose and Storm resting on the couch. They looked up as I shut the door behind us. “There you are… we were starting to worry.” Primrose said, getting up and hugging us.

“Sorry… it was-” Snowdrop started.

“It was my fault. We got into a bit of an argument…” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

“That’s not true.”

“Not entirely false either.” I said.

She was about to retort when Primrose gently bopped us on the snouts. “That’s enough you two. Icy, you still have some presents to open.” She said, Storm picking up the few packages.

“You really didn’t have too… I mean, you already are taking care of me and letting me live here. I don’t need anything else.”

“Nonsense, everypony likes gifts.” Storm said, setting them on the couch as he forced us to sit down. “Go ahead and open.” He said, sitting down on the chair as Primrose sat on his lap.

I sighed and grabbed the first one. I ripped through the paper, revealing a small box. I opened it and it was a picture frame. I picked up the backwards frame to show a picture of the four of us, smiling at the camera in the hospital.

“I thought you’d like a happy souvenir of your time in the hospital.” Primrose smiled at me.

“Thank you…” I smiled back, placing the picture on the table and opened the next one. It was bigger and took a few moments to figure out how I was gonna open it. I finally managed to get it open, to a box. I flipped the box open and it was a Wonderbolts outfit, Rapidfire’s insignia clip on the neck. My mouth dropped. “How did…”

“Oh, he wanted to make up for not stopping your dad… thought you might like it.” Storm grinned.

I quickly stood up and slipped it on, the suit forming to my body. I winced when I went to put my bad hoof in the sleeve and Snowdrop helped me. I tried not to jump up and down, afraid I’d ruin it already. I did a few poses I saw the Wonderbolts doing, grinning the entire time.

“Looks good on you kid.” Storm chuckled.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” I said rapidfire, finally caving in and hopped up and down a few times.

Everypony laughed. “Its alright kid.” Storm said, shaking his head.

I sat down next to Snowdrop and grabbed the last present. I tilted my head, the wrapping different than the others. “Whose this from?”

“Princess Celestia, she had a guard go get you something. Said she felt awful for not bringing you something.”

“She didn’t have too…” I muttered, opening the gift as we all gasped. Inside were two things, one was a dull sword, just like the guards used. Next to it sat a book titled The Wonderbolts, a history of Equestria’s mightiest defenders. “Whoa…” I said, picking up the sword.

“Be careful with that thing…” Primrose said nervously.

I put the blade down, deciding to mess with that later. I picked up the book, opening the cover to find a scroll.

Dear Icy,

Happy birthday! Sorry I was not here when you returned but I needed to get back to the castle. I heard of your plans to join the guard and I wish you the best of luck Icy. I know you will make a fine guard, a true symbol of helping innocent ponies. I decided to give you a dull sword, hoping that with practice, you can defend the ones you love. And I do hope you like the book. It was a favorite of mine.

I’ll see you soon young one. Have a wonderful rest of the day.

Princess Celestia

“She… really shouldn’t have.” I finally said, after reading the scroll out loud.

“I’ll never understand that mare.” Storm said, shaking his head.

“So Snowdrop, did you give Icy your gift?”

“Hmm…” She smiled, her cheeks pink.

“I take it he said yes?”

“That I did.” I said.

“And you know about her leaving?”

“Yeah… I’m sad that she is but we’ll still visit right?”

“Of course, not even the princesses can stop me from seeing my daughter.” Storm said.

Primroses sighed. “Alright, I think that’s enough excitement for one day. I think its time we get some sleep, we have a busy day tomorrow.”

We all nodded, getting up as we picked up the wrapping paper and plates, throwing them away and putting them in the sink respectively. Storm hugged me and Snowdrop goodnight, going into their room.

Primrose hugged Snowdrop and me. “Happy birthday Icy, I hope you had a good day.”

“It was the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

“I’m glad.” She said, kissing us on the tops of our head. “Goodnight you two.” She said, slipping into her room and shutting the door behind her.

Me and Snowdrop went into her room, shutting the door behind us. She helped me out of the Wonderbolts suit, my hoof getting in the way again. I put it at the end of my bed and placed my sling there too. I laid down on my bed, turning towards the wall and yawning.

“Goodnight Icy and happy birthday.” Snowdrop said, getting comfy in her bed.

“Thank you Snowy… and goodnight.” I said.

A few hours passed, a breeze rustling her curtains as I turned over, facing her and the window. I sighed, trying to fall asleep as a million things ran through my mind. “Icy? You awake?” Snowdrop whispered.

I opened my eye and looked at her. “Yeah, I thought you were asleep?”

“I can’t, I got too-”

“Much on your mind?” She nodded. “Yeah, same here.”

“Icy… um… do you mind if I…” She mumbled.

“C-course…” I stuttered as she quickly got up and got in my bed. She curled up next to me, our hearts racing. She sighed and closed her eyes, my wing covering her the best it could.

“Icy?”

“Hmm?”

“I… love you.” She whispered, kissing my cheek.

“I love you too.”

Author's Note

Well... this is it, the 2nd to last chapter. Can't believe it's almost over. Snowdrop is leaving, Icy is gonna try and be a guard, the sequel is gonna be crazy! :P Hopefully... I usually have something to say at this... but I really can't think of anything. The next chapter will reveal the name of the sequel, I haven't thought of a good one just yet, gonna run it by a few people first. Anywho, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

XI - Boys Cry Tough

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77
Chapter XI - Boys Cry Tough
Edited by - WeLCxAlphaPuppy

"It's not the goodbyes that hurt, it's the flashbacks that follow..."

~;~

I opened the closet door, peeking around for any hints of movement before I shut the door. Not in there… I closed my eyes and listened as I tiphooved up the stairs. I slowly peeked into our room, failing to spot her in there either. I frowned, walking down the stairs before turning to the guest room. It still held all my stuff in boxes, the few things I managed to go through in random piles.

I rooted around a few boxes, trying to make my way to the closet. I pushed open the door, a few things fell out but not the pony I was looking for. I sighed and sat down, rubbing my bad hoof. It was still sore and every now and then I’d lose feeling in it.

Suddenly I heard a quiet yelp coming from upstairs and I rushed out of the room, tripping on an empty box. I caught myself, heading up the stairs and started listening for movement. Everything was quiet as I walked right past the upstairs closet when the front door opened. “Icy? Snowdrop? Can you help me bring the groceries?”

“Okay-” Me and Snowdrop said at the same time, the door opening as she tumbled out. I caught her, her momentum pushing us down the stairs. We tumbled down, a few random things followed us. Finally, we rested at the base of the stairs, my wings hurting as I looked up at Snowdrop and grinned.

“You’re it.”

She pouted, her cheeks puffing up. “No fair! The only reason you found me was Mom needed help.”

“But I still-”

“Doesn’t count!”

“Yes it does!”

“No it doesn’t!”

Storm walked in, his saddlebags completely full. “Alright you two, that’s enough.” He said firmly. “Icy, why don’t you help bring in the groceries? Snowdrop, you can help me organize them.”

We sighed, Snowdrop getting off me as she and Storm walked into the kitchen. Primrose came back and helped me up before we journeyed back to the small wagon to pick up the rest of the bags.

It had been a week since Snowdrop said she was going to go study with Princess Luna. While everypony was happy, there was a sense of overall sadness in the house and I know Primrose and Storm tried to hide when we were around. But me and Snowdrop knew, we’d stay up late and talk about it, wondering why they wouldn’t say anything.

A couple days ago, a courier arrived and said that Princess Luna wanted to have dinner with us before Snowdrop left. So of course Primrose freaked and we had to clean the entire house, top to bottom. Glad we got out of school… but not the homework. I still had a few pages left to read...

I grunted, struggling to lift a bag. “Here, let me help.” Primrose said, grabbing the other end.

