Tempest sat on her balcony, a quill held between her lips as she gazed out over Ponyville. She tugged her fleece blanket tighter around herself, hoping that it would banish the morning cold from her fur. She pulled her hind legs in closer, then tucked the blanket under her hooves, leaving her list sitting in front of her. She frowned over her minimal progress, frustrated that she, once an eminent military commander, could not complete a task as important as this.
She spit the quill from her lips. Glancing down at her rather short list for what felt like the hundredth time, she read it again, then laid her head on the railing as she closed her eyes. Okay, first things first. We need to get communications back up, which means the railroads need to be repaired across all of Equestria. The line between Canterlot and here was fine, but we need the rest of the lines connecting us to other cities and towns to be fixed; Canterlot alone cannot provide us with the lumber we need. Spike can send letters to Celestia; at least we have that. Next would be to get building supplies, like wood, nails, tools, and whatever else we need. I doubt that we would be able to cut down enough usable wood to rebuild Ponyville from the nearby woods, so getting the train tracks to other places repaired would help a ton. What else should be done?
The sound of a door opening made Tempest’s eyes snap open. She glanced to the right and saw Twilight walk out onto her own balcony, a yawn forcing itself past her lips.
Tempest cleared her throat. “Morning,” she said, a light smile gracing her lips. “You happen to get any sleep last night?”
Twilight sighed. “Not really. Still had some nightmares.” She flitted over to Tempest’s balcony and sat beside her, a shiver running down her back. “What about you?”
Tempest shook her head as she rubbed her foreleg with a hoof. “I heard you groaning in your sleep again last night, but... I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to wake you up, leave you alone, or... snuggle you again. You, uh... sorta kinda kept me up most of the night.” She pulled the blanket out from under her hind legs and held it open for her. Twilight shot her a grateful smile and scooted closer to her, using her magic to wrap the blanket around herself.
“Sorry about that. I just don’t know what to do. I told Princess Luna to not make me a priority in her dream realm, but after last night... I might just have to ask her for help. I just don’t see any other option.” Twilight let loose another yawn. “There are so many other ponies out there suffering from nightmares, though. As a princess, I have to put the needs of others before myself. I can’t help but feel like I’m stuck.”
“Well...” Tempest paused as Twilight scooted up against her side, allowing them to pull the blanket closed in front of them. Her friend’s warmth seeped into her fur, warming her a lot faster than the blanket could ever accomplish. “Starlight told me the other day that you can’t help others if you don’t take care of yourself.” Tempest shifted in place, her tail swishing about behind her. “Also, I remember you saying yesterday that I shouldn’t feel sorry for snuggling with you, which leads me to believe that you liked snuggling with me. If you want, we can try snuggling again tonight and see if that helps. I just want what’s best for you, really.” Twilight glanced up at her with an inquisitive gaze, making her mouth go dry. “Just to keep us from having nightmares,” Tempest added quickly.
“Sure, I suppose we can give it a shot. I admit it was pretty nice, and I could definitely go for a night without nightmares,” Twilight said as she fluffed her wings. She glanced down and cocked her head to the side ever so slightly. “What’s this?” she asked, using her magic to pick up the piece of parchment between Tempest’s hooves.
“Oh, just a little bit of planning. I wanted to get a head start on figuring out what really needs to get fixed first. I feel like our little meeting yesterday mostly covered short-term solutions and not long-term solutions. Feeding everypony is good and all, but afterwards, we need to round up as many willing ponies to help contribute to Ponyville’s restoration, not just those trained in construction.”
“That’s a good point; we can do that after we feed everypony in a bit. Speaking of which, we should go wake up the rest of our friends if we want to get those apples.” Twilight stood up and walked back towards the door leading to Tempest’s bedroom. “Shall we?” she asked.
“Sure, and I’m glad you came outside when you did.”
“Why’s that?”
Tempest let a sheepish grin slide onto her face as she avoided Twilight’s gaze. “Well, uh... I kinda locked myself out.”
Tempest tightened the apple cart’s strap around her barrel, making sure that it was nice and snug. She took a few steps forward and shot Applejack a confident grin. “Hey, you can hook up another load of apples to the back of my cart if you can. I can easily bring back two!”
“Ya sure about that?” Applejack asked, cocking her head to the side. “They sure are mighty heavy!”
Tempest nodded. “They are, but we wouldn’t have to make a second trip if anypony wanted seconds or thirds. Besides, we need some carts back in town to move supplies around.”
“Heh, that’s a good point. If you’re sure that you can do it, then I’m sure everypony would be mighty thankful.” Applejack secured a second cart to the rear of Tempest’s, then wiped her brow with a hoof. “We all ready to go, gals?” she asked, looking at the rest of her friends in turn.
“We sure are!” Starlight said, pulling her cart up next to Tempest’s.
“Alrighty then!” Applejack secured her own harness around her barrel, then trotted down the path back towards town.
Tempest waited for everypony else to pass her before she started pulling. The harness dug into her fur, making her wince at the strain. The wheels turned a little as she strained to get the carts rolling, and without warning, they lurched forward. She shot a quick glance at Starlight and noticed her horn was lit, an earnest grin plastered across her friend’s face.
“Sorry. Just wanted to help you get started,” Starlight said, her horn dimming. “I’m sure that your load is pretty heavy.”
“Yeah, it is.” Tempest settled into a trot, albeit one slower than everypony else. Starlight kept pace beside her as the rest of their friends pulled ahead. “So, about your idea...”
“Yeah?”
