For Want of Warmth

by Sgt_Reckless

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Death, Human, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Thriller, Original Character
Length: 5218

An Equestrian forest ranger in the Frozen North rescues a strange, unrecognizable creature from the deadly cold, racing against time and nature as the temperature plunges to fifty below. A retelling of Jack London's classic To Build a Fire.

An Equestrian forest ranger in the Frozen North rescues a strange, unrecognizable creature from the deadly cold, racing against time and nature as the temperature plunges to fifty below. A retelling of Jack London's classic To Build a Fire.

First, If you have not read Jack London's classic To Build a Fire I highly recommend it. (It's very short)

Second, this is my first time writing anything so please be gentle.

And third, the first chapter is a very condensed retelling of To Build a Fire with minimal changes to the story. So you don't reeeealy have to read it, but please do I worked hard on it.

Also, I wrote all of this in a single night on a caffeine-induced bender, so make of that what you will.

Published 2024-09-24 20:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-09-24 20:20:00 UTC

To Build a Fire

He was a newcomer in this frozen land, and this was his first winter. The trouble with him was that he was not able to imagine. He was quick and ready in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in their meanings. Fifty degrees below zero meant 80 degrees of frost.

He was alone, but for the dog that trotted close at his heels. The man knew how to survive, how to move, how to build a fire—but that was all it was to him: a matter of fact. He glanced at the sky, clear and pale, no hint of sun to bring warmth.

His coat was thick, fur-lined, and efficient against the wind, but it wasn't enough—not here, not at fifty degrees below. His nose tingled, and he shifted his gloves as his fingers began to numb. He knew frostbite could set in quickly, but still, he pushed forward.

He was headed for the old camp on Henderson Creek, where the boys were already. He could see the creek ahead, thin wisps of vapour rising where the ice met air. It was only a few miles to camp. He would be in camp by six o’clock that evening. It would be a little after dark, but the boys would be there, a fire would be burning, and a hot supper would be ready.

The creek, it was dangerous, he knew. One misstep, and he’d break through to the water below, and in this cold, that was a death sentence. He knew it, but he did not fear it—not in the way a man should.

The dog halted, staring ahead, hackles raised slightly, ears twitching. The man paid no mind, urging it forward with a gruff word, and they walked on. Fifty degrees below zero meant discomfort, nothing more, as far as he was concerned. He did not know how the cold could take a man from the inside, slowly, deliberately, until the world dimmed and sleep seemed the only mercy.

It was the failure of imagination that would get him.

The dog knew better. It did not have the knowledge of these things—the reasons why the cold killed. It merely obeyed the commands that arose from the deepest part of its being. Its instincts warned it of the unseen dangers—of the cold that gnawed at the bone, the hidden traps beneath the ice. But the man, his kind had not grown in the cold. They did not see the subtle hues of the dampness of the snow. The Man was indifferent to any warnings the dog vainly attempted. He pushed ahead, glancing now and then at the pale sun that slid further behind the mountains. He wasn't worried, not yet. He figured he had time to make camp, time to build a fire. Fire—he thought—was the answer to the cold. He'd done it before, seen others do it; it was just a task to be accomplished.

But the cold was more than that. It wasn't something to be conquered or bested by human ingenuity alone. It was alive in a way he couldn't grasp, a silent force that watched and waited. The cold had none of the impatience of the man or the caution of the dog. It simply was. And it waited. The frost seeped deeper into his skin, tightening its grip. His steps were shorter now, his breath coming slower, though he scarcely noticed.

Suddenly, the dog stopped again, this time refusing to move. It whined low in its throat, staring at the man with an almost human urgency. The man cursed under his breath. He stamped his feet, trying to shake the cold from his legs, then trudged forward, leaving the dog behind for a few steps. His foot slipped—and in that split second, the ice gave way.

The water was not deep. He was wet to the knees before he got out of the water to the firm snow. The cold sank in instantly, biting at the flesh, stiffening the muscles in his legs. He cursed his luck. This would certainly delay his arrival at camp; in the back of his mind, however, for the first time was concern. It wasn’t panic that gripped him, not yet—just irritation. A minor inconvenience, he thought, and one that could be dealt with in time. He moved slowly to higher ground, where the snow was packed hard, and there he bent down to gather kindling. The twigs were brittle and dry, snapping easily in his hands, and that gave him a sense of confidence—he could build a fire, dry his legs, and move on.