“No, its alright. I can do this.” I said, gritting my teeth and got the bag on my back. I quickly hobbled into the kitchen and dropped it off, heading back out. Primrose stood there, staring off into space. She seemed to do that more lately. “Primrose?” I asked.

She blinked and looked down at me with a smile. “Yes?”

I glanced around, making sure Storm or Snowdrop couldn’t somehow hear us. “Could I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

I swirled my hoof on the cloud. “What… what is Snowdrop gonna learn with Princess Luna? I mean… I understand its a great honor… but she’s not… a unicorn.” I whispered, staring at the side of the wagon.

Primrose sighed, patting my good shoulder with a hoof. “I know its hard…” She paused, trying to find the right words. “When Princess Luna asked us if Snowdrop could study under her, she pulled me aside and said she could sense a great magical presence in her. And she doesn’t want it to go to waste. Why she can’t wait till she’s a little older, I don’t know.” She smiled. “What she will learn? I bet you can guess that answer.”

“You don’t know.”

She nodded. “Yep. We’re all on the same page there. All we can do is trust the Princess. She is the Guardian of the Night and Dreams after all and I do trust her.”

“Me too… its just…” I trailed off, watching Storm and Snowdrop laugh through the window.

Primrose wrapped her hooves around my neck and kissed the top of my head. “I know honey, its hard for me too.” She nudged me with a wing. “Come on, let’s get the rest of the stuff in. I have to start cooking if I’m going to make dinner tonight.”

I sighed, silent as I helped her bring in the rest of the stuff. She kicked us all out of the kitchen, rushing about trying to get dinner started. Storm plopped down on the couch with a sigh, closing his eyes.

I walked up into Snowdrop’s room, Snowdrop hopped on the couch with her dad. I shut the door behind me, sitting down on my bed and rummaging through my saddlebags. Better get this stupid homework done… I groaned, wishing I was there for Mrs. Windith’s lecture; she always knew how to make science sound so easy. I sighed, getting ready to start.

The door opened and Snowdrop walked in. “Icy, you in here?”

“Yeah.”

“What are you doing?”

“Homework.” I said distastefully.

“Oh yeah… I forgot about that.” She paused, silence lingering in the room. “Icy?”

“Hm?”

“Is… is everypony mad at me?”

“What?” I looked at her. “Why would you think that?”

“It just seems everypony’s on edge… I… I can feel it.”

“Snowy, we’re not mad at you… it’s… it’s hard to explain.” I said as she tilted her head and waited. “We… I… don’t want you to leave… but I know in my heart its the right thing to do.”

“I don’t want to leave either…” She whispered, walking over to my bed and sat next to me. She stared at the bedsheet for a moment. “It seems like we were finally able to… you know…” She muttered, her cheeks going pink.

I coughed nervously, my face getting warm. “Y-yeah… I know what you mean…” I watched her fidget for a moment before I had an idea. “Hey, I’ll be right back okay?” I said, getting up.

“Um… okay…”

I quickly trotted downstairs, going into the kitchen and stopped. The table was already set, the living room clean as Primrose and Storm worked in the kitchen. “Primrose?”

Both of them turned around. “Yes?”

I told them my plan, a smile growing on both their faces. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. Just don’t fill up too much, dinner is gonna ready in a few hours.”

“I won’t, I’ll make sure its just lunch.”

“Okay. Do you want us to pay for-”

“No… it’s okay, I got it.”

They were quiet. “Alright. Just be back before five.” Storm said.

“Yes sir.” I said, quickly going back upstairs, startling Snowdrop as she leaned up.

“Icy? What are you doing?” She asked.

I walked over to my dresser, pulling out a little bag of bits that I had from Grandma and Dad. I put it in the small corner of the sling, making sure it didn’t fall out. I smiled, the bag staying right where it was even when I walked. I grabbed Snowdrop’s hoof putting her up. “Come on, I wanna show you something.”

She was quiet, letting me pull her along. We left the house, Primrose hugging Snowdrop goodbye. It was mostly a silent trip, my bad hoof gripping hers. Finally she sighed. “Icy, where are we going?”

“Remember when we met that morning before school?” She nodded. “Well… I thought we could go there again.”

“But… what about dinner? We don’t wanna-”

“I know, Primrose already told me.” I smiled. “Besides… it gives us a chance to relax and be… well, alone.” I muttered, my face burning.

“Oh…” She said, her cheeks as red as mine. She faintly smiled, nuzzling my cheek. “Thanks…”

I grinned, leading her to the familiar ice cream parlor. Through the windows, I could see it was slightly crowded, quite a few tables taken. I opened the door, Snowdrop going first as I followed and walked her towards the back. We sat down, Snowdrop taking the end seat, in a booth as a familiar brown pegasus walked towards us.

He smiled, recognition hitting him. “Hey, its you two. Long time no see kids.”

“You remember us?” I asked, surprised.

“Of course I do! You were one of the first ponies I served when I started here.” He grabbed a notepad. “So what would you two like?”

I nudged Snowdrop with my snout, letting her order. I grabbed her hoof, smiling at her. “We’ll take… um…” She smiled. “Two bowls of cookies and cream.”

“Alrighty, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He said, walking away.

She turned to me. “I hope that’s okay…”

“Of course, I love cookies and cream.” I said, squeezing her hoof reassuringly. I watched some of the other ponies, laughing and having a good time. I turned to face her. “So…”

“Hmm?”

“Do you wanna talk about what’s bugging you?”

She faintly smiled. “Is it that obvious?”

“A little, yeah.”

She sighed, placing another hoof on top of mine. “It’s just… everypony wanted me to go and just assumed I would.” She looked at me. “Even you did… It’s like I didn’t have any say, everypony decided for me.” She whispered. “I don’t wanna leave Mom, Dad, you…” She turned away. “I finally found you… and I’m leaving you… after everything.”

“Snowy, you’re not leaving forever.”

“But I’ll be gone for a long time.”

“I know… but we’ll visit. I’ll write every day if you want. I’m sure the princess doesn’t mind-”

Basky came back, putting the bowls in front of us. “Here you go kids, enjoy.” He said, walking away.

I helped her get a spoonful, the ice cream seemingly making her feel a little better. I took a spoonful, enjoying the cookies. “Snowy… do you want to study under Princess Luna?”

“Of course! I can’t believe she’d even ask me…”

“And if me and your mom and dad visit, would you be okay? And if we wrote?”

She was silent, enjoying her ice cream. She swirled the spoon in the bowl. “I… I guess…”

“I know its a big change…” I said, nuzzling her cheek. “But sometimes we have to leave everything we know behind to find who we really are.” I licked the spoon, finishing up my ice cream. “Going through my Dad’s stuff, I realized how much we moved. I don’t remember a lot of it… but we were constantly moving from town to town. I know its hard to imagine not living at home… but… think of it like a long sleep over!” I said, my hooves waving for emphasis.

“It’s not just that… I…” She took another bite. “I feel like I have to rush everything. I don’t have enough time with Mom… Dad, you.” She turned. “It’s like I’m moving slow and the world is going by fast. All the things I had planned once I told you… I can’t do any of it!” She said, dropping her spoon in the bowl.

“Snowy… I…” I paused. “I can’t even begin to understand what you’re going through. I just want you to be happy-”

“Everypony says that! But you know what’ll make me happy? Being able to spend time with you, Mom, Dad without having that hanging over my head.”

“If you didn’t wanna go so much, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because no pony would believe me anyways… and I do… it’s just… It’s hard to explain.”

I gently grabbed her hooves. “Snowy, you won’t be going through this alone. I’m not going to just leave you all by yourself, not after everything we’ve been through.”

“Really? But I thought you wanted to get rid of me… that’s why you wanted me to go…” She muttered.

“Of course not! My chest hurt and it felt like somepony just hit me in my tummy! I…” My voice died out as I realized something.

