Lily galloped as fast as she could, racing from house to house, passing along her message to every pony she encountered. The weight reduction potion that Sky had given her was holding strong, and it had worked (as far as she knew) for every other pony that she had given some to. However, she had already gone through the entire first vial of potion that Sky had given her. She would have to use the second container much more sparingly.

“The Cobbler family, Mr. and Mrs. Carrot, Crocus, Star Spray, the Vine family…” she said breathlessly as she ran. She looked back for just a moment. The storm had indeed begun to pick up again, and she could barely make out the shapes of ponies as they headed down the street towards the audience hall. Looking ahead, she saw her next stop. The Grain family. I hope they’re alright.

The Grain family was, for all intents and purposes, the foundation upon which the settlement depended. It was a large family of three generations and nine ponies, all of which were renowned for their work in harvesting crops. The patriarch of the family, Great Grain (or Grandpa Grain, as the rest of the town knew him), had taken a massive chance by coming to Polarmino. It was for that reason that he and all his family were so beloved and respected by the townsfolk.

Lily stepped off the snowdrift to the red front door of the house. She tapped a few times with the door knocker as she caught her breath. The frigid air stung her lungs as she breathed, and she winced in response. It had been quite a while since she had run that fast, and she still had about half the settlement to reach.

After a few moments, the door opened and a cute auburn filly stood in the doorway. A look of joyful surprise burst onto her face as she saw Lily. “Miss Pond!” she squealed. “You’re alright! Hurry and come in!”

“There’s no time, Amber,” Lily replied, forcing her aching lungs to work. “There’s going to be a town meeting at the audience hall shortly, and I’m letting everypony know. A messenger from Princess Celestia is here, and he’s trying to see what he can do to help us.”

The filly’s eyes lit up at the mention of the princess. “The princess sent someone to help us? All the way out here?”

“She sure did,” Lily nodded. The wonder in young Amber’s eyes made Lily feel warm again, and the ache in her chest seemed to subside. “Now, run along and get your family. We need to hurry and get you to the hall. The storm’s starting to get worse, so time is of the essence.”

“But Miss Pond—”

“No time for buts,” Lily interrupted. “Once you get to the meeting, then you can ask me all the questions you want to.”

“But Miss Pond, you don’t understand!” Amber insisted.

“Amber, if this storm gets much worse, then you might not be able to make it to the meeting. Now,” she used her magic to turn the filly around, “get moving!”

“But Grandpa isn’t here!” Amber shouted, stubbornly fighting to face the unicorn.

“What?!” Lily exclaimed. “What do you mean, ‘he’s not here’? He has to be here. No pony is crazy enough to head out into this storm.”

“But he isn’t,” Amber insisted. “We’ve checked every room and closet. He just isn’t here! He was here yesterday, though. He must have left sometime during the night.”

“I’ll bet those miserable clockmakers had something to do with this,” another pony, a yellow colt, said as he emerged into the doorway.

“Hayseed, that’s a terrible thing to say!” Lily said, taken aback by the colt’s brusque attitude. “Why would you ever say such a thing?”

“Old Grandfather Clock accused Grandpa Grain of intentionally overcharging for the price of our products!” Hayseed snorted. “Grandpa Grain denied it and tried to reason with him, but the old mule was so stubborn and convinced about it…”

“Now that’s just silly,” Lily said, shaking her head. “You and the Clock family have always gotten along…”

“Looks like those days are gone,” said a third pony as he emerged, a dark brown one. “Our families haven’t been speaking since before the storm began.”

“Exactly how long ago did this happen, Barley?” Lily asked, still skeptical.

“I guess it was a little over a week ago,” the brown colt replied. “It was right before the storm came, now that I think about it.”

Lily paused in contemplation. If this is true, then it’s probably no coincidence that the storm came right after the argument. “Alright, then, we can work this out at the meeting. We’ll try and figure out where Grandpa Grain is, but we all need to gather at the audience hall so we can put our heads together.”

“Are the Clocks going to be there? Because you’re not likely to get a lot done if they show up,” Hayseed replied in a contemptuous tone.

He suddenly lurched forward as Lily’s magic dragged him to within inches of her face. “I’m not getting anything done with you stubbornly standing around and making rude comments about the ponies in this town,” she said forcefully. “Now, go get your family.” She turned to look back at Amber, who had recoiled against the door. “Amber, get me a glass.”

