//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: Stuck Inside in the Cold, Part 1 // Story: Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Chapter 17: Stuck Inside in the Cold, Part 1 ---------------------------------------------------------- For Azure Courage, the days and weeks since his birthday slowly began to blur into one single blob of time. Sure, a few days after his birthday, he received a very meaningful and large gift in the form of a parasprite invasion. At first, they were harmless, even cute. Then they started multiplying exponentially. What was once eight turned into eight hundred thousand practically overnight. As it turned out, they reproduced asexually, by coughing up offspring. Rarity was not pleased about that at all. When the time came to try and remove the parasprite invasion, things really got bad when Twilight tried to cast a spell that made them stop eating all the food in Ponyville. It worked...but not in the way she had intended. They took to eating the whole town instead. The damages were severe, but even so, the town was still salvageable. The repairs were originally estimated to take a total of six months to clear, but with practically every able-bodied pony in Ponyville pitching in to the recovery effort, what would have taken six months to fix took six weeks. Even so, during that time, a lot began to happen. Though everypony had their own section of town to fix, and of course, Sweet Apple Acre's farmhouse had been completely destroyed during the parasprite invasion, Applejack somehow still found time to stop by Azure's section of town to say "hi". At first, it seemed like sheer coincidence that she found him, given her own workload she had to take care of. However, as the days progressed and Ponyville began to regain its former shape, the visits gained in frequency, but the visits were just as short as the previous. Very rarely did they ever have a conversation. After about the third week, Azure received an unexpected gift. The farmer had decided to give him a slice of apple pie for his lunch. This became increasingly common until the end of the repairs. At first, it didn't seem like a big deal. However, on days where he didn't get pie to go along with his lunch, his co-workers would ask a fated question. "What? No pie?" This was typically followed by the sounds of snickers from his other co-workers. At first, it seemed harmless, but then it quickly devolved into facehoof-worthy nonsense. Sort of like before when they teased him about the fact he was friends with six mares. However, Azure believed that by that point, he'd learned self-control around Applejack, given the awkwardness had vanished for the most part. He was soon proven wrong. Not too long after the repairs, Azure opted for a change of pace and meditated outside in his usual spot. He had loads of free time at that point due to the fact his company was on break considering all the workers were a little sore from the constant work. Usually, it wasn't long before somepony interrupted him. However, instead of Pinkie Pie inquiring about what he was doing before pestering him to RSVP at the next party she was hosting or whatever, it was Applejack, and stranger still, Azure found himself strangely okay with the interruption. With the weather outside getting colder and colder as winter approached, the Apple family needed to buck as many apples from their orchard as they could before the big freeze came. Azure had been happy to help, probably more so than he realized; on the opposite hoof, it appeared Applejack was estatic to have him helping her out. It began as a group effort to help Applejack's family out in their time of need, but over time, things began to change and get even more confusing than before. It was rare, but on occasion, Azure would catch Applejack staring at him as he went to work on the trees. Apple Bloom seemed to be staring too, but her stare was more foalish, much less "staring straight at you" and more like "reading your diary and finding a juicy entry". It was like she knew something he didn't. Of course, Azure had returned Applejack's stares on occasion, and had even himself been caught staring in her direction without even realizing it until somepony either drenched him in cold water or otherwise got his attention. All in all, the only thing the unicorn colt had done was make himself even more confused. It didn't end there, either. Twilight had also been undergoing some changes when dealing with him. She came off as hostile more times than she had before, and more often than not, became snippy and sarcastic when talking to him. Around the same time as his work on the farm, she would take notice he'd been wearing the hat Applejack made for him. In return, she asked if he'd ever used the gift she got him on his birthday yet. Twilight's gift had come last, but the gift certainly made sense coming from her. It was a book, somewhere in the adventure genre. When she would ask if he'd ever read it, Azure answered no, and each time he did, she seemed more and more hurt by it. It shouldn't have been such a surprise, but the fact she appeared hurt only confused Azure even more than he was already. And Spike's own teasing just seemed to get worse and worse as time continued to pass. Azure would have put more thought into his situation if he wasn't more concerned with the fact that the shady unicorn colt was still out there. However, he hadn't yet made another appearance since the night of the attack on the barn, probably because the cyan colt had managed to unmask him in the skirmish. Neither