//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: A Chilly Summer Night 
// Story: Rising from the Ashes 
// by Doctoroctagonapus21 
//------------------------------//

For the remainder of that day, Sparky and Melody helped out Flora with her garden. It was hard work and when night came, Sparky was happy to curl up on the couch while the window situated above the couch let in a nice cool breeze as he drifted off to gentle slumber.

He dreamt that he, Melody, and Flora were playing tag in the forest. He was chasing Flora when all of a sudden some branches snatched her and dragged her up, screaming. Turning around, he saw Melody backing away from the branches and rushed in to help her but got blown back by a blast of a blizzard. Then he woke up, feeling rather cold.

As he leaned up to shut the window, he noticed someone walking out of one of the houses in a cloak. Not giving Melody a thought, he walked outside to talk to him or her. The cloaked figure was halfway towards the forest when Sparky spoke up. "Hello?" 

The figure looked in his direction and responded. "Oh. Hello. I figured everypony was asleep." The figure had an odd accent.

"I was having a bad dream. What are you doing up so late?"

"I was heading to the city. Care to join me?"

The city, the place where he had run away from... Was it wise to go back?

"If so, I'll get you a cloak and something warmer to wear. You'll need it." The cloaked figure responded.

At least he'd be covered. "Okay." Sparky answered.

"Great. Wait right there." the cloaked figure said, walking back to the house it just came from. Sparky noticed the ice patches it left when it walked.

The figure shortly came back with a coat and a cloak. As it drew nearer to Sparky he began to shiver.

"Sorry about the cold, i've been trying to fix it for a long time. You're Sparky, right? Percy told me all about you."

"Well, if you know my name it's only fair I should know yours." Sparky said as he finished securing the cloak and coat.

"Right you are" the figure said as it started walking. It pulled back the hood to reveal an icy blue unicorn with a dark red mane. "My name is Chilly Temper."

"Well, nice to meet you, Chilly... Brrrr. Why is it so cold? It's the middle of summer."

"Actually that's me." Chilly said. Her horn glowed and a corner of her cloak lifted up to reveal her mark: a thermometer with a flame by the top and a snowflake by the bottom. "My skills lie in spells having to do with temperatures. I tried making my own spell to help ponies through the summer heat but it backfired and now the air around me is always cold. And my frozen hoofprints are a side effect."

As they continued to walk through the forest, the very trees seemed to be shivering. "You have an accent. By chance, are you from Trottingham?"

"Born there. Parents moved to the city shortly after having me."

"Speaking of, why are we headed to the city anyway?"

"I need to pick up some supplies."

As Sparky and Chilly walked through the forest, Sparky noticed he started shivering less when he managed to get talking so they began making small talk... as much as they could. Chilly never got out during the day so she doesn't even know much about the other ponies in the village aside from what Percy had told her. So Sparky asked a big question.

"Chilly, how did you get your mark?"

Chilly stepped to the side to avoid a tree and ducked a branch.

"Well, that's an interesting story, but I'll tell you some other time." She said looking out towards the city of Fillydelphia. "Come on."

Chilly led Sparky through the city down busy, fully lit streets and across congested crosswalks, leaving frozen steps behind until they reached a dark alley. Chilly knocked on a metal door which opened and produced a paper bag.

"Multi-colored chalk this time?" Chilly asked.

"Yes." the voice behind the door spoke.

"Thank you." Chilly responded as she started walking back levitating the bag.

"Uh, Chilly. What was that?"

"I'm studying a strange kind of magic that's not very widely accepted. As such I can't get my supplies normally, but I've tried every other thing I can think of and I can't reverse the spell so this is my only option."

As they got back to the village, Chilly said, "It's been a while since I've had any experiences like this. It meant a lot to me. Thank you." As she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and returned home taking back the cloak and coat she gave Sparky. Sparky went back into Melody's house and lied down on the couch as if nothing had happened, still blushing over what had just happened.