//------------------------------// // The Second Band. // Story: Winter's Blanket // by TheLonewolves215 //------------------------------// The snow storm over head of the Everfree Valley had not entirely calmed since late. That much, a one Mr. Thunderstorm knew all to well. It had been one full night, and still this storm was carrying itself over the valley, blocking out the advancing sun over the horizon like a veil. He had seen many out-of-hoof storms in his career as a Royal Weather Patrol Guard. Tasked both with keeping lives and property safe by tackling storms of immense strength that no ordinary weather pony could take care of. This, however, wasn't your ordinary out-of-hoof, run of the mill storm. This was 'the storm' of the century. "Yo, Thunder!" Thunderstorm groaned internally as he turned to the mare that was flying over him, out of reach of the roaring winds of the first band of snow that was already heading toward Mt.Canterhorn. "What do you want, Breezie?" Breezie was an up-incoming sergeant in the Weather Patrol Corps. A rookie, as all things considered, she had never done this before. It was a miracle that she was even chosen as part of this scout party. Their task may not have been to make the storm stop, but he considered it a lot higher than that. They where supposed to be making sure nopony was outside, or in the air for that matter. And this little filly was giggling up a storm not quite unlike the one underneath them. "Aw, Thunder. You don't need to be so uptight." She said, falling into sinc with him. "Breezie, our job is to--" "Is to make sure everypony is still safe. You don't honestly think anypony would be foolish enough to come out during that?" She pointed down at the storm for emphasis. He sighed. "We need to jump at the chance that someone would be that foolish. We're trained to help, and that means we're trusted with their lives." "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." She laughed, flipping over in order to fly upside down. She threw her fore legs behind her head and hummed contently. Thunder shook his mane out of his face and groaned for real this time. This is why he didn't want to be paired off with Breezie. His highly trained eyes blinked, and he turned his head down toward the storm where a large patch of snow was being billowed into the air. If he could recall, he was flying over Ponyville right now. According to his training, snow could be carried back up into the air when the wind was strong enough. According to both the training, and his memory of the landscape, only a flat enough surface could provide this turn out. And that surface was Ponyville's park. And just as the clouds parted way, he spotted a blur of blue that did not belong. That was just enough for him. "Breezie, we got one!" He hollered, dive-bombing toward the storm. "W-Wait, what!? Really?" The holly colored mare gasped, looking down after reorienting herself with the world. But, Thunderstorm was already gone. She puffed her cheeks out and growled. "What an idiot." She shook her head and looked around. What could she do though? There weren't any places that she could place the pony he was about to save down, even if there where a pony to begin with! Thunder was such an honor-hog that she didn't think he was being totally candid with her. He must have been showing off. That is it! He was showing off and-- The clouds below parted as the wings of a powerful guard flew out of the confines of the storm. He stopped right next to her and pouted as she looked at him with surprise. "What are you doing?" Thunder asked. Breezie shook her head to clear it of the awe and took one last glance at the older, russet coated pony before taking off to create a small cloud. In his fore arms, a cyan pegasus shivered, covered in a pile of snow and one, large, not-pony shaped coat. ~~~ He may not have wished this on any other soul. That, couple with the fact that he sent Rainbow Dash out in this, made the human shiver under his coat in remorse. He fought past the wind of the storm, knowing that he needed to do this fast, or risk getting caught in the second band of the storm. Or... lose one of his only friends to it. Working off of simple memory, he walked down the path from this morning, both now deserted and covered in snow. He went, having certain troubles with the shoes he was wearing, but made it past alright in the end. That is, until he reached the expanse of land that covered the distance between him and the beacon of hope that was Sugarcube Corner. Now, this 