Weathering Winter

by Sasha Nein

Chapter 5

Memories and Nightmares

“Ugh, Winter slow down!” Twilight groaned. She lethargically placed one hoof in front of the other as she struggled to keep up with the impossible pace the other unicorn set.

Winter let out an exasperated sigh and ran a hoof through his mane. He slowed and waited for Twilight to catch up. They had been running for only a few hours by his judgement. This trip should have taken no longer than a day. If Twilight didn’t do something about her pace it was going to be much longer.

He glanced back north, but turned away immediately. He kept his eyes on the ground before him. They were heading into a more mountainous area. The ground was quickly becoming steeper and harder to traverse. There was a large helping of rocks and scrub along the ground. There was a distinct lack of trees as well. But all of this would change in a few hours once they made it around the peaks. Winter recalled that the cave of his imprisonment was in a valley on the other side. There would be plenty of life there... if life still existed in this world.

Twilight caught up to him, panting heavily.

“My. Legs. Are on fire.” Twilight gasped, throwing herself on the ground.

Winter gave her a disdainful look. But he decided not to say anything. What was the point? Commenting on her pace and physique would only make her angry, thus delaying the trip longer. Being stuck traveling with her was a demanding test of his patience. What did they teach unicorns these days? It certainly wasn’t anything about magic or physical discipline.

Sighing, Winter turned away. There wasn’t much to look at. He idly wished he had spent more time learning teleportation magic. He had only learned to send himself short distances. It was an invaluable skill to have when trying to defend yourself. But he had never taken the time to understand the mechanics of teleporting to places he could not see. Doubtless Twilight knew nothing that could help him, but perhaps she had some books on the subject if they ever got home.

Twilight groaned and flexed her legs as she lay on the ground. Winter knew the best thing to do was keep moving. If he could get her to endure the pain for just a few days, she would be well on her way to becoming more fit.

“C’mon Twilight Sparkle. We need to keep moving.” Winter said, taking a few steps forward.

“Ugh, you’ve got to be kidding me. I’m taking a breather Winter. That cave isn’t going anywhere.” Twilight said glaring at him.

“Listen Twilight, unless you keep moving, getting in shape is going to be even harder. The longer you keep at it, the faster you will stop hurting. Besides, we really need to get there soon and finish this. I have no idea what we are going to eat or drink in this world.” Winter tried to sound encouraging but he didn’t put much effort into it. He didn’t care how she felt just so long as she kept moving.

Twilight sighed and got back up. They began trudging up and through the mountains once more, slowly inching toward their goal.

*

She had to admit, Winter was right about how to get in shape. Twilight had read plenty of books on physical fitness but she had not tried to keep up her exercises after The Running of the Leaves. It was not something she particularly enjoyed; books were much better.

It would have been easier to teleport herself to keep up with Winter but she had quickly learned that was impossible. When one teleported, they first used their magic to ‘feel’ their destination and make sure nothing was there. Of course, the visualizing came next but she could not ‘feel’ that far. When she had tried to teleport even a short distance, she had been unable to sense any of the objects in this world. At first it had confused Twilight, but she soon decided it was because of the unique composition of the landscape.

Twilight tried simple telekinesis on a few objects she could see. As she thought, she could not feel them. But what surprised her was that she could still pick things up and manipulate them. It was a weird sensation, she could see what she picked up, but could not feel it. It was almost like watching someone else hold something in front of her, except the objects did what she wanted.

The problem about food began bothering Twilight as soon as they began walking again. Inconveniently, her stomach reminded her it still existed. The prospects of finding food looked grim. If there was no life here, then it stood to reason that there was nothing edible either. She did not much like the idea of eating greenery that wasn’t real.

Twilight continued to muse, trying to keep her mind off of her legs. The terrain was rough going. She was unused to traversing rough terrain and her hooves were softer than they should have been. Hopefully she would toughen up in a day or so. She would just have to stick it out until then.

Lost in contemplation, Twilight lost her footing on a steep incline. She stumbled backwards. Shocked out of her reverie, she did not even think to scream. She tumbled backwards and landed heavily on her side.

