Latch shivered, feeling a bit of the winter chill upon her coat despite the jacket she wore. The weather all across Equestria was scheduled for a moderate amount of snowfall, coupling with a bit of wind that came and went as it pleased. It was far from being a blizzard, given the traffic that was apparent all around, but it was moderately chilly for those not dressed for the weather. The cold bite of winter was difficult to escape after all.
Latch huffed, seeing the small cloud of vapor before herself as she ducked and weaved between an ongoing snowball fight between two sides of the street. Fillies, colts, and teenagers made up the battlements on either side, with a couple of the mares and stallions joining in for the fun of it. The party mare, Pinkie Pie as she knew the pony by, was pinwheeling her forehooves at an alarming rate, chucking balls of snow like a machine. While Latch was caught in the midst of the battle as a bystander, her stampeding, weaving, and dodging saved her from much of the fight that was ongoing.
Arriving at the end of the street, sighing with relief as she’d felt three damp spots upon her faded, light blue jacket. She was lucky she didn’t get nailed on the side of the head. With a shake of her head, jostling her earmuffs loose and around her neck, snow flittered and dispersed before the pony and off her auburn mane. Sitting back, she adjusted her earmuffs back over her ears, then sparing a glance back to the war zone she just escaped. Giggles, war cries, and snowballs being tossed made up the brunt of the fight still. A singular, softer shot of a cannon was heard, followed with seeing Pinkie Pie fly back slightly with the recoil as a large wad of snow flew through the air.
Blinking slowly, Latch shook her head as the snow impacted the opposing side. A couple set of hooves poked out from underneath, buried beneath the snow and the first “casualty” of this little conflict. They would be up in no time, hurling snow back at the pink mare… if they could even hit her.
Standing back up onto her hooves, shaking a bit of the snow off her behind, Latch resumed her steady trot to her destination at the heart of Ponyville. There were only three tall structures inside the quaint town. One was the Town Hall, the other Carousal Boutique, and the last being Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle. There was a library in its place once, so Latch heard, and while there was still a library inside the castle, the house built within a tree was no longer there, having been lost during the time when Tirek was running loose for a few days.
She offered a few passing waves to ponies as she trotted forth to the castle, some of which offering their own waves back in kind, and others a smile. Everyone in this town was so close to one another, and here she was still a newcomer to it all. With a short walk through the streets, following her escape of the battle down one of the main streets, she’d arrived at the small, crystal castle. With a soft shiver, and a huff, Latch lifted one of her forelimbs and knocked against the double doors of the castle. She’d have to see about borrowing a book from the Princess for a few days surrounding the area.
A couple clicks were heard inside as one of the doors opened. The small dragon, which she assumed was Twilight’s adoptive, younger son at this point, stood before her, thermos in his mouth, and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. “Look, we don- oh, sorry… I thought you were someone else there,” the dragon stated, his youthful voice slipping through clearly.
“I’m looking for Princess Twilight,” Latch said, offering a warm smile, “I’m hoping she wouldn’t mind me borrowing a book from her library for a week or two. I heard there was once a library here that she owned, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask if I could borrow one.”
The Dragon scrutinized her, squinting and examining her from head to hoof. “…You’re that new pony around here, right? That one that moved in at the edge of town two months ago?” He asked.
Latch nodded, still holding her smile with ease. “Yep, I’m ‘that new pony.’ I already experienced my own greeting from Pinkie, followed with her surprise party when she poked her head out of one of my flower pots.”
The Dragon chuckled, seemingly forgetting about his own ailment for a few seconds. Coughing, nearly spitting out the thermos, he wrapped the blanket tighter around himself. “Here, come on in before Twilight starts yelling to close the door. Oh, and wipe your hooves,” he said as he stepped behind the door, opening it enough for Latch to step in.