Chapter 16- Blizzard
I had never experienced a storm like this before. It wasn’t the largest or most powerful I’d witnessed in my life, after all, I’d seen wild tornados escape from overwhelmed weather crews. But now there was no team of pegasi to stop the brunt force of nature, no option other than to hold on to the wooden floor of Hippe’s house, while the ferocity of the storm shook the entire tree. Desperately holding onto the wall, I could only try not to look as the floor tilted, and suppress the horrible thought that the entire house might just slip out of the branches into the roaring storm…
Never before had something made me feel this small.
Although the snow only beat against our walls, we couldn't stop the cold from slowly seeping in, clawing away at our strength while our breath turned to fog in the frigid air. Even Honeydew’s warm side did little to alleviate my stiffening limbs, aching more with every passing second, just like my alcohol-ridden head. And we couldn't even light the sizzlepit, not with how the tree was shaking. All we could do was endure…
It seemed like an eternity until the storms deafening roar became no more than a ghostly howl. I’d lost all sense of time, didn’t know whether it was still night, or even noon, I couldn't tell. Maybe I’d even fallen asleep. All I knew was that warmth suddenly crept into my skin, just as someone reached for my numb limbs, pulling me closer to a newly lit sizzlepit.
“Oh, thank Celestia!” I exclaimed as the warm glow embraced me, slowly melting the numbness from my body. Honeydew shot me a strange look, but then he sat down next to me, rubbing his freezing hooves together. I slowly put a hoof around his back, shivering at how cold it was, but I didn’t pull back. On the other side of the pit sat Hippe and Greenfly in much the same position, their thin, shivering lips shut tightly as they stared into the sizzling grass, as if urging it to burn quicker. “H-how long has it been?” I croaked, suddenly realising the painful dryness in my throat. Of course, alcohol dehydrates, and we hadn’t had much else to drink…
“I think the sun rose a while ago.” Honeydew muttered, shooting an anxious look at the door.
“We’ll go out in a bit.” Hippe said with obvious effort to sound unfazed. “Did you see if… if everyone made it?”
A painful silence grew between us as we all stared into the sizzling grass. Of course we couldn't answer her question, it’d been too hectic, with the storm reaching us only seconds after Kalypso’s warning…
“I haven’t seen anyone taken by the storm either.” Honeydew said, a bit louder than necessary. “We should remain hopeful.”
Yes, please! I gasped inwardly, looking up to the way he was raising his head, his feelers emitting a soft glow as he watched the door, a determined look on his face. I suspected he was just putting on a strong show for us, but by tartarus, it was reassuring to see. “Well, there’s no use in loitering around.” he said after another minute, his limbs creating audible pops as he got up. “Let us see what the storm has done.” With that, he pressed his hoof against the door. It didn’t move an inch. With a confused look, her stemmed his shoulder against it, while Hippe rushed to his aid. With combined strength, the door suddenly flew open, causing both breezies to faceplant into a bank of snow.
With a gasp, I rushed to help them out of their predicament, though I couldn't ignore what I saw from the corners of my eyes.
Several broken branches, victims of the ferocious storm, had either plunged down into snow banks on the ground, or got stuck in the tree. Icicles hung from several remaining branches, making us all exceedingly nervous as we stepped into the open, to join a few other breezies who were busy digging an entire treehouse out of the snow.
It was jarring. Just the day before, we’d been dancing out in the open. A few trees even had leaves left on their branches! Now, it looked like the deepest winter I’d seen in Equestria.
This wasn’t natural.
At least it seemed like everyone made it safely to their homes, as more and more joined us outside. Even a dozen breezies in the buried house soon joined us with thankful, but worn smiles. Judging from their blue lips and constant shivering, they hadn’t had any sizzlegrass in the house before the storm hit…
“Where is Kalypso?” Honeydew wondered, his eyes narrowed as he scanned the growing crowd.
