Winter's Blanket

Chapters

Calm Before the Storm.
The Eye of the Storm.
The Second Band.

Calm Before the Storm.

It had happened, quite abruptly one afternoon as he sat on his porch watching the world trudge by on nothing but it's apparent Pony-power.

He craned his neck toward the sky as the first few flurries began, and so did every other creature on the dirt street, surprised at the turn of events.

"Isn't it fall?" The human, Mar, asked himself while putting a hand out to let a few snowflakes land. Their quick departure from the world through the heat of his palm only served to solidify a point.

That it was indeed snowing.

Now, don't get him wrong. On Earth, fall was relativistic. On it, the region, climate, and even the weather had a part in whether it was to snow or not, even if it wasn't winter.

Here on Equuleus, however, the ponies lived in what many would call, a 'Paint Frost on the Windows' type of world. This, in due part to the Pegasi being able to control the weather itself made it shockingly apparent that you could plan for the up-in-coming claws of rain or snow.

This was not planned.

He knew this, due part in the fact that, one: It was fall, and two: he was friends with the lead weather mare of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash.

He stood up from his porch chair, peeked over the lip of the roof, and sure as the sun was bright and yellow, the rainbow streak flew by. He just barely got her attention as she bolted over his home.

"Oi, Rainbow!" He yelled, waving to her.

The streak of prismatic energy turned coarse and flew toward him.

'...'

"Oh--"

Thankfully, as he flinched backward, holding his arms up to protect himself, the bolt stopped just in front of his house.

"I'm a little busy, Mar. What's up?"

He pulled his arms apart to see the pony that's been helping him live these past couple of days. Or, rather, one of the ponies that have been doing so, and smiled.

"Uh, yeah. Is it supposed to be snowing?" I asked, pointing at the darkening cloud cover above.

"No, actually. It's not." She answered, quite annoyed. "I mean, I take one second to myself, and all of Ponyville goes to Tartarus."

"That's... well, not nice." He said with a small frown. "When's it getting under control?"

"I'm not sure. I'm going to fly up there and try to clear it up." She said, still with a excessive amount of bite behind her words.

I lifted my hands in surrender and chuckled.

"No need to be so hostile."

Her frown disappeared into a soft groan.

"Yeah, your right. It's just hard you know? I'm the only reliable weather mare this side of the Everfree Valley, and it's just tough, you know?"

"I'd help if I could." I replied with a grunt and waved her off. "Go do it, Number One."

Her smile made the world a little bit brighter for me.

"You got it." She waved a hoof at me and blasted off into the sky.

I turned to my home and went back inside.

Now, I liked Rainbow. I really trusted her, and her ability, but it never hurt to get second and even third opinions. He pulled a radio out from his cabinet and began to fiddle with it absently as he walked around the kitchen.

He pulled the antenna out, turned the power on and was greeted with static.

He then turned the knobs on the side until it's growl turned into a low moan, then a garbled squash of words, and finally to actually speaking as he hit the sweet spot.

"This is your host, High Wire, on the shouting box, coming to you live from the towers of Canterlot."

I didn't know why, but I already hated this dude...

"Now, what's important, I hear, is that there's a runaway blizzard in effect."

That piqued my interest straight away.

"The nasty snow storm is expected to last for awhile until Royal Weather Patrols can get it under control, you dig? It's headed straight over the Everfree Valley, and is expected to come barreling through Mt.Canterhorn late during tomorrow evening. It won't be affecting Canterlot, but residents of Ponyville should beware."

My eyes widened in surprise.

Well, this wasn't at all what he had planned for today, but that's what happens when it starts snowing in early fall.

He shook his head and chuckled.

Thankfully, prepared for such occurrences, he turned to the basement door and rubbed his hands together.
~~~
"Come on you clouds! Break!"

With a rough shout, Rainbow Dash attacked the cloud formation again, succeeding in sinking her hind legs deep within the freezing cold storm front. She yelped in surprise and shot straight back to free herself for what must have been the thousandth time today.

"Come on, Dash. You got this." She puffed her cheeks out, and roared a battle cry as she tackled the cloud next to her.

Shoving the pony right into a body prison of torture.

She cried out and flapped her wings as fast as they would go, breaking the hold it had on her. She turned back to the cloud and glared, only to become down-trodden as it reformed it's shape.

"Eh, huh. I guess it's just not my day..." She sighed.

"Rainbow!"

Turning to the source of the shout, the fastest flier in Equestria spotted one of her friends, Twilight Sparkle below the muck of clouds and dashed down to land right next to her.

"Sup, Egghead?"

"Really?" Twilight asked, arching a brow at Rainbow.

"You know i'm playing around. What do you need?" She waved a hoof at Twilight dismissively.

She pulled a scroll from her saddlebag and unfurled it, trying to keep the snow off at the same time with her magic and pointed at it.

"The Princess has issued a Weather Alert."

Dash's eyes widened.

"No way," She grabbed the letter and looked it to and from. "Am I in trouble?!"

Twilight was just as surprised at Rainbow's worry as she was that it was snowing right now. She brought a hoof up to her face and slapped it.

"No. It was a mishap near Dodge Junction. Apparently while transporting a huge bundle of snowflakes, the Pegasi lost their grip on the net and they all dropped into a large formation of clouds! Now, we have the mother of all blizzards coming straight for us!"

Rainbow shook the letter clean of snow and chuckled nervously at Twilight.

"Oops."

"Never mind that. We need to prepare for the worst! It's going to be absolute chaos in a few short hours!"

"Wait, can't I just take care of this? I mean, I am the fastest flier in all of--"

"Can you even break the layer outside of the storm?" Twilight asked, lifting a brow.

"O-Oh," Rainbow said. "You saw that?"

Twilight shook her head.

"Just come back to town. Everypony's worried and I would really appreciate it if the lead weather mare where there to calm them down just a little bit."

With that, Twilight left.

With a short snort, Rainbow Dash turned back to the cloud cover.

"You think your so tough, eh?" She seethed at the dark formation.

"Well, let's see what you have to say about this!" She flew off like a rocket and went back to kicking the clouds in vain.
~~~
Bottled water?

