//------------------------------//
// Chapter I: What Goes Up, Must Come Down 
// Story: Frigid 
// by Yuri Petrovitch 
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Our tale begins in the humble little town of Prospect Lake, an isolated community planted in the far Northern region of the expansive Canadian wilderness. Far from the conviences of modern civilization, such as good cell reception and more than one Starbucks. Truly, a small hodunk town cut off from the wonders of the twenty first century.

At the moment, the town was facing one of its worst storms; nothing like it had been seen in the last decade, the wind howled like a savage beast, prowling the desolate streets looking for a way inside people's homes. Snow came down in sheets so thick that if anything stood out in the open it would have been covered in seconds, and buried in minutes. Frost covered thermometers reported that outside the air was reaching well beyond sub zero. The storm was brutal and malevolent, anyone caught outside was either mad or had a death wish.

There was one person though that was definitely not suffering from the cold, not in the least.

Currently, said individual was enjoying some rarely caught rest, as he slept in his cozy little cot; sheltered from the freezing arctic air by several layers of blankets, along with a large down duvet. It was nice and toasty under those blankets, nothing could harm him so long as he had this barrier of warmth to protect him. The raging blizzard outside couldn't breach the stronghold that he had created; Damian had constructed the ultimate fortress against the cold, and he used every minute of it to dream peacefully.

Then that fateful horrid moment struck when Damian was thrown from his dreamland; the phone on the nightstand rung out into the small bedroom, its chime worse than the screech of a harpy.

Sleeping under the sheets the man cringed at the noise, wishing whoever it was to give up and call again later; but Damian was granted no such mercy as whoever it was on the other line kept trying to get through. The phone kept up it's acoustic attack until the walls crumbled around Damian; groggy, he opened his sleep blurred eyes to face this nemesis. Shifting his eyes to the wall-clock found that it was nearly four in the morning. Groaning out a curse, he picked up the phone.

"Hello? Walker speaking," the urge to just put the phone back and ignore it rose, but since he had already answered he knew that he couldn't. Whoever this was had better have a good reason for waking me.

"Yeah this is your boss, get your ass out of bed, I need you down at the office now," a gruff voice commanded from the small electronic speaker. "We just got our packages ready and they need to be delivered pronto."

"...Mr. Blake, with all due respect there is a mother of all storms trying to bury the town alive right now. There's no way I could get out in this weather, whatever it is it can wait," Damian's throat itched as if he hadn't had a sip of water in years, "Plus today was supposed to be my day off remember?"

"Yeah yeah, I know that it's your day of the month to sit back and fart around all day; but these orders are important enough to revoke your little vacation. It's in the job description that up here at the arctic circle vacations are rare," The man on the line said with annoyance. "The weather report said it would clear up in an hour or so, you shouldn't have any problems by the time we get the Aurora packed. I'm not missing a chance to get these deliveries made, so get your butt out of bed or you might not have your job tomorrow," the line went dead as Mr. Blake hung up. Yeah, and by tomorrow I won't have my job anyways since I'll be six feet under, Damian thought to himself.

True, he had signed the contract, read the fine print front to back, but as far as he had known at the time the thought of Safety Firstwas always the top priority. How naive he was.

Now he could just refuse, state it wasn't safe to work in those conditions, he might even have won an appeal in court if he was sacked for not doing what Mr. Blake had ordered him to do, which as paramount to jumping off a cliff. Yet, deep down Damian knew it would just kill his career, and Mr.Blake had many connections to make sure of it.

I've come too far to throw it all away now.

Reluctantly tossing off the covers Damian made his way to the apartment's tiny bathroom, ice cold air numbing his feet and skin as he entered the small washroom. Looking into the mirror he found a bedraggled man staring back, eyes lined with dark rings. "G'morning beautiful." Damian ran a hand through his short chestnut brown hair, noticing a few grey hairs starting to poke up; it was kind of depressing since he just turned twenty-seven a month ago. Dark stubble had appeared on his face and Damian knew that he should probably shave it soon, but when his hand reached for the razor he decided to only trim it instead taking it all away. The end result was an even stubble that outlined his faced, looking back in the mirror Damian still looked like shit, just a more organized pile of it.

