It’s horribly cold outside, food is getting scarce all the while their tribe is getting hungrier by the minutes. The endless winter caused by the wendigos was starting to take its toll on the three tribes that are battling for survival. Each had their own territory, and they would fiercely defend it to hog all of its resources for themselves.
Out on the cold tracks, there were two earth ponies wandering the woods in search of bays and water. The older one was a stallion who had done this many times already while the younger pony was a mare who was sent to aid the stallion in his search.
“Remember to always look above from to time to time. Our fruits are in the trees, not the ground.”
The mare was taken out of her thoughts by the ragged voice of the stallion. “Aye aye!”
He sighed as his eyes swung from left to right to make sure there was no danger. “And don’t forget to make sure there’s no danger. You gotta look around and always keep tracks of your surroundings. That is, unless you want to get lost in this frozen wasteland.”
“I know, I know. That’s what they always say.”
Suddenly, something caught the stallion’s attention. It was a small cottage, just on a small path on his right. There must be an earth pony in there, or at least, it was used by an earth pony. Anyhow, it wouldn’t hurt for them to warm up inside before they’ll keep on going with their scavenging.
“See that cottage? We’re going to stay in there for a few minutes before we resume. Got it?” he said in a commanding voice. The mare knew she only had the illusion of a choice, but she didn’t feel the need to oppose his wishes. She too, was feeling cold.
“I’m cool with that.”
Inside, the cottage was empty. No sign of any pony in here, though there are still some furniture remaining. From the looks of it, they have been used not long ago. There was a fireplace with burnt logs inside. Good, that should do just fine for these two.
The stallion was perhaps a bit too focussed on the fireplace for he did not notice something out of the ordinary but thankfully, the mare did.
“Is that like some sort of shrine?”
The old stallion turned his head immediately. Just on the far end of the cottage was a bunch of dimly lit candles surrounding a large painting hunched on the wall. The painting displayed the leader of the earth ponies, Chancellor Puddinghead in a triumphant pose.
“Wow, whoever painted this is really good.” He approached the painting, admiring it for a couple of seconds before an idea popped in his mind. “We should bring it back to the chancelor, he’ll surely be pleased. Hay, he might even give us a special favor if we can convince him that we made this!
The mare smiled, greatly pleased with his idea. “That sounds great. But how are we going to bring it back? It’s a little big...” she said as she looked back at the door, hoping that nopony would see nor hear their little scheme.
The stallion scoffed. “Oh please. I may be old, but I'm still strong enough to lift something like this.” He got on his hind legs and touched it to get a feel for the painting. “Now watch and learn gi-” His hoof passed through the painting. But how?
He got back on all four and curious to see if there was something on the other side, he stuck his head through.
“Ok, how long is this going to take? You said you could lift it, so why aren’t you-”
She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the stallion with his head lodged inside the painting.
“Wha- How are you doing this? Is this a magical painting?” the words left her mouth almost instantly, making them nearly incomprehensible.
She trotted over to the old pony. His body suddenly jolted for a mere second as she got close to him.
“So, uh... You’re gonna let me see through?”
He didn’t respond nor did he show any sign of acknowledgment. Irritated, the mare pulled on him with her hooves.
“Hey! Quit being self-”
The stallion’s body flopped to the ground as blood spilled all over the floor. His head was missing. Paralysed, the mare stared at the corpse in a mixture of fear and disbelief. The blood dripping out of the headless body slipped through the cracks of the cottage’s floor, hitting the ground underneath as it echoed through the interior.
Before she even realised what happened, something powerful grabbed her hind legs and began to drag her into the painting as she saw a giant green mass latch onto the dead stallion. Panicking, she scrambled for anything to grab on to, but there was nothing that could help her resist the pull of the thing.
“Help! Somepony! Please help m-”
With one swift pull, she disappeared alongside the headless corpse of the stallion. The dim lights on the candles were blown away by a strong gust of wind and the painting... faded away alongside the candles. The cottage was empty again.