Check.

Candles?

Check.

Games for when you get bored?

Check.

Makeshift Generator?

Not check...

Where in the world was that gen--

A hasty knock on his doorway interrupted him as he was bending toward the stairs to take another quick peek for his generator. He groaned and went to answer it.

"This had better be important! I'm expecting a storm front to hit u--"

Before he could even finish that sentence, a purple blur shot past the door frame and into his house. It came to a stop just near the mountain of supplies and turned to him in a panic of flurried words.

"Maryouneedtogetoutofherepronto,there'sastormcomingand--"

He politely reached over and muzzled the frantic mare with a hand.

"Now, try again?" He asked as he let go.

Twilight Sparkle breathed in, and then,

"Youneedtogetoutofhere,there'sastor--"

Muzzled again.

"You know, this isn't very productive for our time here."

She shook herself free and sighed.

"There's a storm coming. Your coming with me."

"Oh? And who made you the boss?" He asked as he walked to his supplies and began shifting through the bottles to count them.

"Why, Princess Celestia of coarse." Twilight answered confidently. "She made it expressly obvious that you should be moved to some place safe. You know how it is."

"Actually, I don't." I said, standing tall and looming over the little pony.

Her confidence waned as her stature became apparent.

"W-Well, she said to help preparations for the storm. Cut the branches off the trees, clear the debris, relocate the animals and maybe even--"

"Excuse me?" I asked, stopping her.

"What?" She asked.

"What was that last one?" I asked, feeling a bit of rage boil forth.

"Cut the tree branches?"

"Try again."

"Clear the debris...?" She said.

"Warmer."

"R-Relocate the animals?" She yelped.

"Right, well thank you for stopping by, Twilight Sparkle, but you can kindly leave now." I said with a snarl, picking her up and tossing her into what I could only assume was a snow pile. I could barely tell past the tint of red I was seeing.

I slammed the door, causing enough of a tremor that the stacked water bottles and game boxes fell.

Then, I just stood there.

Shaking.

I was so sick and tired of hearing that slang get shot off at me.

Animal. Monkey. Creature, monster and cretin.

I walked over to the recliner that I was able to get one of the ponies in town to make, and sat down quietly to let my rage die down.

As I fumed silently, I hardly noticed the storm outside beginning to pick up.
~~~
Rainbow Dash's short cry was drowned out by the wail of the wind as she attempted to fly, taking the wind into account, she had almost made it down to two hooves before getting rocketed back up. She clung to a cloud in sheer terror, waiting for the billowing horror to stop just enough for her to close her wings.

This wasn't a good time to fly.

That, coupled with her natural instinct to take flight to get out of danger, was not making the best of situations.

She tried desperately to work between instinct and training as she worked her body to keep herself stuck firmly on the cloud below her.

They taught her in flight school, that if ever she where to find herself in a situation where the wind was to powerful, to form a cloud sanctuary. Basically, form the clouds around you to create a room that you could sit in until it blew over.

Trouble was, she'd be stuck in that room for a good while, and probably freeze to death while doing it.

Pegasus coat's could handle a lot of things, but the frigid climates within a blizzard was not one of those things.

Many a good flyer, even Soarin', where taken down as wind and water froze their wings solid.

She opened her eye just enough to catch a glimpse of a house as the cloud cover parted and then closed again. She gasped as she recognized the porch on it's front, even from the bare glimpse.

Mar's house.

Pure thought took over as she pushed herself up, making sure to keep her wings closed.

She only had one shot at this...

There was a window at the top of his house.

If she could just get enough power to dive, she'd make it to the window.

But could she?
~~~
Mar's train of thought ruptured like a bubble in a rough tailwind as his head shot up from a loud shattering noise. His fingers twined together as his mind bounced the situation around in his emotion addled head.

The third floor's window broke?

Shooting to his feet, he knew that he had to take precautions to close off the breach, otherwise he'd have one hell of a mess to clean up afterword.

It was a room he barely ever used to begin with, the third floor, but if he didn't do it, then the roof would start to leek.

He grabbed a sturdy piece of wood about the size of the window from what his memory could have told him, along with a hammer and nails and bolted up the stairs with them.

He neared the door, when suddenly he heard it.

Moaning.

As in, pain filled moaning, like someone was in the room already.

His blood curdled as the moans turned into one long scream. He could just make out the sounds of someone trying to scrape up to their hooves, and then falling back down again under it.

He opened the door and gasped out loud.

The window was broken. And below it, Rainbow Dash laid, bloodied, covered with glass. It wasn't much to begin with, but even the small amount was deadly. She shouldn't have tried to move.

Forgetting entirely about the portal to the storm above her, he went over and pulled her out of the pile.

He bit past the pain of the glass cutting into him, and turned away from the mess to bring her downstairs.

He stopped right at the couch and very slowly put her down.

"God... oh for the love of..." He muttered, looking around.

All these useless candles and games, and no first aid kit?

He went to the kitchen, where some candles where already lit, burning and providing at least some light in the darkness, and threw open his many cabinets. Searching, like a lost man for a map. Finally, he had done it.

First aid kit in hand, he snatched a cloth and attempted to turn on his faucet.

"No water?" He growled, tossing the knob back to off. Frozen.

He went for a water bottle, turned the cap straight off and poured it onto the cloth.

He took both that, the kit, and the empty bottle and went straight back to Dash.

He looked her over, swore under his breath and popped the kit open after dropping the bottle.

"Tweezers, tweezers..." He chanted, filling through the kit.

"No tweezers?!"

Ponies and their hooves!

With another growl, he shoved the first aid kit and turned to the injured pony. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what to do, before he took a few calming breaths.

"No! No. Panic's the enemy."

He breathed until he was steady of hand, and covered it with the cloth.

And then, he went to work.

He pulled shard by shard out of Dash by hand, bringing pained groans and hisses from the mare until he was sure that he got it all out of her back and wings. He had to make sure, however, and as he worked his fingers over the delicate, now ruffled feathers, Rainbow's eyes opened.