After a while, a freshly-showered Damian walked iback nto the apartment's kitchen. He wore a grey thick woolen sweater as well as his favorite pair of black snow pants; he'd gotten them two years back on a snowboarding trip in Whistler. Together with a black and red scarf his mother had knitted for him, he felt warm despite the freezing air around him.

Next paycheck I'm fixing the heater.

Kicking open the fridge revealed only a half finished bag of milk, a six pack of Molson missing half its cans, and the remains of last night's dinner; a box of Tim Horton's Doughnuts. A tired sigh left the man's lips and he thought of the trek he had to make to the only supermarket in town; though it was unlikely they would be open with their front doors buried under two meters of snow. "I knew I should have stocked up sooner, but oh no, I had to procrastinate. Now it looks like I might have to eat only crackers and jerky for dinner." With a huff Damian snatched the box of donuts and poured himself a bowl of Fruit Loops.

Half an hour after his boss had blackmailed him to come to work Damian was outside ridding his snowmobile, plowing though snow drifts and weaving between the sparse buildings that made up Prospect Lake, though at times it was hard to tell which was which as the snow and ice practically submerging entire buildings. 

None of the lights were on in the homes he passed, with only sparse lamp posts glowing eerily as snow still fell through the gloom. Damian looked to the gray skies he noticed that for a moment the falling snow had let up; just a bit though, as if Father Winter was trying to lull everyone into thinking that the worst was over.

The town sat a few hundred kilometers North West from Whitehorse with British Columbia to the South and Alaska to the direct west. There wasn't much to the town besides a Tim Hortons and a hospital. The population never really went above a thousand, and if it wasn't for its job servicing the pipeline that ran from the Arctic oil platforms down to South then it would have turned into a ghost town long ago. The other saving grace for the town was that it was connected to the Alaska Highway. This road access combined with the lake that the town was named after created its second purpose; an airport, of sorts.

In winter seasons the lake's ice became thick enough that you could drop a Ford Ranger on it and nothing would happen. The Lake was also the only perfectly flat land in the area; the surrounding landscape was filled with steep hills and mountains. It was much easier to use ice skies on the planes in winter and floats in summer than it was to carve out the necessary land for a proper runway. As Damian past a crop of pines the airport came into view, the large steel hangers sitting on the frozen shores like giant toy boxes.

The trip didn't take long and soon enough Damian was greeted at the front door by the lumbering form of his boss, Mr. Blake. The man stood between Damian and the sweet safety of the warm office. Mr.Blake was in his late fifties with balding grey hair, he was one of those morbidly obese people that you see every now and then with a weight somewhere near 160 kg that tried to fit into a body only 160 cm's tall.

Word around the break room was that Mr. Blake had actually tried to keep his figure, using it as an extra layer against the cold. Several jokes sifted about the crews that his mother was a grizzly and his father a sea lion, but what sealed the deal was the thick bristly mustache Blake kept on his upper lip; behind his back the nickname The Walrus stuck.

"Why didn't you get here sooner Mr. Walker?" Mr. Blake demanded, his fat acting like a road block as Damian tired to enter the company office.

Damian really disliked the man; the guy was a modern slave driver. If there was a profit to be made then you could count on Mr. Blake to try and claim it; mostly at his employee's expense though, like now. Worst of all, he was actually useful and talented when it came to running a business and working the complex system of supplies that each plane needed to run, so the CEO back in Vancouver didn't even try and get rid him.

"Today was supposed to be my day off, sir. That and there's the whole blizzard thing going on outside that slowed me, I'm sure you must have missed it," Damian snarked as he pushed around the blubber and made for the hanger.

Mr. Blake scrunched his face up in contempt, "Heh, excuses, you should already be used to the commute by now. From now until the New Year I've canceled all vacations in order to deal with this backlog of shipments," Damian shot his head around to look in disbelief as Blake held up a filled out form and passed it to Damian, the smile on Mr. Blake's face would have given Jig Saw nightmares as he sneered. "It's been approved by the top."

There wasn't any doubt as Damian looked it over, the form was official. Mr. Blake took back the form and handed a folder back, "In here are some of the details about the flight, I suggest you give it a look over before you leave the ground in twenty minutes, so get going. I don't want to miss this window of opportunity the weather has given us." Mr. Blake turned on his heels and started to walk back to his office, "Oh, and happy holidays," The walking whale of a man left Damian in the hall to look on in horror and disbelief.

