• Chapter Nineteen: Thank You Fate •
…
When Snow Flutter awoke, she felt specks of frost chilling different parts of her body. At the same time, the sun's light was filtering through the snow-laden trees, and welcoming her to a new day.
"... Where a I?" Snow Flutter rubbed sleep out of her eyes, before opening them properly. She saw a whole forest, dense with undergrowth and covered in snow. Snow Flutter wasn't one for forgetting things, as she took in her scenery calmly. "Huh. I'm surprised I didn't get frostbite overnight. Thank you fate for being kind and letting this night be less harsh than it could have been." Snow Flutter let out a respectful prayer, before getting up, and shaking away the remnants of snow, which clung to her butter-yellow fur. "But I can't keep living like this. It is dangerous... I need a proper place to stay..." She shivered, but not from the freezing weather. "I need a place to hide." Snow Flutter wasn't as afraid as she generally was, because she knew to stay positive to clear the dark thoughts which were attempting to invade her mind. Snow Flutter began to sing a soft melody, catching the attention of the surrounding wildlife.
"Snow will fall down through the skies.
Drifting down, who knows what lies.
Everything that's here I like-
On my wintry hike!
Glaciers so clear with ice.
One would never think to think twice.
Icicles small, one tiny fleck-
On my wintry trek!
Blizzards blowing off a gale,
From clouds fall, big balls of hail.
Careful, would not want to slip-
On my wintry trip!"
Birds began to fly down, and join in on Snow Flutter's rhythm through their twittering. Snow Flutter smiled, holding up her hoof and allowing some of them to land delicately on her.
"Hello little ones- you should have migrated further off by now... go, I wouldn't want to interfere with your journey!" Snow Flutter smiled, as she watched the birds begin to fly off, the sun shining through the colourful feathers on their wings. The birds weren't the only visitors though- foxes, hares, squirrels- all sorts of different animals began to surround her.
Snow Flutter giggled. "How may I help you all?" She paused, listening to what the animals had to say. "Oh- you want to know if I need helping? Actually... do you know of any houses nearby which I can stay at for now..?" The animals hesitated, before most of them scurried away, knowing that they couldn't help her. One owl who had came stayed behind though.
"Who..." The owl cooed, before flapping its wings, and slowly, it began to fly ahead of her.
"Okay! Thank you!" Snow Flutter began to follow the owl. "So what's your name?"
"Who..."
"Owlowiscious? That's a nice name! I am Snow Flutter. Is this house nearby?"
"Who..." Owlowiscious was a light brown owl, who had two darker brown wings, a darker brown tail and the tufts of feathers on the sides of his head were darker brown.
"Not far? That's good... but if it's so nearby, then why didn't any of the other animals seem to know about it?" Snow Flutter listened as the owl explained that few of the animals were actually pretty keen on the ponies which lived there.
Snow Flutter winched slightly at this. "Are the ponies that live there bad?"
Owlowiscious shook his head, and told her that they were only bad because they had to be. On the inside, their hearts they were good, and no harm would come to her.
Snow Flutter slowly nodded. "Okay... oh, here we are?"
Owlowiscious had stopped at a certain house, and was gesturing his wing towards it.
Snow Flutter gasped. "Why is it so small?" She peered back. "Owlowiscious?" But to her confusion, the owl was gone. Gulping, Snow Flutter gradually tiptoed up to the house, and stopped at the opening. She was basically as tall as the door- which was funny, because Snow Flutter always considered herself a lot smaller than most ponies.
"Hello?" She called, but after no reply came, she swallowed, before knocking the door. It rattled slightly, as she waited for a response, but nopony arrived. She closed her eyes out of fear, and yawped again. "Anypony home?" She was now certain that nopony was present, and she turned the knob of the door, to find it was open. The door swung open, creaking as it fought against its hinges.