did any of the Shadow Creatures-it turned out the wolves were actually called "Shadow Fangs"-make a reappearance. Though it was obvious the enemy didn't want to chance another attack for a long while, the colt wanted to make absolutely sure he was ready for that return. However, the upcoming season was going to make that difficult. The days were getting shorter, the nights longer, and the temperature colder. ---------------------------------------------------------- "I...hate...winter..." Azure mumbled, cooped up in his house next to the fireplace, wrapped up in a thick blanket. Though many would consider this an overreaction, the unicorn had one thing that would always sap at his spirit: the cold. Without fail, he could not stand being outside in the winter for very long before he started feeling hypothermic. It didn't matter how he bundled up. He preferred being toasty as he was now when the weather turned south like it had. What is it about this season that brings out the worst in me... the colt thought to himself, staring into the fire for a few moments. The cyan colt had no idea what to do. He did not enjoy the cold at all, even when the other ponies took up sledding or whatever when the snow fell thick. Most of his winters were spent indoors, biding his time until the annual Winter Wrap-Up commenced. That's right... Azure thought to himself. Might be different in Ponyville since there aren't as many unicorns in town... Just as that thought dawned on him, Azure snarled in annoyance. "Manure..." he grumbled, running a hoof down his face and lifting the blanket off his body. "I've gotta go check on Twilight's study progress, see if she's found anything on that anti-Shadow Creature spell..." Ever since his birthday, he had checked in once a week when able to see if she'd found anything. Each time, she hadn't made any spell progress, but it was obvious she was looking into it, since she did display notes. Oh Celestia, did she ever display notes...each time he visited, it seemed like she had at least ten new pages of notes on the Shadow Ghouls themselves or possible neutralizers. He decided to prepare himself, physically and mentally for the cold weather he was about to go through. After rifling through his stuff, he found a dark green scarf which had always served him well in the past. The colt donned that and the hat from Applejack so he could stay warm. He made sure to put on some horseshoes so his hooves didn't get frostbite-a lesson his mother had drilled into his mind since early foalhood. As he began to leave his room, he turned to something on his bedside table. It was Twilight's book, with a hastily-made bookmark poking out of it at about sixty pages in... ---------------------------------------------------------- Azure Courage shivered bitterly, though he had to admit the hat was at least keeping his head warm, that together with his headband. The fact he and Twilight lived a sizable distance from one another and he had to walk there did nothing to help his feelings toward winter whatsoever. He looked around, seeing the snow-covered Ponyville, but no matter how he looked, the fact it was all cold sapped all the potential fun out of the scenery. If the pony were instead a human, he'd be rubbing his arms briskly right now. It's cold...! The cyan unicorn shivered, trying his hardest to keep himself from stopping. He feared that if he stopped, he'd freeze to the spot until spring came. Princess Luna, I'm sorry the winter solstice has to be so cold... The colt trotted along, nearly slipping on an icy patch as he went along. He shivered again, his fur, scarf, shoes, headband and hat still failing at fully protecting him from the cold. All the way, he cursed the chilly weather, the slippery walks, the chilly weather, the short days...did he mention, the chilly weather? Little did he realize he was being stalked... ---------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Dash's job got easier when winter came along. All she had to do was guide clouds and not clear them. Once a week, there would be snow, and most of the time, she would play in it. Today was no exception. The snow was packing well, and currently, she was stalking her quarry, a certain colt in a cowboy hat, looking absolutely miserable. "What kinda friend would I be if I didn't try to cheer him up a little...?" The rainbow-maned mare smirked mischieviously, balancing a perfectly packed snowball between her forehooves as she waited for her target to stop moving. Strangely, Azure didn't so much as slow down. He sure seemed in a hurry to get somewhere. As she continued to follow him under the cover of a cloud, her patience started wearing thin. She loved a good prank, but Rainbow knew it would be much more "worth it" if she could just nail Azure with the snowball instead of missing. Not that she was scared of missing, mind you. Finally, she decided to be direct... ---------------------------------------------------------- Azure felt like he'd been out in the cold for hours, but it'd only been about ten minutes. He was maybe halfway to the library now, and his body was shivering quite a bit. He tried to keep his mouth shut, for fear that if he left it hanging open even a centimeter, his teeth would start chattering madly. The colt tried to keep his brisk pace, but the frigid air was draining his energy. He could not stay warm for the life of him. "Hey, Az!" Rainbow's very familiar voice called out. Against his better judgment, Azure stopped, and turned to where he heard her voice... And caught a snowball right on the side of the head for