A Snowy Day

Chapters

The Snow Falls
Awakening
The Dawn Is Wiser Than The Sunset
Meanwhile
Man's Best Friend
By The Skin Of His Teeth
Awakening (Epilogue)
Old Dog

The Snow Falls

A biting cold wind howled through the small town of Ponyville, as a lone pony traversed the empty streets at five in the morning. The sun was beginning to rear it's radiant self from beyond the horizon, preparing to shower the ponies of Equestria in its brilliant rays of glorious gold. Each step left a neat hoofprint in the freshly laid snow with a satisfying crunch, as an aquamarine unicorn mare strolled towards her destination with a pep in her step. She fixed her pale cyan tuque that complimented her mane quite well, after a particularly strong gust of wind threatened to blow it away. The petite mare took a particularly snow-covered road at an intersection, one that many ponies tended to avoid even on sunny days.

If one was to ask anypony why Lyra Heartstrings was up and about in such an unfaustly hour, making her way to the dreaded Everfree Forest in the beggining of a steadily approaching snowstorm, they would get a uniformal answer.

She was going to look for humans, of course.

Now, that was nothing new for the mare, her exotic interest in old folktales and mythical creatures was widely know across Ponyville, most of the town's inhabitants treated her unusual hobby as just that. A vocal minority considered her interest to be bordering on obsession, but they usually tended to stay a way's away from the aquamarine unicorn, with one notable exception.

"For the last time, Lyra, you're not going anywhere in these weather conditions!" Her roommate's voice sounded just as out loud and clear in her memories, as it was yesterday's evening.

"Come oonnn, Bonnie, it's just a quick run to the forest, I'll be back in a jiffy!" Lyra pleaded, trotting nervously in place.

"Don't you 'Bonnie' me, missie!" Bon Bon, local candymaker extraordinaire and a concerned friend of a stubborn as a mule musician retorted with a stern look in her eyes. "You'll freeze your hooves off before you make it to the Everfree!"

"I'll wear boots then!" Lyra retorted, magiking a quartet of fluffy warm boots to her person. "Besides, what if a human is in danger? The Everfree's not the safest of places!"

"And how will you help this hypothetical human all on your own? Mind you, there might be no human at all there!"

To be fair, the candymare presented a sound arguement. There was no way to know if the latest magic power spike had anything to do with a human, most likely it was another oddity of the forest.

Still, a chance of encountering a human, however small it was, cannot be left unpersued.

"But-"

"No 'butts', Lyra!" Bon Bon said, stomping her hoof on the wooden floor. "You're not going anywhere and that's final!"

Lyra's ears pinned to her head as she looked at the floor with a crestfallen expression, making the candymare regret her harsh tone.

"Lyra-" Bon Bon said, approaching the mare and raising her head with her hoof to face the earth pony. "-how about we wait until the morning, and then go look for your human?" She asked in a soft tone. "How does that sound?"

"I'd like that, Bonnie." Lyra replied with a smile, hugging her friend. "I'd like that a lot."

Of course, upon waking up and noticing the early signs of an upcoming blizzard, and checking the weather schedule she was devastated to find out that they weren't going to go human searching, not in two weeks anyways, and by that time the search would be pointless.

So, after leaving a haphazardly written note explaining her absense, she quickly gathered her belongings and went off on her wild goose chase. Or human chase, if you prefer.

Age old trees surrounded the small aquamarine pony as the thick green canopy blotted the sun, forcing Lyra to walk in near complete darkness. The crunch of snow gradually morphed into the cracks of broken wood as she moved deeper into the forest, silently thanking her lucky stars that all animals went into hibernation during the winter.

A rustling from the nearby bushes snapped Lyra out of her thoughts, a testament to how alert she was at the moment. Squinting at the greenery she wasn't able to see anything, yet she knew something was there. Trying her luck, she coughed politely and prepared to speak.

"Hello? Is anyhuman there?" She asked as softly as possible, after all, the human might not know ponish, but they could discern her intentions from intonation alone. Seconds passed with no response, and she surmised it was time to employ additional measures. She pinned her ears to her head, and crouched in an attempt to look as small and as nonthreatening as possible. "Please come out, I won't hurt you, I swear!" Silence was her answer once more, and she was beginning to think her imagination was playing tricks on her when something very alarming caught her attention.

A pair of bright green eyes stared at her hungrily, and suddenly Lyra felt a chill go down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold weather. She began to backpedall, not letting her eyes leave the two green orbs that might spell her doom. She yelped in surprise as she hit a tree in her blind retreat, eliciting a menacing growl from the bush in responce. She took her eyes of the greenery for but a second, just to ascertain her surroundings, but when she looked back she saw one of the scariest things a pony could see.

A scraggy collection of twigs, branches and leaves slowly emerged from the bush, its eyes tracking every movement of the small pony. Lyra could still see the bush from whisch the creature emerged, as the timberwolf had many holes in its frame, looking fairly malnourished, if such thing could even be said about their kind. The unicorn stood paralyzed as the timberwolf approached her, slowly but steadily. Lyra snapped out of her stupor when the smell of rotting wood entered her nostrils, and did the first thing that came to mind.

"HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!" Agitated by her yelling, the predator pounced at the mare, ferociously scratching and biting at the small unicorn. Waves of pain eminating from the underside of her belly hit Lyra like a train, eliciting a pained scream. Gathering her strength, she bucked the creature, staggering it and giving her a chance to get away. Just as she made the first step, her left hoof caught on something and she tripped, falling face first onto the forest bed.

The pain in her underbelly was nothing compared to one she felt radiating from her left hoof as she heard the growl of a fast approaching predator from right behind her. Her vision blurred as she felt something warm and sticky pool underneath her.

An thunderous boom and a continous ringing sound was the last thing she heard before drifting into unconsciousness.

Awakening

Darkness.

Darkness was the only thing Lyra saw. Cold was the only thing she felt. Silence was the only thing she heard. She tried to look around, but found she was unable to move her head, she tried to flail her hooves around, but found she couldn't. A frightening realisation dawned on her as the situation sinked in. She had no had or hooves. She had no ears. All she had, was awareness.

Was she dead? No, she couldn't possibly be! Death couldn't be so... empty. Where was the greenest pastures? The bright blue skies? Where were her ancestors? Was it all a lie?

If she still had eyes, she would've cried.

Despair began to take hold, when a faint humming reached her non-existent ears, piercing the utter silence of her not-death. Swirling her non-existent ears around, she found that the sound was actually directional. She turned her non-existent body towards the source of the sound, and began swimming towards it. She couldn't say how long she was swimming for, but at some point the sound got louder and clearer, and she was able to discern some words.

Bayu-bayushki-bayu~

Ne lozhisya na krayu~

Granted, she didn't know what the words meant, but she could hear them. As she got closer to the source, a bright light began to shine in the all-encompassing dark, soon filling all of her vision.

Lyra felt a deep ache throughout her body as she opened her drowsy eyes, trying to blink away the cobwebs that plagued her mind. She felt very warm, and soon found out that a blanket was covering from tail to neck, her head laying on something soft. The sound of a familiar lullaby reached her ears, and in her now coherent state she could discern that the voice was that of a stallion.

Pridet seren'kiy volchok,

I ukhvatit za bochok.

She didn't mind it, not really, the voice was firm yet gentle, like that of a father putting his foal to sleep. Lyra relaxed as something scratched behind her ear, sending waves of pleasure throughout her body. Whoever that stallion was, he sure knows how to treat a mare. She looked around without moving her head, finding herself in some kind of log house, the crisp crackling of fire giving the cabin a sort of homey atmosphere. A few benches stood at the opposite side of a table, standing in the middle of the room, a two-story bunk bed standing not too far from it. A tall cabinet stood beside the bed, rows upon rows of books lining the shelves.

Another hoof began brushing through her mane, massaging the scalp underneath and prompting her to lean into the touch. Seconds passed in utter bliss as the mare turned into a warm pile of putty, until something odd grabbed her attention. Instead of feeling one hard furry appendage going through her mane, she felt five small, soft, smooth ones with hard tips pushing into her skin.

She gasped as understanding dawned on her. Could it be? Could she've found the human she was looking for? Whoever was holding her seemingly noticed her disturbance, slowing his petting, and halting his lullaby.

"Ch ch ch, krepko spi loshatka, teb'ya sil'no potr'epalo." He cooed, much like one would do when speaking to a particularly cute puppy, stroking her mane. She slowly tilted her head to look at the creature that was holding her, hoping against hope that he'd be what she though he was.

Small chestnut eyes filled with worry met her own, awing as they found a spark of intelligence in them. A brown stubble of hair resided on the creature's chin, mirroring the color of his short hair. It's snout was a lot shorter than that of a ponies, looking rather flat, nevertheless retaining an exotic kind of beauty. Small red lips were curved into a smile as the creature- No, not a creature. A human looked down onto the pony.

"Uzhe prosnulas'? A t'y crepch'e ch'em ya dumal." The human asked in that same tone, the meaning of his words still lost to Lyra. Moments passed as the petite unicorn was at a loss for words as the object of her searches sat right in front of her.

"Y-you're a human!" She all but squeed in excitement, prompting the man to freeze. "A real, bona-fide human! I've been looking so long-"

"Yo'bany v rot!" The human emitted a high pitched scream, jumping to his feet and backpedalling from the small pony until he had his back to the wall. Lyra looked at the man in concern, noticing fear in his eyes.

"H-hey, I didn't mean to scare you." She said in a soft tone, much like she did before. Her words, however seemed to have an opposite effect, as the man's eyes went wide.

"Ch'to za nahuy?! Izydi d'yemon, izydi!" He put his left hand over the left side of his chest, shallow rapid breaths escaping his mouth, all the while his right hand seemed to be going through strange cross-like motions. Lyra's ears fell flat at his reaction, nevertheless she tried once more, laying flat on her stomach and wincing a little at the jolt of pain that shot through her underbelly.

"Please, I mean you no harm." She pleaded, giving him her best puppy-eyes. "I-i just want to talk..." Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as she looked down on the floor, unable to withstand the man's horrified expression. She felt the human approach her, dropping into a squat in front of her. She dared not look at his face.

"Y-you can talk?" His voice was careful and uncertain, speaking with a familiar accent she couldn't put her hoof on. Her gaze traveled upwards, landing on his exotic features, the expression on his face a mix of worry and surprise.

"Y-yeah, of course I can." She said with a small smile, fidgeting under his studying gaze and wincing at the pain in her belly. A frown graced the human's face.

"You shouldn't be doing that, little green hair." He said, grabbing her and putting her to lay on her side. Lyra yelped at the sudden contact, but didn't protest otherwise. A small blush crept onto her face as the human pointed at a bandage wrapped part of her body, just below the ribcage. "Wood wolf cut you bad, had to stitch close." Her breath hitched as the recent events flooded her mind, her ears pinning to her head, her breath quickening.

"I-I could've died..." She murmured, unable to quell the lump in her throat. "I-I could've died!" She yelled, forgetting for a moment that she wasn't alone in the cabin.

The human picked her up like a cat, placing her in his lap, slowly rocking her back and forth. "Ch, ch, ch, little loshatka, you're okay now, that's all that matters." He started scratching behind her ear absentmindedly, lulling the mare into a sense of comfort. Minutes passed as she layed in his grasp, sniffling, trying to get her tears under control. Finally, when she wiped the last tears out of her eyes he put her down, the mare wobbling a little as she stood straight.

"Feeling better?" He asked, crouching beside her so they could both look eachother in the eyes.

"Y-yeah, thank you." Lyra said, giving him a small smile. "I could never repay you for what you did."

"Pff-" The man waved his hand at her dismissively. "Don't mention it, I just helped you calm down a little, no need to be so dramatic." He finished, oblivious to the meaning behind her words.

"That's not what I meant!" Lyra exclaimed, rolling her eyes and earning a quizzal look from the human. "You saved me from that timberwolf, didn't you?" A look of understanding dawned on him as he nodded.

"That mutt? Da, I blasted it back to whatever hole it crawled from." He said nonchalantly. "Still, it's nothing to write home about. What was I supposed to do? Leave you to the wolves?"

"N-no, of course not." Lyra rubbed her chin before realizing something. "You've saved my life, but I still don't know your name."

"Oleg." The man said, extending an open palm towards her. Lyra looked quizzaly at his hand. "You're supposed to shake it." He clarified.

"Oh, of course." The unicorn mare corrected her mistake, laying her hoof in his open palm. "Name's Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings!" He grasped her hoof gently with her fingers, slowly shaking it.

"Nice to meet you, Lyra Heartstrings." He said with a small smile.

"Likewise!" She replied, ending their handshake, wincing from pain as she shifted her weight on her left hoof. "Ow!"