Snow Flutter gaped, unsure whether to enter or not. She cowered, knowing that she should never enter somepony's house without permission... especially a house who's owner she didn't even know. She trembled, skeptical of what to do. "Enter or leave? Enter or leave?" Snow Flutter sighed, fighting against her instincts as she entering the house, closing the door behind her- unaware she hadn't exactly closed it properly. She knew it was better stay in a warm house, than outside in the freezing cold... for all she knew, a storm could be coming soon. Snow Flutter breathed heavily, forcing herself to take it easy.
"This isn't too bad... being in a strangers home... during Winter... alone..." Snow Flutter hesitated. "But what if when they return, they force me to leave... I have to stay somewhere!" She peered around anxiously. There was an eerie silence, before it was broken by here stomach growling.
"I need to eat..." She apprehensively skittered to the kitchen, hoping to find some food scraps she could nibble on. She reached the dining area, and the first thing she noticed, was one tiny table in the centre of the room. Around the tiny table, there was six, tiny seats. And on the table, there were ten, tiny bowls, which each had a recently-made salad- none of the salads had been eaten yet. "I shouldn't..." The yellow pegasi attempted to peer away, but her craving for food was too immense, for she approached the bowls. She went around the table, and took one nibble of the salad from each bowl. She knew that she shouldn't just chow down on one of the salads... she knew well, that each belonged to somepony, and she didn't want anypony to be disadvantaged. Once she had finished her meal, Snow Flutter no longer felt hungry. Knowing that she had to return something to whoever lived here for eating a bit of their meals, she began to make it up, by cleaning the house. It was awfully messy- it seemed to have not been cleaned for a while and it took ages for Snow Flutter to just sweep down all the floors with a broomstick she had found. Once the floors were spick and span, Snow Flutter went to the dishes from former meals which had been devoured. She sung as she made sure every morsel of food had been removed from the plates.
"Oh what am I doing...
Why am I here?
Why am I hiding...
My death's all to fear.
I may not be pretty...
I may not be bright.
But now having a friend-
I can finally see the light!
You gotta give...
For everything you take.
Karma's there,
Watching every mistake.
You gotta smile...
For every frown you give.
Karma's always here,
Play by the rules so you live.
With every night that passes,
There is going to be a sun.
Do what's right,
Until your life is done.
You gotta walk...
For every time you fly.
Celestia's up there watching.
Our queen's up there in the sky."
Once Snow Flutter had completed her self-assigned chores, she could see Celestia's sun begin to fall down behind the trees. Snow Flutter yawned, before making her way to the bedrooms of the house. In the bedroom, there were six, small beds laid out across the room. Snow Flutter let sleep get the better of her, as she crawled into the sixth bed across the room, because it looked the most neatest out of all the beds, and eventually she fell into a satisfied slumber.
…
"Another successful hunt! Congrats everyone!" The six dwarves let out thrilled cheers as they made their way home. Fancypants helped carry the stolen food with his magic. He watched as snow began to fall more rapidly, now that it was getting dark.
"Hey Grumpy, did you see the look on that pony's face when you used your magic to push all the ponies away with that crate?" Cheese Sandwich appeared by his side, bursting into laughter. "It was priceless!"
"Haha! I saw it! He was like..." Fancypants did his best imitation of the expression, which Cheese Sandwich fell over, laughing at.
"Sorry pal... you look nothing like the pony, but it is still amusing!" Happy hopped away, leaving Grumpy to laugh by himself. Then he noticed a few hoof prints in the snow... they should have been covered over by snow now, but they were underneath a tall tree, and it's branches had prevented any snow to fall through. He gulped... they were awfully near their home, and they didn't look like they belonged to anypony who lived nearby. Fancypants was about to say something, when he heard Shining Armour's booming voice.
"Halt."
All six dwarves stopped, and peered at Shining Armour, who was their leader. Shining Armour narrowed his eyes, at their house looming in the distance. "Something doesn't seem right."
"I don't see anything?" Soarin glanced confusedly at Dopey. "What's wrong?"