"Don't move." He commanded simply.

Obeying for the time being, Dash just groaned and looked at him without moving.

"W-What happened?"

"You crashed through my window." He said, again staying as simple as he could make it.

She hissed in pain yet again as she flinched. His hand found a particularly sensitive spot between one of her primaries. There was some glass as well, but not anymore.

"Didn't think that you where home..." She said softly as he continued his search.

"And that's supposed to make me or you calm?" I asked with a huff. "You could have been seriously hurt, Dash. That, and I wouldn't have found you until something really bad happened."

She looked away, pride hurt.

"I-I didn't mean to--"

"Where where you? Why weren't you home?" I asked, shaking my head again.

"My home's a cloud, Mar. Can't really sit in there for to long in this." She sighed.

"Still. You could have went to someone else's. Pinkie's. Twilight's. God... I should have let you in when you where here this morning. I should have--"

"Please..." Rainbow sniffed, covering her face with a fore arm.

"No! I should have stopped you from going! I knew something bad was going to happen, but this?" He gestured to her wings and back. "God, i'm such an idiot! I'm a moron. A complete an utter waste of spa--"

A light sob stopped him from shouting.

He looked down to it's owner as she cried into her fore arm.

"O-Oh, Dash. Don't cry."

"Why? I'm the moron! Why would you beat yourself up over me?" She cried, rubbing the trail of tears away.

He froze.

Why was he beating himself up?

"I-I--"

It hit him like a bag of bricks.

More firmly, he answered her.

"Your my friend, Rainbow. Actually, no. Your like a sister to me! You've been there for me since the start. Sure, you treated me like a spy for a short while, but those where fun times!"

Her sniffles returned as she turned her head to me, wincing at the pain as she did so.

"You don't mean that." She said.

"I'd miss you, Dash. And don't you ever tell me that I wouldn't." I growled.

A small smile played at her lips, but the sound of the wailing wind finally broke through the walls. The eerie sound caused us to jump, and Dash gasped in agony as she did so. I turned to the door, and frowned.

"You need the hospital, and now there's no way I can get you there..."

It was just one of those days...

The Eye of the Storm.

"So..." Rainbow Dash said, turning to Mar as he worked the bandages around her back and wings.

"So." He repeated, checking the tightness so that it was just right.

It had been a few minutes after the loud winds of the snow storm began to reach them from outside, and already it was beginning to unnerve them.

For Mar, his mind was merely darting between making sure that Rainbow Dash was alright, and getting that window blocked up. For the second time today, he had walked over to the kitchen, grabbed another cloth and wet it with a water bottle.

"Why did you do that?" Rainbow asked, pointing at the now empty bottle.

"It's the only water that I have right now." He said simply.

This caused Dash to frown.

"Doesn't your sink still work?"

He shook his head.

"It's frozen solid."

That did not sit right with her.

Equestrian pipes where laid with spells to prevent that sort of thing. How can his pipes freeze solid when they had that going on?

It didn't add up.

Having washed out the blood in her coat, Mar stood up and gathered the things that he had used to get the job done and headed back to the kitchen.

"Hey, Mar?"

"Yeah?"

"When was this house built, again?"

He frowned at that.

"You know, don't you? You were there. It was about a month ago."

Well, that settled that question then.

Pipework was insured to last for more than twelve years. Longer still when you had a unicorn coming to re-due the spell lacing in the job.

It was a good thing that she had helped her mother with that. It let her see the lining in the situation right now.

Either the spell was done so poorly that it broke just after a measly month, or it hadn't been done at all.

Making a mental note to ask Twilight to come and check that out, she shifted off of the couch and made to stand up.

"I wouldn't do that if I where you." Mar warned from the kitchen, washing his hands with some more water. This time, however, it was from a jug.

She didn't listen. Standing up proper now, she ambled on into the kitchen and frowned up at the tall human.

"You do know that your pipes shouldn't be frozen, right?"

"Uh, duh?" He shrugged, shaking his head.

"You only got the weather to blame there."

She stared at the human, perplexed.

Didn't he understand?

Shaking her own head at his stupidity, she went to the fridge.

"I'm going to go fix that window now." Mar said after a second of watching the sink drain the dirty water out.

"You do that." She said, looking over the food that he had.

She was not impressed in the least.

"What the hay?" She muttered, looking over the contents as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

There was barely anything in it. Just a couple of apples, a few more water bottles and a cake, which she was pretty sure happened to be the same cake that Pinkie had given him for his 'Welcome to the planet' party. Sure that the cake was too old for his own good, she grabbed it and tossed it in the trash nearby.

"What in the world's wrong with this guy?" She asked.

She could remember when the human arrived in Ponyville just short of a month ago. It wasn't really much, and it made her remember the time span that the house had to be built in. During that time, he had hit a rough patch.

With little to no money, besides the scant amount of bits that Twilight could hoof him, he had nowhere to go and no food or water to even drink. Considering he couldn't even get a job, she shook her head and snorted.

These apples where bad too!

This was all stuff that he got a month ago!

Disgusted, she tossed those as well.

That just left the water, and that wasn't much at all to begin with.

How wasn't Mar completely starving?

She turned as Mar came into the room, looking to and from for something and pointed at him.

"Hey, what is up with your fridge?"

"Hmm?" He asked, lifting the first aid kit and then dropping it back down again.

"It's empty."

"No, it's not. There's apples and cake."

What?

Has he been eating that?

She shuddered.

"I tossed those."

His head shot up from under the table.

"You what?" He asked, surprised.

"I threw them out, Mar. They weren't any good."

"O-Oh." He said, fiddling with his hands some.

"Again, what's up with that?" She asked, pointing at the fridge that may as just have been empty.

"Well, I told you, didn't I? I hit a rough sort of patch. No biggy." He shrugged, turning away from her.

"A rough patch? Mar, you don't have any food!" She reared up and landed on the table.

"I got it under control, alright?" He said back, still searching for something.

She growled under her breath.