A tan hand came to rest on Damian's shoulder, "Ah don't worry too much, I'm sure the boss is going to have a stroke soon enough, and when it happens we can raid his stash of Twinkies," Damian turned to meet his friend's grinning face. "I even have a bet riding on that he'll keel over before Christmas."

"Thanks Riel, save some of those for me would you?" Damian laughed and playfully hit his friends shoulder. It was good to see a friendly face, "Though I still think him ordering us into the air in this weather is suicide."

"Yeah, I can understand, but we really do have a major issue here with delayed shipments. The boss is just trying to solve the crisis anyway he can really, even risking a flight like now," Riel gave a sympathetic smile and started down the hall.

"Today's flight is for a research group planning to set up camp along the Mackenzie River just south of Great Bear Lake. The team is going to monitor migrations of some of the local wildlife for a few months. They already have their gear set up; all they need is a stockpile of preserved foods."

"So this is just a glorified grocery flight?" The two passed the break room and picked up a cup of watered down coffee. The coffee was terrible, but at least it was warm.

"Yep, oddly enough though there isn't any meat in the creates; apparently quite a few of the egg heads are vegans and wouldn't work out there if any of their food ate other food at one point. Apparently a large sum of their funding is also from Green Peace, so that explains part of it as well."

Damian just hummed at that, personally he didn't understand why vegans were all perfiniky with their food and such, but it wasn't really his place to judge. His own diet was more preservatives than actual food anyways.

The two walked along in silence until Riel spoke up again, "So Walker, are you going to send anything back to your folks? My uncle just finished with preserving some Caribou meat from the last hunting trip, there's enough that I could give you some for your parents back in Burnaby."

"Nah, thanks for the offer but they're actually getting sick of the stuff. Frankly I don't even know what to give them for Christmas, we don't really talk all that much."

"Ah, that's right, your ma wasn't too happy with you coming up here, kept on calling this place a 'death trap' and all that. Quite frankly I'm a little insulted by that, I don't go calling other peoples homes lethal." Riel put on a face of mock disgust. Riel was a Métis and had lived his entire life up in Prospect Lake, his Quebec Father and South Tutchone mother had met when a French Canadian geological survey team had visited the area.

"Yeah, but at least I told her not to send any Starbucks coupons this time. I mean come on, I'm in the Yukon, sure it's cold but a Starbucks just isn't up here. Though, this time I think she's just sending a Timmy's card instead."

"Well it's the thought that counts."

The pair walked along the halls of the office until they arrived at one of the spacious hangers. Damian stopped when he saw his plane, his face drawn in concerned and worry. Inside the hanger a ground crew was busy going about loading up the companies DHC-6 Twin Otter full of reinforced crates. The red and white skin of the 400 series Otter clashed with the safety orange colour that the boxes where painted. As another create was loaded Damian imagined the fuselage sinking lower and lower on its skiis. Each meter squared create looked to be over three hundred pounds and the amount of creates the creates being loaded worried him. The Aurora was a sturdy craft, but it wasn't invincible.

"Just how big is this shipment?" he asked Riel, if they overloaded the plane it would likely spell disaster and death. "How badly is it messing with my center of gravity?"

Riel took a clipboard from a nearby workstation and gave a whistle, "I don't think you'd like it..."

Damian grabbed the clipboard and looked it over, "Three thousand pounds?! That's insane; it goes way over the plane's safe limit! If I go up in that I won't even leave the ground!"

A few of the workers turned their heads at the outcry, but continued their work after Mr. Blake showed up in the hanger. Damian stormed up angrily to his boss and shoved the clipboard into his face. "Are you trying to kill me?!" Damian demanded as his nostrils flared, the air from his lungs turning into mist in front of him.

Mr. Blake calmly lowered the offending document and stared at Damian with cold eyes and spoke with little emotion, "Mr. Walker I'm just trying to untangle this cluster fuck this blizzard has given me. These people wanted their supplies half a week ago, and if they don't get it then there's going to be starving scientist in need of a rescue. If that happens their project will fail and this company will get sued to high hell for it. This company is currently teetering towards bankruptcy, if this job doesn't get off the ground because my pilot is a coward then when everything is said and done I'll make sure that you never get hired again!" The tone Mr. Blake used gave no room to challenge him, and Damian knew that the flight was important. It's just that his life had more value.