Gasping, she cried out, pain lancing through her. Winter turned. Seeing what had happened, he quickly made his way back to her. Twilight got shakily to her hooves.

“I... I... I’m alright... I think.” She said breathlessly.

Winter looked her over. “No, you are not, Twilight. You had better sit down.”

“What?” She asked, nervously looking herself over.

Winter gestured at one of her back legs. “Right there, you have a gash.”

Twilight’s eyes became pinpricks as she hurried to check her leg. Sure enough, there was an ugly looking scrape just behind her knee. It was shallow, barely scraping through the first layer of skin, and was slowly seeping blood. Now that she saw it, the stinging began to assert itself.

“Ouch!” She said weakly.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Winter said, with a puzzled look on his face. “We fought each other with everything we had, and made no dent on each other. We threw each other into the surrounding environment without effect. Why does it hurt you now?”

He stood and stared at her for a moment longer, making her extremely uncomfortable. Her injuries were not helping matters either. Twilight shifted nervously.

“So, are you going to try and kill me again?” she asked.Twilight became rigid and looked away. There was a long pause. Twilight glanced back at Winter to find him still looking at her.

“No.” Twilight let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. “But,” Winter continued, “I would like to try something, it shouldn’t hurt.”

“Wha--” Twilight swung towards Winter, just in time to see him launch a small rock at her chest. It bounced off. Twilight grunted and fell back a step, but was otherwise unharmed.

“Why! You little--” She cried indignantly, but was interrupted.

“Relax Sparkle. I’ve just proved that we cannot hurt each other, environment or no. But anything not related to us can harm us.” Winter said smugly.

“You just threw a rock at me, with the intent to injure!”

“It was nothing more threatening than some light bruising. Unless you wish to take forever in your analysis of situations, you must be willing to sacrifice a little.” Winter hesitated, then continued. “I will admit this was not much of a sacrifice on my end, but unless I tried something now we would have been speculating about what this meant for hours, if not days.”

Twilight opened her jaw, then closed it. He was an ass, that was all there was to it. It was not possible to dismiss that fact; no way that his ‘methods’ could condoned half his actions. But, he could easily rationalize his own actions with words, creating a very grey area during the discourse.

“How about this: I won’t explode at you for your inconsiderate and rash actions, and you will tell me whenever you plan to do something like that in the future.” Twilight said, deathly calm.

“Whatever makes you feel better.” Winter said, turning away. “C’mon, we need to keep moving.”

“One, two, three...” Twilight counted to herself as she moved forward. It helped stem her anger as it kept her from thinking about Winter. She walked with a slight limp which alleviated a small amount of the irritation in her leg. The pain was even more prominent now that the adrenaline had almost worked its way out of her system. She moved carefully up the hill so as to avoid another accident.

*

They made slow progress through the mountains. Twilight could tell Winter was frustrated with her pace, which was just ‘tough beans’ for him as far as she was concerned. However, the constant pain in her side did not allow her to feel very smug.

It was almost dark when they finally made it to the valley. The surrounding land was the most generic Twilight had ever seen. The trees were sparse, the grass was short and the ground was unnaturally even, though it was still steep. It was as if whatever had created this world knew something had to be there but was unable to find any memories from the two unicorns to fill in the space, so it had just guessed.

Twilight was astounded at the complexity that went into the magical spell. It was absurd. The one thing she wanted most right now was a chance to inspect whatever had created this world. She had a sneaking suspicion that it would never happen, though. She would have sighed but she was already breathing heavily as she tried to keep up her pace.

“I guess this is far enough.” Winter said suddenly. He stopped and turned to Twilight. She took a few more steps and collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. Cognitive thought had ceased to exist a few hours prior, otherwise she would have stopped sooner. The pain in her leg had reduced itself to a dull throb. It was hardly comforting, though. The rest of her body was throbbing in tune.

Twilight was only vaguely aware that Winter was still moving around. She quickly drifted off to sleep, pain or no. Her body, now that it had stopped moving, was shutting down into blissful unawareness. The last thoughts Twilight had were of her realization that when morning came, she would wish she was dead.

