Dominant Species

by DarkPhoenix

Shelter

Chapter 4: Shelter

Twilight lay in the snow under the sun with Applejack standing next to her, the gently falling snowflakes resting in her lavender coat. The sun, she loved how that word sounded in her mind right now. Just seeing the sun brought back hope to her.

Princess Celestia had somehow escaped the dragon. Where the solar Princess was, Twilight had no idea, but the sun being up meant that she had to be around, somewhere.

The sun being up also had another benefit. Twilight knew that there was no way they could stick around that cave for much longer. It may have provided shelter from the storm, but as a long term place it wasn’t viable. They could get all the water they wanted simply by melting the snow, but they had no way of getting food, and no vegetation would grow out here.

Traveling solely at night in a place like this, they wouldn’t get very far before having to stop and take shelter from the cold. There was a chance that, depending on where they were, they might not make it to civilization before succumbing to the effects of starvation. The sun being up meant it would be warmer, they could go further without stopping.

They needed to leave while they still had the strength to do so. Today would be the best option. Their bodies were still okay, not suffering any effects of starvation, though she could already feel her stomach grumbling without its breakfast.

She rolled over and stood up, seeing Applejack still standing there. “Come on, we have to tell the others.” Without waiting for a reply, she took off, back down the ramp and into the cave. She nearly slipped going down the snow covered rocks, but managed to hold her balance.

She could hear the clop of hooves coming after her as she rounded the corner. Everypony else was still sleeping.

“Girls, girls, wake up!” Twilight shouted, her voice bouncing off the rocks and amplifying.

“Twi,” Applejack said, putting a hoof to her face.

Fluttershy was the first to react, sitting bolt upright and looking around, wide-eyed. “Angel,” she said in a soft voice? She blinked a few times before she seemed to remember where she was. “What’s wrong Twilight?” she asked.

Twilight was too busy waiting for the others to wake up to answer. Instead she called again, feeling Applejack shove her as she shouted again. She felt her annoyance rise at the farmer, but quickly shrugged it off in favor of telling the others the good news. After waking them up, of course.

Pinkie was the next to wake up, with Rainbow right behind her. Both of them just sat up and rubbed their eyes, looking at the source of their disturbance.

The only one still asleep, somehow, was Rarity. Twilight was about to shout once more, before a hoof inserted itself in her mouth.

“No, sugarcube,” said Applejack emphatically. “No more shouting.”

Twilight glared at Applejack around the hoof in her mouth. The others had to know what was going on, what she had discovered. And here’s her friend, stopping her. She tried to speak around the hoof, to tell Applejack to knock it off, but all that came out was mumbled gibberish.

Just as she was about to use her magic, risking a headache in the process, to forcibly remove the hoof, Applejack slipped her hoof from Twilight’s mouth. Twilight sucked in a breath to tell her friend off, until the farmer shot her a glare of her own.

“Twilight, no. Stop shouting before I go deaf. If you’re so set on waking her up, let’s do it in a way that’s quieter.” Applejack went over to the sleeping fashionista. She looked around for a moment before turning and giving the wall a swift buck.

A pile of snow fell into the room through the hole in the ceiling. Applejack walked over to the snow and picked some of it up in a forehoof. She then unceremoniously dumped the snow over Rarity.

The reaction was immediate. Rarity scrambled backwards until her flank hit the cave wall, her mane dripping snow. “What’s going on? What happened?” she shrieked, her voice echoing around the cave and making everypony clamp their hooves to their ears.

“Quieter, huh?” Twilight asked, the sarcasm evident in her voice. Applejack just shrugged and returned a sheepish grin.

Rarity’s brain woke up then and she looked around at the faces of her friends staring at her. “Darlings, would somepony mind telling me who just dumped snow all over me?”

Twilight skipped right over Rarity’s question, deeming it extraneous, and launched straight into her explanation. “Girls, I have some good news.”

Seeing Twilight smiling and excited about something got everypony’s attention. “What is it?” asked Rainbow.

Twilight pointed to the hole in the ceiling with a hoof. Everypony except Applejack took a look outside.

“I don’t get it, it’s just the sun coming...” Rarity’s voice trailed off as the weight of what she had said registered with her.

“The sun,” Fluttershy whispered. If it weren’t for the acoustics of the cave amplifying everything, nopony would have heard her.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, the sun. It rose this morning.”

Pinkie looked at Twilight. “So then this means that...”

“Yes. This means that Celestia has to be alive somewhere.”

The news brightened the faces of everypony in the room. For the first time since they had been standing on that hill outside Canterlot, each of them were smiling. The sun rising was a literal beacon of hope.

Twilight was about to continue, when the cave exploded into noise as everypony started chatting about what this new development could mean. One thing it meant was that what Twilight said last night about the world ending because the sun and moon stayed where they were wouldn’t come to pass. That brought relief to everypony. That was one less thing they’d have to worry about.

