//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: A Cold Desert // Story: Wind Chill's Hearth's Warming // by Nebula Star //------------------------------// Wind Chill’s Hearth’s Warming By: Nebula Star Chapter 1: A Cold Desert *** “Seven bits.” Wind Chill gaped at the produce salespony. “You just sold a dozen apples to the last customer for four bits!” She objected. The stallion just continued glaring back at her; she could feel the hatred pouring off of him, like waves of cold air. “Seven bits.” Wind Chill clenched her teeth, glaring back for a moment, but she knew all too well it was futile. “Fine.” She growled tossing the bits on the counter and taking the bag in her magic. With a huff, she turned and continued on her way through the marketplace. All around her she could hear the hushed voices that always seemed to follow her. The whispers and disdainful looks. She tried not to notice; keeping her eyes down, plodding along, and trying not to call attention to herself. Just a few more things, she thought to herself. Just need to get a few more things and I can go home… She sighed; it was always like this in the market. They saw her horn, her icy white coat and her silver and pale blue mane and they knew exactly who she was… what she was. Never mind that the war had been before she was even born; that she’d been born right here in Dodge and lived here her entire life. She was one of them, an ice unicorn, and that was all that mattered. That was why she always hated running errands. If she had her way, she would simply avoid Dodge City and stay at her family’s home. Out on the edge of town, surrounded by orchards and farm land, well away from the rest of the community. But with her father on duty and her mother busy maintaining their garden; it usually fell to Wind Chill to run the errands in town. At seventeen, she was more than capable, but she didn’t enjoy it. Pulling out her list with a sparkling of magic, she looked to see what else she still had to get. It wasn’t much really, but it would still take her a while longer before she could finally go home. Taking a deep bracing breath, she started toward the next stall. Wincing, Wind Chill rubbed the base of her horn. She could feel a headache coming on. That was never a good sign. At least she was done with her errands and could finally head home… once she’d relieved the pressure. “Hey there Kiddo!” Despite everything, a smile broke across her face as she turned toward the voice. An orange and gold pegasus stallion wearing the armor of the day guard stood there smiling back. “Hey dad!” She said tiredly stepping forward to give him a hug. Blazewing returned the hug wrapping his wings around her. “You getting those errands done?” She sighed. “Yeah. I was just about to head back...” she said tiredly. He tilted his head looking at her curiously, catching her tone. “Something wrong?” She shook her head. “No, it’s just… my magic is getting too strong again. I have to go release it.” He frowned thoughtfully; he knew all too well what caused Wind Chill’s magic to grow stronger; and what it meant if it was so strong that it was causing her trouble. “Alright, well you take care of that… If I get home before you, I’ll let your mom know where you are.” Wind Chill smiled sadly. “It shouldn’t take that long.” ~~~ Snowfall in Dodge was almost unheard of; at least it was until Wind Chill’s magic came in. Even then, it was never very widespread, and only a select few knew that it ever happened at all. But every week or so, in a small ravine beyond the eastern edge of the city, snow would fill the air, just as it did now. It was just a small swirling cloud, that didn’t even reach above the edge of the ravine, but it was steady; a constant gentle snowfall that had already coated the ground in a layer of white. And there, in the center, lay Wind Chill. She was sprawled out on her back, staring up at the sky as the falling snow slowly buried her, her horn glowing softly as she released her magic in a slow, carefully controlled stream. Ever since her magic had come in when she was eight, she’d had to do this whenever her magic grew too strong. If she didn’t, she’d risk losing control. Something she hoped would never happen again. She could still remember the looks of terror in her classmate’s eyes the first time it had happened. Nopony had been hurt, fortunately, but the damage was done. All the progress her parents had made, any hope of their family ever truly being accepted into the community, had been swept away in an instant. She’d spent all her years in school as an outcast, feared by the other students; a fear that had slowly transformed into hate. Hate that had then spread through their families and neighbors until nearly the entire town had turned against her and her mother. She sighed… By the time she’d finished her primary school she’d been done. She’d had no desire whatsoever to continue to higher education. She just lived at home these days; helping her mom run their little farm while her father was on duty with the guard. She didn’t care to spend time where she wasn’t wanted. Land of friendship… yeah right, Windchill thought bitterly. More like land of prejudice. It was hard to think of the ponies of Dodge positively when she could literally feel their hatred whenever they saw her. That was what fueled her magic; why its power grew and grew until she could no longer contain it. It was fed by the hatred. Fortunately, her own emotions didn’t feed it or she’d never get a moment’s rest. Hatred breeds hatred after all; and one can only be the subject of petty slights and angry glares for so long before they too began to feel anger in turn. With another sigh, Windchill decided that she’d expelled enough magic for now and cut off the flow from her horn. “Hello!” “AAAH!” She let out a startled shriek as a dark and befanged face appeared up-side-down mere inches from her own. She kicked her hooves only to find she’d let herself get more buried in the snow than she’d thought and the motion resulted in an explosion of white that momentarily blinded her. With a jolt of adrenaline running through her, it took her a moment to recognize it was a young colt and not a monster standing above her. Sitting up, she put a hoof to her chest as she tried to get