She turned to look at me. “What?”

I let go of her hoof, my forehooves nervously rubbing each other. “Snowy…”

“Yeah?”

“I said you should go… because I was afraid…”

“Afraid? Afraid of what?”

“Me and you were finally getting close… and then you said you were leaving… I thought you wanted to get away from me cause of all the problems I cause.”

“Icy…”

I nervously chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ve moved on past that point… I was overreacting.. it was stupid-” Her lips gently pressed against my cheek and I face was on fire.

“Icy, I understand. It feels like everything is moving too fast…” She grabbed my hoof. “But I’ll be there for you just like you’ll be there for me… right?”

“Of course.” I said, pulling her into a hug. Her hooves wrapped around me as mine did hers. I sighed, finally able to relax and not have to worry about anything for awhile. Snowdrop was happy, for the moment, it was just us, and we didn’t have to worry about the Princess taking her… Wait a minute… “Hey Snowy?”

“Hmm?” She asked, looking up.

“I-if I could, would you want me to come with you?”

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

“If I could stay with you… for a few days at the castle while you get comfy… you know, help you walk around and stuff…”

“Ohh… would… would you really do that?”

“Uh huh… if it’ll help you, of course I would.” I smiled. “Only if they let me though…”

She squeezed me tighter, my hoof throbbing. “I hope they do…” She whispered. “That’d make things so much easier.”

“Alright, I’ll ask Primrose when we get back.” I said, looking at the clock. “Which we should be doing soon.”

“Oh? Okay… we don’t wanna be late for the Princess…” She said, letting go of me and scooting out.

I followed her, grabbing the two bowls and placed them on the counter, paying for the meal as Snowdrop waited by the door. She opened it for me and we walked around town. A few ponies stopped by and congratulated her, her face going red. I pulled her away from all the attention, taking her the long way back home, through the park.

We finally got back, Primrose and Storm relaxing on the couch. She looked up and smiled. “There you two are, we were starting to worry.”

“Sorry…”

“Did you two enjoy your date?” Storm asked.

Both our faces turned crimson. “It wasn’t a date Dad! It was just some ice cream.” She said.

“Alone… with your coltfriend. I don’t know, sounds like a date to me.” He chuckled.

Her cheeks puffed out again and I grabbed her hoof. She looked at me and sighed. “Yeah… we did.”

“I’m glad.” Primrose said, elbowing Storm. “Why don’t you two wash up before the Princess gets here?”

“Okay!” We said, rushing upstairs.

The doorbell rang, Primrose quickly rushing to open it. Me and Snowdrop hopped off the couch, Storm standing right next to us as the Princess of the Night looked at us. We all bowed, a small red blush appearing on Luna’s cheeks.

“Please, no need to bow for me.” She said. We all rose, a smile on her face as she saw Snowdrop. “Thank you for accepting my offer little one.”

“Um… no problem Princess, thank you for offering it…” Snowdrop said.

Luna looked around the house before her eyes fell onto me and she smiled. “And this must be the infamous Icy. I’m glad to see you up and moving young one.”

“T-thanks Princess, so am I.”

“Icy…” Storm warned.

“Tis quite alright, Tia has told us of his humor.”

“So Princess, I hope you’re ready for dinner.” Primrose said, leading everypony into the kitchen. My stomach grumbled as I stared at the food. It looked like lasagna and Primrose made the best I’ve ever tasted. Along with it, she had several stacks of baked rolls, steam still rising from them. Next to that was some bright green salad, my mouth watering just looking at it.

A few guards followed her in, one standing guard by the front door while the other trailed her into the kitchen. He pulled the chair out for her and pushed her close to the table as I did the same for Snowdrop and Storm did for Primrose.

She divvied up the food, giving Luna the most as we all sat down, a moment of silence falling as Luna ate first. She chewed for a moment, closing her eyes as a smile graced her face. “This… this is wonderful Ms Primrose. You must show the chefs at the castle how to make such an exquisite food.”

Primrose blushed. “I’ll try Princess, on one of our visits.”

I cleared my throat and everypony turned to me. “Speaking of that… um Princess?”

“Yes?”

“Would be alright if I come with you and Snowdrop? You know… to help her get settled?”

She was silent, enjoying her dinner. She finished her bite and shrugged. “Well I don’t see a problem with it. I’m glad that she has such a caring friend.”

We smiled at each other and hugged before going back to dinner. “Thank you so much Princess!” I said.

“No problem, just remember, I’d like to get started on training as soon as possible. But since this is all new, I’ll give you the next few days to get used to Canterlot. It is very different than Cloudsdale.” She said, a warm smile on her muzzle.

“Okay Princess.” We said together.

I tuned out the rest of the conversation, Luna telling Primrose and Storm about Snowdrop’s school, what she’d learn, and stuff like that. I was too busy recovering from the food coma and resting next to Snowdrop, who seemed just as happy as I was.

“I’m glad she’s letting you come with us…” She whispered.

“Me too… I’d feel like a horrible pony if you had to deal with this all alone.”

“But like you said earlier, I’m not. I have you… Mom, Dad…”

“I know, but still. Makes me feel a little better knowing I can help you.”

She blushed, her hoof grabbed and squeezed mine. “You’ve done more than enough for me…”

Dinner was finished as we sat at the table and Primrose quickly got up and brought in the dessert. That was finished rather fast, even the guard couldn’t resist the apple pie. Soon, an awkward silence hanging over us. “So… I guess its that time.” Storm stuttered, his eyes filling with tears.

“I’m afraid so. We should be heading out before it gets too much later.” Luna said, getting up and looking at me and Snowdrop. “Is your stuff packed?”

We nodded. “Yes Princess.” I put a hoof on Snowdrop’s. “Stay here and spend a few minutes with Primrose and Storm, I’ll get our stuff.”

She sniffed. “You sure?”

“Yeah…” I kissed her cheek. “Be right back.” I said, walking up the stairs. I checked our saddlebags, making sure everything was in there that we wanted. I took as long as I dared, giving Snowdrop some time alone with her parents. I paused, remembering last night as I went to ‘bed’ early, so they could enjoy some time without me. I sniffed, wiping my nose as I put on my saddlebags, wrapping Snowdrop’s around mine. Finally, I walked down the stairs, the three of them wrapped in a hug as Luna and the guards watched on sadly.

Storm looked up, his eyes red as he walked over to me and got to my level. “Take good care of her.” He said, pulling me into a hug.

I nodded, my voice gone as I hugged him back.

He let go, going back to the other two as I walked up to Primrose. She grabbed and hugged me tight, a few tears hitting my sling. “Be careful okay?” She asked, her voice cracking.

“I… I will.” I said, patting her back. “I’ll make sure she’s fine.” I whispered.

She nodded and let go, Snowdrop standing there alone as she stared at the floor, her eyes bright red. Everypony sniffed a few times as we headed towards the front door, the guard moving out of the way. I grabbed Snowdrop’s hoof, squeezing it reassuringly as she looked at me, sadness full in her eyes. I leaned over, nuzzling her cheek as me, her, Princess Luna, and the guards filed out.

Luna turned around, Storm and Primrose holding each other. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she is fine. Whenever she wants to come home, I will teleport her myself.”

“T-thanks Princess…” Storm managed to say. “Study hard!” He told Snowdrop.

“I… I will Daddy!” She said, the guards leading us to the chariot.

The guards put her in first, then Princess Luna, then helped me. Snowdrop sat by the window, looking out as her parents waved at her. I nudged over, sitting next to her and grabbed her hoof, waving goodbye for her. I felt the chariot take off, the cloud home slowly disappearing into the dark of night.

Snowdrop took a shaky breath before turning to me and nuzzled up to me, resting her head on my chest as she sobbed, the tears flowing freely. Luna looked at us sadly. “There there little one, I know its hard but you’ll see them soon.” She said, patting Snowdrop’s back.

