With a shiver, the Princess of Friendship slowly cracked her eyes open, shivering once again as she let out a yawn and turned her head towards her window. She blinked twice while wondering why it was so darn cold, but after rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she realized that the gray that she had been staring at hadn't been because of her eyes.

"Wait a moment...it wasn't supposed to snow today," she muttered while she shook herself awake and sprang to her hooves, throwing open the door to her bedroom and trotting towards where her assistant slept. "Spike? Are you awake?" she asked while banging a hoof against his door, yet silence only answered her. "I need to ask if any letters came for me in the middle of the night regarding the weather? Spike?"

She knocked twice more before deciding to enter, yet when she grabbed hold of the door she was surprised to find that it wasn't locked like usual. She gently pushed it open slightly and glanced through the crack, yet with the light of the hallway illuminating the room she found that she couldn't find her assistant.

"Spike, where did you get to?" Twilight asked with slight worry starting to creep into her voice as she closed the door and ran to the kitchen, yet the dragon was nowhere among the rustic utensils and cabinets. With the worry starting to turn to panic, her horn began to glow as she prepared the spell that would teleport that dragon to her...before the faintest sounds of beings laughing outside of her castle caught her ear.

Upon hearing the laugh, her spell changed from one that would teleport Spike to her and instead teleport her outside, and in one blinding flash of light later, the princess found herself standing on her frigid front porch while watching two humans and three dragons build, throw and chase each other through the snow.

"What's...going on?" Twilight asked, ignoring her freezing breath while Spike took cover behind a wall of snow to avoid a snowball.

"Well, good morning Princess!" Hiccup greeted before he too had to duck down behind his own wall of snow to avoid a near perfect toss from Astrid, who was in a fortress of snow and pelting both Spike and Hiccup at the same time. "And here you thought that she was going to sleep in all day, Astrid!"

"Look, we tried to get her up and she didn't budge. I thought she would be asleep for days," a still bandaged Astrid replied with a shrug, before ducking a weaker, but almost far more precise, snowball from Hiccup.

"You went into my room?" Twilight asked as one of her eyes twitched before she spun towards Spike and advanced on his fort, constructing a barrier of magic around herself in case either of the humans got a funny idea. "SPIKE!" The baby dragon leapt nearly a foot in the air before he turned towards Twilight with a smile on his face, one that grew far more afraid as she stared him down. "I thought I specifically asked you not to let any guests into my room while they were staying at the castle! Why didn't you stop them?!"

"Okay look, they both got up before me and by the time I realized that they were up they were already in your room, and then they invited me to do some snow battles with them...and then Stormfly carried me outside against me will..." Spike quickly replied, adding more and more to his story until Twilight had narrowed her eyes so tightly it was almost as if her eyes were closed.

"Don't be too hard on him, Twilight, it's mostly our fault!" Astrid called over from her fort, before turning her head and taking a snowball right in the mug. In one, slow motion she reached up and wiped the snow off her now red face, which she then turned towards the Viking who now feared for his life.

"A-Astrid, before you do anything rash, I'd just like to apologize and-"

"Stormfly. Avalanche." Hiccup let out a sigh before he turned to see a massive dragon's wing scoop a large pile of snow off of the ground and hurl it towards him, giving him enough time to cover his face before he was buried beneath the powder. Toothless let out a bark and raced towards Hiccup's side, digging at the pile with his claws until he unearthed Hiccup's hair. Toothless then bared his fangs as he grabbed hold of the brown mop and pulled with all of his might, drawing forth a very upset Hiccup a moment later.

"No...Toothless...OW...let go of my hair!" Hiccup ordered as he pushed the dragon off of him, wincing slightly as he touched where a large number of hairs had gone missing. "You're in trouble now, Hofferson!" he called over to Astrid, who raised an eyebrow at his words with a smirk on her face. "You know what using Stormfly in this battle means!"

"That you'll actually put up a fight now?" Astrid mocked before a flash of black slammed into the side of her fortress and brought the entire snow fort down around her, gaining a laugh from Hiccup as Toothless ran back over to his trainer, and the both of them watched as Astrid dug herself out.

"Oh, it is on now Haddock! Stormfly!" Astrid called out as she sprinted towards her dragon, who let out a bark of her own as the Nadder raced over to Astrid. In one swift, well-practiced motion Astrid vaulted onto Stormfly's back and had the dragon whip her tail, and a large quantity of snow, towards the Viking. In another flash of black, Toothless placed himself between the snow and his friend, letting loose a bolt of plasma that turned the snow to mist in a single shot.

"Alright Astrid, but remember, you started this!" Hiccup laughed as he boarded Toothless' back and had his dragon charge towards Stormfly, who backed away by flapping her wings while kicking up snow to blind her attackers.

"Yeah, I think this is the part where I'm going to call it quits," Spike said as he dusted snow off of his shoulder and stood beside Twilight, who was watching the two teams come up with creative ways to throw snow at each other. "I figure if I try to get in on that, I'll either get trampled, buried or both."