The conversations died off as they all realized that despite the sun coming up, they were still stuck in the middle of nowhere after watching their capital burn and their friends die. Reality forced its way in and settled down in their minds.

Silence descended, broken only by the occasional rumble of somepony’s stomach. Each of them was beginning to feel hungry, though skipping one meal wouldn’t have much of an effect on them. Twilight figured that they had until tomorrow before hunger really started to take hold. Then the headaches would start, followed by lethargy. Then would come an inability to think at higher levels, a loss of basic reasoning skills. Their bodies would start to eat themselves, starting with their muscles. Somepony like Applejack who had more muscle than the rest of them would last longer than Twilight or Rarity who had very little muscle mass.

They would become delirious, unable to reason or think, unable to move. Eventually they would be forced to lie down and simply wait, wait to die or be rescued.

Twilight shook her head, banishing those thoughts. She had enough to worry about in the immediate future without adding to it with something that may or may not come to pass. Her musings were interrupted by the voice of Rainbow Dash.

“So Twilight, did you see where we were while you were outside?”

Twilight opened her mouth to respond before she realized that she had been so caught up in the sun appearing that she had completely forgotten to even check. With an exasperated sigh, she ignited her horn and tried to teleport outside. Now that she knew the layout and had seen it in the light, she felt confident enough knowing where to go.

Instead, though, all that happened was her horn fizzled out, the magic sparking around her. She must still be worn out from last night. Turning around, she galloped for the exit, her friends following behind her.

She pushed her way out of the cave and into the sunlight once more. The mouth of the cave was inset into the bottom of a hill. Climbing the hill would afford her the best vantage point, so as her friends emerged one by one, she galloped up the hill as best she could with the deep snow slowing her down.

She reached the top of the hill and looked around. All around her, as far as the eye could see, was snow. She glanced at the sun quickly, mentally determining what time it was and where the sun should be in the sky. With the sun still off to the east, the rest of the directions could be gathered.

To the north were some mountains, breaking up the mostly flat tundra. South of her was a wide expanse of snowy flatlands. Somewhere down the line, it looked like the snow was replaced with something else, but it was so far off she couldn’t see what is was exactly. To the east, towards the sun, was more fields of ice, only if she squinted, she could just make out a break in it. She wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but her best guess was the ocean.

Finally, to the west was, of course, more tundra, but this time something definitely stood out. Far off was what looked like a tower, breaching the surface of the endless plain. It was too far off to make out clearly, but something about it looked familiar. She squinted , trying to bring as much as possible into focus.

Her mind worked feverishly, bringing up any and all maps that she had seen of Equestria. When nothing matched the surroundings, she went outside Equestria. The Dragonlands, The Gryphon Empire, the badlands to the south, all were checked and rejected. Grasping at straws, she brought up one last map in her mind.

Suddenly, everything seemed to click into place. Quickly she did a full turnaround, overlaying each thing she saw, each landmark, with the map in her head. Her face brightened as she realized where they were.

“Girls,” she said, turning to face her friends who had gathered partway up the hill. “I know where we are!”

They looked up at her. “Well, where are we?” Rarity asked.

“We’re in the Crystal Empire, and just that way,” she pointed a hoof off towards the tower off to the west, “is the heart of the Empire.”

The others perked up at that news. They knew where they had been dropped off, and now they knew where to go to get out of this frozen wasteland. Twilight looked back towards the city. From this view it seemed like it was still in one piece, so nothing had happened here, yet. Which made sense, the Crystal Empire was well over a day away by train from Canterlot.

“How far away are we?” Applejack asked.

Twilight shook her head. “I can’t tell exactly from this distance, but it looks like...” she trailed off as she brought up the map in her head again. Once more she used what landmarks she could to approximate where they were. “It looks like we can reach it in three days if we start now. And we don’t get slowed down by anything.”

While they still looked excited at the prospect of getting somewhere civilized, three days was a long time to go without food. With luck they would be able to find something to eat along the way, though Twilight didn’t keep her hopes up for that. Her friends were quiet as the distance set in.

With a resigned sigh, she turned back to her friends. “Come on girls, we might as well head out now.”

“Right,” said Applejack. “No use in delaying the inevitable.” Twilight smiled, the farmer was ever the pragmatist, always ready to get started on something.

“Oooooh,” Pinkie said. “I wonder if when we get there they’ll have a fancy feast all setup for us? Or maybe we can throw them a ‘Yay we’ve arrived’ party? We can have cake and ice cream and candies and some of those yummy crystal berries they grow around here. I wonder if those berries are actually made of crystals, because that would be totally awesome if they were. Oooooh, and then it would totally be something that we could share with-”

Pinkie was cut off as her mouth was held shut with magic. Rarity, her horn alight, walked over next to her friend. “Pinkie, darling, I’m sure that there will be plenty to eat once we get there. But until then, no more talking about food, yes?”

