A Cold Heritageby KazeChapters1: Winter Luck2: Drafted3: Derailed4: Ponyville1: Winter LuckThe constant chugging sound a train makes as it barges its way through a snow covered track at high speeds is enough to send anyone around the bend, however in this instance, this was not the case. The train was cold-looking from the outside with its ironclad-like armor and weathered black paint, a small banner of its proud nation was barely visible through the back window much like the inhabitants of the vehicle. The inside was much different however everyone seemed very jolly with the proud singing of the national anthem and the naive excitement of young uniformed stallions. Winter, although sitting more or less alone, smiled among his fellows and watched the industrial buildings whiz past the window. They would be at the docks soon, he knew, things would change then. Winter Luck was born and raised in a small farm north of Canterlot, his parents had emigrated from Germaney at a time before the conflict but they raised little Winter in an Equestrian fashion. He was a hard worker in the fields and always pulled his weight for the family but he was ever loyal to his fatherland and proud of it. Winter was a light blue land pony and in his childhood had a dark blue scruffy haircut, most of the time it was tucked under his brown wide brimmed hat. His dark blue eyes were often a shining beacon of cheer when he was with his friends along with his big cheesy grin. Aside from these friends, Winter had a somewhat lonely childhood, most others shunned him because of his heritage. There was, one particular day from his childhood that he always remembered however. It was just a regular school day, Winter was walking through the corn fields as a shortcut to the road when he spotted his two best friends, Tinker Sky, a filly unicorn with a strange passion for engines and Frothing Brew, a blank flanked colt who was quite well versed in chemistry for a land pony of his age. When the two saw him, Winter made it rather apparent that his cutie mark had appeared by grinning sillily and exposing his side. A snowflake with a violin bow was what they saw. “Oh my gosh!” Tinker exclaimed in her high pitched, young, trans-Atlantic accent as she immediately rushed to him nearly bowling over Froth in the process. “What does it mean? When did you get it? Please tell me you can play the violin! Please-please-pleeeeeeeeaaaaseee!” Winter was so shocked at her enthusiasm that he nearly tripped when she rushed him. “Slow down a tick Tink, I got it last night while I was playing the violin, yes I can play by the way, it came up just like that, poof, I swear I could feel the excitement rush through me like lightning as I played the final note of that piece.” They all laughed together. It was Froth who re-initiated the discussion. “So what do you think it means Wint?” “Yeah what does it mean!” Winter smiled at his friends before he contemplated his response. “Well, I’m pretty sure it means that I will play the violin… and… umm… nope that’s it” he beamed. “Then what’s the snowflake?” Winter’s eyes raised quickly as he remembered what his father had said. “Oh I remember! It was to symbolise my music bringing happiness even in the cold winters.” He announced gleefully. Tinker quickly jutted in. “Well I hate to interrupt but… We are running late for school again!” She jumped as she finished and quickly darted off in the direction of the school with the other two still regaining their senses. They quickly chased her down the road just as a beautiful rainbow glimmered in the sky in the shape of a circle. A popping champagne cork woke Winters with a start as the excitable atmosphere had died down to a dull roar. His spike topped helmet had tipped over his eyes as he slept so he raised it up again to view his surroundings. His booth had gained a couple of stallions who were bickering away like excited school-girls about what seemed to be the war. Winter tipped his helmet back down again and drifted off. Princess Celestia paced in her personal quarters while Princess Luna simply stood in silent contemplation. “It deeply troubles me that we must build a war room in the castle dear sister.” Celestia stated. “What is to become of our peaceful lands?” “Worry not big sister, we have dealt with threats before and we can deal with this also, diplomatically or not.” “Yes but all of those were within our borders, war with another major nation is not in our blood, it will be a black mark in our history.” Celestia stopped her pacing and sat down on her new rocking chair. This would be a very difficult dispute to resolve. Several assassinations in the name of Equestria had been the cause of tension, alongside their already poor diplomatic relationships, this would undoubtedly lead to war with Germaney. Many years had passed since his cutie mark had appeared and Winter was sitting in his room, it had been a long day of work and he was tired, he could have slept there and then but his violin was beckoning him to play some more. His smile began to form, a rare occurrence at the time as his friends were in Canterlot for the holidays. Winter quickly rushed up and put on his favourite record and prepared his violin to play alongside it. The slow march began the tune and the operatic singing continued it. As the piece finished Wint relaxed his tensed muscles and simply lay there on his bed in complete serenity. It was a mere minutes after that when his mother opened his door and informed him that he had a letter from Canterlot. His eyes flashed open in excitement, it had been a while since his friends had mailed him so this was an exciting time. It was only after he had opened it that he realised that it had not only been to Canterlot, but all over Equestria, the anticipation was killing him as he quickly unfolded it and read it aloud. A calling back to the fatherland? This was the most exciting thing that had happened to him in years! He could leave the farm and go on an adventure with his fellow brothers, he would finally be accepted by all and not just a few. A chance to start life over in Germaney. Packing his bags was hard but the goodbyes had been the hardest part, not with his parents but with his friends as he had to farewell them over the mail, they would be what he missed most he thought, aside from the occasional family member that dropped by, Tink and Froth had been Winter’s only friends. He decided to pack the photo of the three of them that he had in his drawer, no sense in forgetting his best friends even if he would make new ones. He boarded the train to the docks and waved one last goodbye to his family, he would miss them, he thought, but his national fervour would keep him company during the cold nights, and that was when he remembered, he forgot to pack his violin. The loneliness kicked in at boot camp, it seemed that everyone hated him for being a foreigner, even more so than back home… home, this was his home now and he had to accept it, even if it wasn’t the same. He worked hard to achieve his uniform, he sang the national anthem louder than the others and he kept his bunk and locker as clean as soap. But deep down inside he knew that he had made a mistake. At first he tried to make friends, but no one wanted to have anything to do with him. Winter worked on his German accent to try and fit in but it seemed that nothing he did had any effect on his status, der Ausländer. It was after one year of boot camp and one year of reserve service that the army finally decided to attack the enemy, Equestria. It at first came as a shock to Winters but it eventually sank in, two years in the German army had given him a boost to his national loyalty and maybe when it was all over he go sightseeing, he had never been south of Canterlot castle before and it was most likely that that was where they would go. This was starting to get less and less disturbing and more exciting! Winter pushed aside his nagging doubts and boarded the train to the docks, this was going to be interesting. “A surprise attack with a small force to take Las Pegasus and White Tail Woods” the commandant spoke in German over a megaphone. “You shall land on the west coast of Equestria as a secondary force to the main army on the east, you will move in to take the Woods to the west of Canterlot and act as a skirmisher force from there.” Everyone shuffled about in the cold winter air, after departing from the train, the regiment had all gathered at the docks for a speech. Herr Commandant Iron Cross had planned the entire attack out, we would rush for the woods and begin our attack as a diversion, we would create chaos and then the rest of the regiment would come in to reinforce our line and break theirs. All before the main army land at the east coast. “Hail the mighty Kaiser!” Herr Commandant shouted. The regiment repeated the chant and boarded the ships. As Winter finally settled in for the long trip he noticed something in his pack, it had been wrapped up in an old potato sack that looked old and forgotten. He unravelled the small item and to his immense shock, he felt his heart sink and begin to ache as his throat tensed up. What he held was the photo of his real fatherland, and his real people. 