Alric arrived at the village with Celestia and Luna. He cast a pyromancy on them to keep them warm for several hours without heavy clothing, and they entered the village. Celestia and Luna hid behind him nervously as they made their way through the village.

After a bit Alric spotted Crimson Crisp speaking to a mare with green fur. She had a leaf on her haunches. Most ponies had some sort of picture on their haunches, he had noticed. Except Celestia, Luna, and other foals. He had no idea what that was about. Perhaps he could ask.

Crimson Crisp noticed him and smiled at him. “Well, I’ll be. You sure got back quick. I take it these two adorable little things are the fillies you were talkin’ ‘bout?” The stallion asked, looking at Luna and Celestia who hid shyly behind Alric’s legs.

“Indeed. These two are Celestia and Luna. Celestia is the older of the two and Luna the younger. Celestia, Luna, this is Sir Crimson Crisp.” Alric introduced them.

“Nice to meet ya, little ladies.” Crimson Crisp greeted them.

“Hello…”

“Hi…”

The girls responded quietly.

“My apologies. They’re just a bit nervous meeting new people. Give them a bit of time and I’m quite sure they’ll start to relax.” Alric stated.

“It’s fine. Anyway, this here’s my wife Maple. I was just tellin’ her about y’all.” Crimson Crisp motioned to the mare next to him.

“Howdy! So you’re the one who made our orchard grow outta nowhere?” Maple asked.

Alric bowed in greeting. “Indeed I am. My name is Alric and I am a human. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lady Maple.”

“Well aren’t you polite! I ain’t no noble lady and Crimson Crisp ain't no lord so no need to call us ‘sir’ or ‘lady’. Just call me Maple and call him Crimson Crisp.” Maple told him.

“Just Crimson or Crisp works too.” Crimson Crisp nodded in agreement.

Alric smiled at them. “As you wish. I take it everyone is preparing for the harvest?”

“Oh yeah! The whole village is gettin’ ready to help out! We haven’t had a harvest this big in…” Crimson raised a hoof to his chin in thought. “Actually… Come to think of it, I don’t think we’ve ever had a harvest quite this big.” He then smiled widely. “It’s sure as sugar better than any harvest we had since the Windigos came at least!”

“The whole village? It must be quite a momentous occasion then! I’m afraid I haven’t done terribly much farm work, being a scholar and a sorcerer. However, I am quite strong even amongst the most physically powerful of my kind. So I am more than willing to help out however I can. Be it carrying crates or harvesting crops. You need only tell me what you need of me and I shall gladly do it.” Alric offered.

“Ya already grew the crops. Ya don’t gotta help with the harvesting too. You don’t need to go and ruin those fancy clothes of yours.” Maple stated.

“No, I would feel as though I am taking advantage if I were to sit about whilst everyone else works. So please allow me to assist however I can.” Alric requested. “As for my clothes, they can be cleaned. If they’re torn I have many ways to mend them in an instant with repair powder or magic. Plus I have put them through far worse, I assure you.”

“Well if you're sure… Ya say you're strong? How strong?” Crimson Crisp asked.

“Incredibly strong. There are several figures of legend known for their immense strength. Black Iron Tarkus, Smough, Paladin Leeroy, and of course Havel the Rock. I surpass all of them. So whatever you could have me lift will be a simple matter.” Alric stated.

“I don’t know who any of that is… Eh, I’ll take your word for it. But don’t come cryin’ to me if the work’s too much for ya.”

“Uh… W-what about us…?” Celestia asked.

“You two? Maple can watch ya while Alric’s out helpin’ with the harvest.” Crimson stated.

“I wanna help.” Luna stated.

“Hm… You two are both a bit young for any hard physical labor and I can’t imagine either of you are used to such work… Crimson, might there be any relatively easy work for these two to do?” Alric inquired.

“Sure. Unicorns ain’t strong like us Earth ponies but there’s plenty of work little fillies like them can help out with. Don’t worry, we’ll find somethin’ easy for you two to do. Hm… How ‘bout you two help Maple with the cookin’? There’s gonna be a big celebration later for this harvest and that means lots o’ cookin’! Not too physically demanding, perfect for a pair of little unicorns like y'all.” Crimson stated with a friendly smile.

Celestia and Luna smiled and nodded.

