//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: That Last Step's a Doozy 
// Story: The Turbulent Woods of Cauldron Valley 
// by Zoura3025 
//------------------------------//

Murky shook some fatigue out of her head as Ms. Writ wrapped up the afternoon lesson on Equestrian geography. Geography was, admittedly, one of Murky's favourite classes; she didn't know much about the wider world of Equestria, so she actually had to pay attention.
However, paying attention wasn't on the menu for the filly today. Her eyes decided they wanted to wander. She froze, however, when she thought she saw a unicorn filly outside of one of the school's windows, looking back at her with a wide-eyed expression.

"Honey Syrup," Murky whispered without breaking her gaze, "Is there always a unicorn outside the school?" She asked.
Honey looked over. "...Oh! That's the ghost filly," She concluded, "We call her that because she's always just outside the window; no one's ever actually talked to her."
Murky watched the 'ghost filly' closely. She thought she could see them shivering.
"...She's cold," Murky said softly, "We should help her inside, shouldn't we?" She asked.
Her staring and soft speech had started to draw attention from a few other schoolfoals.
Honey bit her lip, "Well… I guess so," She murmured.

Murky abruptly stood up, throwing on her scarf and back blanket.
Ms. Writ looked at her, "Murky, is something wrong?" She asked abruptly.
Murky didn't waste time replying. She quickly ran to the door, cracked it open, and ran out into the lightly snowed schoolyard.
"M-Murky, wait!" Honey chirped, hastily wrapping her own scarf as she darted out after Murky.
Ms. Writ looked at the rest of her students, "...No, you may not leave 10 minutes early like they did," She answered preemptively.

Murky watched as the 'ghost filly' began darting away from the schoolhouse. "W-wait!" She called, giving chase. Murky wasn't the most staminetic runner, but being taller than most fillies allowed her to slowly close the distance.
Honey, meanwhile, had to take flying leaps just to keep up, her wings flapping all they could to propel her forward.
The 'ghost filly' ran towards the forest. Cauldron Valley's woods were infamous for their strange, almost tropical foliage despite how cold it got in the winter; they were believed to host all manner of strange beasts.

Murky paid these rumours no heed. She was finally gaining on the 'ghost filly' proper, and running became easier once she passed the forest's edge.
Honey kept decent pace as she followed the other two fillies, "Murky, stop! Th-the forest is dangerous!" She chirped.
Murky shook her head, and kept going.
Now deeper into the forest, the air was surprisingly temperate. Still cold, but warm enough to pass as a cool spring afternoon, rather than a frigid winter's day.
Murky watched as the ghost filly deftly crossed a fallen log that was spanning a gorge; one with a flowing river at the bottom.

Murky followed suit, nervously hopping onto the fallen log. It let out some creaky noises beneath her weight.
Murky looked at the 'ghost filly', trepidatiously beginning to cross, "Please, wait! I just want to help you warm up!" She attempted.
The ghost filly actually did stop, turning to Murky.
Murky continued step by step across the log. She didn't notice the sounds it was making; at least, not until the most important one.
SNAP!!
Murky screamed as the log collapsed beneath her, snapping in two; the rooted half barely hung on, as the upper trunk tumbled into the water below.

Murky yelped as she felt Honey's legs wrap around her front legs, the young pegasus flapping as hard as she could. "I-I got you, Murky!" She attempted, even though they were still descending.
Murky watched in awe as the 'ghost filly' leapt from the side of the gorge, grabbing her other front leg and attempting to help her up.
Murky whined lightly as she was slowly pulled up towards the lip of the gorge. The two winged ponies were actually doing it! …For a couple minutes, anyways.
Honey yelped as her wing cramped, very suddenly going from barely providing lift to being dead weight.
The 'ghost filly' tried her hardest, but failed to hold the weight of herself and the two other fillies now reliant on her for altitude.
The ghost filly and Honey screamed as they began plummeting towards the water.

