//------------------------------//
// The Snow Falls 
// Story: A Snowy Day 
// by The Ancestor 
//------------------------------//

A biting cold wind howled through the small town of Ponyville, as a lone pony traversed the empty streets at five in the morning. The sun was beginning to rear it's radiant self from beyond the horizon, preparing to shower the ponies of Equestria in its brilliant rays of glorious gold. Each step left a neat hoofprint in the freshly laid snow with a satisfying crunch, as an aquamarine unicorn mare strolled towards her destination with a pep in her step. She fixed her pale cyan tuque that complimented her mane quite well, after a particularly strong gust of wind threatened to blow it away. The petite mare took a particularly snow-covered road at an intersection, one that many ponies tended to avoid even on sunny days.

If one was to ask anypony why Lyra Heartstrings was up and about in such an unfaustly hour, making her way to the dreaded Everfree Forest in the beggining of a steadily approaching snowstorm, they would get a uniformal answer.

She was going to look for humans, of course.

Now, that was nothing new for the mare, her exotic interest in old folktales and mythical creatures was widely know across Ponyville, most of the town's inhabitants treated her unusual hobby as just that. A vocal minority considered her interest to be bordering on obsession, but they usually tended to stay a way's away from the aquamarine unicorn, with one notable exception.

"For the last time, Lyra, you're not going anywhere in these weather conditions!" Her roommate's voice sounded just as out loud and clear in her memories, as it was yesterday's evening.

"Come oonnn, Bonnie, it's just a quick run to the forest, I'll be back in a jiffy!" Lyra pleaded, trotting nervously in place. 

"Don't you 'Bonnie' me, missie!" Bon Bon, local candymaker extraordinaire and a concerned friend of a stubborn as a mule musician retorted with a stern look in her eyes. "You'll freeze your hooves off before you make it to the Everfree!"

"I'll wear boots then!" Lyra retorted, magiking a quartet of fluffy warm boots to her person. "Besides, what if a human is in danger? The Everfree's not the safest of places!"

"And how will you help this hypothetical human all on your own? Mind you, there might be no human at all there!" 

To be fair, the candymare presented a sound arguement. There was no way to know if the latest magic power spike had anything to do with a human, most likely it was another oddity of the forest.

Still, a chance of encountering a human, however small it was, cannot be left unpersued.

"But-"

"No 'butts', Lyra!" Bon Bon said, stomping her hoof on the wooden floor. "You're not going anywhere and that's final!" 

Lyra's ears pinned to her head as she looked at the floor with a crestfallen expression, making the candymare regret her harsh tone.

"Lyra-" Bon Bon said, approaching the mare and raising her head with her hoof to face the earth pony. "-how about we wait until the morning, and then go look for your human?" She asked in a soft tone. "How does that sound?"

"I'd like that, Bonnie." Lyra replied with a smile, hugging her friend. "I'd like that a lot."

Of course, upon waking up and noticing the early signs of an upcoming blizzard, and checking the weather schedule she was devastated to find out that they weren't going to go human searching, not in two weeks anyways, and by that time the search would be pointless.

So, after leaving a haphazardly written note explaining her absense, she quickly gathered her belongings and went off on her wild goose chase. Or human chase, if you prefer.

Age old trees surrounded the small aquamarine pony as the thick green canopy blotted the sun, forcing Lyra to walk in near complete darkness. The crunch of snow gradually morphed into the cracks of broken wood as she moved deeper into the forest, silently thanking her lucky stars that all animals went into hibernation during the winter. 

A rustling from the nearby bushes snapped Lyra out of her thoughts, a testament to how alert she was at the moment. Squinting at the greenery she wasn't able to see anything, yet she knew something was there. Trying her luck, she coughed politely and prepared to speak.

"Hello? Is anyhuman there?" She asked as softly as possible, after all, the human might not know ponish, but they could discern her intentions from intonation alone. Seconds passed with no response, and she surmised it was time to employ additional measures. She pinned her ears to her head, and crouched in an attempt to look as small and as nonthreatening as possible. "Please come out, I won't hurt you, I swear!" Silence was her answer once more, and she was beginning to think her imagination was playing tricks on her when something very alarming caught her attention.

A pair of bright green eyes stared at her hungrily, and suddenly Lyra felt a chill go down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold weather. She began to backpedall, not letting her eyes leave the two green orbs that might spell her doom. She yelped in surprise as she hit a tree in her blind retreat, eliciting a menacing growl from the bush in responce. She took her eyes of the greenery for but a second, just to ascertain her surroundings, but when she looked back she saw one of the scariest things a pony could see.

A scraggy collection of twigs, branches and leaves slowly emerged from the bush, its eyes tracking every movement of the small pony. Lyra could still see the bush from whisch the creature emerged, as the timberwolf had many holes in its frame, looking fairly malnourished, if such thing could even be said about their kind. The unicorn stood paralyzed as the timberwolf approached her, slowly but steadily. Lyra snapped out of her stupor when the smell of rotting wood entered her nostrils, and did the first thing that came to mind.

"HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!" Agitated by her yelling, the predator pounced at the mare, ferociously scratching and biting at the small unicorn. Waves of pain eminating from the underside of her belly hit Lyra like a train, eliciting a pained scream. Gathering her strength, she bucked the creature, staggering it and giving her a chance to get away. Just as she made the first step, her left hoof caught on something and she tripped, falling face first onto the forest bed.

The pain in her underbelly was nothing compared to one she felt radiating from her left hoof as she heard the growl of a fast approaching predator from right behind her. Her vision blurred as she felt something warm and sticky pool underneath her. 

An thunderous boom and a continous ringing sound was the last thing she heard before drifting into unconsciousness.