Mr.Blake calmed himself and went back to his business mode as he looked over the charts, "Don't worry about being over the maximum weight restrictions, I've compensated by calculating the amount of fuel you need and by removing some extra weight. You alone are just under the limit."

As Damian heard the last part, he looked to his friend and co-pilot, Riel shrugged as he shook his head, "Sorry about this bro, but he's right. You're flying solo on this trip."

There was a shout from the ground crew and the hanger doors ground open, letting in a maelstrom of ice cold air and snow to blow inside. Damian shivered down in his very bones, maybe it was the cold, but he knew that it was a bad omen. Turning back to Mr. Blake Damian gave him his worst scowl, despite the cold a burning sensation churned in Damian's stomach. "Fine, I'll fly, but if I die out there I will personally haunt you to your grave and see to it that you burn in hell."

Mr. Blake continued to fix his steel grey eyes at Damian's, "It's a good thing I don't believe in the afterlife."











Fifty minutes had gone by since Damian had brought the Aurora into the matte gray skies. Turbulence rocked the plane from side to side as the wind smashed against its metal skin like waves of an angry ocean. Outside the cockpit Damian couldn't see more than a few dozen meters in front of the plane, essentially forcing him to fly blind with only his instruments and GPS to help guild him. He didn't like to rely on the instruments with his life, but he had little choice in the matter. So the pilot kept his altitude above nine thousand feet above ground level and hoped that he wouldn't run across Mt. Everest.

Though there was a blizzard raging along on the ground, at the current altitude the storm seemed almost benign. Sure the constant turbulence and blindness were bad, but in comparison to the almost deadly takeoff that the Aurora and its pilot had nearly suffered it was nothing. When a gust of wind had nearly pushed the Otter into a nearby mountain straight after take off Damian had nearly crapped his pants. He made a mental note to ask Riel if he had recorded that and to deck that fat prick when he got back for forcing him into this situation. His career be dammed.

Damian's thoughts drifted back to how he had gotten into this career of being a bush pilot; back when he was just a kid he had always wanted to fly around the world, seeing new things and going on adventures. He really had obsessed over anything to do with flying, from going to see air shows, to watching documentaries on Amelia Earhart. Now that he was in the business of flying across the vast wilderness for a living he had doubts about the whole choice of profession, it had lost its magic with the freezing temperatures and near suicide jobs. In fact, this wasn't the first time he'd been sent out in these kinds of conditions. Maybe it's time for a change in careers?

The Aurora was cruising along in the clouds when a sudden gut-wrenching wail pierced the sound of the twin Pratt and Whitney engines and buffeting winds.

"W-what the fuck was that?" Damian quietly whispered to himself, every hair on his body was standing on end as goose bumps rose along his skin. Lead balls had formed in his stomach, sparks of electricity tingled the small of Damian's neck along with the sensation of spiders running along his spine. The sound was completely otherworldly and foreign; it brought up such a raw primal sense of fear that Damian had to force himself to keep his hands on the yoke.

The young pilot checked his instruments to see if there was any immediately wrong with the engines, even double checking everything over again when he found no issue with his plane.

The banshee screeched once more into the plane, the blood curdling wail sounding closer than it did before. Acid-like fear welled up in Damian's chest as he searched the skies for the source. There had to be a reasonable explanation for it, like the engine was overworked and was starting to make these noises. Although there were old stories of gremlins ripping apart planes and other such ghost stories Damian didn't believe a word of them, there was no way something like that was real.

Peering out into the snow falling in front of the plane, Damian saw something that would question his very sanity. Out of the snow a ghostly image of a horse head formed out of the blue, it was soon followed shortly by the rest of its body.  It looked like a horse from the shape of its features, but its ethereal body clearly denounced any relation to the ones that ate grass on the land below. It was the size of the average horse and had a similar torso, the only major difference bedsides it being able to fucking fly and  coloured blue was that it had no rear legs, it's body tapering into a wispy point.

The eyes that embedded its head were like two bright stars, as they looked into Damian's own he could sense the blinding hate contained inside.The specter seemed like it had no problem traveling along at two hundred kilometers an hour, in reverse no less as it was always facing towards the plane in front of it. Damian felt frozen to the spot in terror as this apparently mythological nightmare bore its gaze into the plane. He could only look on in horror as another ghostly monstrosity had joined the first, followed by a third.

