Chapter 1: A Most Peculiar Visitor, on a Most Dangerous Night

It was cold in ponyville. And by cold, I don't mean the typical cold you would expect in a typical Equestria cold snap. This was really, really cold. Twilight shivered a bit as she looked out the window at the white haze that was all that was visible out of the window of her current residence in the lower levels of the Ponyville library, and reflected on precisely how cold it was. Absently using her magic to stoke the fire that was her primary source of heat, taking great care to ensure that no embers would escape the enchanted device, she stared out into the white void and sighed, recalling the conversation that led to this situation...
--oo00&&00oo--

It had been six days earlier, and Twilight sitting with a steaming cup of hot cocoa, going over the final preparation of the organization for this year's winter wrap up. With only a few weeks left until the ceremony, she had to be sure everything was in order so she could begin the pre-pre-organization preparation checklist for each team. She was just taking a sip of hot cocoa when her ear twitched, a sure sign of a new proximity spell she had placed around the library. A proximity spell targeted to a very specific individual, one who seemed rather fond of breaking skylights. Sure enough, the twitch in her ear was followed up by a soft cry, one that she quickly recognized as the yell of one of her best friends: pegasus, element of loyalty, and all around speed demon Rainbow Dash. With a sigh, she magicked open the usual skylight that Rainbow typically fell through when her training maneuvers began to get a bit more 'spirited,' and deftly summoned a pair of pillows to the spot on the floor that had been marked with a small 'X.' As the cry grew louder, she smiled to herself, congratulating herself on taking the time to research the set of spells that made for a safer landing for her friend, and for coming up with a plan to properly cast them with enough time to catch her before she broke through her ceiling. Again.

A brilliant plan, for sure, but it was foiled, sadly by the fact that, once again, the technicolor pegasus decided to fly in the face of statistics. Instead of coming in through the window she decided to plow right through the front door, slamming it open with enough force to cause it to come loose from one of the hinges, and for several books to come rattling off their shelves and onto the floor. The pegasus didn’t simply stop there however, her cry continuing as she continued to randomly fly around in circles, despite the continued protests of both Twilight and her draconian assistant. It took a rather liberal application of magical power and the weight of Spike on her back to slow her down long enough to even see her properly, and what Twilight saw wasn't pretty. Her eyes were wide and panicked, her breathing far heavier than would have been expected, even given the exertion, and her whole body was tensed. Twilight quickly recognized the signs for what they were, a fight-or-flight response causing a surge of adrenaline, preparing a pony for immediate action. It was apparent that Spike also seemed to recognize her state, even from his position on her back, as he quickly hopped off her back only to stand next to her laying a calming claw on her shoulder.

"Hey Dash, calm down, you're going a mile a minute here. You okay?" Spike said softly and calmly. It was fortunate, Twilight guessed, that he had some experience dealing with rather agitated ponies. She was willing to admit, on more than one occasion she had worked herself up into a panic very similar to this before, though it was far more in the realm of her admittedly somewhat obsessive personality than it was in the realm of the rather relaxed Rainbow Dash. This immediately cause Twilight no small amount of concern; anything that would bring Rainbow to this state was likely something serious, and as a friend, she was determined to help.

"Yeah Dash, what’s wrong? Has something happened?" She asked. Immediately Dash's agitated state heightened again, as she began to panic again.

"Has something happened?! Has something happened?!?! Yes something has happened! Something terrible has happened! The worst possible thing that could possibly happened has happened, that’s what's happened!" She started waving a piece of paper around in her panic. "The most terrible awful thing that could possibly happen ever is happening right now and... and..." with that, her hind legs gave out under her, and she collapsed to a sitting position on the ground, still out of breath. Twilight gently took the paper from her hooves and smoothed it out, reading carefully. the further along she got, the wider her eyes grew, until she got to the end, then scanned the whole note again, asking Rainbow in a whisper "You mean... you're short on snow by--"

"--Thirty six inches." Rainbow finished for her, her eyes downcast and her tone somber, her earlier panic given way to exhaustion and sorrow. "I... I have no idea how I missed it all. I went to contact some folks I knew from the academy who still work back at cloud central. Cloudsdale says the measurements are some of the furthest off they've seen... ever. There's no way we can get that much snow in before the end of the season, and that throws off the entire pattern for the whole next year. It'll be disaster, and... and it'll all be my fault." She finished in a near whisper, a single tear running from her eye.