* * *

Once more, she pushed through the swirling patterns of the Orb. Unlike last time, she now slid into the recesses of the sphere with ease, almost as though welcomed. She still felt the apprehension, no less powerful than the first time she had ventured near the Orb. Only now, there was less resistance, like the magical artifact wanted to be touched. She knew that the full power was still far beyond her control, and on that same instinctual level, she knew that to try would be tantamount to suicide. But the sense of welcome did not abate, like the Orb knew her fear, and trusted her not to abuse the gentle power it offered her.

The magic was overwhelming, yet familiar. In time Twilight somehow knew she would be able to use it. Now though, she was unsure of how to even begin preparing herself. So she contented herself by observing the individual threads of magic. The more she looked at them, the more complex they became. “Almost like observing a pony,” She thought. “The more you learn about a certain somepony, the more you realize what you did not know. I wonder if there is any connection?” Twilight continued to muse, but she was unable to come up with any definite answers. She concluded that the mysteries of the Orb would be released to her when they were ready.

Twilight could not tell how long she was in the dream. She was content. Whatever these magical patterns were, they accepted her and were a part of her; she felt at home. She basked in the comfort they provided, aware that when she woke her world would turn upside down again.

* * *

Morning came much too quickly in Twilight’s opinion. She could feel every part of her body, and not in a good way. As she wallowed a few moments in her misery, she realized that the sun was not in her eyes like it usually was in her own bed. Try as she might, she could not fantasize about it. She wished she was still back in the library but the pain in her legs and the hard ground below her were a jarring reminder of where she was.

Twilight opened her eyes and spotted Winter sitting a few yards away, staring at nothing.
He glanced at her, then seeing her awake, got up and moved closer. Twilight groaned. This was a very unpleasant morning.

“Twilight, I know you are aching all over right now. You need to get up and stretch your muscles. It will relieve a lot of the pain.” Winter said, surprising Twilight with his quiet tone.

She opened her eyes fully, observing Winter. Painfully, she got up and gritted her teeth.

Winter rotated so that Twilight could observe him from the side.

“Follow me through these exercises. They will help. Then we can get moving.” He began stretching his forelegs.

Twilight tried to copy what he was doing, but it was much too painful to accomplish. As his poses changed and she followed, she began to notice the ache in her muscles rapidly disappearing. Winter’s flexibility surprised her. It was not as good as some of the yoga ponies she had seen, but she was sure he was better than most other colts out there.

By the time they had gone through the exercises twice she felt much better. Everything still hurt, but moving was not agony. Twilight was still not sure if she should be thankful or not, since it was Winter who had gotten her into this. It might have been easier to be grateful if she could know whether he was helping her with the stretching because he cared. That seemed a little far fetched though, when it seemed he only wanted to get her moving quicker.

As if to prove her conclusion, he spoke up. “Let’s go. We can go at a slower pace but it is best if you keep moving those muscles.”

Twilight almost told him to go dump himself in a pond, but she refrained. She had already lost her temper once with him and that had drastic repercussions. Twilight just wanted to get home and right now that meant following Winter. He had not been as irritating ever since she stopped rising to all his needling, thankfully. All she wanted now was to keep it that way.

Her stomach growled, reminding her of the lack of edible food. She began inspecting the surrounding foliage closer. Twilight began calculating the time until she was hungry enough to try some of it.

“Don’t. I tried already. They are horribly nasty.” Winter said as he watched her check out the grey plants.

Twilight tried a small bite when he turned. She was not going to take his word on anything. Unfortunately it was extremely bitter. She hastily spat it out before Winter gave her another smug look. It seemed they were without food at the moment. Twilight picked up her pace, she wanted to find food and that was not happening here.

*

They finally reached the cave by mid-morning. Twilight would not have known it existed if Winter had not walked right up to it. While it was a much more detailed area than their surroundings had been for the past hour, it was still well hidden.

“I’ve only been outside this cave once. That was just a few months ago when I was released.” Winter said quietly. “It is exactly as I remember it... Um...” Winter hesitated at the entrance. “You know, now that we are here, maybe this isn’t such a good idea. We should...” He stopped, took a deep breath and turned away. “We should go.”

