//------------------------------//
// Winter friends last forever 
// Story: Sisters in the Cold 
// by TheOneAJ 
//------------------------------//

“Mmm,” I moaned as my blue hoof felt for my mother’s wings.
 
It had been a long night, as every night had been since this horrible blizzard had begun. However, the last one seemed the worst than the others.
 
I can’t even remember seeing another pony other than my mom. Mom once told me that the world wasn’t always like this. That, once upon a time, there had been thousands of ponies throughout the world. Then things started to get cold, and we started to get fewer and further between.
 
ven though there were days when Mom and I hadn’t eaten, I never lost my spirit. For all we knew, there was a whole city of ponies with all the food we could eat and nothing but fires as far as the eye could see. But first, Mommy and I would have to wake up.
 
As I reached out my hoof, I soon found out why this night had felt so cold; Mommy wasn’t there.
 
I didn’t panic. Mom would often head off on her own to look ahead for food or to see if there was danger. Still, it wasn’t often that she left while I slept.
 
Shrugging it off, I stood up, and waited. To pass the time, I practiced my magic as I levitated a few visible pebbles—omething mom wasn’t too keen on when she was around. I guess she just wished she had a horn like me as much as I would wish I had a pair of wings like her.

Hopefully, Mom would be along shortly so we could go back to looking for more ponies.
 
*****
 
It had been over two hours, and Mom hadn’t returned.  I mean, she had been gone longer, but I didn’t stop myself from worrying. Still, the wait might have been worth it.

Sometimes when she’s gone for a long time, she comes back with a lot of delicious food. She wouldn’t talk a lot after those long trips, but she did always smile at me while I ate.

That was it, I told myself. She just had a lot of food to carry.
 
My stomach began to rumble.

Oh,  Mommy, hurry up.
 
*****
 
As it started to get dark, I realized that I was going to have to go find Mom.
 
There had to be only one explanation: she had scouted ahead and hurt herself. Chances were she was lying alone and scared with a broken wing.
 
“Don’t worry,” I said as I stood up. “I’ll find you!”
 
*****
 
My tears started to hurt as they hung off my chin. I’m not sure how long I have been looking. All I know is that it’s getting dark, and my mommy is still out there, is the vast wild of nothing but snow and a few trees.
 
I cough, then take a moment to catch my breath.
 
All the while, all I could think was, “Where are you, Mommy?” You can’t be dead, not after everything we’ve been through. Not after all the other ponies who left us. Not after all the hunger and dangers you have protected me from.
 
I looked up and scanned my surroundings. Hoping to find some ideal place to spend the night. s I did so, I saw a winged figured in the distance.
 
Thinking that it was my Mom, I raced towards it.
 
In my haste, I didn’t get a good look at who it was, or its five other friends until I was right in front of them. Coming to stop, I realized far too late that it was a pack of Griffins.
 
I slowly back up, even though I know it’s futile.
 
Mom and I have encountered Griffins before. While they are not the most dangerous thing we had encountered, they are certainly not the first creatures I’d want to meet in the land.
 
“Why, hello there,” a rather large Griffin with a scar on his eyes hissed at me. “Are you lost, little one?” He spoke calmly as his buddies advanced on me.
 
Acting on the survival instinct Mom had taught me, and with the best magic could do at the time, I cast a bright flash, then ran.
 
I headed towards the forest, hoping to hide in between the trees. It had worked for a while, but as I ran in, the trees began to thin out. Now, I had nowhere to hide anymore than I had to anywhere to run, as the flap of wings began to echo behind me.
 
“Help!” I cried to no one, because that’s who I realized was going to save me. “Mommy!”
 
“Corner her,” I heard one of the Griffins say I felt one of them swoop down and scratch my back.
 
I cried, but kept on running as I tried to cast a spell, any spell, that could save me.
 
“Help me!” I cried again as I felt a tear roll down my black coat while I fruitlessly tried to flap my wings.
 
With an oomph, I fell into the snow. 

When I got up, I saw the pack of Griffins had completely surrounded me.
 
“Please,” I begged as I backed up as far as I could to the nearest tree, “I’ll give you whatever you want. Just don’t hurt me!”
 
“Now, now,” the larger of the pack member said as he came right up to me, running a paw through my mane. “Play nice, and it will be over before you know it.”
 
I gulped, then closed my eyes, praying that he would keep his word if I cooperated.
 
His buddies laughed, until a large rock crashed into one of them.
 
“What the..?” the leader said, before  he was hit as well.
 
After a few other small boulders flew through the air, the remaining Griffins figured that I wasn’t worth the trouble, and ran off, Leaving me all alone to wonder what had fired the rocks.
 
“Hey!” I heard a new voice shout at me. “Moonlight?” 

I picked myself up and ran.

“Moonlight,” the voice said right behind me, “wait!”
 
Exhaustion outweighing fear, I turned to see my new persuader. Coming to a stop, I took a deep breath, then turned to face her.
 
At first, I couldn’t believe it. Another pony, who had just saved my life.
 
She was a white mare with a pink mane, roughly a few years older as she was taller than me, but still a filly without a cutie mark.  Though she wore a cloak, I could tell that she didn’t have a horn or a pair of wings.I found this odd,  but she was clearly a pony like me.
 
 While we stood and stared at each other, I noticed that she was covered in blood and bruises ,  of which didn’t look fresh  and was huffing heavily. 
 
I’m not sure how long we just stood there. It could have been a hundred years, but all too soon, she started to open her mouth. Before she could say anything, her eyes began to grow heavy.

Just as suddenly, she turned and ran.
 
“Hey, wait!” I cried out as I forced myself to run after her. “Slow down!”
 
She slowed down, but continued on in a trot.
 
