The Battle of Hearth's Warming

Chapters

Prologue
The Warning
Cold Front
Gathering Storm

Prologue

September 22, 1032 BCE (before Celestial Era)

On top of a stone tower, a bearded pony stood looking out on the surrounding mountains. The snow had just begun to fall, lightly frosting the ground. He looked around, seeing that the night sky was pitch black. Not a star or even a sliver of moonlight to be seen through the heavy cloud cover. A chill wind blew in, sending the snowflakes into wildly twisting and dancing patterns, flashing in and out of visibility as they drifted past the torches on the castle walls.

Starswirl the Bearded kept watch on the night sky. Unicorn guards walked by on the ramparts below, their footsteps the only sound he could hear other than the wind. Finally a crack opened in the clouds, and he could see four stars directly overhead. He walked to a small telescope on a tripod and peered into it, aiming it at the small collection of stars. Once it was in view, he looked at the dials on the side of the telescope and frowned. He quickly turned and walked down the spiral staircase into the keep.

It was late at night, and almost everyone in the castle was asleep. However, there were more night guards on duty than usual; The latest food shipment had arrived earlier in the day, but with the unexpected snowfall, the Earth ponies making the delivery had to stay overnight at the castle. Starswirl could see the group of six ponies asleep on the floor of the main hall, under the watch of three unicorn guards. No beds. Not even blankets. Starswirl felt ashamed at the sight. That was no way for anyone to treat a guest, especially one coming with a gift of food. But that was not the main problem which was weighing on his mind at this time. He walked past the Earth ponies and unicorn guards, and opened the door to the library.

A young unicorn mare was sitting at a table on the far end of the library, reading a book on astronomy, her pen scribbling notes on a scroll next to it. She looked up from her study to see Starswirl enter the room.

"Did you see anything?" she asked.

"Yes, Clover. We have some work to do. Watch your pen."

Clover had been simultaneously reading and writing without looking at her pen and realized it had wandered off the edge of the scroll and she was writing on the table. She let the pen out of her levitation field and rubbed the ink off the table with the back of her hoof, nervously smiling at Starswirl.

"I was only able to see a few stars," said Starswirl. "But luckily I recognized the constellation. You are familiar with the Ursa Major, correct?"

"If it's in the night sky I know it like the back of my hoof." she raised her hoof, saw the ink smudged in her fur, and grimaced. "Yuck."

Starswirl continued. "I focused in on the brightest star, the nose of the Ursa. The telescope was facing 15.3 degrees from North, and it was angled up 79.7 degrees. I made very sure of it."

Clover's eyes shot wide open. She bolted from her table and ran to a globe in the corner. Starswirl followed.

The globe was made of a semi-transparent material, and on the inside was a metal sphere, with tiny holes punched in specific locations matching those of the brightest stars in the sky.

"Turn off the lights." said Clover.

Starswirl nodded his head and every torch and candle in the library went out simultaneously. Clover then focused her magic to a single candle. Once lit, she lifted it up through a hole in the bottom of the metal sphere. The light of the candle shone through the tiny holes, through the semi-transparent globe of the Earth, turning the library around them into a projection of a star map.

"The nose of the Ursa is that star right there" she said, pointing to a point of light on the side of a bookshelf.

She started to turn and tilt the globe, while the metal sphere remained in place, keeping her eye on several degree markers written on horizontal and vertical grid lines.

"This is where that star was 5 years ago" she said, pointing to where the light of the star was shining through the globe.

She tilted and turned the globe some more. "4 years ago."

Starswirl felt his stomach turn. His worst fears were coming true.

Clover continued turning the globe and narrating. "3 years ago... 2 years ago... last year... tonight. The Earth's axis is tilting, and that tilt is accelerating, not slowing or reversing like we hoped it would. No way is this something on a regular cycle. Otherwise this would have happened every 20 years or so and we'd have historical records of the last time. Something has forced the Earth into a tilt."

Starswirl lowered his head. "It is as we had feared. A great winter is coming to these lands."

Clover nodded solemnly. "So... uh.. what are we going to do now, sir?"

"We must make this known. There is still time to prepare, but a great many of us will suffer if we don't. Come! we must talk to the Princess at once."

The hope he held in his heart was false and he knew it. But he still had to try.

The Warning

September 23, 1032 BCE

"You must be joking." said Princess Platinum, her nose up to Starswirl.

She was lounging on a bench in the throne room, surrounded by Earth pony servants and unicorn nobles. A servant held up some grapes in his teeth by the stem and offered them to the Princess, who ate one off the bottom. The Unicorn King was in a far corner of the room, lying down in a bed, awake but staring at the ceiling, almost completely oblivious to his surroundings.

"Have you not heard a single word I have spoken?" said Starswirl, holding his anger in check. "We must begin a search for a new land immediately!"

The Princess chuckled softly. "Darling, you spend far too much time with your head in the clouds. Are you sure you're not a pegasus?"

The nobles around her laughed as if on cue. The Unicorn King made some gurgling noises and farted.

Clover stepped out from behind Starswirl, walking towards Princess Platinum until her guards moved in front of her. "We tracked the stars and triple-checked the data! We even triple-checked the checklists for checking the data! You can't argue with facts! The Earth is tilting, and we're gonna be a whole heck of a lot more north than we were before!"

Clover felt Starswirl's magic gently tugging her back. She walked back and sat on the floor beside Starswirl, still staring angrily at the Princess. The Unicorn King drooled.