2: DraftedThe Wonderbolts soared across the skies over the ocean swiftly approaching their target. The pre-emptive strike was thought of by Luna and reluctantly backed by Celestia, a simple bombing of the land ship depot would definitely assist the Equestrians in defending their lands by slowing down the inevitable invasion. Even if it did look bad in a history book. “We’re comin’ up to the mark!” shouted Spitfire as she reached into her pack and pulled out a bomb, the wind gushing against her face. Here goes nothing, she thought. Commandant Iron Cross heard them before he saw them, a droning rumble in the distance. He looked upon the skies and cursed. “Get to cover, take shelter now!” he shouted at the dock workers nearby as he ducked into cover. The Wonderbolts flew overhead and as they did so several whistling noises became apparent. The bombs landed with several ear piercing explosions, levelling the depot to a crumbling mess of splintered wood and disembodied tank pieces. The Home Guard had prepared for an aerial attack however and were only just now in position. Iron Cross spoke with a tone of vengeance as he climbed out from his shelter, the guards prepared the flak cannons. “Hold your fire for now gentlecolts, wait until the enemy is in a prime position to receive a warm German welcome.” The Wonderbolts cheered as they heard the explosions behind them, Spitfire, with a satisfied smile, eased up and glided into the middle of the formation. “Alright guys that was perfect, now we need to return over the factory and drop another volley and then we are as good as home.” They all cheered at this and prepared for the second run. As Spitfire prepared to drop her second bomb she noticed that several clouds of black smoke were quickly forming in front of them. Suddenly, one materialised just metres in front of her, her instincts told her to dodge it and with a swift change of direction she swerved just out of the way but feeling her left back leg clip the side of the cloud with a horrific sting. It was all happening too fast, one cloud appeared right in front of the mare in front of her, all that was visible was a red flash, that was all she could see, red, she wiped the red off her goggles and the mare in front of her was gone. As if part of some sort of twisted magic trick or illusion she was gone. “Get ready to drop!” The second run was less successful than the first but still enough to destroy what was left of the production lines. In a gloomy success the Wonderbolts began their return flight home, as Spitfire only then realised in agonising astonishment that her leg was utterly lacerated. Ponyville was quiet this time of year, particularly Sweet Apple Acres. This meant that Applejack had been working rather lightly and had had a rather lax day in general. She fed the animals, bucked a few stray apples and had just been checking on their latest expansion of apple trees. This new section was planted just before winter to create some tough specimens that could maybe even produce a reasonable harvest during the cold, they would however require no small amount of attention to grow them just right. She was just emerging from the plantations when, from a distance, she saw two stallions making their way up the path to the house. “Can I help you gents anyhow?” Applejack yelled out to them as she moved to intercept their path. The larger of the two motioned the other to stop, he was obviously in charge. As Applejack came closer to them she noticed that they were wearing similar uniforms to the Equestrian riflemen that she so admired. They wore Brodie helmets with an insignia of what appeared to be some kind of artillery. The taller one stiffened up as Applejack came within a reasonable talking distance, she noticed him to be encroaching into middle-aged. “Ma’am, my name is sergeant Hammer and I would like to speak to a Big McIntosh,” he stated rather gruffly in a southern accent. “Oh, well he’s here, what exactly do you need to talk about?” Applejack asked as the sergeant remained vigilant. “He’s been drafted into army for the upcoming war, we need strong gents like him to pull and operate the artillery.” Applejack’s heart stopped, her jaw slightly open immediately locked into position as thousands of thoughts raced through her head. Would Big Mac be able to handle the life? Could he work under pressure? Was he strong enough to even pull one of those cannon things? … Would he ever come home? Sergeant Hammer had seen this reaction before moved to comfort the mare, however this was interrupted when the large stallion himself came into view. “Ahh, Mr. McIntosh?” Big Mac hesitated before answering. “Uhh… yep.” “Excellent.” Applejack watched solemnly as she waved her last goodbyes to Big Mac, she bit her lip in an effort to hold back her tears but the minute she looked down at little Applebloom sobbing away she gave in. Granny Smith simply watched him go, holding the fort she showed no tears and remained strong for her family, he would return, she thought, he would come back to them with his own stories to tell. Big Mac steadily boarded the military train with the other Ponyville draftees and disappeared into a sea of uniforms. Applejack turned to Applebloom and looked her straight in the eyes with compassion. “Come on little sis, let’s go on home now.” Putting his wide brimmed hat over his eyes helped Winter sleep throughout the voyage, the rhythmic rising and falling of the ship had become a standard that toyed with his head as he too, tossed and turned in his restlessness. He eventually gave up trying to sleep and emerged from his bunk wide awake, to his surprise most of the other soldiers were awake by this point as well. A couple were playing some sort of card game whilst a few more simply sat there or read a book, no one made any noise though. The only noise to be heard was the creaking of the ship. Perhaps for some, this was due to boredom, others maybe tiredness, but a few of the older veterans were quiet for a different reason. Winter viewed them with perplexity, it was as if they knew something that everyone else didn’t. And suddenly out of nowhere came something that was a shock to everyone. One of the mares playing cards laughed rather loudly as she won her game, this small spark seemed to ignite an entire tinderbox of cheer and before he knew it, Winter was in a happy place again, all solemnity seemed to disappear as the flame re-ignited in the hearts of everyone in that room. He smiled as the chatter returned to the group. Everything was going to be fine. The ships sailed on in their slow journey across the ocean to Equestria. Hundreds of people lay awake in each one as they pushed on into the morning. Hundreds of people who all shared the same thoughts at that time. Everything was going to be fine. 3: Derailed“Move! Get in the boats now!” An officer shouted as the regiment rushed into several smaller landing crafts, climbing down netting alongside the ship to do so. Winter ran out to join the rush, fastening his rifle strap as he prepared to board. He climbed three quarters of the way down the netting before he jumped into the boat, nearly slipping, he leant over the side to see the