"Careful, Lyra, when that wolf attacked, you seemed to have sprained your... hoof?" He shook his head, rubbing his chin in thought. "N'yet, ne hoof... blin, what was it called again?"

"You mean my fetlock?" Lyra offered.

"Da! That's it, fetlock!" He grinned, ruffling Lyra's mane. "Thanks, loshatka, you're one smart cookie!"

"Aw, don't mention it!" Lyra beamed and the praise. Her smile fell a little when she remembered the situation she was in.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask... You're a human, right?"

"Yes, last time I checked, amyways."

"So... how did you get here then? Humans aren't native to Equestria." Her question earned her a puzzled glare from the human.

"I've been meaning to ask you the same question, Lyra. Horses-"

"Ponies." Lyra corrected, earning a light chuckle.

"Ah, konech'no, ponies aren't that colorful, or talkative for that matter, back where I come from."

"Is that why you were so scared?" She asked, earning a sheepish smile in return.

"To be honest I still feel a little uneasy, but..." He trailed off shaking his head. "Where are my manners! How about we talk this over a nice mug of tea?" Although his question came out of left field, Lyra couldn't help but agree.

"That'd be love-" A loud rumbling sounded like thunder in the otherwise quet cabin, causing the mare to blush slightly. "-ly. Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Nonsense!" Oleg said, raising his hand in protest. "I'll see what I can find for you to eat." He said, approaching the stove and putting the kettle on. Gesturing the mare to seat on one of the benches beside the table, he bueried himself in te old white fridge, looking for something edible inside.

"So what do you eat? I've got some veggies, a couple of apples, sour cream, milk, canned tuna..."

"Anything that's not meat or fish will do." Lyra said, approaching said bench and standing on her hind legs, leaning on said bench with her front hooves.

"Yeah, sounds about right. Hey, I've got some mashed potatos from yeaterday." He sniffed the bowl with the aformentioned food, and smiled when he found it was still fresh. "It's downright deliscious with some mushrooms and beans, will that be okay?" He asked grabbing the glass jar containing a mix of the last two ingridients.

"That huff sound huff tasty, Oleg." The noises of excertion the mare was making promted the man to turn, and bear witness to a strangest scene.

Lyra was trying to climb onto the bench, using only her right hoof as help, her left one hanging limply beside her. She'd jump a little, trying to climb onto her seat, but without her left hoof she lacked the strength required to do so.

"Uh, Lyra? Why are you dry-humping the bench?" He asked with unconcealed amusement.

"I- what?" A hint of red appeared on Lyra's cheeks as she began to pout. "I was just trying to get on the stupid bench, no need to be so mean!" The man shook his head and sighed.

"Alright, come here you silly pony."

"I'm not sill-" Before the mare could protest, the man grabbed her under the armpits and raised her above the ground, gently putting her onto the bench.

"Don't be shy to ask for my help if you need something, you're a guest, after all." He said, petting her on the head and moving back to the fridge, but not before recieving a bump to his leg from the flustered unicorn.

"Quit marehandling me, I could've done it myself!" Lyra pouted, furrowing her brows.

"Marehandling? Oh Bozhe, ya ne mogu!" The man roared with laughter, his bout of mirth subsiding when he noticed the unicorn's miffed expression. "Ladno, ladno, I'll ask before picking you up next time, horosho?" He wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye, putting one plate of food into a microwave.

"You better!" Lyra pouted, getting a better look at the human while he was busy. He wore a green knitted sweater that had a noticable red stain in the middle of his chest, but was otherwise pretty clean. Trousers that were of a darker shade of green adorned the lower part of the body, his feet being warmed by a pair of light green socks with little pine trees printed on them.

Looking around she wasn't surprised to see pure white on the other side of the window, seeing as the storm was scheduled to last for entire two weeks. "Two weeks is a long time." Lyra thought to herself, her great mood taking a nosedive at the thought. "Bonnie's probably worried sick right now! I've got to ask Oleg to come with me, or at least let me go back to Ponyville and explain myself." She winced at the thought of meeting another timberwolf. "I'll definently ask him to come with me, Everfree just isn't safe, not for me and not for him."

A sudden clink of ceramics against wood snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see Oleg sit down opposite of her with a small smile.

"Kushat' podano! Oleg said, pushing the plate of steaming food towards Lyra, who gave him a raised eyebrow.

"I don't really know what you said, but I get the idea." She sniffed the food, an enticing smell of beans and mushrooms mixed with something else entered her nostrils. She levitated a spoonful of food to her mouth, tasing the dish. "Mhm! That's good, my compliments to the cheif!" She turned to Oleg, only to see him gawking at her with a thoroughly bewildered expression, his spoon clattering to the wooden table.

He slowly raised his hand, his finger pointing at the spoon, hovering in her magic grasp. "H-how are you doing that?

"This?" Lyra pointed a hoof at the spoon, and the man nodded. "A simple telekenisis spell, most unicorn learn it when they're foals." That statement made the man's widen.

"You can do magic? Real magic, no smoke and mirrors?" He asked, transfixed by the golden glow that enveloped the floating spoon.

"Yeah, I just concentrate on what I want to do, channel it through my horn and boom! Magic happens." She said before stuffing her mouth full of food, scarfing down almost half the plate in record time.

"Boje moi..." He propped his head with his right hand, wearing a shocked expression. "You can do anything with this magic of yours?"

"No, not anything, things harder than telekenisis require remembering and reciting a magical matrix when casting, and the more complex the matrix is, the more it takes out of the caster to, well, cast the spell!" She finished her sentence and her meal, sitting on the bench with a satisfied expression.

The conversation died down as the man started eating his own meal, until Lyra noticed a weird taste floating in the air.

"Why does it smell so... metally in here?" She blurted out, distracting the man from his meal. She looked at her, then at himself. Finally, he stretched the dirty part of his sweater and sniffed it.

"That's me, I'm afraid." He paused and Lyra could hear gears turning in his head. "Actually, It's you."

"Me?" Lyra asked, dumbfounded. "Why do you think it's me all of a sudden?"

"Because you-" He said, dragging his finger from pointing at her, to pointing at his sweater. "-bled all over my best sweater."

"Oh." Lyra's face turned a shade paler, and she felt her lunch coming back up. "I-i know I'm asking a lot, but can you please take it off? I don't like blood." She said, pinching her nose.

"Sure." Oleg said with a shrug. "Time was coming to wash that thing anyway." He took the green sweater off and threw it in the general direction of a small box, full of other clothes. Under the sweater was, lo and behold... a green t-shirt with a birch tree print.

Silence once again filled the room as the man finished his own meal, taking both of the plates and putting them in the sink before returning to his seat with two steaming mugs. He gave one to Lyra, who was happy to find a full mug of green tea. An aroma of black coffee was coming from his own mug, but Lyra thought it best not to question it.

While she was thinking on how to best begin the conversation, Oleg spoke first. "So, where are you from?" He asked bluntly. "Can't say I've seen... pones like you before."

Lyra took a sip of her tea, wishing there was more sugar in it. "I'm from Equestria, you've never heard of it?" It was a pointless question, of course, since no humans were ever seen in Equestria, but she asked it nonetheless.

"Nope, never heard of it." He gulped down some of his coffee, a wave of warmth spreading from his stomach outwards, to the rest of his body. "You're far from home then, I reckon." He said with a certain amount of sadness, making Lyra wince inwardly.

"Where do you think are we, right now." She began gently, her hoof tracing circles on the table's wooden surface.

"We're at Taganay National Park, of course." He scratched his stubble, sipping his coffee. "Kialimsky cordon, to be exact."

"Uh-huh. And you are..."

"A woodsman, I watch over this here cabin, as well as a couple of others. I meet the tourists and see to it that they're not up to something nasty." He explained, rapping his fingers on the table. "There's not many of them in the winter, but someone has to keep the place running, right?"

Alright, this didn't look good. He still believed he was somewhere back home, and Lyra didn't know how to break the bad news to him.

"O-okay, what's the first thing you did this morning?" Lyra asked, deciding to start from afar. Oleg raised an eyebrow at the strange question, but answered it nonetheless.

"Well, I woke up at around... five, I think, from a very loud sound." His rapping became more frequent as he recounted his tale. "Then everything started shaking violently, I first thought it was a rockslide, but after a couple of seconds things settled down, and seeing as I was still alive I wrote it off as nothing serious."

"Really? Your whole cabin started shaking, and you thought nothing of it?" Lyra asked in disbelief.

"Nothing was broken, and I was still alive, so It was good enough for me." He said with a shrug. "Still, I decided to investigate and left my cabin, trying to see what the ruckus was about." A small smile graced his face as he gestured at the unicorn with his mug. "And then I heard you."

"Really?"

"It was hard not to, mind you. You were wailing like a bloody banshee!" He said with a chuckle, earning a light hit to the shoulder from Lyra. "So yeah, I saw you getting mauled by that weird wooden wolf, blasted it and carried you to this here cabin. Patching you up took some time, and I was worried you wouldn't wake up at all, but thankfully, it all turned out well in the end." He gave her a smile, finishing his coffee.

"Really? Why'd you think I wouldn't wake up?" Lyra said, purplexed.

"Well, you slept for, what? Fifteen hours? That's usually a bad sign." Lyra's eyes widened as she did the math.

"It's eight in evening already? Why didn't you wake me earlier?!"

"Well, usually animals don't like being disturbed in their sleep, so I just made sure you were breathing and sort of... waited for you to wake up." He froze up for a second, understanding what he just said. "Not that I think so now! I just-"

"Thought so at the time." Lyra finish for him, waving a hoof. "Don't worry about it, you didn't know at the time." Lyra thought about something, and couldn't help but ask.

"Is that why you were... petting me?" She said with a small blush.

"Y-yeah, I thought It'd calm you down, or something." He said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "I won't do it again if you don't like it!"

"Oh, no, I don't mind it... Just ask before you do it next time, alright?" Lyra assured him with a smile. "I think we got sidetracked, was the forest... different than you remember it?"

"It was, I almost couldn't find my way back to the cabin." He mused aloud.

"And you said you've never seen a timberwolf before?"

"No, I have never-" He paused suddenly, squinting at Lyra suspisciously. "Wait, what are you getting at?" A tinge of alarm was evident in his voice.

"Well, just this morning I went to investigate a weird magic spike in the forest near my town." She said in a careful tone.

"So, what you're saying is..."

"You're not in Taganay, Oleg. You're in Equestria." She finished, silence descending onto the room.

Oleg grabbed his head in his hands, a panicked expression on his face. "Nyet, nyet, nyet, ne mozhet takogo byit'..." He mumbled quickly to himselft, and although Lyra didn't understand what he was saying, she clearly heard the desperation in his voice. "Da kak zhe eto tak?" He said to himself in a crestfallen tone of voice. Suddenly, he slumped in his seat, a miserable expression on his face.

"Pizdetc." She didn't need to know the meaning when she heard the pain in his voice.

He stood up shakily, making his way to the bunk beds, his shoulders slumped. Lyra hastily jumped to the floor, not caring about the pain in her hoof, and trotted up to the man.

"H-hey, are you-" She began, stretching her hoof towards him, but went silent as he turned his head towards her, his eyes glazed over.

"Alright?" He chuckled mirthlessly. "I think I'll hit the sack, it's been one hell of a day." He climbed onto the second story of the bunk bed, not caring to disrobe. "You can take the other bed, I won't mind." Lyra definently didn't like the lack of emotions in his voice.

"Oleg, please, let's talk. I promise you'll feel better after."

"I'll sleep on it." Lyra sighed, getting into her own bed, snuggling under the covers of a thick wool blanket.

"Good Night, Oleg." She said sincerely, in a last ditch attempt of cheering him up.

"Good Night, Lyra." He replied bitterly.

Author's Note

It's 13.05.2022 where I'm from, so it counts.

The Dawn Is Wiser Than The Sunset

Lyra wallowed in the soft confines of her bed, not eager to face the bigger world just yet. Her snout was the only thing sticking out of the wool covers, an appetizing aroma tickling her nose. Taking a couple of sniifs and jogging her memory, Lyra was delighted to identify it as the smell of scrambled eggs. She'd never say no to free food, of course, but it was still a bit strange, she could've sworn it was her time to cook breakfast, not Bonnie's.

She appreciated this random spurt of generocity nonetheless, opening her eyes ready to shower her roommate with praise. Her plans shattered against the wooden roof of the second story bunk bed she was laying in. The memories of the past day flodeed into her, the walk in the forest, the dinner, the bad news. She frowned, remembering how harsh Oleg was yesterday's evening, hoping he was feeling a little better in the morning, or at least was willing to talk about it.

