Princess Luna looked out at her kingdom from the balcony of the tallest tower, closing her eyes as the cool breeze weaved through her mane.
The air had turned to chilling temperatures as white puffy clouds dropped a wave of fresh powder fell over Canterlot. The city’s rooftops were topped with white caps as chimney belched out plumes of smoke from the roaring fires inside like out of a holiday greeting card.. The cobblestone streets vanished under a blanket of heavy snow, windows glazed over with a thin layer of frost, and icicles hanged from the edges of the roofs. It was a day that marked the end of one season, and the beginning of another.
Winter had finally arrived. Luna’s favorite season.
The princess of the moon watched as contently as her subjects, bundled in their winter clothes, milled into the streets, setting out to clean up the overnight snowfall. Custodial unicorns gathered salt and shovels to clear the roads while shop owners cleaned the windows and magical removed the icicles (they could be dangerous!) Before long, Canterlot looked roughly the same as it always did with only the snow-covered roofs to mark the difference.
Luna let out a low chuckle and looked out into the distance towards Ponyville. By comparison to the uptight ponies of Canterlot, the citizens of Ponyville were more lax to the snow. Most of them just dived right in and started making snow alicorns and snow ponies.
Luna was pulled from her whimsical thoughts as the smell of warm chocolate touched her nose.
She gazed to the side to find her sister cantering out onto the balcony, carrying two cups of hot cocoa (a blue and black mug with a cresent moon for Luna, and a pastel colored mug with a sun for herself.) Luna couldn’t resist giggling when she saw her sister bundled up in what seemed like a hundred layers of thick clothing until only her eyes and horn were visible.
“Thank you, sister,” said Luna, levitating the mug to her snout. “You look very…cozy.”
“Laugh it up, little sister,” Celestia grumbled, her voice muffled by the dozens of scarves. “I don’t know how you can stand being in this cold without at least a jacket or earmuffs.”
“I am the princess of the moon,” said Luna, taking a sip of her cocoa. She made a contented humming noise as her chest warmed up. That’s some good cocoa. “The chill in the air is like a cool breeze for me.”
“Lucky for you,” Celestia grumbled, fighting back a shiver. She tried to take a sip of her cocoa, but the scarves blocked her mouth. “Stupid winter clothing…. I’m starting to wish I was back in the sun.”
“Instead of complaining about the cold, maybe we should do something fun to get your mind off the cold,” Luna offered, downing the last of her cocoa. “Now that Equestria has two princesses, we have less work between us, which means we have more free time. Twilight was kind enough to give us the day off together after that disaster of a coronation. We should enjoy the first day of winter together.”
“Thank you for the offer, sister, but I prefer stay where it’s warm,” said Celestia. She finally managed to move the scarves out of the way and took a sip of her hot cocoa with a pleasant hum. “Mmm, delicious.”
“Sure you don’t intend to stay in here all day, sister,” said Luna, shaking her head.
“Well, what would you have me do, Luna?” asked Celestia.
Luna put a hoof to her chin, tapping it thoughtfully. There were a number of things Luna knew she wanted to do. Sledding down a snowy hillside. Go ice skating on the frozen lake. Build a snow hut with their own four hooves. But in each scenario, Luna could only envision the many ways her sister would bury herself in snow or fall through the lake.
She wanted Celestia to enjoy the winter time, and Celestia wanted some way to warm up. Maybe something with vigorous activity involved. Some like….
In the midst of her musing, the sound of laughter reached Luna’s ears. It was coming from below their balcony.
She and Celestia poked their heads over the railing and looked down. The Mane 6 were in the palace courtyard, throwing balls of snow at each other while ducking behind little makeshift walls. Twilight, Trixie, and Starlight were on one side while Sunset, Moon Dancer, and Tempest were on the other.
Sunset used her magic to pick up a large glob of snow before breaking it down and compacting it into a dozen perfect snowballs. She launched them across the courtyard when Trixie poked her head up with a conniving smirk. She removed her hat, reaching inside, and pulled out a flask of red liquid. She gave it a quick shake, ripped the cork off with her teeth, and threw the flask to intercept the snowballs. The potion exploded in a cloud of glittery red smoke, obliterating the snow barrage.
“Give it up, Sparkle!” Sunset shouted enthusiastically. “We’ve got you outmatched!”
“That’s what you think!” Twilight said challengingly. She turned back to Starlight, who had conjured up a magical trebuchet with a snow boulder ready. “Fire in the hole!”
Starlight released the catapult and launched the snow boulder. Moon Dancer squeaked when she saw the boulder fling straight at her and threw her hooves over her head, instinctively conjuring a barrier. Tempest dashed forward, using Moon Dancer’s barrier as a spring board, and jumped into the air. She threw out her hoof and punched the giant snowball into a million pieces, then landed safely on the ground with a flip of her mane.