My hooves wrapped around her as I rocked back and forth, holding her as tight as I could as the chariot headed towards Canterlot, the stars twinkling in the night.

Author's Note

Well then... finally finished it. :) I hope you like it and was worth the wait. I have another 'chapter' that's gonna be published with this one but its nothing important, just the thank you and such. If you don't wanna read that, that's fine with me. I'm just glad you stuck through with this story. I still can't believe it's "over", for the time being. It was bittersweet to write, hopefully it wasn't too sad...
Oh... I was wondering if anyone would be willing to talk about drawing the cover for the sequel? If anyone is interested, send me a pm... Also, I finally decided on the name, Tears of Snow II: Breaking Icy. Yeah... gonna be a really... nice story. Really have no eta for when the sequel's gonna be released, want to finish a few other stories. I'll make a blog and such when it is, letting everyone know!

That's really all I have to say, any comments, concerns, etc, leave them below and I'll answer them as I see them. :3 Thanks so much for sticking with me on this and I'll see ya later!

Thank You

Well… I finally finished a story. Imagine that. Been writing these things for… quite a few years now and I can say I finished one. So… ‘yay’. Any who, I just wanted to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart to any and all that read this. Even the ones that downvoted. I don’t know if I’m allowed to do this as a final chapter or not… so… until I get yelled at, its gonna remain the “final chapter”. When/if I do, I’ll just copy to a blog and delete the chapter.

Sequel’s called Tears of Snow - Breaking Icy. I bet that already tells you what its gonna be about. I just want to give you a little preview. It’s gonna be a few, like 6 or 7 months, after the last chapter. Snowdrop asks Icy to the Grand Galloping Gala… that’ll be the first chapter. I’ll go into more detail when the chapter’s released. I have no idea when, so I won’t even try to estimate it. I wanna finish a few others before I continue.

Now, the chapter titles, if you haven’t guessed, were titles of songs and this is where I give them credit, via a Youtube link to each, along with who said the quotes at the beginning of the chapters (minus the noncanon chapter). That and I just wanna share these songs, they’re simply… fantastic, if I may borrow a catchphrase.

Chapter Titles

Quotes

Mewtwo, Pokemon
Yuki, Fruits Basket
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Lawrence Kraft, Spice and Wolf
Jiraiya, Naruto
Kaoru Hitachiin, Ouran High School Host Club
Tom Petty, “Learning to Fly”
Allen Walker, D.Gray-Man
Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist
Shinku, Rozen Maiden
Gray Fullbuster, Fairy Tail

Alright, anyone still with me? No? Okay, good. This is where it gets… a bit emotional and feeling heavy. If that’s not your cup of tea, I wanna say thanks for reading and you can close the tab. This story… well to put it bluntly, its very near and dear to me. When I first watched that video, I cried. Full on curled in a little ball and cried. I have no shame in admitting it. That one video… made me put some time away to have a few soul searching days.

Right after watching it, I got the idea that me and her would be a perfect pair. Yeah, I know, its funny cause I’m inserting myself into the story and all that jazz. But… as you saw in the story, I really am blind in one eye. I’ll give you a brief history there, don’t want this to turn into a pitty the author, boohoo thing. I was born 2 months earlier and spent some time in the hospital. One day, my dad was playing with me and noticed that I didn’t react whenever he moved on my right side. So they took me to the doctor and found out I had a rare eye cancer, retinoblastoma. If my dad hadn’t caught it, well… I’d be blind and good lord knows what else would be wrong with me…

And I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate my childhood… Like I’ve said, I exaggerated for the sake of dramatic tension… but everything that happened to Icy, happened to me. The play “wrestling/fights” my dad and I would get into left bruises and scars. I still have a few. We would, and still do to this day, get into fights, both verbal and physical. But that’s another story for some other time.

Primrose and Storm were a mix of how they showed her and a few other people. My grandma and grandpa were a heavy inspiration on how they treated their blind filly. They were always there for me and my grandpa would willingly give up his eye so I could see normally, if the technology allowed. I had a few visually-affected friends were their parents would ignore them for their sibling…

The reason I’m telling you all this is just so you could get a perspective of why I wrote this. Anyone that went through what I have, just remember there are others that are going through and went through what you are. There are people that are willing to listen and help any way they can, me included. If you ever wanna chat, don’t hesitate to msg me here haha. I’ve made quite a few friends through that.

Speaking of that, this story would be absolutely different if it weren’t for WeLCxAlphaPuppy and Rglloyd. Constantly helping me with refining certain plot points, the names, describing, dealing with my bipolarness, pushing me to finishing a chapter, for always helping me edit. Especially Rglloyd. Without him, this story would’ve been over before it even started. So everyone should thank him for it! And I wanted to thank him for always helping me come up with those random things… WeLCxAlphaPuppy, the last handful of chapters wouldn’t be done without his editing. They may have mistakes still but they are a lot better thanks to him.

Well then.. this went on a lot longer than I thought… so, if anyone is still reading this, thanks for sticking around and hopefully I’ll see you in the sequel. Till next time.

Michael, aka FlashKenshin77

I - I've Just Seen A Face

Tears of Snow
By - FlashKenshin77

Chapter I - I've Just Seen A Face
Edited by - WeLCxAlphaPuppy, Rglloyd, and Johanson

"The circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant, but it’s what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

~;~

Winter was in full bloom in Cloudsdale, snow blanketing the city. At least a foot and a half covered the floating city, the clouds thick and heavy. The sun was high in the sky, peeking through the snow clouds. The pegasi, like the unicorns and earth ponies below, were preparing for the worst. Unfortunately, even with the blizzard approaching, school was in full swing. Fillies and colts buzzed around, playing in the snow. Yet as they played happily, I sat off to the side, waiting for school to start.

We had just moved from Manehattan into a two roomed apartment on the second floor of the Cozy Apartments, run by a nice elderly mare named Mist Dancer. My dad thought my ‘condition’ would lead to some problems there.

The bell rang as all the fillies and colts filed into the school building, bumping into me as they walked by. A few whispered to their friends, glancing at me as they passed. I sighed and lowered my head. Staring at the snowy ground, I slowly made my way into the classroom.

The room looked huge, windows lined the entire right wall. Underneath them, shelves held books, crayons, paper, rulers, pencils. It looked like somepony cleaned them daily as not a speck of dust could be found on the shelves. There were forty desks in the classroom, plus the teacher’s desk right next to the window. The teacher’s desk was neat, not a stray piece of paper or pencil. She had a cup that held a few pens and pencils, and a eraser next to it. On the very center of her desk, facing the students, sat a small little nameplate, with ‘Mrs. Windith’, written in cursive. Eight columns of five desks, each spaced the same distance, with a bit of room between the chalkboard and the first row. The chalkboard itself took up the entire front of the class with a tray holding several pieces of chalk and an eraser hiding underneath.

I stood at the front of the class, my face getting hot as everypony’s eyes were on me. They all stared at me as the teacher, Mrs. Windith, got up from her desk, smiling as she walked up to me.

Somewhere around her middle ages, she had a light tan coat, her mane and tail gray. Yet past her thin gray glasses, bright green eyes still showed warmth for her students. She paused. “Well class, as I’m sure you're all aware, we have a new student.” She paused to look at me. “Would you kindly introduce yourself?”

I gulped, my face turning red as I stared at the floor. “W-well, my name is Icy Mist and I moved here from Manehattan and-”

“Why are you wearing an eyepatch?”

Mrs. Windith looked at the pony that talked. “Cumulo.” She said, silencing the pony. “Please, continue Icy.” She urged me.

I nodded. “W-well, that. I had um... a sickness that made me wear this eye patch...”