The filly scampered off hurriedly as Barley took off to get the rest of the family prepared. Lily removed the vial of milky blue…stuff…from her pocket and held it where Hayseed could see it. “When you come, each of you needs to drink some of this before you head out. It will let you walk on top of the snow long enough to get to the hall.” She released him from her magic, and he toppled backwards onto his haunches. She eyed him threateningly. “And if you have the same attitude when you get to the hall, I will personally lock you in a closet and leave you there until you’re able to at least display some civility.”

Hayseed looked at her, a look of stunned disbelief etched on his face, as Amber re-entered the room with the glass Lily had requested. Lifting the vial, Lily poured out some of the liquid into the glass. “That should be enough for all of you. Now, I have to go inform the rest of the town before the storm gets too bad.” Pulling the door shut behind her, she turned and leapt back atop the snowdrift. Looking down, she noticed that her hoofprints were starting to make a bit more of an impression than they had been. I took too long in there. I need to get moving.

She hazarded a quick look inside the window as she passed by. She saw moving bodies, and she thought she could make out Barley’s distinct brown blur darting back and forth in a panicked motion. They’ll be there. But if the Clocks behave anything like the Grains did, it’ll be a miracle if I can get them to the meeting.

She quickly ran ahead to the next few houses, warning the ponies in each to go the meeting as quickly as they could. She was pleasantly surprised to find that they were all perfectly willing and eager to go, and she was not delayed again.

Until she arrived at the Clock home.

By this time, the wind had begun to howl again, so much that she had to turn her head away from it to try and walk into it. She hopped from the snowdrift to the front door of the home and knocked desperately. The storm was pretty bad now, but it was only going to get worse. Thankfully, the Clocks were the last family she had to visit. But she couldn’t afford to debate with them. They had to get to the meeting. Now.

She stood and waited. One minute. She knocked again. Two minutes. She knocked again, now more frantically. Three minutes.

This was crazy. She didn’t have time for this. Feeling compelled to take matters into her own hooves, she used her magic and opened the lock from the inside. The door slid open. Immediately, she was aware of a raucous coming from a far room.

“Hello? Mr. Clock? It’s Lily Pond!” she called from the doorway.

“What? Who let you in? You can’t just go breaking into somepony’s home because you have magic, you know!” said a grey unicorn with a deep black mane as he rounded the corner into the foyer. “We’ve been in the midst of a family crisis all morning, and we’d very much like to resolve it!”

“Mr. Clock, we’re in the midst of a town crisis, and we need every pony to get to the audience hall immediately. You’re the last—”

“Miss Pond, Grandfather Clock is missing, and we simply refuse to go anywhere or do anything until he is found and returned to us safely,” Mr. Clock said defiantly as the rest of the family began to assemble around him. Their faces were etched with worry, but some held a distinct mark of resentment.

“WHAT?!” Lily exclaimed. “I just came from the Grains’, and they told me that Grandpa Grain has gone missing, as well!”

“Serves them right; dirty, selfish, inconsiderate ponies that they are,” said a young royal blue unicorn.

Lily placed a hoof against her face in disbelief. “Look, we all need to gather together. If we all band together, we can get through this and everypony will be fine. We just need to get to the meeting hall right now!”

“If we all band together?” said Mr. Clock coldly. “If that Grain family is with you, then you’ll simply fall flat on your faces in whatever you hope to do. All they think about is themselves. And we, as a group, refuse to work with any pony that would behave in such a way.”

Lily could feel her face flush as her anger began to rise. “And what do you think you’re doing to help that by staying here and refusing to get involved with all the other ponies that might find your help useful?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“It’s their choice to be involved. It’s our choice to not be,” Mr. Clock replied in an even tone.

Something inside Lily snapped. She looked at them in disgust and bitterness. “FINE!” she shouted loud enough to make every pony recoil in response. “We’re all trying to survive this, but all you can think about is your ego! If you’re unwilling to at least try and help, then you can stay here and be buried alive! It’s no less than you deserve!” She turned with a huff and, grabbing the door with her magic, swung it wide open and slammed it shut with enough force to shake the walls.

She stood upon the front step of the house, watching the ever-growing layer of snow before her and tried to cool off. But the air was freezing, and the sting in her lungs had returned, so every breath caused pain, which only made her angrier. She prepared to head back to the hall when she heard the door behind her open.

“Miss Lily?”

She turned to see the three youngest of the Clock foals: Countdown, Second Hand, and Silent Moment. Each one was donned in their winter coats and boots. She swallowed her anger as she faced them. “Yes?” she asked.

