The harsh cold wind whipped fiercely against Tempest Shadow’s face as her hooves sunk deeply into the thick layer of snow that blanketed the ground. Walking was a struggle, Tempest only able to progress a few inches at a time. Even squinting as hard as she was, she was only able to see a few feet in front of her. She shivered, the intense cold biting deeply into her coat.
How could she have been foolish? She was stuck in Celestia-knows-where in the middle of a nasty snow storm with no shelter in sight. In all fairness, she couldn’t entirely blame herself. Weather in the lands beyond Equestria was often wild and unpredictable, a far cry from the tightly controlled and guided weather in the pony homeland. Still, she should have anticipated something like this, especially at this time of year.
A storm this fierce at this time was kind of ironic, considering that it was Hearth’s Warming’s Eve. She snorted to herself at the thought that this storm might almost be as fierce as the one from the story, if there was any truth to it at all; she could certainly feel herself on the verge of becoming a block of ice. Honestly it wouldn’t surprise her if an actual Wendigo was to blame for all of this. She had seen stranger things happen after all.
Hearth’s Warming. Tempest had never been one for celebrating the holiday, at least not after she had left Equestria. It was always just a bitter reminder of the home she had been left behind and the ponies that had shunned her. When it came down to it, nopony had been able to accept somepony different from them, so how could she take that holiday and its “lesson” seriously. Since she had met Twilight Sparkle she had begun to try and move past all of that, but she would be lying if she said it still didn't hurt. It didn't help that it wasn’t widely celebrated outside of Equestria, the few ponies that lived out here not fond of the tradition for one reason or another. Even now, Tempest’s feelings on Equestria were complicated to say the least. Not that it mattered, she would be spending Hearth’s Warming alone anyway, that was if she didn’t freeze to death first. That was fine, she was better off by herself anyway.
It was times like these when she almost wished she had taken Twilight up on her offer to stay in Ponyville. The general cheer and good-naturedness of the town’s citizens might have been uncomfortable for her, to say the least, but at least she wouldn’t have been at constant risk of perishing in the wilderness. But that would never be a real option for her. She had meant what she said to Twilight when she told her that she would make sure that news of the Storm King’s defeat would be spread far and wide. There were also still a few remaining vestiges of his army that were acting as bandits and raiders, or harassing settlements that Tempest had seen fit to deal with herself. It was the least she could do to make amends for all the wrongs she had committed. Besides, despite what they had said she had a hard time believing that she would be welcome there after all she had done to them.
She needed to find some sort of shelter soon or else she wasn’t going to make it. She grit her teeth as she tried to peer past the swirling wall of snow to no avail. Maybe there was a town nearby, but she had no idea which direction she would need to travel in to find it. She was completely lost. Her situation was beginning to look grim, but she had no choice but to keep going. She couldn't last much longer in this cold.
She trudged onwards through the snow for what felt like an eternity, but in reality she had no way to tell how much time had passed. Her entire body was beginning to go numb and she could feel herself growing weaker by the second. She was on the verge of collapse when she spotted a vague shape on the horizon. She couldn’t make out exactly what it was with the visibility like this, but she had to hope it was some sort of shelter. She had no other choice but to head toward it and if it wasn’t well… she couldn’t think about that. She just had to get there.
Time continued to feel like it was stretching on forever as she struggled through the thick snow. A few times she fell down and each time she summoned what little strength she had left and got back up. She was going to make it,she had to. She had been through far worse than this. She felt her horn throb as painful memories threatened to resurface before she pushed them back down.
Eventually she reached it and she was simultaneously relieved and confused. It was a decently sized log cabin, but what was it doing seemingly in the middle of nowhere? This area was no desert like the badlands, but Tempest knew that any other time of year it was just an empty plain of grass peppered with a few trees here and there with rlthe closest town in any direction being a few days travel. It wasn’t unheard of for there to be creatures that preferred a bit of solitude away from any towns or cities, but one this far from any form of civilization was a little out of the ordinary.
Thankfully it seemed like the structure was maintained well enough, there were no holes anywhere and no part of it seemed like it had collapsed. The windows at the front were all dark and there was no smoke coming from the chimney, so either no creature was home or it had been abandoned all together. She was just going to have to break in and if any creature came back here she would just apologize to them then. Given the choice between breaking and entering and turning into a popsicle, well she would do what she had to. She turned around, lining her hind legs up with the door and then bucked outward.
She connected with a solid thud and the sound of splintering wood, the door swinging open on the first try. She turned back around and assessed the damage. There was no visible damage to the door itself and thankfully it had remained on its hinges, but on closer inspection of the door’s frame she saw that she had broken whatever latch had kept it closed. Not ideal, but it was fixable.