“With the elder?” I suggested, looking up to the highest treehouse. Though covered with a lot of snow, it was still safely wedged between several thick branches. “Maybe we should fly up-”
But just then, the crowd let out a collective gasp as they parted, allowing a shivering Kalypso to emerge from the buried house, followed shortly after by elder Mormo. Kalypso still wore her ceremonial red stripes as she stumbled into the hooves of waiting breezies, her eyes darting around until they fell on us. “Twilight, Honeydew!”
We both rushed to her sides, helping her up. Her coat was icy. “Don’t worry, Kalypso, we’re here to help-” I began, but she cut me off.
“We need to get going.” she spoke in between the clattering of her teeth. “Back to our clan.” When Honeydew’s mouth opened to object, she made a sharp, cutting motion with her hoof. “The wind came from home. They need us back, now!”
“You need to warm up, still.” I said worriedly. Her pupils were dilating, like she was having an open-eyed nightmare. “Let us get you to a sizzlepit.”
Panting the icy air, Kalypso seemed to at least consider our words, while she scanned our surroundings. “This has been my nightmares for months…” she whispered as she took in the wintery landscape.
“I know.” I muttered the meaningless platitude as we carried her away from the crowd, back to Hippe’s home.
------
Minutes after we’d sat her down next to our sizzlepit, life appeared to seep back into Kalypso, her face regaining color as she devoured a piece of walnut like a hungry lion. Yet, her eyes never left the glimmering grass, as if she expected something to emerge from it.
“Are you better now?” I whispered as I sat down next to her, offering her a drink of water.
She gave it one quick glance before turning back to the smoking plants. “I still feel like my ears could fall off at any moment.”
“I-it doesn’t look like frostbite.” I said with a hint of optimism. “I don’t think we’ll be losing any part of you.”
“Great.” she muttered. Somehow, she made it sound like she was sour about it. “The storm, did anyone-”
“I think everyone made it.” I cut her off, offering a smile. “Thanks to you.”
In an instant, her expression darkened. “I didn’t-”
“You warned us.” I said sternly. “And that saved us. Don’t act like you didn’t do it.”
“I should’ve seen it coming sooner!” her voice rose. “I should have warned everyone, I had a bad feeling about Myrmelsday, if I’d listened to myself, it would’ve never gotten that close!”
“You had a bad feeling because you don’t like Myrmelsday.” Honeydew countered as he sat down on her other side.
“You don’t know that!” she shouted, her glare darting to him, then to me, then the ceiling. “I don’t know that!”
“We all made it, thanks to you.” I spoke softly as I placed my hoof on her shoulder. “Is that not enough?”
“No. Yes.” Grimacing, she rubbed her forehead in frustration. “We should’ve left before that.” she whispered through gritted teeth. “We need to get back to our clan!”
“Then you wouldn’t have been here to warn them.”
She whirled around to face me, nostrils flaring. But just a moment later, her expression softened and she let out a sigh.
“What… what did you see in that fire?”
Instead of answering, Kalypso closed her eyes, shaking her head. “Nothing that makes sense.” she finally said after a minute of silence. “A pond of ice, in some basin. I-I don’t know what it means. But it was cold.” A shiver went through her body. “Like the coldest of winters… I felt like a corpse.” She shifted closer to the sizzlepit, her hooves almost reaching into it, as if she was planning to burn the memory away.
“Mysterious, as usual…” I muttered, drawing a dry snort from her.
A knock came from the door. Honeydew went to open and was met with a whirl of snowflakes as Mormo stepped inside, giving Hippe a quick glance before focusing her attention on us. “Frindì Kalypso?”
“Elder Mormo.” Kalypso returned the greeting with a nod. “It is good that you came, we have something to discuss.”
“You wish to depart for your clan, I am sure.” Mormo said, giving her an uncertain smile. “We are preparing the sizzlegrass for transport as we speak, you can take as much as you want.”
