The walk from Philadelphia to Hartford, Connecticut was indeed a long one. The steady snow which fell from the pitch black sky wasn't making the journey any easier. Add in the snow-blocked roads and you've got yourself an icy hell to tread upon.
Nobody, save for a few people clearing the snow were up in the middle of the cold night. Most of the lights had been turned off in the houses and only a few shops were opened. The residents had been smart enough to stay inside their homes during the freak snow storm which had hit the town a few hours before. No one was stupid enough to traverse the snowy terrain, no one except for one man though.
A patron sitting inside a cozy bar raised his eyebrow as he watched a person walking mindlessly outside in the snow, a strange grin painted on his half-covered face. He muttered some inaudible words as he clenched his jacket with his gloveless hands, trying to preserve his body heat from the cold environment.
"Who the hell is that?" the patron asked the bartender.
"If he's not out there clearing the roads then he's probably some bum" the bartender replied, cleaning a glass.
"Yeah" the patron chuckled, "What an idiot" he added as they laughed at the man.
Just outside the bar, Dean Ambrose smiled as he saw a frozen sign which pointed towards Hartford which was just a mile away. He opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out in apparent delight, a visible breath escaping from it. He tugged his beanie down even more, nearly covering his eyes before he gave a thumbs up to a girl inside of a bar.
His left boot was completely covered in snow while a foot inside the other had gone numb. He cringed as a light breeze blew at his face, leaving tiny particles of snow on his frizzy brown hair. Continuing his walk, he moved towards a partially cleared road, steering clear of the other snowed-in paths. After all, hypothermia was a real threat in conditions like this, even for him.
It was really lucky that he had managed to snatch a jacket from one of his co-workers before he left the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. His friend Roman and a few others had reached Hartford long before he made his way and thankfully, they were able to evade the storm.
Unfortunately, Dean had no choice but to move through the blizzard despite the dangers. He felt he needed to do something in the Headquarters in Connecticut and he wasn't gonna let some goddamn storm stop him.
Inside his jacket, he clutched his right fist and covered it with his left. He vaguely remembered the small tussle with some guys just outside of Philadelphia. He was barely able to recall avoiding losing a finger and walking away from the group with a sore arm but the rest was fuzzy. Nevertheless, the little fight was nothing compared to the cold winds that seemed to follow him wherever he went.
He contemplated rushing inside a warm home or something and sitting by a fireplace but he was compelled to keep on going. He knew he couldn't waste any time staying at some stranger's place. As annoying as the weather was and as annoying as it was eventually gonna become, he promised himself that he wasn't gonna stop until he reached his destination.
Luckily for him, he saw a truck coming up from behind. The headlights of the vehicle shone on the cleared road, almost making the lights from the street lamps obsolete. The unmistakable roar of the semi's engine was music to Dean's ears. At last, a transport he could hitch a ride in.
He could've easily tricked the driver into giving him the keys but since he was proficient in only beating the hell out of people he didn't like and not in driving a large vehicle in near sub-zero conditions, he relented instead of opting to steal the truck. With a huge grin on his stiff face, he stuck a thumb out and as expected, the semi stopped.
Without any hesistation, he scooted over the front of the vehicle and pressed his hands on top of it in order to absorb the warmth emanating from the whirring engine. He gave a low sigh of satisfaction before he pulled away.
A second later, he peered through the passenger side window to take a better look at the driver. However, he was a bit disappointed at seeing two guys staring at him.
"Crap..." he scowled.
The driver didn't even grace Ambrose with a single word and only motioned him to get in the back.
Dean let out a sigh before he walked to the back and entered through a curtain of cardboard at the rear end of the trailer. The floor wasn't covered by anything but Dean didn't mind. At least it was much warmer than the world outside although he had expected to be given a seat at the front.
He banged on the side of the trailer just loud enough for the driver to know that he was inside and with another roar from the engine, the vehicle moved once again.
Dean coughed as he slumped in a corner of the metallic container, a bit exhausted from the long walk as well as from the events of the night before. He could still feel the punch which almost knocked his jaw off and rendered him unconscious.
"Could've been worse" he muttered to himself, rubbing his hands together to get the warmth in between his fingers back.
The slightly unstable man cracked his fingers and buried his face between his arms and legs as he let out slow, warm breaths while trying his best not to fall asleep. There was a rather high probability that he might miss his exit and doze right across town and into another city.
"I hate you, Hunter..." he groaned as the images from the previous night flashed in his eyes. Because of his big-nosed "boss" and his two lumbering idiots, he had lost an opportunity of a lifetime, one that he probably had no chance of ever getting again.
Although he was furious at screwing his chance up, he was glad that Roman of all people was able to grab the brass ring, probably the only good thing to ever come out from the night before.
He ran his fingers along the metal floor as the container he was lightly flung inside from side to side. Dean was starting to get bored...and the truck had barely moved thirty meters.
His gaze shifted from the floor to the covered box-shaped objects surrounding him, possibly crates in front of him. Because of the motion of the trailer, the sheets covering a large cube moved inch by inch to the side, on the verge of being thrown to the floor with a strong jerk.
"What the hell's behind this?" Dean asked himself, standing up as he approached the covered box. He tilted his head as he tried to make out what it was. His curiosity got the better and he reached out, giving the sheets a gentle tug before throwing them to the ground. What he saw was one of the stranger things he had seen in his life.
It was some sort of white concrete block. He wondered why someone would put something like it in a place like this. It was a bit too weird, even for him.
The surface was strangely smooth too, almost like a slab of marble. Dean narrowed his eyes as he noticed he could see a blurred reflection on the side. He leaned in closer to take a better look and as he expected, he came face to face with a much clearer image. This was definitely no damn concrete block.