"Holy Hell, I must be tripping balls," a punch to Damian's leg confirmed his hunch, he was awake. "Damn, I still think I'm having a bad trip though, though I know I didn't do any drugs. If Riel spiked my coffee I swear I'll have to repay him for this!"

When the three ghost's were brought together they all started to screech out in unison, tripling the effect of their horrid wailing the one had performed before, but this time it sounded like a few broken sirens trying to sing in unison. Damian winced in pain as the sonic barrage hit his eardrums, even though they were contained inside his pilots head set. A warm feeling of water in his ears prompted Damian to remove the set to feel his ear lobes, when he removed his gloved hand blood had coated his index finger. The monster's screams had literally caused his ears to bleed. 

At the same time though something else was happening; somewhere deep inside Damian a voice rang out in his mind. It was one of those instinctual voices people get when their brain ether tells you to fight or flight, You are not going to die here, not now. These things may not be real, or they may and you are going to most likely get killed by them. But you are a Walker, at the very least you're going to die trying, his subconscious ordered him in a steeled voice. Ironically enough what the voice had chosen was both fight and flight.

"But what can I do? I don't want to believe that this is happening, I mean come on? Ghost horses? If it isn't all in my head then I'm probably screwed aren't I?" Damian Walker asked the air, wondering if he'd finally lost it.

Well you could just do nothing, since they might as well be just a figment of your imagination. The voice reasoned, or you could try and dodge.

"Dodge wha-" one of the banshees cut Damian off by ramming itself into the cockpit windshield, knocking the Aurora about and causing Damian to lurch foreword against his straps. There was a sickening cracking sound as a bolt of pain reached along Damian's left shoulder. The world momentarily turned white, the man screamed out in agony as searing pain from what felt like a fractured collarbone forced Damian to come to grips with the situation: There are Ghost Horses attacking my plane in the middle of a blizzard. Lovely!

Damian sat back in his seat and faced the abominations in front of him through a now cracked pane of curved glass, "Alright you freaks of nature, you want a piece of me?! Come at me bros!" Nothing like a bit of pain to get the old rage pot boiling.

The ghosts looked between each other, apparently discussing something between themselves. Their focus then centered back on Damian again as they let loose another chorus of ear splitting shrieks. This time when they began their assault Damian was ready. As one of them charged the Aurora Damian pushed the nose down and rolled to the right, the result was that when the banshee tried to ram the fuselage it got a face full of turboprop engine.

The monster soon realized what was happening, but it was too far gone into its charge to dodge out of the way of spinning blades. There was a whimpering screech and a thunderous crash like a train hitting a dog. Damian gritted his teeth as he braced himself for the impact, the shock jarred his bones and for a moment he thought that the Aurora wouldn't survive the collision. In mere seconds the once fearsome ghost was nothing more than ethereal shreds floating into the storm far behind.

"Take that Casper!" Damian let out a whoop as he brought the plane level again.

The engine on the other hand was now a crumpled mess; its propeller was mangled and had stopped dead on its axle. A spark had met some fuel as the entire engine block burst into flames leaving a trail of oily smoke in its wake. "Oh shit!" With a flick of a few switches the engine was cut from the fuel line, it wouldn't put the fire out but it would prevent the fire from reaching along the gas lines to the fuel tanks. If that happened then the resulting explosion would knock the wing right off. With only one engine Damian knew that there was no way he could make it to his destination, but at least he was alive and with one engine he could still land safely enough. Hopefully...

The other two witnessing their comrade being tuned to ghost confetti started to thrash about in a blood rage... well that is if they had blood. Once the banshee horses stopped their thrashing they rounded on the Aurora, bearing down on it with all they had. Welp, there goes landing softly; time for engine number two to finish this off.

"You fellas just don't know when to quit do ya? Well here goes round two!" With a bit of timing Damian pulled the same maneuver again, this time with the right engine. Once more the Twin Otter was knocked around like a pinata as the Aurora crashed into another one of the beasts. Damian was slammed forward in his harness, the belt arrest apparently failed as his face met the instrument panel. 

For a moment Damian's world was blurred by dizziness and pain, in his mouth he could taste the metallic tang of iron. A tooth jarring screech of metal on metal filled the Aurora's cockpit as the last remaining engine was torn from its housing leaving a gaping space in the right wing. With nothing pulling the plane forewords the Aurora began its free fall.