"I'm quite sure we can weather a chilly winter or two." said the Princess lazily, eating a couple more grapes. "Start a good fire, maybe put on some clothes. I see none of the dramatic problems you predict. And really, is that any reason to leave our entire kingdom behind?"

Starswirl shook his head. "I believe you are underestimating the severity of this problem. As you can see already, the chill of winter has reached us a month earlier than we expected. It has happened earlier and earlier for more than a decade, and the change is accelerating. Need I remind you that one extra month will also mean a further extra month awaiting the end of winter?"

"Starswirl, dear, I can't for the life of me figure out why my father would always heed your advice. Perhaps his mind had already started to slip long before we noticed. Starswirl, this is the real world. What does someone who spends all their time around dusty old books know about how things work in the real world?"

Clover could not restrain herself now. "In the real world you have to EAT! How in the hoof are you going to eat if you can't grow FOOD?"

"The Earth ponies will just have to work a little harder. They could use the work. They've grown lazy lately."

Clover sputtered angrily. "Are they going to move the sun? I'm sure you're aware that nobody can move the sun!"

Princess Platinum waved away the servant with the grapes, and turned back to Clover. "We can negotiate with the pegasi to put some extra hours into cloud bursting if it comes to that. Now, I don't quite like the tone you are giving me. If that is all you have to say, then begone. Be a dear and shut the door on the way out."

"But..." Clover started, but Starswirl was already storming off toward the door, so she turned and followed him.

The Unicorn King shouted "Squishy bubbles!" for no apparent reason, to nobody in particular.

"I should have expected that." said Starswirl after slamming the door shut behind him. "This kingdom is run by fools. They will not see reason until it is far too late. If our leaders will do nothing, then we must inform the pegasi and the Earth ponies."

"Will they listen to us? You know we aren't exactly on friendly terms with each other."

"We have no choice in this matter." answered Starswirl. "We can only hope that the facts will speak for themselves."

As they walked away from the throne room, Clover saw the Earth ponies from last night preparing for their journey back home. She turned to Starswirl. "I can go with them, try to get an audience with the Chancellor."

"Yes, that is a good idea. And while you bring the message to the Earth ponies, I will attempt to get in contact with Commander Hurricane of the pegasi."

Smart Cookie yawned and stretched, feeling sore all over. She had slept on the cold, hard stone floor of the unicorn castle. Unicorn hospitality at its finest. Her travelling companions all looked equally sore, but at least the unicorns had let them rest for the night instead of sending them home in the cold night, as bad as the accommodations were.

"Ma'am, we're ready to leave when you are." said Banana Split, the large yellow Stallion who had loaded and unloaded their wagon full of food.

"Yep, let's roll out now."

"Wait!" came a voice behind them. They turned and saw a unicorn mare wearing a hooded cloak. "I'm coming with you!"

"Beggin' your pardon?" said Smart Cookie.

The unicorn walked up to them and extended a hoof. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Clover the Clever. You can just call me Clover."

"I'm Smart Cookie. Y'all can just call me Cookie. Now tell me, why would a unicorn want to hoof it all the way from Unicornia to Palomino with a bunch of Earth ponies?"

"I need to talk with the Chancellor. I have a very important message for him."

"Well, I ain't gonna say no to another travelling companion. Just warnin' you that it's a full day's trip. It'll be past nightfall when we get there. Yer dainty little unicorn hooves up for the trip or are we gonna have to carry you?"

Clover stomped her front hoof down. "Dainty little... you don't even know me! I assure you I can handle a day's walk. I am not one of those hoity toity nobles."

"Let's get on walkin' then. I reckon we'll get to know each other plenty on the way there."

The party of Earth ponies walked out the front gate of the castle. Smart Cookie and Banana Split were pulling the wagon, and Clover followed behind.

There were a couple of inches of snow in the streets of Unicornia, already heavily marked with wagon tracks and hoofprints. The city streets were nowhere near as busy as usual, though. The unicorns they passed all seemed to be in a hurry to get to their destination and out from the cold. Smart Cookie looked back and saw Clover walking behind the wagon, back from the other ponies.

"Hey, back there!" she called out to Clover. "Come on up here!"

Clover trotted up to the front. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothin'. You just looked a little lonesome way back there. Why don't y'all introduce yerself?"

"Oh! Well... I'm a student of Starswirl the Bearded. You may not know of him, but he's an advisor to the King on matters of magic and science."

Smart Cookie laughed out loud. "I bet the King ain't takin' much of anyone's advice these days."

"In his compromised mental state, Princess Platinum has taken over his duties. She's practically the Queen already, in everything but official title until the King passes on."

"So you're connected all the way to the top, huh?"

"Not really. The Princess seems to think that shmoozing with the nobles is more important than dealing with the problems our kingdom faces. She has no interest in our magical research."

"Unfortunately, things ain't that much better with the Earth ponies." said Smart Cookie. "Puddinghead ain't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed."

"Puddinghead?"

"The Chancellor. Just a little nickname we all give him on account of he loves to stuff his face with pudding. He ain't nothin' but a unicorn puppet. He don't care one bit about us regular Earth ponies. Not as long as the unicorns keep him rich and fat."

Clover nodded. Despite Cookie's words harshly criticizing the unicorns, she knew enough about the political situation to see that it was all the truth, and she could never be truly offended by honesty.

