"See ya in the morning, boss," Strong said as he put on his coat.

"Strong, wait up." His boss, Rolling Stone, came over to him. "Strong, before you go, I need to give you something."

Strong raised a brow as he turned back. "What is... it." Strong could see what he was being given, but he just couldn't believe it. "Aw hay no, no."

"I'm sorry, Strong," Rolling said as he handed Strong his final payment. "We're laying you off."

"Stone, come on! There has to be twenty other guys that deserve to lose their jobs, so why me?!" Strong questioned in frustration.

"Look, Strong, don't make this harder than it has to be," Stone sighed. "I don't decide who stays and who goes. You know how these upper class flankholes work. More money for you means less for them. Just... I'm sorry."

Strong huffed as he snatched the check and his paperwork. Without another word, he flipped on his hood and went out into the downpour. He battled through the harsh winds and the rain that felt like pins against his exposed hooves. The coat didn't do much but keep his back dry, and his papers were getting soggier by the second. It was a long trek through the market to get to the outer rim of Ponyville, and the enormous puddles, freezing rain, and powerful gusts only made it worse for him.

"It had to be today they laid me off," Strong grumbled. "And after a third shift, damn flankholes."

A runaway branch tangled between his hooves, and when he jumped from the sudden thunder his face met a very shallow puddle. Cursing, Strong pulled himself up and rubbed the sore spot on his snout. The tickling feeling of blood began to travel through his snout, which in turn mixed with the rain and mucus accumulating. He sneezed a mix of the three and trotted the rest of the way to his house. He fumbled with the keys for a moment before he could find the right one, and in the back of his mind wondered why he had so many keys.

The lock unlatched, and Strong stepped in and slammed the door shut out of partial anger and eagerness to get out of the rain. The tiring trot back home made him slump against the door, and with a sigh he fell all the down to the floor. He had worked at the Stone and Hammer Construction & Demolition company for eight years straight. He was manager of construction jobs and pony resources. There were no other jobs in town that could replace it, and upkeep his house.

Deciding to hold off job hunting for tomorrow, Strong threw his coat on the rack and went to the bathroom. The blood in his nose hardened from the freezing winds so all that was left to do was clean it out and take a nice warm shower. He was absolutely tired from the three shifts his boss made him go through, and the jog back home only tired him out more. Drying off went quickly, and he jumped into bed. The check would keep him in the house and buy him food for another week or so, but he needed a job before then.

"Damn it, Rainbow," he chuckled. "You said it was going to be a storm, not a damn hurricane."

He shook his head and shifted onto his side, catching a glimpse of lightning arcing through the sky before he shut his eyes. The thunder boomed over his house, and he couldn't help but smile as he remembered the times as a colt he would hide under his pillow. Now, though, thunder was just plain awesome and sometimes funny to get scared by. His mind began to drift away from the memory, and soon he was losing consciousness. Sleep overtook him, and his mind receded for some rest.

But it was only an hour later when he woke up coughing. His breathing came out ragged and suppressed; almost like he was choking, although he wasn't. He gasped as he looked around his room.

The whole thing was ablaze.

Smoke hit the ceiling and made a cloud not too high above his bed. He threw himself out of bed and got low to the ground, still coughing badly. The ceiling began to collapse on him as he trudged on the rug of his home, which would soon catch fire from the walls. A chunk of debris crushed his bed behind him, and more began to destroy the cologne and knick-knacks on his dresser. Once he was out of his room, he pushed himself onto his hooves and galloped down the stairs. He was about to leave before he remembered two things he needed to get.

The first was in the kitchen, and he ran as fast as he could through the blazing fires. The fur on his hooves got singed as he jumped through a wall of fire to get to his kitchen. The fires had just reached it, so he was given a short break from the intoxicating fumes. He quickly rummaged through the drawers and tossed out the utensils and plates as he searched madly. He finally found the priceless antique.

His mother's horseshoe.

He bit it and jumped back into the fires of his living room. The shelf of books was being turned to ash, and the smoke was finally getting to him as his vision began to blur. Steeling himself and taking a deep breath, he galloped back up the stairs and to his room. There were beams of burning wood all over the floor, and he hastily went around them and to his nightstand. The check that would keep him going for however long it took was somewhere in it. Just as he reached it the ceiling collapsed on top of it, and crushed the entire thing.

Strong cursed mentally and stomped his hoof angrily as he made his way back out. The fires had destroyed most of the hall, and he knew it wouldn't be long before the gas lines were affected. With that in mind, he let go of the breath he had been holding and made a final effort to gallop down the stairs. The door was right next to the loft, and right after he bucked the door down a large mass of smoldering wood fell on his back. He screamed and flailed under it as his skin burned and his body pressed into the ground. The horseshoe bounced into the street, out of harm's way.