'expanse' wasn't that large. In fact, it was only about four houses wide. No more than four thousand square feet, at best. What made this small space; in certain circumstances, bigger than it seemed was the snow that was coming off from the flat ground as the wind went through it. Unhindered as it was, it was creating a wall of mist and ice. His lantern wouldn't survive that, and neither would he if he went straight through it. He could agree with himself that he wouldn't die, but it would definitely shorten the time that he could spend out here safely before having to go back in to avoid hypothermia. This coat really wasn't made for this kind of extremes. Seeing no other way, Mar squared his shoulders, steeled his will and blew out his lantern, focusing on the lights within Sugarcube Corner and entered the wall. "Dear God!" He shouted past the first lash of snowy mist as it hit him like a cold shower. However, unlike a cold morning's shower, it didn't stop there and warm up over time. Oh no, it got even colder. Suffering past the distance he needed to take to reach the gingerbread-styled building, he pulled himself out of the torrent of freezing torture and planted himself on the side wall that blocked out the wind and gasped. He was covered in snow now, and soon that'd melt and make his clothes wet. Not good in an environment like this. He turned, walked around the building to the front door and knocked. Then, he did so again, and a third time still to make sure that the inhabitants knew someone was at the door. He breathed a hardy sigh as he heard shuffling within the building, and then the door opened. There, stood Pinkie Pie... "Pink--" With a loud gasp at my visage, the pony slammed the door in my face. The force shook out the snow above the door frame, and it fell on me. Surely, he wasn't as confused as many would come to think. When he arrived in Equestria, on this new planet, he wasn't really treated well. Many ponies hated him, and where wary of him, but none like Pinkie Pie. It seemed that the energetic, bubbly mare only treated him with utter fear most of the time and he didn't know why. But, this wasn't the time to feel hurt. No, it was time to get angry. With a short curse, he rapped the door's frame three more times, this time more urgently. Behind it, he could hear a shrill, "No wait! Don't open it, it's the evil--" "Pinkie dear, it's a storm! I'm sure that the poor girl isn't--" This time, the door was opened from a slightly pudgy, blue mare with pink spiral curls for a mane and tail. She looked at me, yelped and made to close the door. I wasn't having any of this any more. With one kick, the door slammed into my foot, sending snow into the building but stopping the door from closing. Then, I budged it open further, sticking it stuck with my own body. With a gruff growl, I asked, "Is Rainbow Dash here?" The larger mare, being the blue mare here, gasped at my sudden rage and shuddered. "R-Rainbow Dash? She isn't here." She said quickly. I lifted my hood, looking around at the background. Inside, was not what I was expecting. A whole group of ponies, both small and big where looking through the store front's window and into the kitchen where we where, surprised, shocked, and or scared. All eyes on me. "I thought that it was that nice zebra we've been seeing. Pinkie, who is this?" "I tried to tell you, Ms.Cake! It's the human that got here not to long ago." Pinkie said, still sound abrasive and fearful. I turned away and closed the door. But, it opened again. "W-Wait! Where are you going, hun?" "I need to find Rainbow Dash." "The storm isn't letting up. I'm sure she's fine. You should stay here." Ms.Cake stamped a hoof. "I'm sorry, but I need to--" A set of teeth closed around my left sleeve and yanked me back toward the door. Then, Ms.Cake let go of me and said, "I really don't mind. This is an emergency shelter. You can stay." "..." There it was again... The shocking, all be it, pleasant recourse that I deserved more than anything right now. Whatever he called it, however, he didn't want it right now. He didn't need this right now, either. The waste of time could be spent out here looking. So, he boiled up a heated remark, the only one that would get him out of this, and said, "What do you care?" He hadn't meant for it to sound so harsh, or maybe he did, but it was done. The mare flinched back and he took off into the snow storm, headed for another's home. ~~~ Slowly, Rainbow Dash's eyes fluttered open. She hadn't been expecting it, but the warm rays of the sun surprised her when she woke. 