//------------------------------//
// Wisdom 
// Story: The Elements of Unity 
// by Wolfe and WindSilver 
//------------------------------//

	“I QUIT!”

The words echoed inside of my skull. I wanted to turn back. To tell him that I hadn't mean it. I wanted to apologize.  We were supposed to sit and talk. We never fought. We were never supposed to argue. At least, not like that.

But I knew, deep down, that I could never take back the things I'd said. I had meant every word that I said to my brother.

“Big Apple” our parents called him. He was everything in their eyes. He was the pony with the ideas. He was the pony with the plans. He had all the know-how. I was his singing fool. His background dancer. His jester.

I sneezed. The air was chilly and all I'd kept was my vest. My hat most likely still sat on the ground just outside the door.

I was weary of it. Tired of the late night songwriting. Tired of being on the run from angry ponies. Tired of the near zero respect. So what if my magic wasn't as good as his. So what if his cutie mark is an almost full apple, while mine is just a slice.

I was wracked by coughs. The body shaking kind. My limbs trembled with every hack. A gust of wind blew right through my thin vest; Chilling the part of my core that hadn't been completely frozen already. I shivered and wrapped my hooves around my body.

“S-s-stupid. P-p-pompous. E-egotistical—”

I stopped, noticing the fall of the first snowflake. I watched it’s journey downward, the spiral of it was absolutely mesmerizing, right up until it flew directly into my eye.

I yelped, much more surprised than I was hurt. I rubbed at the eye for a minute, then dropped my arm, my jaw, and my hindquarters in shock. Just ahead, and closing fast, floated large nimbostratus clouds. I could feel the wind pick up.

A Blizzard… I thought to myself. I sat for a full minute, simply staring at the approaching onslaught of snow. Then my mind was flushed with adrenaline as I took it fully into account.

“Blizzard!” I screamed.

I leaped to my hooves. My mind stopped working as my instincts took over fully.

“Blizzard. Blizzard. Blizzard. Blizzard.” I trotted in place wildly, looking for a place to get cover from the impending snowstorm. I was stuck in an open field, no spot for cover whatsoever. There was a narrow road nearby though."

I cantered towards the road, turned onto it, and galloped in the direction away from the snowstorm. “And where there’s a road…” I started.

There’s a town at the end of it. That’s what Flam would always say. Then we’d get in whatever machine we had on hand, and venture forth, always on the lookout for our…

“Opportunity,"  I breathed.

That was what we’d always searched for. Opportunity. Flam believed that we just had to find and take it. He thought that we had to search across the land until we found a "open" spot, work some magic (both figuratively and literally), and seal our fates as the best businessponies.

That’s what brought us to Ponyville not once, but twice now. That’s what led to us fleeing Ponyville for the second time. That’s what led to… this.

Not paying enough attention, that’s what did me in. I was too distracted by my thoughts and my surroundings. I'd looked back for a split second, gauging my distance from the storm, and stepped in a small hole in the road, just the size of my hoof. And of course it happened just as I started down a hill. I tripped and started to fly down the mountain. My body spun in midair and bounced off of the ground. I could feel the bruises forming as I tried to stay conscious. I couldn't concentrate well enough to use magic, leaving me at mercy of the large boulder that waited for me. I was able to right myself and dig in my hooves, trying to slow down, but to no avail.

“Flam!” I called out just seconds before everything went dark.

I groaned. Everything hurt. And I was cold, no, freezing. I tried to bring myself to my legs, and nearly passed out, again, as a much more intense wave of pain rolled through my chest.  I collapsed again, noticing for the first time that I was covered in snow. The full implications of my situation hit me. I was lost, possibly with broken ribs, covered in snow, all during a blizzard. I felt panic and adrenaline cut through the immediate pain, but even that had no chance against the pain caused when I applied force to my ribs again. I choked back a sob as I slumped, defeated, to the ground.

“I’m going to die,” I said my eyes closing again.

I felt all power leave my body as I accepted it, as I simply gave up. I knew that it was impossible to survive in a storm like this. My death was inevitable. I also felt an odd sense of peace. I knew that it was over. Everything I’d just complained about to Flam. All the running, the dishonesty, the hurt we caused. I wouldn’t have to be plagued by guilt much longer. I closed my eyes.

I didn't even get to make good on my promises.

I could feel myself drifting away. I could feel death approaching.

Look's like you were right Flam.





Great job Macintosh. You sit around dawdling and you've got a blizzard to deal with now.

I huffed in frustration. It wasn't exactly my fault. I still hadn't fully recovered from the exhaustion a few day earlier. And I knew AJ would kill me if I “pushed myself too far” again. I took a few hours of rest before I hitched myself to the cart and started the trek home. I'd forgotten about the class 2 blizzard that started that afternoon, and would continue until morning.

If worse came to worse, I could always use the wagon as shelter until morning.

With how the weather’s looking, I thought to myself. I might have to do just that. 

I spotted a large rock up the path and headed for that. Thinking that it would help secure the wagon.  I unhitched myself from the cart and set about clearing the snow, so I could sleep on something that wouldn't be water in the morning. I froze when I felt something under the snow. Something warm. Something that groaned when I touched it. I reached under the snow and tried to drag it out. When I saw the first signs of fur I sped up the process. Brushing the snow away in time with gentle tugs. If somepony was buried out here I knew there would be no way I could wait for morning.

Eventually, I got the poor stallion out from under the snow and lowered him in the cart.

“Flim FlimFlam, if Applejack kills me for this, it’s your fault,” I mused, chuckling. I hitched myself to the cart again, and pushed on towards Sweet Apple Acres.