She stepped inside and looked around. The room was of course dark, the only light being what little moonlight could penetrate through the gusts of snow. She stood in the doorway and carefully observed the inside of the cabin. The main room was spacious, a fireplace was off to her left with a couch in front of it and an armchair off to the side, there was a kitchenette in the far right corner, and a few more pieces of furniture like a table with some chairs around it and a bookshelf along one of the walls.
“Hello? If any creature is there, I just need a place to stay for the night until the storm blows over,” Tempest called out just in case her breaking the door down hadn’t been loud enough to draw out any inhabitants that might still be lurking here. After a few moments she was satisfied that no one was going to come out and she set about the task of looking for something to hold the door shut.
She settled on using the bookshelf. Thankfully it was devoid of any books so she braced her shoulder against the side and began to push. It didn’t take too much effort as Tempest was in fairly good shape, so after a few moments she had pushed it into place. She stepped back to examine her handywork, feeling some relief to see that it held and was successfully keeping (most) of the chill out. However it was still cold and now a bit darker.
She moved over to the fireplace and was surprised but thankful to find that there was some wood already in a pile next to it. If she cared at all for such things, she would probably think it was some kind of Hearth’s Warming miracle. She threw a few logs into the fireplace and then began to focus on her magic. She felt that familiar warm tingle that transformed into burning chaotic energy as it attempted to travel through her broken horn. She remembered when it had been so painful for her as she tried to summon the magic that would never work the same way again, how desperate she had been to get it back, so willing to do almost anything, even attack her former home. Even now it still caused her discomfort, but she had become used to the sensation, for better or worse.
Sparks began to jump from her horn and she directed them toward the kindling. The logs catching fire almost immediately, progressing rapidly into a nice comfortable blaze. Tempest took down one of the fire pokers hanging above the fireplace with her teeth, giving the wood a few pokes before setting it off to the side.
She took a few moments to soak in the warmth of the fire, letting out a sigh as she felt the chill finally begin to leave her bones. She shrugged off her heavy saddlebags and sat down in the armchair next to the fireplace and let the heat of the fire wash over her as she thought about what she was going to do. With any luck the storm would have blown over by tomorrow morning. She reached into her bag and pulled out her map, checking it over. If her estimations were correct, she was still a few days away from the nearest town, a small village called Arrow’s Point. There had been talk of a few Storm Guards in a nearby encampment that had been extorting the village for food and money. The sooner she could get there the better; she had to complete the task she had set before herself, it was the only way she could make up for her past.
She reached into her bags again, this time pulling out an envelope with her name written in neat script across it. She had already read it. It was a letter from Princess Twilight inviting her back to Ponyville to spend Hearth’s Warming with her and her friends. In truth, she had actually considered taking her up on her offer, despite her distaste for the holiday, but ultimately she had dismissed the idea. She had been alone for so long, pushing others away that she didn’t know if she could really be around other ponies, not yet anyway. Not that she deserved the company of others, not until she had finished doing what she had set out to do. Forgiveness needed to be earned, and she was going to do just that. Until then she wouldn’t be able to look Twilight in the eye, not properly.
Mrow
A sudden noise startled Tempest out of her thoughts. She jumped out of the chair and dropped into a defensive stance, her eyes scanning the cabin looking for any sign of movement. The cabin had looked like it had been abandoned but maybe some creature was still here having somehow ignored all the ruckus she had made up until now.
“Hello? Is there any creature there?” Tempest called out. She waited a moment but there was no response. “I’m not looking to cause trouble, you can just come out.” Still no response. It was probably just her mind playing tricks on her.
Mrow
There it was again. It sounded like it was coming from the direction of the hallway, probably from one of the other rooms. Tempest began to tentatively move forward, keeping herself tense just in case. As she listened, she heard the sound a few more times. It almost sounded like… but that didn’t make any sense. What creature would be crazy enough to travel through a storm like this? Well aside from her. She shook her head. She would just have to find out for herself.
As she stepped into the hallway she saw that it had two different doors, one of which had been left ajar and looked like it led to a storage closet that had been left bare save for a few odds and ends. The other door was closed and it sounded like that was where the noise was coming from. Tempest took a moment to prepare herself, a life focused on survival training her to be ready for anything, then she pushed the door open.
It was a bedroom, relatively small and sparsely furnished. There was a bed covered in a dusty blanket and a few pillows, a bare, tiny bedside table next to it, and across the room there was a small dresser. A single window bereft of any curtains provided the barest amount of moonlight to see by. Other than that it seemed to be completely empty, no sign of whatever had been making that noise.
Tempest carefully looked over the entirety of the room, trying to find any sign of life. Something had to be here, that or she was starting to go insane. She was on the verge of giving up when she was startled by a pair of glowing eyes coming from under the bed. She jumped backward in surprise before calming herself down and taking a closer look and then sighing at herself in disappointment.
