Survivalist's Failure
"Are we there yet?" Rainbow complained for the umpteenth time. Her hooves crunching in the ankel deep snow with every step on the trail.
"NO!" Yelled Twilight for the hundredth time, all patience lost for her friends constant wining.. "How many times do we have to go over this?"
Mac groaned, here we go again.
The few days spent walking away from the first compound had been the worst few days of his life. Thankfully, their guide had far more extensive knowledge of wilderness ingenuity that had astounded still. Sin managed to carry all manner of equipment on him, including a weather resistant tarp that when constructed into a half roof hut near a fire, would insulate the area to the point where the constant freezing temperatures held little consequence.
Though, he had always made it with at least two hours of daylight left, and the sun would be setting soon, he didn't stop to make camp. Instead, the freedom loving pony just trotted ahead of the group, keeping to himself as he mainly did.
Rainbow Dash exhaled a sigh of frustration, the thick steam of her breath indicative of the freezing temperatures she had only fared in at extremely high altitudes. They group had been walking in the skeletal, frost ridden forest for the past half day, the sun's decent was almost complete and with it, the temperature dropped even further. "You know Twi'? I'm starting to get real sick of your bossy attitude."
"I'm sorry." Twilight quipped sarcastically, narrowing her eyes. "If it weren't for a certain pegasus whining every five minutes, I don't think I would need to be such a pain in the-"
"Alrigh' that's enough!" Applejack interrupted, walking in between the two mares. "Rainbow, I'd expect this kinda behavior from you, but Twiligh' Sparkle. I am honestly surprised."
"Stay out of it Applejack, you're just as bad as she is." Rainbow accused waving a dismissive hoof.
"Beg pardon?"
"You're. Just. As. Bad." The pegasus emphasized every word. "Do you know how bad you get with the cooking? It's like Mac and Sin are dealing with Chef Ramneighies." (Bad pun, now RAGE!)
Oh no, they brought him into it.
"Well, at least I can keep mah mouth shut fer more than five minutes..." Mac let out an aggravated sigh as the three mares stopped walking to argue with one another. Each pointing out specific flaws about the others, all actual constructive arguments cast out in favor of each just trying to hurt the others feelings at this point. They kept arguing in circles, making the same "points" over and over again. Pinkie tried to jump in and quell the harsh words, though one mention of how she hadn't done anything at all discouraged her from saying anything further. Electing instead to simply sit alone and sulk, ever since she'd run out of sugary treats to snack on, the typically hyperactive and party driven pink pony had mellowed considerably. Not to the point of depression, but still uncomfortably calm to say the least.
After a few minutes of his migraine growing, the last slivers of patients finally gave in. "WILL Y'ALL SHUT THE BUCK UP!?" Mac hollered,. "Fo' Celestia's sake, Ah knew y'all could act like a bunch a' fillies, but you have to choose right now to do it? In the middle of the freezin' cold forest? What would Granny Smith, the Wonderbolts, and Celestia say?" He asked looking at each pony respectively to their mentioned idols. He knew it was a low blow, but his calm and stoic nature could only tolerate so much.
Mac's nostrils flared with the fums he was exhaling, a mix of pride an guilt ran through him as he observed the less than innocent looks the mares gave him. He felt a gentle presence on his shoulder and looked back with an expression of pure distaste.
Sin nodded, easing the stallions anger with a wordless shake of the head, and motioned for them to continue forward. Mac could hear the three of them behind him, still bickering in harsh whispers, at least the majority of the arguing has passed. He had to fight the temptation to turn around and yell at them again, but then he'd be no better than any of them if he kept on yelling himself.
"Ace." Sin called, the sun dipping down beyond the horizon. The golden pony looked upon the survivalist with tired eyes. "In the mountain, was there any mention of a cave or crevice we could seek shelter in?"
"I um... uh." Ace fumbled over his words, the exhaustion in his face the clear culprit of the typical smooth and witty ponies words turning sluggish and incoherent. "Not recalling anything."
Sin looked the sluggish pony once over than turned his attention to the others to find that most weren't in much better shape. Mac was gasping for air from the extended travel time, the oxygen just didn't feel as satisfying in his lungs as it used to... Sin apparently failed to mention the fact that the passage they were taking would cause him to venture to a higher altitude.