'W-Wait, what?' She thought, attempting to bolt up only to be stopped by a pegasus with a russet colored coat and dark, almost tree bark colored hair. "Don't move to much. You froze over and needed to be warmed back up." That settled it. Forcing herself back up, she looked around. It would seem that she was far up in the sky on a cloud with this random stallion. Feeling suspicious, she turned back to him and glared. "What happened?" The bite in her tone made him frown back at her and respond in kind. "What happened is that you tried to fly in a storm!" Her head reeled back at the exclamation, and she then shook it. "N-No. That's not what happened..." She said, trying to remember what did actually happen. She knew it wasn't that. "Oh really?" The stallion asked, pointing at her wing. She looked down at it, only to see ice encrusted feathers. What? Where was the coa-- Before she had time to react, a mare with a coat like holly, and a mane and tail of cherry red flew past them wearing her coat! ...Mar's coat... Her eyes widened as the mare rounded the cloud and landed. "All dry, Thunderstorm, sir!" She saluted the stallion. "Good work, Breezie." "W-Wait a darn second." Rainbow said, rubbing her head. "Thunderstorm? As in, the Thunderstorm? The captain of the weather patrol team that stopped the thunderstorm of nine hundred, eighty-two, that Thunderstorm?" "Darn right!" Breezie said, flexing her wings out proudly. "And second-in-command of his division, Breezie Clear-Weather!" Thunderstorm deadpanned at the mare. "Your only a private, private..." Thunderstorm reminded her. "You two are one of the best teams in all of Equestira!" Rainbow sputtered, and then jumped and fell back onto the cloud with an 'omph'. If it weren't for the ice, she'd be flying in excitement right now. "Well, not better than the Wonderbolts, but still! Your Private Breezie and Captain Thunderstorm! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Thunderstorm snorted. "The Wonderbolts wish they could do what we do." Breezie boasted. "Who are you, rookie?" Thunder asked. The excitement in meeting one of the strongest fliers in Equestria fell short to the blow to her pride, and she couldn't help but yell back, "Hey! I'm no rookie. I'm Rainbow Dash. Fastest Flier in Equestria!" Thunderstorm may be one of her favorite idols of all of history, but even the Wonderbolts wouldn't get to call her a rookie... Unless she was training to be one by then. "Well, Ms.Fastest Flier in all of Equestria. You nearly froze to death." He snarled back. That... hit home really hard. How could she be such a fool? She nearly died! And for what? Trying to help some grumpy, stupid... Human... Her eyes widened as she remembered. The thought had crossed her mind a mere minute ago, but now she cursed herself to Tartarus for not realizing it sooner. "Mar!" The others flinched. "Wait, who?" Breezie asked. "There's another pegasus out there?" Thunderstorm asked, looking worried now. "N-No." Dash chuckled nervously. "Look, it's hard to explain, but I was really harsh on a guy back down there. I need to go back and talk to him so I can--" "That's a no go, Ms.Dash." Thunderstorm stood and turned to the sun. "And why is that?!" Rainbow shot up, still trying to spread her wings out. It began stiffly, but her wings opened with a crack. "Your wings are still frozen. We needed to approach the Icarus Limit in order to un-thaw you." "The..." Her eyes widened as she laid back down promptly. "What in the hay are we doing near the Icarus Limit?!" "Uh, are you sure she's OK?" Breezie asked, taking off the coat and putting it on the cloud. "I just told you..." Thunder face-hoofed and took to the air. "Look, just wait until the storm is cleared and then you can speak to your coltfriend all you want." Then, the two took off. '...' "Wait..." "He's not my coltfriend!!" She yelled after them in vain. Then, she just slammed her face into the cloud. "Mar... why did I push you like that?" She asked herself in shame. Again, the pain in her chest returned in full. Remorse for making him react the way he did. She should have seen that he was getting mad. She should have seen that he didn't want to talk about it, and she should have listened when he said it straight out but she didn't. She had to try and help him... She turned to the sun, and sighed, but staring into the bright orb of Celestia's power, she suddenly lifted her head back up. As the light reflected off of her eyes, she felt a fire