Getting out of her bed, taking extra care not to put too much weight on her left hoof as she hit the wooden floor, she stretched a little, wincing from the pain in her abdomen. She followed the sizzling sound, her gaze falling upon the man who saved her life. He stood beside a burning stove, wearing the same clothes he was yesterday, with a pensive expression on his face.

Just as Lyra approached him, soft clopping of hooves against hard wood eminating through the cabin, he turned to face her, his expression instantly switching to a shallow smile. "Good morning." He said impassively, turning back to watch the eggs. "Slept well?" Not liking the tone of his voice, Lyra circled him to look him in the eyes.

"Yeah, your bed was very comfy!"

"That's what she said." He gave her a mirthless chuckle, looking at her with irritated eyes.

"Oleg, have you been crying?" Lyra approached the man as he turned away from her, laying a hoof on his arm. "I'm here if you want to talk about-"

"Breakfast's almost ready." He cut her off, keeping his eyes on the scrambled eggs. "Go wash up, bathroom's the first door to the left." He said, brushing her hoof off. "There's a couple unopen spare toothbrushes in the cupbord, take whatever."

"Okay..." Lyra replied, getting the hint that the man probably wasn't ready to talk about it yet, trotting to the bathroom. "I'll be right back." After entering the bathroom and brushing her teeth she came back, finding the man eating his breakfast, looking into a small black rectangle in his hand. She climbed onto the bench, and sat down on it, proud to have done it herself. Looking down at her plate she finds an simple serving of scrambled eggs with a side of dill and a piece of rye bread, accompanied by a steaming mug of black coffee.

All in all, the breakfast wasn't too shabby, but she wished she had some milk in her coffee. Seemingly noticing her uncertainty, he put down the rectangle and gave her a quizzal look.

"Something's wrong?"

"No, the food's good! I just wanted to ask if you had any milk." Lyra said in an awkward tone, shrinking a little as he kept looking at her. "If you don't mind, that is?" She finished in a small voice.

Oleg scratched his stubble with a thoughtful expression on his face, before standing up from the bench. "Wait a moment." He opened the fridge, scanning it's contents for the milk. Finally he fishes out a small bag of milk, a somewhat weird sight for the unicorn, before pouring the coveted milk into her coffee cup. He returned the bag to the fridge before sitting back on the bench, picking up the rectangle once more.

Lyra picks up a fork with a grateful smile. "Thanks for the milk, but you didn't need to bring it over. I could've done it myself if you told me you had it." She recieved a somewhat offended scoff in return, as the man waved his hand at her dismissevely.

"What kind of host would I be if I had my guest prancing around to get a bag of milk?" He questioned, turning his attention to the rectangle when no answer came from Lyra. "Bon appetit, by the way."

"Fank you." The mare replied with a full mouth. Her gaze traveled to the odd device in his hands, and she couldn't help but ask, making sure to swallow before doing so. "What's that thing you're holding?"

"This?" He raises his right hand a little, holding the device. "It's a phone." Getting a questioning look from Lyra, he continues. "A device that allows to talk to people from afar, among other things." He says nonchalantly.

"Like one of those mirrors princess' use to each other when they're far away?" Lyra asked in amazement.

"Don't know." He shrugs, looking back to his phone. "Never seen them."

"Oh." An awkward silence descended onto the room as Lyra finished her meal, a sudden thought entering her mind. "Can't you contact your kind through it? Tell them where you are?" She asked with a hopeful expression.

"I don't know where I am." He said curtly, pocketing his phone with an annoyed expression. "Besides, this thing never had reception, too far from a cell tower." He perched his head upon his right arm, looking at the window behind Lyra.

"Why do you have it then?" She asked, curious.

"Memories." He murmurs, not interestend in elaborating. He seemingly dozes off, gazing at the white blizzard raging outside. A nostalgic expression graces his features as he closes his eyes and holds his breath for a moment, seemingly lost in his thoughts. It is quickly replaced with a forlorn one when he opened his eyes and sighed.

He carried his gaze to Lyra, looking at her with an oddly determined expression. "Ladno, hvatit nuni raspuscat'.." He said more to himself than Lyra, before adressing the latter.

"You said you come from a nearby town, da?"

"Kind of." She replies, making Oleg raise his brow in return. "I was born in Canterlot, but moved to Ponyville after I got my music's degree." She said with a hint of pride.

"There's a degree in music?" He said, incredulous, before shaking his head. "Nevazhno, how far is your town from this forest?"

"Not very far." She said, a sudden puzzled expression on her face. "Now that I think about it, why is Ponyville so close to the Everfree?"

"Point is, we need to get you back home, and fast." He said, pausing a little to gather his thoughts. "You've folks waiting for you back in town, right?" Despite his best attempts, a tinge of hurt was evident in his voice as he looked at the window again. "No need to keep them worried, da?"

"You're right, of course, but we won't be able to get back throught that blizzard." Lyra said, following his gaze to the window.

"Da, It's one hell of a blizzard, but it'll pass." He focused his gaze on Lyra once more. "The fiercer the blizzard, the faster it dies down." He stood up, empty dishes in hand, and headed for the kitchen sink. "It's been going for what, a day already? Things should calm down in a couple hours." He filled a small plastic basin with water and lowered the plates into it, adding a bit of dish detergent into the basin. "I'm honestly impressed how long it lasted already, blizzards usually die down after seven or nine hours tops."

"Really? Why would you schedule such a short snowstorm?" Lyra asked, dumbfounded. "I'm no weather pony, but that sounds like a waste of ponypower if you ask me!" Lyra watched the man freeze in place, before turning to her with a shocked expression.

"What did you just say?" He said slowly, his tone careful as if he was talking to a small animal.

"It's a waste of ponypower?" Lyra tried, not sure what the man was talking about.

"No, before that." He said, coming closer, sitting down on the bench.

"Why'd you schedule such a short snowstorm?"

"Did you just say schedule?" He said with disbelief.

"Well, yeah. Weather patrol teams get sent a schedule, and they do their best to stick to it." Lyra replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world, rolling her eyes. When she looked back at the human, she wilted a little under his scrutinizing gaze, ears pinning to her head involuntarily. After a solid minute of this impromptu staring contest, the human abated, rubbing his face with his right hand.

"You really are saying the truth." He stated with a sigh. "Tiho shiferom shursha, crysha ed'et n'e sp'esha..." He murmured to himself, before bringing his gaze to Lyra once again. "If this snowstorm is scheduled, do you know when will it end?"

Lyra put a hoof to her chin, looking at the ceiling in thought. "Yesterday was the ninth of december, today's the tenth... The weather teams missed the last week's snowfall... That means the snow won't stop falling for another two weeks." She finished, the weight of her words hitting her only after she spoke them. "So we're stuck here..."

"For two whole weeks." He said with a mirthless chuckle. "Blyat', this day just keeps getting better and better!" He finished, throwing his arms up in frustration as he stood up and made his way for the door.

A hundred thoughts ran through Lyra's head, none of them particularly good. Was he going to leave her here, all alone? If he was, then where was he going? Not waiting to find the answer the hard way, she jumped to the floor from her bench, doing her best not to land on her injured hoof. Just as he was putting on a pair of heavy-looking boots, standing on one leg, she ran up to him, enveloping his midsection in a tight hug. The force of the impact, combined with the factor of surprise made him trip, falling to the floor and dragging the mare down with him.

Recovering from the impact Lyra shook her head, finding herself sitting on Oleg's chest, pinning him to the ground. The man blinked a couple of times, his eyes focusing on his assailant.

"Oi, what was that for?"

"Please, don't leave me here!" Lyra pleaded, looking into the man's chestnut eyes.

"I- what-" He managed to stammer out, before a pair of adorable puppy-eyes shut him up.

"I'm sorry for trying to make you talk about the whole thing, I'll never do it again, I promise!" Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes as she spoke. "I pinkie-promise!"

"Gospodi, woman, I'm not going anywhere, calm your tits." He said in an off-handed manner, scratching the side of his head.

"You're not?! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She chattered, hugging the man tightly once more, nuzzling the side of his neck.

"I- uh- sure. Don't mention it." He said, hesitantly wrapping one of his arms around the mare, with another one following soon. Seconds passed as the two wallowed in the warmth and comfort of his embrace, until Lyra though it was prudent to ask something.

"But if you weren't going to leave me, where were you going? If you don't mind me asking, of course!" She said, raising her head and looking at the man once again, finding his cheeks to be a little flushed.

"I was going to check if we have enough firewood to last us two weeks, but somepony was feeling clingy all of a sudden." He pouted, not making any attempts to dislodge the mare from himself. A realization dawned on Lyra, one that made her blush.

"So you weren't going to abandon me?" She asked awkwardly.

"Chto? No! Of course not!" The man protested, grabbing the mare under the armpits and gently putting her on the floor. "You're my responsibility now, and I'll make sure you'll get home safely." He said with a certain sense of duty, before finally putting a second boot on his foot. "Besides, does it look like I have a place to go to?" He finished with a bitter smile, donning a thick winter jacket and a warm-looking, if slightly worn-down ushanka.

"I'll be back." Before Lyra could stop him, the door opened and closed, and the man disappeared into the white storm.

Thankful that her saviour wasn't going to abandon her, she turned and regarded the room once again.

"What's the best way to pass the time?" Lyra asked herself, looking at a tall cabinet full of books.

Half an hour later Lyra was comfortably laying on a lower bunk of the two-story bed, engulfed in a frightening, but interesting story. Most of the books she's found were, unfortunately, written in a language she didn't know, only a hooffull of books out of the whole cabinet being written in equish. Still, even the books she could read were a complete to her, names of the authors utterly foreign.

Now, Lyra knew that judging the book by its cover is a foal's errand, so instead she was going to judge them by the names of the authors. That wasn't made into a proverb, so it was completely fine to do.

"J. R. R. Tolkien, Mikhail Bulgakov, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy... " She muttered, looking for a name that would peak her interest. "Aha! G.P. Lovecraft! With a name like that, his stuff has to be good!" She exclaimed to the loneliness of the cabin.

That was twenty minutes ago, and boy, Lyra was not ready for what she ended up reading. By all means, the story should've been about a discovery of a new kind of color, or a 'first contact' type of story, judging by the title. What she found, however, was a horrifying series of unfortunate events, that spiraled deeper and deeper into madness with each passing page.

Yet despite all that, Lyra found herself unable to stop reading. That is, until a loud slam broke her concentration, the book plummeting to the mattress. Lyra huffed in annoyance, before leaving a bookmark on the page she was reading and going to meet the returned human.

Oleg was currently disrobing in a quite agitated manner, judging by the angry-sounding stream of what was likely foreign profanities flowing out of his mouth.

"Suka blyat, youbany rot, ya tak i znal! Vsyo ne slava bogu, da chto zhe eto takoye nahuy!" He grumbled, hanging his winter jacket and stacking his boots in the corner. His frustrated gaze landed on Lyra, making her wilt a little. Noticing this, he softened his gaze and gave her a weak smile.

"So, I take it something's amiss?" She asked as the man walked passed her and dropped to the mattress with a heavy sigh.

"Gee, what gave it away?" He sneered, before sighing and shaking his head. "Sorry, It's just... blyat'..." He rubbed the bridge of his nose as Lyra jumped up to the bed and sat on her haunches beside him.

"I've got bad news and good news, which do you wnat to hear first?" He said, his left hand's fingers rapping nervously on his knee.

"The good news, obviously. We haven't got much of them lately!"

"Well, it seems that my banya, a bathhouse basically, has made it's way here relatively unscathed, so if you want to relax and clean up, you're in luck." He said with a mirthless chuckle.

"And what's the bad news?" She said, sensing she wouldn't like the answer.

"The shed where I kept most of the firewood is nowhere to be found." He said grimly, clenching and unclenching his fist. "At best, we have enough wood for a week, maybe less, and that's if we use it sparingly." He shook his head.

"So you're saying we could... freeze to death?" Lyra said, horrified by the possibility.

"Maybe..." The man aswered after a prolonged pause. "The cabin's insulated, so it keeps the warmth well... But it can't keep it forever." He said with a determined expression. "I'll go find anything we can cover ourselves with, you stay here for now, rest." He said, standing up.

"No! I can help!" Lyra protested, trying to stand up, wincing from a jolt of pain from her abdomen. She yelped and fell back on the mattress, grabbing the man's attention.

"Blyat', almost forgot." He said, sitting next to the pony and laying a hand on her withers. "Lay still, I need to change your bandages." He kept one hand on her withers, while reaching for something under the bed with the other. After a few seconds of rummaging, he pulled out a sizable red box with a white cross on it.

"Is this necessary?" Lyra asked, fidgeting in place as she watched the man grab a pair of sharp scissors out of the box. "I'm feeling fine as is!" She assured, looking at the scissors incredulously.