his concerns. The impact knocked his hat from his head, and he stood, stunned, while he heard the sound of Rainbow Dash laughing. He found her, hovering in the air, positively beside herself. Ponies passing by were not interested in the spectacle, except for a select few who slowed down and rubbernecked. "Why'd you do that?" Azure interrogated, annoyed with the fact that he'd been smacked with a snowball. Now the side of his face was slightly sore and cold. "Seriously." "Why?" Dash asked, recovering from her laughing fit, "You looked miserable out here! What was I supposed to do?" "Not throw a snowball at me?" The unicorn continued to display how irritating the unexpected snowball was as he telekinetically picked up his hat and put it back on his head. "Where's the fun in that?" The blue mare asked, paying less and less attention to what the unicorn was doing. Which worked to Azure's advantage. If Rainbow Dash was going to blindside him with that sort of prank, then it was only fair he try to get her back before the end of the day. Preferably as soon as possible so he didn't have to be outside in the freezing weather. He reached out with his magic. It was hard to learn to roll a snowball with just his magic, but Virid seemed insistent on teaching him the skill one winter, and Azure just couldn't get out of it. But, in this case, he'd have to thank his cousin for being magically biased. It would help him earn payback here. "Hmm, you know what, you're right, Rainbow," Azure said, "Where is the fun in that?" "See, you're gettin' the hang of it..." she said, still not paying attention to him. "And you know what else?" By now, Azure had finished forming his snowball, and prepared to launch. "I think I've found some fun out of this, but I don't think you're going to like it." As soon as he finished his sentence, he flung the snowball from behind him, ducking down reflexively so he would avoid hitting himself with his own snowball as he magically chucked it up towards Rainbow Dash. However, apparently he made his retribution attempt a little too obvious, since the pegasus turned halfway and saw the flying projectile before it could hit her, and she eloquently rolled off the cloud. Son of a--! "Oh, so that's what you want to play?" Rainbow Dash asked, already rolling towards a nearby snowbank and preparing her next snowball. "I thought it was what you wanted to play..." Azure replied coyly, already preparing his next snowballs as he magically rolled up a couple more for the exchange. Azure let one of the formed snowballs loose, but found himself dodging one. Magically, he chucked the other one, which passed about two inches to the left of one of Rainbow's wings. The colt forced more magic into his horn, leaping to his left and skidding a little on the ice as he dodged another shot. Rainbow Dash laughed it off, but was hit with a snowball from an unexpected direction. Keeping part of his focus on forming more snowballs, Azure had one eye on his left. "P-Pinkie?!" Rainbow sputtered, having not expected the hit. "I love snowball fights!" Pinkie said simply. "There're so many things I really love about snow, but..." The earth pony proceeded to ramble on about what she loved about the season, paying no attention to the pegasus's return strike until it nailed her in the side of the head. "Don't ramble on in the middle of one!" The rainbow-maned pony warned. Azure took his chance, and nailed Rainbow Dash at last in the side with his own shot. This got all three of them going, and within moments, more and more snow-based projectiles were sailing into the air. Azure didn't want to admit it, and he never would, but even though he couldn't stand the cold, he was actually starting to have fun. The pony ducked down around a corner, trying to keep on his path to the library. How am I gonna get out of this snowball fight without either of them taking notice...? The cyan colt thought to himself. "Hey, Azie," Pinkie greeted. Azure turned his head, realizing he was in fact about to get nailed again. However, the attack came from an unexpected direction when a snowball crashed against the back of his head. Darn it... "This isn't how you win a snowball fight..." This was followed by the closest thing to a punch Pinkie had ever thrown. Of course, it didn't help that she basically jabbed another snowball right between his eyes. At least she didn't flat-out punch it into him while she was at it. "It isn't, my mistake..." Azure quickly broke in the general direction of the library, looking around at the ponies who were more or less watching the spectacle. He looked behind him, to see Rainbow Dash about ready to chuck a couple more snowballs in his direction. Pinkie Pie was...somehow, shuffling along on the ground while managing not to slip on any icy patches and, even more impossibly, juggling at least two snowballs with her tail while chasing him. Let's see if I can just draw in everypony... Azure's horn lit up, and he took whatever snow he could grab. He couldn't form too many snowballs in a magical grip, but for his purposes, it'd be enough if he could throw one and form the next while having another two on standby. Last he cared to check how well his snowball formation via magic was, he could form up to six or seven projectiles at once before having to throw them, but he hadn't really practiced it due to his disdain for winter. A few snowballs impacted just behind him as he skidded to a halt. "Where're you runnin', Az?" Rainbow observed, appearing ready to dodge whatever attempt he was about to make. "Don't tell me you're