Sunset sighed dreamily.
“Darn it,” Starlight complained, joining Twilight at the wall. “I knew we should’ve picked the strong pony for our team.”
“You know Sunset and Tempest have a thing for each other,” said Twilight. “I would feel wrong to separate them.” Starlight thought about it, then nodded understandingly. “You sure you don’t want to join, Spike. You could be on my team.”
“And get buried under twenty feet of snow? No, thank you,” Spike rejected vehemently from his seat on the palace steps. He stood up, brushed himself off, and turned towards the door. “I’m gonna make some hot chocolate. Anypony wants some.”
“Ooh, I do!” said Twilight, raising her hoof eagerly.
“Same here!” Sunset joined it.
“I would like some hot chocolate,” Moon Dancer requested.
“The Great and Power Trixie demands cocoa!” Trixie yelled theatrically.
“Thanks, Spike,” said Starlight gratefully.
“Tell Grubber I said ‘hi’,” said Tempest. “And don’t eat all the hot tamales like last time!”
The baby dragon disappeared inside the castle and the snowball fight resumed after Trixie threw a cheap shot at the side of Sunset’s head when she wasn’t looking. The sunny mare retaliated by levitating Trixie, flipping her over, and burying the showmare’s head in the snow.
A metaphorical lightbulb went off in Luna’s head.
“That’s it!” she said brightly. “A snowball fight!”
“Snowball…fight?” Celestia repeated strangely. “What is the meaning of this, sister? Is it not wrong for friends to quarrel?”
“They’re not really fighting, sister; it’s a game,” Luna explained. To demonstrate, she gathered a clump of snow off the balcony railing with her horn and compacted it into a ball. “Ponies gather up the snow, pack it into little balls, and then throw them at each other.” She threw the snowball at Celestia’s cloth-covered flank. “See?”
“Hmm, intriguing,” Celestia hummed. “And how does one win a ‘snowball fight?’”
“There’s not winning or losing – you just have fun,” said Luna, elbowing her sister playfully. “Come on, you know you want to try it.”
“Well…I do enjoy fighting,” said Celestia with a slightly crazed gleam in her eyes. “Especially when I stand over the battered and broken bodies of my enemies.”
“…Are you still seeing your therapist every week?” asked Luna, concerned.
“Yes, but I don’t think it’s working,” said Celestia glibly.
Deciding to put off Celestia’s potentially psychotic tendencies for another day, the two sisters spread their wings and leaped over the balcony. Celestia had more difficulty maneuvering because of the thick layers she covered herself in. the sisters landed in the courtyard between the warring factiosn while they were in the middle of replenishing their ammunition.
“Greetings, my little ponies,” said Luna brightly. “We were – “
“AAH! YETI!” Trixie shrieked, then threw a snowball at Celestia’s face. The princess of the sun shot the showmare a blank stare. “For the last time, Trixie is not interested in your timeshare!”
“It’s me, Trixie,” said Celestia dryly. Realizing that she had just thrown a snowball in the face of a princess, Trixie chuckled nervously and slipped behind the snow barrier until they could only see the top of her hat.
“Did you need something, Princess Luna?” asked Twilight helpfully. “Do you need me to schedule something or arrange a meeting?”
“Nothing like that, Twilight Sparkle,” said Luna, patting the purple mare’s mane reassuringly. “We were hoping you might let us partake in your snowball fight?”
“You wanna snowball fight?” asked Tempest, quirking her brow strangely.
“I want to show my sister the joys of winter,” said Luna, gesturing to the overdressed alicorn. “And I thought a friendly duel in the snow between friends would be just the thing. What do you say.”
“Well…I guess that’s all right,” said Sunset. She looked to her friends and all of them nodded in agreement (except for Trixie, who held up a flag with the word “YES” from behind the snow barrier. “Ok, sure, you guys can join. Just pick a side.”
“Wonderful!” Luna cheered, clapping her hooves. “I shall join my apprentice’s team. Sister, you can join Twilight Sparkle and her friends over there.”
“Okay…,” said Celestia awkwardly.
Celestia and Luna trotted over to their respective sides. The rainbow-maned princess stood behind the snow barrier, which only reached up to her knees, and stood around in uncomfortable silence as Twilight, Trixie, and Starlight used their magic to form neat, triangular piles of snowballs, ready to be thrown at a moment’s notice.
“So…how does one ‘snowball fight?’” asked Celestia.
“It’s easy,” said Starlight encouragingly. “You just make a snowball and throw it at the other team while avoid their snowballs.” At that precise moment, one such snowball smacked Celestia in the side of the head.”…Like that one.”
Celestia shook her head wildly and glared across the courtyard at her younger sister, who was levitating half a dozen snowballs with a smug grin.
“You may want to try ducking behind the barrier,” Twilight suggested, crouching behind the snow wall to demonstrate.
