//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: First Arrivals 
// Story: An Unending Chill 
// by Kaptein 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight waited. 
And waited.
Two days. Three days. Four.
On the fifth day she was practically having a panic attack. Something bad had happened to Princess Celestia - she was convinced. Why else would her beloved mentor just ignore her for five days straight? 
All kinds of horrible scenarios played repeatedly in Twilight’s head - what if Canterlot had been completed snowed under? What if Celestia had frozen to death?
Twilight lay in her bed, the thoughts of something terrible happening to the Princesses and Canterlot barrelling through her mind like an out-of-control train.
She suddenly sat upright, gasping softly to herself. What if Canterlot had undergone a complete societal collapse and anarchy took over, the citizens of the city overthrowing the Princesses in a coup?
A loud dragon-fire burp interrupted Twilight’s train of thought. “Twilight!” Spike called out, running up to the unicorn with a rolled up letter in claw. “It’s for you! I think it’s from the Princess!”
Twilight yanked the scroll from Spike, pulling the letter open. Her palpitating heart calmed, a relieved sigh escaping her lips as she read it out loud to herself.

My faithful Student.
I’m sorry I haven’t replied earlier. Yes - it is indeed true that blizzards are hitting all across Equestria. Myself and Princess Luna have been caught organising emergency relief for our citizens. 
News is sporadic, but I promise I will keep you updated as much as possible. In the meantime, I would like you and the Element Bearers to stay in Ponyville and assist with keeping the town safe.
Princess Celestia.

Twilight turned the parchment over, examining it for more. There had to be more. Why wasn’t there more?
The numbing panic was slowly ebbing back into her - Celestia’s letter was oddly vague and did nothing to soothe her fears. If anything, it fueled them. 
She stared out of her library window, pulling the snug blanket a little tighter around herself. Her mind drifted off to the snow falling lazily outside. In five days, nearly two feet of it had fallen - and it showed no sign of relenting. How was Celestia handling things in Canterlot? If it really had swept across all of Equestria, like her letter had said, then how full were the Princess’ hooves in dealing with everything?
From what she could see, market activity had all but ceased in Ponyville. The thought fueled Twilight’s worry - what about the rest of Equestria? From Princess Celestia’s letter had told her, everywhere was being hit by the blizzard.
Her train of thought drifted off to the weather pegasi and their duty to keep the skies clear. Twilight’s mouth twitched slightly, a pang of worry shooting through her stomach as an image formed in her head - Rainbow Dash and several other pegasi bravely facing off against the rogue weather, only to be beaten down again by more ice and clouds. 
“I hope she’s okay…” she whispered to herself. Her train of thought continued on to her other friends - Rarity was probably swamped with orders of warm apparel. Hopefully she could keep up with the sudden need of clothing. 
Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I wonder how Applejack’s farm is doing…?” she said, her voice cutting deep with worry. The snow was probably destroying what little crop was ready for harvesting. 
She swallowed, hard, not even realising the lump of icy panic building up in her throat. 
A sudden, loud knock at the door made the unicorn jump, bringing her out of her train of thought. “I’ll get it, Spike!” she called out.
Giving a small whine as the cold air nipped at her coat, Twilight headed downstairs. 
Waiting for her, a cold and shivering Rainbow Dash stood in the lobby of the library. Her coat had flecks of snow covering it and icicles dangled from her wing-tips.
“H-h-hey Twilight…” she said through chattering teeth.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight gasped, rushing over to her friend. “Are you okay? You’re freezing!”
The pegasus walked stiffly towards Twilight, wings still flared outwards. “C-can I crash here for the n-night, Twi? M-my home is k-k-kinda blocked in.”
“Yes! Of course you can stay the night!” Twilight said, her magic pulling a blanket from the storage closet. “Spike, get some hot cocoa for Rainbow.”
“Th-thanks, T-T-Twilight.” Rainbow stifled a huge yawn before going across to the sofa. She sat down, pulling the blanket tightly around herself, still shivering.
“What happened out there, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked, sitting down next to the pegasus, a worried frown on her face. “You’ve been gone for days!”
