Mayor Mare drones on in the background, the would-be-bright morning sun barely piercing through the thick but empty storm clouds. Everypony mills about, most having received their assignments but still politely listening. Twilight, her star speckled saddlebags strapped to her otherwise naked side, is squatting down on the ground, holding a pencil and taking notes. Rainbow Dash, Blue Leader band proudly strapped to her foreleg, rambles on almost as obliquely.
“But Tank’s gotta be up and about by then! I mean, I know he can be a little leisurely in how quickly he wakes up, but still! It’s me he’s waking up for! And then we get the southern birds back. Oh, actually, we would have sent somepony out for the southern birds at the start of this.” Rainbow Dash stops talking, resting her chin on a hoof. She exclaims, holding that same hoof up like it’s a light bulb, “Actually, that’s the first thing that we need to do during Winter Wrap Up!” Rainbow nods resolutely before a strained smile crosses her muzzle. “And, um, on a completely unrelated note, I need to go take care of something totally different right now. See ya!”
Twilight’s pencil, the Wonderbolt tassel on the end swaying back and forth from Rainbow’s wake, scratches out yet another line on her parchment. She has to really squeeze her words almost next to each other with all these corrections! Especially writing with her hoof, she’s far more concise and precise with her horn. How Spike manages to keep an inkwell on him without getting his scales covered all the time is beyond her; at least Doug was happy to provide a pencil from his office. She really needs to indoctrinate him on the advantages of quills over pencils, though. Indoctrinate? Persuade. That sounds much better!
“Okay, so I got all of what Rainbow does as Blue Leader. Maybe. Hopefully.” Twilight tucks the latest in a long line of rolled parchment into the saddlebags at her sides. “Now I just need to get what the rest of the animal team does, and I’ll have a complete accounting for everything that Ponyville does for Winter Wrap Up! I never knew the ‘Earth Pony Way’ could be so fascinating!”
“And what better way to do that than to experience it firsthoof?” Doug, wearing a white jacket and green armband, motions to the animal team members walking away from Mayor Mare. Their tan jackets sparkle with small amounts of golden accents as they gather around Amethyst Star, the returning Gold Leader. “I’m sure they’d love to have you, maybe working with some of the animals!”
Twilight smirks. “I’m actually surprised Rainbow Dash didn’t angle to get on the Gold Team this year. Given how frequently she mentioned Tank, and wants to see him right when he wakes up.”
“Well, I guess they liked how she worked out last year, and she got buffaloed into leading again.” Doug shrugs. “At least you know she’ll be zipping down to check. Maybe that’s where you should start out?” He glances down at her. “I’m surprised they didn’t assign you a job straight out.” Doug motions to the azure unicorn next to him, “I’m helping Trixie on the plant team; she’ll be one of the few unicorns who can hoof dragging a plow through the snow.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie knows she can plow better than either of you! Both of you, put together!” Trixie smirks at Twilight before she struts off, following Applejack towards Sweet Apple Acres.
Twilight grimaces at the thought of so much manual labor, especially without magic. “Yes, well, I told them I wasn’t sure where I wanted to work, so they let me go without one. You’ve worked in every team, right? I seem to recall that you had a tan and a blue armband back at the house.” Doug nods. “Which was your favorite?”
“I like working with all of my mares equally.” Doug winks to Twilight as she rolls her eyes. He hums to himself as he considers. “Probably ice skating on the weather team. But I was only able to do that for two years when I was covering for Pinkie Pie.” Twilight writes a note to check up on Pinkie Pie. “I don’t mind shoveling snow off the roofs, since I can leverage better than a pegasus and I’m pretty sure-footed.” He taps a gloved hand against his snow boots. “I mean, I can’t take off like a pegasus if I lose my footing, but that rarely happens.”
“Yeah,” Twilight says uncertainly, looking down at her hooves and imagining herself up on a roof. “Maybe not the best place for me.”
Doug shrugs. “You never know until you try! You might surprise yourself!” Twilight scoffs. “Animal team tends to get crowded, since most of the unicorns kind of get shoehorned into working there. Plant team is fun, if a lot of grueling work. But, it’s just Applejack working on that side, and she doesn’t need a lot of help running things. With Trixie, though? I’m looking forward to it!”