her breathing back under control. Unperturbed by her shout and the snow she’d kicked up, the young colt fluttered up above her on bat wings looking around as the last few white flakes fell around them. “Are you the one making it snow!?” “Yes.” She breathed. Just a nocturne colt… not a monster, just a nocturne. He smiled at her seemingly unaware of how badly he’d startled her. “That’s so awesome! I saw snow once, when my mom took me to Canterlot! But it never snows here! You can make it snow whenever you want?” “Uh… yeah.” Wind Chill said a little unsure how to react. She couldn’t feel even the slightest bit of hatred from the colt. In fact, she couldn’t feel any negative emotions from him at all. He seemed genuinely thrilled by her magic. It was… nice. But it couldn’t last. “Aren’t you cold?” He asked, seemingly just noticing that she was still covered in a large amount of snow that wasn’t melting. “No…” she answered automatically, then shook her head. “Listen, kid; your parents wouldn’t want you talking to me. So you should probably just go.” He landed and looked up at her confused. “Why not?” “Because I’m an ice unicorn.” His eyes widened with recognition. “Are you Wind Chill!?” She sighed heavily. “Yeah, so you see; your parents wouldn’t want you talking to me… So you should just go.” “Nuh uh! My mom says you’re nice!” “…What?” “But she says ponies treat you bad just because of what you are…” He went on, sympathy filling his voice. She stared at him stunned. “Really?” He nodded. “Yeah, my mom’s friends with your mom; but she doesn’t see her that often ‘cause my mom sleeps during the day.” “Who’s your mom?” Wind Chill asked. “My mom’s name is Whisper Song.” “Oh, the night guard.” Wind Chill said recognizing the name. Whisper Song had been friends with Wind Chill’s mother since she was born, and her father even longer. Though they rarely saw each other these days, the night guard mare had helped her family a lot early on. Wind Chill remembered her well from her early years. And now that she thought about it, she did remember Whisper Song having a foal, but she hadn’t seen him since he was only a year or two old. He nodded. “That’s right. My name’s Maestro.” Wind Chill smiled; the little colt’s upbeat attitude was refreshing after her time in town. “Well, I’m pleased to meet you Maestro.” “Me too!” He said returning her smile. “So why were you making it snow?” “I have to. My magic is a little different. It just builds up more and more each day, and ever so often I have to release it or I might lose control,” she explained, leaving out what made her magic build up. She didn’t need to burden this little colt with such heavy thoughts. “Huh… well I think it’s Awesome!” He said galloping around kicking up the snow. Wind Chill couldn’t help smiling at the little colt’s enthusiasm. A smile that became a grin as a mischievous idea came to her. “You really like the snow, huh?” “Yeah.” He said looking back at her with a grin just before a snowball impacted his muzzle. He blinked, in shock as the snow began melting and dripping down his face. Wind Chill just whistled, feigning innocence. He stared at her a moment and slowly a huge smile spread across his muzzle. “You’re gunna get it now!” He said and scooped up a bit of snow. Wind Chill laughed and following half hour was a one-on-one battle for the ages. With the exception of the few minutes that Wind Chill took to show Maestro how to pack a snowball properly, it was a constant barrage of icy fun. Eventually though, the summer heat began to take back the ravine. Before long the snow was becoming heavy and wet. Soon, their coats followed suit, and while it didn’t bother Wind Chill, she didn’t want the little colt to get sick from the cold, or get too messy from the slushy snow that would soon be mud. “Aaah!” She flopped over dramatically after getting hit in the side by one last slushy snowball. “No more, I yield!” Laughing Maestro galloped over. “Ha ha! The nightguard reigns supreme!” He shouted triumphantly, posing with his little bat wings spread wide, and one forehoof raised. Wind Chill giggled. “This has been a lot of fun, Maestro, but I think we better call it here before this place becomes a mud hole.” He looked around a little disappointed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Wind Chill smiled reassuringly and turned to retrieve her saddlebags, that she’d set aside before releasing her magic. Being chilled as it was, the contents would still be fine for a while, but she should still be getting them home. “So why were you out here, anyway?” She asked as she levitated her bags in place across her back. “Oh, I like to fly around a bit after school, before I head home.” She looked at him in surprise. “Wouldn’t your parents be worried if you don’t come home right away?” He looked down. “Well, my dad’s still at work, and my mom is usually still asleep until later.” “Kind of quite at home, huh?” Wind Chill asked with an understanding smile. She was fortunate enough to always have at least her mom around, but she’d still experienced enough isolation in other ways to get what the colt was feeling. He nodded. “I know mom works at night and needs her sleep.” “But it’s lonely, huh.” “Yeah.” Wind Chill stepped up next to him and put a foreleg around him in a brief hug. “Tell you what, I need to drop this stuff off at my place. Why don’t you come with; you can say hi to my mom, then I’ll walk you home. Maybe your mom will be awake by then.” He looked up at her and smiled. “Okay. I haven’t seen Mrs. Blossom in a while.” “I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.” Wind Chill told him, then let go and gestured for him to follow. “Come on.” Wind Chill set a leisurely pace as they started toward her family’s home. “Sorry I didn’t recognize you. I think the last time I saw you; you were only about yay high.” She briefly held a hoof up barely at the height of her barrel. “It’s okay, I don’t even remember meeting you before,” he told her cheerfully. “Well, I think you were only two. Our families should probably try a bit more to keep in touch.” “I guess so. Do you think you can make it snow again sometime!?” She laughed. “I told you, I have to, in order to keep my magic in check.” “Could we have another snowball fight!?” “We’ll see.”