"Easy Winter, easy..."
Winter groaned and clutched her head as bits and pieces of the world around her swam slowly back into view. She was warm, too warm to be at home...she must have passed out again. Her propensity for heat illness kept her from being too shocked by that thought, though it made it no less embarrassing to collapse in public like she probably had. "But...I don't remember overheating...where am I?" She muttered, blinking in the bright sunlight surrounding her. There was a dark shadow in the center of her vision, slowly sharpening up as she opened her eyes to reveal it was exactly who she'd heard speaking to her just a moment ago.
Midnight smiled worriedly at Winter as he gently supported her head, trying to gently rouse her from her fainting spell. He knew better than to raise her head while she was unconscious, that wasn't supposed to help, and she knew that she'd told him that her doctor said not to let it happen. But...at the same time, she couldn't be mad at him, just staring back up at him as she cracked a weak, embarrassed smile back at him. But a second later she slowly turned her head to look around, seeing numerous ponies standing around staring at her, just like she'd feared. The moment gone, Winter tried to squirm away from Midnight's grip and flip herself off of her back. "Take it slow," Midnight whispered to her, grabbing her sunhat and dusting it off passing it back to her. She grabbed it with her magic and nodded, though she barely heard his words as she staggered to her hooves, too busy feeling the sting of old memories lashing against her mind, memories of her parents cautioning her about publicly making a scene. A knot formed in the base of her stomach as she tried to push them back from her mind.
"Must have been the heat," she said absently, readjusting her sunhat so she could see a little better under its shade.
"And if that's the case we'd better get you some shade and some water," Midnight replied, gently putting a hoof to Winter's shoulder. She looked back at him a tad irritably, but sighed and nodded as he gently pushed her from where she'd collapsed. He'd spotted a small tent with tables and chairs off to the side of the exhibit, and gently led Winter there, even helping her grab a seat when her body hesitated.
"Thanks Stormy," said Winter, as she dropped into a seat. The shade alone had helped her cool down, even when she still wasn't entirely convinced it had been the heat to begin with. To most ponies, passing out would be passing out, but Winter had been a little too careless with her heat tolerance in the past, and knew exactly what heat exhaustion felt like when it knocked her out. This was different, though she couldn't figure out what felt odd about it, or what had caused it. "Not exactly the hoof I wanted to put forward here," she chuckled.
Midnight didn't look quite so amused. "You should have told me you were getting hot," he said, lowering his glasses enough that she could see his eyes clearly. They were tense with worry, making the knot in her stomach twist even more. "I guess I should have been paying better attention though, I know you're really worried about your parents and everything today, I should have..."
"No you shouldn't," she snapped, before taking a deep breath to start again. "Thank you, Midnight, for watching out for me." She stared right back at Midnight and gave him a huge, genuine smile, before speaking again. "You're doing great keeping an eye on me, and I know I'm better off because you're here. You don't need to keep an eye glued to me here."
Midnight was silent for a moment, but sighed and shook his head. "Alright, alright. But I do need to get you something cold to drink. I'll be right back, ok?"
"Just remember that some ponies do like lemons in their drink," she shot back at him, laughing gently as he rolled his eyes before readjusting his glasses. As he turned to walk away, faking indignity at her teasing, Winter couldn't help but watch him leave, smiling as his tail swished back and forth with each step.
"Ugh...I must be dizzier than I thought," Winter muttered, tearing her eyes away from Midnight. Her head did feel like it was spinning, only worsening as she tried to pick something to focus on and anchor her vision. It just so happened that she'd locked her eyes on an old style of museum display case, one that triggered a particularly painful memory from years ago. She'd been in the backroom of a museum, standing beside her mother Lilac Swirl as she'd designed her next exhibit. Winter had been standing for twenty minutes, the eight-year-old filly bored out of her mind and started fiddling with her magic, her icy talent she'd discovered just last year, but she was still learning to control it and a misfire had coated a display case outside and in. The case shattered under the strain, earning Winter a scolding from her mother about lady-like behavior.
It took some effort for Winter to not blast the offending case with another burst of ice: It wasn't responsible for her memory, or the stress she was under with her mother...and her father. She knew they loved her, in their own way, but every time she thought of them Winter cringed. Her ice powers scared them, or more accurately worried their family's reputation. Winter's parents had been unicorns, recently married and living near Las Pegasus with their first foal when Winter's father, Onyx, had inherited a large sum of money from his grandmother's passing. They'd chosen to move to Canterlot and adapt to high society, blending in surprisingly well in the nearly ten years before Winter was born. But they'd always been paranoid about their status, and as they had both grown up in a warmer climate, nearly worshipping Princess Celestia and her brilliant day, Winter's icy aura unsettled them, even as their little filly. The only ponies she'd remembered who didn't look at her and her fearfully were her now-gone grandmother, and her brother Guardian Gleam.
The name of her near-15-year senior brother almost calmed Winter in a moment, as she started to recall his most recent letter to her. Guardian was living in Saddle Arabia now, having left for a mission of peace when Winter was only three, too young to remember much about him. It had only been after she started falling apart from stress and loneliness that somepony had suggested getting in contact with her brother again, as a pen pal. He'd been amazingly understanding, mentioning his parents' obsession with high society bothered him too, and was eager to help. He couldn't come to visit due to recently getting a new job over there, he'd told her that there would be a day he returned to visit the family, and promised to be there to smooth over reunification with her parents after her three year isolation from them. Winter had wanted to be patient for Guardian, but the exhibit had thrown her off and panicked her so badly she knew she couldn't ignore it for the three days it was due to be in town. It was explained in her latest letter to him, but she had no way to know his thoughts for at least another month or two, given the normal speed of the post. Something told her he wouldn't be bothered by her going to confront their parents alone, and suddenly that didn't bug her as much as it would have two years ago. Guardian hadn't been something she thought about every day since she'd moved to Ponyville, even less since two winter's past...why was that?
