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1. Return1,191 words
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1. Return

Author's note:
Reccomend changing formatting (the button on the top right) so there are spaces between lines.

What is death? Is it waking up at the gates to heaven or some other holy ground? Is it a long and dark hallway or a field of burning wheat? Could it be that Hell itself is a void; or maybe the edge of something, but never the full grasp of it? Is it the dead’s worst fear or greatest pleasure—or is it something else? Something completely different? Something similar, but not quite?

What is death?

As I pondered this, the world faded out into blackness, and then further into nothingness, all of my other senses fading with it. In my last moments I was wondering something so pointless… looking back it makes me cringe.

Then, a curious thing happened.

The world faded back in—first to blackness, then to pure white.

The first thing I felt after this was the cold. The biting, piercing cold.

The second were the tears.

Chilly Ventures was in his element, pardoning the pun. He’d always wanted to visit the far-north. Ever since he was a colt, he’d dreamt of the day when he’d finally let his boots sink into the soft, cotton-like fluff of the tundra.

“What do you think?” He asked, shaking his hood off to take a panoramic view of the horizon, revealing his pristine white complexion and dazzling smile.

He heard a gasp behind him. A form dropped a bag—said bag sinking into the snow like a warm knife through butter—and fell to the ground itself.

“What are we doing, Chilly? There’s nothing here!” The voice was feminine in nature, but exasperated in intonation.

“That’s the beauty of it!” Chilly exclaimed, turning around to take the other form’s forelimb. “We’re alone—completely and utterly alone! Nothing else, no one else. Just us.” He pulled the other form closer, her hood falling from its perch on her head, revealing a soft, pink face and a miserable expression.

“When can we head back?” she asked, pulling her hood back up onto her head and tightening the hood’s grip with some unseen force.

“When our trek is done,” he told her simply, beginning again in the same direction.

She groaned, the bag lifting itself into the air and resting on her back. She followed him.

The third sensation I felt was something hard poking me. I whipped my head around, the tears flying from my face as I prepared for a fight.

“Are you alright, sir?” was the first thing she asked of me. “You weren’t moving, so I didn’t know if you were alive or not.” She looked me up and down, noting my sudden activeness. “Although, you seem very lively now.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, still ready for her to make any sudden movements.

None were made. It seemed this was a peaceful one—or she didn’t know who I was.

“So, what are you, anyway? I mean, you look like a Minotaur, but you don’t have any hair on your torso,” she asked, walking around me to examine my features. “Could it be that we’ve made a discovery?”

I cut her off from asking more questions. “I’m a human. Minotaurs are half-human, half-bull. Creatures from mythology, not reality,” I said robotically as she came full circle. Only once I finished speaking did I realize how dumb that must have sounded in a land such as this. “Of course, horses can talk in this world, so who knows? Maybe manticores are real, too.” As I mumbled this to myself, she raised a hoof to her chin.

“Yes, manticores are quite vicious beasts.” Apparently that was all she heard. “Anyway, we must get this information to the public!”

Just as she said that a shout came from over a snowdrift. “Fauna, where are you?” I tensed, but she didn’t seem to notice as she turned to the sound.

“Over here, Chilly!” she shouted back. “I swear, he couldn’t keep track of a quill, let alone his partner,” she scoffs.

Chilly broke the surface of the drift and came into view, spotting Flaura and waving at her. As his eyes drifted to me, which they quickly did, he stopped waving.

“Who’s this you’ve found, Fauna? A new species for your book?” The suspicion in his voice was fairly obvious—and if it wasn’t, the look in his eye was more than enough. I knew I had to leave.

“You two are here on a research trip?” I asked, thinking quickly. “Looking for new plants and animals and such?”

“How astute of you. Yes, we are,” Fauna commented, but quickly rolled her eyes. “Chilly is just here for the snow, though.”

“For the adventure my dear!” he corrects her. “I love the snow, but I would have just as happily gone to the Amarezon with you!”

“Why didn’t you mention that when we were planning the trip?” Fauna exclaimed, suddenly very surprised.

As their banter continued, I took steps away. I was almost to a snow bank I could hide behind when Chilly noticed me.

“Now, where do you think you’re off to?” He took a few steps towards me, watching my every move with additional scrutiny.

“Oh… just to take a quick leak. When nature calls and all,” I said, taking another step away.

Chilly took another step, then whispered something to Fauna. Her face looked slightly surprised, and when she tried to respond he gave her a quick look.

“You won’t run off, will you?” he asked as Fauna disappeared over another drift.

“Why would I do that?” I asked back, looking around for potential weapons or places to hide.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t really want to find out.” He stood his ground. “You know, I do remember something about a biped that wasn’t a Minotaur. They say that he terrorized the land.” I knew I needed to leave, but Chilly would see me. I had no choice.

‘No! You can’t!’ he said.

‘This isn’t something you can talk yourself out of, you know.’ I took another step back, which the other matched twofold.

‘Well, you’d better find another solution quick.’ I made to step forward, but he quickly locked my muscles. When I returned to my retreat, my muscles relaxed.

“One day, he magically disappeared with a whole nation.” To this comment I froze, the events of mere hours ago replaying in my head. I shook myself out of the daze.

“Listen, I don’t want to hurt you.” I took another step to the drift, my heels sinking into the thicker snow.

“And you won’t,” he said simply. It confused me how something so obviously weak could be unafraid of something as dangerous as he thought I was.

My questions were answered as two beings flew over my head, landing between me and Chilly.

They were the last things I wanted to see at the time.

Author's Note:

Another rewrite, I know--but this is my last one, I swear!

Tune in next time to learn who these beings are and why Chilly's so fearless towards our hero!

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SilentMech

SilentMech #1 · Nov 26th, 2015 · · ·

Celestia and Luna. Also, no Luna cuddles? Any way, spotted a major difference already. Let me guess, Sombra in partial place of Discord? Probably using mind control or manipulation through other means? Bets on condensing him by inches until the Crystal Heart gets used just to ensure that he is free of him, then going for a nice long walk into the depths of a random blizzard before he gets saved by some one?