It was just as she had suspected. Tempest you idiot, that’s a cat. If she were somepony else looking at her situation, she would probably laugh at herself. So much time spent on her own really had done no favors for her paranoia it seemed. The question was, what was a cat even doing here by itself? Perhaps the previous owner had left it here whenever they had abandoned this cabin, which had been a while ago if all of the dust that had accumulated on every surface was anything to judge by. Left behind huh? That was hauntingly familiar. She sighed.
Tempest had no feelings one way or the other about domesticated animals and the like. She’d never kept a pet before, she didn’t really see the point of it. Why get attached to something that ultimately served no purpose? She gave a sharp sigh at that thought. Even she could recognize how cold that sounded. She was trying to change after all.
The cat meowed again and then emerged from underneath the bed. It was white all over with scruffy short fur. It was slender without being too skinny, which meant it likely did a good job of feeding itself. Tempest could admit that it was sort of… cute looking. It stretched itself out with a yawn then cautiously walked up to Tempest, sniffing at her legs curiously.
Tempest nearly recoiled at first before stopping herself. It was just a harmless cat. She had faced down far scarier things than a common household pet. Besides, it didn't seem to be all that scared of her either.
“I suppose we’ll be sharing this cabin together, won’t we?” She asked the cat, immediately feeling silly as soon as she did. It’s a cat Tempest, it doesn’t understand you. Still it wasn’t as if any creature was around to see her embarrass herself, so really what was the harm in it? Besides, it had been a few days since she had spoken to any creature, sapient or otherwise, and to her surprise she was almost beginning to miss it.
Suddenly Tempest’s stomach rumbled. It had been a while since she had last eaten, hadn’t it? Struggling through that storm had taken a lot out of her as well. She should still have some food in her saddlebags. She looked down at the cat again, which had begun to lazily circle her legs, rubbing against them occasionally and purring.
“Are you hungry?” Almost as if in response the cat meowed. Tempest smirked before exiting the room and heading back to the main room, checking behind her to see that the cat had decided to follow her.
Going back to her bags she rummaged around a bit before pulling out some bread and a canteen full of water. The bread was still good, she had gotten in the last town she had passed through three days ago. She moved over to the kitchenette and rummaged through the cabinets before finding what she was looking for, thankful that the previous occupant hadn’t taken everything with them. She came back and set two bowls down in front of the fireplace, breaking off a bit of bread into one and pouring some water into the other.
The cat gave a happy little mrow before digging in. Tempest settled onto the floor next to it and began to eat her share, the two settling into a comfortable silence as they ate. Tempest looked over every so often at the cat as it lapped at the contents of the bowl and surprised herself when she realized that she was smiling as she did so. Celestia, she really was starting to go soft wasn’t she?
This felt nice, eating in the company of another warm body, even if it was just a cat. She guessed that she wasn’t spending Hearth’s Warming alone any more, the thought causing her to giggle to herself. She could picture Twilight in her head, congratulating her for making a new friend. Maybe she would send her a letter when she got to the next town.
Once she had finished eating, Tempest settled more deeply in front of the fireplace, content to just rest in front of the warm blaze. She watched as the cat amused itself for a while, the feline playfully rolling around, jumping at the flickering shadows cast by the fire, and batting at her tail every so often. Once it had tired itself out, it clambered on top of her, circling a few times and kneading its paws into Tempest’s coat before stopping and lying down, Tempest able to feel the vibrations from its purring.
She wasn’t sure what she was going to do in the morning, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt if she kept the cat around, that was if it wanted to stay. She wasn't entirely ready to spend time with other ponies, not yet anyway, but she also couldn't lie anymore and say that the loneliness wasn't starting to wear on her. Perhaps a cat would be a nice compromise for the time being. If she was going to do that she needed to give it a name. As convenient as it was, she couldn’t keep calling it the cat forever. She gave it a few moments thought until it occurred to her what day it was.
She looked back at the cat as it slept contentedly, periodically rising and lowering in time with her own breathing. She smiled again. Carol should work. Those had been her favorite part of the holiday as a young filly wishing she could join in the beautiful songs, before she left Equestria. Once she had finished her business in Arrow’s Point, she would have to send a letter to Twilight. She was sure the princess would get a kick out of this whole situation. And perhaps next year... she could actually visit. She gave a small smile at the thought as her own eyes closed and she settled into a comfortable sleep.
Author's Note
Whew! 
Not going to lie that was a bit of a buzzer beater (I have terrible time-management skills), but thankfully I got that done in the nick of time. I hope Sane Marbles, and anyone else that reads enjoyed. If you have any constructive criticism, please do let me know, as always I'm happy to hear it.
I hope everyone had a nice holiday! Until next time! (Hopefully not too long 
)