The baker nodded her head, pantomiming something that Twilight didn’t understand. Rarity seemed to get it as her horn ceased glowing and she allowed Pinkie to speak again.

“Okay, so are we ready to head out?” Twilight asked.

“Umm,” came the voice of Fluttershy. “What about the elements?”

Twilight’s hoof met her face with a slap. In her haste to leave this place behind, she had forgotten about the elements. “Right, so we get the elements, then we leave. Any objections?”

Everypony shook their heads. Together they trotted back into the cave, where the elements were all still piled up on the floor. Each mare retrieved their own element, and lacking for anything else to do, put it on. Rainbow complained about the necklace creating drag when she flew, but otherwise it was a quiet affair.

Twilight stuck her crown on her head, before picking up Celestia’s jewel in her hoof. It would be too tiring to carry it with magic all the time, and she lacked a saddlebag. Her only option was to tuck it behind the crown.

She struggled with the gem, trying to get it where it would stay on her head without falling off. “Here, let me get that darling,” Rarity said.

Twilight felt the gem leave her hoof, safe in Rarity’s magic. With expert skill and precision, the gem was woven into her mane. When Rarity was done, Twilight shook her head a few times to test it out. She could feel the jewel still there.

“Thanks, Rarity,” she said.

“Think nothing of it darling,” the unicorn said before she walked away to join the others waiting for them at the mouth of the cave.

Twilight reached up and felt the weave, always fascinated at Rarity’s skill with her magic. She may have more power than her fashion-minded friend, but Rarity displayed a raw control over her magic that Twilight couldn’t hope to achieve without serious amounts of study and dedication. However, she could get done everything she needed to get done without sacrificing valuable time spent studying other things, so she had never bothered to learn precision control.

With the elements secure, the girls bid their temporary shelter farewell and headed out west, across the tundra. Twilight was in the lead, with the others following behind and Rainbow lazily flying above them. Twilight shook her head at her pegasus friend. Flying like that was just going to waste her energy faster. Even the speedster would run out of energy eventually, and flying would only make her hungrier, faster.

Not that walking through the snow was easy. In some places it was only up to their hooves and made no difference in their pace. In others, they were trudging through snow up to their knees, or their stomachs. This slowed them down considerably. Unfortunately, there was no way to tell just by looking what was deep snow and what wasn’t, so they just had to keep carrying on.

Every time they reached the top of another rise, Twilight re-aligned herself with the city off in the distance. Thanks to how the sun and moon worked, always rising in the direct east and setting in the direct west, and always moving across the equator of the planet, it wasn’t very hard to keep going even when she couldn’t see the city.

For the first part of the journey, they chatted with each other, just trying to keep their spirits high. But it seemed like every topic only reminded them of what forced them to be here in the first place. Topics regarding Ponyville or Canterlot, friends from town, or even family brought back painfully fresh memories.

Soon the talking faded out, and the only noise was their own as the moved through the snow. Nopony could find a topic which didn’t bring up something painful. Even Pinkie was having trouble, her normal non-stop talking slowing down to a crawl.

As the day wore on, they stopped occasionally for breaks, simply sitting down in the snow. Yet stopping meant that they would get cold, as the movement was keeping their blood flowing and them warm. So for the most part they simply moved.

The sun was at its highest when Twilight called for another break. Her stomach, which that morning had been at least somewhat quiet about its displeasure at being empty, was now being very vocal. She had skipped three meals now, dinner the night before, breakfast, and now lunch. Based on the sounds around her, her friends weren’t faring any better.

They sat on the top of a hill, soaking up as much warmth from the sun as they could. The breeze was starting to pick up and the clouds overhead were shifting. Twilight knew that the tundra around the Crystal Empire was much like the Everfree forest in that nopony controlled the weather. Not enough ponies lived out here to make it worth their time. That, and the crystal berries needed colder temperatures and snow to survive, so out here they just let it snow whenever it wanted. She had hoped that the storm last night was the end, but it seemed like it was going to start up once more.

The last thing they needed was to be stuck outside at night in a storm, again. So she resolved to go ahead and start looking for shelter as they moved.

She glanced over at the city. It still stood off in the distance, though after an entire morning of walking it still looked no closer. Distance was very hard to judge in a place like this. They could walk for a day and it would grow no closer, then it would appear right next to them, as if they had teleported. She knew they had made progress, even if there was no visual evidence to match.

With flagging spirits, they set out again, the break being short since they had nothing to eat. Rainbow joined them in walking, not even uttering a comment about how it was ‘uncool’ or something.