Strong turned under the pile of wood, burning his side and stomach in the process, and got his hooves under it. They too were burned as he pushed with all his strength to get it off. He was far too tired and lightheaded from the smoke, but he managed to get it off his body enough to give him room to shimmy, and soon he was inching his way out the door. With a quick push, he escaped his would-be coffin as it collapsed, along with the threshold. Strong once again found himself in the freezing cold rain, and he could only stare at his burning home one last time.

Sounds of metallic clanking reached his ears, and no sooner was his house caving in on itself. He moved away as blazing pieces began to fly off from the miniature explosions in his home. He bit the horseshoe and got back onto his hooves, limping a little from the pains. His leg had a number of splinters in it, and he was sure something wasn't right, but for now he worried about shelter. The only place he could go was Lightning's house, which was on the other side of town. He gasped as he remembered another friend who could help. One that wasn't as far away as his buddy.

Please be awake, Twilight.

He started his limp to the library. He wasn't sure how, but the storm had gotten worse than it was before. The rain pelted him mercilessly, and the winds pushed him around like overgrown stallions. The freezing conditions made him shiver and his teeth chatter. It did nothing to shake the drowsiness of overworking and his first journey home. Now, though, he had to go slower so as to not damage his hind right leg completely. Each step elicited a grunt from him, and a shocking pain from his midsection.

He was strong, but not super strong. He was nothing like Big Mac, who could probably shake this off like nothing. He was battered, burned, tired, and as of now, homeless and jobless. His body went on autopilot as he passed by houses and bending trees that looked as if they would snap from any more powerful gusts. With each step he grew weaker and weaker, the rain drenching him and drowning his hooves in ice water. As it did in the winter, the below-freezing temperature froze the water on his face, locking it into an endless shiver. Even as storm rocked his body in force, he looked up and saw the overgrown tree in sight.

A weak smile came across his iced muzzle as he willed his body forward. He dragged himself the last block down and stood in front of the door. The lights were off inside, but that didn't deter him one bit. Raising his trembling hoof, he finally knocked on the door. The seconds ticked on and there was no answer, but that still didn't discourage him. He brought his hoof up again, and this time knocked harder and more consistently, cringing with each hard knock.

Upstairs, Spike was snoring when he heard the loud wooden knocks over the beating rain. He smacked his lips a few times as he sat up, unsure if the knocks were just his imagination or if they were real. When they came again, he groaned and slunk out of his bed. He stumbled over to Twilight's bed and tugged her mane gently. The mare mumbled incoherently as she shifted her position on the bed. Spike tugged harder on her mane, and in response her tail smacked him. He sighed as he stood at the foot of her bed.

"Twilight, the princess has a test for you," Spike said loudly. The mare leaped out of bed and frantically looked around.

"B-but I haven't studied yet! I can't-" when Twilight took a moment to look around the dark room, she sat on her haunches. "Spike, don't do that. What is it?"

Spike yawned as he climbed back into his small bed. "Somepony's knocking on the door," he mumbled.

"Spike, it's pouring outside," she reasoned. "No pony would be... outside right now." She yawned a second time as she made her way back to bed, but she stopped when she heard the loud knocks.

"Told you," Spike sleepily said.

"And you couldn't get it?" Twilight groaned.

"You're the one who said I can't be up when it's this cold out," Spike countered. Twilight groaned and slipped into a nightgown before heading down.

Who in their right mind would be up right now? It's pouring and...12 o' clock. This better be really important.

As she went down the stairs the knocking started coming again. "I'm coming," she called grumpily. "Okay, what do you-"

She stopped dead as she saw Strong standing there, soaked to the bone, and freezing with his teeth clattering. He fell forward and into her home as the last vestiges of his strength petered out.

"Strong!" Twilight shouted. She dragged him inside and shut the door behind him. She quickly looked over his burned back and the splintered leg. "What happened?! Strong? Strong?!"

Spike, who had heard Twilight's frantic shouts, rushed down to see what was happening . "Twilight what's... who is that?" he asked as he came down.

"Spike! Get me a blanket, some towels and the first aid kit!" she frantically told him. "Hurry!"

"Okay!" He ran back up the steps to retrieve the required items.

Twilight levitated Strong onto the couch and rested him carefully on the cushions. "Oh Celestia, what happened?" she whispered. He wasn't responding, and it was worrying her. There wasn't a single hospital or pediatrics she could go to at this hour.

"I got'em!" Spike shouted as he came down. He set the items down next to Twilight. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," Twilight sniffled. She immediately got to work removing the charred splinters from his body, and she noticed his leg had a bone sticking out of place. "Spike, get the bandage wrapping."

The young drake nodded as he hurried off to find them. Twilight wiped the tears away from her eyes as she worked to try and fix him up. The burns he had were nothing like the ones from the omelet, but she still casted a few frost spells to keep them cool. Spike threw away the bandage wrappers Twilight used for his splinters and started a fire for him. Twilight had some knowledge on first aid assistance, and she was only doing what Fluttershy did for a deer once with a broken leg. She cringed every time she heard him grunt and wince in pain from the tightening of the bandages.