beach, tantalisingly close. The steam engine roared, sending the little machine chugging towards the shoreline. After a short wait the boat landed with a grinding sound that was soon replaced by the sound of a whistle. “Right, onto the beach let’s get go, go, go.” The soldiers climbed out of the sides of the boat and began to form at the beachhead. Winter felt warm tingly inside as he finally found himself walking on the sand. His lip trickled into a slight smile while the regiment moved into position ahead of him. “Feeling at home ausländer?” one of them jeered as he grabbed Winter and shoved him towards the beachhead. Winter considered socking him one but the stripes on the soldier’s jacket told him otherwise. He, with great effort, forced himself away from the sergeant and into formation where his smile was no longer. It started to snow. Princess Luna was standing in the royal war room with Princess Celestia, and several generals and ranked officers. “It is official,” Luna solemnly announced. “My spies have reported that a small German force is to land on our coast, just west of Whitetail wood.” The small crowd began to mumble amongst themselves, only to be silenced by Luna’s gaze. “Our forces must be dispatched as soon as possible to stop them from reaching any of our major cities or towns.” “But ma’am?” A stocky stallion with a southern accent interrupted. “Won’t they take the railroad? That way they would get much further into our territory before they’re stopped.” “Yes… this is a possibility.” Luna paused for a moment, deep in thought. “What if we booby trapped it? Your men have plenty of explosives, take a train to the woods and lay an ambush for them, that would work would it not?” The room clamoured in agreement. Celestia chimed in, “Well we all have a job to do so let’s get to work.” The coach was alive with cheer and laughter, some of the younger soldiers were laughing at a young filly that seemed to be terrified by the train, others were engaging in rather noisy banter. There was a group of four playing cards in the corner and the same mares as on the boat were placing bets on where they would be getting off the train. A banner had been hung over one of the windows for the Equestrians to see as the train passed them. Winter simply sat in his corner, his smile had not returned. He had to remind himself that he was German, he would fight for the fatherland, not for Equestria. He sighed, why was this so difficult to comprehend? Winter examined the coach, all he could see were his brothers, he would fight with them in the years to come and they would likely grow close. His smile returned at the thought, they would accept him as their brother. Winter finally relaxed a little as he stood up and joined a group of draftees nearby. “Ah the ausländer finally awakes.” Sneered one of them as they all picked up on the laughter. This didn’t faze Winter, he was too happy to take offence, instead he laughed with them. They continued to chat for a while until it got cold enough to close the sliding door. Winter put on his pickelhaube and walked up to the large open door and reached out to close it. An ungodly loud crash coming from the engine room interrupted him, followed by an earth shattering explosion that derailed the train and knocked Winter off his hooves. As he braced himself against the doorframe he saw the room quickly rising up to a panic, the soldiers all tumbled over each other trying to get out of the door. The door that Winter was standing in. The third shell landed right next to the carriage, this time it hit Winter like a wave, knocking him right out of the carriage and into the tree line. Dazed he tried to stand up but failed, merely collapsing under his weakened legs. His ears were ringing and he couldn’t see straight. The world was becoming darker and darker, Winter weakly reached for his helmet, his only comfort as he lapsed into unconsciousness. How long had it been? Winter opened his eyes slowly and looked at himself, he was partially covered in snow and his neck had a small cut but he was otherwise okay. His pack had survived and was still on his back, whether the contents had been destroyed or not he was unsure. Finally, his helmet was a few metres away from his head, he tried to reach out for it but found his body to be too weak. Winter laid back his head, in doing so he viewed the train, or what was left of it. The entire carriage had been blown open along with its contents and the derailed engine had been also destroyed. As he looked up and down the train he noticed several survivors walking around, it took a while for his vision to focus but when it did he saw that they were wearing a light green uniform with an almost flattened helmet. His heart skipped a beat… they were Equestrian. They were searching for survivors amongst the dead, he was just a little bit further from the train for them to be actively searching but not too far away to miss. Thankfully, one of the soldiers called out to the rest in Equestrian, this made the nearest one turn around for just a small amount of time. Winter took this as a sign and bolted up, he began to sprint towards the thicker part of the woods, his legs buckled beneath him but he kept pressing on, forcing himself up and continuing. He heard shouting in Equestrian behind him but kept on running. “Over there Sky, get him!” The bullets flew by Winter causing him to panic, he stumbled into a tree and collapsed to the ground. The bullets kept flying by, pinging splinters off trees as they did, Winter began to crawl through the thick snow and over a log as the shouts continued. “I think I got him sir!” “Good, go make sure you killed him private.” “Sir!” Winter finally made it to the top of a small hill overlooking the woods, he could lose her in here. He struggled to make it back up onto his legs and began to run as fast as he could through the snow, the wind picked up, covering his tracks as he ran. The cold biting into him as he forced his way through it. He pushed his way through several tree branches and stumbled down the hill. The snow was less thick down there so it was easier to run, he ran as fast as his exhausted legs could take him. It seemed that his pursuer had taken a wrong turn because Winter could not see or hear her anymore which was enough to warrant a sigh of relief. He slowed down a little and took a small map out of his pack. There was a small town just east of him called Ponyville, maybe an hour’s walk or so, if it wasn’t snowing. It was the safest place to be, he figured he could lay low for a while until either the war died down or the Germans caught up and then re-join the army. So that was the plan, Winter took his uniform and helmet off and put them inside a hollow tree, he marked the tree with an ‘x’ and put the same ‘x’ on his map before tucking it back in his pack and putting on his favourite jacket and wide brimmed hat. There was a long walk ahead of him and the sun was only getting lower. 4: PonyvilleWinter, in his increasingly worried state, paced back and forth among the snow covered trees, the town Ponyville was very much visible from his perch and although it was in the middle of the day, it was freezing, not that Winter noticed all that much. The wind was slowly whistling its way through the branches, seemingly opposite to Winter’s owns thoughts that were racing around in circles. ‘Okay, so the army has clearly been stopped, no biggie, I just need to lay low for a while… but what if they don’t ever push back? What if they lose even more ground? What if we lose entirely?’ Winter shivered as a very strong gust of wind caught him off guard, making him regain some composure however. ‘It’s fine as long as I stay here, nothing bad could happen in a small town like this, it’s not like I would stand out being new or anything, because nopony knows each other in a small town like this now do they!’ Winter shut his eyes tight and tensed up. ‘Stop thinking like that, that gets me nowhere… I just need to get my accent back, get a room somewhere and get an inconspicuous job.’ “Phew, this is gonna be harder than I thought.” He began his descent down the hill and towards the road. ‘I had better enter town from the road so I don’t draw any unwanted attention.’ Winter’s every step was a struggle through the thick snow as he lifted each hoof as high as his torso in every step. He could hear the sloshing and crunching of his strife over his light panting, the frosty air only making the beads of sweat on his face even less comfortable. ‘I’m going to murder whichever weather jockey thought that it was a good idea to up the icing dosage.’ The pain was finally worth it as winter placed his hooves on solid ground once again. Feeling slightly more energised being able to walk on a hard cobblestone road, Winter increased his pace as he trotted downhill towards the town. ‘No need to worry. I’m no longer being shot at, which is nice, solid ground is beneath me and I am entering territory that I once called my country but in a twisted confusing set of events is now considered enemy territory. Fan-bloody-tastic.’ Applebloom was bored, there was nothing that she could do with her sister in the state she was in. She sat on a bench outside the house and buried her head in her yellow forelegs, if Rainbow Dash could get so much pleasure from sleeping then there was no reason why she couldn’t. As she sat there her thoughts began to pick up. She could hold a crusader meeting and try to get a cutie mark that they hadn’t thought of yet, although they were running out of those, not to mention it would be a walk to Tartarus and back just to find her friends in this snow. Or she could just sit there and nap for a bit. “I think I’ll just go with option two for now.” Applebloom yawned to nopony in particular in her southern accent. She closed her eyes and began to relax her muscles only to be startled by a powerful chilly breeze that sent shudders down her spine. ‘Darn it, I just can’t get a break can I?’ Applebloom swung around and slipped off the bench only to be greeted by the stinging cold snow that shot up her hooves. She painfully bounced her way towards the road into town to avoid long amounts of time touching the ground. Exclaiming when she stepped in a fresh puddle and stumbling away and onto the slightly warmer dirt track. She began to walk to the boutique to see Sweetie Bell. It usually wasn’t that far but in this cold it may as well have been miles. As she made it to the main road she noticed somepony she hadn’t seen before, he was a light blue stallion with dark blue hair, he appeared almost oblivious to the cold as he was wearing only a simple brown jacket and a dark brown hat similar to Applejack’s. Applebloom noticed as he drew closer that he appeared to be somewhat lost in thought with his eyes mostly scanning the town blankly. ‘Weird.’ Winter’s thoughts were way ahead of him by now. ‘What if they have some sort of secret service that is specialised for finding enemy troops hiding in their small towns? That would be the end for me, they would take me away in a carriage to have information extracted from me! Oh god, what if they think I have info? I don’t have any info! But they don’t know that! What if they’- “Hiya mister!” a squeaky voice shouted out from surprisingly close. Winter jumped out of his skin but quickly composed himself. The voice had come from a young red-haired yellow filly that had an accent Winter could only assume to be southern. The little filly spoke up again. “You new in town?” “Umm…” Winter hesitated and reclaimed his old accent. “Yeah I am actually, umm… can you direct me to the town square?” “Oh sure,” she beamed, apparently delighted to help. “Just follow the road down that way.” She pointed towards the part of town with the little centrepiece tower. “Ok, danke” Winter smiled back, following her hoof towards what would probably be the best place to find work. As he continued to walk he noticed a large barn and farmhouse over to his right, a familiar setting that brought back memories of his colthood. He chuckled at the good times he had in his family’s barn with Tink and Froth, they would play all sorts of games like chasey and have hay fights that always ended up in a very long clean up session. ‘I wonder how they are doing these days.’ Winter mused over this for some time as he made his way into what seemed to a small suburban area. A fountain caught his eye from another street so he strayed from the main street and followed the road to this nice little monument. On his way he noticed a lovely little sweets shop, it appeared to be built to look like a gingerbread house. It had a magnificent roof that looked like it was made out of chocolate topping with a lining of icing. At the side was a candy cane wind gauge and on top was a cupcake inspired second floor with blazing candles and pink frosting. ‘Wow this is amazing! I definitely need to buy something here.’ Winter looked in awe at the sight. ‘Screw the fountain; this has a cupcake roof and an icing sugar thingy and a creepy pink pony staring at me and- wait what?’ Surely enough there was a frizzy haired pink mare staring at him suspiciously; her eyes were narrow as if she were trying to figure him out. ‘Could she know somehow?’ her stare was unblinking and the sweat was beginning to build up again on Winter’s forehead. He smiled nervously and began to walk up towards the fountain. That was when it happened, a look of realisation shot into her eyes as her jaw dropped in shock. ‘Oh no…’ Winter quickly darted into an alley and started to panic again. ‘I’m screwed, she recognised me. I’m going to get arrested and’- “WELCOME!” Everything went black. The orange rays of the setting sun woke Winter from his alleyway. He shook his head a little as he stood up and checked his surroundings. The pink pony was nowhere to be seen. He stretched out his cramped up limbs and looked over himself, he had thin layers of snow falling off his back and his hat was crooked. “I should find somewhere to sleep before night comes.” Winter mumbled to himself, making a mental note not to get side-tracked next time he wanted to get something done. He slowly began to walk out of his hiding place and dust himself off, the beams of sun now more visible due to the limited cloud cover. The town square was just around the corner by the fountain apparently. So Winter headed off in that direction. Quite a few ponies were outside at this time of the day which made sense to Winter since it was a work day. Most of them were chatting with friends while others were closing down stores and other businesses. Youthful couples were beginning their evening courtships as the late sun’s light glazed over the town. As the buildings opened up into a small circular clearing, Winter made his way into the town square and immediately noticed a significant change. Everything here was still open, all the stalls and stands and buskers were still running. Winter looked around and observed the busy scene as he made his way over to the food market. ‘Farmers are always looking for good workers aren’t they? I’d say that I’m qualified for that kind of work, besides… who wants to work in a candy shop with… that thing prowling about.’ Winter quickly checked over his shoulder to make sure that the pink pony from before hadn’t returned. A quick scan of the alleyways and hiding places eased his worries, he turned his head back around just in time to narrowly avoid bumping into a cart full of apples. “Woah!” Winter exclaimed as he made a sharp stop just inches from the owner of the cart. She gave him and unimpressed look as he reared back. “Watch it sugarcube.” She bitterly retorted, pulling her cart around him. “I-I’m sorry miss, I was j-just”- “Be more careful next time.” The words rolled of her tongue bluntly. Winter retreated back a few steps to give her room before noticing something on the side of her cart. A banner with something written in large black letters: Farmhand wanted Requires previous agricultural experience See Applejack between 4:30 and 5:00 for interview Sweet Apple Acres Winter smiled to himself as he saw this, he finally found exactly what he needed. He looked up into the sky to see the sun just beginning to set, being the middle of winter that made it roughly four-ish. Winter chuckled to himself. ‘I guess you learn some useful things in the army’ He began to walk off in the direction of the farm, his perfect hiding place awaited.