scared..." "No..." Azure's horn began to light up completely as he prepared to implement his plan. "Just cold." He began to fling snowballs in random directions, not caring if he actually hit anypony or not. He was aware that he might just wind up making the entire town mad if he flung the snowballs at them, but it was the only thing he could think of in his situation. All the while, as he continued to fling snowballs, he was aware of the shouts of ponies, as they either moved to dodge, got hit, or otherwise got "inspired", for lack of a better term. By the time the unicorn opened his eyes again, he found, surprisingly, his tactic of flinging snowballs everywhere worked. It seemed like he'd gotten at least ten other ponies involved in a snowball fight in the middle of the town. Breathing heavily from the magic use it took to get to that point, the unicorn adjusted his hat, once more feeling the bone-chilling cold. "Sorry, but I have other things I need to take care of..." Azure mumbled. "Now...to check up on Twilight's research..." ---------------------------------------------------------- The rest of the way to Twilight Sparkle's home and the Ponyville library was not marred by further snowball attacks. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were far too busy with juggling the attention of over ten other ponies; they probably didn't even notice he left until it was too late. Then again, at least two of them were pegasi, counting Dash herself. Either way, Azure Courage felt lucky to be away from the snowball fight. Sure, he found it fun, but in the end, his disdain for the cold won out. With all that considered, the cyan colt knocked on the door with one hoof. There was the sound of movement and a pony yelling at a dragon to "please get that" on the opposite side. A few moments later, the door opened. "Oh, Azure, what a surprise," Spike greeted, "No more bucking with Applejack?" That style of humor had been rapidly aging since his birthday, and it had not been helped by the fact he was repeatedly tormented, giggled at, or otherwise looked at funny by foals. Three in particular leapt into his mind... "It's been winter for a few weeks now," Azure answered, the cold wearing his patience thinner than usual. "Aren't you tired yet?" "If I stay inside, it doesn't bother me..." the young dragon retorted, allowing the colt inside. "Dragons don't hibernate during the winter...I think. That's what Twilight tells me, sometimes..." As Azure stepped inside, heat blasted him so fast he swore his fur got singed. He already began to remove the materials he used to keep warm, starting first with his shoes, then shifting attention to his hat, shaking the snow gently from the hat as he went along. Already he could hear the clopping of hooves approaching him from Twilight's room, no doubt the mare about to address his concerns. He just got the scarf into his field of vision as he tried to remove it from his body when he heard her voice: "Azure, if you came here to ask about my progress, I have to tell you now I haven't been able to work on it as much because of a small setback..." "What do you--" Azure finally caught sight of Twilight as he set his scarf off to the side. He was met with a sight he didn't quite expect to see of the mare. Given he always thought of her as a bookworm, it did fit that she was wearing glasses, but they didn't look like nerd glasses or reading glasses. But...the glasses she was wearing...they made her look...different. "Um...Twilight, since when...?" He waved his hand in front of his eyes, indicating what he lacked on his own face. "Not that it's my choice," interjected Twilight, "Turns out all the time where I spend reading in poor light damaged my eyes..." She removed the glasses with her magic for a brief moment, and Azure observed she was squinting. "It's just temporary, but I have to wear these glasses for a while so they can recover." "Sorry to hear that," Azure wasn't sure what it was about the mare in glasses, but for some reason, he couldn't quite stop looking her way when she was wearing them. Twilight looked...right, somehow, when she had those glasses on, and the colt knew that it wasn't because she read a lot. "Think you should give the research a rest until your eyes heal?" He asked the question, trying to shift his attention away. "Can't do that, Azure," Twilight responded, turning to her room. "I spend a lot of time reading. It was probably going to happen even if that whole mess with that Shadow summoner didn't happen." She made a motion for Azure to follow her, and he began to. "Not that I'd expect you to know what it's like to be immersed in a book..." Really, Twilight? You're still guilt tripping me over not reading the book? Oh no, wait, I have read it... Azure thought to himself, frowning a little bit. Let's see...quote she might know, quote she might know... ---------------------------------------------------------- By this point in her friendship with Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Azure Courage, Twilight Sparkle was utterly convinced that she was the only one who read for more than just research purposes. The fact Azure did read at all was interesting enough, given he was the only one other than her at the time they first met who believed Nightmare Moon was soon to return...though his approach was...terrible. However, the fact he continued to use books to look up information was just a smidgeon away from being a total shock given his personality type. He just didn't seem like the kind of colt to think things through all the way. Still, she got the