//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Returning Shivers // Story: Winter's Howl // by 71NYL-5CR4TCH //------------------------------// Winter’s Howl Chapter 18: Returning Shivers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Snowstorm clumsily made pancakes on his miniature stove, struggling to flip the iron pans with his hooves. “How do other ponies make these damn things?” He said through a spatula in his mouth. “Ask Pinkie or the Cakes,” A voice replied from elsewhere in the home, “it sounds like they’re better at it then you are…” Rainbow entered the still barren den from Snowstorm’s bedroom, ”and looks like it to. You’re making a gigantic mess…” “I wanted to make us breakfast…” Snowstorm replied, walking into the den with a plate a crumbly, malformed pancakes. “You should have let me make them, Celestia knows you earned it…” Rainbow gave a wink. “Heh, thanks.” Snowstorm set the plate down on a large rug in the center of the room and sat on his haunches. “Seriously? You don’t even have a table yet?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Just moved in, remember? Plus I spent most of the money I was going to use on furniture on food and a certain little brat’s new toys.” “Aww, you bought me toys?” Rainbow asked sarcastically, before sitting on the rug herself, “Seriously, where did you get this hideous rug? The dumpster?” “I thought it really brought the room together…” Snowstorm replied. “Eh, I guess it’s better than nothing,” Rainbow shoveled an entire misshapen pancake into her mouth, “wow, these might not be easy on the eyes but they’re good!” “Thanks, the recipe is my mom’s, I just suck at flipping them.” Snowstorm took a bite of the golden cakes himself. “I can tell…hey, what’s the weather like today? Easy?” Rainbow asked between mouthfuls. “Well it’s nice out, but it’s our job to make it nasty.” “You seem to be pretty good at making that happen.” Snowstorm squinted, “not sure if talking about my special talent…or last night. Either way, we’re not whipping up a snowstorm, just rain. Not a thunderstorm or anything major, just a casual drizzle.” “Seems easy enough. Have the clouds arrived from Cloudsdale yet?” Rainbow asked, now finished with her pancakes and downing a glass of orange juice. “Nope, natural front. Coming in from the mountains, in about an hour.” “Well I guess that means we can skip a shower.” Rainbow looked somewhat disappointed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Snowstorm broke the grey cloud cover from above, and grabbed the last of the few remaining stray clouds, shoving it into the hole his body had just created. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, panting. “*whew* all done,” He said aloud. Now, drifting over Ponyville was a steady, dreary, early winter drizzle. The grey of the sky mixed with the lifelessness of the grass and trees below. It was a rather muck day they had been put in charge of making, but sometimes days like those were necessary. He gave a sigh as he looked around at the colorless landscape before him. All of the town’s ponies had stayed within their homes, hunkering down for the bleak day ahead. Even the town square remained motionless, the streetlamps put out by the lazy Sunday rain. Rainbow flew to Snowstorm from another corner of the sky. Her mane was soaked with rain, and laid flat from its added weight. The water caused the normally separated colors of her mane to blend together now, creating a gradual spectrum of all colors, instead of her usual six. Snowstorm smiled, She looks especially hot with a wet mane he sthought. As Rainbow approached him, she smiled. “I’m cold, wet and lonely sir, won’t you please take me home?” Rainbow gave a terrible Trottingham accent and pouted her lips. Snowstorm laughed, “very well, let’s get you nice and warm by a fire.” Snowstorm and Rainbow entered his home, still dripping wet. “It’s a good thing you got hardwood floors, It’ll make this much easier to clean…” Rainbow said, sliding across the room. “I didn’t even think about that, but yeah, I guess you’re right. I think there’s some firewood in the back, let me go get it.” Snowstorm trotted out the back door of his home and approached a large pile of wooden logs, covered by an old blue tarp. It was covered with tears and cobwebs, along with some spots of faded color. Celestia this thing is hideous he thought. Rainbow followed behind him, approaching the wood pile. “Anyway I can help?” Rainbow asked. “Sure, help me get this tarp off,” Snowstorm replied, reaching down and grabbing a corner of the tarp with his teeth. Rainbow