He worked slowly and carefully, finally realising, in some small part, his danger. He gathered and scrounged and prepped in mechanical fashion before finally striking a match. He had built a fire. He relished the heat and began to dry out his clothes. However, in his haste, he did not realise his folly. It was his own fault, or instead, his mistake. He should not have built the fire under the pine tree. He should have built it in an open space. The thin wisp of rising smoke from the fire had begun to melt the heavy snow kept in the branches. All at once, the snow fell without warning, covering man and dog and fire.

He stood there for a moment, frozen—not by the temperature this time, but by the sheer cruelty of it. He remained calm. He knew that he had made a mistake. He knew how to correct it. He rationalised the cost of his mistake also. The few minutes it would take him to build a second fire would likely cost him a few toes, but he would certainly survive.

Now he was very careful. He began to build a fire, only this time he could not feel his fingers. The awful cold had already driven the life out of his fingers. Eventually, using his frozen appendages more as stumps than hands, he managed to erect a pitiful pile of tinder.

He fumbled in his pocket, his deadened fingers brushing against the matchbox, unfeeling. He dragged the box out with his unfeeling claw. It dropped in the snow. He attempted to grab it. When he saw his fingers on each side of the pack, he closed them. That is, he willed to close them, because the fingers did not obey. Eventually, he managed to take a single match in his teeth and strike it against the box.

The first match flared weakly, then sputtered out. A second match followed, but he dropped it before he could bring it to the twigs. For the third his teeth clenched so hard it snapped the match in two. Twenty matches succeeded in like fashion. Failure. Exasperated, the man caught the whole pack of matches between his bare hands. His arm muscles were not frozen and he was able to press the hands tightly against the matches. Then he drew the whole pack along his leg. It burst into flame, 70 matches at once!

He plunged the inferno in his bare hands into his pitiful kindling. His flesh was burning, he could smell it. A single plume of smoke rose from the dry kindling. The final fire he had made was small but it was his lifeline. He was shaking violently. He needed to tend the fire, or else it would die. He tried, how he tried to be careful but his uncontrollable trembling caused him to knock it aside. The scattered twigs fell into the snow, hissing softly as they were swallowed by the cold.

He was dying—he could see it, feel it. He was afraid.

He lay in the snow for a moment, breathing shallow, ragged breaths. He could not feel his limbs at all now. But somewhere, deep in the corners of his mind, a thought began to stir. The dog. He turned his head slowly, eyes fixing on the animal, its fur thick and warm against the unforgiving cold.

The thought grew, sharper now, more urgent. He could kill the dog. It was a cruel notion, but survival had no room for kindness. If he could just cut it open and stick his hands into its warmth he may regain enough feeling to try one more time. He called the dog softly, his voice cracked and weak. The animal sensed the shift in the man’s intent, its instincts telling it to stay back. It was no fool—it could smell the desperation. The man gave the slightest chuckle. Killing the dog was impossible. He didn’t have the strength, and even if he did, he couldn’t strike, couldn’t hold the knife. The warmth and security of the animal angered him. He cursed it until it flattened its ears.

And then something shifted. It was as if the thought of his own imminent death lit a final fire inside him—a fire of panic, of desperate adrenaline. He pushed himself to his feet with a sudden burst of energy, driven not by rationality but by pure, animal fear. He pushed himself to his feet with an energy he didn't know he had.

He sprinted. He didn’t know where he was going, didn’t think about camp or shelter, only the need to escape the cold that was crawling inside his body. The snow crunched under his boots as he stumbled forward, his legs burning with the effort, his breath coming in harsh, ragged bursts. He ran harder, faster, his mind a blur of frantic thoughts. His body, deadened by the cold, suddenly felt alive again, every nerve firing in response to the burst of adrenaline. He didn’t notice the deepening snow, the way his legs began to falter, the way his vision blurred. He was running, fleeing, but from what? The cold? Death? He couldn’t tell anymore.