“W-what about your supplies?” I injected, furrowing my brows. “Will you have enough to last a winter as… unnatural as this?”
“It grows around here, we have enough supplies to last us for two winters.” Mormo explained, the corners of her mouth twisting into a grin. And yet, her voice was shaking, her grin forced as she turned to Kalypso with a solemn expression. “We, uh… we owe you a great deal, Frindrì. Your warning saved many lives yesterday. And…” She shifted uncomfortably. “I have been a poor host.”
“You were looking out for your clan.”
“And the clan owes you now.” Mormo said earnestly. “If you wish for your honey to be returned-”
“As nice of a gesture as that is, I cannot accept.” Kalypso sighed. “We couldn't afford to carry it with us. With how things are now, we will need to carry as much of the sizzlegrass as we possibly can.”
Mormo’s face fell “So, there is nothing else we can offer you?”
“Nothing short of a miracle.”
After a moment of pregnant silence, Mormo spoke up again. “Are you sure departing from us is a good idea?”
“We have to. The clan depends on us. You should know that, Elder.”
“Yes, but…” she bit her lip. “Will you not use up the sizzlegrass just to get back?”
“No.” at that, Kalypso shot me a look. “I think we have another way.”
The elder gave me a short, confused glance. I merely shrugged, unable to suppress a small, knowing smirk.
“W-well… take from our supplies what you need.” Mormo muttered. “I- we all sincerely hope that you arrive safe and sound.” With that, she turned to leave, but froze just before her hoof touched the door. With a nervous look on her face, she faced Kalypso once more. “Uhm… would it be possible for me to receive a blessing?”
Kalypso blinked, taken aback by the request. “Uhm… okay…” she replied, throwing me and Honeydew a helpless look before placing her hoof on the elder’s forehead, right between the base of her feelers. Mormo closed her eyes as Kalypso recited: “M-may Frinjìon’s eye be upon you, may the wind bring you and you clan fortune and glory, and may- may the winter be a modest one.” She almost choked on the last sentence. “S-sorry, I’ve never done this before…” she whispered with a sheepish smile.
“N-no, thank you, Frindrì.” Mormo replied. “Come the thawing, our clan shall pay off our debt by sending you part of our supplies.” With that, she turned away, only stopping to assure us that our bundles of sizzlegrass would be ready whenever we decided to depart.
“A nice gesture.” Kalypso said darkly, her gaze returning to the sizzlepit. “But I wonder if we’ll be there to welcome it.”
“D-do you think it’ll be that bad?”
She gave me a long, conflicted glance. “It could-” with a sigh, she shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Come,” Honeydew whispered into my ear, pulling on my hoof as we left her to sit alone. “There is no point speaking to her when she is like this.”
“Like this?” I repeated.
“When she struggles to fulfill her role as a frindrì.” he sighed. “She burdens herself too much. Always has. A frindrì has the power to see things. But that seldomly comes with the ability to fix them. I don’t think she understands that.”
“She did see me in her visions.” I carefully pointed out. “So maybe there’s a chance.”
“Maybe.” he admitted. “We can only hope for the best. For now, we can only prepare for our way back.”
“R-right.” I nodded, glancing to Hippe. “I’ll, uh, see if I can scrounge up our supplies.”
------
There was a small procession of breezies following me, Honeydew and Kalypso as we made our way to the furthest branch of the tree, where Mormo waited for us with three large bundles of sizzlegrass, each enough to keep a small sizzlepit burning for two or three days. I suddenly felt a weight in my stomach as I wondered how that could possibly have enough of an impact if the winter was going to last for months...
I glanced to Honeydew, who took his bundle, awkwardly attempting to fasten it around his chest, as Hippe stepped from the crowd, holding the sizzlegrass while he tied the silky rope. “I guess that’s goodbye…” she muttered, giving him a nervous, cautious smile.
“Yes, it is.” he replied neutrally, his lips thin as she shook himself, checking if the bundle sat right.