They approached a guarded checkpoint on the outskirts of Unicornia. Two pegasus guards approached them, spears at the ready. Smart Cookie stopped in her tracks. Clover followed. She hadn't traveled outside of Unicornia before and had no knowledge of what to do at border crossings, so she decided to remain silent and follow Smart Cookie's lead.

"State your business." the guard said brusquely.

"Returning from this week's food shipment." said Cookie.

The other guard flew behind the wagon and motioned for one of the ponies to open it. He looked around inside, then nodded to the first guard.

"Never seen you leave in the morning before." said the first guard, eyeing both Clover and Cookie suspiciously. "And what business does a unicorn have in your company?"

Clover began to speak. "I have a..."

The pegasus guard shot her a nasty look that silenced her. "I was not addressing you. The Earth pony will answer my question."

Cookie shifted nervously. "I don't rightly know. All she said was that she had a message for the Chancellor."

The pegasus looked back at Clover. "And what message would that be?"

Clover opened her mouth, but wasn't entirely sure whether she should answer or not.

"Hey! I'm talking to you! Answer the question!" said the pegasus impatiently.

Unprepared for the sudden interrogation, she stumbled over her words. "Oh... I... uh... my message is... welll.. we have to discuss the effect of the current weather on... uh... food shipments. From Palomino. To Unicornia."

"Well, just watch yourself." said the pegasus, apparently not even interested in her answer. "The roads are dangerous. Earth pony bandits are on the rise."

The pegasus guard turned back to Cookie. "We expect the unicorn back by next week's food shipment. Do you understand?"

Cookie nodded, and the guards let them pass.

"Are they always like that?" asked Clover when they were out of earshot.

"Yup. Well, a little worse today. I guess they don't see a unicorn travelin' with Earth ponies all that much."

They traveled for several hours along a snow-covered trail down the side of the mountain. As they traveled, Clover could clearly feel that the wind was picking up. Her cloak kept her warm enough, but she wondered if it would get worse. An hour later, fresh snow began to fall. She could now feel the wind even through her cloak. And on top of that, her legs began to ache. She began to breathe heavily and strained to move.

"You okay there?" asked Cookie.

"I'm great!" Clover responded with a fake smile.

Cookie giggled. "For a moment there I thought you were one o' them hoity toity noble unicorns who can't handle a good day's walk."

"Me? No! Definitely not! I'm totally comfortable."

Cookie rolled her eyes. Clover put her hoof to her face, and took in a deep breath. "All right! I'm tired and my legs are sore. Can I just ride on the wagon for a bit?"

"Honestly, I'm surprised you made it this far. Don't be embarrased or nothin'."

Clover crawled on top of the wagon, and let her aching muscles rest. Before she knew it, her eyes were closing, and she drifted off to sleep.

She was jolted awake when the wagon came to an abrupt stop. She rubbed her eyes and looked around to see what was the matter.

The wagon was surrounded on all sides by Earth ponies wearing dark cloaks, swords in their mouths. In an instant she knew that they were bandits.

Cold Front

The lead bandit pony confidently walked up to Smart Cookie. He sheathed his knife in a holster on his side so he could talk. The other bandits drew in closer, each one watching a different pony in the caravan.

"Toll road, sweetypie. We'll take yer cargo now if it pleases ya."

Cookie groaned. "We ain't got no cargo. Y'all needed to rob us goin' the other way. Seein' as there ain't nothin' to profit from this, how 'bout y'all just let us through?"

"You're talkin' mighty confident for your situation. I'm a proper gentlecolt, so I'll let that one slide, but not one more. We'll take the wagon itself then. Heavy thing, that is. You'll appreciate us lightening your load! We'll even relieve you of the burden of any coins or valuable items you happen to have on ya."

With nothing left to say, Smart Cookie opted to remain silent. The bandit started to chuckle to himself. Then he suddenly locked eyes with Clover. "Well, what have we here? A genuine unicorn. First time I seen a cornie travel 'round these parts without an armed pegasus escort. A fine present, she is. Probably fetch a decent ransom."

"I'm nopony important!" protested Clover.

"Oh that's no matter. I'm quite intrigued... I never tried a unicorn mare before... maybe I'll keep you for meself."

Clover was paralyzed with fear. She looked around at the bandits and realized she was now the center of attention.

"What's yer name, deary?" came the voice of the bandit leader.

"C...Clover. Clover th...the Clever."

"Well, Clover, hop on down from there and give us a kiss." he grinned wickedly, and the other bandits laughed.

Unable to remain silent any longer, Smart Cookie pushed the bandit leader back. "You ain't gonna take her, ya hear?"

The bandit leader leaped back and withdrew his knife. Through clenched teeth he hissed. "You had yer chance."

Clover thought she saw a shadow moving swiftly across the snow. Her eyes caught some movement from above and she saw a shining steel spear shoot straight down from the sky, piercing straight through the bandit leader's neck and into the ground. The knife fell out of his mouth as he gasped in shock. A spray of blood came out of his mouth, and he collapsed, sliding down the spear. A second later, a pegasus in full armor landed on the ground and yanked the bloody spear out. He stomped on the ground and whinnied, clenching the spear tightly in his teeth as he faced the other bandits.

For a moment, the caravan ponies and the bandits alike stood in shocked silence. Banana Split was the first to recover. He swiftly pulled a sword from his saddlebag and charged at the nearest stunned bandit, slicing cleanly across her neck.