Twilight kept one eye on their course, making sure they were going to right direction. From this point on they would be heading into the sun. Her other eye was looking around, trying to find shelter.

As the day wore on, the wind picked up more and more, and flakes of snow began to fall, mingling with the ones kicked up by the wind. It would seem that they were in store for another storm like the night before.

“Girls,” Twilight said, looking over her shoulder. “We need to find somewhere to rest for the night.” She received nodded heads in response. With the addition of five pairs of eyes, they were sure to find something soon.

They marched on, heads held low against the wind. The weight of where they were and why they were there seeming to hold them down. Footsteps became shuffles, which turned into trudging. Twilight could feel a building pain in her head, a sign that her hunger was growing. Soon she would be suffering from a massive headache, one that wouldn’t go away until she ate. That headache would make it difficult to think, and would only get worse the longer she went without food. Already she could feel her brain slowing down.

The wind picked up even more, combined with a heavier snow falling. They needed to find some sort of shelter, soon. The temperature was dropping quickly and even when they were moving they were shivering. The cold, the hunger, and the general downtrodden spirits combined to make every step seem like a monumental effort. Still they kept moving, having no other choice.

Twilight looked behind her once more, seeing everypony struggling to keep going. As a result, she wasn’t watching where she was walking and stepped on a rock hidden under the snow. Her ankle twisted and she fell into the snow.

She struggled to right herself, fighting against swiftly growing panic, her limbs flailing about. One of her forelimbs collided with something. She only calmed down when a reassuring pressure was placed on her midsection.

“I got ya Twi,” Applejack said. Twilight felt herself gripped and pulled out of the snow.

Thanks, Applejack,” she managed to stammer out. Now she was absolutely soaked in snow and was even colder than she had been. Looking at her coat, she could swear she saw ice crystals forming as it froze. She sat there, shivering, as she reanalyzed her situation.

Now, more than ever, they needed to find some kind of shelter. Her being so wet meant she was at a much greater risk of freezing and hypothermia. She wasn’t sure how long it took her brain to conjure up that information, which was frightening. Her energy was almost gone, she felt so weak, but they had to continue.

“We should move on,” she said around her clattering teeth. She could see her friends looking at her with worried eyes. Summoning reserves of strength she wasn’t aware she had, she set off again.

As the wind and snow picked up, the light grew darker and darker, despite the sun still being up. Not even the sun was able to pierce through the storm and light their way anymore. Twilight was fairly confident she could keep them on course, at least until they found some sort of shelter. No matter how much she looked, she couldn’t see anything.

The odds of them finding another cave were infinitesimally small. It had only been through sheer luck that they had found the first one. It would seem like their only hope would be to dig a shelter of some kind.

Fortune was against them, though, as no sooner had she decided to simply dig something out on the side of a hill, than the deep snow ran out. Every hill was only covered in a light coating of snow, not even up to their ankles. The drifts in between the hills were being blown about by the wind, not piling up. Even as she thought about constructing something, she dismissed it. It would take too long to build something big enough to fit all of them, and whatever they built would be taken down by the blowing wind. They could use magic to help, but Twilight wasn’t sure if she would be able to concentrate through her headache.

Her mane was being whipped back and forth and she feared for the crown and jewel on her head. Their weight on her head was a small comfort. It let her know that her two precious objects were still there. Looking back at her friends, she bemoaned that her element was a tiara and not a necklace. At least a necklace wouldn’t blow off her head.

Finally, as the sun itself set and the world was cast into darkness, Twilight stumbled and fell. Her friends rushed to help her, only for them to find out why she fell. It would seem they had found a natural depression in the ground, one filled with snow. Twilight had stumbled when her hoof found nothing to support itself.

She was stuck facedown in a deep pile of snow, her flank sticking up in the air. She struggled to free herself, having no luck until somepony grabbed her tail and pulled. Flying up and out of the hole, which was shaped like her, she landed on the snow.

As she shook her head, she realized that this was just what they needed. They needed somewhere they could dig a hole in the snow. It was hard to communicate over the wind, but she waved her hooves in the air, calling her friends over.

“Girls, we have to dig a hole.”

“What? Why?” yelled Rarity over the wind.

“Because I don’t want to freeze to death!,” Twilight yelled back. “Just do it.”

Together they set out, gathering hooffuls of snow and tossing it up, letting the wind carry it away. The going was slow as the wind deposited almost as much snow as they removed. Yet they made progress, until they had a decent sized hole which would fit the six of them rather uncomfortably. They were all shivering and exhausted.

Twilight gestured to her friends, telling them to get into the hole. With questioning looks, they obeyed, leaping down. Twilight stood outside for a moment more, looking down at them. She knew what she needed to do, the hard part would be actually doing it.