The warmth—the false warmth—spread through his limbs, tricking him into thinking he had time. But the cold was there, waiting. His lungs burned, his breath came in shorter and shorter gasps, and the strength in his legs began to fade. The warmth was a lie, a final illusion offered by the body’s last reserves. He staggered, his legs buckling beneath him, and he collapsed into the snow. When he had recovered his breath and his control, he sat and thought about meeting death with dignity. He was certain to freeze in his present circumstances, and he should accept it calmly. With this newfound peace of mind came the first sleepiness. It certainly was cold, was his thought before he closed his eyes.

The dog, watching from a distance, saw the man fall. It trotted forward, sniffed at the motionless body and whined. The dog, sensing something was wrong, circled the man and then sat down nearby. This time though, the dog didn’t leave. Instead, it waited, its breath visible in the frigid air as it stayed near its master, as if uncertain of what came next. The man remained where he had fallen, alone in the vast, frozen expanse save for a lone loyal mutt. The wilderness had taken him, as it always would.

For Want of Warmth

Fifty degrees below zero meant 80 degrees of frost. Ember Glade was a seasoned Equestrian forest ranger, she knew it was cold. She knew that the cold wasn't just a discomfort but a living force, waiting for any misstep. That was why she was sitting in her nice warm cabin drinking hot cocoa.

She had lived through winters here that could break even the strongest mares, had seen ponies brought down not by wolves or blizzards, but by the creeping, relentless chill. It was fifty below today. She wasn’t going outside.

Not unless she had to.

The fire in the hearth was low, embers glowing faintly; it wouldn’t last through the afternoon. Her woodpile was just beyond the door, a dozen paces at most. A short trip on any other day, but not today. Not when the wind cut like knives, and the very air was thick with frost. She could feel it pressing in through the walls, trying to get inside, trying to freeze everything solid.

She sighed, pulling her cloak tight around her shoulders. It wouldn’t take long, she told herself. In and out. Just grab a few logs and be back by the fire before the cold could sink its teeth too deep. Her movement roused her stout companion, a St. Bernard with a thick coat of russet and white fur. He simply looked up and then fell back into his reverie on the couch.

Ember Glade was built for the cold, or at least as close to it as a pony could be. Her ruddy brown coat, thick and coarse, held the chill at bay as well as any fur could, but it wasn’t enough—not in this kind of cold. Her mane, a darker brown that nearly blended with her coat, hung loose and wild, frayed by years of wind and frost. She was tough—every ranger up north had to be. But fifty below wasn’t a joke. She’d seen what that kind of cold could do, how it drained the life from ponies who thought they could push through it, just a little further, just one more step.

Ember nudged the door open, and the cold hit her like a physical thing—a wall of freezing air that stole the breath from her lungs and stung at her eyes. Her breath hung in front of her in thick, frozen clouds. She stepped out, her hooves sinking into the snow, and moved quickly, instinctively. She had done this a thousand times before. There was no hesitation in her steps, but her movements were regular, her mind was focused on the task (and maybe just a little bit on her hot cocoa.)

The woodpile was there, half-buried in snow, just where she’d left it. She reached for the nearest log, her teeth biting down on the frozen bark. It was then, in the corner of her vision, that she thought she saw something—a faint wisp of smoke, thin and curling, against the clear sky.

She blinked. It wasn’t possible. Not out here. Not in this cold. She was forty miles from anything that even resembled civilisation.

For a moment, she stood there, staring at the horizon, waiting for the smoke to rise again. But there was nothing. Only the wind, and the biting cold. She shook her head, muttering under her breath. Her mind was playing tricks on her. The cold did that to you—made you see things that weren’t there, made you doubt what you knew was true. Still, as she gathered the logs and turned back toward the cabin, a small, unsettling thought gnawed at the back of her mind. She knew these woods. She knew the cold. And she knew, deep down, that smoke didn’t just appear without reason.

Ember Glade paused just outside the cabin door, the wood stacked awkwardly on her back. She scowled at the memory of the smoke. It was likely nothing—an illusion spun by the cold, something her eyes conjured from the mist of her breath. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling. A wisp of smoke in this kind of weather wasn’t impossible, but it was highly unlikely. Nopony sane would be out there, not with the frost biting this deep. Then again, she wasn’t just anypony. She was a ranger, and it was her duty to keep watch, no matter how improbable it seemed.

