It was established that ponies were at the top of the food chain, they could provide for other animals in more civil ways. When Equestria's infrastructure shattered, so did the idea that some carnivores were friendly.
That let the one most prepared resident of the nation unleash his old colors and turn his back from the vegan diet he uptook for the satisfaction of ponykind and the sake of harmony.
Kacie knew some good survival methods already, of course he did he was training to follow his father's footsteps, but some of what he learned was only book knowledge. Who knew if he could do it all on his own without a teacher.
"And on the third day...God created the Snow and said it was the only thing the world ever needed," he sarcastically laughed as he trudged through Ponyville, coming to the giant crystal tree castle that Twilight called home, "wasn't here earlier in the morning, second day after this blizzard, let's try again."
He banged on the door, shivering in his blue jacket and jeans, "god...why didn't I at least get teleported into this land with some kind of sweats or better pants. Fucking freezing."
And that's when he felt the chill.
"Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception." - Carl Sagan
Not the chill of the cold or the wind that blew his body heat away. Not the snow seeping into his sneakers.
The chill that nobody would answer the door. The chill that told his mind what his body already knew.
Act or die.
And so he heaved the crystal doors open, as hard as he could, feeling warmer the moment he crossed through to the other side. With the wind chill out of the way, he could feel a bit better, but his fingers and toes were still numb just from the walk over here.
“Even though there’s no wind...the castle is still cold, why? Why hasn’t magic done anything?” Kacie waltzed further into the castle, “Twilight?! It’s the second day! Everypony already evacuated Ponyville and went to Canterlot!” He started shouting, “what the hell is happening?!”
No response, not in the forms he’d want.
“She’s gone, went to Canterlot,” a soft, rigid mare spoke up, an unwanted soothing tone in her voice, “before everypony evacuated out of Ponyville. We’re the only two still here, human.”
Kacie stopped in the middle of the foyer and looked around, seeing a beige coated and raspberry maned pony trot down from the railings, clad in a lot of fabrics, some even actually being winter clothes.
“She...left?”
“I took the last train I could when I heard the rumors that the princesses couldn’t fix this,” she met him, having descended fully, “all my flowers died, all of them, even the hardiest in the cold. I’m sure you know the horror of seeing your life’s work vanish.”
Kacie could feel the need for sympathy, “listen, we’ll make it out of this just fine. I know some deaths have been reported, but-.”
“All cities were frozen over by last night,” she interrupted him, “and it’s just a matter of time before things erupt in Canterlot. We have only food stockpiles! We’re all going to starve!” She yelled, a little in desperation and a little in hope that something would hear her and take pity.
“My dad was a ranger,” Kacie fired off back, plainly without hesitation.
“Huh? What does-.”
“My dad. Was. A. Forest. Ranger. I can do this, I can make it through this Winter or whatever this is, nature doesn’t just stop like this,” he was stern now, “I can make it through this.”
“Well, that’s nice. The alien’s confident in himself. Can’t you find somewhere else to hole up until you starve?” Cynicism was a good sign that somebody was hiding something.
He sighed out, “I’m gonna make a shelter out here, too. There’s plenty enough room and you won’t even notice me around. I’ll be spending a lot of time cooped in a room or outside gathering supplies.”
“Supplies? What is there to gather?”
“I still don’t know your name,” he offered a more civil conversation.
“Roseluck.”
“Kacie, but call me K. People only use my full name when they’re angry at whatever mess they got themselves into,” he didn’t ask, he took the mare’s hoof and shook it himself, “I’m gonna go find something to wear to get warm,” and he marched past her and up the steps.
“What...what do you plan to do?”
“Survive.”
Kacie had gone in and out of countless rooms, turns out ponies did wear sock and while loose, they did fit a good potion of his legs. Two pairs went on under his sneakers, reaching almost to his groin. He did take some scarves and beanies, wraping his neck and face thoroughly and pulling two beanies over the scarves to ensure they held in place. Now, he had taken a guest suite, containing its own fireplace inside of the giant castle. He sat down with many more scarves and a lot of sowing supplies along with some blankets.
“There you are!” Roseluck trotted in through the open door, now having saddlebags atop her back, “had to search all over for you.”
“Roseluck,” he addressed her, arranging scarves into different positions, trying to plan something out.
“You have zero sense of color or taste,” she opened her saddlebag with her mouth and fetched out a couple water bottles, throwing them next to Kacie along with a bunch of fresh vegetables.
Kind of fresh vegetables, it would only be a matter of time before these disappeared altogether regardless if they were sitting frozen in some home or not. Real wildlife would get to them eventually.
“Hey...thanks,” he looked up to her.
“Sorry for being so...mean when you first came in here. I know I had an opinion of you when you first got to Equestria, but seeing as we’re the only two in Ponyville....I should be a bit nicer.”
Kacie drank a bit greedily before he took a huge bite out of a head of lettuce, talking with food still grinding in his teeth, “Roseluck, I need to be honest with you...have you seen the wolves and deer...bears, birds, and maybe more wildlife that’s been coming closer and closer to town?”
She nodded her head, “something happening to them?”
“No, they’re reacting to all this. You ponies were caretakers of them for the longest time, now you can’t even keep your own populace handled. They’re returning to baser instinct, they’ll be eating any fruits, veggies, and kind of food they can find in Ponyville.”
“But-,”
“It gets worse. Those wolves and bears, they might even make a go for you or me if they get desperate enough.”
“How can you be so sure?” Roseluck laid near him as he kept eating and sowing proper winter clothing out of the scarves he collected to work with.
“When everything is on the line and survival becomes paramount, everything returns to its baser instinct. That can include us. So uh...remember that. I had a request for you,” Kacie started.
“What...what is it? Don’t try to get too cozy with me.”
“I want you to go out into town, gather as much produce as you can and bring it back, keep it in the coldest most secure room you can find in the castle, bag all of it separately in portions. The quicker you can do this, the less risks you take and the higher chance of surviving we have.”
“You really are demanding, I’m trying to work with you and you’re just being bossy,” Roseluck turned her nose up at him.
“I’m trying to save your life and give you valuable information and instructions. I’ll...I’ll leave almost all the produce to you, my species is omnivorous, so...I’ll be out hunting whatever I can or fishing if that’s even possible still,” Kacie sighed, “and while I’m out doing that stuff, I’ll come back with firewood so we don’t freeze and we can cook things so it’s safe to eat them.”
Roseluck nodded, “I...I’ll be back, Kacie.”
“Call me K.”