1: Winter LuckThe constant chugging sound a train makes as it barges its way through a snow covered track at high speeds is enough to send anyone around the bend, however in this instance, this was not the case. The train was cold-looking from the outside with its ironclad-like armor and weathered black paint, a small banner of its proud nation was barely visible through the back window much like the inhabitants of the vehicle. The inside was much different however everyone seemed very jolly with the proud singing of the national anthem and the naive excitement of young uniformed stallions. Winter, although sitting more or less alone, smiled among his fellows and watched the industrial buildings whiz past the window. They would be at the docks soon, he knew, things would change then. Winter Luck was born and raised in a small farm north of Canterlot, his parents had emigrated from Germaney at a time before the conflict but they raised little Winter in an Equestrian fashion. He was a hard worker in the fields and always pulled his weight for the family but he was ever loyal to his fatherland and proud of it. Winter was a light blue land pony and in his childhood had a dark blue scruffy haircut, most of the time it was tucked under his brown wide brimmed hat. His dark blue eyes were often a shining beacon of cheer when he was with his friends along with his big cheesy grin. Aside from these friends, Winter had a somewhat lonely childhood, most others shunned him because of his heritage. There was, one particular day from his childhood that he always remembered however. It was just a regular school day, Winter was walking through the corn fields as a shortcut to the road when he spotted his two best friends, Tinker Sky, a filly unicorn with a strange passion for engines and Frothing Brew, a blank flanked colt who was quite well versed in chemistry for a land pony of his age. When the two saw him, Winter made it rather apparent that his cutie mark had appeared by grinning sillily and exposing his side. A snowflake with a violin bow was what they saw. “Oh my gosh!” Tinker exclaimed in her high pitched, young, trans-Atlantic accent as she immediately rushed to him nearly bowling over Froth in the process. “What does it mean? When did you get it? Please tell me you can play the violin! Please-please-pleeeeeeeeaaaaseee!” Winter was so shocked at her enthusiasm that he nearly tripped when she rushed him. “Slow down a tick Tink, I got it last night while I was playing the violin, yes I can play by the way, it came up just like that, poof, I swear I could feel the excitement rush through me like lightning as I played the final note of that piece.” They all laughed together. It was Froth who re-initiated the discussion. “So what do you think it means Wint?” “Yeah what does it mean!” Winter smiled at his friends before he contemplated his response. “Well, I’m pretty sure it means that I will play the violin… and… umm… nope that’s it” he beamed. “Then what’s the snowflake?” Winter’s eyes raised quickly as he remembered what his father had said. “Oh I remember! It was to symbolise my music bringing happiness even in the cold winters.” He announced gleefully. Tinker quickly jutted in. “Well I hate to interrupt but… We are running late for school again!” She jumped as she finished and quickly darted off in the direction of the school with the other two still regaining their senses. They quickly chased her down the road just as a beautiful rainbow glimmered in the sky in the shape of a circle. A popping champagne cork woke Winters with a start as the excitable atmosphere had died down to a dull roar. His spike topped helmet had tipped over his eyes as he slept so he raised it up again to view his surroundings. His booth had gained a couple of stallions who were bickering away like excited school-girls about what seemed to be the war. Winter tipped his helmet back down again and drifted off. Princess Celestia paced in her personal quarters while Princess Luna simply stood in silent contemplation. “It deeply troubles me that we must build a war room in the castle dear sister.” Celestia stated. “What is to become of our peaceful lands?” “Worry not big sister, we have dealt with threats before and we can deal with this also, diplomatically or not.” “Yes but all of those were within our borders, war with another major nation is not in our blood, it will be a black mark in our history.” Celestia stopped her pacing and sat down on her new rocking chair. This would be a very difficult dispute to resolve. Several assassinations in the name of Equestria had been the cause of tension, alongside their already poor diplomatic relationships, this would undoubtedly lead to war with Germaney. Many years had passed since his cutie mark had appeared and Winter was sitting in his room, it had been a long day of work and he was tired, he could have slept there and then but his violin was beckoning him to play some more. His smile began to form, a rare occurrence at the time as his friends were in Canterlot for the holidays. Winter quickly rushed up and put on his favourite record and prepared his violin to play alongside it. The slow march began the tune and the operatic singing continued it. As the piece finished Wint relaxed his tensed muscles and simply lay there on his bed in complete serenity. It was a mere minutes after that when his mother opened his door and informed him that he had a letter from Canterlot. His eyes flashed open in excitement, it had been a while since his friends had mailed him so this was an exciting time. It was only after he had opened it that he realised that it had not only been to Canterlot, but all over Equestria, the anticipation was killing him as he quickly unfolded it and read it aloud. A calling back to the fatherland? This was the most exciting thing that had happened to him in years! He could leave the farm and go on an adventure with his fellow brothers, he would finally be accepted by all and not just a few. A chance to start life over in Germaney. Packing his bags was hard but the goodbyes had been the hardest part, not with his parents but with his friends as he had to farewell them over the mail, they would be what he missed most he thought, aside from the occasional family member that dropped by, Tink and Froth had been Winter’s only friends. He decided to pack the photo of the three of them that he had in his drawer, no sense in forgetting his best friends even if he would make new ones. He boarded the train to the docks and waved one last goodbye to his family, he would miss them, he thought, but his national fervour would keep him company during the cold nights, and that was when he remembered, he forgot to pack his violin. The loneliness kicked in at boot camp, it seemed that everyone hated him for being a foreigner, even more so than back home… home, this was his home now and he had to accept it, even if it wasn’t the same. He worked hard to achieve his uniform, he sang the national anthem louder than the others and he kept his bunk and locker as clean as soap. But deep down inside he knew that he had made a mistake. At first he tried to make friends, but no one wanted to have anything to do with him. Winter worked on his German accent to try and fit in but it seemed that nothing he did had any effect on his status, der Ausländer. It was after one year of boot camp and one year of reserve service that the army finally decided to attack the enemy, Equestria. It at first came as a shock to Winters but it eventually sank in, two years in the German army had given him a boost to his national loyalty and maybe when it was all over he go sightseeing, he had never been south of Canterlot castle before and it was most likely that that was where they would go. This was starting to get less and less disturbing and more exciting! Winter pushed aside his nagging doubts and boarded the train to the docks, this was going to be interesting. “A surprise attack with a small force to take Las Pegasus and White Tail Woods” the commandant spoke in German over a megaphone. “You shall land on the west coast of Equestria as a secondary force to the main army on the east, you will move in to take the Woods to the west of Canterlot and act as a skirmisher force from there.” Everyone shuffled about in the cold winter air, after departing from the train, the regiment had all gathered at the docks for a speech. Herr Commandant Iron Cross had planned the entire attack out, we would rush for the woods and begin our attack as a diversion, we would create chaos and then the rest of the regiment would come in to reinforce our line and break theirs. All before the main army land at the east coast. “Hail the mighty Kaiser!” Herr Commandant shouted. The regiment repeated the chant and boarded the ships. As Winter finally settled in for the long trip he noticed something in his pack, it had been wrapped up in an old potato sack that looked old and forgotten. He unravelled the small item and to his immense shock, he felt his heart sink and begin to ache as his throat tensed up. What he held was the photo of his real fatherland, and his real people.