"Please be okay," she whispered. "Please be okay."

"Twilight, who's he?" Spike asked.

"His name's Strong Spirit," she sniffled. "Spike, thank you for helping. Just go to bed."

"You sure you don't need any more help?" Spike said as he came closer. Twilight nodded and put Strong's leg on a pillow.

"I'll be fine, Spike," she smiled past the tears. "Just go to sleep."

Spike gave her a reassuring hug and did as she told. Twilight looked over Strong's battered body again, much of his fur singed at the ends. She looked at his face, which was just as burned as the rest of him. From the corner of her eye she noticed a glimmer by the door. She levitated the object closer and saw it was a horseshoe. It was too small to be Strong's, and Twilight didn't have a hoof big enough for it. She decided to leave it on the desk on the other side of the room.

The thunder boomed outside, and Twilight stayed where she was. Until sleep finally claimed her.

The next morning, the first thing a crowd of ponies noticed was a heap of charred wood and stone. A group of guards had cut the area off from the crowd, and some were already searching for any bodies.

"Somepony's luck, am I right?" a stallion in the crowd sighed.

"I hope no pony was in there," a mare said.

A certain green stallion with a two toned green mane held a neutral gaze. "That'll teach you to lay your hooves on me," the stallion muttered under his breath.

Not too far from the sight, the Golden Oak's Library still hadn't opened yet. Inside, Strong struggled to keep sleeping, but the pain in his leg and the weight on his chest were too much for him to ignore. His eyes trembled open, and the first thing he saw were books. The whole room had shelves carved into the walls to hold the thousands of books stored there. He could see a fire still burning in a fireplace, and the flames jump started his mind.

The fire... my house. I went... to Twilight's house.

He could feel his leg aching, and as he went to look at it his snout bumped into a horn. Confused, he moved his head back and wriggled his way into an elevated position. Lying on top of him, and snoring, was Twilight. He instantly remembered passing out in front of her, and with his bandages he guessed she must have fixed him up. As he tried to move his way out from under her, he grunted loudly from the pain that shot through his leg. Twilight's ear twitched, she gasped, and within a second she pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Strong!" she exclaimed. She clutched him tightly and while he laid there; confused. "You're okay!"

"Yeah," he grunted. "Twilight, you're-"

"Sorry!" she quickly said as she got off of him. "I was so worried about you! What happened?!"

Strong sighed and sat up, causing the horseshoe to slip of his chest and onto the floor. "Crap, ngh... pass me that," he pointed to the metal shoe. Twilight levitated the object back to him, and he let it rest on his chest.

"So, what happened last night? Why were you outside? And like... this" she asked.

Strong sighed again as everything came back to him. "I was sleeping when I woke up and just started coughing. My house caught on fire." Twilight gasped after he said this. "I tried to get out, but I ran back in to grab this and my pay. Before I got out the door a chunk of wood fell on my back, and I had to lift it off me so I could escape. I didn't know where else to go... so I came here."

"Doesn't your home have a magic lightning rod?!" she exclaimed as she sat beside him on the couch. "You could have died!"

"I know," he sighed. "As for the rod... maybe it malfunctioned or something, I don't know. But now I don't have a house, and my boss chose the perfect time to lay me off."

He lowered his head and fiddled with the horseshoe to calm his nerves. "I'm so sorry," Twilight said as she put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Don't be," he sighed. "So, no house, no job, and no check. How in Celestia's name am I gonna pay for a broken leg at the hospital without that check?"

Strong would have thrown the horseshoe if it didn't mean so much. "I could help you," Twilight offered.

"Twilight, I couldn't," Strong said. "You've already done enough by helping me."

"Strong, you said it yourself," she said resolutely. "You can't pay for it, and as a friend it wouldn't be right to leave you like this. You can have your leg fixed, and you can stay here until you're better."

"But-"

"No but's," Twilight said. "It's either this, or Pinkie will make you sleep in her spare room."

Strong knew about Pinkie's wild parties, especially at night. He sighed in defeat, and smiled at Twilight. "Alright. Thanks, Twilight," he smiled.

"You're welcome," she smiled as she gave him another hug. After realizing what she did, she quickly flushed a bright scarlet and pulled back. "S-so, um, let's get you to the hospital!"

Strong nodded and sat up slowly. "Yeah, come on, help me up," he grunted.

"Oh good, you're awake," Spike said as he came down. "Twilight did a good job of taking care of you, huh?"

"Yeah, thanks again, Twilight," Strong grinned. Twilight blushed less profusely this time and smiled back.

"I just did what Fluttershy showed me," she smiled. "Now come on, we have to get your leg checked out."

Author's Note

Revision time! Remembe guys, if you like the story, make sure you like, fav, and have an awesome day or night! Peaces!