He bumped into Twilight. She did not move. She stared at him for a long time. He cringed and looked away.

“Winter, we are going in. I have not slaved uphill all this way to turn back because you are nervous about...” she stopped, struggling for words, “whatever it is you are nervous about.”

“I’m not nervous!” Winter said vehemently. “I just don’t see the point in going through this again.”

“Oh, come on, Winter! It is a memory, or at least, it should be!” Twilight exclaimed. She marched forward into the cave.

“Hey, don’t you dare!” Winter yelped. He followed her in, but any attempt to stop her was stymied as she disappeared even further inside.

She moved in deeper, trying to stay out of his sight. His frenzied scrambling was growing louder but that was not a big concern. She had gotten him in this far. All they needed to do now was find where this memory was stashed.

She had no idea what to expect or why in the world he would have some kind of meaningful memory in a cave like this. If she had not been looking for something specific, she would have turned back from the cave almost as soon as she entered. Even Twilight could tell that this was a horrible spelunking cave. The only passage was small and the walls were jagged and stuck out in very inconvenient places.

She continued to wind and squeeze her way in deeper. The light quickly disappeared but she found no need to light her horn. Everything remained bright enough for her to see by. It was slightly disturbing so she lit her horn anyway. She stopped at a small area which was a little wider than the rest of the passage. Winter caught up quickly. He squeezed his way past the last narrow spot and eyed her cautiously.

“We are not going back Winter. Something has to be resolved now. We are both tired and hungry. This injury is quite painful, not to mention the rest of my body. It may have been a bad idea to come this way instead of heading for a town, but we are here now and I am not giving up this opportunity to get some answers for our predicament.” Twilight stopped and took a deep breath. She hoped she would not have to convince him more.

Winter seemed to struggle with himself. “Fine.” He said shortly. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you though.” He moved forward and continued through the passage as Twilight scoffed.

A few minutes later, Twilight began to see some light coming from up ahead of her. It was mostly blocked by Winter, but soon enough they rounded the last turn. The passage suddenly opened up into a decent sized cavern. The whole room emitted a soft glow from all of the colors that washed over everything. It was quite clear another memory was waiting for them.

Twilight moved to step inside the colored cavern, but as soon as she moved a hoof over the threshold, she was met with a curious sense sensation. It felt like the magic Winter had used when he attacked her. While he had been attacking her, it had not registered to her that it was magic that she was feeling, since she was more concerned about being harmed. She realized now that it was his magic she was feeling. It was very strange.

Winter walked past her,right into the circle. He breathed deeply and turned to look at her. He raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything Twilight steeled herself and stepped into the cavern. She was not going to let him get in any scathing comments about her hesitating, or let him drag her in.

Almost immediately, the changes they had experienced the first time occured. As Twilight’s body transformed from its physical state, she sighed with relief as it took her pain with it. She allowed herself to relax while directing her full attention to the memory.

At first, nothing happened. Then Twilight noticed the distinct sound of running water. She looked around and noticed that the cave had changed. It looked, younger. Where there had been pillars of rock, there were only now half formed mineral deposits on the floor and ceiling. They were dripping slowly. This led her to observe the small stream that was running through a corner of the cave which, she was sure, had not been there before.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack in the center of the cavern and Twilight observed in awe as a Unicorn and Alicorn appeared. Twilight lost focus of her surroundings and allowed herself to become fully engulfed in the happenings.

*

It was not the Celestia that Twilight remembered. She looked slightly smaller, but infinitely more intimidating. Her mane was ablaze, not as fire, but as... sunlight. It was pure, unadulterated energy. Her face was locked in a terrible grimace. There was a righteous wrath painted across her features that made Twilight cringe even when it was not pointed at her. This was a side of Celestia she had never seen. It was terrible.

The alicorn stared down at the unicorn in front of her. He had clearly just been beaten in battle. He was struggling to stand; it was clear he no longer had the strength. He had blood running down one of his flanks and it looked as though one of his front legs had been broken. He raised his face and Twilight gasped as she recognized Winter.