Thankfully, the hang time had given Murky just enough room to recompose herself.
Murky grunted lightly in effort as a stripe of her mane glowed purple, pulling the two other fillies close as a thick purple shield ballooned around them.
They hit the water with a loud splash; the shield thunked loudly against the rocky shallows of the raging stream. Murky yelped from the impact of hitting the shield, but managed to keep the shield intact. That was, at least, until the rooted half of the fallen tree snapped free of the earth holding it in place, the toppled stump smashing into the shield.
The shield glistened brightly with effort, being thrown into the wall of the gorge; they were over land, at least, but the third impact. Murky yelped again as they hit the wall, the shield shattering into purple sparks. Murky passed out from the effort; she had trained her magic with her mother over the past few moons, but three heavy impacts was too much for her.

Honey opened her eyes slowly as she felt Murky's grip go slack on her.
"Murky…?" She whined softly, wiggling free of Murky's leg.
She looked up at the walls of the gorge. Her wings wouldn't take her that far. She then looked back at Murky, who was passed out, and lightly scraped up from shielding the other two fillies from the tumble against the wall.
"Murky!" Honey Syrup whined, "Please, get up! Please!" She begged.
The 'ghost filly's eyes opened slowly.
Honey looked at her, "Y-you!" She shouted, voice cracking.
The 'ghost filly' whimpered and cowered behind Murky.

"This is your fault! I-if Murky hadn't seen you, she wouldn'tve run to the forest, a-and we wouldn'tve fallen, a-and…" Honey Syrup's voice became unsteady as she began to cry. She didn't know Murky was just passed out.
The 'ghost filly' looked away, their green eyes evading Honey's gaze, "I-I'm sorry," She whimpered.
Honey didn't reply at all. She just sobbed into Murky, clutching the unconscious filly as if she were the only solid thing left in the world.
The 'ghost filly' looked at her own hooves, "Th-this is all my fault…" She whimpered, "I-I should've stopped… I didn't think she'd climb the tree."
Honey wasn't listening. Her head lifted, and she stared at Murky's face, "Please… Please wake up, Murky…" She whimpered, tears still running down her cheeks.





Tincture stared at Hastily Writ with an expression somewhere between horror and rage. "What do you mean they 'ran off again'?" She asked.
Hastily Writ shrank slightly, "I'm very sorry; you know how they are. Murky does tend to march to the beat of her own drum, and-" She was cut off.
In addition to Tincture, Tinned Syrup was also standing before the teacher, only slightly more composed, "...I left for half an hour to get a treat for the foals for the end of the week. You did not think to stop either of them!?" She asked exasperatedly.
Ms. Writ shuddered, "They have a history of leaving school a bit early, I assumed they were just leaving to see Tincture early or somethi-" Once again, she didn't have time to finish her thought.
"That excuse is not acceptable," Tincture growled, "Because of you failing to assert authority over your students, two fillies are now lost."
"And," Tinned Syrup began to add, "The only witness we have says he saw them running into the woods."

Ms. Writ's eyes squeezed shut, "I'm sorry!" She yelped, "I should have told them to wait until after class!"
Tincture calmed slightly as she saw the distress Ms. Writ was in. "I'm sorry, Ms. Writ… You have to understand, as the parents of these fillies, we're just… Quite worried. It has already been close to an hour and no one has seen hide nor hair of them," She expressed, setting a hoof on Tinned Syrup's shoulder.
Tinned Syrup closed her eyes tightly, "Th-they do have a tendency to run off," She admitted, "W-we should at least give them until sunset… Perhaps they went off to play by their lonesome," She stammered.
Tincture sighed softly, ears pinning back. "That's a possibility… Perhaps they just want some time alone," She conceded.
Truthfully, neither mother was particularly appeased by these supposed explanations, but that wasn't the fault of Hastily Writ, who now looked quite terrified, cowering behind her desk.