Mixed Rhythm, recently born to an earth-pony couple in Fillydelphia, was something of a cause for concern. Not because they had not planned for him or anything of that sort, but rather because he had what appeared to be a horn. While this was not an unusual occurrence, Cement Mixer and Cadence had failed to take the possibility into consideration, and neither were prepared to care for a unicorn foal when they had been expecting another of their own kind.

They decided that they had to enlist the help of someone who did know a thing or two about unicorn foals; however, neither pony was especially social, and they only happened to have one unicorn friend between them. Her name was Snowflake, and she was currently raising her own unicorn foal, whom she had named Frosty. The foal had been born with a rare medical condition that caused his horn to grow jagged, looking as though it had been snapped somehow, though it apparetly caused no pain or detriment to his magic.

Frosty's parents were seperated, but maintained a friendly correspondence through letters, and Frosty's father, Jack (a wagon repairpony) had moved to Appleloosa. Due to Jack's absence, Snowflake was struggling to bpth look after her foal and keep her job as a barmaid, so it was agreed that she would provide her knowlege on the subject of Unicorn foals, and Mixed Rhythm's parents would help to raise Frosty as well as looking after their own foal.

Between the three parents, both colts had a good upbringing, but it quickly became apparent that they would not be following in their parent's hoofsteps, both having decided at an early age what they wanted out of life and never once faltering in their decisions. Mixed Rhythm wanted to be a famous musician, and Frosty had decided to open an ice-cream parlour. By the time they had finished magic kindergarten the two colts had decided to study music together until they had left university, make fame and fortune as traveling musicians and then start an ice-cream parlour in a small town where Mixed Rhythm could provide musical performances for the customers.

Needless to say, both were remarkably intelligent for their respective ages and both showed it in different ways: Mixed Rhythm was already an avid reader of anything and everything and he would develop an outstanding vocabulary as he grew older, while Frosty was the only colt in their class who actually enjoyed math lessons. Mixed Rhythm and Frosty were both picked on by their classmates - in a good natured, harmless sort of way - Frosty for being too quiet, and Mixed Rhythm for being too outspoken, but neither were unhappy and they looked towards the future with boundless optimism.

Take a look into the events of their lives in the upcoming chapters.

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Author's note:

The short stories that follow will be told in various formats, mostly a mixture of third and first person like the majority of amatuer fanfiction, not the storytelling narrative that I used for the prologue.

Looking forward to any and all criticism (because by Luna I do need to improve) - Mix.

Winter was something both great and terrible to Mixed Rhythm; winter was his favourite season and Frosty's too, but he also dreaded it's coming each and every year.

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Mixed Rhythm woke to the familiar sound of a book hitting his bedroom floor.

"Guess I must've fallen asleep reading again..." thought the blue unicorn colt as he rolled out of bed and began to prepare for his day.

His father, who only took Sundays off work had most likely already departed for the day, and his mother liked to sleep in late of a Saturday, so he was free to do as he wanted, this day was his for the taking!

He slowly trudged into the washroom, using one leg to clear his bleary eyes as he yawned, wishing he had gotten more sleep. It was out of the question for him to catch up on it by sleeping in, no time could be squandered today. He tiredly rushed through his morning rituals before skipping breakfast to rush out to his backyard. There, right in the middle of the hedgerow seperating his house from the one behind, was his destination; a small hut that his father had built for the two colts.

They called it the Hedgehouse.

The Hedgehouse was originally supposed to be a treehouse but when they couldn't decide where to build it, Miss Snowflake came up with the idea of putting it in the hedgerow, directly between the two colts. Her usually quiet son had spoken up at that point, saying "A hedgehouse" in his surprisingly deep voice before returning to his usual quietude. The name sort of stuck after that, mostly because Frosty continued to refer to it as such.

As Mixed Rhythm entered the one-roomed playhouse, he saw that Frosty had arrived here before him, the same as he usually did. No words needed to be exchanged at this point; both knew there was serious business to be taken care of, so they set to it straight away, playing every game they could collectively think of both indoors and out, making early attempts at music and just generally messing around.

When they ran out of things to do, they talked. Frosty talked more than he did on any other day of the year. They talked about everything; stories Mixed Rhythm had read, future plans, school, music, ice-cream, their parents, any subject that popped into one or the other's mind was talked about.

Eventually, no matter how the tried to distract themselves, reality had to assert itself and it did so in the form of Snowflake's voice calling out "Frosty, it's time to go now!" as she knocked at Frosty's door to the Hedgehouse.

Mixed Rhythm's ears drooped and he looked to the ground as he said "Well, goodbye then, Frosty...", so he did not notice the othe pony crossing the room until he was already being hugged. He held on to his only friend and cried quietly, knowing that he would be alone for the entirety of the December month while Frosty visited his father in Appleloosa.

For the last time this year Mixed Rhythm heard his friend's voice as he said "Mix, I'll be back soon, you'll see, just enjoy Hearth's Warming and I'll make sure to bring you back something cool, 'kay?" finally breaking the hug as he finished speaking and taking a few steps towards the door.

"Kay?" he said again, as his crying friend looked up, responding haltingly with his hitched breathing.

"O-okay then, I-I g-guess. *sniffle* S-see you s-soon Frosty..."

"Yeah, see you soon Mix" said the larger of the two as he finally departed.

Mixed Rhythm stood there a while longer, feeling despondent, before thinking "I should... Catch up on that sleep, I guess..." before going and doing just that. After all, who can pretend to be happy for a whole month without their full eight hours?

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Athor's Note:

Well, this is my first attempt at writing something with dialogue in... Well, ever, actually. Let me know what you think, anypony!