The fillies and colts stared at me before they laughed, smiling at me. “He’s just like that character from that book!” A colt yelled from the back. Mrs. Windith went to yell at him before the chant ‘Patchy’ rose throughout the class.

My lower lip quivered as Mrs. Windith slammed her hoof down. “That’s enough! You should all be ashamed of yourselves, making fun of this poor colt.” She looked at me. “Thank you Icy, please take a seat anywhere you want.” She said with a smile.

I nodded, sighing as I sat next to a colt as Mrs. Windith cleared her throat. “Alright class, open your history book to page one hundred and forty five.” Her eyes darted at me. “Icy, since you don’t have your school book yet, you can share with a classmate.”

The colt next to me scooted closer and pushed his book so it was on top of our desks. As the lesson on Camelu and their weather patterns began, the colt leaned towards me. “Is it true?” He whispered.

I looked at him. “Is what?”

“That you can’t see with that eye?”

I nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that. My uncle lost his eyes to some disease himself.” He said, holding his hoof out. “My name is Cirrus.”

“Icy.” I said, shaking it.

Class dragged on as I read the book, amazed that textbooks could be so clean looking. Back in Manehattan, the only books I saw were the hand me downs in the public library. I sighed as I squinted at the book, still trying to read.

The bell interrupted her and all the colts and fillies rushed out of the classroom, yelling “RECESS!!” As the wave of students filed out of the classroom, Ms. Windith let out a sigh. Shaking her head she sat down at her desk, opened a book and began reading. As I slowly got up, I noticed another filly was still here, sitting in the second row, fiddling with something on her desk. I paused and watched for a moment, confused as to why she hadn’t left yet. Her coat was a light powder blue, glistening like soft snow. Her mane and tail were the color of snow. She blinked a few times, lightly shaking her head as her eyes sparkled in the sunlight. They were a dull powder blue as well.

I went over to her and her ears twitched at the noise. “Aren’t you going out for recess?” I asked.

“Oh... um... no, I like staying in here.” She said quietly. As she sat there, her front hooves constantly mashed and rolled at a cloud piece. I stared at her for a few seconds until she noticed I was still there. Her cheeks turned red. “Umm...”

“I was just wondering what you were making?” I asked.

“A cloud flower.” She said happily, still working at the cloud.

“A cloud flower?”

She nodded. “Whenever I would get sad, my mommy would go outside and grab a piece of a cloud and sculpt it into any flower that I want. She told me how to do it, but I just can’t seem to get it right.” She said, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“Here, let me help.” I said. Hesitantly, I grabbed her hooves and helped her mold the cloud just the right way. Her face took on a healthy shade of red as we worked together, the cloud slowly taking on the shape of a snowdrop flower. Finally a few minutes later, we smiled at each other. “I think we got it.”

She gently felt the cloud, her smile getting bigger as her hooves danced over the petals. “Yeah, I think you're right.” She said, holding up the flower.

“That’s a good job, both of you.” Somepony said behind us. We jumped and looked up at Mrs. Windith, a smile on her face. “Is that a snowdrop flower?” She asked.

The filly blushed and nodded. “My mommy only told me how to make this one.”

“Well that’s a very good job Snowdrop, I think your mother will love it.”

Snowdrop smiled. “I can’t wait to show her. And thank you Icy for helping me.”

I smiled back at her. “I’m glad I could be of some help to somepony.”

She tilted her head, confused at me. Right then the bell rang and all the fillies and colts piled back in the room. Snowdrop quickly put the cloud flower into her saddlebag as I made my way over to my desk. I felt a pair of eyes bearing down on me. I turned around and saw Cirrus looking at me oddly as I sat down.

“Alright class, settle down. Now I was thinking we do a little group activity, so Icy can get to know more of you. Split into groups of two and I want you to describe your partner as best as you can.”

At once everypony split into groups. I scooted closer to Cirrus, both of us taking out our notebooks. I noticed Snowdrop’s ears were down and she looked sadly at her desk, everypony avoiding her.

“Hey Snowdrop, you can join our group,” I said. Her head whirled towards my voice.

Cirrus looked at me angrily as Snowdrop carefully made her way over next to me. “Thank you again.” She whispered.

“No problem.”

“But how is she gonna help us? She’s blind.” Cirrus asked.

I stared at him, my mouth open. I turned to look at her again, but she kept staring at the desk. I realized now why she never seemed to look at me, she couldn’t. And I thought I had it bad, at least I can see... I looked back at Cirrus, my words stuck in my throat. I paused and took a deep breath. “D-does it matter? I’ll help her.” I stuttered.

He rolled his eyes. “Pssh, should’ve seen that coming.”

“What does that mean?”

“Come on think about it: she’s blind, and you only have one eye.”

“And that means?” I glared.

He leaned close to me, hoof up to my ear. “Look, I know you're new here and don’t know any better, but Snowdrop is a klutz. She’s messes up everything! If you let her join our group, she’ll only bring us down.” He paused to glance at her. “There is a reason that she eats alone, you know. You can at least see and keep up with other ponies. So I say try to avoid her at all costs.”

Before I could respond, Mrs. Windith came over to us. “Is there a problem?”

“Cirrus-”

“Actually I was wondering if I could work alone?” Snowdrop said. “I mean, its not like I could describe anypony anyway.” A sad smile grew on her face.

“Are you sure?” Mrs. Windith asked.

“I’m sure...”

“But it’s really not that big of a deal...” I tried to reason with her.

Cirrus looked at us before quickly getting up. “Fine, I’ll go work with Windy, if that’ll make things easier.” He said and went over to a lone colt in the back.

Mrs.Windith looked at us before she walked through the rest of the students. Snowdrop looked at me sadly. “Are you sure you want me as your partner? I always screw everything up...”

“Don’t worry. If we screw up, we’ll screw up together.” I reassured her. “Besides, so what if you can’t see? I can’t see real well either. But if we work together, maybe we might be able to.”

She smiled, her eyes glistening. “Thank you Icy...”

“Come on, let’s get started. I’ll describe myself so you can write it down.” She nodded and grabbed her pencil. I cleared my throat.

“Well, I have dark blue fur and my mane and tail are a shade darker blue than my fur. I don’t have a cutie mark yet so I can’t tell you that.” She giggled. “And my eyes are... um... what did my dad say? Emerald, I think...” I paused as I tried to remember. “Well, at least my left one. I don’t know about my right.”

“Is that where you’re blind?” She asked.

“Yep, that’s why I wear this eyepatch.”

“Ha-have you ever forgotten to wear your eyepatch?” She asked hesitantly.

“Yeah...” I said.

“Is-is it bad?”

I stared at the floor, nervously tapping my hoof against it. “Yeah... my dad threw the bottle towards the trash can and I didn’t see it. It hit and cut my eye. But he didn’t mean too! It was an accident. I-I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

She was silent, stunned.

“I still have a scar...”

She looked at me horrified. “I’m-I’m so sorry... Did you tell anypony?”

“No, they’d think he did it on purpose... it was just an accident.”

“What about your mom?”

“She left when I was real little.”

She looked like she was going to cry. “I’m so, so sorry!” She said.

I shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess... anyway, what about you? Can you describe yourself?”

She blinked, surprised at the sudden change in topic. “Me?” She asked, her face reddening. “Well I can only say what my mom told me when I asked her.”

“That’ll work. Okay, go ahead.” I said, readying my pencil.

“Well, my mother said I had a mane like a freshly fallen snow drift, and eyes that sparkled like the light of the sun on the ocean just as it is rising over the horizon. And my coat....” She paused, shifting in her seat.

Before she could continue, Mrs. Windith loudly cleared her throat. “All right, I think that’s enough time. Now, I’m going to call on a group one at a time and they’re going to stand up and tell the class what they talked about.” She scanned the students until her eyes finally rested on Cirrus. “Windy, Cirrus, why don’t you go first?”