A second later the other caravan ponies had also pulled out their swords. The other bandits were converging in on them. Clover could see four archers suddenly making themselves visible from further back in the trees. She shouted a warning, but two of them had already let bolts fly, hitting two of the caravan ponies. One fell down instantly, shot through the eye. The other took the bolt to the knee and was quickly finished by a bandit's sword.

The other two archers took aim at Clover and fired. Her horn flared up out of pure instinct and shot a wave of force towards the arrows, deflecting them off course. Unfortunately, she hadn't properly braced herself and the magic blast whipped her head sharply back, sending her off balance. She flailed her forelegs in the air, toppled back over the edge of the wagon, and landed hard in the snow. A body landed on her, and she pushed it away, not knowing if it was a friend or foe.

She forced herself back to her hooves, and quickly looked around. She could see the pegasus take to the air to swoop towards the archers. She saw Smart Cookie facing off with a bandit, then suddenly turning around and bucking the bandit right in the face with her hind legs. She saw Banana Split wildly swinging a sword between three bandits that were surrounding him. It was chaos and violence all around her. She wanted to hide under the wagon, but knew that she was in this fight whether she wanted to be or not. She galloped to Banana Split and focused her magic on one bandit's sword, wrenching it out of his mouth. Banana Split wasted no time and thrust his sword into the side of the disarmed bandit.

Clover was about to try the same thing on another bandit when she heard a scream from above. She looked up to see the pegasus shooting up to the sky carrying one of the archers. At the apex of his flight, he let her go. She screamed again as she plummeted down, straight toward Clover. Clover jumped out the way and could feel the vibration and hear the crunching of bones as the unfortunate archer made contact with the ground. She looked back to Banana Split to see that he had taken care of the other two bandits he was dealing with. He briefly looked to her and nodded his head.

She looked around and saw that most of the bandits were now running off into the forest since the battle had shifted against them. She heard another scream and a loud crack as another airborne archer came down, this one smashing face-first into the side of the wagon before hitting the ground. Most of the bandits were gone now, but she saw the pegasus touch down to face off against a very large pony, who had a heavy steel ball on a chain as his weapon. Clenching the chain in its teeth, the large pony swung the ball around in a wide circle. The pegasus kept his distance, and stepped back, just out of the range of the deadly weapon. They circled each other cautiously. One over-eager caravan pony rushed in at the heavy bandit, who let go of the chain at just the right moment. The ball flew outward and smashed the pony's face in.

The pegasus took this moment to rush in at the bandit, who yanked hard on the chain to bring the ball flying back. It intercepted the pegasus, glancing off his armor, but snapping his right wing and knocking the wind out of him. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground. The large bandit grinned and galloped forward to stomp the wounded pegasus to death. But he was not out of the fight. Even in his wounded state he kept his wits. He coiled his hind legs and just when the pony was about to reach him, he sprang towards him. The pegasus grabbed the large bandit's front leg and used his own weight and momentum against him. The bandit awkwardly tumbled, his hind legs flying over his pinned foreleg. When the pony was sprawled on the ground, the pegasus put his hind hoof to the side of the pony's head and pushed while he held the foreleg and pulled with all his strength. The bandit's neck snapped and he went limp. The pegasus let go, breathed deeply, struggled to get up, then passed out.

He woke up in darkness, with the sensation of movement. He was covered in a blanket.

"He's awake!" came the voice of a mare.

"Where am I?" he asked the voice.

A soft purple glow pierced the darkness. He could see it was from a unicorn's horn. "You're in our wagon." said the unicorn. "We had to keep moving in case the rest of the bandits came back, so we brought you in here with us. I bandaged up your wing. The bleeding is under control, but I don't know if it will recover."

The pegasus shook his head, and opened his eyes wider. He saw that there was some ambient light from small windows in the side of the wagon, but either it was overcast or he had been out for a long time. He could feel the wagon coming to a stop. The back door of the wagon opened, letting in more light, and he saw an Earth pony mare walk in. He also saw that there were three dead ponies inside the wagon with him.

Smart Cookie climbed into the wagon and bowed to the pegasus. "I'd like to thank you for yer help there. I can't tell you how much it means to me."

The pegasus stood up, shaking the blanket off, ignoring the pain shooting through his injured wing. He offered a quick salute and raised his good wing. "Private Pansy, sky security patrol, sector A-7."

"Smart Cookie. And this here is Clover the Clever from Unicornia. Once again, I'm grateful y'all saved us from them bandits."

Private Pansy looked away in shame. "I don't deserve your thanks. If I had fought well, you wouldn't have taken this many losses."

"And if ya hadn't fought at all we might all be dead. Or they might'a taken Clover..."

Pansy fixed his eyes on Cookie. "You must understand that the pegasi have strict orders concerning intervention on the ground. If you didn't have a unicorn with you, then you wouldn't have become a priority for direct action. I would have simply observed from above, and when they were done, I would have returned to Pegasopolis to file a report. Like I said, I don't deserve your thanks."

Clover drooped her head. "And if I wasn't with you, they may have robbed you but nopony would have died."

Cookie put her hoof on Clover's shoulder. "You don't know that. Maybe they had it in mind to kill us when they were done anyway. You never know with them bandit types. And Pansy, don't you get all guilty over what you maybe woulda done had something been different. That don't make what you actually did mean any less in my book."

Private Pansy nodded in reluctant agreement. "Then I must thank you as well. Thank you for caring for my injury. And I thank the brave ponies who gave their lives to bring us to victory." he saluted towards the dead bodies.