It was not the exact same Winter, but extremely similar. This Winter had nothing but pure loathing on his face. When he spoke, it sounded as though he was having trouble getting enough breath.

“Alright demon, you’ve got me in a secluded place. None of your little ponies will see you commit any of the atrocities you are so fond of. Do your worst.” He coughed painfully and spat at her.

Celestia’s vengeful face faded away. While its replacement was one of anger, now it was cold and calculating. “Winter, how far you have fallen. How naive you are.”

“DON’T TALK to me about NAIVE,” he screamed. “YOU...” He cut off, coughing hard, unable to finish his sentence.

“I have seen enough death Winter.” Her voice was calm, but the force behind her words sent chills down Twilight’s spine.

“I know my sister cared for you very much. More than you realize.”

“Don’t even think her name, demon. You know nothing.” he said vehemently.

Celestia narrowed her eyes dangerously, but remained calm. “I am not going to kill you, Winter. You certainly deserve it, what with all the lives you have taken.” Winter chuckled, it sounded painful. Celestia continued ignoring him. “Instead, I have decided on a different punishment for you. Consider yourself lucky, that Luna,” she emphasized the word, making Winter darken his expression, “loved you so much as to keep you near her side even after her fall.” She enunciated the last word, delicately.

She turned her head away for a moment and Twilight moved closer. She realized with shock that Celestia was hiding tears that were leaking out. But she quickly composed herself and shook them off, then turned back to Winter. In his nearly delirious state, he hardly noticed. It seemed he was having a hard time even keeping his head up.

“No, not killing you.” She reiterated, almost to herself it seemed. “You deserve a second chance, like all ponies... Like Luna will have.” She all but whispered the last part, but everypony heard it.

Winter raised his head and shot her a look that spoke volumes. Celestia visibly straightened.

“Winter, I hereby banish you from Equestria. You will remain here in this cave, in stasis, until I see fit to release you.” She said coldly.

Winter paled visibly, but remained defiant. “Hah, is that the best you can do? I won’t ever stop hating you, Celestia, not after what you have done. You may as well never release me, or kill me now and save yourself the trouble.”

“Someday you are going to see how wrong you are, Winter. Someday I just might release you and the real Luna will be back. You will be forced to make some tough choices, Winter,....someday.” She once again whispered the last word, but Twilight was sure it did not register in Winter’s mind.

Twilight watched in awe again as Celestia lit her horn and began weaving together a series of spells. She was unable to ascertain their purpose just by looking at them but she assumed that they were going to be used to contain Winter.

Winter lit his horn from where he was laying on the ground. Almost as if she expected Winter to try something, Celestia turned to him and flicked his horn with a hoof without even breaking her concentration. He cried out in pain as his magic was disrupted. She turned away as he slumped.

A few dazzling minutes later, Celestia began applying her spells. Twilight was overwhelmed at the amount of magic she was channeling, her horn was like a miniature sun by itself. Never in Twilight’s life had she seen Celestia perform this much magic. It frightened her to think of what the Alicorn was capable of.

The first thing to happen, to Twilight’s astonishment, was that Celestia began to heal Winter’s injuries. Her next step was to place him in a magical prison so complex Twilight could only dream of replicating it.

Then, Celestia laid another spell on Winter and the memory began to fade away. As it did, the real Winter standing next to her spoke. “There you go Twilight. This is where I spent the next thousand years, unconscious of course.”

*

As soon as the last of the color faded both of the unicorns winced as though something was peeled away from their consciousnesses. The world shimmered slightly, but it was gone in a moment. Twilight wondered if she was just seeing things.

Winter walked stiffly away as soon as he was able. He moved out of the cave, leaving Twilight to contemplate what she had seen. She thought mostly about Celestia and how she had looked. But eventually her thoughts turned to Winter as she slowly made her way back to the surface.

He had looked so angry and vengeful. It was as if every fiber of his being had been hinged on harming or killing Celestia. When he had slumped after she easily stymied his attempts at a hit, he looked so... defeated, lost even.