2: DraftedThe Wonderbolts soared across the skies over the ocean swiftly approaching their target. The pre-emptive strike was thought of by Luna and reluctantly backed by Celestia, a simple bombing of the land ship depot would definitely assist the Equestrians in defending their lands by slowing down the inevitable invasion. Even if it did look bad in a history book. “We’re comin’ up to the mark!” shouted Spitfire as she reached into her pack and pulled out a bomb, the wind gushing against her face. Here goes nothing, she thought. Commandant Iron Cross heard them before he saw them, a droning rumble in the distance. He looked upon the skies and cursed. “Get to cover, take shelter now!” he shouted at the dock workers nearby as he ducked into cover. The Wonderbolts flew overhead and as they did so several whistling noises became apparent. The bombs landed with several ear piercing explosions, levelling the depot to a crumbling mess of splintered wood and disembodied tank pieces. The Home Guard had prepared for an aerial attack however and were only just now in position. Iron Cross spoke with a tone of vengeance as he climbed out from his shelter, the guards prepared the flak cannons. “Hold your fire for now gentlecolts, wait until the enemy is in a prime position to receive a warm German welcome.” The Wonderbolts cheered as they heard the explosions behind them, Spitfire, with a satisfied smile, eased up and glided into the middle of the formation. “Alright guys that was perfect, now we need to return over the factory and drop another volley and then we are as good as home.” They all cheered at this and prepared for the second run. As Spitfire prepared to drop her second bomb she noticed that several clouds of black smoke were quickly forming in front of them. Suddenly, one materialised just metres in front of her, her instincts told her to dodge it and with a swift change of direction she swerved just out of the way but feeling her left back leg clip the side of the cloud with a horrific sting. It was all happening too fast, one cloud appeared right in front of the mare in front of her, all that was visible was a red flash, that was all she could see, red, she wiped the red off her goggles and the mare in front of her was gone. As if part of some sort of twisted magic trick or illusion she was gone. “Get ready to drop!” The second run was less successful than the first but still enough to destroy what was left of the production lines. In a gloomy success the Wonderbolts began their return flight home, as Spitfire only then realised in agonising astonishment that her leg was utterly lacerated. Ponyville was quiet this time of year, particularly Sweet Apple Acres. This meant that Applejack had been working rather lightly and had had a rather lax day in general. She fed the animals, bucked a few stray apples and had just been checking on their latest expansion of apple trees. This new section was planted just before winter to create some tough specimens that could maybe even produce a reasonable harvest during the cold, they would however require no small amount of attention to grow them just right. She was just emerging from the plantations when, from a distance, she saw two stallions making their way up the path to the house. “Can I help you gents anyhow?” Applejack yelled out to them as she moved to intercept their path. The larger of the two motioned the other to stop, he was obviously in charge. As Applejack came closer to them she noticed that they were wearing similar uniforms to the Equestrian riflemen that she so admired. They wore Brodie helmets with an insignia of what appeared to be some kind of artillery. The taller one stiffened up as Applejack came within a reasonable talking distance, she noticed him to be encroaching into middle-aged. “Ma’am, my name is sergeant Hammer and I would like to speak to a Big McIntosh,” he stated rather gruffly in a southern accent. “Oh, well he’s here, what exactly do you need to talk about?” Applejack asked as the sergeant remained vigilant. “He’s been drafted into army for the upcoming war, we need strong gents like him to pull and operate the artillery.” Applejack’s heart stopped, her jaw slightly open immediately locked into position as thousands of thoughts raced through her head. Would Big Mac be able to handle the life? Could he work under pressure? Was he strong enough to even pull one of those cannon things? … Would he ever come home? Sergeant Hammer had seen this reaction before moved to comfort the mare, however this was interrupted when the large stallion himself came into view. “Ahh, Mr. McIntosh?” Big Mac hesitated before answering. “Uhh… yep.” “Excellent.” Applejack watched solemnly as she waved her last goodbyes to Big Mac, she bit her lip in an effort to hold back her tears but the minute she looked down at little Applebloom sobbing away she gave in. Granny Smith simply watched him go, holding the fort she showed no tears and remained strong for her family, he would return, she thought, he would come back to them with his own stories to tell. Big Mac steadily boarded the military train with the other Ponyville draftees and disappeared into a sea of uniforms. Applejack turned to Applebloom and looked her straight in the eyes with compassion. “Come on little sis, let’s go on home now.” Putting his wide brimmed hat over his eyes helped Winter sleep throughout the voyage, the rhythmic rising and falling of the ship had become a standard that toyed with his head as he too, tossed and turned in his restlessness. He eventually gave up trying to sleep and emerged from his bunk wide awake, to his surprise most of the other soldiers were awake by this point as well. A couple were playing some sort of card game whilst a few more simply sat there or read a book, no one made any noise though. The only noise to be heard was the creaking of the ship. Perhaps for some, this was due to boredom, others maybe tiredness, but a few of the older veterans were quiet for a different reason. Winter viewed them with perplexity, it was as if they knew something that everyone else didn’t. And suddenly out of nowhere came something that was a shock to everyone. One of the mares playing cards laughed rather loudly as she won her game, this small spark seemed to ignite an entire tinderbox of cheer and before he knew it, Winter was in a happy place again, all solemnity seemed to disappear as the flame re-ignited in the hearts of everyone in that room. He smiled as the chatter returned to the group. Everything was going to be fine. The ships sailed on in their slow journey across the ocean to Equestria. Hundreds of people lay awake in each one as they pushed on into the morning. Hundreds of people who all shared the same thoughts at that time. Everything was going to be fine.
