The Long White

by The Real Darkness

How to Hunt

Kacie had finished sowing all he could, Roseluck had left an hour ago or something like that. No clock worked, at least not the ones around the castle, such a small observation really pointed to how much magic was intrinsic to Equestrian society.

The young ranger stood up from the bed, looking over himself in the mirror as an amalgamation of colors. Scarves sown together layered his arms and chest along with his legs like some kind of shoddy woolen bodysuit. He had cut a hole out of a blanket and shoved his head through it just to drape it over his body. The corner were binde3d with needle and thread so it could better cover him.

“I’m gonna need so many more things,” he sighed out to himself. With the light snowfall outside, he couldn’t be out too long in case it turned to a blizzard again, “not windproof, not waterproof,” he still walked out of the room he laid claim and back out to the foyer where he could see packaged and bagged vegetables being shoved next to the front door.

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"You know, I once read an interesting book which said that, uh, most people lost in the wilds, they, they die of shame. Yeah, see, they die of shame. 'What did I do wrong? How could I have gotten myself into this?' And so they sit there and they... die. Because they didn't do the one thing that would save their lives. Thinking." - David Mamet, The Edge

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He nodded with a smile, “good,” and left through the front door to greet the cold outside with absolutely nothing useful in hand.

The chill in the evening air met him, but what warmth the farther sun granted Equestria gave him some time before night came to try and extinct more creatures out. Kacie wasted zero time, leaving the castle and opting to search out home after home after home, trying to recall what he could about the ponies that lived there. Along the way, he was piling supplies in each home in a horribly organized stack in case Roseluck came by so she could easily see them and take them.

He was finding some valuable things as he went, firewood in some homes that he was also setting aside for later collection. Kacie did sneak some bites of cold fruits and vegetables as he went, making sure to hide the corpses of produce in snow outside. Starvation was his first enemy and searching for supllies his second. Being in and out of buildings helped to maintain his heat under all his fabric, but the light wind was still slowly knocking it from him.

Survive.

He finally came across a home that contained something he could use. A bow enthusiast’s home, rather that’s probably what their cutiemark was in. Targets were used as decorations on the walls, but to find what he hoped for Kacie had to search.

And of course, the owner took the good ones, but Kacie still found a decent wood bow with a good number of munition for it. He didn’t take count, pulling the quiver onto his hips and the bow into his hands, he left the home, swiftly returning back to Twilight’s abandoned castle.

“Bow, eleven arrows, some kind of clothing,” he breathed in, feeling a little wet at the scarves that now had cold water in them along with the ebanie he wore, “fuck. I’m gonna need to be conservative and find some tools for hunting and firewood, get everything ready.”

Roseluck entered back into the castle shortly after him, “what’s with the bow?” she wheeled a cart in and Kacie immediately ignored her question.

“No no, that’s not,” Kacie took off into the castle with no further explanation.

“Okay, bye?” Roseluck started to unload the cart of frozen produce.

“You’re not doing that,” he returned with a large sled from a storage room he had passed by and some rope. He pulled a tent stake out from under his elbow and a hammer as well, “a cart is a good idea, but it’s gonna tire you out, wheels aren’t meant for snow.”

“Aren’t you just a know it all?” The florist scoffed at him, shaking her head in agitation.

Kacie punched six solid holes through the edge of the sled using the tent stake and hammer. Then he strung rope through on the first two holes at the top of the sled on either side. He looked at the cart’s railing and took mighty wings of the hammer, knocking the wood loose and completely off.

“What the hay are you doing?!” Roseluck didn’t move to stop him, but her hooves stomped on the crystalline floor in worry.

The cart didn’t take too much damage, but Kacie only took two long pieces of lumber from it. He tied them to either side of the sled, hooked to the rope, “if I had the time, I’d hand drill you a hole for the rope so it’s more secure, but this’ll do,” and he created a loop on the other side of the lumbers, one that Roseluck could easily fit her head through, “wheels don’t work in snow. This, while it might be a horrible example of a travois, will be very efficient for you.”

“But my cart can carry more!”

“And how much do your hooves ache from trying to pull it as it got stuck?” He noted back and she went quiet, “listen, I know it might seem like I’m arrogant, but I’m doing these things for you, your survival. Wasting energy will make you eat more and mean we can’t live as long as we could.”

“And what would that matter?” She mumbled, “we’re bucked anyway.”

“I don’t believe that and if so, we can find a sustainable way to live. I um,” Kacie began to broach a hard topic, “did leave some produce stacked neatly in some houses so you can grab it easily. I do have a bit of a confession,” he broached, “I might have to have some fruits and vegetables now and again to supplement my own diet or I might become too feeble to do anything.”

“I see...just remember that it’s the only thing I can eat,” it wasn’t that she was ungrateful, but she was a bit prideful, “thanks, Kacie.”

“Just K, not sure how many times I have to tell you that. You asked about my bow, I uh...intend to go hunting as soon as I get some tools in my hands, and probably better in the morning.”

“Do you not have something to eat?” Roseluck asked, trying on the new piece of equipment made for her and pleased that it fit well enough.

“Some candy and snacks I picked along my way. These are what I’m eating first, they’ll go bad quick. I know you’ve done a lot today. I’m not gonna lord over you, your decisions are your own to make, but always make some decision,” Kacie spoke gently, revealing the stack of wrapped candy bars and other sweets in a pocket along with crushed bakery items in an unholy amalgamation that party ponies would convict him for or raise him as a genius.

“I’m...I’m done for the day,” she resolved, “I’ll go back to my own room,” she gathered some of the food and drink she ahd brought back, trotting up the stairs.

“Goodnight, Roseluck.”

“Goodnight K.”

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"The foraging for food and water, the struggle for life in a world without masters, housed in a body that man had made dependent on himself." - Richard Matheson, I Am Legend

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Kacie was tired, but he refused to just be a burden. He grabbed a simple kitchen knife, sharpest he could find. That late evening, he exited the crystal tree, bow in hand with an arrow ready. He was...competent enough in using it, but not an expert archer by any means, “let’s see if I can really walk my talk.”

He ventured far from Ponyville, heading into outskirts of where a river once ran freely. The water was fully frozen over, but he saw exactly what he wanted to see and he crouched low, staying behind a shrub line. He drew his bow back, letting an arrow loose into snow alone a couple of yards off to test his aim, letting it sink almost silently into the white powder.

Kacie retrieved it and began to advance toward the closest cervus, no antlers. He went from tree to tree, remaining as quiet as he could as the deer feasted on dried grasses for what little nutrition it had. He eventually had placed himself downwind, behind a tree, only twenty or so meters off, a bit of a challenging shot.

Lungs, go for the lungs.

He slowly crept out from behind the tree, pulling an arrow back and letting it loose as the deer raised it’s head to look about.

Schhthunk

He hit his mark, watching as the deer whined and galloped away, blood trailing it while fellow members of its herd scattered in a different direction. This was the relatively easy part.