After the pony shook his head and outed a sigh, he looked forward to the approaching elevation of terrain and informed the troop it would not be much longer until they could rest again. The revelation sparked a new hope and energy within the travel ridden ponies and they began to trot a little faster to the mountain incline.
Mac collapsed onto the forest floor, the cold ground meeting his bare stomach. The walk to the incline had been longer than he had originally thought. The cold and lack of actual rest had been getting to everyone. What with Twilight and Rainbow at each others throats and his sister failing to play moderator. He typically didn't believe in emotional exhaustion affecting physical well being, but the extent of tiredness he felt wasn't just from the constant marching in the frozen snow. It took a lot more energy than he thought to hold himself back from screaming for his friends to be silent.
"We should-" Sin panted. "set up camp here."
Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief before following Mac's lead. Tired, hungry, and cold had to be the worst combination in the history of all thing born to evil. The only two who began to preform their duties were Sin and Shade, each looking just as worn as the rest. It wasn't long before a attempts at a fire were made. Spikes green flames made quick work of a small pile of grass and twigs, engulfing the kindle into a soothing dance of yellow and orange. Though with out the reverberation of the shelter, the heat source hadn't given the heat it once offered before.
Mac added more twigs and started to poke the fire some more, his thoughts began to drift; as they often did when tending flame. He thought about if coming here was the right idea, even if the girls weren't among them, would he have chosen to come should the option be given to him again? Failing to stop for camp before and continuing until dusk hadn't been Sin's brightest of ideas; and now everypony would suffer for it until he made it up.
The three days in S. New Equine had been far more taxing than the six months in Equestria by far, at least in Equestria they could seek refuge in one of the towns inns. All that lay out here was the frozen cold, questionable meal intake, and the constant fear of being spotted by the locals and having them do Celestia knows what.
After a few minutes of allowing himself rest, Mac tried to raise the poker and assort the wood so it would give off more heat for the meal to come. Trouble was, his body didn't feel like following his brains command. His eyes widened at the numbness his nerves were beginning to endure, he wanted to move, he wanted to set up the rig for food preparation and water purification, but; the cold had numbed his form to the point sleep was of a higher prerogative than eat or drink.
"Damn it." He heard Sin seethe, the red stallion looked over to see the pony dig his hoof into the ground and shake his head. He called out each of the mares names, trying to gain their attention; though to no avail. "I should have known they wouldn't be able to handle this." He then looked to Mac who gave a dazed reply. "I need your help."
Mac attempted to stand, his body however, had other ideas. The freezing temperature had weakened his joints and heaved his eyes. What he had meant to be simple 'on his hooves' turned more into an 'on a knee and yea screw this'. He fell back to the ground, the cold earth beneath him no longer burning his hooves or hair. Only a deep longing for unconsciousness. "Mac!" Sin coughed. "You need to help me get them into a pile."
Mac found the idea even more arduous than a few seconds ago. No, no sleep is what he needed to do now. Mac felt his eyelids heavy, the sounds of creaking trees and crunching leaves muting. His vision tunneled, darkness consumed around everything. So tired... So sleepy. A sharp pain on his cheek brought him back to consciousness, what? What just happened?
"Mac," Sin called sternly. "I need your help. The fire isn't enough, if we don't get them into a pile, they will die. Your sister and her friends will freeze to death." Mac's eyes widened, his sister would die? Not on his watch they wouldn't, none of them would. The apple colored earth pony used every last bit of will power he had to get to his hooves and even more to stretch a little bit of feeling back into his limbs. He first nudged Pinkie Pie closer to Twilight, his strength only a fraction of what it usually was made just moving the mare one inch an Olympic sport. "Shade, C'mon." Sin called making his way to Rainbow.
"No."
Sin began pushing the unconcious Rainbow Dash to the others but froze upon processing what he had just heard. "What? Why?"
"Because I told you this would happen." Shade shook his head. "I warned you that you'd stick your neck out for them at the first sign of trouble, and you didn't disappoint. What happened to that individualist crap you were talking before huh?"
Sin abandon the speedster and wondered over to his chaotic associate. "You're really doing this? You're really being that guy right now."
"You're damn right. Look at these kids-"
"That's just it." Sin deadpanned. "They're kids, they didn't know what they were getting into."