“Well, I hope it goes well for you!” Twilight waves as Doug jogs off in pursuit of Trixie, glancing to the slumbering dragon huddled inside his blue blanket. “Okay, Spike! Time to go!”
“Wua?” Spike groans as Twilight lifts him to her back, shifting around to try to keep away from the cold. “Where are we going?”
Twilight waves as they walk past Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, each wearing a golden banded tan vest. The three wave back before setting themselves to making nests. “We’re going to see Amethyst Star, and find out what kind of jobs we can get. Ooh, I hope it’s waking up the bunnies!”
Twilight quickly comes to the southern part of Ponyville near the train station where the Gold Team has set up their headquarters. Amethyst Star is in the middle and surrounded by tan vested ponies, many crates of food and building materials scattered around her. Twilight walks up, waiting as Amethyst Star directs a group of stallions to one of the snow banks.
Amethyst Star glances to Twilight, then flips through pages of locations and animals, humming to herself. “Hmm, covered, covered, reserved by Rainbow, covered…” Her eyes briefly brighten as they come up, looking Twilight from horn to tail. She asks, guarded but hopeful, “Have you met Harry?”
Twilight involuntarily shudders. “The bear?” She shakes the chills away, forcing a smile to her muzzle. “Um, yes! I see him with Fluttershy every now and then. He seems all right. Why?”
“Nothing! That’s perfect!” Amethyst Star grabs a bell from a nearby table, crossing out one of the lines on her list. “And, Doug has eaten…” her voice drops to a whisper, “...meat… in front of you?”
“Um,” Twilight says, glancing around. No other pony is anywhere near her, even if they look like they need to talk to the Gold Leader. “Yes? He’s not obvious about it, but he has.”
“Good, good,” Amethyst Star continues, scratching off another few lines. “Okay!” She glances around, every single pony failing to meet her eyes and hunching away. “Well, you might need to make multiple trips. But that’s fine! That’s fine.”
“O...kay?” Twilight looks around, noting the position of everypony else. “Is something wrong?”
“No!” Amethyst Star shakes her head vigorously. “Nothing! Nothing’s wrong!” She rips off a few pieces of paper, motioning to a set of crates that are far separated from everything else. “We’re glad to have you on the Gold Team, Twilight! So, those crates over there are yours.” She pulls out a map, labeling a few points from her master map. “They are labeled. The top two go to Harry and his mate Barry. The next two go to Maugrim, Akela, and Raksha.”
“Oh?” Twilight glances down at the map, the latter three names somewhat deep in the Whitetail Woods. “I don’t recall those three.”
Amethyst Star draws close to Twilight, whispering, “They’re… they’re tundra wolves. The Winter Guard. Carnivores.” She nods to the boxes as Twilight’s face goes ashen. “I think you know what’s in those boxes. It’s okay if you decline, Twilight. Nopony will think less of you.” Her eyes flick to the cottage. “It’s just one more thing Fluttershy has to do.”
“N-no,” Twilight says, gulping. She tries to steel herself. “I’ll do it.”
Amethyst Star nods slowly. Her voice remains low. “If you need to use magic, Twilight, don’t hesitate. You’re worth more than a few traditions.”
“Okay? I hope it doesn’t come to that.” Twilight tries to smile as she walks up to the stack of boxes, the other ponies rushing in to talk to Amethyst Star. She catches a whiff of the contents. Definitely meat. Maybe fish, maybe something else. Preserved, obviously, and packaged, but the hint of it is there. A blocky and austere G&GG stamped on the boxes. Well, here goes.
Twilight can only lift two of the boxes at a time, so she merely takes Harry’s while Spike walks alongside her. “You doing okay?” Twilight asks, not many other ponies along the path leading towards the Everfree.
“S-sure!” Spike cautiously looks around, wishing he was one of the ponies digging out a burrow. “We don’t have to go into the Everfree Forest, do we?”
Twilight checks the map. “Fortunately, no. Harry lives on the edge, though.” She looks up. The Everfree Forest looms ahead of them, twisted and leafless branches reaching towards the sky. Snow doesn’t seem to settle on the sharp spires, instead covering the ground in a thin layer occasionally broken by tracks. Decidedly non-pony tracks. She spots the wooden house that blends into the woods mostly by the snow covering the top. And the complete dearth of hoofprints anywhere around it. Well, no time like the present?