book because she couldn't think of anything else to give him at that time. However, she did still secretly hope he'd read it, even if he only read five pages and never picked it up again... "'There were many choices, but in my heart, I knew the only right one...'" Twilight physically stopped dead in her tracks. That quote was a rather iconic quote from the earlier chapters; even so, still further than she'd expected him to go. She did read the book through - twice - before giving it to Azure, and she knew a lot of it in the back of her mind. The mare looked back to Azure, feeling shocked. "Wait, you actually read it?" She couldn't withhold herself from smiling as the shock gradually washed away. Now this was a shock - Azure actually read on a recreational level, too! "Of course I read it," Azure responded, continuing to walk up to her until he was about five steps from her. "In winter, I don't spend nearly as much time outside because it's so cold, so I just spend a lot of time reading..." The fact he read on a seasonal basis didn't even matter to her. For some reason, she'd felt jealous Azure had more use for Applejack's hat than the book she gave him. It felt almost relieving to know he was using the book for its intended purpose. The quote was actually something from a passage early on, and--and-- "Twilight? Are you in there?" Twilight adjusted the glasses manually, though instantly she wasn't sure why she did that given she'd usually done it unconsciously with magic. She turned back towards her room, feeling a warmth starting to surge to her cheeks. She still wasn't sure why it seemed to happen more and more around him... "It's...good to know you're reading it, Azure," Twilight finally said, trying to regain her composure. "So, let's go over the notes I took since last time you checked..." ---------------------------------------------------------- When Twilight said that she'd suffered a setback, Azure could tell in the amount of notes she'd actually taken since his last check. Where usually she'd have pages and pages of notes for him to pore over and barely understand some of the stuff she actually wrote, he only got four and a half full pages of notes on the subject, and the notes weren't as jargon-tastic as they usually were. While the latter could be passed off as her understanding he couldn't get what she was trying to communicate in her writing, the former was definitely a cause for concern. She'd really messed up her eyes, he could discern that much. "I just want to be sure: you spent as much time on the research as before?" Azure asked, turning back to Twilight. "I told you, the eye damage slowed me down," Twilight responded, sounding only slightly indignant. "Okay..." Azure ran a hoof uneasily over his mane. She was going to be taking notes like this for a few weeks while her eyes recovered? The colt admitted he only knew enough research to get by, and even then, he didn't think things through as much as most ponies in a given position would do. And Twilight messed up her eyes since she was getting involved in the incident and was juggling everything. "Now I feel bad..." There was an uneasy pause, for some reason. It didn't help that the unicorn felt like he shouldn't have said that out loud to his friend all of a sudden. What in Celestia's name possessed me to say that out loud? "Oh?" Twilight inquired. A cold chill ran down Azure's back, and for some reason, he felt himself hesitate. Before, he would have happily told just about anypony what was on his mind, but he felt...skittish, for some reason. "Well, I'd basically sentenced you to do this research alone," The colt relented with a sigh. "It obviously couldn't have been any good for your eyes, given you've got to wear glasses now to allow your eyes time to heal..." The purple mare remained awkwardly quiet while Azure shifted his attention back to her notes. Alright, let's see, Shadow Ghouls are better summoned at night...good to know, though it might have been obvious. It takes more magic to maintain them during the day...would explain why he was able to summon so many of those Fangs and maintain them. Light is their weakness, according to these notes, but all it does is weaken them a little bit. So...what does this mean...? "So..." Azure said. "I see. Light weakens them somehow. That's obviously a lead, right?" "Huh?" Twilight had apparently spaced out while he was checking over the notes. "Oh, yeah," She immediately regained her composure just as he turned to her, a little confused. "It took a while to dig that information up, but it looks like light could be the key to neutralizing the ghouls without dragging things out..." "I wonder...?" Azure began. He was remembering when he'd fired the laser at the unicorn that was summoning the Shadow Ghouls. Could the fact that his laser had gotten that close to his enemy's glowing horn have been the reason he was able to dispel the summons, and the colt in question had no control over that? "You think you've won?!" "The way he sounded when he yelled at me...could the fact I almost hit him with a laser spell be the reason the summons went away?" "That might be stretching 'light as the weakness' a little too much." Twilight said. "Judging by how he hasn't tried another attack anywhere, least of all here, it's possible you just scared him off and he felt he needed to get out of there before you dealt your brand of justice to him..." "Hey, at least in that case I'd be justified in kicking his rump up and down the orchards..." Azure countered. "I didn't say you weren't justified..." Twilight responded, not