The two colts sighed and stood up, going down a simple list that everypony could see. When they finished, another pair followed the pattern. Mrs. Windith repeated the procedure around the room in a clockwise motion until she finally stopped at Snowdrop and I. Before she could call on us, a loud bell rang. Everypony immediately rushed out of the room, heading towards the cafeteria.

“Okay, we’ll finish this after lunch.” She called to the fleeing ponies, the classroom empty once more. She shook her head before looking at us. “Aren’t you two going outside for lunch?”

“I.. um... brought my own...” Snowdrop said.

My face turned red. “I didn’t...” I whispered, embarrassed.

Snowdrop felt around in her saddlebag before pulling out a small brown bag. She opened it and grabbed a daisy sandwich wrapped in a small plastic bag along with an apple. Grabbing the sandwich, she looked in my direction. “Want some?”

“No, I’m okay...” My stomach loudly disagreed and I felt my face grow warm.

She hoofed me a half. “Here, take it.”

“No, I couldn’t.”

“Please, consider this a thank you for wanting to work with me...”

I paused and mumbled, grabbing the sandwich half before I thought against it. I took a bite. And then I quickly gobbled it up. “That was amazing...” I said happily.

She smiled. “My mom made it...”

“That was the best thing I’ve eaten in like two days.”

Snowdrop looked at me. “When was the last time you ate?”

I paused, thinking. “Um... Friday? No wait, Saturday. Dad brought home some peanuts from the bar.”

She opened and closed her mouth a few times in shock. “You're coming over for dinner.” She said flatly.

“But... Dad’ll be really mad if I don’t come home after school.”

She pouted. “But you haven’t eaten... and it doesn’t matter if I just met you, you’re my friend.”

I blinked a few times. “F-friend? What’s that?”

“You don’t know what a friend is?”

“Somepony that you want to spend time with or have fun with. Somepony who you can talk about anything with. And they share the good times and bad times with you.” Her cheeks got red. “Or so I’ve been told.”

“Well then the closest thing I had to a friend was this pony back in Manehattan that would share his lunch with me.”

She looked at me, her hooves searching for mine. Finally, she found them and grabbed them. “Well I consider you my friend. And if you want to come over for dinner, you're more than welcome too...”

I looked at her. “If you’re sure I won’t be a problem, then I’m sure I can talk to my dad and...”

Before I could finish, she squealed loudly. “Yay!”

Laughing, I said, “You're an odd filly.”

She stuck her tongue out in response. “And this is coming from a pirate.”

We looked at each other before bursting out laughing, holding our stomachs.

Mrs. Windith giggled at the two of us. “Oh you two.” She said, shaking her head.

Snowdrop let me have a few slices of the apple as well and soon, lunch was over. Fillies and colts returned back to their seats, each one giggling and shouting. Yet Cirrus ignored me as he sat down.
Mrs. Windith finally got them to settle down. “Okay class, I know you're all hyper, but it’s time to settle down so we can get back to work. Now I believe we have one more group that has to present.” She said, looking at me and Snowdrop. We gulped as we got up, standing in front of the class.

The class stared at us; it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. I cleared my throat, everypony looking at me. We quickly ran through our list, Snowdrop asking me for help a few times. Then I said what I wrote down, causing Snowdrop to blush even harder as a few fillies giggled. We finished the report, standing awkwardly at the front of the class.

“Very good, you may take your seat.” Mrs. Windith said, turning around. The classroom erupted into whispers. I helped Snowdrop find her seat before sitting down, a few fillies looking at me as they talked quietly amongst themselves. I could feel their stares on the back of my head.

Mrs. Windith walked around the classroom, passing out paper and crayons. When she was finished, Mrs. Windith went back to her desk for some water. “I want you to think about something that makes you happy and then I want you to draw it. If you don’t finish it before class ends, just add that to your homework.”

Instantly everypony went quiet, all of them lost in deep thought. I stared blankly at the paper, trying to think of something. I begun to tap the pencil on the desk, my mind struggling to come up with something happy to draw. I looked over and saw that Snowdrop was drawing something and Cirrus was scribbling intensely, the tip of his tongue sticking out in concentration.

Suddenly an image popped into my mind and my hoof started drawing of its own accord. Quickly the outline slowly took the shape of a mare. I erased the outlines before I started coloring her with crayons. I grabbed the pink crayon, coloring in her spiky mane before mixing together red and orange for her coat. I paused, hunting for the purple so I could color in her eyes. Her eyes stared back at me vacantly as I drew her hooves, both of them outstretched to hug me. I smiled at the drawing before I looked over and saw Cirrus looking at me.

“Who’s that?” He asked.

“My mom, or at least what my Dad said she looked like.”

He looked sad. “What do you mean? Don’t you know your mom?”

I was silent, staring at my paper. I continued to draw.

“Oh... I’m... um... sorry.” He muttered awkwardly.

I shrugged. “It’s ok.”

“Who’s that, your babysitter?” A voice next to me asked sarcastically. I looked and saw it was a filly was a light violet coat with a braided blonde mane. Her purple eyes disdainfully gazed at my drawing.

I shook my head. “No, that’s my mom.”

She paused, staring at the drawing before looking at me. “No wonder why she left,” she said flatly, turning back to her own drawing.

I stared at her, confused. “W-what do you mean?”

“Oh its nothing Patchy, you’ll see. Eventually.” She said, happily ignoring me as she colored in her drawing.

I turned to look back at my drawing, trying to hold back tears.

“Cumulo, you don’t know that!” Cirrus said, surprised at his classmate.

“Well he clearly doesn’t know his mom, I mean look at him! Unless she’s blind like Klutz over there, she would’ve done something. I mean, it looks like he lives in the mud. Whoever his mom is doesn’t care for him, its so obvious! Just look at the eye patch. If she did, it wouldn’t be so dirty!” She said.

I looked at my drawing, memories of my dad yelling at me for wanting to know what my Mom was like. I sniffled, trying to stop any tears.

“Say you're sorry!”

“Why should I?”

“What’s going on over here?” Mrs. Windith walked over. I could feel the entire class looking at us.

“Cumulo said that Icy’s mom left because he’s a mess. And she doesn’t even know if she did or not!” Cirrus said.

I closed my eyes, forcing the memories to stop as tears trickled down my eyes. Mrs. Windith stared at the filly before she bent down and was level with me. She wrapped her hooves around me, resting my head on her shoulder. “Shh, it’s ok...”

My mind froze, unable to process what the teacher was doing. But my body didn’t. Instantly I struggled against her and, breaking free of her grip, charged out of the classroom. Tears were flowing down my face. I ignored the ponies that I passed on the streets, my mind trying to catch up to what happened. I couldn’t comprehend why she’d hug me so I ran, hoping that I could distract myself. I heard several voices follow me, but I ignored them, reaching the edge of the town. I saw a cloud floating alone, away from everything and I jumped towards it.

I sank into it, finally able to hear nothing, save the hiss of the wind. I cried, away from everypony’s eyes. It was always easier to run and hide, then deal with them. I laid there for who knows how long, the snow and cold wind my only companions. I sighed, wishing I could hide from everything, but knew I’d have to face it sometime.

“I-Icy?” A voice called out to me.

I looked up, Snowdrop standing on the edge of the city. “W-what are you doing here?”

She faintly smiled. “Well whenever I get sad, I’ll run away from everypony too.” She felt the edge of the cloud before jumping.

“Wait Snowdrop!” I said, only to pause as she landed gently on my cloud. I stared at her in amazement. “H-How did you do that?”

She looked at me, confused before walking back. “Even I can walk the little gap.” I looked at the cloud, and sure enough, the gap was only a few inches big. She walked up to me and sat down, looking in my direction. “So..." She started, looking at the cloud.

I looked at her, confused. “So what?”