"Oh so now ignorance is an excuse?" Shade shook his head and laughed. "You know Sin, if you're going to preach something, you're supposed to practice it. That's the saying right?" Mac looked on as the two debated Sin's philosophies. Unbelievable, Mac looked to Spike and Ace for help, but those two were just as useless as the mares were at this point. Not to mention the frozen ground the girls would be laying on would make them freeze if they lay long enough.'Come on Mac, If you don't get them together they will probably get hypothermia. Forget those two, the work load has been doubled with the addition of Spike and Ace, you don't have time for him.' He finished rolling the pink mare next to Twilight and saw that her cloak was spread out on the ground.
A moment of brilliance struck him, he rolled Twilight over as well and spaced herself and the party mare just so, he watched as their bodies began to shiver more violently than before. He had to work quickly. Applejack was next, he limped over to his sister and strained his body to push the mare next to Twilight. Three down, three to go.
"Enough!" Barked Sin almost coughing up a lung. "I've had it with you. Mac has already done half the work in my time arguing. If you don't want to help, fine." He made way back to Rainbow Dash and proceeded to move the mare into place. Mac felt a great deal of relief now that he had some help. Shade growled before flaring his wings and taking off the ground... all of about two feet before collapsing back down again. He hissed in pain and inspected his right foreleg. Mac let out a frustrated growl, if it wasn't one bucking thing, it was another.
"We'll deal with him later Mac, we gotta help the girls first."
The two ponies had place it just so they could wrap the four mares, single pegasus stallion and dragon up, using the cloaks to shield them from all sides as one giant blanket. The body heat of each would also help with the insulation of the cloaks. "Alright Mac." SIn said panting throwing over the tarp for good measure, "you get in there as well. Make sure that you all keep warm for the night." Sin coughed out after his last words. "Keep warm, and don't let any of them roll away from each other." Mac smiled happily and snuggled in between Twilight and Pinkie, the warmth of their bodies already soothing the constant trembling.
"is it warm enough?" Sin asked coughing again. The consistent harshness of each hack had become a concern to Macintosh. He offered Sin a place right beside he and Pinkie though he declined.
"Wha' abou' you two?"
Sin smirked, his mouth trembling from the cold. "Please, if this were enough to do me in; I'd have no right to call myself the student of survivalist expert: Tyken. Besides, someone needs to keep Shade alive." He paused for a moment, his features changing from confident to disheartened. "And I'm sorry, I should have set up camp sooner."
Mac eyed the woeful survivalist for a moment, than to the shivering angry night pegasus-ical. "Screw you and your: warm, toasty, cozy, well insulated, warm pile of ponies!" He spat then looked down at his injured appendage. "With out any broken legs!" Mac couldn't do much other than chuckle at his friends anger, and it didn't sit well that the two weren't going to join him but he was too tired to fight it. He lay his head down onto the nice cloth of his cloak and the sweet embrace of unconsciousness had found him and satisfied his desperate need for rest.
Mac smiled in his sleep. "mmmm, Twilight" he chuckled and tilted his head. "Mmmm just how I like it." The soft nuzzling of his neck slowly but surly awoke him from his rather, sensual dream. As he was about to open his eyes to greet the cold air assaulting them, his legs found that there was a body laying on top of him. His eyes shot wide, the dream... the effects it would have on his body and... uh oh. The very mare he was dreaming about lay in his hooves, right against his hormone driven form. He was a bit confused, he wanted this, he was dreaming of it; so why did it feel wrong again?
He looked around to the group of ponies that made up the pile, most asleep, others not so much. To his surprise, Rainbow wasn't giggling like a school filly at his compromising predicament. Instead her irritated gaze shifted between himself and a very smug looking Pinkie Pie. "Wha?" Mac finally croaked, the awkwardness of the whole situation finally getting to him.
"Fine." Rainbow moaned throwing two bits at Pinkie, who caught them gleefully. "You win."
Mac could only stare up in unknowing awe. Was... Was that a bet? Did they just make a bet on me? Well what made Rainbow lose? So many questions began swimming around, Twilight snuggled closer. "Hmmm, Mac." She moaned happily nuzzling his neck. Pinkie's smirk grew while Rainbow's look of disbelief exacerbated.
"Oh come on!" Rainbow exclaimed throwing another two bits at the party mare. "I can't believe you were right about both of them!" She pouted before looking to a still sleeping Ace and Applejack. Her pout disappeared in favor of a smirk. "Double or nothin'." She eyed her party loving friend who giggled happily.