"It's too early in the morning for this kind of commotion." The two turned to see that Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were all trotting to the castle in their snow outfits, three of them with smiles on their faces, while Rarity looked like she hadn't woken up yet. "These two dragons are waking up the whole town and interrupting my much needed beauty sleep. Twilight, please get them to stop!"

"What are you four doing here this early?" Twilight asked after greeting each of her friends. "We didn't have anything planned for today."

"Just because we don't have to save the world doesn't mean that we won't come over just to say hi," Applejack said as she looked over at the two teams, which now consisted of Stormfly and Toothless wrestling over a crystal branch that they had snapped off the castle, and the two humans, one of whom was in a headlock while the other poured snow on his head. "Though I gotta agree with Rarity in saying that they sure are noisy. Strange how different their dragons are from ours."

"Hold on you guys! Pinkie wants in on the action!" Pinkie called out before she reached behind her and revealed her party cannon, which she quickly stuffed with snow before wheeling it into the fray with a battle cry.

"It's so interesting, seeing how their versions of dragons play on a day like today," Fluttershy softly observed as she sat down and watched Toothless and Stormfly chase, bow and play across Twilight's yard while wrestling for control of the crystal branch. "They seem more like cats or dogs than like actual dragons. I wonder if they like being scratched or having their bellies rubbed?"

"Well, we've got two dragon masters right here. Ya can always just ask," Applejack reminded Fluttershy before moving in a bit closer. "So Twi, any word yet on our future-seeing, dragon manipulating, no good varmint?"

"No. And the letters from Celestia and Luna have given me nothing to work with," Twilight grunted with rage as she recalled all the nothing she had received over the past couple of days. "Aside from the incident a few days ago with Astrid and Wijida, the pony hasn't shown herself at all. Speaking of which...ASTRID!" Twilight yelled with all of her might, stopping human, dragon and pony alike in their tracks, and all turned their heads towards her. "You should be in bed right now resting, not trying to smother Hiccup with snow!"

"Please, these wounds are nothing. You should have seen what I looked like when we caught that rouge Nadder and Hiccup asked me to train it," Astrid said with a shake of her head before pointing to her side. "I had one of its scales go clean through my side. Trust me, THAT is the kind of wound that keeps a Viking in bed. These..." Astrid tried to argue, but she caught a glare from Twilight that made her groan.

"Maybe she's right Astrid. You shouldn't be putting yourself through this," Hiccup agreed, ending the battle then and there.

"Oh, not you too," Astrid grumbled as she crossed her arms and looked away from Hiccup and Twilight.

"I'm with her. I wanted to have more fun in the snow," Pinkie argued as well, matching Astrid's pose and face perfectly as she pouted along with her. Hiccup placed his hand under his chin as an idea came to him, drawing a smile across his face as he glanced up at Astrid.

"Hey Astrid," he began with a slight hint of competition in his voice, somewhat getting his girlfriend's attention. "While you might not be able to do anything in your condition, that doesn't mean that we can't still have fun in the snow."

"What are you implying, Hiccup?" Astrid asked with a raised eyebrow and an intrigued look.

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The wind whipped and whistled around the two teams as every eye looked down the steep descent that rested before them, but only a handful of them were afraid of being so high up in the mountains. Hiccup sat on Toothless, with Pinkie and Fluttershy sitting behind him, the latter clutching onto her friend for dear life. Resting beside him, and giving him a competitive smile, was Astrid on Stormfly, who also had Twilight and AJ resting on her back.

"So, are we all clear on the rules then?!" Hiccup called over to the other team. "The first DRAGON to reach the bottom of the mountain and pass Rarity, dragon, not the rider, will be the one who wins! I am not losing to another technicality like last time!"

"Technicality?! You're just upset that I managed to cross the finish line without the aid of Stormfly and beat you," Astrid bragged with a smile. "I'm still the reigning champion in terms of Dragon Sledding."

"You mean where Stormfly crashed into a tree and hurled you across the finish line?" Hiccup shot back with a laugh before he flattened his body on Toothless. "Yeah, I remember that day! You took first place and won a broken leg for your aerial acrobatics!"

"Um, Mr. Hiccup, not that I'm complaining or anything but...why are we here?" Fluttershy asked nervously as she tried to avoid looking at the bottom of the mountain.

"Well, you guys said that you wanted to see how we controlled our dragons and helped them to fly so well, didn't you?" Hiccup asked as he looked back at her, waiting until he barely saw her head nod before continuing. "The fastest way to learn is through first hand experience. Now hold on," Hiccup began as he reached beside him and grabbed his helmet, which he slid over his head. "Because things are about to get intense."