Cookie bowed her head in respect. She had personally known every pony in the Caravan who had died today, and the grief was still heavy on her heart.

Pansy looked at Cookie. "This is what will happen next: when I don't return at the end of my shift tonight, they will send a wing of 3 pegasi, one of whom will be an officer. They will patrol my sector searching for me. Finding the site of the battle they will conclude that I was either killed or captured by the bandits. They will search for a short time in the immediate area, but i'm just a Private; my rank doesn't make me a priority for further action."

"What is it with pegasi and priorities?" asked Clover.

"Rank is everything in Pegasopolis." Pansy answered. "I'm only one promotion away from full citizenship. But now with my broken wing I can't even get back there." he smiled faintly. "You're gonna have to suffer my company for the next couple of months at least."

"The more the merrier." said Cookie, but her words instantly reminded her that their number was lower than before.

"Who did you say you are again?" asked Sergeant Sprinkles, a highly-decorated and armored pegasus mare.

"Starswirl. You may have heard me referred to as Starswirl the Bearded."

"Let's say I hadn't heard of you. Let's say, maybe, as a Sergeant in the Elite Pegasus Guard, I have more important things to worry about." said the pegasus, as dismissively as she could manage. "Let's say all that is true. Then let me know why it's important that you talk to the Commander."

"The very survival of all of us. Pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns alike."

The pegasus officer rolled her eyes. "Like I haven't heard that one before. Tell you what. Commander Hurricane is in the middle of a very important strategic meeting with Princess Platinum. When he's done with that, I'll let him know you want to talk to him. But believe me, it is in your own best interest that you do not waste his time."

"Very well." said Starswirl. "I will wait here."

Behind the door to the Princess' chambers a very important strategic meeting between the leaders of the pegasi and the unicorns was in session.

Princess Platinum laid back in bed, out of breath and sweating profusely. "Oh, my! Hurricane, darling, we should have these very important strategic meetings more often!"

Commander Hurricane swiftly crawled out of the bed and began to put his armor back on. The Princess stared greedily at his muscular figure as he dressed, admiring the network of scars in his sides, a visual record of his past battles. She watched his wide wings flap as he put his armor on.

"I must say," said Princess Platinum. "I know why they call you Hurricane. I was simply blown away!"

The pegasus Commander fastened the chin strap of his helmet. "A pleasure, as always. However, today I'll have to mix business with pleasure."

"Awwww" whined the Princess, pouting seductively.

"We need to re-negotiate the terms of our security arrangement."

"Oh, and I suppose by re-negotiate, you mean you want more money." she said, her pout still in place.

"Yes. Bandit activity has gone up, and we've had to increase our patrols over Earth pony lands. We don't do this for free."

The Princess stomped her hoof. "And what if I refuse?"

Commander Hurricane shrugged. "You could. But when your food doesn't arrive because bandits are robbing all the shipments, you may find your security budget increasing."

Princess Platinum started to protest, but she had learned in several other arguments before, that Commander Hurricane could not be moved when he made his mind up. "Fine. How much are we talking about?"

"10 percent increase."

"10 percent? You talk about bandits while you try to rob me! I absolutely refuse anything more than 5 percent."

"This is not a negotation. I'm only informing you of the increase. If you have any kind of leverage on this deal, I'd sure like to see it. Otherwise, we're done today."

Princess Platinum fumed silently. She was so angry that she almost didn't stare at his flank as he walked away.

Exiting the Princess' chambers, he walked to Sergeant Sprinkles. They exchanged a brief salute.

"Commander, somepony requests to speak to you. His name is Starswirl. He's waiting right there."

The Commander looked at the old unicorn. "Ah, Starswirl the Bearded. I remember that name. He brewed invisibility potions for Operation Falcon. That may have been the battle which turned the great war against the Griffons in our favour. I will hear him out."

Sprinkles nodded toward Starswirl, who approached Commander Hurricane. "I have a matter of great import to discuss. It pertains to the weather."

Hurricane chuckled. "The pegasi are the masters of the weather. What could you possibly know from the ground that we don't already know?"

"Perhaps weather was the wrong word. I mean a grand climatic shift. Surely you have noticed the winters growing longer and colder as of late?"

"Of course. It happens. Some years are colder than others." Commander Hurricane answered, sounding somewhat condescending.

"We have tracked the stars and determined that the Earth's tilt has been shifted by some unknown force. Our land has been shifted northward, and the shift is still accelerating. I fear the winters will become completely unbearable."

The Commander placed his hoof on his face. "Starswirl, you helped our cause greatly in the Griffon war, but I'm afraid you don't have the same perspective on this as the pegasi. You have not seen the raw power that full battalion of pegasi can command. We have the strength to create and direct tornados, and we can turn an overcast day to a blue sky in ten seconds flat. The pegasi have control of the skies, no matter what they throw at us." He gave Starswirl a firm pat on the back. "Worry not, old stallion. We'll show this winter who's boss."

"Commander..." Starswirl started, but Commander Hurricane was already walking away, clearly signaling that he would not hear any more of it.

The leaders of the unicorns and the pegasi would both not heed his warning. He hoped that Clover would have better luck with the Earth pony Chancellor.

Author's Note

Oops. I just realized that I had written that there were seven dead caravan ponies, when there had only been seven total in the caravan to begin with. Math fail! I've fixed that now.

Gathering Storm

Clover had never felt so vulnerable and alone.