“Alrighty then, you two. Follow me. If you do a good job, I may even give ya a nice treat. Crisp’s granny makes the best apple pies you’ll ever taste!” Maple said, looking at Celestia and Luna.

“Be good, you two.” Alric called out as the fillies followed Maple.

“We will!” Celestia called back.

Alric looked back at Crimson and cracked his fingers. “So. What would you have me do?”

“Come on and I’ll show ya.” Crimson said, turning and walking away.

Alric followed him. Crimson set him to do a few basic but physically demanding tasks. As more ponies gathered and the work started getting underway in earnest, the ponies started singing. Several even started playing instruments. Oddly the music seemed to carry throughout both the orchard, the fields, and the village itself and everyone seemed to be singing in perfect unison as if they had been practicing the performance for months. Yet the song seemed spontaneous, the lyrics tailored to this specific situation.

Even Alric found himself caught up in it. Somehow he just knew the right words. He had never considered himself a good singer before this either. In fact he barely knew anything about it, yet here he found himself singing with skill and grace he should not have had.

So, he assumed it had to be some kind of magic at work.

It was a bit odd but he just smiled and went along with it, enjoying himself. He could have tried to fight it or resist it but he saw no real reason to. It was enjoyable and it actually seemed to make the work go a bit faster somehow. He wasn’t quite certain if that was just perception due to having fun or if it was a real effect of whatever magic was carrying the song.

The song carried throughout the harvest and into the preparations for the feast.

As the song came to an end, Alric found a long set of tables set up in the middle of the village for the feast. There were odd almost fully encased torches between the tables to provide warmth for the food and those eating. Based on the smell as he passed them, Alric assumed they burned charcoal. Something that had to be quite expensive as he sincerely doubted they had the trees to spare. They were built like oversized lanterns made entirely of copper with no glass, likely to maximize heat production, and only enough holes to let air in to keep the coals going. All of them appeared quite new and there seemed to be a bit of variation between them as if the ponies were actively experimenting to find the best iteration to provide heat. Some older iterations seemed to have been modified with some of the elements of the newer ones.

Celestia and Luna were sitting in the middle of the row of tables with Maple.

“Ah, there you are. La— Ehem… Maple, how were my charges whilst they were within your care? Did they behave?” Alric asked as he approached

“Oh they were just the sweetest little things! Nothin’ like those stuck up, snooty, buckin’— Er… Nothin’ like the folks in the city.” Maple started and corrected herself. She continued. “Luna’s still a bit clumsy with her magic and spilled some flour, but she and Celestia cleaned it right up. I tried to dust her off, but she might still have some flour on her.”

He smiled. “I see. I’ll be sure to draw them a bath once we return to my castle.” He sat down between the two fillies who had left a gap at the table for him. “What of you two? Did you enjoy yourselves?”

“Mhm! Maple is really nice! And she and her granny are super good cooks! While we were helping set up the tables, they let us try slices of apple pie and it was super yummy!” Luna said excitedly.

Celestia nodded in agreement. “It was nice.”

“It gladdens me to hear it, little ones.” Alric said, then he had a thought. Before he could voice it, however, Crimson Crisp came rushing over.

“Don’t get started without me!” Crimson exclaimed.

“We aren’t, don’t you worry. Alric and I were just talkin’ about how good these little fillies were while helpin’ out me and granny. They’re just the sweetest little things!” Maple told him.

Crimson seemed somewhat surprised to hear it at first but he quickly masked his surprise with a smile. “Glad to hear they didn’t give ya any trouble. I’ll tell ya, Alric wasn’t foaling around when he said he’s strong.”

Alric sat down with the ponies and had a friendly chat with them over the course of the feast. Their family quickly joined and Alric was introduced to every member of Crimson Crisp and Maple’s sides of their family. Along with quite a few other townsfolk.

The feast was currently in full swing. There were people with instruments playing cheerful music, there were ponies dancing, and of course quite a few were eating and drinking. Celestia and Luna were playing with some of the local foals.

“So you don’t use these charcoal heaters regularly?” Alric asked, looking at the copper thing next to him. It was putting off a significant amount of heat for its design.