did the same, and the pair gave a firm yank to the cover. When it came free, Rainbow didn’t notice anything at first. The n she felt the tingling sensation of small legs running up and down her body. She looked down to see dozens of brown spiders, scurrying across her body. “SPIDERS!!! OH SWEET CELESTIA SPIDERS!!!” Rainbow screamed, dropping the tarp and running erratically around the wood pile. Snowstorm looked down and casually brushed the spider’s off his coat, only to see Rainbow having a fit. “Rainbow, just calm down and sweep ‘em off, they can’t even bite through your coat!” Snowstorm continued to watch as Rainbow simply ran in circles, her eyes shut tight, convulsing wildly. Finally, her blind run came to an end with a dull *smack* as her head collided with the side of the home, and she fell unconscious. When Rainbow came to, the first of her senses to return was her smell. She felt the gentle odor of burning firewood and hot cocoa drifting through the room, swirling together in a flawless blend. But there was something else, a bit more distant and faint, but it was there, oh yes. Freshly baked gingerbread cookies. The next of her senses to return was her hearing. The gentle sounds of a crackling fire and soft hums tickled her ears, beginning to bring her closer to reality. Finally, she cracked open her eyes to see a small fire, dancing elegantly in the home’s hearth. In front of her were two steaming mugs of hot cocoa, sitting on the rug. Rainbow sat up, confused. She was…oddly comfortable for sleeping on the ground. She looked around and noticed she was lying in a small bed, covered in extreme sports prints. She turned to see snowstorm, entering the room with a plate of gingerbread cookies of various shapes and sizes. “Oh, good, your awake. How’s your head? It didn’t look too bad when I picked you up.” Rainbow rubbed her head, a dull throbbing still pulsed, “it’s alright…I’ll be fine…what, uh, what happened?” “Hm?” Snowstorm asked as he sipped his cocoa, “you mean you don’t remember?” “Well, I remember us going to go get some firewood, and then we pulled the top off and…” Rainbow shuddered, “spiders…” Snowstorm coughed, “yes, well, when you got a few spiders on you, you began to run and scream like a loon until you managed to run yourself into the wall outside.” Rainbow frantically threw off the bed covers and examined her body. “Relax, I brushed them off you before I took you in, you’re fine.” Snowstorm gave an amused chuckle. “Um…I think I need to take a shower…” Rainbow looked slightly embarrassed. “A really long shower…” Snowstorm pointed towards his bathroom, “take your time…” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow returned, two hours later, now cleaned and calm. She sat next to Snowstorm on the floor and stared into the still burning fire. Snowstorm extended a hoof and invited Rainbow to snuggle up next to him and share his blanket. Rainbow scootched closer to Snowstorm, cuddling up next to him in front of the fire. She sipped on her still hot cocoa and bit into a fresh gingerbread colt, giving the illusion of decapitating him. “You still do that? Decapitate your gingerbread colts?” Snowstorm asked with a chuckle. “Well I hate to see them suffer…” Rainbow replied with a giggle before kissing Snowstorm in front of the gentle blaze. Three staccato knocks came from the front door, causing Snowstorm to break the kiss and give a questioning look to the front door. “Who could that be? Mom and Sea Mist aren’t supposed to be here until morning…” Snowstorm approached the door. “I swear, if your parents cheat me out of ANOTHER night I am going to-“ “Hush. I need to see who this is, it could be important.” Snowstorm reached the door and gently turned the knob with his hoof. Before him stood a tall stallion pegasus, dirty, disheveled, and presumably poor. Beneath the clumps of mud, dirt, and some garbage lay a pale orange coat, torn, cut, and missing large spots of hair. His mane was a black rats nest, oily, messy and completely unkempt. It was kept flat against his head by an old, off green sock hat, which was also torn in several places. His purple eyes were glassy, and a large scar adorned the left side of his face, made especially noticeable by the stubble growing around the scar tissue. Snowstorm raised an eyebrow at the pitiful stallion before him, “I’m sorry can I help you sir? I don’t believe we’ve met…” The stallion gave a dry laugh before turning to a phlegm coated cough, “What’s the matter Snowstorm…” He gave another sickly cough before sporting a sinister grin, “Don’t you recognize your old man?”