Her horn lit up as she concentrated through her headache, through the cold, and through her exhaustion. She poured every ounce of willpower she had into this one task. Using her magic she picked up a pile of snow and squeezed it, compacting it until it was more solid, like a snowball only this piece was flat.

Sweat running down her face despite the cold, she could feel the throbbing in her head increase tenfold. She maneuvered the piece of snow until it was almost covering the hole. Finally she leapt down into the hole with her friends, before moving the piece to cover the entrance, leaving a gap.

As soon as the piece was in place, she released it and ceased channeling her magic. She lay in the snow, panting.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, checking on her friend.

The shy pegasus’ words barely managed to pierce the raging headache the unicorn was feeling. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just... just give me a minute.”

Inside the hole, they were all pressed up close against each other. They hadn’t had the time to make anything fancy, or even comfortable. It was simply a mass of limbs and coats.

Twilight could feel the headache recede a bit now that she was no longer using magic. It still throbbed quite painfully, but she could at least sit up and look at her friends.

“So you mind telling us why you had us dig a hole,” Rainbow said.

“It’s a snow cave. Just like the cave we stayed in last night kept us warm and out of the wind, so too will this one.” Twilight was surprised when Fluttershy spoke up. She knew the mare had survival knowledge, but not to that degree.

Looks of confusion and comprehension were scattered amongst her friends. “I don’t get it,” Pinkie said. “Snow is all cold and wet and mushy, how can it keep us warm?”

“The snow acts as an insulator. Our body heat will warm up the area and the snow will keep it in far better than if we were outside.” Twilight was able to speak up that time.

“Well then why leave a gap,” Applejack pointed out.

“Because we need air. If I seal it off, we’ll suffocate.”

All the confusion was gone, now replaced solely with comprehension. Everypony got it now.

“Wow, you really are a egghead,” Rainbow joked.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well this egghead is keeping us all alive through the night.” A particularly strong gust of wind blew outside, punctuating her sentence.

“Well then, allow me to say thank you, Twilight,” Rarity said. The others murmured their thanks as well.

“You’re welcome girls, now come on, let’s get some sleep.”

They each settled in, the shared body heat and the cave doing their parts to keep them warm. Space was lacking, so heads were laying on backs while limbs were tangled around each other. It was far from being comfortable, but they were so tired they wouldn’t care.

Twilight continued to sit up for a moment longer, watching over her friends. They were resting quietly, still shivering as the cave had yet to get warmer. The important part was that they were out of the wind and snow. So long as they stayed in shelter, they could survive the night. Though how many more days like today they could survive, she didn’t know. The cold, the hunger, the exhaustion, they needed to fix at least one of those soon.

Despite her exhaustion, Twilight found sleep difficult to find, her throbbing headache, the hunger in her stomach, the cold around her and the soft sounds of her friends as they, too, tried to sleep all contributed to her restlessness. Thoughts flitted back and forth through her mind, mostly over what they might find when they reached the city in the next few days. She hoped it would be sooner, as all around her the sounds of stomachs’ growling could be heard. A clinical part of her mind knew that a pony could go for several weeks without food, but she didn’t want to personally test that.

Slowly she could hear her friends descend into sleep, their breathing becoming slow and steady. Still she lay there awake. Rainbow’s head was on her back and she could feel her breaths stirring the coat there. The feeling was pleasant, knowing that her friend was right there.

The wind howled outside, as occasionally some snow would fall into their shelter. Since she was the closest to the entrance, the snow fell onto her. Not that she minded, much, as it was only one more annoyance that kept her from falling asleep.

Finally she could take it no more. Carefully she sat up, moving Rainbow’s head until it sat on the floor, making sure to not wake the pegasus up. There was just enough room in the cave for her to sit up. She took a glance outside, seeing the snow blowing about.

She was just about to lay back down, tired of watching the snow come down, when something caught her eye. Unsure of what it was, she watched for a bit longer. When the wind calmed down momentarily, she could see it. Something out there was glowing.

Twilight knew she should just ignore it and lay back down, but something inside her found the glow mesmerizing. The wind picked up and the light as lost amongst the swirling snow, but she knew that she’d seen it. And where there was light, there had to be somepony.

Her desire, her hope of food and warmth bade her to continue staring. The desire was so strong she couldn’t ignore it any longer. She had to know what the glow was.

She ignited her horn, sliding the cover back enough for her to clamber out. Her headache seemed to fade into the background, not increasing with the usage of her magic. As soon as she was outside, she replaced the cover and looked down the depression, the ditch, they were in.

After a moment, she was able to pick out the glow once more. It didn’t look too far off, but she was shivering rapidly. Leaving the snow cave had been foolish and stupid, she knew that. Wandering around in a storm like this would only get her lost and killed. Yet she needed to know what was out there. Even as she debated, she tried to run the numbers in her head on whether she could make it. It took her two tries before she got an answer. She needed to hurry.