"Oh silly, he doesn't play for the other team. I know from personal experience." Rainbow's smirk left as quickly as it came, she asked if the two had actually had intercourse. "Nope. He just asked me if I had a colt friend back home, when I told him I didn't he asked if we could, but I turned him down."
"Why?"
Pinkie grew a sadistic grin. "Let's just say I don't need any distractions." She rubbed her hooves together maniacally. Mac rolled his eyes at the display of failed gamblings, a faint rustling of the mare hugging his chest gained his attention, his eyes turned to pin pricks when he saw that Twilight was in fact waking up. She looked so adorable with bed head.
After a gentle yawn, she looked down to the crimson pillow she was using and slowly followed it up to the stallion glancing down at her. They both laid there with blank stares, lavender eyes meeting apple greens. It was almost like they were looking at each other for the first time.
_________
Pause
_________
"No, no you are not doing this!" Pinkie Pie yelled. "There are too many 'TwiMac' er 'Macinlight' or whatever out there already. Seriously? No. I mean don't get me wrong, I like that there's finally some kind of romance. But don't you think this ship is dead?"
"..."
"Yea?"
"..."
"I see. And what exactly makes you think you can make this kind of love story 'original'? No and don't give me that 'well the story isn't exactly like most others' horseapples either. Everypony knows that this story is just your-" A zipper clamped her mouth shut, she shook it off. "-opic view of the world. Well Mister I'm here to tell you that I will not stand for it, and I will expose you for the fraud you are! I mean look at it, this fourth wall break could have been done a lot better. I'm hardly even Canon!"
"..."
"You wouldn't..."
"..."
"And make us have a foal? That just plain mean and nasty."
"..."
"Fine."
"..."
________
Replay
________
Twilight coughed awkwardly and slowly retracted her self. "Sorry about that." They both blushed deeply. Mac reluctantly allowed her away, strange, isn't a dream come true supposed to be a good thing? To his relief she hadn't noticed his "excitement" or was simply too embarrassed to say anything about it. He heard the two mare's snickering behind him. "Did you two put us like that?" Twilight accused.
"Nope, just Dashie." Pinkie chirped happily, earning a glare from her cyan friend.
"Snitch." She mumbled before she gave a sheepish grin to the two ponies glaring at her. "What?" She chuckled nervously, "it's not like I made you two do anything you didn't wanna do already." her nervous smirk turned knowing.
"Tha- that's not the point, Rainbow!" Twilight stuttered, her pinked face turning even darker. Mac was still shocked over the ordeal, he held a mare while he slept - one who wanted him no less. His anger to Rainbow became a mixed feeling, he'd hugged plenty of female ponies in his life, but waking up to one in his arms, and one he liked no less; that was something special. Though, he'd never thought about Twilight in that way before, her waking up nuzzling him just felt so right. Her beautiful eyes, the adorable way she gets worked up when she's giving a lecture... 'Wow, where did all of this come from?'
Twilight was still giving her lecture, though the victimizing pegasus was too busy grinning at something. Mac followed her magenta eyes stare and found Sin and Shade huddled together wrapped in each others cloaks, each ones head laying on the others back. "There." She proclaimed pointing a hoof. "Pay up!" She pointed a hoof to Pinkie Pie.
"What'er you goin' on 'bout?" Asked Mac finally finding his will to speak, and legitimately curious as to know what the two mares were betting on.
"You cannot tell me you think those two aren't colt cuddlers." Dash prodded Pinkie. "Pay up."
"Whadaya mean?" Pinkie ask innocently looking at the two sleeping ponies.
"Think about it, those two are always together, Shade only talks to Sin, he literally runs away from any girl who tries to say anything to him, and now there they are cuddling." The speedster crossed her forelegs, grinning ear to ear.
Sin raised his head and looked to the group. "You really get some kind of thrill out of biting the hand that feeds you, don't you Miss Dash?" Rainbow inquired as to what the stallion was referring to. He pointed to the pony pile she and the others were laying in. "Had Mac and I not placed you all together like that, you would have frozen to death, or gotten hypothermia and been to sick to make it to the next compound."
Rainbow looked around and grinned sheepishly and, albeit reluctantly, thanked him. "Don't thank me." Sin said pointing to Mac. "Thank the pony you've been giving such a hard time too. Maybe an apology while your at it." Rainbow gave a quick word and nod of appreciation to Mac, who found them as genuine as calling a lump of coal a diamond.