“Nah. Don’t have enough food for big ol’ feasts like this usually. Our local smith made these things. Usually they’re just for families celebratin’ weddings or birthdays and the like outside and not wanting to freeze to death, have cold food, or have open fires that can burn a house down. So they’re useful, but we don’t have enough charcoal to use ‘em a whole lot.” Crimson Crisp informed him.

“I see… Still, it is a fascinating innovation. I can see the use given the, ah… weather…” Alric stated.

Crimson Crisp sighed and took a swig from his ale. “Yeah… The buckin’ weather… Darn Windigos… Darn Pegasi… Buck ‘em both! I tell ya, Alric, those feather brained good fer nuthin’ buckin’ Pegasi could fix all of this if they wanted. They control the buckin’ weather! That’s all they do! But they don’t… They’re the ones who brought those Windigos here, I know it! Probably want us to all freeze to death.”

“Celestia and Luna told me they’re attracted to hatred.” Alric stated, before sipping his own ale. He couldn’t get drunk and his sense of taste was heavily muted, but he liked to give the impression that he was still alive. So sharing an ale with a new acquaintance was fine by him.

“Bah, that’s just some nonsense some prissy unicorn in the city made up. Rover or somethin’. Or was it that Starswill idjit? I don’t remember. Bah… Either way, it’s all a load a manure if ya ask me. Nah, somepony brought ‘em here. Has to be. Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and,” He spat off into the snow. “The buckin’ pegasi, never got along. We hated each other for generations and these things never showed up! So what changed? The buckin’ pegasi with their weather magic brought ‘em here that’s what! It's the only explanation that makes a lick of sense! They want us to starve to death, if we don’t freeze first!”

“Hm… I suppose I shall have to study the phenomenon myself, if I can spare the time. Perhaps I can find the cause. And if I can, then perhaps I might be able to find a solution.” Alric stated.

“Hah! Yeah, wouldn’t that be nice! I know you can make crops grow, Alric, but I think getting rid of the Windigos just ain’t possible now. The unicorns’ve been tryin’ but even their best wizards can’t get rid of ‘em. I think this is well beyond any one pony… or human.” Crimson Crisp said before taking another drink of ale.

“We’ll see. I’ve done the impossible before… My apologies for the abrupt change in topic, however, it is getting rather late and I shall need to return to my castle and put my wards to bed soon. Would I perhaps be able to leave Celestia and Luna in the care of someone in this village? They seem to get along quite well with the foals here.” Alric asked.

“Hm… Sorry, Alric. That ain’t a good idea.” Crimson Crisp shook his head.

“Ah, yes. I suppose it may be hard for them considering they’re unicorns in a village of Earth ponies. It was foolish of me to ask. I apologize.” Alric stated. The people of this village had been quite nice once they knew they could trust him. And they seemed to be just fine with Celestia and Luna. So he had held out hope that, perhaps, someone here might be willing to adopt them.

“Nah, that’s part of it sure. But as long as they’re not prissy, stuck up, high and mighty jack wagons like most unicorns they could be fine. Problem is, we ain’t stayin’ here. The whole village is goin’ to the Earth Pony city. Chancellor Puddinghead is leadin’ all of us outa here to find a new land to settle. Somewhere that ain’t frozen. Gonna be a long hard journey. We’ll barely have enough food to feed ourselves. This harvest is gonna help us out a lot, but nopony can afford anymore mouths to feed.”

“Ah. If it’s a matter of food…” Alric started only to be cut off by Crimson Crisp.

“Nope. You’ve already given us enough. We aren’t gonna abuse that generosity. Besides, how hard do ya plan on workin’ us? We’re gonna have to harvest it if ya make it. A few days of this’ll wear everypony out too much for us to make it to the capital to join the others. Anyway, we’re leaving because of the windigos as much as we are because of the famine. Can’t risk the things comin’ and freezin’ us all to death. So many ponies travelin’ in one big group is hard. It’ll be worse for the folks with foals. Neither of us want anything happening to those little fillies. So your best bet is what you were originally thinkin’. Take ‘em to the Unicorn City. It’s about a four day walk straight east of here. If you're gonna find somepony to take ‘em in, it’ll be there.” Crimson Crisp told him.

“Very well. Thank you for the directions. It is greatly appreciated as is the hospitality you’ve shown me and my Wards.” Alric thanked him.

“‘Course! It’s the least we could do, after ya gave us this harvest and helped with the actual harvesting.”