"You guys might want to look at this," Fancypants spoke up, and gestured towards the hoof prints which were splattered in the snow.
"What the hay..." Big Macintosh mumbled, as he examined the unusual marks.
"They're definitely a pony's... they're too big to be *sneeze* one of ours," Flash Sentry retorted, floating down to the ground, as he had been formerly flying.
"Should we just go home... we'll be prepared for anything which may linger," Soarin shivered.
Shining Armour slowly nodded. "Let's." They began to make their way to the house, and to their shock, the door was slightly ajar.
"You think someone's been inside?" Cheese Sandwich choked slightly, on a snowflake which landed in his mouth.
"Ah don't doubt it..." Big Macintosh muttered, before he opened the door completely. As the six dwarves entered, the first thing they noticed, was that the place was spotless.
"Someone's *sneeze* cleaned the place!" Flash Sentry muttered.
"Why are you acting like it's a bad thing?" Soarin questioned. "It was your turn to clean the house next, and now I doubt you have to!"
"No, it was your turn," Flash Sentry narrowed his eyes.
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Silence!" Shining Armour glared at them, before he made his way to the dining room. Fancypants kept low, unsure what to expect. He was one of the last ponies to enter, as they all examined the area, to see if there was anything different.
It didn't take them long to realize that someone had eaten part of their meals, and they were quite irritated by this.
"Do you think whoever's been inside is... still here?" Fancypants winced slightly. None of them answered, as they checked the rest of the rooms of the house, to see if anything else was new. Finally, they made their way to the bedrooms. Shining Armour went in first, and the other five heard him hold his breathe all of a sudden.
"What is it?" Cheese Sandwich pushed passed him, only to stiffen.
Curiously got the better of the rest of them, as they all peered inside to see what had gotten the others' attention.
"Oh my Celestia..." Fancypants cursed, as he stared at the figure which was lying on one of the beds.
…
Snow Flutter felt her way to the falling snow... it was brighter than ever. It shone like glitter and twinkled like the stars. Snow Flutter wanted life to always be like this. Being safe despite the dangers... being warm despite the coldness. Every woodland creature possible- even the ones which hibernated watched her intently, as she made her way through the dreamy world. The snow softened, and turned to clouds, as she was now laying down, and looking at the glinting stars.
"Thank you for praying to us."
Snow Flutter spun around to see two alicorns- one had fur as white as paper, and her eyes were as purple as dawn. She had a flowing mane, striped with dazzling greens, blues and pinks. As a Cutie Mark, she had a noble, yellow sun, rimmed with orange rays. The pony standing next to her was a mysterious dark blue, with glimmering green-blue eyes... like Snow Flutter's, but more green. Like the other alicorn's, her mane was flowing, brimmed with a transparent blue. The rest of her mane, besides the outskirts, was a clear dark blue, and looked like stars were sparkling in it. Her Cutie Mark was an elegant banana-shaped moon, white as her sister's fur, and surrounded by black patches.
Snow Flutter breathed. "You two look familiar... have I seen you before?"
The two ponies smiled.
"How rude of us," the second one, who was shorter murmured. "I am Luna, and this is my sister Celestia."
Realisation whirled through Snow Flutter like a tornado. "Our former rulers, before Chrysalis took over... I am honoured to meet you, even if this isn't real, and it is only a dream."
Celestia paused. "This is not just a dream Snow Flutter. You may be asleep, but we are very real."
"I apologise," Snow Flutter dipped her head. "And how do you know my name?"
The two laughed. "It is you Snow Flutter, who has prayed to us every night, more than anypony has." Celestia spoke.
"And we have been trying our hardest to help you," Luna continued.
"I greatly appreciate it! I didn't know any better yesterday night... I thought I would have died in the snow..." Snow Flutter sighed. "And that was all your doing?"
The sisters nodded. Before they went serious. "Now Snow Flutter, enough chatting, we don't just visit anypony in their dreams." Luna glanced at the ground cautiously.
