The Winter Breeze

by Terranaut

Chapter 4: Direct Literal

"Augh..." Twilight groaned, struggling to open her eyes. When she did, however, she instantly regretted it. A haze of color and sound buzzed about her. She shielded her eyes from the bright light as the world spun around her. Suddenly, the flurry of commotion around her simultaneously clicked into place, and in an instant, she was aware of her surroundings. She could hear birds chirping and the sound of trees swaying in the breeze. Just as soon, however, she also became aware of the damp log that her head lay on, and the strange pony sitting calmly on a log across from her, smiling.

She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. "Who... who are you?" Twilight asked the pony. His coat was a rich shade of brown, similar to that of coffee. He was a pegasus, and his cutie mark was what looked to Twilight as a simple black triangle, with the white silhouette of a pony balancing on the top point. He straightened his posture and his smile vanished. "Who am I," he echoed.

"Wait a minute... Somepony knocked me out! Did you knock me out?" Twilight accused.

The strange pony remained still, almost as if he hadn't even heard her question. After a few moments he chuckled. "No, I didn't knock you out. A coconut fell from a tree and hit you in the head," he said, gesturing to a dented coconut that lay on the ground. Just then, Twilight noticed the gauze wrapped around her head.

"I was gathering firewood when I happened upon an unconscious pony in the jungle," he explained. "That pony, of course, was you, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight frowned. "How... do you know my name?!"

"...so I carried you here and tended to your injury, and I've been waiting for you to wake up since then," he finished.

"Thank you. That was very kind of you, but you still haven't told my how you know my name!"

The dark pony looked her up and down, then glared at her dead-on. He raised a hoof and pointed at Twilight's saddlebag, still staring directly at her eyes. Her name was scrawled on the strap.

"Ah. OK, sorry. That makes a lot more sense," Twilight said with a nervous giggle.

His face returned to a warm smile. "Good. I'm Direct."

Twilight cocked her head. "You're... direct? What does that mean?"

Once again, he chuckled. "My name. Direct."

"Oh! I'm sorry," Twilight smiled reassuringly.

"It's alright. I get it all the time. So, as the saying goes, what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Twilight stopped for a moment to recall, then her eyes shot wide. "Rainbow!"

Direct suddenly exhibited an interest. "Rainbow... Dash?"

Twilight was quite surprised that he knew Rainbow's name, and wondered what that could mean. "Um... yes? How did you know that?"

Direct's interest changed to worry. "Hmm... I was afraid of that."

---

~ Three Days Earlier ~

Direct sat on a log, sharpening a piece of bamboo with a rock. Some nearby leaves began to rustle. Direct, vigilant as always, produced a small hunting knife in seconds. He watched the bushes intently, waiting to strike.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a deep voice to his left. It wasn't until then that Direct became aware of the four or five ponies surrounding him with spears pointed at his neck. A tall orange-coated mare stepped out of the brush ahead and approached Direct.

Direct smiled and dropped the knife. "I don't believe we've met."

The tall pony stared down at him, unaffected by his act. "Are you the one called 'Rainbow Dash'?"

"Rainbow Dash? Are you serious? There's nothing Rainbow or Dash about this old man. I'm Direct. Direct Literal."

The expression on the tall pony's face, or lack thereof, indicated that she wasn't buying it. "Search his bag."

Two of the guards opened his saddlebag and began rummaging through his personal possessions. One of the guards pulled out a journal with 'Direct Literal' written on the cover. After flipping through the journal, the guard scowled at Direct. "It's empty."

Once again, Direct smiled. "Sorry to disappoint you. Of all the things this jungle has to offer, it doesn't seem to have any pens."

A ghost of a smile appeared on the tall pony's face, whether out of amusement or spite was unclear. "Congratulations. You are who you say you are." With one quick gesture, the group of ponies dispersed into the jungle before Direct could object. He stood there for a few moments, contemplating the events that had just transpired, then returned to sharpening his bamboo stick.

---

~ Present Day ~

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So, what you're telling me is that there is some tribe of ponies out here in this jungle that are trying to capture Rainbow?"

"Yes," he said simply.

Twilight's eyes widened. "Wait, you don't think... they did capture her, do you?"

"Well... let's just say while I was carrying you over here, I found this." He produced a saddlebag with the name 'Rainbow Dash' written in black ink on the side.

Twilight gasped. "No... We have to find her!"

Direct picked up a torch and held it out to her, smiling warmly. "Then we had better get started."

Author's Note:

I can't tell you how sorry I am for not updating for so long! It's just that school has been firing a barrage of projectile homework at me. You know how it goes. Since things are clearing up a little now, I'm going to try not to drop out in the future as far as updates go. And oh yeah! The season finale! SO. Twilight's a princess now, huh? I wonder what Hasbro's going to do with that. I'm willing to bet now, that Twilight's going to have some serious problems with her friends bowing to her all the time. XD

And no, I'm not going to put add an 'Alternate Universe' tag to this story just because of that. After all, this story was started before that happened. :)