Her eyes narrowed, "You know Sin, it's called a prank. Man, I wouldn't be surprised if your Cutie Mark is a stick in the mud." All the other conscious ponies chuckled at the comment, though the more Mac thought about it, the more he realized that he didn't know what Sin's Cutie Mark actually was. He always had the cloak covering it, and any time he bathed, he did it in private. Spike awoke next and asked what was so funny. Twilight did her best to hold back the chuckles and told the weary drake her friends joke.
To their surprise Spike didn't laugh, instead he turned to the butt of the joke and flat asked what his Cutie Mark actually was.
"WHAT?" Twilight barked, springing Applejack and Ace from their sleep. "You don't know what his cutie mark is?" Her look of utter shock was unprecedented as far as Mac was concerned, was it really such a big deal as to what the picture on somepony's flank was?
"Never seen it." Spike shrugged. "Never thought about it either until now actually. But now that you mention it, I'm pretty curious." He eyed the stallion expectantly who shook his head and laid back down. "Aw come on Sin I know your all secretive and stuff, but I think we've known each other long enough to see what it is." Spike folded his arms.
"Spike's righ'." Mac agreed. "Ah've been meanin' ta ask too."
The stallion in question raised his his head again and eyed the curious group, for as little time as Ace and Applejack had been awake, they too seemed to to be interested. "Why is this so important now?" Sin ask cracking his neck. "Tell me that, and I'll show it to you."
"You have to tell us what it means too." Pinkie chirped.
"This isn't a negotiation."
The group thought about the question, Ace laughing about the improbability of their success, mentioning how he had known Sin for years and still hadn't ever seen the mark.
"Because, friends want to know about their friends." Spike shrugged again. "I mean we are friends aren't we? You know plenty about Mac and I, yet we don't know really any thing about you; aside from you being a Senator and a survivalist apparently." Mac agreed and pushed about how Sin's stoic and inexpressive nature had begun to concern him.
At first he thought it was just the fact that he didn't know them very well, and while he warmed up a little bit; it felt like the enigmatic stallion wouldn't trust Spike nor himself. "Maybe if y'all tell us somethin' 'bout y'erself; you'd open up a bit more, n' be a little happier."
Sin shook his head and reached for his cloak, Mac's breath caught in his throat. Anticipation caused his brain to some how stand still and go into overdrive as the stallion began to bare himself of the cloth. This is ridiculous, it's just a ponies cutie mark, why would he be feeling like he was about to gaze upon the lost treasure of Atlantis. Finally, the tanned obstruction was completely removed and everyone gasped while Sin stood up. "Can we drop the issue now?" He growled.
"What?" Pinkie asked, her mouth a gape.
"Where is it?" Twilight asked, Mac squinted his eyes and noticed the barley distinguishable difference in tone of brown that his flank and the rest of his coat held. Was his mark just a lighter tone of his coat?
"You're a pegasus?" Rainbow asked shocked. "What's wrong with your wings?" She pointed to the bandage encased flight giving extremities at Sin's side.
"I said I'd show you where my mark was." Sin answered replacing his cloak and laying back down. "I didn't say I'd explain anything."
"Was?" Twilight questioned.
The group sat in silence, waiting for the stallion to answer Twilight's question; when none came Spike tried to change the subject. Ace confirmed that the next compound was only a day's travel further north. The tension melted as the golden pony foretold of the well sized town that held a great deal of comforts for all of them to enjoy: Warm beds, hot baths, well seasoned foods and safety; all of the mentioned placed the Equestrians into a state of longing fondness. Mac couldn't help but drool a bit from the thought of having something other than berries and edible boiled tree bark that the troop had been snacking on for the past few days. And a warm bed away from the freezing cold? Nirvana had been found in the thought alone.
Another hour passed before the weather was deemed suitable for travel, and with a renewed hope and moral, Mac and his friends happily traveled forth. Though he was happy that he wouldn't have to suffer the weather for a day or two, but his sister and her friends would also be spared. He had been surviving in the wilderness like this, albeit not as cold, for some time now. He hadn't really taken the time to dwell on how hard it must have been on the new comers, after all, they hadn't the slightest bit of preparation for this.
'Wait.' Mac grimaced, his own thoughts disturbing him. 'Did I just think of my own family and friends who I have known for years as: 'new comers?'