“So you Earth Ponies are hoarding all the food!” A voice declared, shouting over the sounds of the festivities.

Everything suddenly screeched to a halt. The music, the dancing, the feasting, talking and laughter. Everyone looked up and saw about ten pegasi in armor hovering above the village, all but one holding small clouds.

The one without a cloud was wearing more ornate armor than the rest. The leader, Alric presumed. A stallion with dark gray fur, a yellow mane and tail, and a scar over half his face. Oddly, the scar seemed to be from severe frostbite from a cursory diagnosis. Fighting with the Windigos, perhaps? But that didn’t line up with Crimson’s story of the Pegasi being the ones to bring the Windigos. Though, that made sense. While Crimson was a rather pleasant individual he was a commoner from a village. Biases and assumptions were to be expected.

“Well? Do you have nothing to say for yourselves, you food hoarding dirt rats?!” The lead Pegasus demanded angrily.

Crimson stiffened at the insult and nearly got up. But Alric put a hand on his back, keeping him seated. “Please, allow me.”

Alric stood up and approached the armored pegasus. Once he was within range for a conversation, he bowed respectfully. “Excuse me, good sir. I am Alric. A human and a sorcerer of Vinheim. To whom am I speaking, might I ask?”

The stallion snorted and glared at Alric. “I am Captain Thundermane. What is your association with this village?”

“A friendly acquaintance. I just arrived today in fact. I am the one who grew their crops with an advanced spell and allowed them the freedom to have such a feast which they held simply to thank me for granting them this boon. So I’m afraid your accusations of hoarding food are completely unfounded, Captain.” Alric told him.

“I do not take kindly to lies, ape! Earth Pony magic allows them to grow plants, it’s common knowledge. Thus we have long suspected such treachery from them! Hoarding food and starving the rest of us! Now I have evidence! An Earth Pony village feasting and making merry in the midst of a famine? Preposterous, unless they lie and have more food than they say! Do you think me stupid?! Your attempts to thrust yourself upon the pyre to cover for their crimes is ill conceived and frankly pathetic! Now get out of my way. My business is with these dirt rats, not some lanky hairless beast!”

Alric frowned. “I am not lying nor am I covering for anyone. I can demonstrate—”

Alric was cut off as the Captain made a motion with his wings and suddenly he was struck by a bolt of lightning.

He flinched, suprised by the sudden attack.

“Alric!” Luna cried, breaking away from Celestia and running over to him.

“Luna, wait!” Celestia shouted, running after her.

Alric thrust out a hand. “Stay back! Both of you!”

Luna skidded to a halt and Celestia caught up to her.

Maple rushed over to the two of them and began herding the two of them back into the rest of the crowd.

Alric lowered his hand and rolled his shoulders. It had been some time since he was last struck by lightning. Who was it…? Gwyn’s First Born? Yes. He believed it was Gwyn’s First Born who last struck him with lightning. This bolt was significantly weaker than the bolts of a god. Something a novice cleric might conjure forth. But still quite lethal to a normal individual. No wonder all of the Earth Ponies were simply standing there. None of them wanted to be shot full of lightning by opponents they can’t even reach to fight back against.

“Lightning. It’s been quite awhile… Four maybe five millennia, perhaps…? Captain, let me just say, you do not want this battle. And, quite frankly, neither do I. You cannot possibly fathom how unbelievably tiring violence gets after several millennia. I’d much prefer to resolve this peacefully.” Alric said in a calm and collected tone.

It was a famine and this pegasus was a soldier likely doing what he thought was best for his starving family and friends, fully believing his own delusions of the Earth Ponies hoarding food for themselves. Alric didn’t want to kill him or the other pegasi. He had to make them see reason. He wanted to help them.

The Captain scowled. “I know not how you survived that, ape, however you shall not survive the next volley. I guarantee it! Surrender or get out of our way! That is an order!”

Alric almost laughed at the absurdity of the threat. It was like a gnat threatening an everlasting dragon. Yet he restrained himself. It would be inappropriate and insulting to laugh right now.

“I will not. If you would only listen, I am trying to offer my assist—”

The captain flared his wings and all of the pegasi still in the air fired bolts of lightning at him. All of these bolts were quite a bit stronger than the first. About as strong as naturally occurring lightning. Albeit the full brunt of the lightning hitting him rather than merely the end that strikes the ground. Alric felt his clothes char and the very surface of his flesh singe from the assault.