“Slow down, will you?” I was able to gallop besides her. “Come on, where did you come from? Are there other ponies? Where are you going? Why don’t you have a horn or pair of wings? Were they stolen? Do you know—?”
 
“Stop it!”

To my shock, she shouted.
 
Before I could react, she sighed. “Sorry, I’ve just…” Her lips twitched.  “You okay?”
 
I nodded furiously. “Yeah.” I tried to lean into her, but she backed away.
 
“So,” she said nervously, “you just… just going to be on your way? I wouldn’t want to keep you from your family.”
 
“Oh, well…” I lowered my head and ran my hoof in the snow. “You see, I’m looking for my Mom. Have you seen her? She’s a pegasus, , which means she has wings. She’s got a red mane, and a moonbeam for a cutie mark. We fell asleep together, and when I woke up, she wasn’t next to me. I’ve been looking for her for over a day, and I’m getting really worried.”
 
The white pony bit her lip, then frowned. “Hey, kid—” 
 
“Yeah?” I asked with a hopeful smile.
 
She shook her head. “I mean...” She grumbled something, then said, “I’m sure your mom’s just as worried about you. I… I shouldn’t keep you waiting so… Take care!”
 
“Hey, wait!” I  asked, “Can you help me find her? I’m sure she’d be happy to meet you. We were looking for other alicorns just like you, and the more the merrier! Maybe we can even find your sister.”
 
To my shock, she began to tear up, then took off in a run.
 
“Hey, hey, wait!”

To my relief, she stopped.

 “You okay? I didn’t mean to upset you!”
 
She sighed, collapsed onto the snow, and cried some more.
 
I sat down next to her. 

At first, I thought she was going to tell me to go away. When I was sure she wasn’t, I inched closer towards her.
 
“Thanks for saving me,” I eventually said.
 
She sighed. “Yeah. Don’t mention it.”
 
After we laid there for a while,  I asked, “So, where you going?”
 
“I don’t know!” she exclaimed. “I mean...” She brushed back her mane. “Why you ask? Or, why would you trust me?”
 
“Well, you did save me.” I adjusted myself to get more comfortable next to her. “So why don’t we don’t we travel together?” I grinned. “We can travel all over, look for more alicorns, fight off bad guys, we can be like two sisters—”
 
She turned her head away from me.
 
“Sorry.” I winced.
 
“I… I...” 

The next thing I knew, she shoved her head onto my shoulder as she cried some more.
 
“Okay...” I said once the shock passed and wrapped my hoof around her.
 
“So… sorry,” she said after a while, lifting her head up. She then cleared her throat and closed her eyes. “Sorry,” she said with a rather regal tone. “Been awhile since I’ve had someone who hasn’t tried to kill me.”
 
I smiled at her. “I can bet.” I felt a pit in my stomach. “Oh, did you lose your Mommy and Daddy too?”
 
She sighed. “Yeah, lost. Along with several brothers and sisters as well.”
 
My ears fell back.
 
“I thought I was the only pony left. Then I saw you being attack by those Griffins and I… I thought you might have been one of my sisters, either Starlight or Moondancer, to be exact.” She looked apologetically at me. “Moondancer was my younger sister.” She chuckled. “A bit like you actually.” She then looked forward off into the distance.  “Then there was Starlight, my oldest sister, a real fighter. Last I saw of her, she was fighting off some Timberwolves as I made a run for it.” She sniffled in a tear. “I… I wanted to fight with her, help her, but… but she told me to run. And worst of all—” she took a breath—“I did so.”

She sniffled. “What a failure I am.”
 
“Hey,” I said, placing a hoof on her shoulder, “you did a great job protecting me.” I smiled for her. “I’d be dead if not for you. I’m sure you sister would be very proud.”

I beamed when I saw her smile back at me.

She sighed. “Yeah, you would have liked my younger sisters. Well, if they didn’t try to kill you.”

I tilted my head. “Wait, what? Why? Why would they want to do that?”

I felt a shiver up my spine as she eyed my horn.

Thankfully, she looked back down at me and instantly smiled. “You know what? Nevermind. It’s really a stupid reason. I’m sure they would love you.” She bopped my noise.

I giggled.

We stayed like that for a while, until the wind began to pick up.
 
“Well,” she said as stood up, “I suppose we better find some shelter, and maybe some food, and… maybe some other good ponies. I mean, if we’re alive, why can’t others be?”
 
My eyes widened as I sprung to my hooves. “You mean I can stay with you?”
 
She closed her eyes and chuckled. “Sure, why not? After all...” She walked up and brushed the snow out of my mane. “Sisters have to stick together.”
 
My eyes widened. “Really? You… you mean it?” I asked, not sure if I believed it. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to be a bother. And… and I’m not sure I would make a good sister. I mean, we don’t even have the same parents.”
 
She responded with a nod and a genuine smile. “I’m sure. And, once we find my family again, we can all move into a castle, become princesses, and have tea parties, play dress up, have a little vona—”
 
“What’s a vona?” I asked with a tilted head.
 
“It’s a…” She put a hoof to her chin. “Well… I’m not really sure. I think it’s like a private zoo.” She shook her head. “In any case...” She held out a hoof. “You ready to try and find some other ponies, little sister?”
 
I could have been the end of the world, which it sure literally seemed like, but at that moment, I had never been so happy.
 
“Oh, thank you, thank you! You’re the best big sister ever!” I said as I ran up and hugged her. “I’m Luna, by the way.”
 
“Celestia,” she replied as she placed her head above mine.

“And don’t worry, Luna,” my big sister Celestia whispered, “I’ll protect you from now on.”

This was really cute. :) Enjoyed it! It'll be going into my faves when you publish it, haha.


I ended up already doing so. I'll send a link when I get this copy and pasted