"Have you seen my hammer?" He asked.

"What hammer?"

"The one that I brought upstairs. It's not there anymore." He opened a bunch of cabinets.

Noticing that those too where empty, she shook her head.

"No. I haven't seen your hammer."

Throwing his hands into the air, he closed the cabinets and went back to the living room.

She followed him.

"Mar. Can we talk about this?"

"Sure. I'd love to know where that hammer went." He said back, looking all around the couch, and even going to his hands and knees to look under it.

"No. I mean the fact that you have no food." She frowned, looking over the water bottle stash that he had in here. It too, wasn't impressive.

"I told you I have that under contr--"

She bumped him in the head with a hoof, making him shout in surprise.

"Hey?! What was that for?"

"You don't have this under control, Mar!" She sat down on her haunches, wincing at the dull throb of her back on the way down.

"You hardly have any food, and right now I'm thinking that the work crew that built your house has missed some things."

He rubbed the back of his head and growled under his breath.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Rainbow. You don't know what your talking about. Just leave it alone." He stood back up.

"Then tell me." She demanded, following him to the staircase now.

"You don't need to hear me say it." He said, looking underneath the stairs.

Her eyes widened at this too.

"Oh come on!" She said, pointing at the stairs.

"What?" He gasped, turning to her.

The staircase wasn't even being held up right! It was a wonder he even got up to the room to help her in the first place, and this is what they suspected would help him? Glaring at the staircase, she looked at Mar and arched a brow.

"Seriously? You don't see this?" She asked, pressing a hoof onto the first step, which groaned under her weight. She wasn't even pressing down that hard.

His patience seemed to wane from there.

"Leave it alone, Dash." He warned, returning to looking under the stairs.

With a burning fire in her eyes, Rainbow Dash got up and tackled him into the staircase, causing the first few panels of wood to snap under their combined weight.

When they landed in the space between the ineffectual panels and the side wall, she glared down at him.

"This isn't how anypony is supposed to live, Mar." She barked at him.

"Well, you aren't all that good either. Are you, Rainbow Dash?!" He yelled back at her, pulling his arms up to make sure they where not hurt by the broken wood.

"Excuse me?!" She asked, offended.

"This morning you where nearly spitting venom about the weather team! What, are they not as good as high flying, super speedster, Rainbow Dash?" He asked, pushing himself up and rocking the frame of the wall as he sent her out of the hole first.

"It's not like that! We're talking about you here, Mar!"

"Then why should I tell you anything if your not willing to talk?" He asked, still at a shout.

"Why should I, if you won't?" She tossed right back.

At any other time, he would have said that she had had a point. Right now, however, pride seemed to get the better of both of them.

With a garbled snarl at the pain in his back, he pointed at the door nearby.

"There are a couple coats from Rarity in there. Take one and get out of here if you don't like my house."

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second before she bit back with an angry,

"Fine!"

She turned to the door, ripped it open with her hooves and took one of the thicker winter coats before throwing it on and heading for the door.

Mar reached back to his back, where a harsh pain laid, and brought out a hammer.

It must have fell down here when he opened the third floor's door...

He glared at the tool, and sighed.

"Figures..."
~~~
Outside, in the darkness of the murky clouds, combined with the darkness of the night, a light snow fall breezed past a mad pegasus.

Rainbow Dash trudged through the snow, shouting at herself more than anything.

She was mad, yes, but half of what she was shouting did not seem to make sense.

"That stubborn, Hay-headed, stupid... gah!" She kicked at the pile of snow underneath her, shaking off the bite of pain from her back.

What was Mar's problem, anyway? She was just trying to help!

Looking up at the sky with energy half spent from her march, and half gone from her tantrum, she sighed sadly and kicked at the snow once more.

She was only trying to help...

With no food, job, or even a house that was up to code, he'd only get in even more trouble that it was worth! The house could be condemned in that state, and he doesn't even care.

Talk about a shoddy job, considering it was built a month ago.

It should be brand new...

She had a bone to pick with many ponies about that, the Princess included.

The question, however, was why Mar refused to see all of this.

Doesn't he know what state the house is in?

Does he really do care, or not?

Is he... afraid of something?

She snorted.

There where too many question to be had right now.

She needed to focus on her own needs at the moment anyway.

According to the pattern of the clouds in the sky, it was only a matter of time before the storm kicked up again. She felt bad for leaving the door to his house wide open, but she had no time to go back.

She didn't think that Mar would let her back in, anyway.

As he had suggested, though, she needed to find a place to stay.

She knew that her house, although as awesome as it was, was defiantly in no shape to stay in. If it was still together, that is. She'd have to find a friend's house to stay at. But who?

As she could recall, Mar's house was right in the middle of the Business District, near Sugarcube Corner and the park. She didn't want to intrude on the Cakes, even when it was a bad time like this, and swallowed down enough pride to agree with herself.

Rarity's it was.

It wasn't like she could make it to any other ponies' house.

Twilight's was to far, and she'd get caught in another violent wind if she tried to get to Vinyl's. Sweet Apple Acres was a definite no go, and so was Fluttershy's, as it was just to far to get to in time, even at a gallop.

She wasn't even sure that she could run that fast with these bandages on. The coat was keeping her warm, but restricting her movements some, as understandably it wasn't made for a ponies' frame. It was for a human's...

Shaking Mar out of her thoughts again, she looked around to get a bead on her surroundings and growled at herself.

"Oh no..."

Her little adventure had brought her out to the edge of the park, and while there where many trees, and a lot of snow, there was just no way she'd be able to see where she was going.

Rarity's was near the park, sure, but this snow, coupled with the darkness of both storm and night meant that she couldn't see anything.

She pulled the coat up with her teeth to block out the cold some more and tried to find a landmark.
~~~
With a loud few knocks on the wood, the nails where dug in deep enough that he was sure the wood wouldn't budge from the nasty winds that where breezing past him all throughout the job.

Looking over the piece for any openings, he had time to clear his head and sighed, kicking at the snow that had built up as he had fought with Rainbow Dash.