"I still need to check how's the wound healing, you don't want it to start rotting, do you?" He said, alligning the scissors with Lyra's bandages.

"NO!" Lyra yelled, ears pinning to her head at the horrific thought.

"Then be a good little pony, and stay still while I check your wound, horosho?" He said in a caring tone of voice that made the unicorn blush.

"O-okay." Lyra replied, closing her eyes and trying not to shiver as the cold metal touched the coat on her back. She heard a faint snip, and a pressure she didn't know about disappeared from around her lower abdomen, as the bandages fell to the bed. She yelped, opening her eyes when a sudden force turned her around on the mattress, laying her belly-up, the mare's front legs laying crossed on her chest.

She watched as the man's small, chestnut eyes looked at the wound on her lower abdomen, one she didn't dare to look at herself, with equal parts worry and relief. She gasped as his warm, soft fingers held the side of her belly, his other hand holding a cloth that smelled strongly of alcohol.

"Now, I'm going to disinfect the wound once again, before wrapping it up." He warned her in a soft yet stern tone, waiting for her reaction.

Lyra gulped, captivated by the sight before her, before shaking her head and finding the words to say. "Is it going to hurt?" She asked, sure that the man will find some comforting words to soothe her nerves. A warm smile creeped into his features, only solidifying her belief.

"Like hell."

Before the mare could react, the cloth plunged towards her belly, touching the wound. Lyra almost screamed as she waited the pain to come... But it never did. There was a prickling sensation coming from where the wound was, sure, but it was nowhere near as bad as the man made it out to be. Actually, the circular motions he was making with his other hand over her belly were pretty relaxing, making the mare yawn. She heard the man 'daww', focusing her attention on him once again.

"Hey, why'd you do that?!" She pouted, playfully hitting his hand.

"Do what?" He asked innocently, putting the cloth away.

"Scaring me like that, what else!?" She replied, undeterred by his soft fingers continuously rubbing her belly in a circular motion.

"I just over-exaggerated a bit, to distract you from the actual thing." He said with a sly smile, ceasing his belly rubs to grab a roll of bandages. "Besides, it worked, didn't it?" Lyra kept quiet, having no rebuttal ready. "Now stay still, I'm going to wrap the bandage." He did just that, carefully wrapping it around the wound several times, before carefully tying it into a knot.

"It's not too tight? To loose? If it is, you'll have to tell me asap, neither are good for you." He said, putting everything into the red box before stashing it under the bed.

"It's fine, there's a bit of pressure, but nothing uncomfortable." She answered from her lying position.

"Glad that's taken care of." Oleg said, getting up from his sitting position, giving the mare an amused glance. Noticing it, Lyra couldn't help but blush.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked shyly.

Oleg bit his lip and averted his gaze, inwardly debating wether or not to tell her. Finally, he turned to her with a sheepish smile.

"Promise me you won't get angry." He asked uncharacteristically timidly.

"Sure." Lyra replied, now eyeing the man with concern.

"I had a cat that used to lay on my bed when I came home from uni, and you kind of remind me of him right now." He said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

Lyra laid motionless, trying to proceed what she'd just heard. She reminded him of his cat? That's not bad, right? Cats are usually considered cute. Does that mean he thinks she's cute?

"Sorry, that was kind of inappropriate, I'll be going now-" He was about to walk away from the bed, when a golden aura tugged at his shirt, prompting him to fall back to the mattress.

"Ow." He said rubbing the back of his head, laying sprawled on the bed beside Lyra. "Guess I deserved that." Lyra scooted closer, hugging his side.

"Dang right you did, I'm way cuter than any cat." She proudly declared, nuzzling the side of his neck.

"L-lyra?" He stammered, his cheeks bright red. "W-what are you doing?"

"I'm just saving heat." She replied, just as flushed. "You don't want to get cold, do you?" She teased.

"Nyet." He said, reciprocating the hug with full force, turning to lay on his side, yet looking past Lyra's mesmerising golden eyes.

"I don't."

Meanwhile

A blanket of white that settled over Ponyville during the first few days of yhe blizzard was a welcome sight for the denizens of the town, who have grown quite peeved due to the lack of change in scenery. After all, it was a rare to see not a flake of snow up util mid-december.

Ever since the running of the leaves, mares and stallions were waiting with bated breath for the start of Heart's Warming season, the first prerequisite for it being a good thick layer of white snow. They were patient up until the end of november, when a disgruntled crowd wrote a complaint to the Head of Ponyville's weather patrol, regarding the lack of precipitation.

The first complaint was answered with due tact and patience, citing a recent accident at Cloudsdale weather factory, a major weather provider for around half of Equestria as the reason for the holdup.

A week later, when news of snowfall in neighbouring cities reached Ponyville, another complaint was issued, this time personally, by the folk of the town, who stormed the weather team's office, waiting for answers.

The answer that came was a major and controversial topic for coversation around town for weeks to come. Apparently, Cloudsdale's weather factory deemed Ponyville a 'low priority' target, thus explaining the delay.

A letter was sent to Her Majesty via her Prized Student when Ponyville's patrol denied to issue one to their HQ in Cloudsdale, one that ultimately went nowhere as the Princess repeated what the local office said, albeit in a more verbose and polite manner.

So when the long awaited snow finally descended upon the town, it was a major reason for jubilation among Ponyville's citizens, although most of them chose to remain in their homes, save for those working or being in a middle of an emergency.

One mare, uncharacteristically covered in layers of clothes, trudged through the empty streets of Ponyville, strands of her pink-blue mane sticking out from beneath her warm winter hat, a red and white scarf wrapped around her biege-coated neck.

Despite the cold wind blowing into her muzzle she kept going, a determined glint in her eyes. Many a though went through her head, most, if not all of them, concerning a certain green unicorn. "Why'd she do something like that." and "She's so in trouble when I find her." Being a good example of them.

Bon Bon approached a well-lit building of Ponyville's weather patrol office, opening the door with a hefty push. A beam of light momentarily blinded the mare as she entered the structure, warmth of the building washing over her like a tidal wave over a shore.

She shook her body, clumps of snow falling onto the wooden floor, melting a tad before they even hit the floor. Her gaze fell upon the head of weather patrol, the blue coated pegasus peacefully snoozing, slumped over the paperwork filled table.

Bon Bon cleared her throat, and when the lack of responce became evident, she slammed the wooden table, an action far more effective at rousing the mare.

Rainbow Dash jerked awake, looking around, wide-eyed, for the source of the disturbance. Her panicked eyes settled on the candymare, calming down the instant she recognised her face.

"Bon Bon?" Rainbow said in a surprised tone. "What are you doing here-" She glanced at the wall-mounted clock, squinting to see the dial. "-at six in the morning?"

"The same thing I've been doing for the past two days." Bon Bon replied sternly. "I'm asking you to call off the blizzard." She finished, looking at Rainbow with a frown.

"Again!?" Rainbow exclaimed, flexing her wings. "I told you before, and I'll tell you again: Lyra's fine." She said in an irritated voice. "She's probably waiting the blizzard out at Zecora's, she's a knack for finding stranded ponies."

"I don't care if she has a knack or not, I need to find Lyra!" Bon Bon said, stomping her hoof. "Better safe than sorry..." She muttered to herself, looking at the floor.

"Listen, I know you're worried for your friend, but my hooves are tied." Rainbow argued, sighing. "Princess' orders." She suddenly piped up, looking around before giving Bon Bom a conspiratory look and urging her closer. "Why don't you send a letter to the Princess? She's a good mare, surely she'll understand and allow us to fall behind schedule a little."

"I'll try." Bon Bon said dryly, although giving the pegasus a small smile. "Thank you, Rainbow." She said, turning around and moving for the exit.

"No need." The pegasus mare said with a wave of a hoof. "I bet my wings the Princess will allow us to stall just this once!" She said with a smile, escorting Bon Bon the door.

"You can't imagine how right you are." Bon Bon thought, stepping into the cold, hearing the door close behind her with a soft click.

A loud rapping disturbed the otherwise peaceful atmosphere of Golden Oak library, waking the librarian at an unusually early hour.

She turned and tossed off the bed, walked down the stairs and opened the door with a flash of her magic. "Who's this?" Twilight mumbled, still half-asleep when a wave of cold enevloped her as Bon Bon stood in front of her.

"Twilight, can I come in?" Bon Bon's question sounded more like a statement as she walked past the librarian mare, closing the door behind her and sitting on one of the chairs on the first floor of the library.

"Bon Bon?" Twilight blinked, shaking her head and turning to walk towards the mare. "What are you doing here? Library's not open for..." Twilight looked for anything that could help her tell the time, finding nothing. "Some time." She finished, sitting on another chair beside the candymare.

"I need to send a letter to the Princess." Bon Bon said curtly, pulling a scroll out of her clothes. "It's urgent."

"I-whu-" Twilight stammered groggily, shaking her head before trying again. "What can be so urgent?" She asked in a half annoyed, half worried tone.

"Lyra's been missing for the past two days." Bon Bon began with a sigh, grabbing Twilight's attention. "She went for the Everfree, searching for her fabled 'humans'." Bon Bon's voice wavered as she continued. "She left in the morning, and I haven't seen her since." She finished, a lump forming in her throat.

Any groggines Twilight still had evaporated in an instant, clarity hitting her like a sack of bricks. "What? Why'd she go there?" Twilight asked, all the while standing up to go wake Spike up. "I thought she'd already looked for 'humans' in the Everfree!"

Bon Bon rubbed the bridge of her nose, a tired look in her eyes. "She said she sensed some kind of 'magic spike' in the Everfree some the day before she went missing. I've tried to reason with her, so she'd wait until after the weather cleared, and I though I was successfull..." She sighed shaking her head. "Her bed was empty come next morning, and I found fresh hoofprints in the snow." Her breath hitched, and she took a moment to clear her throat. "I've searched the Everfree to the best of my abilities, but I'm only one pony, and her tracks got covered by the snowfall..." She trailed off, just as Twilight returned, a drowsy Spike trailing not far behind her.

A purple aura surrounded the scroll, levitating it closer to Spike. The young dragon opened his mouth in a yawn, releasing a burst of green fire that quickly enveloped the parchment, leaving nothing but black smoke. Said smoke seemed to fold in on itself before squeezing into a tiny slit beneath the door, disappearing into the blizzard outside. Spike scratched his chin, before departing back to his 'bed', his task fulfilled.

"A magic spike in Everfree?" Twilight said, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. "I might have to do something with that." Twilight said sheepishly.

"What? How?" Bon Bon inquired impatiently.

"I've been experimenting with a long-distance,high-power, delayed activation teleport." Twilight explained, beginning to pace around the library. "I've chosen Everfree as a testing ground as to not get anypony caught up in my test. I found a small clearing not too deep in the forest, and set is as the 'A' point, while point 'B'..." She trailed off, sighing. "Was chosen at random."

"At random?" Bon Bon parroted, her voice filled with worry. "So you don't know where, or how far it was from Ponyville?"

"No." Twilight shook her head, once again taking a seat beside Bon Bon. "The entire point of the test was to see how far I can teleport things, after I pump enough magic into it. The thing is, whatever point 'B' must've been really far away." Bon Bon raised an eyebrow, prompting further explanaition. "I set the spell in such a way so I could pour more magic into it once it was finished, you know, so I could switch things back to normal. The thing is, when the teleportation occured, the spell... well..." She sighed, a note of irritation clear in the gesture. "It unraveled."

"Unraveled? Does that mean you can't send whatever came through back?" Bon Bon asked, Twilight shaking her head in a non verbal 'no'. "So, hypothetically, I humans were real, you just stranded one here with no hope of return?" Bon Bon asked with a raised eyebrow, and a hint of distaste in her voice.

Twilight fidgeted in her seat before replying.

"Let's just hope that Lyra's at Zecora's place, alright?"

Man's Best Friend

Lyra awoke not due to any particular sensation, but rather due to a lack of sensation. She remembered falling asleep next to, and in a rather comfortable embrace of, Equestria's one and only human. Lyra put dwelling on her reason for doing so in a deep corner of her mind, instead reminiscing on his absense. Was he supposed to do something this morning? He probably was, considering the rather pressing issue of freezing to death.

Lyra's eyes shot open as the reality of the situation set in, a shiver going down her spine. The unicorn jumped down to the floor, landing on her hooves, and looked around the room, searching for anything useful to do. Her gaze fell to a small white note plastered to the fridge, being held by a small magnet. Approaching the fridge and magicking the note closer to herself, she noted a rather brash cursive right next to a scribbled line of unidentifiable lettering. The unicorn mare squinted, trying to discern the less than stellar hoofwriting -"Handwriting?"- the letters finally making sense after a good minute of staring.

