"...Cold? Cold!" I shouted, my squeaky voice echoing through the grassy meadow. My hooves buried themselves on the warm, spring-fresh grass below, as I looked around desperatedly for my older brother.
I knew he was around somewhere. We were playing tag just now, around the old Oak on the hill. I could see our home from up here, the whole valley, even. The sun was high up in the sky, bathing us in warm sunlight this noon. The Unicorns and Pegasi did a great job today.
"Coooold!?" I shouted again, walking around the large Oak tree. "Where are you?" I asked, tears forming in my eyes. I had lost my brother, I would never see him again. I'd never be able to hug him again, and he'd never be able to see our incoming little sister!
Mom was going to be so angry with me! I dropped down on the grass and hid my face between my hooves, as I saw Dad walk up the hill. "I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I said with a falter in my voice, tears rolling out for my eyes.
Then I felt his hoof caress the side of my mane, soon sliding under my chin to pull my face up to him. He had a large smile on his recently shaved face, his eyes looking at me in the same way whenever I got hurt for playing rough.
I blinked a few times, and sniffed. My ears twitched as he opened his mouth to say something, but only a loud 'PSHHHHHHH' emerged from his lips.
"W-Wha...?" I asked, just as the sound repeated itself. Then everything around me dissipated into a cloud of steam, the sound getting louder and louder...
'PSHHHHHHHHHHHH!', hissed the massive device behind us, releasing the steam buildup from overnight, through an automatic pressure valve just above us.
The steam was warm enough that, instead of freezing over in seconds, it fell down as moisture. A bit annoying, but at least it wasn't cold snow. I yawned and looked around, my head still laying above my numbed hooves. I blinked a few times, slowly coming back to reality.
With another yawn, and stretching out my body to realign my muscles once more, I looked over towards Cold, who was still deeply asleep, curling upon himself. Somehow, the loud discharges of steam didn't wake him up. My sight then moved to the rest of our little settlement, towards the row of tents that flapped with the wind, and the few gaslamps that we had swayed with it, their dim light being everything we had to shine some light in this darkness. Snow still felt on everything, but it quickly melted away thanks to the aura of warmth that the Obelisk emmited. The same aura that kept us all alive through this Winter.
An aura that also sent a chilling sensation down my spine. It felt like if I was whitnessing a cow getting branded, over and over again. But there were no cows, nor ponies getting such a threatment. It just... Felt weird. Shaking my head, I looked up at the sky. The blizzard was still howling above the crater, coating the sky with a hard layer of white. It was still dark, only the moonlight getting to cross the layer of snow above us. There were no stars tonight.
I sighed, and looked further up, towards the Obelisk and its encasement. It hissed every now and then, wich each release of steam, and the feeding system dumped coal into it every now and then. Like a clockwork creation, one that we made, and were proud of. Perhaps we could install an actual clock on its side. It'd be a more reliable way to tell what time it was, as hourglasses and the sun were very unreliable. Anything made by Unicorns was unreliable in this day and age.
My sight then moved back towards my brother, a little smile forming on my muzzle. Rolling over, I snuggled onto him, laying my head upon his shoulder. It was just a dream, we were still together. Well... Two of us. Mother and Father were still gone, and so was Temperate.
I really hoped that we could eventually find them. And that they were still alive...
A loud 'BWOOOOM' awoke us all. Like if somepony had triggered a foghorn ontop of the Obelisk.
Toppling over, I got onto all fours, wide-eyed, just as my brother. "Wah-What?" He mumbled, raising up and standing tall and alert, his ears pinned back. Everypony around did the same, though some had more troubles getting up. Promeniently the ill ones.
"The day begins!" Chanted the, oh so familiar voice of that Unicorn. His horn lit up again, and so did the horns of every other Unicorn in the camp. In unison, they all pointed their horns at the sky, and much like yesterday night, they repeated the proceidure. Slowly, the darkness above was substituted by the sheer light of morning, though this time, less unicorns fell back down after this was complete. It seemed that lowering the moon and raising the sun just enough for dawn was less tiring than pulling down the sun, and raising the moon. "Gather up your tools and get back to work. There is much to be done." He stated, soon turning around and returning to his tent.
The ponies nearby grumbled and complained, comprehensively in a bad mood after being awakened like that. Being shaken, slightly jabbed or spoken to was one thing. Being awakened with a damnable foghorn is a completely different thing. Rubbing my face, I looked back at Cold. "Guess that's this camp's rooster." I commented, before offering him a weak smile.
He looked at me with a deadpan, clearly not amused by my jest. "Please don't." Cold stated, a hoof raising to cover my mouth. "I've already got a headache thanks to that, your jokes won't help."
With a pout, I rose my hoof to lower his. I didn't like the taste of rock and mud. "Fine, fine. Guess that we get to work then. You're still assigned to collection, right?" I asked, my hooves going over to my mane, combing it back to shape.
"Mhm. You were moved to farming, so you get to walk around less. Don't get too bored, else you'll start dismantling things again." He said with a sly smirk, patting my mane, undoing all the effort I was doing.
With another pout, I hit him right on the shoulder out of embarrasment. "Shush, that was only once. I managed to fix that toaster afterwards though!"
"Yeah, it set the table on fire the next day." He remarked, with a larger grin. One that soon faded as he started to walk towards the stockpile. "I'll see you around, Warm. We'll meet for dinner."
I nodded at him, before looking at my saddlebags. Neither of us had breakfast... Not like we could afford it anyways. Hopefully, if we got the farm set up and working, we would be able to have some meals ready for tonight. With a sigh, I walked over to the stockpile too, just as my brother picked a pair of empty saddlebags, pulled his robes on, and set off to collect more wood.
There, another Earth Pony approached me. He was slightly shorter than me, I thought for a second that he was a Colt. But his voice was as deep as a well, deeper than the tone of his blue coat. "You, you're the one that the horned fuck mentioned that would be joining us in the farming, yes?" He asked, with a serious expression.
I simpy nodded, surprised that so much anger could be packed into such a little frame. "Y-Yes. I'm Warm Hea-"
"Don't care, follow me." He rudely stated, gesturing at me with a hoof to follow.
Bliking a few times, I lowered my head in frustration and followed him, outside of the Stockpile, and across the line of tents...