Twilight furrowed her eyebrows in thought, her impulse to chastise Dash far overshadowed by both the seriousness of the situation and the emotional state of her friend. "Three feet of snow within the next two weeks... " she stood still for a moment, then nodded her head, her magic clearing the table of all her existing books. "Alright. Spike, grab me the pegasus weather manual and the scrolls, we have some weather to plan!" Spike nodded and rushed off to get the necessarily materials, while Twilight went and sat beside Rainbow Dash, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "Rainbow, i know this seems like an impossible task, and I know you’re worried and stressed, but don't give up just yet. We still have time."

Rainbow looked up at her friend, a doubtful expression on her face "Twilight, there's no way we could get that much snow out in such a short time, it would be too dangerous. We would end up wrecking the city under that much snow!"

Twilight helped the pegasus to her feet with an encouraging smile. "Not if we plan it right! We can work with the town to reinforce the buildings and make sure everyone stays safe. It'll require a lot of coordination and planning, but thats what you've got me for! But we can't plan anything out sitting on the floor here. Come on, lets get some more hot cocoa and we can sit down and look things over. I may know some things about weather manipulation, but I'll need the help of an expert to get a plan together..."
--oo00&&00oo--

It took three days of planning and research, and two more days planning out contingencies with the mayor's office, and a healthy dose of unicorn and pegasus magic combined to shift weather patterns, and this was the end result. Six days of near continuous snow, and cold, to keep the weather stable for the rest of the year. She looked up at the clock, and noted the time after glancing at the measurement device that was the only thing visible through the haze of white. Noting the measurements in her weather log. Day 3, 8PM. Measurement of snow accumulation 18.5 inches. No deviation from current plan and measurements. Everything seems to be going along as planned.

With a sigh, she closed the logbook, and used her magic to return it to the shelf, grasping another in a purple glow and bringing it to the table in front of her. Since things had calmed down, and since she had six days indoors without anything to do, she had started a bit of research of her own. Ever since going through the initial calculations coming from cloudsdale, she had some suspicions that her friend had been less at fault for this crisis than she believed. Further research into historical weather patterns and the patterns of weather had further developed her suspicions. Something strange had been going on with the weather in Equestria for the last several seasons--
THUD!

Twilight jumped in shock and looked around, glancing for the source of the noise. Nothing appeared out of place on the shelves, so the only thing that could be making that noise would be the door. But no one was scheduled to make the rounds until at least tomorrow morning.
THUD THUD!

The noise was certainly coming from the front door of the library. She quickly headed towards the door, fearing the worst. When she broke down the tasks required to keep the town running and safe, she made sure Spike could help coordinate any communication required, so he remained in the mayor’s office to weather out the storm. This had the extra bonus effective of getting an easy way for anyone from the mayor's office to get to the library quickly in case of an emergency. They only reason why Spike would have to tunnel through the snow was in an absolute emergency, and Twilight quickly began to fear the worst. Magicking her warmest boots and scarf, she stepped up to the door and threw it open, preparing quickly to assist Spike and the emergency teams she prepared when --
--oo00&&00oo--
Cold.
Cold and wet.

That was... pretty much all he felt now. Well cold, wet and hungry really, as it had been days since he'd had any significant food, and now at least a full day since he'd seen anyone at all, or really anything really below his legs that wasn’t snow. But he continued on. See, he trusted, and when you make that sort of commitment, it’s one you stick through. It had been a hard time going, but in the end, trusting had gotten him where he needed to be, closer to his goal, closer to the end, and quite possibly closer to a painful agonizing death if his current condition was anything to go by. He knew he wouldn't last much longer in this weather, regardless of how much time he was used to roughing it, but he knew he was close. He could feel it in his bones. Struggling against the wind and snow, he ploughed forward, past shapes that may or may not have been houses. Always working towards his goal. Suddenly, he saw something in the distance. His face brightened, even for a moment seeing what his heart told him was his goal. It was about friggin time, Luna's mane, he was getting sick of all this-- COUGHHACKCOUGH.

