//------------------------------//
// 2 
// Story: Winterhaven 
// by CobaltWinds 
//------------------------------//

The sudden shift from the warmth that the enchanted buildings provided to the harsh cold that was always outside was the first thing that Winter noticed. The second thing he noticed was the strong winds pushing him into further into the building from behind him. The final thing he noticed was the immense pressure on his horn that seemed to come from nowhere.

In only a matter of moments, Winter found himself lying in a small pile of snow in the center of the room, slowly being covered in even more snow. There was a strange silence other than the sound of the howling wind before he felt himself get dragged onto his hooves by an older student.

He quickly found himself following the directions of some of the teachers who were ushering all the students to the back portion of the school. He himself could barely make out the voices of the teachers, not able to hear it over all the panicked voices of the other students. This led to him mostly just following some of the older students to where they would hopefully be safe until the sudden storm was quelled to reasonable levels.

Gradually, the short hallway got quieter as students passed one of the few windows and took a glimpse outside. Winter was barely able to see outside without getting up on the windowsill, but what he saw was enough to make him understand the sudden quiet.

Outside, the snowstorm that generally blanketed the town had suddenly increased in intensity by several magnitudes, almost as if someone had released several blizzards upon them at the same time. Visibility was low, barely three feet from the window. Snow was being whipped around in a frenzy of winds that would make even their most experienced fliers have to seek shelter.

Winter didn’t have much time to stop though, as his position in the middle of the group forced him to keep going, but he had seen enough. It was obvious to all the students that this was no normal storm.

The silence was nearly stifling. It was clear no one liked it, but everypony was too afraid to make a noise, less the storm make another way in. This didn’t bother Winter though, as the silence was a time to get lost in his thoughts. 

He thought about his father, who must have still been outside when the sudden storm hit. He knew his father was hardy, as were all earth ponies were in this village, but something like this he thought would be too much for even him. He still held on hope that he got inside and safe soon enough though. 

Winter’s thoughts then drifted to his seldom seen mother. He never really knew where she was, only that she would come around once every few weeks to check on them and spend a night or two before disappearing once again. It had been a few weeks since he had last seen her, and he hoped that he would get to see her once again when this was all over.

Suddenly, he found himself going at a steep downward slope. He wasn’t sure when they had transitioned from the smooth stone used to line the floors to a hard metal that softly rang with each step, echoing far away and back. The metallic path was raised a few feet above the ground and led them through the caves. There were various paths off to the sides, but he couldn’t quite make out what was down each one as their pace was more hurried. 

Soon, he found the line diverted off to one of the side paths. He could begin to hear faint voices in the distance, slowly growing louder and more audible. He was unsure of where he was anymore, but the mixed faces of all the adults around him left him worried as some were excited, yet others look heavily worried.

Winter soon found themselves lined up in sizable cavern that several unicorns were hastily running around, seeming to use their magic to carve the floor carefully. They worked quietly and efficiently as all the students watched, each one unsure of what was going on.

Eventually, one of the older students spoke up, his deep voice carrying through the cavern. “Just what is going on?”

This led to a torrent of questions being called out rapidly. “Where are we?”

“Why are we here?”

“Who are all of these ponies?” 

With the silence that had fallen over the students finally broken, they started whispering to each other in their best attempts to figure out what was going on. It was easy to see the unease on all of their faces after being led down to the cavern. Every question asked had been on all of their minds, and they now discussed all the possibilities between themselves.

Winter was unsure of a lot of things, although now that he was broken from his thoughts, he realized that the pressure on his horn had seemed to grow the lower they got. He wondered what could be causing that, and just as he was about to ask, one of the ponies from the side quickly started trying to hush the students so she could talk.

Stepping to the center of the crowd, she rose her voice, flicking her dark green mane out of her tired purple eyes. “Most of those questions I really can’t answer for you. But I can tell you that we are sending you somewhere safer than where you are now.”

Her response only caused the murmurs between the students to rise a bit louder, even more questions starting to be asked. She rose her voice once more, using a demanding tone that all of the other scientists knew quite well. 

“Quiet!” There was a brief moment of stillness where there was no noise, before she started speaking again. “As we speak, the ponies behind me are working on constructing a mass teleportation glyph to get all of you foals out of here. Once you’re on the other side, you will each be taken care of and be put into contact with your closest family members. We’ll be sending others in behind you, and you’ll be reunited with your families before too long.”

She let the silence sit for a moment, all the foals focusing their attention on her. She gave a small nod before continuing. “The teleport will be a bit disorienting, so don’t freak out. We’ve teleported plenty of ponies and this will be no different. Just follow our instructions, and everything will be alright.”