Celestia laid down on her belly behind the snowbank…which still left her head completely exposed and an easy target for Luna to nail her between the eyes.
“Is this fun, sister?” Luna threw her head back with a rancorous guffaw. She didn’t notice her teammates had dived off to the side in a panic until a giant snow boulder plowed into Luna, burying her in the snow with only her legs sticking out. “Ow….”
“You’re right, sister, this is fun,” Celestia cackled.
“Maybe we should build bigger bases for our taller players,” Starlight suggested.
“Agreed,” Celestia and Luna said in unison,; the latter dazed as Tempest pulled her out of the snow.
Both sides swept away their meager snow barriers and began to build bigger, more elaborate walls. Team Celestia compacted the snow together into thick bricks and stacked them into an solid brick wall with parapets. Team Luna’s wall was smooth and flat with a slanted roof topped with decorative serpentine dragons. Both teams were arming themselves with hundreds of snowballs in preparation for the next round when –
“Hey, y’all, watcha doin’?”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders had inexplicably and casually walked through the palace gates without a single guard to stop them. Luna was going to have a long talk with the guards. Again.
“Trixie and her compatriots are about to annihilate Sunset Shimmer’s team in a winter duel!” Trixie announced with a flourish.
“Not if we destroy you first!” Moon Dance retorted.
“You’re having a snowball fight?” Scootloo gasped excitedly with starry eyes. “Cane we play? Can we? Can we? Can we?”
“Calm yourself, my little pony,” Luna chuckled. “Of course you can join us. In fact, I would be deeply honored if you – “
“Dibs on the fillies!” Celestia shouted with a raised hoof.
“Me darn it, sister!” Luna cursed. “I was about to ask them to join my side!”
“Too late – called dibs,” said Celestia smugly.
“Curse the law of dibs!” shouted Luna, shaking her hoof to the sky.
“Hey, what’s with all the yelling going on over here?”
Spitfire zoomed into the courtyard and floated over the moon princess. The rest of the Luna Crew (Bon Bon, Blossomforth, Octavia, and Vinyl Scratch) entered through the gates at a slower pace, looking between the two teams curiously. Spitfire flapped her wings and flew higher into the air, surveying the scene when a look of understanding crossed her face.
“You guys having a snowball fight?” asked Spitfire, zipping down to Luna’s face, making the midnight alicorn lean back in surprise. “You gotta have me on your team, Loony. Someone’s gotta put my baby sis in her place.” she emphasized the statement by punching her hooves together.
“Your chances of beating my are less than you asking Soarin out!” shouted Sunset co*ckily.
“Wha – I wasn’t – I don’t – “ sputtered Spitfire, her face red with embarrassment. “Shut up!”
“Can we play, too?” asked Minuette, popping up between Twilight and Starlight.
“BWAH!” Twilight and Starlight jumped away with mutual frightened yelps. The rest of the Celestia Squad (Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Lyra) popped up a second later. Twilight point at them and yelled, “Where did you come from?”
“We’re…not sure…,” said Lemon Hearts, looking around with uncertainty. “Minuette did this…thing where she grabbed the air and suddenly started peeling it away like a page in a book….”
“Next thing we know, we’re here,” Twinkleshine added, tilting her head.
“Your timing could not be more perfect!” said Celestia, clapping her hooves giddily. ”Join me as I wage snowy war against my sister and her friends!”
“A snowball fight?” Lyra gasped excitedly. “We’re in!”
“Do we have to?” Lemon Hearts groaned. “I just got my mane done the way I like it.”
“It looks the same as it always does,” said Twinkleshine.
“I’ll have you know, I parted my bangs two inches to the left, thank you very much!” Lemon Hearts huffed.
“If we’re having more people join, we’re gonna need bigger defenses,” said Sunset. “Everypony, start building!”
“Do you think this is a good idea?” Starlight asked Twilight as they began compacting more snow bricks. “With so many ponies joining, don’t you think this might get a little…out of hoof?”
“It’s just a snowball fight, Starlight,” Twilight laughed, waving off her concern. “What’s the worse that can happen?”
“Twilight, no - !”
The palace guards looked at one another awkwardly, uncertain of what they were looking at.
What had started off as simple barriers had transformed into full snow fortresses. Team Celestia had constructed an entire castle made of snow bricks reminiscent of Medieval Europonian architecture. Team Luna, on the other hoof, had built a towering five-level pagoda modeled after the ancient Japonians
How a bunch of ponies were able to stand on snow without making it collapse was anyone’s guess.
Princess Luna stood on the highest balcony of her snow tower with Sunset and Moon Dancer by her side, peering through her spyglass made of snow and ice. (Don’t ask me how that works.) She could see her sister standing on the ramparts of her snow castle with Twilight, Starlight, and Trixie. It took a moment for both alicorns to realize they were staring at each other with snow spyglasses and threw them away.