Why did he do that?

Like the snow at his feet, regret started to pile up on him.

I mean, sure. The storm was finally calming down and everything, but there was no excuse for what he had just done.

Really.

He helps her, calls her a sister, and then has the gull to kick her out of the house just because she was trying to help him?

Was he mental?

He shook his head again and picked up the leftover nails and the hammer.

He'd have to talk to her about that some other time.

Coming back into the kitchen, which now served as a hub for this storm more than any other room today, he tossed the hammer and nails onto the table and turned to go back to the sink and the half-empty jug that he filled before the storm.

But, as fate would have it, he jumped instead.

This was due in part to the table legs near the fridge snapping in two. The entire thing sagged, sending the nails and the hammer to the floor.

He glanced at the now broken table and groaned, pinching his nose all the while.

That's what he gets for taking a table that someone else was trying to get rid of.

'Rainbow was right.' He thought, as he went over to pick the hammer and nails up again, this time setting them down on the counter gently.

He couldn't live like this.

Not only did he have no money, or job to bring in any income, but this house and the furniture within it where all hand-me-downs from the trash. Things that ponies where going to toss anyway, and things that he had took because he thought that he could fix them.

Apparently not, as he regarded the table again.

The only thing that was relevantly new in this house was his recliner.

The chair was made for him by a pony at Quills and Sofas. A masterpiece is what he said it was. And worth every bit that the Princess gave to him in order to survive until he got a job.

Yes, he screwed up.

With a rumble in his throat, he went back to the living room and froze.

The door was open!

With a slight jump toward the door, he slammed it shut again.

"Ugh... Rainbow." He growled, and kicked the snow that had piled here as well. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as the pile upstairs, and thus it was easier to clean up.

He pulled a broom over and scooped the snow into a bucket that he usually used for moping. With that done, he sighed and collected the radio from the couch, sat down and fiddled with the knobs again.

"Skrreeee--"

He winced at the stupid noise that all radios seemed to make while being tuned in, and tried to remember where he had it before.

Surely enough, though, he found the station.

"Good evening, ghouls and fillies, and welcome back to the call in the sky, with you host, High Wire, talking to you straight from the Canterlot Towers."

He groaned, remembering why he quite disliked this guy now.

He listened to him prattle about an apparent fund getting put together for a town that was not to far away. Something about parasprites, and blah blah blah, until quite quickly the show went quiet.

Then, High Wire cleared his throat.

"Alright, you cool cats, it would seem that our report has come in from the Royal Weather Patrol directly! Getting all these shows and stations to put out the news so that you all can hear it. It would seem that the storm front has hit Ponyville..."

"No, really?" I deadpanned, looking out the window at all of the frost and snow pelted against it.

"But, it isn't over yet, folks..."

I shot up in the chair.

"What?" I asked.

"It would seem that the storm has an eye. For all you wondering what that means, basically it's the middle of the storm. A sort of calm period is what Ponyville is experiencing right now. It seems safe for the moment, but I assure you that you should take this time to hunker down again after stretching you legs out. Seriously, folks. It is not going to be pretty if you stick your heads on out thinking it's done."

He glanced at the window again, and wished that it wasn't blocking out the view now. He knew that it was dark, and he had just sent Rainbow out in the uncertainty that was this mess. He lifted a hand and bit at a nail, trying to cull his fears.

"Another band of snow is going to hit, and I hope your all ready for it, but in the mean time, let me hit your radios with some music that'll hopefully lighten the mood."

As a soft, pony track began playing, he shot up, stock still.

He couldn't do it.

Even if he thought that Rainbow Dash had got to another friend's house, or just found a place to stay for the evening, he just could not do it. His worry had got the best of him.

He walked over to the coat closet, and grabbed the coat meant for lighter weather.

Rainbow had taken the larger one, thankfully.

As he pulled it on, he regarded the lantern that was in the corner and pulled that out as well.

He grabbed a match in the kitchen, struck it and lit the lantern, and then he headed to the door and opened it.

A gust of wind greeted him, and he covered the lantern with a hand in hopes that it wouldn't go out. He tossed a glance back at the radio, which continued to play the sounds of a calm, peaceful cello and then went out.

He had to find her.

Hopefully, he could do it before the eye of the storm left them in the wake of the second band of snow.

The Second Band.

The snow storm over head of the Everfree Valley had not entirely calmed since late. That much, a one Mr. Thunderstorm knew all to well.

It had been one full night, and still this storm was carrying itself over the valley, blocking out the advancing sun over the horizon like a veil.

He had seen many out-of-hoof storms in his career as a Royal Weather Patrol Guard. Tasked both with keeping lives and property safe by tackling storms of immense strength that no ordinary weather pony could take care of.

This, however, wasn't your ordinary out-of-hoof, run of the mill storm.

This was 'the storm' of the century.

"Yo, Thunder!"

Thunderstorm groaned internally as he turned to the mare that was flying over him, out of reach of the roaring winds of the first band of snow that was already heading toward Mt.Canterhorn.

"What do you want, Breezie?"

Breezie was an up-incoming sergeant in the Weather Patrol Corps. A rookie, as all things considered, she had never done this before. It was a miracle that she was even chosen as part of this scout party.

Their task may not have been to make the storm stop, but he considered it a lot higher than that.

They where supposed to be making sure nopony was outside, or in the air for that matter.

And this little filly was giggling up a storm not quite unlike the one underneath them.

"Aw, Thunder. You don't need to be so uptight." She said, falling into sinc with him.

"Breezie, our job is to--"

"Is to make sure everypony is still safe. You don't honestly think anypony would be foolish enough to come out during that?" She pointed down at the storm for emphasis.

He sighed.

"We need to jump at the chance that someone would be that foolish. We're trained to help, and that means we're trusted with their lives."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." She laughed, flipping over in order to fly upside down. She threw her fore legs behind her head and hummed contently.

Thunder shook his mane out of his face and groaned for real this time.

This is why he didn't want to be paired off with Breezie.