She set off towards the light, making sure to walk in a straight line so she could find her way back. The closer she got, the more insistent the pull was, almost as if she was being led. After only a minute she could see the glow consistently, even when the wind was up. Another minute and the source of the glow became apparent.

A small house stood out there, the glow was coming through the window. Cautiously Twilight approached, peeking in the window. Inside she could see a fireplace, a fire going full blast. The place looked deserted, until somepony shifted on the couch in front of the fireplace.

Twilight had stumbled across a home, and somepony lived there. That meant there was shelter, warmth, and food. She wanted nothing more than to charge the door and bang on it until the pony inside opened it, but she wouldn’t abandon her friends.

She needed to get back to their hole and get them. Hopefully the pony inside would take them in for the night. Tearing herself away from the window, Twilight forced her legs to take her back the way she came. Soon, she was galloping, the promise of warmth and a fire lending her strength.

She ran back through the ditch, trying to remember where the cave was. Everything around her was dark and she couldn’t find the entrance. Panic set in almost instantly. She hadn’t marked the entrance before leaving, a stupid mistake. Her hoofprints in the snow were gone as soon as she took a step, so following her own trail was useless. Her only hope was to stumble upon the hole, somehow.

Wandering around in the dark, the cold was working to quickly sap her strength. She needed to find the cave, fast. Her hoof came down once more, only this time the ground beneath her gave way and she tumbled briefly before landing on something squishy, but not cold like the snow.

“What the hay!?” came a voice she recognized as Applejack.

“What’s going on? Did the cave collapse?” asked Rarity.

Twilight’s entrance had woken up everypony. They all tried to figure out what had happened as snow fell into the cave. The slab over the hole had given way at Twilight’s weight.

Twilight extricated herself from the pony pile. “Girls, I found a better shelter and you have to come with me.”

“You what?” Rainbow asked.

“Did you go out there by yourself?” Fluttershy seemed angry that Twilight would do something so foolish.

“You can berate me later, Fluttershy. Right now, just follow me.” Without waiting on them, she jumped back out of the hole.

Slowly her friends emerged. With the slab gone, their cave was quickly filling with snow and wasn’t a viable place to remain in the cold and snow. They had no choice but to follow her.

Twilight led them through the depression, following the glow. As soon as it became clear, she pointed it out. “See,” she shouted. “I found a home.”

She continued to lead them, the thought of being so close to a warm home overriding anything else in her mind. The icy wind bit at her, the falling snow nearly blinded her, but she hardly felt it anymore. Everything had been pushed aside. Finally they gazed upon the house.

Without preamble, Twilight marched right up to the door and started banging on it. She waited a few moments before banging again.

“Are you sure anypony’s home?” Pinkie shouted.

Twilight nodded, banging again. “I saw them through the window.” She banged on the door one more time before it opened.

Framed in the door was a pegasus mare, wiping at her eyes like she had just been woken up. When she saw the six of them outside on her doorstep, her eyes widened. “Oh my,” she said.

Her eyes traveled over each of them, seeing them shivering out in the storm. Without another word, she stepped aside and beckoned them inside.

Twilight entered the home, seeing a couch and a chair in front of the fireplace, with the fire still blazing away. Off to the left was a small kitchen, a table with three chairs set up by another window. Three doors led off of this room down a short hallway.

As soon as Fluttershy, who had been in the rear, came inside, the mare closed the door, sealing off the storm. Without the snow falling and the wind howling, it was suddenly very quiet. The mare regarded them all. They just sat on the floor, staring at her, waiting.

Now that Twilight could see her clearly, she could see that she had a cream colored coat with a soft blue mane. Her cutie mark was of a flower in bloom, a lily.

After a moment she gestured towards the fireplace. “Go on, get warm. Celestia knows what you were doing out there in that storm, but that can wait until after you’ve warmed up.”

“Thank you so much,” Twilight said before she went and sat in front of the fireplace. She got as close as she dared to the flames, feeling their heat across her body. The warmth gave her comfort beyond what the sun could that day. For the first time in a day, she truly felt like she was warm.

Her friends gathered around her, each of them sitting on the floor. She could hear the mare in the kitchen, but Twilight paid her little attention, instead focused on the fire in front of her. Melting snow dripped off her coat, puddling on the floor.

The flames danced as the burned, casting their flickering light over herself and her friends. Shadows moved across the room in time with the fire, keeping the beat of the dance. Her eyes were entranced with the burning logs, as if she had never seen a fire before.