“Something isn’t right,” Luna hummed. “They haven’t made a move in almost twenty minutes.”
“I can’t believe they managed to take out Tempest and Blossomforth,” said Sunset, shaking her hoof in frustration. “I should’ve seen it coming.”
“To be fair, Twinkleshine throwing an impromptu concert in the middle of a battle was unexpected,” said Moon Dancer. “But at least you managed to nail her at the end.”
“Still,” Luna hummed, tapping her muzzle, “I can’t help but feel that my sister is up to something….”
Down below on the ground level, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo cautiously poked their heads around the corner of the pagoda. They spotted Luna’s imposing figure over the snow railing and pulled back. The Cutie Mark Crusaders huddled up with Apple Bloom holding a crumpled piece of paper in her hoof..
“Aw right, listen up, Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Apple Bloom talked in a high whisper. “We need ta get this ‘ere intel back ta Princess Celestia. It’s a list o’ all the weak spots in Princess Luna’s base. We get it back ta the princess and she’ll beat that no-good night mare.”
“But how’re we going to get back?” Sweetie Belle shuddered. “We only snuck over here because Miss Twinkleshine distracted everyone.”
“We’re just gonna have to hoof it,” said Scootaloo determinedly.
“But they’ll see us!” cried Sweetie Belle.
“Scoots is right,” said Apple Bloom seriously. “It’s ta only way. We’re just gonna ‘ave ta run as fast as we can. No matter what ‘appens, our mission is ta get the intel to Princess Celestia! Are ya with me?”
She threw her hoof out in the middle. Scootaloo put hers on top immediately. Sweetie Belle was hesitant at first, but nonetheless put her hoof in as well. The filly trio yelled their group chant (“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!”) and ran out into the open…screaming at the top of their little lungs.
“There they are!” yelled Luna, pointing at the wailing fillies. “Bury them!”
Sunset lit her horn with magic and summoned a Gatling Gun made of snow (again, don’t ask me how it works.) She magically turned the crank and launched a hundred snowballs through the air. The Cutie Mark Crusaders shrieked louder as the snowballs fell all around them like raindrops, only narrowly grazing their flanks and brushing their manes. They only managed to weave through the snowstorm because of their small size. Sunset cursed (“Luna darn it!”) when the Cutie Mark Crusaders made it to the halfway point, which was out of Sunset’s firing range.
“We did it!” Scootaloo cheered when the snowballs stopped falling. “We’re gonna make it! We’re gonna – OOF!”
The little Pegasus suddenly collapsed on the ground, her flank cold. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stopped skidded to a stop and looked back to see what had become of their friend. Somepony had nailed her hind legs with a snowball.
“Scoot!” cried Apple Bloom, trying to run to her friend, but was held back by Sweetie Belle.
“Go on…without me…,” Scootaloo moaned weakly.
The poor filly was put out of her misery by a snowball to the back of the head. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed the direction it came from to the air where Spitfire hovered overhead, her hooves laden with snowballs.
“Sorry, my little ponies,” Spitfire smirked, co*cking back another snowball. “But it’s the end of the line for you.”
“We’ve got to go!” Sweetie Belle yelled at Apple Bloom.
“But Scootaloo – “
“There’s nothing we can do for her! We gotta run! Now!”
Though reluctant, Apple Bloom conceded that she was right. She took a last glance at her fallen friend face down in the snow and started to book it back to Celestia’s castle.
But they weren’t going to make it far. Spitfire was the captain of the Wonderbolts and the fastest flier in all of Equestria (now counting a rainbow-maned superhero, obviously.) She decided to hover in place while giving the fillies a ten seconds head start, letting them think they were safe before she wiped them out in one fell swoop. Spitfire liked to play with her prey.
This would turn out to be a fatal mistake as the captain of the Wonderbolts watched the fillies run, not knowing that she wasn’t alone in the skies.
It started out as brief flashes in the corner of her eye that would disappear the moment she looked around. Then came the strange rustling noises that sounded like paper in the wind. The hairs on the back of Spitfire’s neck stood up when she felt like something brushed up behind her, only to find empty space when she turned around. It was afterwards that she noticed a shadow had fallen over her. The fiery Pegasus glanced upwards, blocking the sun within her hoof, and noticed a diamond outline of something hover in the air above her.
“Is that…a kite?” Spitfire muttered to herself.
“Death from above!”
It took a moment for Spitfire’s brain to register that it wasn’t just a kite – it was Minuette riding a kite!
Spitfire had no time to gather her wits before Minuette reeled back the snowball that she had carried with her and threw it at the fiery Pegasus, smacking her in the face. The Wonderbolt captain fell backwards and began to spiral out of control towards the ground. And, oddly enough, one of the guards pulled out a soundboard from who knows where and started playing the sound effect when cartoon planes start falling.