"Don't panic, went to get firewood. Didn't have the time to make breakfast. Sorry. Eggs are in the fridge if you're feeling well.

She gave up on trying to read the scribbled lettering, and instead turned to the stove, eyeing it with a obvious intent. She was about to open the fridge and look for the aformentioned eggs, when another chill went down the mare's spine, prompting her to shiver. This time, however, the reason was far more obvious and had more to do with her immidiate situation. Namely, the cottage being pretty friggin' cold.

Lyra shivered, wishing she'd brough more clothing with her when she went on her little trip. "Clothing... Oleg wears clothing all the time, he has to have a wardrobe full of it!" She concluded, scanning the room for any furniture that woud likely hold the coveted apparel.

First and foremost, her eyes darted to the small box that was filled to the brim with discarded clothing. A single whiff of it's contents helped Lyra make her mind, as she staggered back from the foul smell. "No way in Tartarus I'm wearing that!" Lyra looked over the room once more, walking to a rather sizable wardrobe when she noticed it.

The double doors of the wardrobe opened with a flare of Lyra's magic, laying bare a rather sizable collection of clothing before the mare's eyes. She scanned the contents of the wardrobe, appraising everything: from shirts to sweaters, from pants to shorts, yet there was only one thing that caught her interest.

A pine green plain hoodie was practically screaming at her to put it on, and Lyra saw no reason to argue with the apparel. The clothing, encased in a golden glow, hovered towards the mare at breakneck speeds, stopping just shy of hitting her in the muzzle. Not without troubles, the mare stuck her front legs into sleeves of the hoodie, her hooves soon dinding purchase on the wooden floor. She snaked her head through the soft confines of the apparel, until she saw the light of day again, the hood resting against the back of her neck.

It was as comfy as it was warm, and Lyra noticed that despite not being in the 'laundry box', it smelled faintly of pine sap, sawdus and sweat. The mare didn't mind the smell, as it was faint at best, besides, it was not entirely unpleasant. She turned towards the fridge, taking the first step, only to trip and fall muzzle-first onto the wooden floor. She yelped in surprise, rubbing her nose as she sat on her haunches, a confused look on her face. She concentrated on her hoof, finding it to be green all of a sudden. Realisation dawned on her as she blushed, so she rolled up her sleeves, and approached the fridge. "This hoodie is way too big for me."

She proceeded to cook breakfast, the appetising smell of baked eggs filled the room, accompanied by the warmth of the burning stove. Just as she finished putting the egg-filled plates on the wooden table, the door opened, and a rather winded human walked in, breathing heavily as he set a heavy-looking bag on the floor. His face was flushed red as he shivered, taking off his heavy winter coat and boots.

"Good morning." Lyra greeted with a wave of her hoof, grabbing the human's attention. "Good to see you're back already. Come, I've made breakfast!" She said, motioning him to sit next to her.

"Good morning to you too." Oleg said, dropping on the bench next to her, a small smile visible on his face. "Glad you're feeling better," He grabbed the fork, scarfing down a good third of his breakfast in one go. "thanks for making breakfast, by the way, it's amazing." Lyra blushed, batting her hoof at him.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's the least I could do to thank you!" She said with a smile, one that wilted just a tad when she noticed the strained look he was giveing her. Before she could say anything, he put his hand on her shoulder, one that was surprisingly hot.

"Never think you owe me anything, horosho? Anybody would've done the same thing, it's nothing spectacular." He said with a determined look in his eyes, her lips formed into a small smile.

"I-I just..." Lyra stopped as she felt something unusual, a sort of vibration coming from the man. "Oleg? Are you shivering?" She asked, carefully looking at him.

"Huh?" He asked, holding his hand in the air, closely watching as it shook slightly, despite his best attempts to keep it still. "I guess I am." He said, turning to the mare. He tensed up when he noticed a worried look in her eyes, continuing. "It's cold here, is all. I'll get something warmer to wear, don't worry." He gave her a faint smile, one that was painfully easy to see through.

"Really?" Lyra said, incredulous. "Let me check your temperature." She said, reaching to touch his forehead with the back of her hoof.

"T-there's no need!" He exclaimed, inching away from the steadily approaching unicorn. "To worry about me, I mean!" He stammered halfway through, out of breath. "I'm comletely fine!" He said a little too fast to be believeable, still insistant on Lyra not touching him.

"Now, stay still mister!" Lyra said, a golden glow enveloping the man, making it harder to move as he froze up. "I'll let you go, but will you please let me check your temperature?" She asked with a stern expression. "It's for your own good." She added softly.

"F-fine." He stammered, breathing a sigh of relief as Lyra's golden glow died out around him. "Can you not do that, like, ever again?" He said, his cheeks flushed against his otherewise pale face. "That was a tad too... claustrophobic, for my taste."

"Promise." Lyra assured, finally sitting as close to him as possible, touching his forehead with the back of her hoof. She gasped, as her hoof felt like it was put against a hot stove. "Oleg, you're burning up!" She exclaimed in a worried tone.

"Heh, to bad there's no Majors around." The man replied with a faint smile, shaking his head when he noticed Lyra's puzzled expression. "No matter, it's probably just a cold. It'll go away by itself." He said with a wave of his hand.

"And what if it doesen't!?" Lyra exclaimed, a frown on her face. "You can't say things like that!" She scolded the man as he rolled his eyes. "You matter Oleg, and I'm worried about you." She said in a soft voice, putting a hoof on his shoulder.

He was about to say something, when a suspiscious rattling coming from the entrance grabbed their attention. As the two of them looked towards the source of the noise, Lyra's breath hitched in her throat. A pile of twigs slowly rattled together, forming a quadrupedal form of a wolf.

Before Lyra could react, the man shoved her behind him, standing between the timberwolf and her with his arms outstretched. Seconds passed in tense silence as the two of them expected the beast to pounce at the man, to growl, to swing its claws at him or snarl.

Something unusual happened instead. The timberwolf hobbled meekly towards the corner of the room, leaving tiny drops of amber liquid in its wake. It reached its destination, before curling up into a small ball, a low whine emitted from its maw. Lyra was about to speak up when Oleg took a tenative step towards the beast, the timberwolf seemingly not noticing.

"What are you doing?!" Lyra hissed, keeping her eyes fixed on the wolf. "It's dangerous, don't get closer to it!"

"It's wounded." The man replied, pointing at a sizable hole in the wolf's side. He knelt down, scooping a drop from the floor and licking it.

Lyra's face contorted into a disgusted expression. "What are you doing!?" She repeated.

"Pine sap." Oleg concluded, standing tall once again. "I told you it's wounded." He continued approaching the animal, but not before grabbing a sizable piece of birchwood.

"Stop! I told you it's dangerous!" Lyra exclaimed, thankfully, the timberwolf remained unresponsive. "Why are you approaching it?"

"I want to help it." He said with a determined expression.

"Come again?" Lyra said in disbelief.

"It's a wounded animal, I have to help it." He said in a nonchalant tone stepping closer to the animal.

"What? Why?" Lyra asked, confused as to why would Oleg do such a thing.

"Because," He said through gritted teeth, growing irritated of Lyra's constant questions. "I pains me to watch it suffer." He said before stepping closer to the wolf.

"I-" Lyra's words were cut short when she heard a low growl coming from the timberwolf, a lump forming in her throat. The animal finally taking notice of Oleg's approach, snarling at the man as he froze in place.

"Tishe, tishe. Ya tebya ne obizhy." The man cooed, lowering himself to the ground. "Ya hochu pomoch'. Na, derzhi." He said, putting a piece of birchwood between them, before taking a few steps back. The timberwolf conventrated on the piece of wood, weakly hobbling towards it, picking it up with his mouth.

It chewed on the piece of birch enthusiastically, the wooden chunk disappearing down his throat, the hole in his side slowly closed, leaving a black and white patch that stood out against its otherwise dark green wooden 'coat'. "Nu vot, tebe luchse?" The man asked in a soft tone, outstretching a hand towards the timberwolf. Lyra's heart skipped a beat when the beast sniffed Oleg's hand and opened it's maw. "It's going to bite him!"

Lyra was shocked, however, when instead of doing something harmful, the timberwolf licked Oleg's hand, before once again retreating into the corner and lying down to sleep. Oleg turned to Lyra with a pleased smile, walking to sit beside her. "See? Told you he just needed help."

"He?" Lyra asked incredulously as the man sat down beside her. "It's a he?" She eyed up the timberwolf suspisciously as Oleg continued with his breakfast.

"He sure is." The man said in a self-assured tone. "I think I'll call him... DD." He said, finishing his plate in record time, getting up to put his plate into the sink.

"We're keeping him?" Lyra sounded surprised as Oleg picked up the still-hefty bag, and approached the stove.

"I've a good feeling about him." The man said, opening the stove up and fishing a few smaller chunks of wood out of the bag. "Besides, I always wanted a dog, can't pass a chance like that up." Lyra frowned as she approached the man, who was currently in the process of stoking the embers.

"What if he tries to eat me again?" Lyra asked, closely watching Oleg's dexterous hands fiddle with the chunks of wood.

"He won't." Oleg said, using a lighter to start a fire, nodding to himself as he did. "I have some chicken in the freezer, he'll have to make do." He assured her, patting the mare on the back and walking towards his bed. He sat on the bed with a rather tired expression, his shoulders sagging as he did. "You know, you might be right about the whole 'sick' thing." He said, rubbing his face with both hands. "I feel way more tired than normal."

Lyra sat beside him on the bed, and heard him mutter "Ne minuty pokoia..." to himself, before sitting straight. "Right, sulking won't help matters. If memory serves me right, I need to 'sweat it out'." He said, standing up to grab more covers from the second story of the bunk bed.

"Sweat it out? What do you mean by that?" Lyra asked, not sure what the man was about to do.

"My parents always told me you need to get sweaty when you're sick. So all the toxins exit your body with sweat." He said, getting under what looked like double layers of wool covers, still shivering. "Or something like that."

"Can I help you in any way?" Lyra asked, her voice full of concern.

"A hot tea would be great." He said, closing his eyes. "If it's not much of a bother." Lyra nodded, returning with a hot cup of tea a few minutes later.

"Here's your tea." She said, levitating the cup closer to him. "It's very hot, so be careful." She said as he took the cup, blowing at the hot liquid inside.

"Thanks." He said, taking a deep breath before downing the whole cup in one go. His face contorted into a mask of pain momentarily, before he handed the now empty cup to the mare. "That'll do nicely." He croaked.

Lyra just shook her head as she watched the man shiver under the thick covers. "Hey!" He exclaimed, a playful smirk on his face. "You've stolen my hoodie!" He said in a mock-pout.

"I was getting cold!" Lyra said in her defense, playing along. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"Well, now I'm getting cold." Oleg said, crossing his hands under the blankets. "Mind returning it?"

"I have a better idea." Lyra said with a playful smirk, raising the covers with her magic.

"What-" Was all the man could say as Lyra scooted into the bed, laying close to him.

"What am I doing?" Lyra said as she lowered the covers, getting a nod in return. "Helping you warm up, of course!" She said snuggling closer to the human.

"L-lyra," The man stammered, his cheeks flushed. "you can't do that. What if this thing's zoonotic?" He said as the mare wrapped her hooves around him.

"Zoo-what now?" Lyra mumbled into the side of his cheek, nuzzling it.

"What I'm saying," He said, trying to wiggle out of Lyra's vice like grip. "is what if you catch it too?"

"Then we'll 'sweat it out' together." She said with a smile, resting her head in the crook of his neck.

"You're a weird mare, Lyra." The man said without a hint of malice in his voice, before sighing and reciprocating the hug.

A small giggle sent an exhale of hot breath tickling the side of his neck. "And you're stuck with me." She said proudly, earning a grunt in responce.

"I could throw you out to the cold, you know." He said in a serious tone, although Lyra easily saw through his bluff.

"Yeah right, Mr. 'You're my responsibility now', I totally believe you." Lyra said with a roll of her eyes. A comfortable silence fell upon the room, one that lasted for a good while, but was inevitably broken.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask," Oleg began, unsurely. "are all ponies this... clingy?" He said slowly. "Don't take it the wrong way, this is nice and all." He cleared his throat, as if trying to stall to find the right words. "I'm just... not used to this. People from back home aren't so... physical, especially not with people they know for less than a week."

"Well, here's ponies 101 for you:" Lyra said in a playful tone. "We love physical contact! We hug our friends when we meet them, hug when we want to thank somepony, hug when we want to calm somepony down..." She trailed off, thinking about something. "Come to think of it, we hug a lot. But you get the idea." She paused, silence once again filling the room.

"I wanted to ask something too." Lyra began, taking the silence as a sign to proceed. "Sometimes when you talk, I can't understand you. Not too often, only sometimes. Why is that?" She asked, curious.