His highly trained eyes blinked, and he turned his head down toward the storm where a large patch of snow was being billowed into the air. If he could recall, he was flying over Ponyville right now.

According to his training, snow could be carried back up into the air when the wind was strong enough.

According to both the training, and his memory of the landscape, only a flat enough surface could provide this turn out. And that surface was Ponyville's park.

And just as the clouds parted way, he spotted a blur of blue that did not belong.

That was just enough for him.

"Breezie, we got one!" He hollered, dive-bombing toward the storm.

"W-Wait, what!? Really?" The holly colored mare gasped, looking down after reorienting herself with the world. But, Thunderstorm was already gone. She puffed her cheeks out and growled.

"What an idiot." She shook her head and looked around.

What could she do though?

There weren't any places that she could place the pony he was about to save down, even if there where a pony to begin with! Thunder was such an honor-hog that she didn't think he was being totally candid with her.

He must have been showing off.

That is it!

He was showing off and--

The clouds below parted as the wings of a powerful guard flew out of the confines of the storm. He stopped right next to her and pouted as she looked at him with surprise.

"What are you doing?" Thunder asked.

Breezie shook her head to clear it of the awe and took one last glance at the older, russet coated pony before taking off to create a small cloud.

In his fore arms, a cyan pegasus shivered, covered in a pile of snow and one, large, not-pony shaped coat.
~~~
He may not have wished this on any other soul.

That, couple with the fact that he sent Rainbow Dash out in this, made the human shiver under his coat in remorse.

He fought past the wind of the storm, knowing that he needed to do this fast, or risk getting caught in the second band of the storm.

Or... lose one of his only friends to it.

Working off of simple memory, he walked down the path from this morning, both now deserted and covered in snow. He went, having certain troubles with the shoes he was wearing, but made it past alright in the end.

That is, until he reached the expanse of land that covered the distance between him and the beacon of hope that was Sugarcube Corner.

Now, this 'expanse' wasn't that large. In fact, it was only about four houses wide. No more than four thousand square feet, at best.

What made this small space; in certain circumstances, bigger than it seemed was the snow that was coming off from the flat ground as the wind went through it. Unhindered as it was, it was creating a wall of mist and ice.

His lantern wouldn't survive that, and neither would he if he went straight through it.

He could agree with himself that he wouldn't die, but it would definitely shorten the time that he could spend out here safely before having to go back in to avoid hypothermia.

This coat really wasn't made for this kind of extremes.

Seeing no other way, Mar squared his shoulders, steeled his will and blew out his lantern, focusing on the lights within Sugarcube Corner and entered the wall.

"Dear God!" He shouted past the first lash of snowy mist as it hit him like a cold shower. However, unlike a cold morning's shower, it didn't stop there and warm up over time. Oh no, it got even colder.

Suffering past the distance he needed to take to reach the gingerbread-styled building, he pulled himself out of the torrent of freezing torture and planted himself on the side wall that blocked out the wind and gasped.

He was covered in snow now, and soon that'd melt and make his clothes wet. Not good in an environment like this.

He turned, walked around the building to the front door and knocked.

Then, he did so again, and a third time still to make sure that the inhabitants knew someone was at the door.

He breathed a hardy sigh as he heard shuffling within the building, and then the door opened. There, stood Pinkie Pie...

"Pink--"

With a loud gasp at my visage, the pony slammed the door in my face. The force shook out the snow above the door frame, and it fell on me.

Surely, he wasn't as confused as many would come to think. When he arrived in Equestria, on this new planet, he wasn't really treated well. Many ponies hated him, and where wary of him, but none like Pinkie Pie.

It seemed that the energetic, bubbly mare only treated him with utter fear most of the time and he didn't know why. But, this wasn't the time to feel hurt.

No, it was time to get angry.

With a short curse, he rapped the door's frame three more times, this time more urgently.

Behind it, he could hear a shrill,

"No wait! Don't open it, it's the evil--"

"Pinkie dear, it's a storm! I'm sure that the poor girl isn't--"

This time, the door was opened from a slightly pudgy, blue mare with pink spiral curls for a mane and tail. She looked at me, yelped and made to close the door.

I wasn't having any of this any more.

With one kick, the door slammed into my foot, sending snow into the building but stopping the door from closing. Then, I budged it open further, sticking it stuck with my own body. With a gruff growl, I asked,

"Is Rainbow Dash here?"

The larger mare, being the blue mare here, gasped at my sudden rage and shuddered.

"R-Rainbow Dash? She isn't here." She said quickly.

I lifted my hood, looking around at the background.

Inside, was not what I was expecting.

A whole group of ponies, both small and big where looking through the store front's window and into the kitchen where we where, surprised, shocked, and or scared. All eyes on me.

"I thought that it was that nice zebra we've been seeing. Pinkie, who is this?"

"I tried to tell you, Ms.Cake! It's the human that got here not to long ago." Pinkie said, still sound abrasive and fearful.

I turned away and closed the door.

But, it opened again.

"W-Wait! Where are you going, hun?"

"I need to find Rainbow Dash."

"The storm isn't letting up. I'm sure she's fine. You should stay here." Ms.Cake stamped a hoof.

"I'm sorry, but I need to--"

A set of teeth closed around my left sleeve and yanked me back toward the door. Then, Ms.Cake let go of me and said,

"I really don't mind. This is an emergency shelter. You can stay."

"..."

There it was again...

The shocking, all be it, pleasant recourse that I deserved more than anything right now.

Whatever he called it, however, he didn't want it right now.

He didn't need this right now, either.

The waste of time could be spent out here looking.

So, he boiled up a heated remark, the only one that would get him out of this, and said,

"What do you care?"

He hadn't meant for it to sound so harsh, or maybe he did, but it was done.

The mare flinched back and he took off into the snow storm, headed for another's home.
~~~
Slowly, Rainbow Dash's eyes fluttered open.

She hadn't been expecting it, but the warm rays of the sun surprised her when she woke.

'W-Wait, what?' She thought, attempting to bolt up only to be stopped by a pegasus with a russet colored coat and dark, almost tree bark colored hair.

