Snowtime like today! (Sweetie Belle!)

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A small gray Pegasus moved about on top of Carousel Boutique with a small shovel in his mouth. Rumble was doing an important job by shoveling snow off of the roof. If too much snow piled up, it could cause the roof to break. That could mean very expensive repairs, and Rarity and Sweetie Belle would have to find someplace else to sleep. Such safety measures, however, were a side effect from the real goal. Rumble was going to help Sweetie Belle make a snow fort today, and they'd need all the snow they could get!

Another shovelful of snow went sailing through the air and plopped down on a growing pile. Rumble was making sure that the snow fell clear of any plants Rarity might have outside so they wouldn't be smothered in snow. Yes it was winter and it had been snowing for a while, and would still snow for a bit more, but every bit helped. Besides, Rumble did NOT want Rarity angry at him. She was pretty, and kind, but was probably a lot scarier than would be expected when in a bad mood.

The colt sank his shovel into the snow one more time. Suddenly all the snow on the roof began to shift! Rumble was swept away by a miniature avalanche and sent to the ground below in a flurry of white. Things were still for a moment, then his gray head popped up from a pile of snow. "Nailed it. he said making as if that had been his intention all along. He looked around as he pulled himself up and out of the piled. "Uhhh I think I need to clear the walkway again, but other than that I think we have enough snow for a fort Sweetie Belle!"

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"Great! This is going to be the best snow-castle, ever!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, looking up from a large square she'd marked out by walking in the snow. "This is where the walls should go! I want it to have a tower, and a throne room, and a dungeon, and a snowball-catapault and look!" The little filly skipped nimbly over to where a number of round pie tins were sitting out quietly in a row. She tipped one over gently and lifted the clear sheet of ice that dislodged from it. "Windows!-Oops!" Sweetie belle winced as the ice slipped out of her grip and shattered upon hitting the ground. "That's okay, I have more!" Sweetie Belle had always envied Rumble and Apple Bloom, just a little, for their treehouses, even though, as a Cutie Mark Crusader, she was allowed to use both, if she asked first. To have a place of your own, even a little one! She'd asked her father to build her one once... it hadn't gone well. After borrowing a bunch of tools, buying a bunch of lumber, and drinking a six-pack of cider, they'd ended up with a winter's supply of firewood, a lot of broken tools,(seriously, how do you break a hammer?!) and a cardboard refrigerator box taped to the branches of a tree. To be fair though, Sweetie Belle had enjoyed the box until the rain made it soggy! But this time, she would live her dream for sure! Rumble was gonna help her build her very own snow-fort, and it was gonna be amazing! "So! How should we begin?" She asked the grey pegasus, whom she considered an expert!

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Sweetie Belle had a tall order to fill, but Rumble knew that it would turn out amazing! The dungeon might be a bit of a hard thing to do though. Normally those were underground, and he didn't think they'd be able to dig one out. Maybe they could put it in the town? How would they do levels though? He'd have to think about it. If he got too stumped maybe Thunderlane could tell him!

Now where to begin? Rumble thought for a second as he looked at all the snow that was around. "I know where to start! Lets clear snow off of the ground where the inside will be. We can use that to start building up the walls. When its high enough we can add the windows." The gray Pegasus flew over to Sweetie Belle and stuck his shovel in the snow so it was standing up. "Here. You can use my shovel if you want. That way you won't get as cold."

Before Sweetie Belle could say now he hopped away. Rumble used his sides to push snow to the side and out of the fort area. His feathers insulated his body, and their lack of feeling meant that he wouldn't feel the chill as much. Not that kids playing in the snow ever got too chilly! "Remember to leave room for a way in, and a way out you can escape through." he said as he shoved more snow and glanced over at the filly. "Is that a new scarf? It looks pretty on you. OH! And we shouldn't make the walls too high. You want to be able to hide under them, but also throw over them and see what you're aiming at."

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All right! Sweetie-Plow go! With typical unicorn precision, the little filly started right in the middle of her large square and threw her weight behind the shovel, pushing a wave of snow towards the marked off line. Rumble's shovel made it a lot easier, but the final few feet were still tough. When she got the snow there, she paused for breath. "Remember to leave room for a way in, and a way out you can escape through." Rumble told her. That was probably a good idea. She couldn't fly like he could, and it would be a shame to build such a beautiful snow-palace as she had planned... and not be able to get into it! "Is that a new scarf? It looks pretty on you." Sweetie Belle brightened, very flattered, and was about to reply, but Rumble went on almost immediately. "OH! And we shouldn't make the walls too high. You want to be able to hide under them, but also throw over them and see what you're aiming at." Colts. They didn't have much appreciation for the finer things in life! Still, Rumble had more than most, and somehow, his compliment made her feel especially happy. "Right!" Sweetie Belle replied, agreeing to everything Rumble said as she went back to the middle to push out another wave of snow to make the wall. "By the way... Rumble" she panted, "How did... you... get so... smart about... making snow...forts? I mean... you have...a treehouse and ....everything!" The filly took a minute to pat the piles of snow she'd pushed out into a nice smooth wall-shape and pack snow inbetween to join them together. It gave her the chance to catch her breath and listen, too!

