The fire was dead.
The room was cold.
Twilight mindlessly gathered some small logs. Her vision was blurry and her magic felt weak and distant, but it was enough to complete this simple task. As the pile slowly grew, she began adding twigs and leaves to it as well. When it had reached a distant size, she summoned a small arcane flame to light it.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
A mare stumbled in, but Twilight didn't notice. She was too busy taking inventory of the small amount of wood and vegetation she had. She only noticed when the shivering mass of pony emitted a small groan. Turning around, Twilight noticed the cuts, bruises, and dirt all over the mare. She put another piece of wood onto the fire and made her way across the room.
The fire was roaring.
The room was hot.
The heat felt good on Twilight's coat. She felt her hairs slowly relax as her body warmed up and started to calm. The mare before her slowly stopped shivering, and fell into a deep sleep. With nothing else to do, Twilight put another log on the fire and looked out the window.
The wood was running low. The wind howled outside as she scanned the horizon. Relatively close to the room was a forest; Twilight decided she'd go get more wood from there. She returned after slightly more than an hour carrying a decent amount of logs on her back and with her magic, but she was quite exhausted. She closed the door to the room and fell asleep curled up next to the fire.
The fire was flickering.
The room was mild.
Twilight awoke to the prodding of the other mare. Startled, she turned around, ready to cast whatever weak defensive spell she could manage. She was relieved when she saw the mare standing there, gesturing to the fire. Twilight nodded and put another log onto the fire; soon, it was back to its full strength. Outside, the moon shone brightly. The strange mare told Twilight that her name was Wood Nails, and that she could build things. Wood Nails offered to build a cart for carrying more wood and some traps for small animals and such critters. While it had been generally looked down upon to eat meat in the Old Days, in these times there was nobody to judge - and often little choice.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
Twilight returned from gathering another load of wood. Exhausted, she lay down in a corner to sleep while Wood worked on building a cart. She'd showed Wood Nails how to stoke the fire when it began to die, and she had more than enough wood to work on it. She fell asleep to the sound of hammer and nail, but awoke quickly when a scratching echoed on the wall, followed by the sound of large footsteps. She quickly killed the fire and motioned for Wood Nails to go silent. The footsteps circled the building three or four times before running off into the distance. When Wood Nails asked what had just happened, Twilight gave her a traumatized look that explained everything. Twilight then went into the corner again and fell asleep as Wood Nails hammered the cart together.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
Twilight awoke feeling more comfortable than she had in weeks. Looking underneath her, she saw a bed of twigs and leaves. Across the room from her, a small, expertly made wooden cart stood next to a pile of simple wooden traps. Sleeping with her face down on a half-built trap was Wood Nails. Twilight silently hitched herself to the cart, and went off to gather wood and lay traps. She returned not two hours later, with a quite large load of logs as well as a not-insignificant amount of meat and fur. She unhitched the cart in the corner and propped herself against a wall to let her body recharge. She noticed Wood Nails stirring and beginning to awaken. As soon as she saw that Twilight had taken the cart and traps out to the forest, a small smile broke out on her face.
The fire was roaring.
The room was hot.
The builder had come up with a suggestion; if they put up a hut, someone might stop by and they could help with the work. After considering it for a few minutes, Twilight agreed and started going out to gather more wood. When she came back, Wood Nails had already drawn a diagram in the dirt covering the floor. It was a modest-looking house, with enough room for four ponies to live relatively comfortably. They soon got to work, assembling the various parts of the hut as well as working on gathering enough leaves, furs, and sticks for the furniture. When Twilight went out to get more wood and supplies from the forest, however, she was dismayed to find that a large beast had taken apart most of the traps. Luckily, the beast was not smart enough to cover its tracks, but the traps were still ruined. Twilight prepared an offensive spell in her mind and started to search for the creature. Not five minutes later, she found it napping under a rock ledge. She then killed it with her magic and dragged the large carcass home.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
The lonely hut was silent.
A single pony stopped by, and asked for wood. She said that if she was given enough wood or fur, she'd return with more. Wood Nails said not to trust her; after all, she looked like a scam, but Twilight agreed anyway. Giving her about ten logs, they bid her farewell. Not an hour later, a weathered couple with two colts moved into the village. They said that their boys were strong, that they'd be able to do good work, that they were willing to work for food. Twilight and Wood Nails assured them that as long as they all did their part, there'd be enough for everybody. Then Twilight noticed something off about the mare. As she studied the mare, she realized something: That mare was missing a leg. She'd probably been one of the few lucky ones out of the cities; they had rarely escaped without some sort of grievous bodily harm. She felt obliged to ask the family's name; she learned that the old mare was called Warm Smiles and the stallion was Steel Heart, as well as the boys being named Treadheart and Pathfinder. The entire family already had their marks; most were self explanatory, such as a smile for Warm Smiles and a compass for Pathfinder. Twilight felt confident that this time, this time would be different.