Rainbow gave a tired chuckle, taking the mug of steaming cocoa from Spike. “Th-thanks, Spike,” she said, before taking a deep drink. She shuddered, the warmth almost visibly spreading throughout her body. “Things got bad out there, Twilight…” she said after taking another sip. “We’ve been out there trying to keep it in control - and we just...we just couldn’t…” she trailed off.
Twilight placed a hoof around Rainbow’s shoulder, keeping silent.
“I haven’t slept in two days - just got relieved an hour ago,” Rainbow Dash continued, holding her hot chocolate in both hooves as she stared into it for a long while. “...Weather HQ wanted to keep things quiet for as long as possible.” She looked up at Twilight, a sheepish, almost pleading smile on her face.
Twilight hesitated slightly, glancing nervously at the drifting snow outside her window. Looking back at Rainbow, she spoke. “Why didn’t they tell anypony sooner?”
The pegasus shook her head. “It was humiliating for them. For us.” She took another long sip. “I mean - simple snow? Of course we could keep that in check! There’s no way it would spiral out of control and cause mayhem all across Equestria!” She looked up at Twilight, tears brimming in the edges of her eyes. “We’ve dealt with Everfree weather before - we’ve been able to control it. This blizzard - there wasn’t anything we could do…”
Rainbow Dash’s head slumped downwards, her eyes closing. Twilight leaned closer to her friend. “Rainbow…? Are you okay…?”
The ebbing panic was building up again inside Twilight. Rainbow dash was always head-strong and sure of herself - but here? She looked and sounded defeated. The blizzard was so bad it had all but broken the pegasus.
“I’m not okay, Twilight,” Rainbow suddenly sobbed. “Weather HQ told us not to tell anypony - they’re scared it will spread panic or something.” She looked up at Twilight, tears forming in her eyes. “I’m homeless until this passes - and we don’t even know if it will pass.”
“Easy there, Rainbow,” Twilight soothed, pulling her friend into a hug. “I’m sure everything will be alright.” She closed her eyes, really hoping everything would be alright.
Rainbow Dash silently hugged her back.


***   ***




The snow had compacted and blocked off the entirety of the entrance into Twilight’s library. A solid wall of snow greeted her on the other side of her door. Doing anything outside was almost as impractical as it was dangerous due to the risk of freezing to death in the sub-zero temperatures.
Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep on Twilight’s couch and slept right through the night and the following morning. Weather-duty must have taken everything out of the pegasus - usually the only time she was asleep at this time of day was because she had already finished her morning rounds.
Twilight glanced out the window again. Even at midday, it was cold and gloomy outside.
None of this was helped by the fact that they were running low on supplies. It mattered not that it was below zero outside - if Twilight didn’t go out soon, they would all starve to death.
Twilight’s horn flared up, her magic grabbing and donning herself with the warmest coat and boots she had. The magic shifted in hue slightly, as she wrapped a Dragon’s Warmth spell around herself, before preparing a magical wall to save the interior of the library from the waiting snow outside.
She briefly considered just teleporting to where she needed to be, but decided against it; the dangers of interpenetration from a failed teleport were as painful as they were messy.
A beam of heated magic shot out, slowly cutting away at the ice and snow buildup in front of her, creating a path for the unicorn. Howling winds whipped above the wall of snow and ice above Twilight Sparkle. 
Surely somepony out there must have had some sort of shop open.
Especially on a Tuesday.
The beam of magic emanating from Twilight’s horn melted the snow, forming a channel for her to walk through. She dredged and muscled through, head bowed down against the seemingly unending wall of white in front of her.
Without warning, the snow crumbled to reveal another path that had already been cut. Her heart skipped a beat as she took a few steps out into it. A thickly wrapped earth-pony walked past with a shovel, offering her a nod in greeting as he dutifully kept the path clear.
Without warning, the snow crumbled. Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed another path had also been cut out. A thickly-wrapped earth-pony walked past with a shovel, dutifully keeping the path clear.
“I can’t believe I didn’t do this sooner…” 
Even under the heavy snowfall, the community marched on. She made a mental note to scold herself severely for placing the library under a complete shutdown.
Twilight followed the paths by memory, navigating to Sugarcube Corner. A spur-of-the-moment thought popped into her head; Spike and Rainbow deserved something nice for dinner.
The bell tinkled lightly as she entered the bakery, a cotton pink ball of energy almost colliding with her the second she was through the door.