“I-is it true what Cumulo said?”

“I... I don’t know.” I paused. “I couldn’t tell you about my mother, I never knew her... She’s been gone as long as I can remember.” I looked up at the sky, the clouds blocking most of the sunlight. “Sometimes, I’ll look at the night sky, hoping that something would give me a sign that she’s okay, or at least tell me where she was...”

Snowdrop was silent, staring at the sky. “Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.That’s what my mom told me when my grandma died...” She blushed, nervously rubbed her forehooves together.

I stared at her dumbfounded for a moment before staring at the sky, the clouds blocking the sun. “For a while, my dad refused to tell me what happened to my mom... and when he finally did, I didn’t know what to think. It’s always been the two of us, me and Dad, just struggling to make ends meet.” I sighed. “I... just don’t know anymore.”

We were quiet for awhile, merely sitting next to each other. “It’s funny, I can still remember when I was picked on the first time. And I started to cry and I ran to the edge of town... I sat there for a long time, thinking about everything when Daddy found me. He didn’t say anything, merely hugged me. ‘Even the sad and painful memories shouldn’t be forgotten.’ He said. I’ve never understood it till now. No matter how much it hurts, its still makes you who are. And I’ll be here to keep reminding you.”

“But why? I’m not worth it...”

“You are Icy... you just can’t see how much you mean to ponies. Think of what would happen to your dad if you weren’t here? He’d be devastated...”

I looked at the cloud, staring into nothing. I suddenly felt a pair of hooves encase me and Snowdrop’s head briefly rested on my shoulder. As sudden as the hug was, it was over and she grabbed my hoof, pulling me up. “Come on, you still have to come over for dinner.” She said, her cheeks slightly red.

“But what about my school stuff?”

“Don’t worry, I took care of them.” She said, pointing to two saddlebags back by a street lamp.

“Thank you Snowdrop... for everything.”

She smiled. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

I chuckled as we hopped back onto the cloudy city. “Mrs. Windith is gonna be mad at me, isn’t she?”

“No, but she was furious at Cumulo and gave her detention. She said she’ll talk with you tomorrow.” Snowdrop said as we put our saddlebags on.

We walked silently next to each other as she lead me to her house. The wind kept hitting us, sending chills up my back. I looked at Snowdrop, who was also shivering. I picked up the pace, trying to block the wind off her. She looked at me and smiled as we continued on. I could almost feel the warmth that she emitted, even with everything that’s happened to her. Finally I couldn’t take the silence anymore. “Not to be rude or anything but why are you being so nice to me? Every time that’s happened is because they only wanted something in return.” I looked at her.

She paused, nodding her head after I finished speaking. “Because... I know what it's like.” She said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“I... I have no friends.” She said bluntly. “No pony even wants to hang out or let me be apart of their group because I can’t see and I always screw everything up.” She bit her lower lip. “And then here’s somepony that will actually talk to me who thinks I’m not a screw up.” A few tears sprinkled from her eyes. “I think that’s enough reason for me to treat them the same.”

I looked at her as she wiped her eyes and we continued on the path. We went back to being quiet, both in our own worlds. I faintly smiled as we turned the corner. “You know its funny really, this whole friend thing. I’ve always thought it was a waste of time and no pony would want to be my friend.” I paused. “Then I meet this filly that’s been through what I have, just so much worse. And yet she can still smile and be happy. I’m glad you’re my friend Snowdrop.”

She smiled and almost poked me in the good eye as she flung her hooves around my neck. Her face turned bright red as she let go and quickly sped up, almost hopping along. I laughed as I watched her with a huge smile on her face. “What’s so funny?” She asked.

“Nothing.” I said.

She looked at me, trying to tell if I was lying before shrugging. “We’re almost home.” She said.

“How can you tell?”

“By the smell of my mom’s cooking, of course!” She said, going faster.

I grinned as I followed her. Before long, we arrived at a nice two story cloud house with three windows greeting us in the front. Snowdrop quickly burst through the door, shouting, “Mom! I’m home! And I brought a friend!”

“Oh really?” A mare said from the kitchen, walking out with a smile on her face. Snowdrop ran over and gave her a brief hug. The mare had a two toned mane, a light shade of pink and white. The pattern reminded me of a peppermint candy. Her coat was a faded lime green color. Her cerulean eyes twinkled as she hugged Snowdrop. Her cutie mark was a pink rose and she smiled when she saw me. “And who’s this?”

“I’m Icy Mist. I just moved here from Manehattan,” I said.

“Hello Icy, I’m Primrose.”

“Mom, I was wondering if Icy could stay for dinner. Can he?”

Primrose smiled. “Of course dear, if he wants to.”

“If it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle, that is,” I said, nervously swirling the cloud floor with my hoof.

“Of course not! It’d be my pleasure.” She said.

“Yay! Come on Icy, I wanted to show you my room.” Snowdrop said, grabbing my hoof and rushing me upstairs. I had just turned back to thank Primrose when I saw a tear silently fall from her eye. She mouthed ‘thank you’ at me. Before I could respond, I was whisked upstairs. Snowdrop opened the door and proudly walked inside. I paused, before peering inside.

The room was clean and tidy, the shelves organized. She had a normal bed and a bunch of books. I saw that she had a toy chest in the corner, a few random toys strewn about.

“Wow...” I said, looking at everything.

“What?” She asked, blushing.

“Your room... it’s huge. And you have so much stuff.”

“Well yeah. Mom and Dad say just because I can’t see doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have toys to play with.” She said with a smile. I smiled at her, shaking my head. “Do you have your own room?”

“Yeah but its about as big as a closet. Just enough to fit a bed and a small little chest in. I only got a few toys.”

“Oh...” She paused before she trotted over and opened her chest, digging in there for a moment. She then stopped and pulled out a few dolls. “Wanna play?”

I eyed the doll for a moment, looking at the stuffed pegasus. What would his dad say? Something about a doll being a waste of bits? My eyes widened. But... but he isn’t here to say I can’t and she wants to... I hesitated for a moment before shrugging. “S-sure.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing a bunch of games with her like dolls or action figures, a few rounds of hide and seek, which I purposely lost so I could see her smile, and a game or two of tag. Finally, it was getting dark and the breeze started picking up outside. We heard the front door opened and we watched as a stallion walked in.

He had the same powdery blue color coat as Snowdrop. His mane was wavy and silvery, almost as if he was born with it instead of earning it with age. He had laugh lines etched into his face underneath his golden eyes. His cutie mark was a storm cloud with a lightning bolt sticking out of the bottom.

“Hey honey.” He said with a smile.

“Daddy!” She said, running to his open hooves and giving him a hug.

“And who is this?” he asked, looking at me.

“This is my friend Icy!”

“Hello there Icy. I’m Snowdrop’s dad, Storm Chaser.” He held out a hoof.

“Um... hi Mr. Storm Chaser.” As I said this I shook his hoof.

He smiled. “You don’t need to be so formal, you can call me Storm if you want.”

“O-okay...”

He chuckled before looking at Snowdrop. “So how was school honey?”

Before she could answer, Primrose interrupted. “Dinner’s ready.”

Storm smiled. “Come on, you can tell me over dinner.” He said, picking up Snowdrop and putting her on his back. He hopped towards Primrose, Snowdrop giggling as I followed them. Primrose shook her head before kissing the stallion on the cheek as we walked into the kitchen. I walked inside and my mouth dropped.

The table had a plate with some fish propped in the middle. Surrounding it was a large bowl of salad with some dressing mixed in it and a small tray of bread. Instantly my mouth watered as they sat down.

“Well what are you waiting for? You can sit down and dig in whenever you want,” Primrose told me.

I quickly sat down next to Snowdrop and looked at the assembly of food. Primrose hoofed out a plate full of food. I gratefully accepted it.