"You must know, that despite everything, you need to do what's best for others other than what's best for yourself..." Celestia murmured. "And what may be the answer could have been there right before you..."
Snow Flutter hesitated. "Speak again?"
Luna stepped forward. "The way Chrysalis has done this, is very clever... complex and intricate. This is a game to her, but it is not to you. We trust you to make the wise decision, and we trust that you do it for the benefit of others and yourself..."
Snow Flutter hesitated. "I am trying to take this all in..."
"We don't have much time," Celestia explained. "There are three of us you know... the third needs help..."
And with that, Snow Flutter woke up.
…
"What are we to do?"
"Do you think she is a threat?"
"Wait- I think she's waking!"
"Shh... be quiet!"
Snow Flutter's eyes twitched opon, and the first thing she noticed was that she was sleeping in a different bed. She shook her head, remembering what had happened. The next thing she noticed, were six strange-looking ponies surrounding her. Snow Flutter screamed, before hiding under the bed covers.
"How did I know that would happen?"
"She reacts just the same as anypony does."
Snow Flutter listened to the voices muffled through the bed covers, and she suddenly felt curiosity. They didn't sound like they wanted to hurt her... they didn't seem to be being mean or anything? Snow Flutter slowly revealed her face again from under the blankets.
"Ok, now we can start this again. Greetings pony." A white unicorn, with blue eyes, and a dark and light blue shaded mane stepped forward.
"Ugh... hi?" Snow Flutter gulped, noticing how short and different these ponies seemed, yet their voices sounded like the average stallion's would, of her age.
"I am Shining Armour, these are; Soarin, Flash Sentry, Cheese Sandwich, Big Macintosh and Fancypants."
Snow Flutter slowly took in all the names, before Cheese Sandwich stepped forward. "Or Dopey, Sleepy, Sneezy, Happy, Bashful and Grumpy!" He paused. "We don't mind!"
Snow Flutter smiled. "Those are interesting names. I am Snow Flutter... I am sorry I intruded into your home, I was just so cold, and I needed somewhere to stay, and Owlowiscious told me you were all nice, and I believe that, and then I just decided to come, and I was so hungry and- yeah... it's a long story."
The ponies exchanged glances. "We have time," Fancypants explained.
Taking in a deep breathe, Snow Flutter told them everything. About how the queen was pursuing her, how she was apparently the fairest of them all. She told them how Discord was unable to kill her, and how he had told her to run into the woods. She told them ridiculous things, like how it was an owl which lead her here, and how she had cleaned the home. Finally, she was done, leaving out the part where she dreamt of Celestia and Luna.
The dwarves were silent for a second, before Soarin spoke up. "So... you said that the queen's mirror told her that you were the fairest of them all?"
Snow Flutter nodded. "I know... it's bizarre, right? I mean... I'm not even that pretty..."
The dwarves were silent, before Flash Sentry beckoned them away. "Group huddle." The dwarves left the room and closed the door behind them, before crowding around.
"I say we keep her! And we could take her for walks, and feed her treats, and train her to do tricks..." Cheese Sandwich began.
"Cheese- she's not a dog. I hate to break it to you," Soarin sighed, patting the orange stallion on the back.
"But she said she can talk to animals like dogs can!" Cheese looked at them in confusion, as they all gave irritated moans.
"Anyway, you guys heard her- she said that according to the mirror she was the fairest of them all!" Flash Sentry explained.
"Just like in the prophecy..." Fancypants mumbled.
"Yes... she may be what we've been waiting for, for six years," Shining Armour retorted.
"What if she's not?" Big Macintosh narrowed his eyes.
"Even if she's not, we can't just leave her out in the woods on her own, can we?" Soarin questioned, and they all went silent.
"She could be useful too..." Flash Sentry began.
"Yeah! We can train her to-" Cheese Sandwich began.
"She's not a dog!" The rest of them cried in unison, making Cheese Sandwich lower his head.