With a sigh, she set the wood down just inside the door, her breath heavy in the frozen air. “It’s probably nothing,” she muttered, though she didn’t quite believe it. But her duty was her duty, and if there was somepony out there, freezing to death within walking distance of the safety of her cabin, it was her responsibility to find them.

Her gaze swept across the pale horizon, the snow blanketing the landscape in endless white. She stood there for minutes, watching. And there it was again—a single plume of smoke, faint but unmistakable, rising just beyond the tree line. It couldn’t have been more than three miles away, curling upward into the dull sky. It stayed there for maybe thirty seconds and it was gone once more swallowed by the wind.

Her heart skipped a beat, and without a second thought, she spun on her hooves, rushing back into the cabin. "Buck," she muttered under her breath, flinging her heavy coat across her back and tightening her boots. The St. Bernard looked up at the mention of his (rather unfortunate) name. The firewood could wait—this couldn’t. There was no doubt now. Somepony was out there, and the fire had gone out. She grabbed her saddlebags, stuffing them with supplies she might need—a small hatchet, some dry kindling, her map and compass. Her hooves moved swiftly, mechanically, like a ranger who had been through this drill many times before.

"Come on, Buck," she called, her voice firm but urgent as she slipped her scarf over her muzzle. The dog was already at the door, his breath puffed in short bursts as he shifted from paw to paw with anticipation. "Let’s move," she said, barely getting the words out before they were both barreling into the frigid air. The cold once again hit her like a wall, but the urgency drove her forward. Whoever had made that fire might not last long in this weather, and she wasn’t about to let the wilderness claim another soul—not on her watch.

She galloped as fast as she could in the deep snow. It was never a good idea to work up a sweat in the snow, but times were desperate. The cold wind wrapped around her like a living thing, gnawing and biting.

The snow was deep, and with each step, Ember felt the cold sink further into her legs, but there was no turning back now. The fire had gone out, and whoever had built it was out there—vulnerable, freezing, and waiting.

Her breath came in short, sharp gasps, visible through her scarf. Her eyes flicked to the sky, where the smoke had been. Nothing. The wind had erased it, the way it erased everything in this desolate place. She slowed, allowing Buck to take the lead. Buck turned his head, ears perked, his nose twitching as he caught the scent of something—something faint, carried by the wind. His instincts were sharper than hers, his senses more attuned to the wilderness. He let out a low bark and started forward, his broad paws sinking into the snow as he picked up the trail.

"Good boy," Ember muttered, her voice muffled by the scarf wrapped around her muzzle. She followed him, trusting in his nose, trusting that he knew what she couldn’t see. Trusting in his instinct. The wind was rising now, carrying with it fine grains of snow that stung at her face and eyes. Her legs were growing numb, but she forced herself to keep pace with the dog, her mind focused on the task. The cold was patient. It didn’t rush, didn’t falter. It simply waited for mistakes to pile up. She couldn’t afford any. Not now. Not when time was running short.

Buck had disappeared from sight minutes ago, the wide trail he cut through the snow quickly became her only hint as to where he had gone. She pushed on, her ears twitching for any sound, her heart thudding in her chest. Her eyes flicked nervously ahead through the forest—empty, save for the endless white stretching out before her. No sign of him.

Then she heard it—barking. Faint at first, barely a whisper carried on the wind, but it grew louder, sharper. Two dogs, their voices echoing through the stillness. Buck’s low, booming bark, unmistakable, and another—higher, faster, more desperate.

As she crested a small rise, her eyes caught sight of movement in the distance. A massive, dark shape, half-buried in the snow, unmoving. Her heart skipped a beat.

Bear.

The thought came without hesitation. The shape was huge, the kind of hulking mass that could only be one thing. Buck was circling it, barking fiercely, but it didn’t move. The second dog—a smaller one, a husky—stood firm between the larger dog and the motionless figure.

Ember froze for a moment, her mind racing. A bear in this weather was rare, but not impossible. If it had been desperate enough to stay out this late in the cold, it could be dangerous, even deadly. She hesitated, her muscles taut, her mind calculating the risks. All she had was a hatchet, not enough to fend off something that big. She willed herself to take a step closer. Buck wasn’t backing down, but the shape—now clearer in her view—wasn’t moving.

