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// (Don't) Freeze 
// Story: My Little Inktober Stories 
// by SparkleForever 
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The night was still young, or so Twilight Sparkle had thought when she set out that evening. Alas, she had lost track of time during her studies and was now traversing the Everfree forest in pitch darkness. 

“Why of all books did I have to open up physics? Why?” Twilight muttered under her breath. “I already knew that it pulls me in like a black hole, yet I opened it anyway.”

She was not a brave, reckless pony, nor was she a naive one, but she was a pony that was determined to gain knowledge at *almost* any cost. Truthfully, she found the forest unsettling and would rather be doing anything other than this, but still she persisted in her mission to study the nightlife of the forest; all she had to do was reach the relative safety of her tower blind, which she had set up the day before. 

Now the last time Twilight had been in the Everfree forest it had been daytime, but under the cover of night the forest was transformed into a strange and dangerous place. She could feel her panic begin to rise the further and further she walked into the forest without recognizing any of the landmarks she had noted before.

“How does Fluttershy stand being so near the woods?” Twilight whispered, trying to distract herself. “And no offense to Applejack or Rarity, but what ponies in their right mind would let three little fillies have a sleepover at her house when it’s so close to danger? I mean, I’m a full-grown mare, and even I’m t-t-terrified of this place!”

As soon as she said that, she tripped over something slippery and fell onto her back. Disoriented, she stayed still and gazed up at the tree canopy. Movement in the branches attracted her attention, but she could not comprehend what she was seeing. Tired, her head lulled to the side and she got a good view of what had tripped her. It was green and scaly, covered in red spikes. 

“A tail?” she muttered. Her eyes widened in horror and she whipped her head back toward the trees. There, shrouded in darkness, was a pair of blood red eyes locked onto her, coming closer.

Twilight shrieked, leaping to her hooves. She blindly galloped through the forest, tearing away from the creature. She thought for a moment that she could get away, but she was being closely pursued. Soon the shadow with the blood red eyes overtook her and she was forced to stop.

They were in a clearing, and suddenly the moon illuminated her pursuer. It was a scaly, winged creature with the head of a chicken; it’s long tail wrapped around Twilight, blocking her escape. Terrified, all she could do was stare into the eyes of the creature, and as she did so she felt her body stiffen. The stiffness slowly crept up from her hooves to her legs, and as it reached her neck Twilight recalled the creature’s name.

“Cockatrice,” she gasped, breathing her last. All she could hope now was that somepony would find her soon and figure out a way to undo the petrification. Already the loss of feeling was maddening.

How did Discord survive 1,000 years of this?