sounding like she wanted to argue the point. "I know you're not the one picking a fight here; whoever he is, I know he's out to hurt ponies, and I know you won't stand for it..." "So we agree on that," Azure nodded. "Okay, at least now we finally know what we're looking for..." "The parasprites also slowed me down a little..." The mare continued. "But that was a given, really..." "I didn't bother to check those weeks because I knew nothing would come of it..." "So...next up, is to research spells that..." Twilight hesitated, squinting just a little behind the glasses as she struggled to find the right words. "I assume, generate sunlight, or at least some kind of substitute, to take out or cripple his summonings' capabilities..." "Of the two of us, you should be able to pull it off," said Azure in response. "Even though I'm the reckless one, you have a lot more magical potential than I do..." Once again, he wasn't sure why he said that, but it was true; ever since the incident with the Ursa Minor, he'd known Twilight Sparkle was two things: incredibly talented as a unicorn, and painfully modest about it. So why did it suddenly feel weird to say it now? "Azure," The way she sounded wasn't that abnormal, nor was her reaction unexpected. She blushed and looked away for a moment...then a moment longer than he expected her to. "It shouldn't be too hard for you to do it..." And she got weirder. The colt couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and feel...confused, when she finished, "Um, not that I think you're bad at magic!" "It's okay, Twilight," The cyan colt said, standing up. "Guess I'd better get going, though..." He was already heading for the door. "W-wait!" Twilight called out to him, something sort of alien for these visits. Of course, what she said next utterly mystified Azure. "You just got here...why not stay for a bit before you go? I can have Spike make some tea or something..." The colt sighed. He knew he said he wanted to get to know his friends better, but he knew Twilight fairly well compared to the others. Besides which, he did have something he wanted to do. "Sorry, I can't, Twilight," What he was saying was only half-true, but it was truth enough to give him an excuse...what with what just happened between them, Azure felt that putting some distance between them was best. "I need to get back to that book." He turned back to her, flashing a smile. "I stopped on a cliffhanger in the book you gave me, and the suspense is starting to get to me a litte bit..." Taking full advantage of Twilight's shock, Azure Courage quickly took the time to get out of the library, donning his winter gear as he went. Hope it isn't raining snowballs when I get back... ---------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle found herself completely dumbfounded. Azure Courage was really acting...well, like himself, and yet so unlike himself it was hard to believe that she had just been talking to the same colt who attacked Nightmare Moon even when he knew he had no chance. Apparently, he really was a big reader during the winter. It was almost ridiculous to think that such a pony could be so weakened by the cold that all he could do was read. At the same time, the mare felt grateful for it. Even if it was only a seasonal thing, they did share pasttimes... Why was she thinking about this? There was important things to get back to... The mare stopped suddenly, adjusting her glasses by levitating them back into place. Azure, if you really feel guilty about leaving me with all the hard work, she thought to herself. Perhaps we need to meet up and help each other out with the research... "That colt could attack again at any time, after all..." ---------------------------------------------------------- "You ain't getting away this time, Az!" "Please, not now, Rainbow, it's cold outside!" "C'mon, Azie, it's a snowball fight!" "I already started one, Pinkie!" "Don't tell me you're scared!" "I'm not, I'm just hypersensitive to the cold!" "That's not the only thing you're hypersensitive to..." "...Oh come on! Now you're starting that too?!" "Ooh, Rainbow, you must have pressed a button..." "Agh!" -------------------------------------------------------------- Azure Courage warped back into his home using the teleport spell. He breathed heavily from the run he had done, and was surprised to find himself not only in the place he wanted to be, but the fact he was also sweating from the exertion it took to get away from Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, both of whom wanted a second round with the snowball fight with him. While he understood this would happen, his interest in staying out in the cold was even lower than it was before. "How do you sweat in the cold...?" he panted, "Sorry, Rainbow, Pinkie, but one snowball fight was enough for me for one day..." Wasting no time, the cyan colt immediately went back to his room, putting his winter gear back where he got it from, and putting the hat it its place. He sighed, brushing off his chest. "Feel kinda bad for ditching them like that...but I don't like winter..." A second sigh later, Azure turned to the book on his nightstand. "Well, at least I have something to pass the time with until we can wrap up this season..." With that, the colt took the book to his living room, where he'd been earlier that day, and re-kindled a fire. He slipped under his blanket, opened up his book, and picked up where he left off. "...With time running out and so much at stake, Wild Monkey made a decision that would alter the fate of the entire planet..."