"Well, that's easy. I'm just speaking my mother tongue. English is my second language, you see, so I sometimes slip up, usually when I'm tired or frustrated." He explained, running a hand through Lyra's mane out of habit, much to the mare's delight.

"What's the other language you know then?" She asked, trying and failing to ignore the waves of pleasure that eminated from behind her ear.

"Russian, my country's language." He said in a distant voice. "Heh, you wouldn't believe how inventive we got with swear words." He said with a chuckle.

"How was it? Your home, I mean." Lyra asked carefully.

"It... It was nice." He said with a sigh. "Life wasn't always easy, and we had our problems... But you can say the same about any other country in the world." He said with a shrug. "I've had a time-consuming, but well paying job, I've been saving money for some time now so I could buy a good house, I've had friends..." He trailed off, his head hanging low just as he stopped scratching behind Lyra's ear.

"And now I have nothing." He said with a crushing amount of ennui in his voice, one that emphasised the finality of the statement.

Lyra frowned, not liking the tone of his voice, before holding him even tighter. "You've got me." She said in an encouraging tone of voice. "And you've got DD... For what it's worth." She smiled as the comment got a laugh out of the man.

"You really don't like him, do you?" He chuckled, resuming his petting.

"Not. One. Bit." The mare hissed, wallowing in the affection.

"You'll warm up to him. He's a real diamond in the rough, I just feel it." He, stifling a yawn. "Christ on a bike I'm tired."

"Then let's relax. You're not cold anymore, are you?" Lyra said, taking a deep breath as she closed her eyes, a strong smell of pine sap and sawdust mixed with a bit of sweat entered her nose.

"No, no I'm not." Oleg said with a smile, closing his eyes.

"And I've got you to thank for that."

By The Skin Of His Teeth

A sharp barking noise cut through the emptyness of the cabin, startling Lyra awake. She jumped due to the unexpected noise, hitting her head on the roof of the bed with a yelp. She looked around, frantically searching for the source of the disturbance. A fearful expression distorted her features when her gaze fell upon the restless form of a timberwolf, who was currently jumping around the room, waggling its tail excitedly.

Lyra hid under the covers, squeezing into the bedframe. She tried to make herself as quiet as possible, flinching when she heard a groan coming from up above her.

"Suka blyat, kakogo huya ty orlyosh!" Oleg said, an irritated tone clear in his voice. A series of fast barks came as a reply, and the man spoke with disbelief in his voice. "Ne mozhet byt'... Ty uveren? Dai posmotry." She felt weight shift above her, peeking from under her covers to see the man drop to the floor, muttering what she supposed to be obsceneties in a pained voice.

He approached a window, opened the blinds and gasped, as the light of the morning sun shone brightly into the room. A blanket of snow was coating the surrounding woods, but not a single spek of snow fell from the sky.

"Lyra!" He yelled, running towards the wardrobe, gutting it to find warm clothes. "You've got five minutes to get ready." He said, cursing to himself when the he hit his left hand on the wardrobe door. " Fucking hell..." He hissed, nevertheless donning his winter coat, its left sleeve still bloodied since yesterday.

"What? Why?" Lyra said, jumping to the floor, pointedly missing the window, choosing instead to approach her friend, who was now in the process of putting on his shoes.

"The blizzard's stopped, we're going to Ponyville." He said, donning his winter hat and throwing another at Lyra, the mare catching the apparel with her magic. "I don't know for how long the weather will remain good, so you better hurry." He grabbed a strange object Lyra's never seen before. It had two tubes on one side of it, with a wooden part on the other side. Oleg grabbed two small red objects, cracked the first object in half, and put the red things in the tubes before closing the device shut.

"Oleg, are you sure you're strong enough to go?" Lyra said, eyeing up his left arm incredulously. Her gaze traveled upwards, to his bloodshot eyes and red nose, to the pale skin on his face and the dark bags under his eyes. "Let me check your temperature-" She said, reaching a hoof to him, the man instead taking a step back and grabbing his sled.

"There's no time for that!" He sternly said, throwing up his arms. Lyra couldn't help but notice the awkward manner with which he moved his left hand. "Get on the sled, DD's going to give you a lift." He said, giving the rope attached to said sled to DD, who woofed in responce. "I'll walk beside you, to ward off any unwanted guests." He said, nodding at the tubular object in his grip.

"You're goint to do that with a stick?" Lyra said, raising her brow. Truth be told, she was more worried about the man charging at something the size of a manticore with a stick and getting more injured, rather than her own safety.

"With a boomstick." He corrected, snorting whe he noticed the cluelessness written across Lyra's face. "You'll see what I mean." He said with a wave of his hand, stopping for a moment and shaking his head. "Actually, let's hope you won't."

"In any case, get on the sled, we need to get going." He turned to the door, taking a step towards it.

"Wait, I didn't check your temperature!" Lyra protested, grabbing his left hand with her magic, accidentally yanking it as Oleg continued moving, while his arm was fixed in place.

"AAAH!" The man screamed in pain, stumbling backwards towards Lyra, his left hand sliding out of the sleeve. Lyra gasped as she saw red, angry wounds, the area around swelling like from a bee sting. "Don't do that again, ladno?" He said, carefully guiding his left arm to the sleeve as Lyra's concentration faltered, her magic aura dissipating. "Bloody hurts..." He muttered to himself, sitting down on one knee, not noticing Lyra approaching him. He gasped when a soft backside of Lyra's hoof touch his forehead, nearly falling on his back.

A low growl came from the timberwolf, one Lyra did her best to ignore. "You've got high fever." She said with a frown, looking disapprovingly at him. "And your stitches are infected. You can't go anywhere like this." Oleg rolled his eyes, using DD for support to stand up.

"I'm a grown man, I'll decide what I can or can't do, thank you very much." He said, dusting off his shoulders, opening the door. "Get into the damn sled, we don't have all day." He said angirly, his tone demanding no rebuttal.

Lyra did just that, sitting down as comfortably as she could on the rather small sled. Just as they stepped outside, Lyra put her hoof on the man's right hand, grabbing his attention. "Promise me to see a doctor when we get to Ponyville." She said, giving her best puppy-eyed expression when the man looked at her with an irritated expression. "Please."

"Fine." The man said, waving his hand dismissively. "If it gets you out of my hair." He grumbled, slamming the door shut, the trio walking off into the cold.

The repetitive crunch of snow under feet and paws was a pleasant noise to Lyra, who was quite fond of the winter. Something about walking through the snowy town on her way to work, or going to get a cup of cocoa with Bonnie made her feel fuzzy on the inside. "It'd be nice to go for a cup of cocoa with Oleg..." she thought absentmindedly, before a loud crack made her jump in her seat with a yelp.

Oleg turned to her with a raised eyebrow and a faint smirk on his face. "Everything's alright?" He asked, patting DD and saying something to him, the timberwolf slowing his pace. "I stepped on a twig if that's why you're freaking out."

"I wasn't freaking out!" Lyra protested, raising her front legs defensively. "I was just... being wary. A lot of scary stuff lives in the Everfree! Maticores, cockatrices, timberwolves..." A short bark caught her attention, the mare coughing into her hoof. "No offense."

"He actually thanked you for putting him on the same level with a maticore." The man said with a snort, before his tone turned serious. "I'd like it if you stopped talking before you jinxed us." He said, looking around warily.

"Come on, don't tell me you're the superstitious type!" Lyra said accusingly, trying to get a reaction out of him, the walk up to now being spent in silence.

"I'm not superstitious, 'but'..."

"Nope, anything before the but doesen't count!" She said triuphantly, not knowing what was about to hit her.

"Well, never thought you were butt kinda gal." He said, scratching his chin as if in thought. "I can see where you're coming from, but I always liked to see the bigger picture, the full package, if you will." He said through his smirk.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" Lyra protested, fighting off the red that quickly spread through her face.

"Say, DD, what do you think?" Oleg said, gasping when he heard a bark in reply. "Goodness grascious, DD, not in front of the lady!" He said in mock-offence, chuckling all the same. A scratching sound came from the timberwolf, and after a second or two Lyra realised that it was laughing along.

"On a more serious note, it's life experience, not superstition. Shit tends to happen at the most unopportune time, especially if you start talking about it." He said the last part through gritted teeth, shooting Lyra a dirty look.

"You're just a pessimist!" Lyra shot back playfully.

"Oh no, I'm an optimist, through and through! I just like to keep a certain phrase in mind: 'Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.'"

"That doesen't sound very optimistic to me..." Lyra grumbled, silence being her responce.

A good twenty minutes passed in silence as the trio made their way through the gloomy forest, canopy blocking most of the sunlight from coming through.

"He can't just come back to here." Lyra thought, looking at Oleg's back in worry. His head was on a swivel, constantly on the lookout for possible dangers. "Nopony can live like that, not indefinently... And despite putting on a brave face, I know he's hurting, in more ways than one." A low growl alerted the man, his posture tensing up in a matter of seconds. He lenghtened his stride, and half-whispered to Lyra, not turning around.

"DD said something's following us. Keep calm, don't show it we noticed, we're almost out." His tone tried and failed to be reassuring, as a spark of uneasyness shone through his confident facade.

"I-I'll t-try..." Lyra said nervously, gulping audibly. A thought came to her mind, sending a chill down her spine. "O-oleg? If we're almost out... Doesn't it know that too? What if it'll try to attack-" Any words died in her throat as an antagonistic growl came from bushes behind the mare, a bead of sweat rolling down Lyra's forehead.

"Fucking jinxed it." The man said in an even a tone as he could muster. He slapped DD on the back, bringing up his boomstick, aiming it at the bushes. "Get her to town ASAP, I'll deal with whatever this is." Before either of them could make a move, a giant beast jumped out of the bushes, Lyra jumping away from the sled just as it was being crushed, narrowly avoiding the same fate.

"ETO CHTO ZA HYUNYA?!" The man yelled, backpedalling away from the creature, who fixed its hungry eyes on him. "Zrya ya eto skazal." He managed to say before a heavy paw hit him on his side, sending him flying to the nearby tree with a gruesome crack.

The manticore took notice of the small green pony, and intended to go for her next, but an ear piercing howl echoed ttoigh the forest as DD charged the beast. The manticore took notice of this, trying to hit the timberwolf with its scorpion tail, sttikin about a dozen times but missing each one, thanks to DD's smaller frame and agility making him a hard target.

The timberwolf leaped at the manticore, attaching himself to the beast's face, clawing madly at its eyes. A pain-filled roar reverberated throught the Everfree as skin and fur were torn to shreds in a whirlwind of strikes. The manticore began hitting its head on the ground, shaking DD off after a few seconds. It once again focused its now one-eyed gaze on the unicorn mare, and in that moment Lyra saw her life flash before her eyes.

The first time she played her lyre.

Her first concert, and the proud looks on her parents' faces.

Her move to Ponyville, and the crazy greetings party that followed it.

Comfy winter evenings spent with Bonnie.

The blissful feeling of Oleg's finger running through her mane, massaging her scalp.

A loud boom interrupted her memories, followed by an even louder roar of pain as the manticore wavered, turning to the source of the sound.

"G-get fucked." Oleg said, loading two more slugs into his double-barrel shotgun, pulling the trigger. Just as he did so, the manticore's stinger tail leapt at the man, piercing the palm of his hand, before another blast hit the monster in the chest, sending it to the floor.

The manticore whined, crawling away deeper into the forest, leaving a trail of red snow in its wake.

"Oleg!" Lyra exclaimed, rushing to the man's saide, DD doing the same. She gasped as she saw blood flowing from the punctured palm of his ledt hand, staining the snow beneath. She took off her winter hat with her magic, ripping it to make a crude bandage, wrapping it around the wound.

"H-hey, no need to w-waste a perfectly good hat on me!" He said weakly, wincing after his forst chuckle. "Oh god that hurt." He croaked, color draining fron his face. "Let's go, we need to get you home." He began to stand up using DD for support when his face contorted into a painful expression.

"Oleg, you can't walk, not in your condition!" Lyra protested, looking at the man worriedly.

"I-" He was about to protest, but a sharp bark from DD, coupled with the pain in his chest caused his resolve to waver. "Aight, you're right this time." He said, taking fast and shallow breaths. "But what are we going to do? The sled's destroyed, and there's a good fifteen minutes back to town?" He argued, looking at a pile of wooden chunks that used to be a sled.

DD woofed excitedly, lowering himself to the ground to fit underneath Oleg's legs, before rising to his full height, the man sitting somewhat-steadily on his back.

"Good idea, DD!" Lyra praised, giving him a causcious pat, recieving a gratefull woof and a wave of a tail in responce.