"On yer marks!" Applejack called out. "Get set..." Both Astrid and Hiccup flattened themselves even further while Twilight created magical seatbelts for the ponies. "GO!" The moment the word left her mouth, the dragons hurled themselves forward and landed on their stomachs, skidding down the mountain at a breakneck pace as they carved through the snow. Fluttershy screamed and covered her eyes while Pinkie laughed with joy, while Toothless weaved back and forth past trees and any other obstacles that barred their way.

"Keep up, Astrid!" Hiccup called out as he and Toothless skidded past Stormfly, who had to pull back to avoid crashing into the Night Fury and his passengers. To further throw salt into the wounds, Toothless looked back at the four with a smug look on his face before he propelled his team forward with a flap of his wings.

"Darn it, they're pulling ahead!" Applejack called out.

"Not for long. How do the two of you feel about unnecessary risks?" she asked her two passengers.

"Wait, what kind of risks are we talking about her?" Twilight asked with uncertainty in her voice as Astrid pulled hard to the left and angled Stormfly towards a fallen tree. "Because if it's sixty-forty or even seventy-thirty, I'm fine with those, but anything higher than that is-aaaaaaAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

Twilight let out a loud scream while both Astrid and AJ hollered as Stormfly went airborne, sliding right up the fallen tree to launch herself into the sky. With another hard tug of the saddle Astrid angled their fall so that they would land right in front of the other team...or close enough.

"INCOMING!" Hiccup and his team had just enough time to look up before the Deadly Nadder belly flopped onto the snow right in front of them, blasting all four of them with snow while the sounds of laughter assaulted their ears. Hiccup quickly wiped the snow out of his eyes to reveal that Astrid had pulled ahead, getting a smirk out of him as he looked back at his crew.

"Alright you two, hold tight," he warned them as he flattened himself completely against Toothless, who let out a small chuckle before his spines opened up and clapped together twice, fascinating Fluttershy for a moment before she looked ahead and realized what they were about to do. "Because I'm about to get reckless."

As if the word triggered something in the back of Toothless mind, the dragon's eyes narrowed before he shot ahead in a burst of speed, slicing through the snow almost like a blade while using his wings to stay steady. Pinkie and Fluttershy clutched onto each other and Hiccup for dear life as the Night Fury slowly began to overtake Astrid and her passengers.

"He's almost passed us again! How is he catching up so fast?!" Twilight reported as she glanced down at Astrid, who had turned her head to look back at the advancing team with a frown.

"Argh, that's Hiccup for you. He's the best flier out of all of us," Astrid said before swinging one of her legs over the side of the saddle so that she was sitting sideways on it, making her entire body face the rapidly approaching dragon and freaking Twilight out at the same time.

"W-what are you doing?!" she half-screamed at Astrid, who gave Twilight a smirk before narrowing her eyes at Hiccup.

"Hiccup's the reason Toothless is catching up. So if I can eliminate Hiccup..." Astrid began, getting Twilight's eyes to widen in horror as she realized what Astrid was about to do. "Twilight, take over for me...NOW!" The moment she said this Astrid hurled herself at Hiccup, tackling the rider right off of his dragon and sending the both of them crashing into the snow. The dragons raced ahead as the pair rolled down the mountain, both stopping when they crashed into a snow bank.

"Astrid?! What are you doing?!" Hiccup exclaimed when he pulled himself out of the snow, helping to pull Astrid out before the pair of them turned towards the rapidly vanishing dragons.

"Winning, Hiccup. Alright Twilight, it's up to you!" Astrid called down to Twilight. Twilight grabbed hold of the front of Stormfly's saddle, fear filling her eyes as she tried to figure out what to do. Over on Toothless, the dragon considered stopping and turning back to get Hiccup, but then he felt a calm hoof rest upon his head.

"Easy there, Toothless. We can get them when we've safely gotten to the bottom," the calm voice of Fluttershy spoke, focusing the dragon's attention. "Let's win this for Hiccup." Toothless let out a bark and began to pull ahead once again, while Stormfly glanced back at the panicking Twilight with questioning eyes.

"Turn! No Stop! Do something!" Twilight blurted out all at once as she tried in vain to steer the dragon. Stormfly raised an eyebrow at her before spreading her wings and slowing the group down, getting cries of confusion from Twilight as Toothless rocketed ahead.

"And...Toothless has crossed the finish line," Hiccup said with a smile while the Night Fury slid past Rarity and covered her in snow before coming to a stop, letting the two ponies off of his back before Fluttershy collapsed immediately. Stormfly crossed the finish line a few moments later, where she dropped her ponies off before flapping her wings and heading up for Hiccup and Astrid.

"Looks like I'm the Dragon Sledding Champion now, and I didn't even have to drive him," Hiccup continued with a smile at the less-than-thrilled expression on Astrid's face. "Actually, you might have won if you hadn't have jumped off Stormfly to tackle me. So in a way, you're the reason that I won. Thanks, M'lady."

"Annndddd you're going back in the snow," Astrid said before turning and tackling Hiccup back into the snow.