"As I was going to say, she could be useful to us, because you saw how she cleaned the house today- maybe while we're out stealing, she could look after the house whilst we're gone?" Flash Sentry offered.
"And then maybe when she's ready, we could teach her to steal like we do?" Fancypants offered.
The others glanced at him, as if he were insane.
"Her..? Steal?" Shining Armour raised an eyebrow.
"Hear me out," Fancypants began. "We could use her innocence to trick other ponies. Ponies may run away from us, but I doubt they'd be afraid of her! She could distract them whilst we take what we need!"
"That actually isn't too bad..." Big Macintosh muttered.
Shining Armour sighed. "Ok, let's have a vote. Who wants to keep her, say 'I'."
"I!" They all cried at the same time.
…
As the stallions were chatting outside, Snow Flutter began to pray, being more influenced to do it, since her recent encounter with the former princesses. Oh please, regal Celestia, and majestic Luna... please let them decide that I can stay here! I've never done anything wrong in my life, and I've tried my hardest to overcome my daily struggles... just please... please let fate be kind. She opened her teal eyes, just in time to see the doors opening, and the six stallions trotting inside.
"Snow Flutter, we have came to a conclusion that..." Shining Armour began.
Snow Flutter held her breathe.
"That you can stay with us," Shining Armour finished.
"Thank you so much! Thank you!" Snow Flutter flew off of the bed, and hugged them all at the same time. "Thank you!"
The stallions were baffled, having not been used to being around a mare for such a long time, because of their curse.
Once Snow Flutter had stopped hugging them, she backed away and obediently sat down. "Now what is the exception?"
"You knew?" Soarin questioned.
"Well of course... I have to repay you all for allowing me to stay here in the first place! It's the way life works!" Snow Flutter smiled, awaiting their commands.
"Ok then. We want you to be keeping the house *sneeze* clean, and cook us food, whilst we are away during daytime," Flash Sentry explained.
Snow Flutter nodded. "Of course! I'd be happy to do that! Anyway, I've told you about me... how about you tell me about your history?"
The ponies exchanged nervous glances, before they explained to her that they weren't always dwarves... they said what Chrysalis had done to them and their loved ones, and how they were neglected by other ponies. The disrespect lead to them stealing, in order to survive.
Snow Flutter's mouth was agape, and her eyes welled with tears. "That is so depressing... these ponies sound wonderful... all your loved ones gone... I know well that Chrysalis is a cruel, malicious bully- I bet we're all going to get along just fine."
The dwarves smiled. "Well, it's getting dark, it's time we went to sleep. There's a spare room right next to ours you can sleep in. All we need is a bed..." Fancypants began.
"Right ahead of ya!" Cheese Sandwich hopped into Snow Flutter's new room, and got a new bed out of nowhere, placing it on the floor, before hopping back.
Snow Flutter gasped. "How did you-"
Shining Armour butted her, before she could finish the sentence. "I wouldn't ask..."
The yellow pegasi mare laughed, before she went into the room. "Although I've just been sleeping, I am still tired. Goodnight everyone," she yawned.
"Goodnight!" They all called, before shutting the door behind her.
…
"Why couldn't we tell her the prophecy?" Cheese Sandwich pricked his ears, as the six began to feast on their meals.
"I doubt she'd believe us... and we don't want to put pressure onto her into loving somepony..." Shining Armour uttered. "True love comes naturally- it can never be forced, otherwise, we might never get the answer."
"Wait- what does love have to do with this?" Flash Sentry questioned.
"The prophecy explains that first we need to find a pony of true fare, who needs the love of a seventh to turn us back to our original selves... the seventh must be another one of us, because there is six of us," Shining Armour rendered.
"A seventh..? But... aren't we the only ones of our kind..?" Soarin tilted his head.
"Maybe we're not..." Big Mactintosh muttered doubtfully.
"I don't understand any of this!" Cheese Sandwich covered his ears. "It's too much to take in!"
