Applejack watched as the flames consumed her beloved hat. She didn't cry, not on the outside. It was just another thing she had to sacrifice to keep her family safe, what was left of it. It was just a thing, and nothing was worth more than a life.

It still hurt though.

Not wanting to look as the ancient leather blistered and rolled in it's dying throes she turned around to face the other ponies.

It wasn't just her family and her best friend, it was a fair chance that they were the last ponies alive.

They wore a sorry bunch.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were huddled together, not even so much for warmth as because they were mourning the loss of their best friend.

Scootaloo had followed Rainbow outside, and the windigos had frozen them solid.

Twilight too had died fighting them, so had Big Macintosh and Pinkie hadn't even made it over to the house.

It had all happened so fast, one minute they were having an argument, the next they were hoof deep in snow and working together against an unstoppable force of nature.

It had claimed Granny's life, even inside she had frozen. Taken away by the blistering cold of the windigos.

The rest of them would have met the same fate if they hadn't gotten the fire going. Now it was the only thing that was keeping them alive, and they were running out of things to burn.

Rarity did her best not to shiver, as she stood guard over her sister. She looked odd without her tail and mane, both shaved off to buy them another precious minute of life.

Her mane had been the last to go, though she had insisted on giving it before she allowed Applejack to burn her hat. After all, hats didn't grow back.

Applejack shuddered as she considered how optimistic that was, they had burned everything in the house. All the furniture, clothes, books, ornaments, wooden tools, anything that could burn had been used to feed the fireplace, buying them more time before the inevitable.

The only thing left to burn now was the wooden walls, and breaking them down would let the windigos in. The walls of Sweet Apple Acres, like the fire within, was what kept the windogos at bay, for now.

"Ah'm going to look upstairs again," she informed them, "see if there's anything left to burn."

She knew there wouldn't be, but she couldn't stand doing nothing, nor could she stand the pleading, desperate looks of her friends, her family now. They were all she had left.

When she came down she was met with the most wonderful feeling of heat against her coat, the fire was still alive, more than alive, it was roaring. The two ponies were standing in front of it, luxuriating in the warmth that radiated from the open flames.

"How'd you manage that?" Applejack asked, renewed hope in her voice.

Sweetie Belle didn’t reply, the young mare just stared into the fire. Applejack couldn’t blame her, the filly had been through a lot.

Rarity though spun around as if she had forgotten Applejack was in the house with them.

Her expression shocked the earth pony. Despite the heat Rarity was shaking, and she looked even more deranged than she had done when Applejack had left her with…

"Rarity..." Applejack began, finally noticing what was missing.

"Where's Apple Bloom?"

Author's Note

Prompt was Fireplace, it's still snowy outside and I wanted to do a short horror.