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Maybe some colts did have an appreciation for the finer things in life, but felt nervous and awkward talking about them with the pony they thought so much of. Rumble's crush on Sweetie Belle was a secret, and not many ponies knew about it. There was Thunderlane, of course, then Flitter and Cloud Chaser, his parents, and realistically Cheerilee since she seemed to know more of what was going on with her students than she sometimes let on. Maybe Rumble had just wanted to tell the prettiest girl in class she looked pretty, but was so nervous he had to cover it up with shop talk.

The growing Pegasus paused mid push on a pile of snow to address the lady's questions. "Well... when you get into a lot of snowball fights, you pick up a few things... especially when your older brother is occupying the tree house with a snow cloud ready to pelt you. Also the guys and I practice in case a snowball fight breaks out in recess." Rumble went back to clearing snow out of the designated area. He'd dip down just a little, and use one of his wings to throw snow towards a wall. He wasn't concerned with shaping the wall just yet, just getting all the snow where it needed to go.

"You're going to have to decide where you want to store your snowballs too. That way if Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon ever show up you can splat them!" Rumble would say that it'd be funny to hit Diamond Tiara with a snowball just right so she'd drop her tiara in the snow and have to look for it, but odds were she'd just use that as an excuse to get another one. Then later if you got it, accuse you of throwing snowballs just so you could steal it. "Hey, think your sister will let us use a ponyquin or two as a guard?"

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Sweetie Belle couldn't help giving a naughty giggle at the idea of walloping Diamond Tiara with a snowball. Silver Spoon she didn't care so much about, She always saw the filly as a sort of a toady, and underling, to Diamond Tiara. And General Sweetie Belle didn't trouble with noponies. No wait. not General. That was too boyish. Generaless? No. No, she'd stick with Royal titles after all and call herself Princess Sweetie Belle. or Queen Sweetie Belle. Empress Sweetie Belle of the Snow Kingdom? That had a nice ring to it! She snapped back to reality at the mention of Rarity. "Ooh! That's a great idea!" she exclaimed. "I know just the ones we can use, too! I'll be right back!" and without waiting for Rumble to suggest that they might build up the fort a little more first, she dropped the shovel and dashed inside Carousel Boutique!

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Not only did Sweetie Belle run off before he could make any suggestions about building up the fort, she ran off before he could suggest asking permission! Rarity wasn't his big sister so he'd like to ask her permission for borrowing something from her shop. On the other hoof, Sweetie Belle knew her sister best. If she thought it'd be okay then it must be so!

The gray colt kept busy shoveling snow. This was so much more fun than when he'd have to do it to clear the roof or a way to the front door. He wasn't even being paid to do it like when Thunderlane would give him a few bits if he'd do some of his chores. In a short while he had all the snow cleared for the interior, and a good rough foundation for the walls.

Next Rumble gathered together Sweetie Belle's pie tins. When she got back they could smooth out what they had for walls and start placing the windows. These would be a great addition! Sweetie Belle would be unstoppable in a snowball fight. When her magic got better she'd be able to look out through a window and just hurl snowball all safe and sound.

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Rarity always took super good care of her things, everypony knew that. But even so, there were only so many pins you could stick in a ponyquin, only so many little nicks of the scissors, pokes with a seam-ripper, marks of the dressmaker pencil, and dressings and un-dressings it could take before it started to become a little shabby. When that happened, the fashionista generally moved them out of the display window into her workroom... then, if she didn't have time right away to re-stuff and re cover them when they began to look really shabby, she moved them into a closet until she did have time. Into this closet dove Sweetie Belle, looking for the shabbiest of the shabby to be her guard. The ones who went into closet the longest time ago, the ones Rarity would least mind being pulled out into the snow and weather. She found one and dragged it out for a better look, and laughed. Sweetie Belle had once taken a marker, a permanent marker, as it had turned out, though she hadn't known that at the time, and drawn googly eyes on it's blank face for a prank. That had instantly made it a permanent workroom resident... but apparently, Rarity had become aggravated by its unblinking, slightly quizzical, and goofy stare. Well! Here was one pony for the royal guard! The other ponyquin Sweetie Belle eventually dragged out was a strange one she couldn't remember ever seeing before. It was smaller, almost foal-sized, and old. Really old! Sweetie belle liked the look of it, so she adopted it at once. Okay! Two royal Guards. She'd name them... Drizzle Days and Short Stack! She was pushing them towards the back door, through the kitchen, when she got Another bright idea. No wait, make that two bright ideas! Twenty minutes later, just about the point where Rumble would begin wondering if Sweetie had forgotten all about him, the unicorn filly reappeared, dragging and shoving two ponyquins clad in shining Aluminum-foil armor, their shaped helmets trailing long pink plumes made from feather boa! "Help me get them into their guard posts," she called to Rumble, "And then we can take a break and drink some hot cocoa I made!"