Something shifted in her mind. It wasn’t a bear.

It couldn't be. The shape was too still, too slumped, its bulk not quite right. Then it hit her—the figure in the snow wasn’t a creature of the wild. It must be a pony. collapsed in the snow, his body stiff and still, barely recognizable beneath the frost.

Her breath caught in her throat. The fire, the smoke—it all made sense now. He’d tried to survive the cold, tried to build a fire, and now here he was, alone and half-frozen. Anypony that went out in this weather clearly wasn't thinking right or had a death wish. She approached ever closer. The husky's eyes flickered momentarily to this new source of movement before returning to glare at the St. Bernard.

The cold must be playing tricks on her. It couldn't be a pony. It was much too large for any pony she’d ever seen. And for that matter, it was unlike any creature she had ever seen. She could make out the broad limbs, and the strange length of the creature. A shiver crept up her spine, not from the cold, but from the strangeness of the sight. She furrowed her brow, unsure of what she was seeing. The figure was… wrong. Not just large, but shaped in ways no pony ever could be. It had limbs too long, too thin, and no hooves—just strange.

She didn't know anything about this creature, didn't know what a healthy one looked like, didn't even know if it would be hostile. But something in her ranger’s instinct told her it needed help. And she trusted those instincts. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t some monstrous creature of the north. It was vulnerable. She could sense the life still clinging to it, fragile as it was. The figure lay still, its face was, she now realised, beginning to turn that sickening purple-blue that signified hypothermia.

It was dying.

With a quick motion, she pulled off her emergency pack. She steadied her breathing as she knelt down beside the creature. Up close, it was even stranger—long limbs, odd claws instead of hooves, and a face unlike any she'd seen before. But now wasn’t the time to gawk at oddities.

She knew the signs of hypothermia. The stillness, the imperceptible breaths—this creature was already halfway to the grave. She was prepared for this. Her mind raced through the steps of her training. First, get rid of the wet clothes. She pulled out a small knife and carefully began cutting away the ragged fabric that clung to its skin, frozen stiff and soaked through. The creature’s body was pale, almost bluish in places, cold to the touch.

"Come on, stay with me," she muttered, her words falling on deaf ears. The last of the wet clothes came free, and she tossed them aside, reaching into her pack for the emergency blanket. It was thin but designed to trap heat, and she wrapped it tightly around the creature’s body, tucking it under its limbs as best she could.

Next, the heat. She fumbled for the small, enchanted heat pads she kept for emergencies—charms designed to release warmth when pressed against the body. She activated one after the other, slipping them beneath the emergency blanket, placing them along the creature’s chest, back, and legs. Each pad glowed faintly as it began to radiate warmth, though the creature remained utterly still, showing no signs of waking.

She pressed her hoof lightly against its neck, feeling for a pulse—it was there, faint, slow, but still there.

“Completely unresponsive,” she muttered to herself, trying to stay focused. She had done all she could for now. “Come on… you’re not dying on me out here."

The small dog, the creature’s companion, whined softly, circling nervously around the scene.

She had to get him back to the cabin—and fast.

Ember unfolded the small, compact sledge strapped to the side of her emergency pack. It was a ranger’s tool of necessity—a collapsible sledge meant for carrying injured ponies across rough terrain when they couldn’t walk on their own. But this was no pony. This creature was far bigger and heavier than anything she’d ever hauled before. It was far too small for the creature. But she had no alternative.

She set the sledge down and sighed. She positioned herself as best she could manage, braced, and began to move the creature. Her muscles strained under its weight. She grunted softly, as she managed to heave the unresponsive body onto the sledge, securing it with the straps to keep it from falling off. Its legs hung limply off the end of the sledge. She secured them as best she could and circled around to the front of the sledge.

With a shake of her head, Ember bit down on the leather harness meant for pulling the sledge. The taste of the frozen bit was familiar, though it was rare she had to use it herself—typically Buck would pull the sledge but the creature was far too heavy. She braced her legs against the snow, feeling the weight of the sledge tug at her as she began to pull. Her muscles protested, her breath already laboured, but she grit her teeth and leaned into it, dragging the heavy sledge through the snow. Behind her, both dogs followed.