“Well,” Countdown began, “our family hasn’t been getting along with the Grains for a while. And we don’t think that they really want to be friends with them again.”

“But we do,” Silent Moment picked up where her brother left off. “So we want to come with you. We want to help the colony.”

Lily felt her frustration melt away as she looked at the trio of foals before her. They were so sincere, so honest…so eager to help. It was refreshing.

“Did you parents say you could come along?”

“They didn’t want us to, but they said we could if we didn’t talk to anyone in the Grain family,” Countdown said with a frown.

Lily squinted against the snow and thought for a moment. “I think we can do that. Here,” she said, pulling out the vial. It was mostly empty, but she had spared enough for each member of the Clock family. And now, since only three of them were going with her, she could afford to give each of them a little more. “Each of you needs to drink a bit of this. It doesn’t taste very good, but it will let you walk on the snow. Hurry up, now, we need to get there as fast as we can.”

She passed the vial around, and each of the young unicorns took their share of the remaining fluid (with each one displaying similar looks of disgust after tasting it). As soon as the potion was gone, she pocketed the vial and hoisted the foals onto the snowdrift with her magic. “There you go! Now be careful! Get to the audience hall as quick as you can!”

“Hey, cool!” she heard Second Hand shout as he ran into the snow-covered street. “Never thought I would walk on top of the snow!”

“No time for silliness!” Lily called out. “Get to the hall!” With that, she stepped off the landing in time to see the three of them dashing off into the storm. But to her surprise, her own legs sunk considerably into the drift, past her knees, to where it was touching the bottom of her coat. Uh-oh, better get going!

She tried to break into a gallop, but as she fought the snow with every step, she felt herself sinking further and further. Soon, she was neck-deep in the drift, and she could barely move ahead. She pushed desperately as the wind howled around her. She took another step and fell an entire foot as the last magic of the potion was spent.

She looked up into the gray sky in desperation. “No, no!” she called. “Countdown! Second Hand! Can you hear me?” But the only answer she received was the roar of the wind and the oppressive driving sheets of sleet and snow.

She tried to scramble up the sides of the hole she was in, but the walls of her prison only caved in more with each effort. She pulled the vial out of her pocket, hoping against hope that there was still some tiny amount left, but she found that it, too, was unable to help her.

The snow had already begun to accumulate on her back, slowly beginning the process to bury her alive in an icy tomb. She called out to anyone that might hear, but she knew that her cries were lost in the gusts of the wind. A shrill cry pierced the air, and Lily’s hair stood on end as she remembered the windigo she had seen earlier. Was it waiting for her to become an easy snack?

She cowered down and covered her head with her legs, shivering with cold and trembling with fear. She shut her eyes tightly, wishing that she had never left her house that morning. She longed for the smell of hot cider, the warmth of fire under the hearth, the sound of Cuddles purring next to her.

Suddenly, a solid object bounced off her nose and landed in the snow in front of where she lay. Opening her eyes, she looked in disbelief at a clear glass vial of milky blue liquid, settling as the sleet clinked against it.

She stared at it for a moment, then, as a wave of realization rushed over her, she looked up and saw a familiar blue face inside a white hood. “Sky!” she gasped. Quickly, she pulled the vial up to her lips and took a slightly-more-than-necessary gulp of the potion. Popping the cork back on, she ambled up the walls of the snowy canyon and landed next to the waiting pegasus.

“Oh, Sky, I’ve never been so happy to see you!” she said, throwing her front legs around his neck.

“You know, that’s not really saying much, considering you haven’t known me for twenty-four hours yet,” he replied. But in spite of his sarcasm, there was a softness in his voice as he spoke. “You’re welcome.”

Lily loosened her hold on Sky’s neck and pulled back to look him in the face. “You may not think of yourself as a hero, Sky, but right now, to me, you’re as much of one as you’ll ever be.”

She couldn’t tell, but she thought that he was blushing slightly. “I’ll remember that,” he said with a smile. “Now come on; everypony’s waiting for you to get back. They were all worried sick.”

They both turned and galloped with the wind at their backs, the snow whipping past them as they headed back to the audience hall. And as they ran, Lily cast another look at Sky. His face was a study in focus and determination. It’s almost like you can feel the strength of his will when you’re near him, she thought. He doesn’t give up.

Her heart fluttered for a moment as the thought passed through her mind. And I, for one, am grateful for that.