"I am not giving you a piggyback ride for this." The man stated flatly, addressing the timberwolf. "You ain't a pup."

A group of five ponies marched through the snowed-in streets of Ponyville at an accelerated pace. Well, four of them marched, to be prescise. One of them was impatiently bouncing and hopping through the town, urging her friends to hurry.

"Come on girls, we have to hurry to save Lyra, so I can throw her a 'Glad You're Still Alive' party!"

"That's a bit morbid, don't you think, Pinkie?" Twilight said, using her magic to clear the path ahead.

"Well, I'll throw her a 'Glad You're Alright' party! Or I can throw her a 'Happy You've Found A Hugh-min' party, that one will be a blast!" Pinkie exclaimed, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Maybe you should wait with throwing that party, Pinkie." Fluttershy said, a concerned frown on her face. "The poor dear must be scared half to death right now!"

"The first thing this 'poor dear' will get, is a stern talking to." Bon Bon said, trying to hide how nervous she actually felt. "Or a snowball to the face, depends on her condition, really."

"As the only medical professional on the scene, I implore you to refrain from traumatizing your roommate any further, Bon Bon." A white-coated unicorn in a doctor's cap said, a stretcher enveloped in a yellow aura floating behind him.

"I know her better than you, Major Fracture, I'll decide what to do with her." Bon Bon said in an irritated tone.

"Alright, we're almost at the Everfree, get ready to-" Twilight began, words dying in her throat as she saw two form exit the forest. One of them was undoubtedly Lyra Heartstrings, lyre player extraordinare and local human enthusiast, while the second was...

"Lyra, run! There's a timberwolf right next to you!" She yelled, readying an offensive spell as the two figures ran towards her. As they got closer, she began to see a third figure, laying on the timberwolf's back.

"Wait, don't shoot!" Lyra yelled, stopping a few hoofsteps away from Twilight. "DD-the timberwolf- is good, I can vouch for him!" She said, patting him on the head, the timberwolf rolling his eyes, but nodding.

"Well, I-" Twilight began, but was cut short when something pushe her aside, walking past her.

"Lyra Heartstrings!" Bon Bon began, her voice on the verge of a scream. "What were you thinking going to the Everfree alone, in such harsh weather?!" She said, pointing her hoof at her friend. "You could've gotten cold, or hurt, or..." She trailed off, noticing the weird clothes the mare was wearing. "Where'd you get this hoodie?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"That's my hoodie." Bon Bon nearly jumped at the hoarse sounding voice that came from the timberwolf's back. "You'll have to wash it though, it's been trough some tussle lately."

Bon Bon's eyes drifted to the bloodied figure talking to her, the lack of color on it's face making it almost indistinguishable from the surrounding snow. "L-lyra? What is that?" She said, pointing at the human, his face contorting into a frown.

"Fuck you too, Candyhair." The man said flatly, coughing as he chuckled at the mare's outraged expression.

"Why you little-"

"Wait!" Lyra said, interrupting Bon Bon's attempt to get closer to the man. "You can bicker later, right now he needs medical attention!" She said, her eyes darting to the only medical professional on the scene.

Before she knew it, Major Fracture was next to the human, looking over him intently. "Can you walk, mr..."

"Melnik." Oleg said, getting a raised eyebrow feom Lyra. "What? Can't a man have a surname?" He turned to look at the pony doctor once again. "I don't think I can, doc. Whole body feels awful heavy right now." He said, trying and failing to lift his hand.

"Understandable. We need to get him on a stretcher. Ms. Sparkle, could you lend me a hoof?" He said, turning to the mare, all the while levitating the stretcher next to the man.

"Of couse, Dr. Fracture." She said, enveloping the man in a purple aura, causing him to yelp. She strained a little as she carried him to the stretcher, dropping him a little too harshly than intended. "Sorry! You're heavier than Iexpected!" She said, bashfully rubbing the back of her neck.

"And now you're calling me fat." He said glumly, coughing as the group began moving towards Ponyville General. "Say, doc, what was your name again?" He said, his eyes half-shut as they became too heavy to keep open.

"Major Fracture." The doctor said, looking increulously at the man. "Do you have any other complaints? You don't look too good."

"No way." The man muttered, his eyes growing wide as dinnerplates. "No fucking way." He muttered to himself, clearing his throat before continuing. "Why, I actually do have a complaint." He said, taking a deep breath.

"Major... I'M BURNING UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!" He yelled, throwing his arms wide apart, before cackling at the top of his lungs. He wiped an errant tear from the corner of his eye, a satisfied expression on his face. "Now I can die happy." He croaked, melting into the stretcher.

"Oh! OH! I get that reference!" Pinkie Pie screeched, hopping beside the man. "Here, have a cupcake! It'll make you feel better!" She said, dropping said cupcake beside him on the stretcher.

"Does it have cocaine?" He said weakly, his gaze drifting lazily from the mare to the cupcake. "It does, doesen't it?"

"Nope!" Pinkie chirped. "But it's full of painkillers!" Before the words left her mouth, the man scarfed the cupcake down, much to Dr.Fracture's chargin.

"Pinkie, painkillers need to be taken carefully! Who knows what his tolerance is?" Dr. Fracture said, glaring at the mare.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine." Pinkie said with a wave of his hoof, just as Lyra stepped towards the stretcher, accompanied by Fluttershy and Bon Bon.

"He was stung by a manticore in his left hand, and hit in the chest with its paw." She began listing his injuries, her voice filled with concern. "He also has stitches on his left hand, and last I checked - they didn't look too good."

"Got it, I'll get the antidote right away when we get to the hospital. Miss Fluttershy? Can you tend to his wounds while we're moving? I can't do that and carry the stretcher." The white unicorn said as the group walked through Ponyville's town square.

"I'll do it." Fluttershy said, unusually assertive. She rolled up the man's left sleeve, gasping as she saw the inflated flesh around his stitches. "Oh you poor thing, you!" She cooed, putting a hoof on his head. "Doctor! His stitches are infected, you'll have to clean the up and stitch it back again." The white unicorn nodded, not turning to face her. "Who could've done such a poor job..." She muttered to herself, a little too loudly.

"Hey!' The man said weakly, startling the butter pegasus just a tad. "You try stitching yourself up while being drunk as a skunk." He huffed indignantly. "We'll see how well you fare."

"You did it by yourself?!" The mare asked, horrified.

"Well, Lyra helped me a lot too..." He murmured bashfully in responce, closing his eyes.

"No!" Lyra screeched, waking him up just a tad. "Don't sleep, talk to me!"

"Ugh, keep it quiet, will you? I'm very... very tired..." He said, his eyes slowly closing. He shook his head before they shut completely, turning to look at the green unicorn mare. "Lyra, listen, if I don't pull through-"

"But you will!" Lyra all but screamed in desperation. "There's no way you don't!" She said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"And yet." He said sternly. "If I don't survive... If I die here, I want you to promise me one thing." He weakly raised his roght hand, resting it on her shoulder, soft texture of his hoodie feeling weirdly cold against his scalding-hot skin. "Live for yourself. Forget about me. Leave the cottage in the Everfree, and if it's not too much of a bother..." He sighed, his eyes fluttering for a second before returning to being half-open. "Bury me there." Lyra was about to protest when he raised a finger, stopping her from speaking up. "Have fun with your friends, family... Live your life to the fullest."

"B-but.." Lyra began, tears streaming down her cheeks, freezing by the time they reach her chin. "W-what about y-you?" She asked in a wavery voice.

"I'll... I'll be just a story." He said absentmindedly, his lips pursed. "Just make it a good story, eh?" He suddenly frowned, wiping away a tear from Lyra's cheek. "Lyra Heartstrings, crying over me eh?" He started scratching her cheek, Lyra leaning into his hand, sobbing.

"Oh, and one last thing." Oleg said, turning his gaze to the timberwolf, who was following his master, walking closely by his side. "Take care of DD, will you? Can't imagine him returning to The Everfree." He said with a small smile, the timberwolf emitting a low whine. "You'll be alright." He turned to look at Lyra, givng her a sincere smile that looked out of place on his pale face. "It's a shame, really." His hand left Lyra's cheek, falling limply against the stretcher.

"I was starting to like you."

His eyes closed shut, a ragged sigh leaving his mouth.

Awakening (Epilogue)

Author's Note

Warning! For anyone who liked the original ending, you may consider this chapter 'non-canon' so to speak.

This chapter is meant to be a sequel-bait, if I ever feel like writing one.

Awakening (Epilogue)

Darkness.

Darkness was the only thing Oleg saw. Cold was the only thing he felt. Silence was the only thing he heard. He tried to look around, but found he was unable to move her head, he tried to flail his hands around, but gave up soon enough. A calming realisation dawned on him as the situation sinked in.

He was dead.

It wasn't a surprising development, rather a very expected one. He was thoroughly injured and was in a land that never seen humans before. It'd be more surprising if he wasn't dead.

Still, he couldn't help but frown just a tad. All this effort down the drain, all the time he spent with Lyra, down the drain.

Lyra...

He regretted being so rude to the cute little unicorn. She was fun to talk to and easy on the eyes, something of a rarity nowadays. If only he'd gotten to know her better...

Bayu-bayushki-bayu~

Ne lozhisya na krayu~

"At least the afterlife has good sound design. Figures, they've clearly cut corners in the graphics department... And the story department... In all other departments too, really."

He 'looked around' with his 'eyes' noticing a small point of white, steadily growing bigger, blinding him.

"Well, guess I spoke too soon. Still a shitty preamble."

A melodic humming reverberated off the walls of the hospital ward as Lyra sat on a soft chair beside the bed, her hoof on the patient's right hand. She hummed a familiar tune, waiting patiently for him to wake up. "He will wake up." She kept telling herself. "There's no way he won't." She looked at the timberwolf curled up beside her seat. "He has to."

The hand under her hoof flinched, prompting her to squueze it in her hoof, looking hopefully at the man's face. She watched with bated breath as his groggy eyes fluttered open, looking around the room, before focusing on Lyra.

"Christ Almighty, your singing yanked me from the grave..." He croaked, his voice hoarse from not talking for some time. "Safe to say, your vocals need a lot of work." He teased.

A dumb smile spread through Lyra's face as she lead forwards and embraced the man, careful not to hug him too hard. "I missed you."

"You're not the only one." He said as DD woke up, stading on his back legs pawing at his hand. The timberwolf growled a little at the words. "What I meant to say, is..." He sighed happily, hugging the mare as hard as he could.

"I've missed you too, Lyra. More than you can imagine."

Old Dog

A pair of crusty eyes opened, looking blearily at the roof of the bunk bed, as their owner slowly stirred from sleep. They tried to gulp down the saliva that accumilated in their mouth, only to wince when their throat reacted with a surge of dry pain. A tired sigh escaped the lips of the awoken, as they thought to themself.

"Why do I even try."

Oleg became aware of a weight on his chest, when somepony nuzzled deeper into it. He looked down to see a green-coated unicorn snuggled closely against his chest, wrapping her hooves around his torso, his hands mirroring her action.

"Right, that's why." He thought, unable to resist a smile. Lyra's mane was tangled in various places, knots of light-green hair making the man wince just a tad. Still, the overall sight is was so endearing, it inevitably lightened his sour mood.

His eyes darted to a corner of the room, where he saw DD looking at him, his head laying on the floor. "Yeah, that's the second reason why."

He carefully disengaged his left hand from the unicorn's side, the mare stirring a little in her sleep at the loss of contact. He checked the time on his wristwatch, his eyes going wide. "11:30?! Christ on a bike, I've slept in!"

He pried his other hand from the mare, waiting out another bout of stirring from the mare, before carefully sliding from underneath her, laying her in a warm imprint that he left on the matress.

He raised the covers just high enough to slip out of bed, quickly covering the mare with a blanket, before the chill air of the cabin roused her from her slumber.

He shiverd as goosbumps danced across his body when the chillyness of the cabin envelopes him, the coveted warmth seeping away with every passing moment. "And that's with me wearing clothes. Can't fathom what the poor thing's going through." His lips curled into a small but sincere smile as he picked up a yellow note, scribbling an excuse for his absense. "She's probably fine. That's a very warm hoodie she's wearing, after all."

He grabbed a large axe, resting it on his shoulder, all the while strapping a hatchet onto his tool belt. He moved in the general direction of the exit, stopping when he heard a small whine coming from the timberwolf as he passed him.

"What?" He whispered to nobody in particular in the room. "Did someone call me?" A small bark came from the wolf, who was now sitting, looking intently at the man. Oleg staggered away from the beast, his eyes wide as dinnerplates. "D-did you just speak to me?!" He exclaimed, clasping his hands over his mouth, turning to look at the, thankfully, undisturbed pony on his bed.