"Don't move to much. You froze over and needed to be warmed back up."

That settled it.

Forcing herself back up, she looked around.

It would seem that she was far up in the sky on a cloud with this random stallion. Feeling suspicious, she turned back to him and glared.

"What happened?"

The bite in her tone made him frown back at her and respond in kind.

"What happened is that you tried to fly in a storm!"

Her head reeled back at the exclamation, and she then shook it.

"N-No. That's not what happened..." She said, trying to remember what did actually happen. She knew it wasn't that.

"Oh really?" The stallion asked, pointing at her wing.

She looked down at it, only to see ice encrusted feathers.

What?

Where was the coa--

Before she had time to react, a mare with a coat like holly, and a mane and tail of cherry red flew past them wearing her coat!

...Mar's coat...

Her eyes widened as the mare rounded the cloud and landed.

"All dry, Thunderstorm, sir!" She saluted the stallion.

"Good work, Breezie."

"W-Wait a darn second." Rainbow said, rubbing her head.

"Thunderstorm? As in, the Thunderstorm? The captain of the weather patrol team that stopped the thunderstorm of nine hundred, eighty-two, that Thunderstorm?"

"Darn right!" Breezie said, flexing her wings out proudly.

"And second-in-command of his division, Breezie Clear-Weather!"

Thunderstorm deadpanned at the mare.

"Your only a private, private..." Thunderstorm reminded her.

"You two are one of the best teams in all of Equestira!" Rainbow sputtered, and then jumped and fell back onto the cloud with an 'omph'. If it weren't for the ice, she'd be flying in excitement right now.

"Well, not better than the Wonderbolts, but still! Your Private Breezie and Captain Thunderstorm! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"

Thunderstorm snorted.

"The Wonderbolts wish they could do what we do." Breezie boasted.

"Who are you, rookie?" Thunder asked.

The excitement in meeting one of the strongest fliers in Equestria fell short to the blow to her pride, and she couldn't help but yell back,

"Hey! I'm no rookie. I'm Rainbow Dash. Fastest Flier in Equestria!"

Thunderstorm may be one of her favorite idols of all of history, but even the Wonderbolts wouldn't get to call her a rookie...

Unless she was training to be one by then.

"Well, Ms.Fastest Flier in all of Equestria. You nearly froze to death." He snarled back.

That... hit home really hard.

How could she be such a fool?

She nearly died!

And for what?

Trying to help some grumpy, stupid...

Human...

Her eyes widened as she remembered.

The thought had crossed her mind a mere minute ago, but now she cursed herself to Tartarus for not realizing it sooner.

"Mar!"

The others flinched.

"Wait, who?" Breezie asked.

"There's another pegasus out there?" Thunderstorm asked, looking worried now.

"N-No." Dash chuckled nervously.

"Look, it's hard to explain, but I was really harsh on a guy back down there. I need to go back and talk to him so I can--"

"That's a no go, Ms.Dash." Thunderstorm stood and turned to the sun.

"And why is that?!" Rainbow shot up, still trying to spread her wings out.

It began stiffly, but her wings opened with a crack.

"Your wings are still frozen. We needed to approach the Icarus Limit in order to un-thaw you."

"The..." Her eyes widened as she laid back down promptly. "What in the hay are we doing near the Icarus Limit?!"

"Uh, are you sure she's OK?" Breezie asked, taking off the coat and putting it on the cloud.

"I just told you..." Thunder face-hoofed and took to the air. "Look, just wait until the storm is cleared and then you can speak to your coltfriend all you want."

Then, the two took off.

'...'

"Wait..."

"He's not my coltfriend!!" She yelled after them in vain.

Then, she just slammed her face into the cloud.

"Mar... why did I push you like that?" She asked herself in shame.

Again, the pain in her chest returned in full.

Remorse for making him react the way he did.

She should have seen that he was getting mad. She should have seen that he didn't want to talk about it, and she should have listened when he said it straight out but she didn't.

She had to try and help him...

She turned to the sun, and sighed, but staring into the bright orb of Celestia's power, she suddenly lifted her head back up.

As the light reflected off of her eyes, she felt a fire ignite in her heart.

"What am I doing?"

She was an idiot!

"I'm the Element of Loyalty." She smirked, standing up.

"Your supposed to stick with your friends, and help them."

The revelation sparked in her mind, resonating with the flame in her heart, and suddenly her wings snapped free, shattering the ice like it was nothing. A new kind of power surging through her. She popped into the air and dived into the storm, leaving Mar's coat on the cloud.