“MAYDAY! MAYDAY! I’M HIT! I’M GOING DO-O-O-O-O-OWN!!!” screamed Spitfire.
Spitfire hit the ground that sent a powdery explosion flying everywhere. When the mist clear, Spitfire was lying face down in an impressively sized snow crater.
“Spitfire, no!” cried Sunset.
“Curse you, sister!” Luna roared, shaking her hoof at the opposing side.
“Well done, Starlight Glimmer!” Celestia complimented the lilac mare, who was magically holding the string that kept Minuette’s kite aloft. “That was an excellent plan to defeat my sister’s aerial forces.”
“It was actually Minuette’s idea,” said Starlight. “I thought it was crazy, flying somepony on a kite. But it actually worked surprisingly well.”
“Wonderful,” said Celestia proudly. “Now get Minuette down so that we can plan out next move.”
“Uh…get her down?” Starlight parroted, sweating slightly. Starlight was passionate about flying kites, but she never learned how to get them down without crashing them into the ground first.
Minuette looked down at Celestia’s castle, wondering why it was taking so long for them to pull her back in. The toothpaste-maned mare heard a sharp click below and realized that she had flown too close to the enemy’s pagoda. Sunset Shimmer turned her snowy Gatling skyward with a furious look in her eyes.
Two seconds later, a second snow crater formed next to Spitfires.
“This is not good!” said Luna worriedly as she the grounds below. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had made it to Celestia’s snow castle and banged their hooves on the snow gates. A moment later, Lemon Heart opened the doors to let the fillies inside. “They have taken out our aerial advantage and who knows what secrets those fillies could be spilling right now.”
“Not to worry, your highness,” said Moon Dancer, pushing her glasses up with an evil smile. The sunlight flared off her lenses, making her look like a calculating villain. “Everything’s going according to plan.”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle panted hoarsely, their hearts beating like drums against their little chests. Lemon Hearts shuffled worried between them, wiping them down with fresh towels.
“Oh dears, you look horrid,” said Lemon Heart, concerned, as she wiping the snow off Sweetie Belle’s cheek. “Are you all right? Did something happen.”
“We got what we needed,” said Sweetie Belle, looking downcast. “But we lost Scootaloo.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” said Lemon Heart sympathetically.
“It won’t be for nothing,” said Sweetie Belle determinedly. “We the info we got, we can strike at Princess Luna’s weak point and get our revenge. Right, Apple Bloom?”
“Yeah…about that….”
Sweetie Belle gasped in horror and Apple Bloom suddenly whipped out a snowball and nailed Lemon Heart’s in the face, making the yellow mare collapse on the floor.
“Apple Bloom, what are you – “
Splat! Apple Bloom took out Sweetie Belle next.
“Sorry, Sweetie Belle,” said Apple Bloom with an evil smile, holding up the crumpled paper in her hoof. “Ain’t nothin’ personal.”
She tossed the paper on the ground, which turned out to be blank, and silently made her way up the snow staircase.
Apple Bloom quietly crept to the castle ramparts, keeping low to the floor. Princess Celestia had her back turned to the filly, along with three of the Mane 6. Apple Bloom didn’t think she had what it took to take out a princess – she was ginormous – but she could take out the others before they realized anything.
Apple Bloom gathered snow from the floor, compacted it into a ball, and took aim. She would go for Starlight Glimmer first – she was the bigger threat.
“Hmm, they stopped attacking,” Celestia hummed thoughtfully.
“Think they’ve given up?” asked Starlight.
“Doubtful,” said Twilight, tapping her muzzle. “It could be that they’re planning something. She should prepare in case of a frontal assault – “
Trixie, who had no input to the discussion, allowed her eye to wonder when she caught something in her peripheral. She turned her head in time to see Apple Bloom pull with a snowball in her hoof. Trixie’s mind went into overtime as she mentally calculated the trajectory of Apple Bloom’s throw and realized it was aimed at Starlight. Trixie didn’t have time to warn her best friend before the filly tossed the snowy sphere. There was only one option left: Trixie jumped in the path of the snowball.
“Starlight, look out!” screamed Trixie.
Starlight gasped. She barely saw the snowball flying straight towards her until Trixie jumped in front, taking the snowball to the chest and collapsing on the ground.
“TRIXIE!” cried Starlight.
Apple Bloom desperately tried to create another snowball now that she had been exposed, but Twilight’s horn flared with magic and created a dozen snowy spheres before she could even finish one. Apple Bloom was mercilessly pelted from all directions until she was buried in a glob of snow with only her legs sticking out.
“Trixie, stay with me!” Starlight wailed desperately, lifting the stagemare in her hooves.
“S-s-so c-c-cold…,” Trixie shuddered. “S-s-starlight…remember…Trixie…and…pick up…Trixie’s…dry cleaning….”