The mare came back, carrying a tray on her back with six steaming mugs on it. Wordlessly, Twilight lifted one of the mugs, finding it full of a dark brown liquid. A hesitant taste proved it to be hot chocolate, one of her favorites. This one had a hint of mint to it, which she found favorable.

Sipping at the drink, she watched the mare deliver one to each of her friends before she took a seat in the chair, gazing at them. “So, I have to ask. Who are you and why were you out there during that storm?”

Twilight set down her cup, turning to fully face the mare. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends.” She introduced her friends, pointing them each out as she said their names.

“As for why we were out there, well...” She trailed off, unsure of where to start. It had only been a day since what had happened to Canterlot, and the odds were that the news hadn’t made it this far out yet.

She drew in a breath. “Have you heard about what happened at Canterlot yesterday?”

The mare shook her head. “No, I’m afraid I haven’t.”

“Ma’am,” Twilight started, but was interrupted when the mare held up a hoof.

“You’ve told me your names, only fair I tell you mine. I’m Swift Bloom, and this is my farm.”

“Farm?” Applejack asked. “What do you grow?”

“Crystal berries,” she answered. Her gaze returned to Twilight after flickering over to Applejack for a moment. “Now, I believe you were going to tell me something about Canterlot.”

“This is going to be hard to believe, but Canterlot was attacked last night.”

Swift Bloom’s raised an eyebrow. “You’re right, that is hard to believe. Who would be foolish enough to attack the Princesses?”

“I’ll tell you,” Twilight said. “But it will be a lot easier if you let me speak without interruption. I promise, you can ask all the questions you want when I’m done.”

Swift Bloom nodded. “Very well.”

Twilight launched into her tale. She started from when she first noticed the light in the sky, to her meeting with the Princesses about the light. She told the mare about how nopony knew what it was, how all they could do was wait and see what would happen.

She took a moment to steel herself before getting to the previous night. She spared the mare many of the gory details, but she told her how they had gathered, and how the dragon had wiped them out. She spoke of Celestia sending them out here, and of how they’d spent the last day trekking through the wasteland, until they came across her home.

It wasn’t the best telling, and she had left out a lot of details, but she wanted to spare the mare as much horror as she could. Already she could see Swift Bloom struggling with something. And for Twilight, it was the first time she had actually admitted some of these things out loud. She had been avoiding it up until now, as if talking about it would make it real. Now, though, she had to speak, to acknowledge what had happened so that someone else could perhaps understand.

As soon as she finished, the room lapsed into silence except for the crackling of the fire. Fluttershy had kept herself busy stoking it during the retelling, occasionally adding another log from a stack in the corner.

Swift Bloom remained quiet for a moment, seeming to mull things over in her mind. Finally she spoke. “I know who you six are, everypony knows of the Elements of Harmony. I just never knew what you looked like before now.” She paused, her gaze traveling over the mares in front of her. “But coming from six freezing, well known mares who’re all the way out here, I don’t see this as being anything but true.” Her stare shifted to the floor. “So this means that...”

Twilight nodded. “Canterlot is destroyed, Princess Luna is gone,” Twilight felt her voice giving way. She was forced to stop and take a deep breath to steady herself. “And we were sent here by Princess Celestia for some reason. Oh and Equestria has been invaded by an interstellar dragon.” She forced a smile at the mare.

Swift Bloom sat back in her chair, her limbs going slack. “Wow,” was all she could say.

Twilight stayed quiet, letting the mare come to grips with everything. It was a lot to take in all at once, and she had just dumped pretty much everything on her at once. She wasn’t surprised that Swift Bloom needed some time.

Swift Bloom looked about to say something, when they were interrupted by one of the doors opening. A little filly with a darker cream coat and a navy mane came out and stopped, looking at her home full of strangers. Her eyes went wide, until she spotted Swift Bloom sitting in the chair.

“Mommy, who are these ponies?” she asked, her voice quiet and fearful.

Swift Bloom smiled. “They’re travelers who got lost, sweetie. Now why are you out of bed?”

“I hafta go to the bathroom,” she said. Then without preamble the little filly opened another door and went inside, closing it behind her rather quickly, as if she wanted a door between her and the strange ponies.

Swift Bloom turned back to Twilight. “My daughter, Berry Fields,” she said. “I’m sorry, she’s not the most sociable.”

“It’s okay,” Twilight said.

“Miss Twilight, please, don’t let my daughter know about...”

Twilight held up a hoof. “I won’t.”

Swift Bloom thanked her with her eyes as the sound of flushing came from the bathroom, quickly followed by running water. The door opened and a little head peeked out. “Mommy,” came that soft voice.

“Coming, sweetie,” she replied. She got out of her chair and went over to the filly. “It’s okay dear, they just got lost in the storm and needed someplace to stay tonight. They’re nice, I promise.” She guided the filly back to her room, the both of them disappearing through the door.