The caravan had been slowed greatly after the battle with the bandits. Of their initial company of seven only four remained: Clover, Smart Cookie, Banana Split, and a young stallion named Hickory, who had received a large sword slash across his side. Private Pansy was walking alongside the wagon. If his injury was affecting him in any other way than restricting his flying ability, he didn't show it.

Every half hour or so they would have to stop and rest. Banana Split had injured a leg in the battle so he had been pulling the wagon at half his normal speed. They would not leave their dead in the wilderness simply to lighten their load. Nopony had even dared to suggest such a thing. With temperatures dropping after sunset and the snow falling anew, it would have been too dangerous to press on through the night. They had stopped in a clearing just off the trail and built a fire. They lay around the warming glow of the fire, the wagon parked on one side, blocking the primary direction of the wind.

Clover had volunteered for the first watch, since she doubted she would be able to sleep at all. She couldn't stop replaying the whole battle in her mind, imagining all the different ways she could have died. And even worse; imagining the lives she could have saved if she had been more prepared. She was the only one with magical powers, which could have been a major advantage. She ran the scenarios through her head, imagining how many ways she could have helped more. She thought of force fields, of blinding flashes of light, of teleporting behind the archers. But when it had happened it was all so fast and she barely had time to think, only to react.

She looked to the wagon and grimly thought that it was fortunate that the cold would keep the bodies preserved. She looked around to see the other ponies either asleep or trying to sleep. Beyond the flickering fire, the woods seemed to be a solid black nothingness, enveloping her. She had left on this trip with optimism and excitement, but now more than ever she longed for the comfort of home, so far away in the seemingly endless darkness. She began to sob quietly, hoping that those who had not yet found sleep wouldn't hear.

She was not so lucky. Private Pansy slowly rose, careful not lean on his injured wing, and walked to Clover. "Are you all right?"

"I'm sorry." she whispered, trying to compose herself. "I didn't mean to wake you. At least not until your turn to take the watch."

Pansy talked quietly. "No worries. I was feigning sleep while keeping alert and listening to the forest. On a night like this, your ears see further than your eyes."

"What do you hear?" she asked.

"Thankfully, nothing that concerns us. The bear will probably walk right on by."

Clover gasped, but then caught a sly grin on Pansy's face. She couldn't help but smile in return. "You got me, you jerk."

Pansy sat down and faced the fire. "There were times in my training and in my military service where I had to spend three or four nights without sleep. One night is nothing to me, so if you want company on your watch, or if you simply want to go to sleep, don't worry about it."

"I can stay up for a while longer." she said.

Pansy looked at her with a warm smile. "I was hoping you would say that."

This time she looked away out of unexpected nervousness, and was left not knowing what to say in response. She simply sat down next him, warm in the glow of the fire.

"You did well, you know." said Private Pansy. "I saw you deflect those arrows. I'm not a unicorn but I know that required a lot of skill."

"I really didn't know what I was doing. I wasn't ready."

"I'll let you in on a secret." he responded. "No matter how many times you see battle, you're never truly ready."

Clover nodded, and stared into the fire, wordless again.

Pansy broke the silence. "Let's not dwell on such negative thoughts. Tell me about where you're from."

"Oh. Unicornia? It's a beautiful place. A grand castle on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a colorful and active city, nestled in a valley between massive snowy mountains. I grew up in the wealthier side of the city, near the castle. And now I work in the castle under Starswirl the Bearded. Have you heard of him?"

"Can't say I have." answered Pansy.

"I'm always surprised at how few people know him. Starswirl, the creator of the amniomorphic spell! Anyways, I've always loved Unicornia. There's always something going on, some festival or other. Parades, street vendors selling magical trinkets, bards playing stories of adventure for coins. When I moved to the castle, I unfortunately saw some of the dark side of the city. The politics, the corruptions. But it's still a grand, beautiful place."

"I've only been there a couple of times, and I was on duty so I couldn't really take it in. I should visit some time when I'm on leave."

"I could show you around."

"I'd like that" he said, once again giving her that warm smile. "It seems you're feeling better now."

Clover blushed. "I guess so."

"Thoughts of home can comfort and warm you on the coldest nights." Pansy gazed into the flickering fire. "The sight of Pegasopolis is awe-inspiring, even for one who grew up there. Though we do not have magical abilities, there are those of us who can harness the innate magical energy in the wind and clouds. The cloud speakers - they are the ones who enchanted the clouds beneath Pegasopolis that serve as its foundations. These structures have remained in the skies for ages, and will remain as long as the cloud speakers keep the magic strong."

"Like keeping a fire going in the night." Clover said, not really knowing why those words came to her.

Pansy nodded. Looking at the fire, Clover realized it was beginning to die down, and the cold bite of the wind was making its presence known again. She floated a new log onto the fire and gently placed it down. They stared at the fire wordlessly as it spread across the new log, once again widening the circle of light. With a little trepidation, she rested her head on his shoulder.

She was still far from home in the cold darkness, but no longer quite so alone.

September 24, 1032 BCE

The early morning sun rose above the clouds, illuminating the floating city of Pegasopolis in a fiery orange. Commander Hurricane rose from his bed, careful not to wake the two pegasus mares he had shared his bed with after his return. He walked out to his balcony and looked out at the magnificent city. The massive white towers with banners streaming in the wind, the grand temple with its many columns, the city square with its many statues of ancient pegasus heroes. Though he took in the same view every morning, he would never tire of it.