Winter smiled and shook her head, glancing about the nearby buildings of the small town that had been a loving home to her. But as she looked around, her glance grazed across the strange stone that she now remembered had seemingly caused her fainting spell. She looked at it in confusion for a moment, wondering what in Equestria was so odd about it, but there didn't seem to be anything remarkable, besides the fact that it looked like a giant ice crystal. Yet somehow, she couldn't tear her eyes off of it, even when she tried to look away something drew her focus back. It started to aggravate her, feeling like she was stuck looking at it...or something, feeling stuck and angry, she just kept getting madder and madder, for no reason she could tell. "Agh...what's happening to me?" she growled, holding her head as she felt a pressure building in her forehead.
"Winter?" The mare's eyes snapped open suddenly, refocusing on a dark winged shadow, Midnight she realized as he fast-trotted closer to her. He had a frosted and sweating glass of water wrapped in his right wing and a fearful expression on his face. She didn't want to see the fear in his eyes behind his glasses, he looked nervous enough as he leaned down to check on her. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm ok," she replied, shaking her head. "Just dizzy...maybe I'm not in as good a place as I thought." Midnight gently pushed the glass close to Winter, who took it in her magic and tipped almost a quarter of its contents, ice and all, into her mouth. She let it rest there for a moment, biting the small cubes down and letting the chill deep into the roof of her mouth before she swallowed. It settled in her stomach and Winter sighed, smiling as the momentary relief from the heat began to spread into her body.
Midnight still looked worried, but he took a second to shake his wing, warming it back up after holding the cold glass for the whole walk. Winter smiled as he glanced at the wing, checking his feathers for any remaining droplets: Winter couldn't help but stare too, smiling as he flexed his feathers slightly. Pegasi wings always fascinated Winter, such a complex structure, and Midnight could move them effortlessly even while maneuvered his other four limbs. "Thanks Midnight," she said, finally snapping out of her moment. "I'm feeling better already."
Midnight opened his mouth to speak, a little nervous still, but at that very moment somepony else's voice rang out across the crowd. "Esteemed guests, I'm afraid I must announce that our guests, Duke Onyx and Lilac Swirl are unable to attend this week. They send their regards and hope that all enjoy their exhibit. Thank you."
A flash of anger burned through Winter's brain in an instant, her horn shimmering as she felt her icy aura flare. "You have got to be kidding me..." she growled, a noise of anger that nearly put their friend Vlyka to shame, turning her attention to the source of the voice. A hapless unicorn pony was standing with a megaphone in his magic, having just set it down from giving the announcement. She had a clean shot, perfect line of sight... ice began to form on her horn as she charged and aimed...
"I'm sorry Winter..." Midnight's words broke Winter's tunnel vision, letting her magic dissipate as she looked up at her friend.
Her magic may have calmed, but Winter's anger refused to be quieted so easily. "They did this to me on purpose...they got me so wound up and then refused to come..."
"Whoa Winter, hang on," Midnight said hurriedly, putting a hoof on Winter's shoulder. She felt him shiver slightly at the chill her magic created around her, momentarily aggravating her further. But he meant nothing by it, she knew he liked it cooler and wasn't bothered personally by the ice, which let her forgive him for the insult. "Your parents didn't know you were even here, right? So why do you think they could have intentionally done this, if they didn't even know you were gonna be here?"
Winter glared at Midnight for a moment, but she knew he was right. So after a moment she took a deep breath, letting her anger condense in her lungs before she breathed it all out. "I know," she sighed, shaking her head. "It's just not fair..."
Midnight smiled sadly and shook his head. "No, I know it's not. But you were so brave, coming here when you thought you'd be forced to confront them. You did the right thing."
"Yeah, well I think I'm done doing it for right now," Winter grumbled, taking another gulp of ice water. "If they aren't here I'm really done with this whole thing."
"I think that's beyond fair," Midnight smirked, before gently extending a hoof to help her stand. She took it gratefully and stood, smiling at Midnight as he helped her. Without another word, the duo wandered towards the exit, but as Winter adjusted her sunhat she caught sight of the stone again. She felt the pressure in her skull again, her anger spiked, but she tore her eyes away from it and breathed deeply to try and calm down some. No reason to cause a scene as they were just getting free from her torment!
Winter was silent the entire walk back to her house, as was Midnight, though she could tell he was trying to find the right words to say something. As she opened her door, however, he finally spoke. "This was the right thing to do, even if it didn't pay off. You're an amazing mare and this is so unfair to you."
Winter smiled and reached a hoof to hug Midnight, much to both their surprise: Midnight wrapped his hoof around her neck awkwardly, usually a pony who liked his personal space, but despite Winter's chilly aura he squeezed pleasantly, a hold Winter returned until the stallion's body heat began to wear on Winter's thermal sensitivity. She pulled away gently only after it got to be too much, Midnight seeming a bit hesitant to let go himself. "I think I need a nap after all this," she muttered.
"Yeah, I'm overdue to get to bed myself," Midnight smiled back.
"I told you you'd need more sleep than what you got," Winter teased, winking at him. Midnight looked mildly cross with her, but he smiled and shook his head. "Thanks for coming with me, and...you have a good sleep. I'll see you this evening, Stormy."
"Good afternoon, Winter," Midnight smiled, giving her a slight bow out of respect Winter never thought she needed. She returned it though, beaming at her friend as he spread his wings. "Treat yourself well and have a great nap." With that and a final smile, Midnight leapt into the air and flapped his wings, shooting off into the distance. Winter watched as his shadow vanished over the rooftops, before the summer heat forced her to abandon the sunlit street.