The past three weeks were a complete blur to Twilight. The winds had died down, allowing them to start clearing the snow and get Ponyville back on track to normalcy. What they weren’t expecting was the flood of refugees from all across Equestria.
Ponyville was the least hit by the freak winter. Manehatten had all but been wiped off the map, the few fragmented reports of the refugees saying that the town had been frozen into a solid glacier. Appleloosa’s crops were ruined by the sudden perma-frost and Applejack’s orchard wasn’t faring much better.
Twilight’s thoughts drifted to Bottle Brush as she sat in her study. His sister was badly frost-bitten but otherwise alive. His father had woken up but was just as clueless as to where his wife was.
A shiver came over the mare as she pictured her own mother. An image briefly forced itself into her brain - her mother cold and alone shivering in the snow. She didn’t allow it to play to its conclusion.
Praying to Celestia, she hoped she was still safe and sound. Just the idea of losing her mom made a lump form in her throat.
“He probably didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye…” Twilight found herself whispering, swallowing the lump painfully. She shook her head vigorously. No - negative thinking like that wasn’t going to help anypony.
Going upstairs to her bedroom, Twilight gazed out of the window towards Ponyville park. Rows upon rows of tents had sprung up in the past two weeks. Ponies forced out of their homes and working on vague rumours from Cloudsdale’s weather team had directed them all towards the small town. She could see small signs of life - the odd stream of smoke and some pegasi hovering over the tents.
She had tried sending letters to Princess Celestia, but half of them were simply burped back out again albeit severely deformed from what Twilight assumed was magical feedback. The weight of worry had been pressing down on her shoulders badly. Without her mentor for guidance, she found herself becoming more and more lost on what to do.
Twilight went back downstairs again. She smiled softly at the blue pegasus snoozing softly on her couch, wrapped thickly in blankets. Rainbow’s home was still snowed-in and the constant outings into the biting winds had left her with a nasty cold.
A purple claw reached out and tapped Twilight on the shoulder. She turned to the baby dragon. “Yes, Spike?”
He fidgeted nervously for a moment. “Hey, Twilight, you might want to come see this.” He motioned towards the main counter in the center of the library. “It came while you were upstairs.”
Twilight’s heart leapt - a letter? From Celestia? Or even anypony! “Quick, what is it?” she blurted out, rushing towards the table.
Her enthusiasm died down slightly at the mangled sight of what looked like what was supposed to be a letter. The edges were charred and despite being written on in thick ink, the edges of the letters were distorted.
What was more disturbing were the contents of the letter. ‘Dragonfire not working. Winter is magical. Please be safe - Celestia’
She peered closer at the note, hoping more would appear. Nothing but the bold characters stared back. There wasn’t even a date or any other marks on the piece of scrap.
“Do you think the Princesses are fine, Twilight?” Spike asked, the dragon’s voice wavering slightly.
Twilight paced for a few moments before gently sitting down. Her magic levitated the note onto the table as she gazed wide-eyed at the floor. A light, empty feeling settled in her chest before she looked up at Spike. “I don’t know, Spike,” she breathed. “I really...don’t know.”
**** ****
With one final heave, the large cauldron slid onto the table, its steaming-hot contents wafting a delicious smell through-out Ponyville’s park. Several other cauldrons sat next to it on a long table, others on a large cart the pegasus and pulled from her cottage.
Fluttershy began arranging and stacking bowls. It was still early in the morning, the sun barely peeking out over the horizon. The thick winter’s coat helped keep the morning chill out, but she still shivered involuntarily at the sight of the rows upon rows of tents set up throughout Ponyville Park, pathways cut between them in the snow.
The weather pegasi had spread the rumour that Ponyville had been the least hit by the storms. Those who chose to run from the Winter, ran to the town to hide from the cold.
Those who chose to stay….Fluttershy shuddered, repressing the thought. There was a reason pegasi had stopped roaming the skies almost two weeks ago.
The large, makeshift tents had been set up to house the homeless population swarming in. Families and strangers alike huddled together to share what little warmth they could against the cold.
Most, if not all, of the refugees had little more than the clothing on their backs. Fluttershy’s heart ached at their plight - especially the foals too young to know the disaster they were facing. Many were cold and hungry and didn’t know why.
She had used up all of her savings getting a communal soup-kitchen ready. This was to be its opening day.
Of course, she hadn’t told anypony about it. She didn’t want to burden anypony else with lifting the heavy cauldrons or setting up anything - it was so much work after all. Fluttershy couldn’t bear the thought of anypony having to do that work, especially after everypony had lost so much in the blizzards.
A thought occurred to her - what if no pony arrived? She hadn’t exactly advertised to the others that she was even setting up a soup-kitchen. A mini panic-attack began to settle in the pegasus’ chest. She had spent the better part of yesterday and the early hours of the morning setting this up. What if it were all for nought?
Sitting in silence, stewing in her own panic, Fluttershy didn’t even notice a stallion with a dark-coat walk up to her.
After a while Fluttershy was suddenly aware of the thickly-wrapped stallion carrying a shovel standing there, a quizzical look on his face. “Excuse me, miss?”
The only response she could give was a quiet ‘meep!’ as she attempted a way to hide behind her mane.
“I’m sorry, miss,” he began, motioning towards the half-set up tables. “I couldn’t help but notice you setting this all up on your own.”
Fluttershy nodded meekly.
“I was on my way to help with shovelling snow but - ,” he smiled sheepishly, “I couldn’t let a good mare like yourself do all this on your own.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “N - no, it’s okay...I can manage…”
The stallion also shook his head. “They’ll manage without me for a while. I’m Noteworthy.”
“Fluttershy…”
The stallion frowned for a moment, Fluttershy feeling a terrified tremble building up her spine. His frown eventually softened into a smile. “Well, it’s very good to meet you.” He leaned his shovel against the table, examining the table layout. “If I may ask...what are you actually setting up here, miss?”
Fluttershy blinked nervously a few times, looking left then right before speaking. “It’s...it’s a soup-kitchen…” she said softly. “I couldn’t bare the thought of everypony going hungry…”
Noteworthy took another look at the tables, his eyes wide with wonder and surprise. “How long have you been setting this up for?”
“Since yesterday…”
He looked back at fluttershy, an unreadable look lingering on his face for a moment before he broke into a smile. “That is an incredibly noble thing to do. Here, let me help you.”
Fluttershy couldn’t muster the willpower to refuse. She simply gave a meek nod.
With Noteworthy’s help, Fluttershy was able to finish setting up the entire table far quicker than she initially hoped for. Soon, burners were running under the pots to keep them hot, bowls and spoons out and ready for the hungry refugees in Ponyville.
“Say…” the stallion began, touching his hoof to his chin. “I can’t say that I heard about your soup kitchen here.”
“Oh - um - that’s because I haven’t actually told anypony about it…” Fluttershy almost whispered, trying to hide behind her mane again
Noteworthy stood up, raising an eyebrow at Fluttershy. She shrank under his gaze.
“Well, now, I’m sorry but this won’t do!” He started moving towards the tents. “If you don’t mind, miss, I’m going to inform the rest of the ponyfolk about the good thing you’re doing here today. I might even get a few volunteers to help you.” He offered a smile to the timid pegasus before taking off on a confident trot.
Fluttershy blinked a few times as the stallion departed. A faint smile tugged at her lips.
Author's Notes:
I've been struggling to find a proof-reader/editor - so from here on out I'm going to just self proof-read it.Please leave a comment and/or any suggests for this chapter and the story overall. I'd love to hear your feedback.
Thanks for reading.