The sky above was clear save for the faint wisps of cirrus clouds. Below the city, and far below the permanent clouds which held the city aloft, there was a nearly uninterrupted sea of clouds, completely obscuring any view of the surface.

A dark spot in the distance grabbed his attention. He rubbed his eyes and looked closer. It was a dark, massive cloud looming high over the others. He felt the wind blowing directly at his face as he looked at the monstrous cloud, and knew what that meant.

A storm was coming.

Clover woke up feeling comfortable and rested. She felt her head was resting on some kind of pillow and she was under a blanket. She stretched and began to pull her blanket away, thinking it was odd that the blanket was made up of feathers. Just when the realization hit her, she heard Pansy's voice.

"Careful there. That's my good wing."

Her eyes shot wide open. She stood up and blushed. "Oh... did I..."

"Yes, you rested your head on my shoulder and fell asleep almost instantly. I didn't have the heart to move you."

"Oh... uh... yeah, thanks."

"No, thank you! I appreciated the body heat. Pretty cold last night, you know." he grinned.

"Yeah, I guess I'm kind of hot." she joked. Why did she say that? In her mind she facehoofed. Stupid! She hoped that something would happen to break the awkwardness.

Pansy quickly stood up. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"I've had to piss for about two hours, and I can finally move now that you're awake. Seeya!" he dashed into the woods.

Clover laughed a bit, watching him run off. She caught movement in the corner of her eye, and turned to see Cookie standing there leaning against a tree, obviously having seen their whole conversation. "What is it with pegasi and unicorns? Us Earth ponies usually stick with our own kind, but there's somethin' about unicorn mares and pegasi stallions. I really don't see what y'all see in each other." she said, shaking her head. "Y'all are crazy."

Clover was relatively certain that she was a stone-cold corpse in the snow now, having died instantly from embarrassment.

They set off from their improvised camp site to complete their journey. They were now well-rested, and Banana Split's leg was in a better condition, so they made good time. Clover, despite her recent death, was in good spirits and once again feeling optimistic about her task. After four hours on the road they finally reached Palomino.

Clover was a little surprised at what she saw. Having never left Unicornia before, she had assumed that the Earth ponies lived in tiny ramshackle hovels. They had passed a few modest farmhouses, but as they reached the top of a hill and Palomino was in view, she was fascinated. The large walled city was nestled in the side of a mountain range. The large outer wall of the city formed a semi-circle, meeting the mountains on both ends. It was 20 feet high all around, made of stone. Every hundred feet or so were wooden watchtowers. Just outside the city wall was a moat, which was currently frozen over.

They approached the large main gate. The drawbridge was down, but the inner gates were still shut.

"You're back!" came the voice of a guard from one of the two towers flanking the main gate. "We feared the worst."

Cookie frowned, then yelled back up to the guard. "Only half of us made it, but we're all here. The dead are in the wagon."

"Bandits hit you?"

"Yup. We're dang lucky to be alive. A pegasus helped us fight them. He took a nasty hit to the wing and he ain't in no condition to fly yet, so we brought him with us. We also brought a unicorn, just to make it a complete set."

"Come on in, then. Puddinghead will want to see you as soon as possible."

The gates rumbled and slowly opened. They crossed the drawbridge and entered Palomino.

Sergeant Sprinkles adjusted her telescope, bringing the dark cloud into focus.

"That's a doozy all right." she said, taking in the impressive view. "Never seen one all by itself like that."

Command Hurricane stroked his chin with his hoof, thinking. "The winds are bringing that storm our way. It will hit Pegasopolis before the sun sets."

Sprinkles shook her head. "We'll be cleaning up the damage for weeks. And the cost of the repairs will be huge."

"There will be no damage." said Hurricane with confidence. "We will not let it reach the city."

Sprinkles smiled. "Yes, cloud bursting. I have already begun the preparations. Two full battallions should do the trick. We'll need to temporarily call some soldiers off unicorn guard duty down below."

"How soon can you get them ready?" asked the Commander.

"By midday we'll be at full strength."

"Do it. We'll need to tackle this with overwhelming force. No chances."

Sergeant Sprinkles saluted and flew off to begin gathering the troops. Commander Hurricane began to think of Starswirl's warning the previous day. Perhaps the old unicorn was right.

"Chancellor Puddinghead, at your service." said the jolly fat pony.

Smart Cookie's jaw dropped.

Puddinghead laughed. "Oh come now, I know the whole city has been calling me that behind my back. I've decided I quite like it. It's just so fun to say! Pudding! Puhh - ding! Puddinghead! Pudding.... head! I have half a mind to make myself a hat out of pudding but I'm afraid it would spoil quickly if it didn't spill out over my head first. And that would be a shame. A waste of good pudding."

"Are you serious, sir?" asked Smart Cookie, unable to tell whether he was being sarcastic about his nickname.

"As serious as someone named Puddinghead can be." he chuckled. "Which I suppose isn't very serious after all. Now, please introduce your two new guests."

"I'll let them speak for themselves." said Cookie. She looked first to Private Pansy.

Private Pansy saluted the Chancellor and spoke in his practiced military voice. "Private Pansy, sky security patrol, sector A-7."

"Did you say A-7?" asked the Chancellor. "You found my seagull!"

The Chancellor erupted into laughter. Smart Cookie chuckled a bit as well. Clover and Pansy did not understand what was being referenced. They looked at each other and shrugged.