DD repeates the bark, Oleg lowering himself to the wolf's level. "What do you mean 'of course'? You never spoke to Lyra, why'd you speak to me now?"

The timberwolf emitted a series of quiet barks, waggling his tail happily. "Because I saved you..." The man shook his head, a more present question nagging at him. "What do you mean, 'She wouldn't understand?'" Oleg asked, tilting his head.

DD emmited a low whine, pawing at the wooden floor. "The sap that I tasted... You're saying that's the reason?" Oleg asked, recieving a nod and a bark in reply.

The man shook his head, heading to the bathroom, DD in tow. "I'll deal with that later, right now I need to find more firewood." He replied, beford splashing water into his face and brushing his teeth.

DD's reply came in the form of a bark, one that grabs the man's as he's heading towards the exit, stopping for a moment to put on his boots. "You want to help, DD?" He asked, recieving a series of barks in reply.

"Sniffing out fallen trees..." The man pondered on the idea, putting on his winter hat and coat. "That is useful..." He rubbed his chin, eyeing the timberwolf up. "Alright, I'll tske you with me." DD began to waddle his tail happily, stopping momentarily when the man raises a finger.

"On one condition." He said in a serious tone, the timberwolf tilting his head.

"You get me killed out there, and I'll haunt your entire bloodline until the end of time."

DD barked in reply, waggling his tail enthusiastically.

A statisfying crunching sound accompanied the duo as they trudged through the knee-deep snow, all the while fighting against a harrowing wind that chilled the two to the bone.

DD's wooden nose was moving constantly, desperately trying to sniff out any suitable wood. Oleg chose to stick by his companion's side, keeping one hand on a small hatchet on his belt, his other busy towing a small sled behind him.

"Hey." Oleg said, the timberwolf barking in reply to notify the man that he had heard him. "Usually I'm against going so far away from the cabin, especially in a blizzard. You can lead us back home, right?" He asked with a tinge of worry in his voice.

He recieved an indignant bark and an irrateted flick of a tail in reply. "I don't doubt you, DD." The man said defensively. "Better save than sorry, though." He added, looking around to try and find and remember any noticable landmarks.

He failed to spot any, as a loud bark grabbed his attention. He turned to see DD digging furiously in the snow, and grabbed a shovel from the sled.

"Here?" He asked, approaching the timberwolf, who gave a confident woof in return. "Aight', let's see what we have here." He said, starting to dig.

A few minutes passed in combined labour, and in the end, a trunk of a tree is unearthed, 5cm in diameter. The man stood down on one knee to inspect the find, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Birch tree..." He looked around, trying to find any other of its kind, but finds none. "Hey, DD, do birch trees usually grow here?" A negative woof was his answer, which made Oleg frown.

"That means it came with me... But it's a long way to the cabin. Just how much made the trip with me?" Oleg mused, before standing and grabbing his axe. "Whatever, I'll deal with it later." He muttered, before swinging his axe at the trunk.

Half an hour later he found himself packing the pieces of wood into the sled, breathing heavily through his mouth. "Aight, let's look for some more." He said, preparing to move forward bt stopped when he heard a low growl coming from his companion. Color drained from his face as the meaning behind the sound reached his ears, dropping to the ground as fast as he could.

A heavy, snow-covered blur flew right above him, barely missing his head, ramming straight into DD, who yelped from the impact, falling to the ground. His back hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of him. Before he coul drecuperate though, a second form jumped onto him, sharp teeth clasping around his left hand which he was using to cover his face.

Sharp pain erupted in his hand as a timberwolf began to shake his head wildly, ripping the winter coat on his left hand. Oleg screamed in both pain and fear, reaching for the hatchet fixed to his belt. Hatchet now in hand, he began swinging wildly at the beast on top of him, each swing producing a hard cracking sound as it connected with the wooden body of the wolf.

Soon the thrashing lessened, allowing Oleg to force it off of him, the wolf falling to the ground. Despite that, Oleg didn't relent, striking the fallen animal again and again, until all that remained was a broken pile of wooden splinters. He jerked to his legs, turning towards DD, ready to continue his assault if it meant saving his friend. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw DD's muzzle clasping on the neck of the attacking timberwolf. A second and a crisp crunch later, the timberwolf in DD's hold crumbled into a pile of wooden chunks, falling to the ground.

"We... we need to go back..." Oleg said breathing heavily, his heart running a mile a minute. He secured the hatchet on his belt, grabbing the sled with his right hand, his left hand feeling weak.

By the time he got to his cabin, the entire left sleeves of his winter coat was red, and he was beginning to feel a little woozy, from either bloodloss or shock. He opened the door with his right shoulder, barging into the cabin, slamming the door once DD was through.

A stream of obsceneties that would make Celestia blush poured out from his mouth as he threw his boots off, dropping the winter coat to the floor.

"Oleg? You're back!" Lyra's cheery voice rang out from the cabin's living room. "Is something wrong? I can't tell what you're saying, but you sound distressed!" Lyra's voice was tinged with worry, and for once, Oleg was happy she didn't understand him.

"Lyra, get the medkit from under the bed!" Oleg all but yelled, passing the worried mare, heading straight for the fridge.

"I-I what? O-oleg, are you b-bleeding?" Lyra said in a wavery voice, too shocked by the sight of a bloodied human to move.

"Yes, aren't you a perceptive pony?" He said in an annoyed tone, searching for a rectangular green bottle. "Go get the medkit, I'll need it in a minute!" He yelled, feeling a tad guilty at having to do so.

"O-okay." Lyra replied weakly as she raced to the bunk bed, her ears pinned to her head.

"There you are!" Oleg said triumphantly, holding a bottle of Jägermeister. He slammed the frodge shut, walking towards and dropping on the wooden bench, laying his hand on the wooden table. He opened the bottle and took a good swig, wincing a tad as the liquor slid down his throat. "Ugh. Just as sweet as I remember." He said, putting the soon to be empty bottle on the table, a warm feeling spreading from his chest to the rest of his body.

By the time Lyra returned, the pain in his left arm turned into an ignorable ache, and a lazy thought of doing just that and going to bed slowly crept into his mind.

"No." He mumbled to himself, shaking his head. "That's a surefire way to becoming an amputee, and I like my left hand."

"Here!" The hoodie-clad Lyra returned, a medkit floating beside her in a golden glow. The unicorn mare set the medkit on the table, opening it. "What do you need?" Lyra asked, looking worriedly at the human.

"Hydrogen Per-Pero-" He took a deep breath, sqeezing his eyes shut for a moment. "Peroxide. Hydrogen Peroxide." He said, opening his eyes, mentally counting what he needed. "A needle, some thread, a-and a q-t-tip. That sh-shhould be all." He said, slurring just a tad.

"Oh my Faust!" Lyra exclaimed, the appliances she was holding clattering to the table as her magic gave out. "What happened to your arm?!" She all but yelled, staring wide eyed at his wounded appendage.

"DD and I ran into some tr-trouble." He said, unscrewing the bottle of disinfectant. "It looks worse than it act-actu-actually is, really." He gave her a weak smile, trying to calm her nerves.

Before Lyra could reply, he poured a generous amount of hydrogen peroxide onto the wound of his hand, white crust forming on the open wounds as the solution hissed, coming into contact with them.

"F-fucking hell." He hissed through clenched teeth. He grabbed the q-tip, hastily cleaning out the white crust from the wounds. "Aight, easy part's done." He said with a sigh, looking at the needle. "L-Lyra, g-get a th-th-thread into the n-n-needle."

"You-you're going to suture it?" She said, turning a shade greener at the thought, but complying nonetheless.

"You've got a bet-better idea?" Oleg spat, taking the needle and breathing deeply. "Alright, I need you to h-ho-hold the wound open."

"What?!" Lyra exclaimed, growing pale. "Why?!"

"I need to s-s-see where I'm s-s-sticking the needle." He said, mentally preparing himself for the task ahead. "You've got m-m-magic, right? Sh-sh-should be easy."

"I-I can't!" Lyra said, clenching her eyes shut.

"L-Lyra." Oleg said, cupping her cheek with his right hand, slowly caressing it until she looked at him. "Please." He spoke into her eyes.

"F-fine." She said in a wavery voice, a golden aura enveloping her horn.

Oleg unbuckled his belt, buting down on it. He held the needle at a 90 degree angle to his wound, driving it into his flesh. He groaned into his leather belt, pain surging through the wound despite the numbing alcohol.

Needle's end surfaced on the other side of the wound, the man driving it into the second half of the wound, clenching his teeth harder on the leather.

He pushed the needle upwards, and a moment later a it surfaced once more, the man tugging at it to dislodge it from his flesh.

"Y-you can s-stop now." The man shakily said, spitting out the belt. "I j-just n-need to tie it now." He said, wincing as he tugged at the thread so it had some tension, closing the wound and tying the string into a knot.

"I-is it done?" Lyra asked, carefully avoiding looking at the wound.

"I'd say t-t-three more st-st-stitches will do it." He said, folding his belt once again. "Get th-the needle re-ready." He said, biting down on the belt.

A painful hour and seven more stitches later, Oleg closed the medkit, stuffing it under the bunk bed. He took another sip of the drink, before sprawling out on the bed.

"Well," He started, taking a deep breath as he examined his handiwork. "I'm no doctor, so..." He blinked a couple of times, trying to clear his vision. "It'll be a small miracle if they're not inflamed by tomorrow." He sighed, massaging his temple with his right hand. "Things would've been a hell of a lot easier if that timberwolf went for the jugular."

"Oleg!" Lyra exclaimed, grabbing his attention. "Don't say it like that, we'll pull through this, just you wait and see!" She said in a hopeful tone, earning a chuckle from the man.

"Pull through? What for? To end up as a glorified zoo exhibit?" He said, his voice slightly heated.

"What are you talkng about?" Lyra asked, genuenly clueless. The man rolled his eyes at her tone.

"Don't play coy with me, I know how this kind of shit goes." He said, taking another swig. "The second your friends get their grabby hooves on me, I'll be left at the mercy of your rulers."

"But the Princess' are nice! They're the most considerate ponies in all the land! Surely, they'll help you find your place in Equestria!" She said, trying to put the man at ease.

"Oh, koneshno, koneshno!" He laughed, throwing his healthy hand up. "I've no doubts about that!" His mirth disappeared in a blink of an eye. "I'm sure they've got a spare operating table just for me." He spat, staring into the ceiling of his bunk bed. "It's either vivisection, or zoo for me. I have nothing else for me here, no friends, no family, nothing yo look forward to, no perspectives."

"The Princess' would never do something like that!" Lyra exclaimed, laying a hoof on his shoulder. "And... you have me." She said with a small smile, looking into his unfocused eyes.

"Ain't that a relief." He snorted, slapping his forehead. "I've lost everything but a single house and some personal belongings, but at least I have..." He paused, drumming his fingers in the bedframe. "A single friend!" He said, his eyes watering. "A friend I've known for all of four days, so more an aquaintance, really."

"We... we're not friends?" Lyra asked, taken aback, her ears pinned to her head. "Is that why you don't want to trust me?" He said, a pitiful expression on her face.

"I... I don't know." He said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I don't fucking know, alright?!" He exploaded, suddenly sitting straight. "The whole world's gone mad, and I don't know what to do, and I'm scared-" He stopped himself, wiping away the wetness around his eyes. "Ever since I graduated, I set one goal for myself," He started, taking a shaky breath. "to die in a place that wasn't my hometown... To live a life that would end in a better place, somewhere far away, surrounded by friends and family..." His breath hitched, a dry cough escaping his lips. "2/3... That has to count for something, right?"

"I think I'll call it a day." He said, awkwardly climbing onto the second story of his bunk bed. He winced as he flopped onto the matress, grazing his left hand. He heard a shuffling from beneath him, and just as he started drifting off to sleep...

"What's going to happen when you take me to Ponyville?" Lyra said in an even voice, trying to hide the storm of emotions that was inside. "You- you'll do that, right?" She said with a tinge of fear.

"I'll get you as close to the town as possible, thenrun for the trees." He said, staring blankly at the wooden ceiling. "And paint my walls grey if local police comes." He thought.

"Thanks." Came a choked reply, followed by even breathing.

He laid as still as possible, making little to no sound, listening closely to the sounds of the cabin. Twenty minutes later, a quiet sobbing sound reached Oleg's ears, tugging at his heartstrings.

"Fucking-a, great job dipshit. The only friend you have here, the best thing you had in your life for the past two years and you made her cry. You really are a waste of air." He bit down on his right hand to keep himself calm. "Does it matter? It's better for everyone this way. She'll make it home, and won't have to care about me. I'll be just a story."A metallic taste filled his mouth as warm liquid streamed down his throat. "You owe her that much, at least."

"And that's good. For everyone envolved."