She would help Mar. She needed to. As a friend, and as the Element of Loyalty.
~~~
The storm really was picking up now. Snow was falling from the skies as he worked past the next block of houses and spotted the giant tree in the large dark gray fog. He re-doubled his efforts to pass by a second, slightly larger expanse of flat ground in order to make it to the door and knocked a bunch of times in quick succession.

As he waited, he tried to recall what Twilight's house was.

Past a giant tree in the middle of the Business District, all that he could really recall was that it was a library by the name of Golden Oak. The Golden Oak library, actually.

Yes, he came to that conclusion when the door opened and he saw the books.

He also noticed that quite suddenly he was ripped from the snow covering him, and the wet clothes that he had had on, and landed in the library, onto the wooden floor, with only pants on still.

He looked up from his crash to the door being slammed closed by the magic of a certain crazy librarian.

Well, he was asking for this after tossing the mare into a pile of snow, but enough digressing.

"Mar! Your OK!" Twilight turned to him and smiled down at his frame.

"Twilight, what the heck? I'm a little bit busy here. I need to get back out there before..."

Before he could even continue, Twilight Sparkle pushed him back down.

"Oh no. I already messed up once, and I'm not doing it again." She muttered as she rubbed her hooves together.

"The Princess will be so proud of me once this storm passes. I got everything done, and now that your here, I don't need to worry about getting you out of your house!"

I watched her carefully as she trotted merrily to a pile of seemingly random stuff and knocked it all over with a push of her hoof.

"W-Wait, what? What in the world where you going to do with that oar?!"

I watched as a sponge, bucket, oar, a boat and a bunch of jars filled with honey fell from the pile. Many more things where there, but I didn't much care for them at the moment.

"I wasn't going to do anything with these." Twilight said, rather ominously.

"Y-Yeah, right. You said you where going to lead me out of my house somehow. With those?"

"Nopony will ever know." She clopped her hooves together with a glee-filled smile.

"It's already done, so this stuff is useless to me!"

I face-palmed.

"I don't have time for this." I stood and went for my abandoned clothes, but suddenly they vanished in a spark of light.

"Twilight--"

I had turned to the mare, intent on yelling at her for doing what she was doing, ready to tell her that Rainbow was obviously not here, and needed help, but lost all of my will to do so when I spotted the crazed twitch in both her eyes and her left ear.

"I-I--"

"Do you know how bad it could get if I let you back out there?" She asked, still twitching.

"Uh--"

"Princess Celestia will send me back to Magic Kindergarten!"

"What?"

"Then, I'll be made fun of for failing her! Each and every day until I..." Taking a safe breath in and out, she smiled widely at me. "Your not going anywhere."

'It's not often that I think this but, oh... no...'

"Twilight, I need to leave--" I said while lifting my hands up in surrender. "Rainbow Dash is in trouble."

She crooked her head, turning her insane smile into a fraction of a frown before grinning again.

"Oh Mar. I know you. Your just lying!"

I felt my own eye twitch.

"I'm not--" I started to yell, but then something went over my head. What the--

"Now, be still. I need to lock this collar on you so that you don't escape."

'Oh please no!'

"What do you think I am!?" I screamed at her.

"Well, a rude human that doesn't even know when he should tell the truth, of coarse. If I have to treat you like a criminal to keep you safe, then I shall!"

With a yank on my neck, the collar closed around it. I lifted my hands up and held it at bay from clicking together.

"Twilight,"

"Mar, just put your hands down and I can--"

"Twilight."

"Just, stop, struggling and--"

With a snarl, Mar tore the collar from his head and slammed it into the floor.

"Twilight Sparkle!!"

My enraged roar seemed to snap her out of whatever crazy state she was in. She yelped, back peddled and even fell to the floor as she did so. She looked up at me as I walked forward to tower over her.

"You don't understand, do you? You can't just leave me the heck alone, can you?!" I screamed at her, making her throw her hooves over head as if I had just made to strike her.

"I try, and I try, but I'm only an animal to you stupid ponies, aren't I?!"

"B-But, I was just trying to--"

"Help? By choking me to death with that?" I pointed at the collar.

She whimpered and made to stand, but I helped her save the effort by throwing a hand out. She ducked back under her hooves.

"I am sick and tired of you! Of all of you treating me like some animal, or some monster that needs to be put in a jail. Well, you know what, Twilight? As of today, I don't want your help anymore! Do you hear me?!"

With a light sob, she nodded her head again and again as she cried from under her own hooves.

Looking down at the pitiful sight, I could only groan.

"Great. Rainbow Dash is somewhere out there, and now I don't even have my coat."

Twilight's head appeared from out of her ball.

"R-Rainbow is really in trouble?" She asked, looking horrified with herself.

"Yes. And you just wasted my time. I keep wasting time!" I hit the table with one of my hands and turned to her again.

"Give me my coat. Give me back my clothes." I commanded, sick of looking at her.

"B-But they where soaked! You'll catch a cold out there, or freeze to death! Or..."

"Twilight," I warned her, pointing at myself. "Clothes. Now."

With a hesitant flick from her horn, the clothes appeared back on the floor in front of her. I scooped them up, wiping what I could from the fabric before putting them back on. She didn't give me back my lantern, but I didn't care right now.

I turned to the door, knowing that Rainbow Dash wasn't here, and went to leave.

"I-" Twilight spoke up.

"What?" I growled.

"I can help." Twilight said.

I looked over my shoulder at her and shook my head once.

"Stay here. I don't need to worry about another pony out in this storm. Especially one that I can't trust."

And that is when I left.

In hindsight, I could have handled that a little better than I did, but that didn't matter now. I'd speak to her about it later. For now, though, I just needed to know that Dash was OK.

Maybe she went back to my house...?

Hopefully, she went back to my house.
~~~
Flying through the weather faster than she had before, powered only by her need to help her friend, Rainbow Dash came crashing through the cloud cover and landed in the freezing cold downpour of snow, squeezing her eyes tightly, trying to look for the outline of Mar's house. Trying to push past the fog of the storm, she came closer, only to see that it wasn't there.

Freezing up, the pegasus looked down in terror.

Her own hoof prints a mere inch away told her that she had messed up again!

"Oh--"

And then she suddenly felt the ice cold blast, the roar of the true storm's wind as the sky became totally dark. It may have been daytime now, signaling that she had been at this all night, but that did not matter now. The storm had consumed the light and heat of the day, and now?

Now she was straight back where she began.

In the park that nearly froze her to death.
~~~
Mar came tearing into his own house as the storm's howling rage came back in full. He forced the door closed as he came in, slowly blocking it out. The radio on the table was still playing music, slightly different, almost familiar music, but he didn't care. Picking it up, he swore to himself as he saw the time on the display screen.

"It's five a.m.?"

Many thoughts filled his head.

One being, could have fooled him. The storm was truly over them now. Not even the sun could burn it's way through.

The second, of coarse, was,

Did he fail?

Was Rainbow OK?

The biting at his heart was working it's way back into him. Gnawing at his consciousness as he thought.

No. She couldn't be.

She wasn't at Pinkie's. She wasn't at Twilight's. And she told him that her own house, the cloud in the sky, was not safe in this storm. Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack's farmstead, was way to far, even for the speedster to get to before the storm took the sky as it's own, so what was left?

'...'

"Rarity's!" He slapped his forehead and went for the door again. He barely focused on anything else as he threw himself back into the storm, hoping to all the powers of the universe that she was there and OK.

Please be OK.

Please be OK...

Please...?