“Oh my gosh, Twilight! You’re okay!” Pinkie Pie buzzed, gripping Twilight’s face in her hooves. “Then again, I always knew you’d be okay - I mean, you’re the most smartest unicorn I’ve ever met. And I’ve met a lot of unicorns - so that’s saying something!”
Twilight pried Pinkie’s hooves off of her. “Yes, Pinkie Pie. I’m fine.” She looked around at the shop, taking in the view of the lively atmosphere. “And so is Sugarcube Corner, from what I can see.”
Indeed - the bakery was thriving. Many ponies gathered around the tables, sharing their warmth and baked confectioneries with each other. A crackling fire burned softly on one side of the bakery, Mrs. Cake bustling with a tray of muffins on her back as her husband took orders at the counter.
It was almost as if the warmth of the ponies’ cheer and friendship in here kept the chill outside and at bay.
“Hey, Twilight?” Pinkie’s voice interrupted, derailing Twilight’s chain of thought. “Are you okay? You looked like you dozed off for a second there.”
Twilight shook her head, smiling at Pinkie Pie. “No, I’m fine. I just needed to pick up a few things for Spike and Rainbow Dash - she’s staying at my place for a few days until she can get back into her cloud home again.”
“Oh my, I hope she gets to go home soon,” Pinkie said, a slight frown forming on her face. “I know, we can throw her a welcome-back-to-your-own-home party when she finally gets back!”
Twilight chuckled. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate that, Pinkie. If you don’t mind, I’m just going to buy a few things.”
“Okie dokie lokie! If you ever need anything, your good old Auntie Pinkie Pie is always here for you!”
Even in the worst of times, Pinkie always had a buzz of energy about her. Perhaps that infectious buzz was what always kept the Element of Laughter, well, laughing. 
Twilight finished up her business at Sugarcube Corner, purchasing a few custard buns for dessert and muffins for breakfast. A quick chat with Mrs. Cake later, and Twilight was well-stocked with baked goods for the next few days. 
Pinkie was still bouncing about, helping with orders and general cheer. Twilight found a seat to enjoy a croissant for herself. As she swallowed the last bite, Pinkie Pie trotted over to her table. 
Twilight smiled at her friend. “Hi again, Pinkie Pie.”
Pinkie grinned back. “Mrs. Cake says I can take a break for a while - so where else would I want to be except with my good friend Twilight!”
Twilight frowned slightly. Even at the best of times, Pinkie didn’t make 100% sense. “Do you know how the others are doing? I’ve been cut off a bit by all this weather.”
“Fluttershy is helping out at the Ponyville Hospital - she’s being super caring for all the ponies who need help with sudden colds and flu.” Pinkie Pie’s head tilted slightly, as if to jingle the thoughts around in her head. “Rarity is really busy making warm clothes for everypony and Applejack is trying to look after Sweet Apple Acres.” Pinkie’s head tilted back to normal as she gave Twilight a blank look. “Anypony else you need to know about?”
Twilight took a moment to process the information - apart from Rainbow Dash, everypony seemed to be relatively fine.  “No, that’s just what I needed to know for now, Pinkie. Thank you.”
They remained for a moment longer, catching up on each other’s lives before Twilight saw the time - it was getting late outside and she wanted to be home before dark.
Thanking the Cakes and Pinkie again, she said her goodbyes before entering the blistering cold again on her way back towards the library.
She hadn’t even made it halfway when she noticed a collapsed form lying in the snow. Her eyes widened, a soft gasp escaping her lips as Twilight dropped her shopping bag and rushed to it, bending down to examine the form.
It was a unicorn stallion, shivering badly and barely breathing. The thick jacket he wore had long since stopped staving off the cold. Twilight’s horn lit up as she prepared a second Dragon’s Warmth spell, carefully wrapping it around the weakly struggling pony. “Are you okay, sir?” she asked frantically. Against better judgement, she took off her coat and placed it over the stallion.
His eyes flitted open weakly, staring around wildly before settling on Twilight. “M - my family…” he half-whispered, half-whimpered. “Please help...we came from Baltimare...my family...they’re still stuck in the blizzard…” He managed one last struggle, weakly gripping at Twilight before falling unconscious. “Please...help them…”
Twilight looked back at the way she came. It was starting to get dark out.