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!