The fire was dead.
The room was cold.
Twilight mindlessly gathered some small logs. Her vision was blurry and her magic felt weak and distant, but it was enough to complete this simple task. As the pile slowly grew, she began adding twigs and leaves to it as well. When it had reached a distant size, she summoned a small arcane flame to light it.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
A mare stumbled in, but Twilight didn't notice. She was too busy taking inventory of the small amount of wood and vegetation she had. She only noticed when the shivering mass of pony emitted a small groan. Turning around, Twilight noticed the cuts, bruises, and dirt all over the mare. She put another piece of wood onto the fire and made her way across the room.
The fire was roaring.
The room was hot.
The heat felt good on Twilight's coat. She felt her hairs slowly relax as her body warmed up and started to calm. The mare before her slowly stopped shivering, and fell into a deep sleep. With nothing else to do, Twilight put another log on the fire and looked out the window.
The wood was running low. The wind howled outside as she scanned the horizon. Relatively close to the room was a forest; Twilight decided she'd go get more wood from there. She returned after slightly more than an hour carrying a decent amount of logs on her back and with her magic, but she was quite exhausted. She closed the door to the room and fell asleep curled up next to the fire.
The fire was flickering.
The room was mild.
Twilight awoke to the prodding of the other mare. Startled, she turned around, ready to cast whatever weak defensive spell she could manage. She was relieved when she saw the mare standing there, gesturing to the fire. Twilight nodded and put another log onto the fire; soon, it was back to its full strength. Outside, the moon shone brightly. The strange mare told Twilight that her name was Wood Nails, and that she could build things. Wood Nails offered to build a cart for carrying more wood and some traps for small animals and such critters. While it had been generally looked down upon to eat meat in the Old Days, in these times there was nobody to judge - and often little choice.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
Twilight returned from gathering another load of wood. Exhausted, she lay down in a corner to sleep while Wood worked on building a cart. She'd showed Wood Nails how to stoke the fire when it began to die, and she had more than enough wood to work on it. She fell asleep to the sound of hammer and nail, but awoke quickly when a scratching echoed on the wall, followed by the sound of large footsteps. She quickly killed the fire and motioned for Wood Nails to go silent. The footsteps circled the building three or four times before running off into the distance. When Wood Nails asked what had just happened, Twilight gave her a traumatized look that explained everything. Twilight then went into the corner again and fell asleep as Wood Nails hammered the cart together.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
Twilight awoke feeling more comfortable than she had in weeks. Looking underneath her, she saw a bed of twigs and leaves. Across the room from her, a small, expertly made wooden cart stood next to a pile of simple wooden traps. Sleeping with her face down on a half-built trap was Wood Nails. Twilight silently hitched herself to the cart, and went off to gather wood and lay traps. She returned not two hours later, with a quite large load of logs as well as a not-insignificant amount of meat and fur. She unhitched the cart in the corner and propped herself against a wall to let her body recharge. She noticed Wood Nails stirring and beginning to awaken. As soon as she saw that Twilight had taken the cart and traps out to the forest, a small smile broke out on her face.
The fire was roaring.
The room was hot.
The builder had come up with a suggestion; if they put up a hut, someone might stop by and they could help with the work. After considering it for a few minutes, Twilight agreed and started going out to gather more wood. When she came back, Wood Nails had already drawn a diagram in the dirt covering the floor. It was a modest-looking house, with enough room for four ponies to live relatively comfortably. They soon got to work, assembling the various parts of the hut as well as working on gathering enough leaves, furs, and sticks for the furniture. When Twilight went out to get more wood and supplies from the forest, however, she was dismayed to find that a large beast had taken apart most of the traps. Luckily, the beast was not smart enough to cover its tracks, but the traps were still ruined. Twilight prepared an offensive spell in her mind and started to search for the creature. Not five minutes later, she found it napping under a rock ledge. She then killed it with her magic and dragged the large carcass home.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
The lonely hut was silent.
A single pony stopped by, and asked for wood. She said that if she was given enough wood or fur, she'd return with more. Wood Nails said not to trust her; after all, she looked like a scam, but Twilight agreed anyway. Giving her about ten logs, they bid her farewell. Not an hour later, a weathered couple with two colts moved into the village. They said that their boys were strong, that they'd be able to do good work, that they were willing to work for food. Twilight and Wood Nails assured them that as long as they all did their part, there'd be enough for everybody. Then Twilight noticed something off about the mare. As she studied the mare, she realized something: That mare was missing a leg. She'd probably been one of the few lucky ones out of the cities; they had rarely escaped without some sort of grievous bodily harm. She felt obliged to ask the family's name; she learned that the old mare was called Warm Smiles and the stallion was Steel Heart, as well as the boys being named Treadheart and Pathfinder. The entire family already had their marks; most were self explanatory, such as a smile for Warm Smiles and a compass for Pathfinder. Twilight felt confident that this time, this time would be different.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
The lonely hut was quiet.