"So you saved an empty food caravan," said Puddinghead. "How noble of you. I'm sure it had nothing to do with one of our magical unicorn masters being there."

That was definitely sarcasm, and Pansy knew it. "You know the pegasus rules of engagement as well as I do. I make no pretense of heroism. I was doing my job."

"And I'll make sure to put in a good word for you next time I speak with the pegasi. I appreciate that you serve the unicorns - they keep me rich and fed." he reared up and slapped his belly with his front hooves. "But still, maybe some time the two master races can discuss giving us 'dirt ponies' a bit more help every now and then? It's only fair."

Pansy shifted uncomfortably. "That's... not something I'm qualified to discuss."

"Speaking of which..." said Puddinghead, turning to Clover. "May I see your royal seal?"

Clover frowned. "I don't have one. I was not sent by the Princess, but I do have an important message for the Earth ponies."

"Sorry, little lady." he said. "Whatever you have to say, I can't do a thing about it. To be honest, I don't really do anything around here unless it's passed down from the dainty hoof of Princess Platinum herself. Hate to tell you that you wasted your time coming down here, but that's how it goes."

"What?" yelled Clover. "Ponies died to get here. A pegasus guard injured his wing protecting me, and you won't even listen to what I have to say?"

"You betcha. Come, have some pudding. It's the least I can do to make up for it."

A servant approached Clover with a bowl of pudding. Clover stormed off, grumbling to herself.

"More pudding for me then!" said the Chancellor.

High in the sky, two large battalions of a thousand pegasi each hovered in the air in battle formation. They wore only minimal armor with no helmet, and none of them were carrying weapons, since their mission was merely cloud control. Maneuverability was the primary concern for weather operations. Only the officers were dressed in their full armor and armed with swords or spears, as a way to show their rank.

The pegasi, as numerous as they were, were tiny specks in comparison to the gigantic black cloud that loomed before them. It was a solid dark mass of cloud that stretched from the ground all the way to the stratosphere. In the darkness of the cloud, they could hear a constant low rumbling of thunder.

Sergeant Sprinkles looked up to see a small wing of four scout pegasi flying out of the top layers of the cloud. They signaled from above, tilting their wings to the left to indicate the side that they should approach first. Sprinkles turned to face her squadron leaders.

"Commence phase one now!" she yelled. They flew to their own squadrons and each squadron flew off in turn towards the left side of the cloud, each one directly above the other. When they were all in position they began to fly in an advancing circular pattern. As they gained speed, a large tornado began to make itself visible, sucking smaller clouds into the whirling column. When the tornado was fully formed, they began to accelerate the forward motion of their circular flying pattern.

A sudden turbulence jolted through the tornado, and about a dozen of the circling pegasi were ejected from the tornado. Most of them had recovered from the sudden spinout, but some had lost consciousness and were tumbling helplessly. Nothing could be done to help them without risking the integrity of the whirlwind. They would hit the ground if they didn't wake up in time, but they all knew losses were inevitable with a tornado of this magnitude. Before this day, a 10,000 wingpower tornado had only been a theoretical proposition.

While the first battalion's tornado approached the giant cloud, the second battalion was already lining up for phase two, forming into a giant spear of a thousand pegasi, ready to strike at the left side of the cloud.

When they had reached the edge of the cloud, the pegasi of the first battalion simultaneously pulled away from the whirlwind. A handful of pegasi hadn't pulled out in time and were left hopelessly spinning in the center of it. Sprinkles knew that those pegasi were certainly doomed, but the losses were still lower than they had projected.

The tornado smashed into the side of the cloud with a massive whooshing noise. A freak lightning bolt arced out from the cloud and turned one unlucky pegasus into a rapidly plunging ball of fire. The cloud seemed to be groaning as the tall tornado twisted and lashed aggressively into its side, ripping out massive streams of cloud which dispersed into nothing.

The moment the tornado ceased to turn, the second battalion, all thousand pegasi in a line, bolted straight towards the middle of the compromised side of the cloud. They accelerated more as they got closer to the cloud, and as they crossed the sound barrier one by one a massive roar of a thousand small sonic booms in succession echoed through the sky. It seemed that the whole cloud from ground to stratosphere was shaking. A huge hole was ripped in the side of the giant cloud and the top of it began to fall down into the void as the last of the pegasi passed through.

Sprinkles smiled seeing their plans fall into place. Acceptable losses, and they had taken a huge piece of the cloud out already. The sky was even beginning to brighten. Three more passes and this giant storm cloud would be a minor flurry. She motioned for the first battalion to regroup for another tornado.

The sound was barely perceptible at first, and she thought it was simply a residual wind from the tornado. But then it got louder. The bottom of the cloud began to swell by itself, and the roar of thunder halted. As the last of the echoes of thunder disappeared, the new sound was unmistakable. Like a thousand horses whinnying. The four scout pegasi rushed back to the cloud to see what was going on.

When they reached the edge of the cloud it seemed to reach out at them and engulf them. Sounds of screams mingled with the strange whinnying.

Sprinkles' eyes went wide open when she saw thousands of wispy white horses flying out from the cloud. They were coming from below and above them, as if the cloud was full of them. Her confidence was immediately replaced by terror as she recognized the creatures from fairy tales she had heard as a foal. Creatures of ancient legend which were now a sudden reality bearing down upon them, thousands of pegasi strong but mostly unarmed.

The windigos were attacking.