"Just think of it as steps," Fancypants offered. "The prophecy told us about one of true fare... we've found her now, and it's Snow Flutter. Okay, that is the first step solved, so we can cross that out. The next step says that she has to find true love of a seventh, in order for us to change back into normal ponies. I say, we just need to wait and see what happens. Considering we don't know where to start as it is, we'll let her fall in love by herself, because forcing love is dangerous. I believe that fate will be on our side, and she'll make the correct decision for who she wants to love. Once we are back to normal, the prophecy continues on, explaining that our foal-tales shall proceed. By that, I think it is the destinies of ours, which Chrysalis doesn't want to expose. I think I know what I am to do, once I am normal- I am to find Raripunzel, and free her from Chrysalis's grasp. Okay, so that is three steps of the prophecy so far. The fourth, and final step, is that once we have all completed the third step- and I mean all of us, we are no longer fantasied... so everything will turn back to normal." Fancypants hesitated. "Have I been rambling on for too much?"
"Not at all! I now understand it!" Cheese Sandwich nodded.
Shining Armour murmured absent-mindedly, "this is going to take forever..."
…
"Well this has been an exciting day," Apple Bloom mumbled, as she nestled further into the blankets of her bed.
"You got that right," Scootaloo muttered, sitting on the bed which was next to her's. "How come you even let that colt join the group, hmm?"
Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. "How come you are so desperate for him not to be in the group?"
Scootaloo hid under the blankets. "I don't know." Her voice was muffled.
"You don't know?" Babs Seed, who was on a bed next to Apple Bloom's, but not Scootaloo's, hopped onto Apple Bloom's bed, before Scootaloo's.
Scootaloo revealed her face again from under the covers. "I just don't."
"What makes ya suspicious?" Apple Bloom joined the two.
Scootaloo glanced at her friends, who were staring at her curiously. "I just don't know!" There was more force in her voice now, making the others cringe.
"Alright then... sorry for pressuring you." Babs Seed returned to her own bed, before glancing across to Apple Bloom, and winking. Apple Bloom slowly nodded, and waited until Scootaloo's head was turned, before she peered over at Sweetie Belle, and winked again. Sweetie Belle glanced at them surprised, and was about to do the same to Scootaloo, before Apple Bloom and Babs Seed shook their heads. Sweetie Belle gave an understanding nod, before sneaking out of the room. "I just need to go do something..."
"Hey! Look at the time! Goodnight Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom cried, before turning the lights off.
"Whatever," Scootaloo mumbled. Once Scootaloo was basically asleep, Apple Bloom and Babs Seed crept out, to meet Sweetie Belle outside.
"Is this about Scootaloo's uncertainty towards Rumble?" Sweetie Belle whispered.
"Yes..." Babs Seed nodded. "We need to do something about it."
"But what? Scootaloo obviously doesn't trust him!" Apple Bloom muttered.
"Maybe we should get them to spend some time together so they can get to know each other better..." Sweetie Belle offered.
"Not too bad," Babs Seed shrugged.
"Okay! Ah like it! Say, we get up really early in the morning to gather some food... then it'll be only them two here, and they'll be forced to get along!" Apple Bloom grinned slyly, her expression more cunning than a fox's.
"Yeah! Because nothing can go wrong with that!" Sweetie Belle smiled deviously.
Babs Seed glanced to the side awkwardly. "You two sure..?"
Apple Bloom pricked her ears. "What brings you doubt?"
"Nothing..!" Babs Seed quickly put up a fake smile, but inside her head, she was thinking; oh no... what trouble are we getting into now?
Rumble isn't the last Crusader to join their group... I'd add Button Mash, if his addiction wasn't so... technologically advanced. The point of this story, is for it to be slightly old fashioned, enchanted- throughout fantasy... Button Mash's addiction to Video Games... Ehhh... *does dramatic Rarity impersonaton* wait- did I just have major déjà vu? Nvm XD Anyway, I am pretty pleased, because I finally get to write my first full Fairytale out of all seven! Behold... Snow White!