ignite in her heart. "What am I doing?" She was an idiot! "I'm the Element of Loyalty." She smirked, standing up. "Your supposed to stick with your friends, and help them." The revelation sparked in her mind, resonating with the flame in her heart, and suddenly her wings snapped free, shattering the ice like it was nothing. A new kind of power surging through her. She popped into the air and dived into the storm, leaving Mar's coat on the cloud. She would help Mar. She needed to. As a friend, and as the Element of Loyalty. ~~~ The storm really was picking up now. Snow was falling from the skies as he worked past the next block of houses and spotted the giant tree in the large dark gray fog. He re-doubled his efforts to pass by a second, slightly larger expanse of flat ground in order to make it to the door and knocked a bunch of times in quick succession. As he waited, he tried to recall what Twilight's house was. Past a giant tree in the middle of the Business District, all that he could really recall was that it was a library by the name of Golden Oak. The Golden Oak library, actually. Yes, he came to that conclusion when the door opened and he saw the books. He also noticed that quite suddenly he was ripped from the snow covering him, and the wet clothes that he had had on, and landed in the library, onto the wooden floor, with only pants on still. He looked up from his crash to the door being slammed closed by the magic of a certain crazy librarian. Well, he was asking for this after tossing the mare into a pile of snow, but enough digressing. "Mar! Your OK!" Twilight turned to him and smiled down at his frame. "Twilight, what the heck? I'm a little bit busy here. I need to get back out there before..." Before he could even continue, Twilight Sparkle pushed him back down. "Oh no. I already messed up once, and I'm not doing it again." She muttered as she rubbed her hooves together. "The Princess will be so proud of me once this storm passes. I got everything done, and now that your here, I don't need to worry about getting you out of your house!" I watched her carefully as she trotted merrily to a pile of seemingly random stuff and knocked it all over with a push of her hoof. "W-Wait, what? What in the world where you going to do with that oar?!" I watched as a sponge, bucket, oar, a boat and a bunch of jars filled with honey fell from the pile. Many more things where there, but I didn't much care for them at the moment. "I wasn't going to do anything with these." Twilight said, rather ominously. "Y-Yeah, right. You said you where going to lead me out of my house somehow. With those?" "Nopony will ever know." She clopped her hooves together with a glee-filled smile. "It's already done, so this stuff is useless to me!" I face-palmed. "I don't have time for this." I stood and went for my abandoned clothes, but suddenly they vanished in a spark of light. "Twilight--" I had turned to the mare, intent on yelling at her for doing what she was doing, ready to tell her that Rainbow was obviously not here, and needed help, but lost all of my will to do so when I spotted the crazed twitch in both her eyes and her left ear. "I-I--" "Do you know how bad it could get if I let you back out there?" She asked, still twitching. "Uh--" "Princess Celestia will send me back to Magic Kindergarten!" "What?" "Then, I'll be made fun of for failing her! Each and every day until I..." Taking a safe breath in and out, she smiled widely at me. "Your not going anywhere." 'It's not often that I think this but, oh... no...' "Twilight, I need to leave--" I said while lifting my hands up in surrender. "Rainbow Dash is in trouble." She crooked her head, turning her insane smile into a fraction of a frown before grinning again. "Oh Mar. I know you. Your just lying!" I felt my own eye twitch. "I'm not--" I started to yell, but then something went over my head. What the-- "Now, be still. I need to lock this collar on you so that you don't escape." 