Twilight returned, exhausted, from hauling another load of wood. She saw Pathfinder and Treadheart playing with Warm Smiles while Steel Heart was working on what looked like a wooden spear. When Twilight asked about it, he only said it was always good to be prepared, not even looking up from sharpening his weapon. She sighed and went over to Wood Nails, who had already started setting up the framework for the next hut. She called out, and Wood Nails responded only by glancing up and looking at her for a few seconds before getting back to work.
The fire was roaring.
The room was hot.
The lonely hut was silent.
The rain poured hard, drenching the ground and anything on it. In the room, the six ponies huddled around the fire while the sounds of lurking beasts could be heard outside. The six ponies talked over their experiences, trading tips and tricks and just generally entertaining themselves. It was all well and good until Twilight heard some scratching in the storeroom. Sneaking as quietly as she could over to it, she found a stallion picking through the various supplies. He turned, saw her, and tried to run off, but before he could she had him in her grasp. When she asked what he was doing, he said that he just needed food and that he didn't want to hurt them in a panicked voice. She sighed and said that if he needed help, all he had to do was ask; in fact, she'd let him stay with them for a while until he was able to go out on his own. He thanked her, but said he couldn't stay. He did help her learn the finer things of stealth, though.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
The lonely hut was busy.
Twilight and Wood Nails finished sawing out the walls of the second hut and putting them into place. After the roof was attached and the small amount of furniture put inside, Steel Heart came into the tiny village carrying a large carcass, and put it on the padded dirt in between the buildings. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he called over his sons to come help him. Warm Smiles was leaning on a hut, working on knitting a small quilt from the pieces of cloth caught by the traps. All in all, life was good and simple in the village.
The fire was flickering.
The room was mild.
The tiny village was quiet.
The only sign that anything was coming was the faint rustling of bushes in the forest. One of the new pegasi that had moved in over the past few days was the first to notice anything; she quickly turned around and started scanning for danger. Then the beasts leapt from the wood. There were only about two or three of them, but they managed to drag off a unicorn, kicking and screaming, into the underbrush. Then everything went silent. The two ponies who had come in with the now-dead unicorn just stared in mild shock at the gnarled, curled trees and bushes from where the beasts had come. But life went on; within hours, they were back to work, albeit slower and quieter than before.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
The small village was bustling.
The village had been growing at a rate of a hut every two or three days. Twilight had fallen into a simple routine of sending out the stronger ponies to get wood in carts, waiting for them to return, and sending the wood off to Wood Nails. She was mildly surprised when Wood Nails suggested building a hunting lodge a few miles out of town, to get meats and furs for the town. Thinking it over for a moment, Twilight decided it was actually quite a good idea, and immediately delegated some of the wood-gathering ponies to get to work on it. Within a day, the lodge was up, and the food and furs began flowing. Some of the residents had reservations about eating meats, but most of them either came around or found enough plants to sustain themselves.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
The small village was bustling.
The sound of a far-off horn signalled the arrival of the caravan. They stopped next to the village, surrounded by guards holding rifles and bayonets. An old, fat earth pony stallion climbed down from the most decorated wagon and walked up to Twilight, offering a trade; a hundred furs for a compass. Twilight eagerly accepted the trade; compasses were extremely rare this days, with most of them either having been taken apart or destroyed. When she picked it up, she noticed it was pointing towards the southeast. She looked off towards the southeast, and all she could see was grassy plains for miles. She thanked the trader for the compass, and went back to the town with her new tool.
The fire was burning.
The room was warm.
The small village was quiet.
It was the dead of night. Twilight was alone outside, holding her compass, a blank sheet of paper, a stick of charcoal, and a torch in a small fur bag. She silently stole into the night, leaving only a small note in the room that simply said, "Gone Southwest." She trudged through the night, looking for anything of interest. Suddenly, she heard a crazed shout from behind her. She barely had time to turn around and look before a crazed stallion slammed into her side. With the breath knocked out of her, she barely had time to reorient before he hit her head with his hoof. She felt her consciousness slipping away as she tried to fight back. Lighting up her horn, she barely managed to get a single magic blast off before she collapsed, unconscious.