I gave them a worried glance, unsure whether I should step in and reprimand him. Hippe seemed like she was about to say something, but then she simply nodded in defeat.
“You’ve never met Harpie.” Honeydew said unexpectedly, his gaze pointing to a spot a few inches left of Hippe. “She wants to see her biggest sister. You better be part of that group your clan is sending next spring!”
“I-” Hippe blinked, giving me a questioning glance, as if she wanted me to confirm that she heard him right. “Yes, I’ll be there. Promise.”
“And Skylla will tear you to pieces.” he added, a ghost of a smile appearing on his face, before turning to me. “Twilight, stop staring, we want to go!”
“R-right!” I gasped, tearing my eyes of the sibling as I fastened my own load, which I couldn't help but notice, was quite a bit smaller than Honeydew’s.
“We look forward to seeing you again, Frindrì.” Mormo said earnestly, barely sparing a glance at the rest of us.
“So do I. It would mean that both our clans made it through the winter.” Kalypso answered solemnly, before taking a deep breath of the cold air. We did the same, then we all stretched our wings and let the breeze begin to carry us home.
Hello again, dear readers, Obsi here. First up, I want to apologize that it took so long since the last chapter. It was an unfortunate combination of me getting sick, being burned out by the story a bit, work being frustrating (despite being remarkably short AND easy), and getting sick again.
I dearly hope that that stops now, as I want to bring you the best version of the story I can make, as quickly as I can ^^
Feedback is, as always, deeply appreciated, positive or negative. For example, I am not quite happy with this chapter, but couldn't say what's wrong, so if you feel the same, please give me a pointer to what the problem is. And if you don't, tell me that I'm just being paranoid 
Obsi, out.
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It's paranoia.
9569483
Hmmm. I think at this point Twilight should reconsider if this warrants turning back into her full-size self. Not necessarly do it, just think it through.
Because now, Honeydew's entire village is at stake. His family and friends. Lives are in danger. They need to get there as fast as possible. And what's a three-day journey for a Breezie is, at most, an hour long walk for a pony.
Honeydew already knows she's not a Breezie - he just doesn't know what her being a "pony" means. And he's going to ask about that eventually. (Though he may be somewhat distracted now.)
...Would he ever forgive her, if somebreezie was seriously injured or even died - and she could have prevented it, just like that?
How would Twilight feel, if some kind of ancient evil was raining down destruction on Ponyville/Canterlot, grievously injuring or even killing, say, Moon Dancer, Shining Armor, Miss Cheerilee, and poor little Pipsqueek - friends, family members, her neighbors, innocent bystanders - and throughout it all, the entire time, Discord had been right there, refusing to stop the monster even though he could just do so with the snap of a claw!? Even worse - pretending he couldn't do anything?!
Yeah... I can see Twilight having a nightmare like that - only, at the end of the dream, SHE is Discord and everypony is yelling at her for not doing anything.
Hmm. You've got a point there!
I just figured it'd be interesting for Honeydew to see things from Twilight's point of view for a change - that is, on an entirely different scale, in a body he's not quite used to. Imagine him, gobsmacked, staring down at the tiny flowers as a lone bee crawls in to get its nectar. Entire SILOS worth of honey, the equivalent of Breezie-gold, that he can suddenly pick up in one hoof, that would've fed every breezie in his clan fit-to-burst for a month... and he just emptied it in one sitting on a "sand-wich" Twilight made for him.
That sure puts things in perspective.
But you're right, tiny Breezie Honeydew X pony Twilight would be adorable.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/3/8/569560.png
...Though I must question the practicality of it. I imagine Twilight would put a number of spells on his frail little Breezie body to keep him safe.
#1: A tracking spell so Twilight doesn't suddenly have to organize a town-wide search for a Breezie in a haystack should he inevitably be blow away by a leaf or something.