"Well, I'll be damned" Dean let out a chuckle as his reflection smiled back at him.
He reached forward, attempting to feel the lustrous surface. A glint from the block beckoned him, almost asking him to touch it. Dean didn't know why but he felt an attraction towards it.
His index finger was the first thing to touch the white surface. To his utter surprise, the fleshy digit phased through the block, a glimmering aura surrounding it almost instantly. He felt a light shock passed through him, a light tingling sensation.
"This is interesting" the smile on his face widened in delight. He kept pushing forward until his entire hand disappeared through the block. The sensation started to linger instead of passing right through him while the surface began to shimmer.
He pushed on further before his elbow disappeared, and then his whole arm before it covered half of his shoulder. He began shivering, not because of the cold environment but because of his excitement plus the tingling sensation which pulsed from the concrete block.
Taking one deep breath, he lunged inside with no second thoughts. In an instant, his entire body phased through the block before he disappeared in a flash of light but not before laughing like the madman he was.
He had felt and seen enough to know that there was something completely unreal behind the surface and he was gonna find out one way or the other.
Back at the driver's seat, a bearded man wearing a red jacket arched his eyebrows in puzzlement as he saw a brief flash of light reflecting on the side mirror.
"What was that?" he asked his companion who merely responded with a shrug.
The bearded trucker stuck his head out of the window to take a look but quickly retreated after a strong gale hit his bushy face.
"Hope we didn't hit another one of them street lamps" the driver chuckled nervously before he stepped on the gas.
Rarity gritted her teeth tightly as she made another attempt to run her smallest needle through the smallest hole in a red dress. One hundred and twenty three was the number echoing in her mind as she began to guide the slim piece of steel yet again towards its destined hole.
Another drop of sweat found its way from her brow to the carpeted floor of the Carousel Boutique as the white unicorn prepared to make one more attempt to complete the hard task. She had been accustomed to sewing larger pieces of material but never something this small.
"Steady as she goes..." she tried to restrain herself from trembling in order the guide the needle with her magic. Even the slightest budge meant she had to do it all over again...just like she had done for the past two hours or so.
Fortunately for the white unicorn, she managed to make the first move right. She smiled nervously before she slowly moved the needle to the next hole. She was compelled to let out a squeal of joy but she had to keep her focus on the needle lest she would have to redo it again.
"Hoof-eye coordination, Rarity" she said, even though she wasn't touching anything with her hooves.
By some luck, the mare did it. She successfully moved the needle through the next hole. Even though she wanted to let out a sigh of relief, there was one more to go. One damn bucking hole to go.
The needle expertly avoided hitting the side as Ponyville's resident designer levitated it an inch above the dress. Rarity watched as the needle began its descent, not even daring to blink. Just as it was about to go through the cloth, a thump from upstairs distracted her.
"Huh?" she asked instinctively as she turned to the source of the sound.
Unfortunately, that little distraction was all it took for the needle to stray away from its intended before it disappeared in a messy knot of fibers, ruining the entire dress.
Rarity stared in horror as she saw her hard work go to waste because of a simple distraction. She banged her head on her desk before she let out a loud groan of frustration. A bucking thump...a damn bucking thump ruined her dress. She was certainly not going to let this slide easily.
"Arghhh! So close..." she mumbled as she attempted to calm herself down, "Sweetie Belle" she let out an uncharacteristic growl before she glared at the ceiling above her.
She took a heavy breath after which she headed towards the staircase which would take her to her little sister's bedroom in the floor above. She had specifically told the smaller unicorn that she was going to work late that night and that she should not be disturbed in anyway.
She made sure that she was calm enough to talk to Sweetie Belle though. As much as she hated ruining a dress, she couldn't bring herself to bitterly scold her own sister even if she probably did disobey her.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle?" she asked, knocking on the young filly's door.
Fully expecting a half-asleep unicorn to open the door, Rarity began to come up with what she should tell her sister. Should she tell her to help or should she advise her to stop making any unwanted noises?
The wooden door failed to budge for a good five seconds. The older sister was a bit surprised by it and wondered if Sweetie Belle had fallen out of her bed in her sleep. That would've probably explained the thump as well as her delay.
"Sweetie Belle?" she knocked a bit harder, enough to shake the whole door a little.
Yet again, no answer came from inside of the room nor did the door move even the slightest. Rarity was starting to get a tad worried about the whole situation. Still, she decided to give it one more shot before she would burst right in.
"Sweetie Be-" she tried to call out again before the door suddenly opened. A light brownish flat "thing" reach out before it covered her mouth, muffling any sounds she might have made. What she saw next froze her right in place.
Her eyes instinctively traced the origin of the thing covering her mouth. She saw a head at the end of it. However it was like nothing she had ever seen before in her life.
A strange, bipedal creature wearing casual clothing and a piece of cloth over its head stared right back her. She could see a reprimanding look on the creatures face as well as a finger over its supposed mouth. Its hair was unruly and looked like it hadn't been brushed for quite some time.
His (as Rarity assumed) face had small, almost invisible scars all over it. What surprised Rarity the most though was that it seemed to be an intelligible species judging from the motions it was making. And to make matters even weirder, the creature muttered some words.
"Shhh...you'll wake her up" the creature said with a serious look on its face, pointing towards a sleeping Sweetie Belle.
Rarity widened her eyes in shock before they rolled to the back of her head. A split-second later, the poor mare fell to the floor unconscious.
"Thanks for obliging" Ambrose smirked, patting the unicorn before turning to the other sleeping pony.
He carefully tiptoed near the bed, taking care not to step on the toys scattered on the carpet below his feet.
"Hey, kid! Get up"