He brought up his hoof to his face, and he knew when he saw the streak of red he saw he had just removed that his body was finally starting to get annoyed with him. He knew he didn’t have much time to get out of this weather, so he set forward with as much purpose as he could. Half way to what he assumed was the front door, the coughing increased, half way past that, his hooves gave out for a moment, and he collapsed into the snow.

'No... not when I'm this close. I refuse to be beaten by a hundred yards of snow...'

It seemed like an agonizing few minutes, but he eventually struggled through the snow to the door. Straining, he slowly started pounding on the door, hoping against hope that someone would be able to hear him knock with the bedlam outside. It was rather agonizing, knocking on a door when you could barely feel your hooves, and with his strength sapped, he needed to lean upon the door, his eyelids getting heavier with each passing--
--oo00&&00oo--

Twilight was nearly knocked over as a large... something came tumbling through the doorway, collapsing in a heap just inside the building. Recovering from the shock, she blinked and turned to look outside as the wind started to blow snow into the library. Seeing no one else, she quickly shut the door, then turned to face whoever would have the gall to go walking through the snow in--

She stopped. The pony was standing, silver eyes locked onto her through an ice and snow covered face, breaths coming out in raspy, unsteady heaves, every muscle shaking in apparent exhaustion. The shock of seeing the pony looking at her with such an intense expression brought the unicorn up short however, any greeting, admonishment or, pretty much anything really, halted momentarily by the intense look. For a moment they stood there looking at each other, his gaze intent, hers confused. This certainly didn’t look like anyone from ponyville, and with this storm, no one would be able to reach the town from outside for at least another week... so who could--

"Twilight... Twilight Sparkle?" the newcomer said. His voice was raspy, the tone unsteady, but the intensity was strong. Twilight blinked for a moment, then hesitantly responded with a nod of her head. After a moment, the newcomers body started shaking, and for a moment she was concerned until he heard the beginnings of a raspy chuckle, which turned shortly into a fairly hearty, though raspy, laugh. The laugh was rather infectious, and she even broke out in a smile, considering the circumstances, until his laugh turned into a rather harsh coughing fit, which found the unicorn coming over to help the newcomer stand as his hooves started to give out completely.

"Ohmigosh, are you okay?" she asked him, only to hear him chuckle again, though a bit more restrained this time.

"Its ironic, really. I finally get to meet you after all this time, and the first thing I have to do," he looked up to face her again, a small smile on his face. " is apologize."

"apologize for wha--" Twilight started to respond, then had to restrain a gasp when she looked at his face again, the slowly melting snow covering it now covered in a crimson that was unmistakable.

"for this." And with that, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed bonelessly at Twilight's hooves. This, of course, was shocking enough to the unicorn, and she stumbled backward for a moment.
Which was precisely when all Tartarus broke loose.

It started with a light breeze, the flowers in the planters swaying a bit, a page or two turning from the open books on the tables, but what was more frightening to Twilight was the feeling of magic emanating from her newly unconscious house guest. She had spent enough time around powerful magic users while in school in canterlot (not to mention the time spent in the presence of the Princess herself) that she had a good handle on how magic actually feels around others. Though each unicorn's magic had its own unique 'taste' to it, generally you could tell if a spell was going to work as expected or not based on a general feel to the magic before it was being cast. And based on the feeling she was now getting, several things became extremely clear to her:

One: whoever this was, their magic was very strong.

Two: whatever was happening to that magic, it was about to go extremely wrong.

Three: She should probably duck and cover.

Acting on a base instinct given to her after years of working on experimental spellcrafting, she took a flying dive under a nearby table, and not a moment too soon, and the newcomer's magic simply... exploded out of him. Vases shattered, books flew through the air, and everything just seemed heavier under the weight of all that uncontrolled magic. Twilight looked around frantically, watching her beloved library fall under attack, and wracked her brain for a solution. She was forced to redouble her efforts when she noticed a strange effect the magic was havingn on the surrounding objects -- they were actually attacking the host. Books, swirling through the air, would dive down and glance off the unconscious form, and even small shards of glass would fly by and cut into the body.