“Trixie, don’t leave me!” cried Starlight. But the stagemare went (figuratively) cold in her hooves. “NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!”
“They will pay for this cruel treachery!” Celestia swore over Starlight’s tearful wailing. “Twilight Sparkle! Starlight Glimmer! With me!”
Twilight rested a hoof on Starlight’s shoulders, offering her silent sympathies while also shooting her a meaningful look. Starlight sniffled, set Trixie down on the cold snowy floor, and wiped her tears with the back of her hooves. Twilight was right; there would be time to mourn the fallen later.
Twilight and Starlight stood on either side of Celestia. The alicorn ignited the magic in her horn first, then Twilight and Starlight joined her, combining their magics together for their biggest spell yet.
Luna let out a barking laugh while Sunset playfully punched Moon Dancer’s shoulder. The bespectacled unicorn had just finished giving them the details of her secret plot and they couldn’t be prouder!
“Well done, Moon Dancer!” Luna complimented. “Planting a double agent in the midst of my sister’s forces. A sheer stroke of brilliance!”
“Didn’t think you had it in you,” said Sunset, grinning.
“You honor me, princess, but I can’t take all the credit,” said Moon Dancer, readjusting her glasses with a smirk. “When Apple Bloom snuck into our base and sought me out, I wasn’t expecting her to offer to join our side. I couldn’t let the opportunity go to waste, so I gave her a piece of blank paper and told her to tell the other Cutie Mark Crusaders that it was valuable intel. Then when she was inside Celestia’s base, she could take them out from the inside.”
“You could’ve told us your plan beforehoof,” said Sunset. “Spitfire and I almost took out Apple Bloom when they were running.”
“We had to make it convincing,” said Moon Dancer.
“Think she took out the princess?” asked Sunset curiously.
“Unlikely, but she will have taken out a good number of Celestia’s forces before she was caught,” said Luna, rubbing her hooves evilly. “I can’t wait to see the look on my sister’s face when she realizes she’s been duped!”
Luna threw back her head and bellowed another barking laugh. Her laughter was cut short when she noticed their balcony had suddenly gotten darker.
“Hey, what happened?” asked Sunset craning her head backwards. “Did Celestia take down the sun early.”
No, that wasn’t the case, Luna noticed. Despite it being darker, there was still a considerable amount of sunlight in the surrounding areas. The princess of the moon turned her head skyward, shielding her eyes with her hoof, and spotted something big and round blocking the sun. For a moment, she thought it might have been an solar eclipse. But that couldn’t be right. She and Celestia scheduled them to occur every eighteen months and the next one wasn’t supposed to happen until spring.
Luna narrowed her eyes on the strange body that was blotting out the sun, slowly realizing that…it was getting closer. After a few seconds, she finally understood what it was and cried out:
“SNOW METEOR!!”
That’s right – Snow Meteor. The most powerful offensive technique in any snow war; a snowball at least fifty hooves in diameter. Celestia, Twilight, and Starlight had pulled the snow directly from the snow clouds overhead and sent it hurtling towards Luna’s pagoda at terminal velocity, surrounding in scorching flames (yet somehow not melting.) Luna’s team had no chance to escape and wailed like frightened fillies before the meteor impacted the tower, destroying the snow structure in a single blow.
Luna groaned as she stood up, shaking the snow off her coat. She looked around at what remained of her once proud tower – little more than a pile of mush now. Sunset emerged from the snow shortly after, but Moon Dancer remained unmoving, her upper half buried in the snow with her hind legs sticking straight up.
“Is everyone all right?” Luna called to her subjects.
“I’m fine,” Sunset moaned, shaking her head clear of the dizziness.
“All good here,” Bon Bon called out.
Vinyl Scratch also emerged from the mush, relatively unscathed, and gave Luna the equivalent of a thumbs-up (which was odd considering they had no fingers.) But the pop musical mare looked and quickly realized that her wife had had not turned up yet. After a little bit of searching, she spotted a gray hoof sticking out the snow. Vinyl rushed over and started digging desperately, eventually finding Octavia Melody buried beneath the snow.
Vinyl lifted her wife into her hooves and shook her in pleading silence. The cellist groaned and opened her eyes weakly.
“Vinyl…,” Octiavia breathed. “I’m so sorry, Vinyl. It would seem…that this is…my coda…. Please…live on…for me….”
Vinyl’s muzzle quivered as Octavia went limb in her arms. A moment of tragic sorrow passed over her face, but was quickly replaced by righteous anger.
Vinyl gently set Octavia back on the ground and turned in the direction of Celestia’s castle. She could see the sun princess laughing at the top of the battlements with Twilight and Starlight. Vinyl’s eye narrowed into a heated glare as she pulled out a big red button from behind her back and pressed it. Two giant speaker towered twenty feet high suddenly popped up behind Vinyl while a turntable conveniently appeared in front of her.