Twilight shivered. Winter had only been out of that mindset for a couple of months. It was amazing he was doing this well. Perhaps he really was trying to change? Twilight was not sure. He was not trying to kill Celestia anymore, although he still disliked her. She decided to continue watching him and his memories. Perhaps she would be able to learn more about Winter that way.

She continued to muse as she wended her way back through the narrow passage. Squeezing through a narrow spot, Twilight barely noticed her injured leg rubbing against the wall until she looked down to see where to place her hoof next. She jerked away from the wall in shock, but it was too late for her not to notice that it did not hurt anymore.

Twilight hurried through the remaining length of the tunnel and out into the open. She held her leg out and noticed that it had healed completely. Her limbs felt much better as well. They had not stopped aching completely, but they felt as though they had been through a good night sleep and rigorous stretching.

“You’re not hungry anymore either, are you?” Winter asked. Twilight jumped, she had not noticed he had been standing so close to the cave entrance.

“I, um, yes.” Slightly flustered, she stood up and walked away a short distance. Winter remained where he was, not paying her any attention.

It seemed he was not ready to talk about what they had seen. Twilight wanted to ask him his thoughts on their situation now, but decided it was prudent to leave him alone for the time being. Instead, she began hazarding her own guesses about what was going on with this world.

She and Winter were most certainly in a world of their own making. It would make sense then that there would be some kind of connection between this world and her mind because of the memories. That was certainly possible. She felt something happen in her head each time they finished a memory. It seemed plausible that everything might be happening in their minds and she was in a coma in the real world.

What Twilight was not sure of was how to get out of this world or what watching more memories might do. She knew that the memories had rejuvenated her somehow, which was reason enough for her to keep watching them. Twilight wondered how it was even possible that she had been healed. At first she thought that perhaps the world just “reset” her body when she came out of the memories. But that was not right because she still felt like she had walked a hundred miles. One thing she did know, she was not going to stop watching memories.

Twilight got up. They needed to get moving. They were easily a day away from any place where either of them might have a meaningful memory. She was not looking forward to being hungry for extended periods of time. She moved to rouse Winter from his thoughts.

She approached slowly, but noisily. She did not want to startle him, knowing from experience that if she did, it would not end well. She also wanted to make sure he had time to compose himself. Twilight did not want to be on the receiving end of more scathing remarks if she could help it. Hopefully her actions would lessen the severity of the inevitable bad attitude.

“Leave me alone, Twilight Sparkle.” Winter turned his back on her.

Twilight hesitated, but recovered quickly. “Winter, we really need to get moving.”

“I don’t see why. There is nothing here worth moving.” He said dully, still not facing her.

“Really? …Really? I don’t think so. He can sulk on his own time,” Twilight thought, irritated. She snorted and set her hoof down firmly. “Winter, I am heading for more memories and you are coming with me. You can cry on your own time.”

“Cry, on my own time?” Winter turned to her with a scowl. “I’m not sure if you have realized, Miss Sparkle, but there is nothing of value here. As far as I am concerned, I may as well die now... There isn’t any getting out of this place. Time means nothing anymore.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Fine, you can go die, Winter. But I have something to live for and I intend to see it again. So until you do die, you are stuck following me.”

“What makes you think I am going to follow you anywhere, Twilight? You can’t make me do anything.” Winter said with a small smirk.

Twilight was speechless. What could she do? They both knew she wouldn’t be able to force him into anything. That left only one option: She had to convince him to come... But how? Twilight got a smirk herself.

“You are right, Winter, I can’t force you. But I can just start walking away.” She turned and began trotting away, calling back over her shoulder. “I bet you will most certainly feel like dying here very quickly.”

Winter jumped up immediately. “Fine! Fine! I’m moving, you win, slow down!” He galloped up to her, eyes wide.

She smiled. “Good, now which way is Ponyville?”

He grimaced, but pointed. “Southwest. A hard day hike... So that makes it about two for us.”

Twilight rolled her eyes but said nothing. She set off at a good pace, intending to prove him wrong. It was not long before her limbs began to make their displeasure known again. But she pressed on resolutely, determined to not give Winter any satisfaction.