Forced by circumstances, Twilight did the only thing she could. Keeping low to avoid the maelstrom spinning above her, she ran over to the newcomers unmoving form and gathered her energy for the one spell that she could think of that may have some effect on the chaos above her.

Magic is a tricky thing, especially uncontrolled magic. When a unicorn releases their magic to perform a spell, it begins as nothing more than swirling energy, unfocused and random. The combination of focus, concentration and incantation takes that wild energy and changes it, focuses it into a shape and form that can then be used in whatever way the wielder chooses. However, if that energy is unfocused, it swirls around until it is either used up on its own, dissipates over time, or is harnessed by someone else who takes that energy and manipulates it. Twilight knows this because it has happened to her before, during a certain infamous entrance exam. Though she knew she had nowhere near the control that her mentor does, she certainly knew attempting to control the energy swirling around the library was a far better idea than letting it dissipate on its own.

Her horn glowing and her face screwed up in concentration, she reached out to gather up the energy around her, and was immediately shocked to find it gathering up around her, almost eager to be used. the magic around her gathered, she promptly set to work in finding something to expend the energy on something. First, she set to closing out the windows and door that had been thrown open by the magic, only to find that the magic didn’t quite respond how she had expected. Where normally the window would simply close on its own, instead the spell reacted by lifting up a book from the floor, which then promptly rocketed towards the ceiling, deflected off the wall and slammed into the window frame, causing the window to fall back into its closed position. The book then rocketed back to its place on the shelf. Several other items flew around and resolved things in similar fashion, much to twilight's confusion. After all the windows and doors had been closed, and the books had mostly deflected off of each other to fly back on the shelves where they belonged, a good chunk of the magic around her had dissipated, however enough still remained that she didn’t want to simply release it. She then set about performing magic that she knew was complex enough to help release the remaining magic, conjurations and creations. However, as with the rest of the magic, things just didn’t seem to work as she expected, something she had never seen out of wild magic before. After a few more minutes, the remaining magic had been used up, and she collapsed near her new guest out of breath. After taking a moment to recover, she began to take stock in her surroundings. Everything seemed to be in one piece, if a little rough around the edges, at least as far as the non-living things were concerned. The one other pony in the room, however, was a bit worse for wear.

Twilight looked over at the unconscious, still breathing (thank Celestia) figure on the floor of her library, and had to suppress another moment of shock. The magic had generated enough heat and wind to clear the remaining snow from the body, however that did not do much to remove the ages of dirt and grime that seemed to be caked on the figure. the body was gaunt and thin, as though he hadn't eaten regularly in ages, and a few sparse scars and traces of muscle pointed to what must have been a hard period before that. but what drew her eye more was what else he had. He had what Twilight thought must have been a horn at some point, however now appeared to be nothing more than a stump, as though the horn itself had been broken or cut off at some point. Then her eyes traced across his back to see wings as well... or rather one and a half wings. One wing was battered and bruised, the feathers worn and dirty, and the other wing... well, didn’t exist. Where there should have been a second wing, only a poorly healed stump was found. She shuddered to think of what this alicorn must have gone through at one point to arrive at ponyville in this state.
She was pulled from her thoughts when the unconscious body heaved out another shuddering cough, and with that a bit more blood. Twilight quickly drew a cloth to wipe off the blood and started clearing off a space on the floor near the fire with cushions and blankets to get him warmed up. as she slowly started preparing to bring him closer to the heat, she took another look at his face, contorted in pain and couldn’t help but ask out loud.
"Who are you?"

Author's Note

A/N: First post here on FiMFiction! Just a bit of a plot bunny that had been traipsing around in my head for some time, something that I do have a bit further developed in my hand, but before putting out the effort, I wanted to run it by the crowd and see if anyone though it was worth pursuing further. Anyone interested in hearing more, or shall I go back to my other work?