Sunset blinked and asked, “When did we install a sound system?”
“It was Vinyl’s idea,” said Luna with a happy little smile.
Vinyl pushed all the faders to their maximum level and put the needle on the spinning record. Her hoof hover over the play button for a moment, shooting one last glare at the opposing forces, then pressed it –
WUUUUUUUUUUB – WUB-WUB – WUB-WUB - WUB-WUB-WUB – WUUUUUUUUUUB
Everypony covered their ears with their hooves. The base reverberated through the courtyard like a thousand stampeding buffalo. It could be felt all the way in the main city, the vibrations knocking the snow off rooftops and undoing all the work of the poor shoveling unicorns. It was even worst for Team Celestia, who were in the direct line of fire.
“TOO – MUCH – BASS!” screamed Twilight, stuffing her ears with snow in a poor attempt to block out the noise. “TOO – MUCH – WUB!!!”
Starlight winced as the vibrations of Vinyl’s musical assault pounded against her eardrums when she felt something cold plop on her snout. It was snow. The lilac unicorn craned her head to see where it had come from a realized with a horrified gasp that the entire castle was shaking violently.
“It’s coming down!” cried Starlight, pointing to the ceiling as more snow fell. “EVERYPONY OUT!!”
Celestia stretched her wings and glided to safety. Twilight didn’t hear her warning, so Starlight tackled her friend over the parapet and they fell together into the soft snowbank. They popped their heads out as the castle doors flew open and Lyra Heartstring – who had been strangely absent the whole time – ran like a bat out of Tartarus. They barely made it out in time before the snow fortress collapsed into a pile of mush similar to Luna’s tower.
Luna raised her hoof and Vinyl turned off the sound system. The princess of the moon stepped forward and watched as Celestia landed across the courtyard. The two sisters locked eyes and began a heated staring contest.
“So that’s how you want to play it, little sister?” said Celestia heatedly as Twilight, Starlight, and Lyra joined her side, all glaring at the opposing team.
“That’s how it’s always been, sister!” Luna retorted as she was flanked by Sunset, Bon Bon, and Vinyl, meeting the opposing team’s glares with their own.
“Then you have sealed your fate!” Celestia declared as she ignited her horn with magic and summoned a dozen snowballs around her. “To me, my little ponies! Charge!”
“For Equestria!” Luna screamed, also summoning a dozen snowballs.
Both sides rushed to the center of the courtyard with furious war cries –
The soundboard guard played a haunting slow song as the world seemed to move in slow motion like the tragic scenes in war movies.
Vinyl was the first to fall. She charged ahead of her comrades, intent on taking revenge for her fallen wife, and threw a snowball at Princess Celestia. The sun alicorn easily moved her head out of the way and pelted the pop star with her entire arsenal. The first one hit her in the side of the head, then the gut, then her hoof, her flank, her chest, and her face again. Vinyl exhales a weak, dying gasp as she fell to her knees, then collapsed face down in the snow.
Twilight put up a valiant battle, creating and tossing snowballs in rapid succession. But she was unfocused on her surroundings and did not see the oncoming snowball until it hit her in the side of the face. Another one nailed her in the flank, and the last hit her in the chest. The purple unicorn fell backwards and went limp.
Starlight used her magic to levitate over the battlefield, raining down death from above. But somepony landed a lucky shot in the back of the floating mare’s head, sending her spiraling to the ground. She crash landed into the snow, cutting a long trench through the powder. Starlight moaned weakly and tried lifting herself up, but a solid blow to the right side of her face felled her for good.
Lyra and Bon Bon were racing across the raging battlefield towards each other, ducking their heads beneath the barrage of flying snowballs. They were nearly together. Lyra reached out her hoof for Bon Bon and Bon Bon did the same for Lyra. But just before they could touch, a snowball plowed into the side of Bon Bon’s head while another nailed Lyra in the side at the same time. The star-crossed mares fell in the snow with their hooves outstretched, just inches from reach each other.
No one knows how long the battle went on as more and more ponies were felled by the horrors of snow war. But before long, the snow finally stopped flying and a deadly pause of silence filled the courtyard.
Princess Luna stumbled through the field, her breathing heavy and shuddering, her body starting to feel the effects of the cold. Someone had god a few shots on Luna. Her flank had been hit four times, her wings smothered in snow, and her left eye hidden underneath a glob of slush. She was very weak, her legs barely holding up her trembling body.
She managed to make it four steps before her legs finally gave and she fell to her knees.
With a bleary gaze, Luna’s eye roamed the snow-covered field. All these ponies – her subjects – that were now lying listlessly on the ground. The horror. The carnage. It brought flashes of memory to the forefront of her mind. During the war against the Crystal Empire. So many ponies – lost. Because she wasn’t strong enough to protect them….