3: Derailed“Move! Get in the boats now!” An officer shouted as the regiment rushed into several smaller landing crafts, climbing down netting alongside the ship to do so. Winter ran out to join the rush, fastening his rifle strap as he prepared to board. He climbed three quarters of the way down the netting before he jumped into the boat, nearly slipping, he leant over the side to see the beach, tantalisingly close. The steam engine roared, sending the little machine chugging towards the shoreline. After a short wait the boat landed with a grinding sound that was soon replaced by the sound of a whistle. “Right, onto the beach let’s get go, go, go.” The soldiers climbed out of the sides of the boat and began to form at the beachhead. Winter felt warm tingly inside as he finally found himself walking on the sand. His lip trickled into a slight smile while the regiment moved into position ahead of him. “Feeling at home ausländer?” one of them jeered as he grabbed Winter and shoved him towards the beachhead. Winter considered socking him one but the stripes on the soldier’s jacket told him otherwise. He, with great effort, forced himself away from the sergeant and into formation where his smile was no longer. It started to snow. Princess Luna was standing in the royal war room with Princess Celestia, and several generals and ranked officers. “It is official,” Luna solemnly announced. “My spies have reported that a small German force is to land on our coast, just west of Whitetail wood.” The small crowd began to mumble amongst themselves, only to be silenced by Luna’s gaze. “Our forces must be dispatched as soon as possible to stop them from reaching any of our major cities or towns.” “But ma’am?” A stocky stallion with a southern accent interrupted. “Won’t they take the railroad? That way they would get much further into our territory before they’re stopped.” “Yes… this is a possibility.” Luna paused for a moment, deep in thought. “What if we booby trapped it? Your men have plenty of explosives, take a train to the woods and lay an ambush for them, that would work would it not?” The room clamoured in agreement. Celestia chimed in, “Well we all have a job to do so let’s get to work.” The coach was alive with cheer and laughter, some of the younger soldiers were laughing at a young filly that seemed to be terrified by the train, others were engaging in rather noisy banter. There was a group of four playing cards in the corner and the same mares as on the boat were placing bets on where they would be getting off the train. A banner had been hung over one of the windows for the Equestrians to see as the train passed them. Winter simply sat in his corner, his smile had not returned. He had to remind himself that he was German, he would fight for the fatherland, not for Equestria. He sighed, why was this so difficult to comprehend? Winter examined the coach, all he could see were his brothers, he would fight with them in the years to come and they would likely grow close. His smile returned at the thought, they would accept him as their brother. Winter finally relaxed a little as he stood up and joined a group of draftees nearby. “Ah the ausländer finally awakes.” Sneered one of them as they all picked up on the laughter. This didn’t faze Winter, he was too happy to take offence, instead he laughed with them. They continued to chat for a while until it got cold enough to close the sliding door. Winter put on his pickelhaube and walked up to the large open door and reached out to close it. An ungodly loud crash coming from the engine room interrupted him, followed by an earth shattering explosion that derailed the train and knocked Winter off his hooves. As he braced himself against the doorframe he saw the room quickly rising up to a panic, the soldiers all tumbled over each other trying to get out of the door. The door that Winter was standing in. The third shell landed right next to the carriage, this time it hit Winter like a wave, knocking him right out of the carriage and into the tree line. Dazed he tried to stand up but failed, merely collapsing under his weakened legs. His ears were ringing and he couldn’t see straight. The world was becoming darker and darker, Winter weakly reached for his helmet, his only comfort as he lapsed into unconsciousness. How long had it been? Winter opened his eyes slowly and looked at himself, he was partially covered in snow and his neck had a small cut but he was otherwise okay. His pack had survived and was still on his back, whether the contents had been destroyed or not he was unsure. Finally, his helmet was a few metres away from his head, he tried to reach out for it but found his body to be too weak. Winter laid back his head, in doing so he viewed the train, or what was left of it. The entire carriage had been blown open along with its contents and the derailed engine had been also destroyed. As he looked up and down the train he noticed several survivors walking around, it took a while for his vision to focus but when it did he saw that they were wearing a light green uniform with an almost flattened helmet. His heart skipped a beat… they were Equestrian. They were searching for survivors amongst the dead, he was just a little bit further from the train for them to be actively searching but not too far away to miss. Thankfully, one of the soldiers called out to the rest in Equestrian, this made the nearest one turn around for just a small amount of time. Winter took this as a sign and bolted up, he began to sprint towards the thicker part of the woods, his legs buckled beneath him but he kept pressing on, forcing himself up and continuing. He heard shouting in Equestrian behind him but kept on running. “Over there Sky, get him!” The bullets flew by Winter causing him to panic, he stumbled into a tree and collapsed to the ground. The bullets kept flying by, pinging splinters off trees as they did, Winter began to crawl through the thick snow and over a log as the shouts continued. “I think I got him sir!” “Good, go make sure you killed him private.” “Sir!” Winter finally made it to the top of a small hill overlooking the woods, he could lose her in here. He struggled to make it back up onto his legs and began to run as fast as he could through the snow, the wind picked up, covering his tracks as he ran. The cold biting into him as he forced his way through it. He pushed his way through several tree branches and stumbled down the hill. The snow was less thick down there so it was easier to run, he ran as fast as his exhausted legs could take him. It seemed that his pursuer had taken a wrong turn because Winter could not see or hear her anymore which was enough to warrant a sigh of relief. He slowed down a little and took a small map out of his pack. There was a small town just east of him called Ponyville, maybe an hour’s walk or so, if it wasn’t snowing. It was the safest place to be, he figured he could lay low for a while until either the war died down or the Germans caught up and then re-join the army. So that was the plan, Winter took his uniform and helmet off and put them inside a hollow tree, he marked the tree with an ‘x’ and put the same ‘x’ on his map before tucking it back in his pack and putting on his favourite jacket and wide brimmed hat. There was a long walk ahead of him and the sun was only getting lower.
4: PonyvilleWinter, in his increasingly worried state, paced back and forth among the snow covered trees, the town Ponyville was very much visible from his perch and although it was in the middle of the day, it was freezing, not that Winter noticed all that much. The wind was slowly whistling its way through the branches, seemingly opposite to Winter’s owns thoughts that were racing around in circles. ‘Okay, so the army has clearly been stopped, no biggie, I just need to lay low for a while… but what if they don’t ever push back? What if they lose even more ground? What if we lose entirely?’ Winter shivered as a very strong gust of wind caught him off guard, making him regain some composure however. ‘It’s fine as long as I stay here, nothing bad could happen in a small town like this, it’s not like I would stand out being new or anything, because nopony knows each other in a small town like this now do they!’ Winter shut his eyes tight and tensed up. ‘Stop thinking like that, that gets me nowhere… I just need to get my accent back, get a room somewhere and get an inconspicuous job.’ “Phew, this is gonna be harder than I thought.” He began his descent down the hill and towards the road. ‘I had better enter town from the road so I don’t draw any unwanted attention.’ Winter’s every step was a struggle through the thick snow as he lifted each hoof as high as his torso in every step. He could hear the sloshing and crunching of his strife over his light panting, the frosty air only making the beads of sweat on his face even less comfortable. ‘I’m going to murder whichever weather jockey thought that it was a good idea to up the icing dosage.’ The pain was finally worth it as winter placed his hooves on solid ground once again. Feeling slightly more energised being able to walk on a hard cobblestone road, Winter increased his pace as he trotted downhill towards the town. ‘No need to worry. I’m no longer being shot at, which is nice, solid ground is beneath me and I am entering territory that I once called my country but in a twisted confusing set of events is now considered enemy territory. Fan-bloody-tastic.’ Applebloom was bored, there was nothing that she could do with her sister in the state she was in. She sat on a bench outside the house and buried her head in her yellow forelegs, if Rainbow Dash could get so much pleasure from sleeping then there was no reason why she couldn’t. As she sat there her thoughts began to pick up. She could hold a crusader meeting and try to get a cutie mark that they hadn’t thought of yet, although they were running out of those, not to mention it would be a walk to Tartarus and back just to find her friends in this snow. Or she could just sit there and nap for a bit. “I think I’ll just go with option two for now.” Applebloom yawned to nopony in particular in her southern accent. She closed her eyes and began to relax her muscles only to be startled by a powerful chilly breeze that sent shudders down her spine. ‘Darn it, I just can’t get a break can I?’ Applebloom swung around and slipped off the bench only to be greeted by the stinging cold snow that shot up her hooves. She painfully bounced her way towards the road into town to avoid long amounts of time touching the ground. Exclaiming when she stepped in a fresh puddle and stumbling away and onto the slightly warmer dirt track. She began to walk to the boutique to see Sweetie Bell. It usually wasn’t that far but in this cold it may as well have been miles. As she made it to the main road she noticed somepony she hadn’t seen before, he was a light blue stallion with dark blue hair, he appeared almost oblivious to the cold as he was wearing only a simple brown jacket and a dark brown hat similar to Applejack’s. Applebloom noticed as he drew closer that he appeared to be somewhat lost in thought with his eyes mostly scanning the town blankly. ‘Weird.’ Winter’s thoughts were way ahead of him by now. ‘What if they have some sort of secret service that is specialised for finding enemy troops hiding in their small towns? That would be the end for me, they would take me away in a carriage to have information extracted from me! Oh god, what if they think I have info? I don’t have any info! But they don’t know that! What if they’- “Hiya mister!” a squeaky voice shouted out from surprisingly close. Winter jumped out of his skin but quickly composed himself. The voice had come from a young red-haired yellow filly that had an accent Winter could only assume to be southern. The little filly spoke up again. “You new in town?” “Umm…” Winter hesitated and reclaimed his old accent. “Yeah I am actually, umm… can you direct me to the town square?” “Oh sure,” she beamed, apparently delighted to help. “Just follow the road down that way.” She pointed towards the part of town with the little centrepiece tower. “Ok, danke” Winter smiled back, following her hoof towards what would probably be the best place to find work. As he continued to walk he noticed a large barn and farmhouse over to his right, a familiar setting that brought back memories of his colthood. He chuckled at the good times he had in his family’s barn with Tink and Froth, they would play all sorts of games like chasey and have hay fights that always ended up in a very long clean up session. ‘I wonder how they are doing these days.’ Winter mused over this for some time as he made his way into what seemed to a small suburban area. A fountain caught his eye from another street so he strayed from the main street and followed the road to this nice little monument. On his way he noticed a lovely little sweets shop, it appeared to be built to look like a gingerbread house. It had a magnificent roof that looked like it was made out of chocolate topping with a lining of icing. At the side was a candy cane wind gauge and on top was a cupcake inspired second floor with blazing candles and pink frosting. ‘Wow this is amazing! I definitely need to buy something here.’ Winter looked in awe at the sight. ‘Screw the fountain; this has a cupcake roof and an icing sugar thingy and a creepy pink pony staring at me and- wait what?’ Surely enough there was a frizzy haired pink mare staring at him suspiciously; her eyes were narrow as if she were trying to figure him out. ‘Could she know somehow?’ her stare was unblinking and the sweat was beginning to build up again on Winter’s forehead. He smiled nervously and began to walk up towards the fountain. That was when it happened, a look of realisation shot into her eyes as her jaw dropped in shock. ‘Oh no…’ Winter quickly darted into an alley and started to panic again. ‘I’m screwed, she recognised me. I’m going to get arrested and’- “WELCOME!” Everything went black. The orange rays of the setting sun woke Winter from his alleyway. He shook his head a little as he stood up and checked his surroundings. The pink pony was nowhere to be seen. He stretched out his cramped up limbs and looked over himself, he had thin layers of snow falling off his back and his hat was crooked. “I should find somewhere to sleep before night comes.” Winter mumbled to himself, making a mental note not to get side-tracked next time he wanted to get something done. He slowly began to walk out of his hiding place and dust himself off, the beams of sun now more visible due to the limited cloud cover. The town square was just around the corner by the fountain apparently. So Winter headed off in that direction. Quite a few ponies were outside at this time of the day which made sense to Winter since it was a work day. Most of them were chatting with friends while others were closing down stores and other businesses. Youthful couples were beginning their evening courtships as the late sun’s light glazed over the town. As the buildings opened up into a small circular clearing, Winter made his way into the town square and immediately noticed a significant change. Everything here was still open, all the stalls and stands and buskers were still running. Winter looked around and observed the busy scene as he made his way over to the food market. ‘Farmers are always looking for good workers aren’t they? I’d say that I’m qualified for that kind of work, besides… who wants to work in a candy shop with… that thing prowling about.’ Winter quickly checked over his shoulder to make sure that the pink pony from before hadn’t returned. A quick scan of the alleyways and hiding places eased his worries, he turned his head back around just in time to narrowly avoid bumping into a cart full of apples. “Woah!” Winter exclaimed as he made a sharp stop just inches from the owner of the cart. She gave him and unimpressed look as he reared back. “Watch it sugarcube.” She bitterly retorted, pulling her cart around him. “I-I’m sorry miss, I was j-just”- “Be more careful next time.” The words rolled of her tongue bluntly. Winter retreated back a few steps to give her room before noticing something on the side of her cart. A banner with something written in large black letters: Farmhand wanted Requires previous agricultural experience See Applejack between 4:30 and 5:00 for interview Sweet Apple Acres Winter smiled to himself as he saw this, he finally found exactly what he needed. He looked up into the sky to see the sun just beginning to set, being the middle of winter that made it roughly four-ish. Winter chuckled to himself. ‘I guess you learn some useful things in the army’ He began to walk off in the direction of the farm, his perfect hiding place awaited.