'Oh please no!' "What do you think I am!?" I screamed at her. "Well, a rude human that doesn't even know when he should tell the truth, of coarse. If I have to treat you like a criminal to keep you safe, then I shall!" With a yank on my neck, the collar closed around it. I lifted my hands up and held it at bay from clicking together. "Twilight," "Mar, just put your hands down and I can--" "Twilight." "Just, stop, struggling and--" With a snarl, Mar tore the collar from his head and slammed it into the floor. "Twilight Sparkle!!" My enraged roar seemed to snap her out of whatever crazy state she was in. She yelped, back peddled and even fell to the floor as she did so. She looked up at me as I walked forward to tower over her. "You don't understand, do you? You can't just leave me the heck alone, can you?!" I screamed at her, making her throw her hooves over head as if I had just made to strike her. "I try, and I try, but I'm only an animal to you stupid ponies, aren't I?!" "B-But, I was just trying to--" "Help? By choking me to death with that?" I pointed at the collar. She whimpered and made to stand, but I helped her save the effort by throwing a hand out. She ducked back under her hooves. "I am sick and tired of you! Of all of you treating me like some animal, or some monster that needs to be put in a jail. Well, you know what, Twilight? As of today, I don't want your help anymore! Do you hear me?!" With a light sob, she nodded her head again and again as she cried from under her own hooves. Looking down at the pitiful sight, I could only groan. "Great. Rainbow Dash is somewhere out there, and now I don't even have my coat." Twilight's head appeared from out of her ball. "R-Rainbow is really in trouble?" She asked, looking horrified with herself. "Yes. And you just wasted my time. I keep wasting time!" I hit the table with one of my hands and turned to her again. "Give me my coat. Give me back my clothes." I commanded, sick of looking at her. "B-But they where soaked! You'll catch a cold out there, or freeze to death! Or..." "Twilight," I warned her, pointing at myself. "Clothes. Now." With a hesitant flick from her horn, the clothes appeared back on the floor in front of her. I scooped them up, wiping what I could from the fabric before putting them back on. She didn't give me back my lantern, but I didn't care right now. I turned to the door, knowing that Rainbow Dash wasn't here, and went to leave. "I-" Twilight spoke up. "What?" I growled. "I can help." Twilight said. I looked over my shoulder at her and shook my head once. "Stay here. I don't need to worry about another pony out in this storm. Especially one that I can't trust." And that is when I left. In hindsight, I could have handled that a little better than I did, but that didn't matter now. I'd speak to her about it later. For now, though, I just needed to know that Dash was OK. Maybe she went back to my house...? Hopefully, she went back to my house. ~~~ Flying through the weather faster than she had before, powered only by her need to help her friend, Rainbow Dash came crashing through the cloud cover and landed in the freezing cold downpour of snow, squeezing her eyes tightly, trying to look for the outline of Mar's house. Trying to push past the fog of the storm, she came closer, only to see that it wasn't there. Freezing up, the pegasus looked down in terror. Her own hoof prints a mere inch away told her that she had messed up again! "Oh--" And then she suddenly felt the ice cold blast, the roar of the true storm's wind as the sky became totally dark. It may have been daytime now, signaling that she had been at this all night, but that did not matter now. The storm had consumed the light and heat of the day, and now? Now she was straight back where she began. In the park that nearly froze her to death. ~~~ Mar came tearing into his own house as the storm's howling rage came back in full. He forced the door closed as he came in, slowly blocking it out. The radio on the table was still playing music, slightly different, almost familiar music, but he didn't care. Picking it up, he swore to himself as he saw the time on the display screen. "It's five a.m.?" Many thoughts filled his head. One being, could have fooled him. The storm was truly over them now. Not even the sun could burn it's way through. The second, of coarse, was, Did he fail? Was Rainbow OK? The biting at his heart was working it's way back into him. Gnawing at his consciousness as he thought. No. She couldn't be. She wasn't at Pinkie's. She wasn't at Twilight's. And she told him that her own house, the cloud in the sky, was not safe in this storm. Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack's farmstead, was way to far, even for the speedster to get to before the storm took the sky as it's own, so what was left? '...' "Rarity's!" He slapped his forehead and went for the door again. He barely focused on anything else as he threw himself back into the storm, hoping to all the powers of the universe that she was there and OK. Please be OK. Please be OK... Please...?