Twilight waited for Swift Bloom to reappear. She could hear her friends shuffling about as they tried to stay awake. Rainbow wasn’t even trying, having laid down during Twilight’s story and was now sleeping on the floor. Rarity, once she was properly dry, had moved to sit on the couch alongside Pinkie, whose mane, despite being dryer, was still hanging nearly straight. Fluttershy still tended to the fire while Applejack simply sat with Twilight.

After a few minutes, the door opened again and Swift Bloom came out. She gently closed the door behind her before getting back into the chair. “Sorry about that,” she said.

“It’s no bother,” Twilight responded. “We’re the ones intruding.”

Swift Bloom waved a hoof in the air. “After hearing your tale, putting you up for a night is the least I can do. I’m afraid I can’t offer you more than this room though.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I promise, we won’t disturb you or your family.”

“Oh it’s just me and Berry.” She looked down for a moment, regarding the floor. “My husband passed on last year.”

Fluttershy looked over. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry to hear that,” she said.

“Thank you,” Swift Bloom replied with a grateful smile. Suddenly she let out a yawn. “My apologies, but it’s quite late.” She gestured around with her hoof. “Feel free to make yourselves comfortable anywhere you like. I’ll see about finding a few extra blankets or pillows.”

She got off the chair and headed into the one door which hadn’t been opened yet. Twilight watched as her friends got settled. Rarity and Pinkie simply laid down on the couch, while Applejack curled up on the floor by the fireplace. Fluttershy stretched out on the rug between the couch and the fireplace.

Swift Bloom came back out, carrying a large pile of blankets and pillows on her back. “I’m afraid I could only find a few of each, but the fire should keep you warm, and you can use the pillows from the couch as well.” She set the pile down on the floor before regarding Twilight.

“Miss Twilight, we were going to go into town in the next few days for supplies, but I think we can bump that up to tomorrow. You’re more than welcome to join us.”

“Oh no, we can’t disrupt you like that.”

“It’s not a disruption. I know how to get there safely and quickly. If you simply wander around out there, you’re likely to get hurt. I can’t have that.” She smiled down at her for a moment, her smile then fading. “And if what you say is true, then this might be a good time to go visit my parents in the city.”

Twilight thought about that. Would going to the city be such a good idea? If this dragon really was here to conquer or destroy everything, a gleaming city would be at the top of its list. She almost thought that way out here in the middle of nowhere would be the safest place to be. Sure the city had the shield, powered by the Crystal Heart, but given what she had seen, not even that could stand up to the power of the dragon for long.

She considered bringing this up with Swift Bloom, but something the mare had said stopped her. Swift Bloom had mentioned going into the city for supplies. If that was true, and she had no reason to believe she was being lied to, then asking them to stay out here was unfair. The best solution would be to accompany them into the city and see what was going on. Surely by the time they got there, then news would have arrived and they could figure out the current situation. If things seemed dangerous, Twilight resolved to track down the mare herself and tell her to leave the city. She didn’t want to risk the lives of a family on conjecture alone, she needed to make an informed decision.

Twilight nodded. “Of course.” She cleared her throat. “We’d be honored to accompany you, Swift Bloom.”

Swift Bloom smiled once more. “Very good. We’ll leave tomorrow morning. Good night,” she said before heading back to her room.

Twilight looked over to the pile of blankets and pillows, seeing one of each left. Pinkie and Rarity were sharing a blanket and using pillows from the couch, as was Fluttershy with her own blanket. Applejack had refused both, and Rainbow was already asleep, leaving what was left for Twilight.

Grateful, she took a pillow and set it under her head, covering herself with a blanket. The warmth and sound of the flames quickly lulled her into sleep, a sleep riddled with dreams of unseen forces chasing after her.

Author's Note:

Edited once more by Sasha Nein

Any mistakes are my fault and not his.

Anyway, it's been way too long between chapters. I'll try and not make y'all wait over a month again.

Comments

[Sasha Nein]

All those words... They so good...

[TheAspiringWriter93]

I'm really liking how this is written. It's not too short, not too cut-and-dry, but it's not wordy either. It's paced pretty well, even despite my previous comment in chapter one about it seeming to be rushed. I take that back: this is progressing rather well. I'm rather anxious about all the mysterious shit that was dumped on them just before Captain James Celestia Kirk hit warp factor "whut?" and sent them into the middle of ice-cream land. What is this gem with the intricate designs on its' surface? Is Princess Luna actually dead? And what of Shining Armor? I recall there being a slight glow about his horn before his "demise". Maybe he made the jump as well? These things and more will be read...

IN THE MORNING!!!
Cuz Ah'm fuckin' tired, yo...

[Widow Peak]

Well, at least they are safe. As safe as they can be with that star dragon roaming the land.