“You look like you haven't seen a home cooked meal in weeks.” Storm said with a smile.

“Actually its been around four months.” I muttered, distracted by food.

Primrose and Storm shared a look. “What do you mean? Don't your parents cook for you?” Storm asked.

“No, my dad doesn't know how to cook.”

They shared a longer look as I dug into the food. Snowdrop told them about what happened today at school, and she even ran upstairs to show them her cloud flower. Primrose smiled as she gently held it, careful not to damage the snowdrop flower as she got up and got a cup, placing it inside and sat it on the counter. She hugged Snowdrop, kissing her forehead. We went back to eating, laughing as Storm was telling us what happened to him at work.

“So me and Duststorm are moving the snow cloud into position and she accidently sneezes and the cloud unleashed its snow all over the park.” He laughed. “And as she tried to drag it away, some old colt flies up to us, half covered in snow thanks to her, and starts yelling, shaking his hoof. And-” He continued his story as I tuned it out, focusing on the food.

Finally finished, I leaned back, my snout covered in crumbs. Primrose and Storm laughed at me. Embarrassed, I wiped them off.

“I didn't think my cooking was that good.”

“Are you kidding!? This is amazing! I don't think I’ve ever eaten this well in my life!”

Storm laughed. “I’d have to agree with the colt, honey. You really outdid yourself.” As he said this he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

She smiled and hoofed out some more that I greedily accepted and soon, my plate was empty. I patted my engorged tummy. “That was amazing Mrs. Primrose, thank you so much.”

“Its my pleasure and please, its Primrose. Mrs. makes me sound so old...”

Storm chuckled. “Oh the wish of youth...” He paused, looking at us. “So do you two have any homework?”

Snowdrop nodded. “Yeah, I was hoping that Icy could stay so we could work on it together.” She asked, giving me puppy dog eyes.

I paused. “Sure, that’d be easier.” I said as I grabbed my plate with my teeth. “Where do you want me to put this?”

“Oh don't worry about it. Go do your homework and I’ll take care of it.” Primrose said.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I’m sure, now go finish that homework.”

I smiled and ran off after Snowdrop. She was in her room, digging through her saddlebags, throwing books and papers everywhere. I helped her organize her stuff and we worked together to finish the drawings. After that, I helped her study for the test tomorrow, quizzing her afterwards. Somehow while doing that, we got distracted and started talking about flying.

Storm knocked on the door and opened it. “So how is the homework coming?”

“Dad, can you teach me to fly?” Snowdrop asked ignoring his question.

Storm paused for a second, blinking in surprise. “But I thought you didn’t want to learn how to fly?”

“But if I don’t, then I’ll never be able to fly amongst the clouds and feel the air in my mane...” She pouted.

He looked at me. “Alright... if you really want to learn, then I’ll teach you.”

“Yay!” She yelled, running up to him and hugging him.

He smiled and nuzzled the top of her head before looking at me. “Do you know how to fly?”

I shook my head. “No... my dad doesn’t think its a skill I need to learn.”

“Nonsense, I’ll teach you with Snowdrop, it’d be fun. Like my dad used to say, ‘a pegasus that doesn’t know how to fly is just an cow with wings.’ No offense to any cows.”

I smiled. “Thank you Mr. Storm.”

“Kid, what did I say about that mister stuff? It’s just Storm.”

I grinned. “Okay Storm.” I looked at the bedroom clock. It said it was a little after five. My heart sank at once. “I think its time I should be heading home,” I said sadly.

Snowdrop frowned. “Okay...”

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Storm offered.

“No, it’s okay, I think I can find it.”

“Where do you live?”

“In the Cozy Apartments by the weather factory, I think?”

Storm nodded. “Come on, I’ll show you the way.”

I grabbed my things and making sure I had everything, headed downstairs. Primrose stood at the bottom, drying a dish.

“Thank you Primrose for letting me come over and for cooking me dinner.” I said, smiling.

“It’s no problem, you're welcome over any time.” She said. “Now you be careful...”

“I will.”

Storm then quickly listed how to get home, even told me a short cut. “Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home?”

“I’m sure. Thank you though.”

“Okay kid, take it easy.” He said.

Snowdrop walked up to me, staring at the floor. “Do you really have to leave so soon?”

“I do, my dad is going to wonder where I am.” I paused. “But I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”

She looked up and hugged me. “Okay...” I froze, not sure what to do. I looked around and saw Primrose and Storm smiling at us. Storm wrapped his forehooves around himself, nodding at me to do the same. I hesitantly wrapped my hooves around her and hugged back. We soon let go, smiling at each other before I started my trek home. “Be careful!” She yelled.

“I will!” I yelled back waving goodbye. With Storm’s directions, I made my way home, a strong icy breeze hitting me. It was quiet outside, no pony around as the sun slowly disappeared into the horizon. I listened to the wind as I shivered, it whistling past me as snow steadily dropped. A strong gust flew through the street, snow flying everywhere. I bent lower to the cloud and shivered, wishing I had a jacket. Finally, I saw the apartment building. It stood three stories tall and looked like it needed a few touchups, the cloud it was made out of slowly degrading. I opened the door and blinked, my eyes adjusting to the lamplight.

Mrs. Dancer was sitting behind the front desk, reading a book. Her golden glasses shone in the lamplight as she turned the page. Her graying brown mane was wrapped in a bun like it was when I first met her and her dull green coat looked like it was brushed not that long ago. She looked up as I walked inside, shaking off some snow. “Good evening Icy. How was your day?”

“It was... fun.” I said with a smile.

“That’s always good.” She said as I walked by. “Well, have a good night.”

“You too.” I said, walking up the flight of carpeted stairs before I came to my apartment door and unlocked it. The heavy smell of alcohol hit me as soon as I entered. I shut the door behind me as I made my way through the dim lighting. The living room was a mess, with boxes and newspapers all over the place. Unlike Snowdrop’s house, there wasn’t a single picture to be seen. The couch leaned horribly in the back, somehow missing a leg. A few whiskey bottles littered through the debris, dropped half hazardly onto the dark red carpet.

“Son.” a voice said from the kitchen. I gulped as I walked closer, forcing myself into the kitchen. My dad was sitting at the table, slowly swirling a glass of whiskey with his hoof as he stared into the mahogany wood.

“H-hi Dad...” I said, scared to come any closer.

He slowly turned his head looked at me and his blue eyes were glazed over. “Where were you today?” He asked calmly.

“I-I was at a friends house so we could do home-”

“And you didn’t let anypony know? I was worried about you!” He suddenly yelled, slamming the glass down. “What have we talked about with strangers?” He said, his voice slowly building with fury.

“D-don’t talk to them?”

“And did you talk to strangers today?” I nodded, closing my eyes as I knew what he was about to say. “What’s the punishment for breaking a rule?”

I started crying. “B-but Dad-”

I was interrupted as the glass sailed past my head and shattered against the door frame, the glass and whiskey trickling down the wall till they puddled at the floor. “No buts Icy! You broke a rule and you know the punishment. And now you're arguing with me!?” He exploded out of the chair, the furniture smashing hard into the ground. He stomped towards me, the pounding of his hoof matching my heartbeat. He slowly grew to the size of a giant as I looked into his fiery blue eyes. He stared coldly at me. “I raised you, and took care of you, and this is how you repay me?!”

Pain exploded in my head as it collided with something solid before I felt the ground bounce on the other side, dark oblivion taking me into a fitful sleep.

Author's Note

Well finally finished this thing! And it only took me, what, 3 weeks? Well I gotta say this was a pretty hard chapter to write, not wanting to reveal too much of Icy's past. Then I wasn't sure if I should even write it from his point of view or Snowdrops... Anyway, please let me know what you think! I'm looking forward to hearing what people say.

Thanks to WeLCxAlphaPuppy for showing me "Snowdrop" and starting this whole thing.