“If the Storm King’s army destroyed Twilight’s mirror, there’s a pretty high chance that there aren’t any other mirrors in town for me to use. I’d like to replace Twilight’s mirror sooner rather than later.”
“Well, somepony around town has a mirrors and windows store. Maybe we could try looking there first!” Starlight said, a gleeful pep in her step. “They might, and I mean that with a lot of skepticism, just have one mirror we could buy.”
“There is?” Tempest asked, shooting a quick glance at Starlight. “You know their name?”
“Nah, but I would recognize him if I saw him again. I’ll let you know if I spot him when we give out apples soon. Celestia knows I could use a new mirror, too...”
Tempest couldn’t help but notice Starlight’s tone change in her last sentence. “Wait, did you have a mirror of your own? One with pictures just like Twilight’s?”
“...Yeah.”
“Oh. I’m sorry about that.”
The rest of their journey lapsed into silence as they made their way back into Ponyville. With the sun rising up into the sky at their backs, they parked their carts on the side of the path leading up to Twilight’s castle.
Tempest breathed a sigh of relief as she unclasped the cart’s harness from her barrel, thankful to be free from its grasp. Starlight parked her cart right next to hers and plopped down beside her. “You think everypony would be up by now?” Tempest asked.
“Probably, but we still need time to make some coffee for those who want it,” Starlight said, beckoning her towards the castle. “Come on, I know the both of us could use a good strong cup or two!” She turned and trotted up the steps and waited for Tempest to catch up.
“Heh, you can say that again!” Tempest said with mirth as she trotted into the castle with her. Twilight and the rest of her friends had already made their way inside. Once they neared the kitchens, a horrible realization struck Tempest. “Starlight, wait,” she said, stopping in place. “Isn’t the coffee creamer all gone?” she asked, wincing ever so slightly.
Starlight huffed. “Ugh! You’re right! Twilight used the last of it yesterday.” Starlight’s shoulders slumped. “What are we gonna do now? I hate drinking coffee without any creamer.”
“Yeah, me too, but what about sugar? We could probably add enough of it to make drinking coffee bearable!” Tempest said, nudging Starlight’s side with her shoulder. She shot her a warm smile and said, “Besides, coffee with sugar is better than drinking it straight, right?”
“I suppose...” Starlight groaned. “Looks like we’re off to a great start this morning...”
“It’ll be fine. We can probably find some more coffee creamer in town. Where do you guys usually buy it from?”
“From the market, but Celestia knows that that isn’t opening any time soon,” Starlight said, pushing open the door to the kitchen.
“Uh... how would Celestia know such a little detail like that?” Tempest asked with a chuckle. “It’s not like she’s able to know everything that’s going on in all of Equestria.” She followed Starlight into the kitchen and paused again, her ears flicking back to lay flat on her head as her eyes went wide. “Wait... can she?”
“What?” Starlight glanced back at her with furrowed eyebrows. “Of course she can’t.”
“Oh. Right,” she said with a sheepish grin. If she was able to watch over all of Equestria at the same time, she would have most definitely sensed the Storm King’s invasion coming from miles and miles away. Gotta think before I say something stupid... “Sorry. I just haven’t had any coffee yet.”
“Heh, I understand. I say dumb things sometimes too when I haven’t had coffee,” Starlight shot back with a grin. “Anyways, we’ll just have to make do with what we have for now.”
“Yeah.” She sat down next to Starlight and set her gaze on Twilight. “Hey, what’s the hold up?” she asked, her gaze switching to the upside-down bag of coffee in Twilight’s grasp.
“We ran out of coffee up here,” Twilight said. “Can you and Starlight run down to the basement and bring up a few bags? There should be some on top of the shipping crates.”
“Yep!” Starlight nudged Tempest’s leg with a hoof as she stood up. “Come on, let’s get a move on.”
“Alright,” Tempest said. “So where is this basement?”
“Just down the hall.” Starlight turned and trotted further down the hallway, then stopped in front of a thick wood door. “Pretty sure it’s through here!” she said, lighting her horn. “I still get turned around in here from time to time.” She yanked it open and peered inside. “Well, there are some steps going down, so this has gotta be it.”
Tempest shrugged. “I suppose so. You would know better than I, after all.”
Starlight kept her horn lit as they made their way down the winding staircase. When they finally reached the bottom, she pushed more magic into her horn and cast a ball of light to sit in the middle of the room. “Ugh! What’s that smell?”
Tempest bit her tongue as she groaned. “So they hit the basement, too? Those beasts sure were thorough; more than I gave them credit for,” she said, taking a few steps into the room. “Where’s the coffee? There might be a chance that they didn’t do anything to it, but...”
“But what?” Starlight asked with a whine as she walked past her.
“They were trained to destroy anything that could be of use to the inhabitants of Equestria. The Storm King gave them orders to destroy railroads, bridges, and any other infrastructure deemed important enough to cripple the country. While coffee wasn’t on the official list... food was. Maybe they left the coffee alone.”
“One can only hope.” Starlight walked further into the room and disappeared behind some large crates. “Or maybe they just wanted to destroy a princess’s supply of coffee.”
“What do you mean?” Tempest asked as she walked up beside Starlight. Crates of coffee lay smashed on the floor, the horrid smell growing much stronger. Her nose wrinkled up as she noticed several large piles of excrement mixed in with the coffee beans. “Oh. Uh... Twilight’s not gonna like this.”
“I don’t like this!” Starlight kicked some of the broken wood further into the mess. “So what are we gonna do now?”
Tempest bit back a yawn. “Well... good question. I have no idea.”
“I’m not going to be the one to tell Twilight about this.”
“Yeah... I figured as much.”