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Sweetie Belle was taking forever! If she knew just the perfect ones to get, then how come it was taking so long? Did she need help? He doubted it. If she needed help she would ask for it. What could be taking that filly so long though? Maybe Opal got into something she shouldn't have.

Whatever it was, Rumble was just getting up to walk to the door when Sweetie Belle appeared once more! Not only that she had TWO guards, complete with armor! "Wow! was all he could said as he scurried over quickly to inspect them. Sweetie Belle must have put a lot of work into these. No wonder it took her so long! She even gave one of them eyes, how cool!

The colt took hold of the larger ponyquin and did his best to tug, pull, shove, and scooch it into position. Then turn it into place... then turn it around so it wasn't facing backwards. It took a lot more effort than he expected. These ponyquins weren't the hollow plastic kind you see in big stores. The small Pegasus was huffing and puffing by the time he was done, but he was still chipper as ever. "So... you said something about cocoa? I could... go for some cocoa. Just need to catch my breath."

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Sweetie Belle stepped back and admired both guards in their sentry positions. Since Rumble had taken Drizzle Days, she'd been working on getting Short Stack into place. The smaller size of her ponyquinn had made it a lot easier to position, and she looked with surprise at the puffing and panting Rumble, just for a moment. Then she smiled brightly. "Oh, right!" Sweetie exclaimed, bouncing towards the house and fetching from the doorway a big thermos with a strap. She carried it out proudly, like one of those mountain dogs with the little keg of brandy or rum or whatever it was, around their necks. "Catch your breath!" the little filly told Rumble, generously, "I'll pour it for you! Nothing like hot cocoa on a cold day, right?" Popping off the outer cap and setting it down carefully, Sweetie Belle unscrewed the inner lid with great ceremony and poured out a steaming, sweet cupful. But she filled it just a little too full to pick up, and she had to lean forward and sip it a little, so it could be picked up without spilling. There! She offered the cup to Rumble. "It's nothing special," she admitted, modestly, "But it's good! Rarity tells ponies I burn juice, but that was just one time! You don't have to worry!"

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Rumble smiled widely at Sweetie Belle. The prettiest filly in class had gone and made him cocoa on a whim, and was going to pour him a cup. Butterflies were fluttering around in his stomach, but only just a little. "Thanks Sweetie Belle. I'm sure it's great!" he said with confidence. The colt's hooves briefly touched Sweeties as he took the cup from her.

He leaned forward and took a sip of the cocoa. It was the kind you made with hot water, but Sweetie Belle had added marshmallows. A small sip lead to a big sip, and when he lifted his head away a big puffy cloud blew out of his mouth. "That's really good Sweetie Belle. Do you want a sip?" He offered the cup back to her. He hadn't seen her bring out a mug of her own.

"Have you ever had it made with lightning before? My big brother once used a lightning bolt to heat up a metal thermos. We'd have to get him to do, or some other Pegasus. I'm not allowed to play with lightning yet. I've made it before! He took me to the weather factory up in Cloudsdale for a big tour of everything." Rumble had spent his saved up allowed during that trip long ago to get souvenirs for his friends. He was a Pegasus and Cloudsdale wasn't that far. He could go back plenty of times, but lots of his friends would never get the chance to see it.

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Sweetie belle nodded happily, and, taking the thermos cup back from Rumble, refilled it with cocoa. He said it was really good! Not just good, but really good! Without wiping off the rim of the cup, or worrying about germs or cooties, she cheerfully (if unwittingly) sipped from the exact same place Rumble had. An indirect kiss! And... he was right! It is really good! the filly thought. See Rarity, I can cook just fine! It was the triumph of her day! But she quickly snapped back to attention when Rumble asked her a question. "Lightning? They can make it with lightning?! I can't imagine what that would taste like. Does it make it more energizing? Sweeter? Maybe it would make the marshmallows taste toasted, or bring out more of the cocoa flavor? I really want to try it now!" Sweetie Belle paused, and looked at Rumble thoughtfully. "You knoooow..." she began, a little too sweetly, "I would never tell on you, you know. If you were to go get a cloud, and I got some cocoa, and we made it with lightning. Just saying, I wouldn't be the one to tell!" The white filly gave her friend the huge shiny-eyed stare that always worked on her dad!