Nature's Wrath

by Zoom Star

Prologue: A Cold Summer Night

The wind was cold, like a wicked dagger on your skin, pain striking as it hit you. It wasn’t normally like this, but the weather in Ponyville had become strange for the past few hours. But, the citizens of Ponyville were still fast asleep. Deep in slumber, the town had no idea of what was coming, what had entered into their world. The winds began to beat on the houses, the windows rustling and clanging onto the window frames.

Spike awoke suddenly, the noise of the windows constant clashing disrupting his dreams. He shivered, the cold wind cutting him like a knife. He was cold-blooded, being a reptile, and that meant it was even colder. He went to the window and pushed on them, the noise stopping for a moment or two. He lifted his hands off the window, only for the wind to pick up and blast it open, sending the purple dragon soaring across the room.

The room was now as cold as ice, and Spike was lying in a heap, his body shivering from the now chilling temperature. The noise of the thud Spike made, and the sudden change in temperature from cold to freezing woke Twilight up in a flash. She looked around for the source of the noise, and saw Spike lying on the floor nearby. Getting out of her warm bed, the cold air struck her like a hammer, and she almost froze from the cold.

“Hang on Spike, let me just get you a blanket” she said, attempting to console the purple dragon with words. He didn’t seem to hear her, as he simply sat there rubbing his sides to warm himself. She grabbed the blanket on Spike’s bed, and walked towards him with it on her back, trying to concentrate on her body warmth, rather than the skull-splitting cold that she felt on the outside of her coat. When she reached Spike, she wrapped the blanket around him carefully.

It didn’t seem to work, as he was still incredibly cold when she felt his scales. She picked up the small dragon and carried him on her back. He simply shivered, unable to move for fear of losing heat. Twilight slowly made her way to her bed, her own body freezing up. She carefully placed Spike onto the mattress, and covered him with the large blanket on her bed. The warmth she had left from her sleep seemed to still be there, as the dragon fell asleep in it, his body gradually warming up.

Twilight quickly made her way to the window and closed it, placing the small metal lock down to keep it closed. The room wasn’t warm, but at least it wasn’t freezing now. She looked back at her bed, realising she was now out of a place to sleep. Deciding it was better if she got to something warm, she headed down the stairs to the sitting room. Here she grabbed a spare blanket, lit the fireplace and lay down on the couch, covering herself with the blanket.

Here she sat and wondered, her mind racing now that she was cosy and warm. What was going on with the weather? Why was the wind so strong? What had caused the air to be so cold on a summer night? None of these questions could be answered tonight, so she resorted to resting her head on the arm of the couch and drifting into a deep slumber, her head filling with dreams. She dreamed of swimming in the deepest oceans, flying over the highest mountains. Why, she did not know.

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“Twilight?” the purple dragon sounded softly as he stood at the top of the stairs. “What are you doing?” Twilight was head first in a large book, her eyes darting from left to right. “Sorry Spike, can’t talk, have to figure this out” she said very quickly, Spike only just able to pick up what she said. He made his way down the stairs, shaking his body to get some warmth back into it. “What in all of Equestria would have you up at 6:00 in the morning to ‘figure out’?” he asked.

Twilight lifted her head out of the book reluctantly, looking at Spike with frustration. Spike stepped back in shock as he saw the state she was in. Her mane was ruffled, poking out in odd places. Her eyes were baggy and red, and her face seemed paler than usual. “Twilight did you sleep at all last night?” he asked, adding to the questions Twilight had to answer. She looked down at the ground, trying to think through what she was doing then looked back at Spike.

“I only got an hour of sleep last night, because my mind had too many questions. I had to answer them, and so I rushed to my books” she said, motioning her hoof around the walls of books. “I’ve been trying to figure out why it was abnormally cold last night, and why the weather changed so suddenly. It is summer after all” When she had finished explaining, she stuck her head back into the book, continuing her intense reading.

Spike shook his head in a mixture of disgust and shame. Obviously staying up reading and in the cold had made Twilight ill, and he was the one who had slept in her bed, because he was a cold-blooded creature. He walked over to Twilight, and patted her consolingly on the shoulder. She lifted her head from her book once more, but her frustration turned to concern when she saw Spike’s face. Spike looked up at her, his mind setting on what he would say.

“You need to get some rest Twilight. Staying up all night in the cold has made you ill” he said, patting her softly on the shoulder again. “I’m not ill! I feel… Achew! I feel fine!” she said through her sneeze. Spike looked unconvinced, shaking his head. Twilight sighed, defeated by the cold. “Fine, I’ll go and have a nap. Can you clean this up for me while I’m asleep?” she asked, pointing to the books she had finished reading. Spike nodded, and as Twilight left, he began sorting the piles of literature.

Comments

[Dumakey93]

Very interesting beginning, the Nature element caught my eye. Having the characters vulnerable this early in the story is interesting. I like the concept of Nature being a source of conflict, rather than another character. I'm looking forward to more chapters!

[Silver Sea]

Pretty good so far. Tracking!

[Zoom Star]

426319 Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. I am going to have a few situations during the following chapters where Nature shows its teeth, as you say. But I also wanted to add the small twist which I hope you will enjoy. That said, I'm hoping to stay with the "Nature as an enemy" idea for this story.

426441 Glad to hear it. Thanks for the feedback.