They made it out of the valley by mid afternoon. Instead of heading towards the castle and the flatlands, they entered the Everfree Forest. The forest itself was not as threatening in the north as it was down towards Ponyville. The trees were spacious and the undergrowth was not threateningly thick. Twilight had read a lot about the Everfree Forest and she assumed that those memories had been drawn upon to create it exactly how she had imagined. The greys made everything darker, but it did little to intimidate her. She had learned that this part of the forest was much safer.

She wondered why so many of the more dangerous creatures and plants grew closer to civilization. Usually animals of any type stayed as far away from ponies as possible. More than once she had pondered this phenomenon while in Ponyville, but it had always been a passing interest.

They hiked throughout the day. Winter had not said a word, which was just fine in Twilight’s book. They were well into the Everfree when the undergrowth started to thicken in earnest. Night was falling fast when Winter finally stopped. Twilight did not noticed until he spoke.

“This is far enough Twilight, I’m not twisting a hoof walking around in the dark.”

She heaved a private sigh of relief. On the one hoof, she should have thought that walking around in the dark was a bad idea, but on the other, she had been too busy trying not to give in and stop. She flopped down on the ground, reveling in the lack of pressure on her hooves.

Winter immediately began erecting his wards. Twilight watched. It was fascinating magic. She had never learned wards. They were old war magicks but they were non-lethal in nature. She was more than just a little intrigued. It would be a good study topic if she ever got home. She might have to raid the Canterlot Library though.

Shortly, Winter finished and sat down. Twilight maneuvered into a more comfortable position and shut her eyes. A few moments later she heard a rustling and she opened her eyes to observe Winter moving off to stand at the parameter of his wards. She began to drift off again. The last thing she registered before she fell asleep was that he had still not moved.

*

Twilight opened her eyes. She blinked and felt her head reel as she tried to regain her bearings. It was almost too dark to see anything. The tree canopy blocked almost all the night light the sky provided. She strained to make out shapes in the dark. What had woken her up? She was a heavy sleeper. Nothing ever bothered her, even if she was in a new environment.

Twilight felt a chill run up her spine. A short wave of inexplicable terror froze her in place. “Where did that come from?” she wondered, very disturbed. She had never been afraid of the dark but being alone in the Everfree Forest at night was anything but pleasant.

That chill had not been an ordinary misplaced feeling, like when you head through the dark hallway at night on the way to the bathroom. You know there is nothing there, but it is impossible to shake that slight feeling of apprehension. This was not one of those spine chills; this was her body telling her something bad was coming, coming for her!

She did not know what to make of it. Twilight tried to go back to sleep, but her unease remained. She tried to tell herself Winter’s wards would keep them safe but it was always more difficult to convince yourself to relax unless you know your surroundings.

Another chill ran up her spine. This time Twilight raised her head and looked around, opening her eyes as wide as they would go. She started to feel the urge to run. Twilight did not move a muscle. She was still very much in control of herself and she intended for things to stay that way. This was the safest place for her to be.

Something moved! Twilight almost screamed, but she held it in as she felt her heart seize. Her heart felt like it was going to come up her throat. As the object moved again it revealed itself as the silhouette of Winter in front of her.

She heaved a sigh of relief, which Winter cut short.

“Did you feel it too?” He asked, in a hushed tone.

Just as suddenly, Twilight felt her heart drop back like a stone as she turned cold.

“I... I...” She stammered, unable to form words.

“Something is out there.” He said, turning away from her.

“I thought it was just me,” Twilight whispered.

Winter glanced at her. “I thought the same, but then you woke up.”

She felt a third chill, this one more prominent than the last. Twilight could feel every hair on the nape of her neck stand on end. She imagined the same was happening to Winter. Every instinct in her body was telling her to run. It was hard to keep from shivering like a leaf. How did Winter appear to be so composed?

“Don’t... Move,” Winter whispered. His voice was strained. Twilight absurdly wondered what it would sound like an octave or two higher. “Don’t move.” He repeated. “My wards are the safest thing we've got. Whatever is out there has to get through them first.”