“Prin…cess…Luna….” A weak, trembling moan carried to her ears.
“Sunset Shimmer?” Luna gasped.
Luna brushed the snow off her left eye and searched the courtyard. Sunset shimmer crawled slowly through the snow on her belly to her teacher, dragging her hind legs behind her. Her legs, Luna realized were completely engulfed in snow. No doubt ruthlessly buried by her own sister. Princess Luna gritted her teeth as she forced her legs to move, dragging her closer to Sunset.
“Hold on, Sunset,” Luna panted. “I’m coming….”
“Princess…I…,” Sunset moaned, holding out a shaky hoof –
SPLAT!
“NO!” cried Luna.
Sunset lay flat on the ground, remnants of a snowball plastered across the back of her head. Luna’s breathing became erratic after seeing her apprentice fall, but they only grew worse as her older sister strolled up to the moon alicorn.
Like her, Celestia’s flank was smother in snow, her wings hanged at her side, dragging them on the ground beside her, and her normally flowing mane hanged limb after being drenched in snowballs. But even so, the Mare of the Sun stood tall over her younger sister. Luna cursed her own name. It had been so long that she had forgotten Celestia was the warrior of the family. Of course she could shrug them all off like they were nothing.
Luna had made a critical error – and so many ponies paid the price.
“And here we are – at the end of the line,” said Celestia, struggling to control her heavy breathing. “It strikes me how similar our positions are to the Summer Solstice Festival. Only this time, there is no saving you.”
“This…this is a mistake…,” said Luna, trembling. “Sister, look around you…look at what we have become….”
“I am what you made me, little sister,” said Celestia. “it was you who dragged me into this war, and now” – Her horn lit up with magic, crafting a single snowball in the air – “I will finish it.”
“Celestia…this is madness!” cried Luna.
“Madness…?” Celestia repeated slowly, then screamed. “THIS – IS – CANTERLOT!”
Celestia threw the snowball between her younger sister’s eyes and watched as the midnight mare collapsed sideways in the snow.
A haunting silence carried through the courtyard, broken only by the whispering breeze.
“I…I did it…,” Celestia laughed, falling on her flank. A mixture of relief and satisfaction welled up in her chest. “I did it! I defeated my sister! This is most spectacular! Minuette, did you see – ?”
Her voice got lost in her throat as she turned around and got a better look at the battlefield. Minuette, her best friend, lying in a crater with the remnants of her kites only feet away from a similarly fallen Spitfire. Twinkleshine was half covered in snow after the brutal assault from Team Luna, lying between Tempest and Blossomforth. Lemon Heart’s hooves were sticking out of the pile of mush that had once been her tower with Celestia never realizing what happened. And everybody else lay scattered across the courtyard in similar positions.
In finally hit Celestia. The princess of the sun held her head in her hooves as the horrible realization washed over her.
“What…what have I done?” Celestia gasped. “All this…this senseless violence. This is all my fault. They all followed me into this senseless war and I did nothing to protect them. Luna…Minutte…Lemon Heart…Twinkleshine…Lyra…Twilight…Starlight…Trixie…those fillies whose names I can’t remember…. This is all my fault. I’m sorry. Please…forgive me….”
But the downcast alicorn was met only with horrible silence….
At least until the palace creaked doors opened. Spike stepped outside drinking from a mug of steaming hot chocolate while carrying a tray of six more mugs.
“I got the hot chocolate!” Spike announced proudly. “Sorry it took so long. I wanted to get the perfect amount of sweetness in….” He trailed off and blinked owlishly. He did a sweep of the courtyard, noting the snowy carnage. “…What the heck happened here?”
“Hot chocolate?” Minuette asked hopefully, jumping to her hooves.
“Did someone say hot chocolate?” said Octavia, sitting up and licking her lips.
“Ah could go for some hot cocoa,” said Apple Bloom, popping her head out of the snow mound.
“Me too!” said Sweetie Belle, popping up next to her.
“Me three!” said Scootaloo, raising her hoof eagerly.
“Hey, you stay away from Trixie’s hot cocoa!” yelled Trixie, bursting out of the mound behind them with a flick of her cape.
“Everypony, chill,” said Spike calmly as more ponies started asking for hot chocolate themselves. “There’s plenty more in the kitchen. Help yourselves.”
Now that was an idea everypony could get behind.
They brushed themselves off and walked inside the castle together, chattering loudly at the highlights of the game and complimenting each other’s unique plays. Luna and Celestia brought up the rear, stopping short at the threshold as everypony else headed towards the kitchen.
“So, what did you think?” Luna asked her sister hopefully.
“I have to admit, that was very fun,” said Celestia, smiling brightly. “I suppose winter isn’t so bad – “
At that precise moment, a clump of snow fell off the roof and plopping on Celestia’s head. Luna guffawed out loud; her sister was less amused.