This time, it took considerably more time to get back to her cabin; the sky was beginning to darken and the temperature dropped to even more extremes. Eventually, however, she could see her cabin's silhouette through the now rapidly darkening sky. "Almost there," she muttered to herself, her breath visible in the cold air, though her voice was muffled by the bit clenched in her teeth. "Just hold on."

The adrenaline from her initial rush began to wear off. She could now truly feel how stiff were her legs. They felt like stumps, numb to the outside world. She felt the cold of her sweat, now crystallised into ice even under many layers. It stuck to her fur matting it, chilling her core.

Ember Glade stumbled the last few paces toward the cabin, her legs aching and her breath coming in ragged bursts. She could feel the symptoms of exhaustion, she knew them well. She over-exerted herself. But she made it. Sanctuary. She reached the cabin door, her teeth unclenching from the bit as she slumped forward, her muscles trembled as much as they could.

Her hooves shook as she unlatched the door and nudged it open. The cabin greeted her with a wave of air. It was much colder than it had been earlier—the fire had burned low in her absence—but that was exactly what she needed. The warmth could wait. For now, keeping the temperature low was key to keeping the creature from slipping into shock. Sudden warmth could be dangerous.

"Alright, come on," she muttered to herself, her voice a hoarse whisper. She wasn’t finished yet. She unfastened the straps that held it in place, carefully lifting it down from the sledge and onto the floor near the hearth.

The warmth from the embers was faint, but that was enough for now. Ember moved quickly, placing another thick blanket over the figure, careful not to disturb the heat pads still working beneath the first layer. Buck circled the room before indignantly settling down in his usual spot as if he was affronted by these new visitors in his home.

The other dog, meanwhile, crept closer to its master and sniffed at the still form before curling up beside it.

She took a deep breath, pushing the exhaustion from her mind as she focused on what came next.

Ember had done everything she could. She moved quietly, methodically, checking everything one last time—the blankets, the fire, the creature’s shallow but steady breathing. The small dog, still curled up beside its master, now soundly sleeping. Ember felt her legs ache as the weight of the day finally settled into her muscles. She had pulled a sledge miles through deep snow, fought against the cold and the wild, and kept the creature alive against the odds. Now, all she could do was wait.

With a long, weary sigh, she sank into her old chair by the hearth. The wood beneath her creaked softly in protest as she leaned back, her head resting against the worn fabric. The warmth of the fire was weak, but it was enough for now. She stared at the flickering flames, watching the embers pulse and glow in the dim light. Her hooves ached, and her breath was still uneven, but she felt a strange sense of calm now that the worst was over.

Ember’s eyes drifted down to the mug of cocoa on the small table beside her. A faint smile crossed her mouth. She had forgotten about it in the rush of activity, and now it was cold, the thin layer of foam at the top congealed. She picked it up anyway, tipping it back and swallowing the last dregs.

Her eyes drifted to the creature again. It still lay unmoving, wrapped in blankets. Whatever it was, whatever it had been doing out there in the unforgiving cold, no longer mattered. For now, it was safe. She had done her part.

The cabin was small—just four walls against the vast expanse of the Frozen North. Beyond the thin, snow-covered logs was a world where the cold reigned, unchallenged. And yet, in here, in this small circle of firelight, there was a fragile pocket of warmth, however fleeting it might be. She let out a slow breath, her eyes half-closing as she felt the exhaustion tug at her. The night outside grew darker still, the cold deeper. But Ember knew the wilderness. She knew that it didn’t care—about her, about the creature, or about the small flame struggling in the hearth. The cold was patient. It waited.

For a moment, her thoughts drifted to what tomorrow might bring. The fire would need stoking. The creature, whatever it was, would either wake or slip away quietly, swallowed by the cold like so many others before it. The wind would rise again, the snow would fall, and life would go on as it always did in the Frozen North. She glanced one last time at the fire, its embers glowing faintly beneath the ashes. The heat was dying, but the cold wouldn’t rush. It never did.

And outside, beyond the thin walls of the cabin, the cold waited. It always waited.