A few moments later he turned and without a sound he sidled up to Twilight and faced opposite her. Now they could observe from every direction. She felt him brush up against her. The warmth from his body was the best thing in the world. She began to breathe easier, thankful that somepony was there.

Suddenly, it was no longer a chill. Twilight began to feel a primal fear worm its way up from the depths of her consciousness. It was not stopping. She felt her heartbeat quicken again and she began to breathe heavily. Whatever was out there was making its presence known. It was worse than the feeling of knowing something scary is right behind you. She could feel Winter shaking slightly.

There was just enough light to see the edge of the magical ward aura. It was not a glowy magical dome. Instead it looked like a very thin film of chalk dust that floated like a wall in an eight foot perimeter. There was still no movement outside of it that she could see.

But then, there it was! Something began pushing at the ward... No, it was slipping through it! The haze parted as something pitch black moved to take it’s place. No, not pitch black, Twilight realized. It was invisible! The foliage moved as if something had brushed up against it.

Twilight did not realize that Winter had whirled as soon as he felt that his ward had been disturbed. She had no idea now if his ward was supposed to stop it. She was not thinking much of anything at the moment. Nor did she register his screams in her ear. Winter shoved her, hard. She tumbled backwards and jerked violently. Broken out of her shock she heard his screams this time.

“RUN!” He screeched again. She needed no second bidding.

They thundered through the forest, narrowly dodging trees or stumbling. Winter seemed to be gathering his wits faster than Twilight and he lit his horn. He took the lead and Twilight followed, in near blind panic. It hardly seemed possible, but Twilight could feel her fear growing even more. She dared not look behind again. The likelihood of falling and being caught kept her focused on stepping where Winter did. It was chasing them and her senses told her it was gaining.

Winter turned and looked wildly behind. Twilight’s eyes dilated as she saw him trip. Just when she thought things could not get any worse, there was a steep, but thankfully short, hill in front of Winter as he fell. She collided with him as they tipped over the edge. They hit the bottom with a painful thud. Twilight heard something snap and Winter scream.

A thousand thoughts ran through Twilight’s head at the speed of light as she decided on a course of action. Within a heartbeat she had calculated a plan. She lit her horn, as Winter’s had winked out, and hastily untangled herself from him. Without sparing the downed unicorn a backward glance she moved to the base of the hill. She lowered herself into a menacing stance and growled as convincingly as she could at their pursuer.

Her horn was as bright as a lighthouse and she lit up the forest for hundreds of feet around. She continued snorting and pawing at the ground. Her whole body was shaking in terror and her eyes flicked frantically back and forth through the underbrush. Whatever had been chasing them seemed to be keeping hidden quite well.

Her terror did not abate, but her mind was back to working again. She quickly used her magic to raise a thin film of dirt from the ground and hastily erected a wall around herself and Winter; much like his ward had done. Whatever it was would have to go through the cloud to get at them, thus revealing itself.

Winter moaned softly and she glanced at him. He was lying on the ground, grimacing in pain. One of his forelegs was bent very wrong, but he made no move to straighten it. She saw no blood, but that was all her glance could tell her.

Nothing happened. Twilight stood grunting for a full minute before she relented and moved back slowly towards Winter. She continued to maintain her spells as she assessed his condition. The fear was not leaving her. Whatever it was, it did not seem to have left.

“Twilight,” Winter gasped, “My leg is broken, but I don’t think it tore the skin. I’m not bleeding... yet.” He gritted his teeth as more pain washed over him. “Listen, we need to get somewhere safer. Help me up, I can wrap my leg up in my magic so we can move.”

Twilight gave him a worried look. “I don’t think that’s a--”

“It is still out there Twilight.” He cut her off vehemently. “It is only a matter of time before it comes for us. I can’t fight like this. We have got to find a cave or something with only one entrance to protect.”

She began helping him up. He groaned from behind gritted teeth, but straightened his leg out as much as he could. Just as she was beginning to focus more on him, the terror came back in full force. When she thought it could get no worse, the sounds began.