Twilight’s hooves sink into the snow, the crate on her back weighing heavily on her. She reaches a hoof, pulling out the bell and ringing it. The metallic timber echoes among the trees, and Twilight could have sworn she hears something stirring. Not from the house in front of her, unfortunately, but something deeper inside the Everfree.
The smile on her face gets a little more forced as she tries ringing the bell again, a little quieter this time. When the other ponies were waking up the bunnies, it seemed like it worked the first time! How come it isn’t working now?
Maybe bears are just heavy sleepers? Twilight warily looks around the house, trying to spot any sign of the predators that wander the Everfree Forest. Seeing and hearing nothing, Twilight takes one hesitant step towards the door.
Then another.
“I’ll just wait back here,” Spike says, backing away from the house. “In case, you know, we need help.”
Twilight glares at her assistant before she returns a smile to her muzzle. She finally reaches the door, tentatively raising a hoof and knocking.
Long seconds pass, only a low grumbling coming from inside. Twilight looks over at Spike, the dragon shrugging in return. Twilight turns back to the door, raising her hoof to knock again.
The door swings out, leaving Twilight’s hoof hovering in midair as she stares up at a towering beast. His brown fur is askew, eyes furiously furrowed, massive bulk filling the doorway. He growls, a deep rumble that leaves Twilight shaking. Twin pony-snatching paws, flesh-rending claws glinting in the scattered sunlight, reach forward.
Twilight shrieks as she drops down, forelegs trying to shield her horn as she runs through her defensive options. Shield? Teleport? Levitate the bear? But she’d need to estimate his weight just right, or risk sending him straight into the roof of his house, and-
Except that her back feels much lighter, like half of a great weight was lifted off of her. She peeks through her forelegs as Harry turns back into his house, dropping one of the crates inside next to a second slumbering brown form. He turns back to Twilight, his growl sounding more sleepy and appreciative than aggressive. Twilight’s muzzle stretches to a smile as the claws reach towards her again, forcing herself to remain calm and still.
Twilight lets loose a sigh of relief as the second crate, and only the second crate, is ripped from her back. “Remember to wake Barry!” Twilight calls as Harry disappears into his house, a grunt in response before the door slams shut.
“Well, that went well!” Twilight happily exclaims, glancing around. “Spike?” Twilight sighs, grabbing the purple tail poking out of a snowbank with her mouth and dragging him out.
“Ahh! Twilight, help!!” Spike yells, his claws covering his eyes. He grunts as Twilight dumps him onto the ground, desperately looking around as the sky brightens, clouds above disappearing. “Oh! It’s just you!” Spike looks to Harry’s house, getting back up. “So, it went well?”
Twilight rolls her eyes. “Yes. But what happened to my assistant, ready to go get help if I was in trouble?”
“You were fine,” Spike retorts. “Plus, I can barely outrun a baby alligator. How would I have gotten away from a bear?”
“I don’t know, he was distracted eating me?” Twilight huffs as they return to Ponyville, loading the next two crates. “You know, if you are so scared, maybe you should stay here instead of coming with me for this next trip.”
“Okay!” Spike exclaims, scurrying off to who-knows-where.
Twilight sighs, consulting her map. It looks like the wolves live somewhat close to the path they take during the Running of the Leaves. It’s not too far a walk, but maybe she could use a cart. One acquired cart later, and Twilight is happily trotting through town, though most of the ponies give her and her cargo a wide berth.
The path through the Whitetail Woods is just as covered in snow as everywhere else. More so, actually, because ponies haven’t trod it down to the same extent as the roads closer to town. Only the sounds of her cart cutting twin lines through the snow competes with her labored breathing. Twilight nervously looks to the tops of the trees; the branches aren’t as clustered as the Everfree, but still enough to make flying a crate through difficult. And pegasi are pretty hotly demanded elsewhere; only (well, mostly) they can work the weather side of things, and if their interest lay in other spots they generally got their wish.
Twilight glances to her cart, then to the woods, then to the somewhat clear sky above as she gets close to the meetup spot. She wouldn’t be able to drag her cart through the underbrush, not easily. She undoes the harness, carefully maneuvering the crates to her back again, her hooves sinking into the unpacked snow. She takes a few laborious steps into the woods, gritting her teeth at how much effort it takes.
Only as the snow next to her shifts, twin tan eyes blinking once.