So both have their pros and cons. In any case, here's how you could make both happen side-by-side:
The spell Twilight cast to turn herself (and her friends) into Breezies only works one way, for ponies. Her turning herself back means just canceling the spell. Finding the inverse spell matrix is like in math: Not immediately obvious.
Twilight would still need to spent time adapting the spell to work in the other direction. (She could ask Queen Novo to borrow her the pearl of transformation of course, but that would be awkward due to their history.
)
Either that, or Twilight's first attempt at turning Honeydew into a pony visibly starts to have a negative effect on Honeydew (maybe the spell interferes with a Breezies' internal magic?) and she aborts it, deciding to air on the side of caution and not try any transformation spells on him until she can figure out what the problem is and how to circumvent it, with certainty.
And there you have it - this way you can write about tiny Honeydew in a big pony world, and show him as a full-size pony later on as well with no contradiction.
Or, third option: Due to a Breezie's natural magic, any spell cast on him by Twilight keeps destabilizing after a relatively short time. (This is not so for Twilight's own Breezie-transformation, as it is her own magic that does it, thus no bio-magical internal conflict.) So she does manage to turn him into a pony pretty early on - but it keeps wearing off after like half an hour to an hour, after which casting it immediately again causes Honeydew physical discomfort. So this way you could switch between writing scenes with "big Honeydew" and "small Honeydew" back and forth instead of reserving one for later.
9600723
If you haven't seen this yet, I think you'll appreciate it ^^
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/56ae1e72-557a-4336-8154-96049a4e3ed7/dd1db06-d8334084-9096-43a0-8420-a1a948e323d0.png/v1/fill/w_1024,h_623,q_80,strp/pocky_by_kaleido_art_dd1db06-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NjIzIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvNTZhZTFlNzItNTU3YS00MzM2LTgxNTQtOTYwNDlhNGUzZWQ3XC9kZDFkYjA2LWQ4MzM0MDg0LTkwOTYtNDNhMC04NDIwLWExYTk0OGUzMjNkMC5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTAyNCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.6UzS0FLXvYXkzpWKUJvS1NP6hnpRwAU_Uppi6knqSV4
9601783
No I haven't!
Ah, who's the artist? DeviantArt makes it impossible to figure out from the image URL and filename these days...
9601920
Kaleido-Art, good friend of mine. We play TF2 sometimes :)
9601920
9544475
so, you two always been a good commenter, I'd like to ask you something:
This... adventure has, in my opinion, been as slice-of-life-y as an adventure can get. Now, the tags are exclusive, otherwise I would've used both. So, which tag do you think fits this story better?
Well, looks like we won't be meeting Sea Breeze now. Maybe come spring.
9604219
Adventure. Slice of life is lack adventure, not opposite or coplimentary. Life still happens (usually, in well written story)
9604219
This is how I view the Slice of Life vs. Adventure dilemma.
There are a few stories that contain only adventure, and jump from place to place at breakneck pace, and only take a break at the conclusion. There are also stories that are similar to episodes of MLP, where the conflict is interpersonal, and often self-contained within a few chapters. The Slice of Life stories.
But there are also Adventure stories that have slice of life elements. While the medium of feature-length movies has led many to get used to the frantic type of adventure, most of the great adventure stories I have read have been steeped in slice of life activities. A book series that comes to mind immediately is Redwall. (If you somehow haven't heard of the series, I can't recommend it enough.)
Basically, Slice of Life is the tag to use if there is nothing else applicable. Adventure overrides it. Like a dominant gene or something. I think you can even make Punnett squares with the tags.
Edit: I suppose the point is moot, since they now allow the tags to coexist for some reason.
Well it felt like the winter snow was a little bit longer than expected but it finally passed luckily there was no fatalities but apparently kalypso feels like they need to get going because of their Clan needs them back home so they had to prepare for everything and whatever the supplies they can hold but it looks like honeydew and Hippe are pretty in good terms with each other so that's a plus sign but anyway looks like they're on the way to the Village