Everyone had to cover their eyes from how bright the lightning was. The sound rattled buildings and was near deafening.

Alric sighed. Had he known he was going to be dealing with lightning, he would have worn his thunder stone plate ring.

Instead he summoned his pyromancy flame. He always had options. “That stung a bit. But that is where this fight ends.”

“How…? How did you survive that…? Nothing short of a dragon should be able to shrug off so much lightning!” Captain Thundermane demanded.

“I’m significantly stronger than a dragon. Now, let us discuss things on more friendly terms, shall we?” Alric held out his pyromancy flame and cast a version of Rapport he designed to work on the living rather than just the undead. With a flash of pinkish light, the Captain and the other Pegasi fell under the influence of his spell. Their eyes glowing with a pinkish light.

“Now, Captain, would you be willing to have an actual conversation with me rather than resorting to violence?” Alric asked.

“I suppose…” The Captain muttered somewhat begrudgingly.

“Then please, call off your soldiers. No blood need be shed this day. Thus their lightning is not needed.” Alric requested.

“How can you ask such a thing of me? The Earth Ponies are hoarding food! Us pegasi are starving! I cannot call off my soldiers nor will I.” The Captain stated firmly.

“They are not. As I said before I am the one who bestowed this harvest upon them. I can prove it to you, alas you did not give me the opportunity to do so. So call off your soldiers, Captain Thundermane. I am more than willing to help your people to the best of my abilities just as I have helped this village. You need only allow me a single chance to prove myself. You clearly can’t actually kill me. So this is your best chance at getting the food you need as I will not allow you to harm this village over a misunderstanding brought about by my actions.” Alric stated.

Captain Thundermane grit his teeth.

“Please, Captain. I only wish to solve this diplomatically. I don’t want to hurt anyone. Least of all men fighting to simply feed their families. I am doing everything in my power to avoid that outcome but ultimately it is your decision. One act of trust to allow me to prove myself. That is all I ask of you. What say you?” Alric asked.

The Captain shut his eyes tight, took a deep breath, and slowly released it. “Fine… Stand down.”

The Pegasi released their clouds and landed one by one.

Alric smiled. “Wonderful. Thank you. You will not regret this, I assure you.”

“That remains to be seen…” Captain Thundermane grumbled.

“Alric, what the hay is goin’ on here? What’d ya do to ‘em? Ain’t no way a pegasus would just stop like this!” Crimson Crisp demanded.

“I cast a spell that removed their hostility towards me.” Alric stated.

“You did what to us?!” The Captain demanded.

“Temporarily eased your aggression. That’s all I did to you. As you can clearly tell by the fact I still had to convince you and the fact you are upset over the revelation of this spell. You still have your free will, Captain, you are merely being kept calm. You were attacking me. I did not wish you harm. This was the best way I could think of to resolve this without violence. Criticize me later, if you must, but no blood was shed. I consider that a victory.” Alric stated.

“So, uh… You didn’t use that on me… right?” Crimson asked.

“No. You didn’t attempt to kill me on the spot. So I had no reason to. All I did was grow your village’s crops. If you were under such an influence it would’ve been found out immediately by the other villagers as your eyes would have been glowing as theirs currently are. Now, I do believe I have a demonstration to perform.” He said before turning and walking over to Celestia and Luna. He knelt down and picked the both of them up.

“You really needn’t be so concerned over my well being. Never go rushing into danger on my account ever again. Do I make myself clear?” He said sternly.

“B-but there was lightning! A bright flash and a boom! They were trying to hurt you!” Luna objected.

“Believe me, no matter how bad something may look, I have been through worse. I defeated the Bed of Chaos, the mother of demons, in single combat. The flames she cast were hot enough to melt and even boil steel that I enchanted to stay cold. So, unless I am facing something on a similar level, you needn’t fear for me. And at that point, I would be more concerned for you two.” Alric told them.

Author's Note

Been awhile. Hopefully this chapter's good. I thought about including a whole thing with Windigos coming to the village after the Pegasi show up, but I thought it was a bit too much. So I settled for this. Alric trying to resolve things peacefully without violence.

I'm open to all questions, comments, and criticisms.