As the plane started to glide Damian knew that it wasn't over yet. The windscreen now had multiple spider web cracks across its surface, but even with the cracks in the way Damian could see the remaining spirit hovering in front of the plane. The two locked eyes in a stare-down until the spirit grunted something, and if Damian was right, it started to laugh manically. Soon out of thin air the other two spirits manifested themselves, completely whole again with not a scratch on them.

"Well now that's just not fair," Damian breathed. What did it take to kill these things! Oh... right, they're ghosts.

Their leader screeched out a final command to the other two. Soon the nightmares began to circle the falling craft, the snow following in their path as they galloped around faster and faster until they turned into a screaming blue blur. Lightning shot all around the helpless plane, a few times actually hitting the Twin Otter causing a fire to breakout across the right wing as the fuel tank was hit. The sound of wind crashing around as well as the spirit's own shrieks grew to unbearable levels, forcing the human inside to cringe in pain once more. Damian grew nauseous just watching the merry-go-round of horror spin seemingly out of control. Though that may have been the G-forces from the spiral dive he was in.

Fighting with the controls to pull the Aurora from the death spiral was a lot harder without both engines apparently. Maybe it was luck or skill, but Damian forced the wreck wings level and pulled out of the steep dive.

Moments after the recovery from the spin the torrent slowly came to a stop along with the noise of the spirits. A second past, then two, nothing seemed to be happening. 
"Phew, I thought they'd never leave; for a moment there I thought I as a goner. When I get back home I'm going straight to the History channel, I'm sure they'd love to hear about this," though now when Damian looked back at the whole event it seemed way too unreal, anyone he talked to about this might as well think he'd gone mad; he could see the headlines now "Insane pilot crashes plane due to hoax Horse Spirits." Knowing Blake he'd try and strangle him to death for ruining the company's property while battling otherworldly apparitions. 

But Damian knew what he saw and felt, no matter how insane it might sound; he knew that those 'things' were real.

When the haggard pilot took a look outside he found no trace of the mysterious ghost horses. Even the storm seemed to have vanished along with the apparitions, leaving a nice view of a night sky...wait a minute, when the plane had taken off it was only ten in the morning. Even if he was near the North Pole the sky shouldn't look like it was close to midnight.

Damian looked outside once again and found that he was looking at the forested ground below as it came rushing up to greet him. I hope you like pain, the little voice in the back of Damian's mind spoke, because you're going to be in a world of hurt soon.











"Tia, I'm hungry," a tiny voice spoke out amongst the dark forest of snow, "And I'm cold."

"Hush now Lulu, I'll find us somethingto eat soon... We're almost back home, so just hold out a bit longer, okay?" Celestia spoke softly to her sister. Luna silently nodded back with a smile and the two continued their trot through the pines. A half-buried root caught the little dark blue filly on her hoof; she tripped and fell face first into the deep snow. Immediately Luna jumped right back up and grinned like a foal; Celestia fussed at the fall, but Luna just shrugged it off like it was nothing. The elder sister was proud that Luna was starting to grow up, not too long ago Luna would have cried at such a similar tumble.

A shiver etched along Celestia's back as the cold night air started to get to her. Looking up Celestia could tell from the clouds that it was going to get even colder; the dark foreboding clouds from this morning had turned into silverish puffy ones, spots of night sky poked through as the cloud cover was starting to dissipate. Those clouds may have been pouring snow on the ground for the longest time, but they also acted as a container, keeping the relatively warm air beneath them. With an open sky it meant that the temperature would drop to lethal levels. They needed to find shelter from the cold and fast.

The pair walked amongst the frosted pines until the trees broke into a clearing, a small field of snow sat before a tall stone cliff that stretched above the pine tops. A path was cut into the side of the stone wall, crafted by the elements for an unknowable amount of time. It led the sisters half way up the cliff side to a hidden cave, the entrance just low enough for Celestia to trot into its mouth without hitting her horn on the ceiling. Luna ran past Celestia laughing all the way, her small body easily passing the entrance without a worry.

The interior of the cave was pitch black, only after Celestia used a light spell did the jagged surface of the cave appear. It was cramped, dirty, and damp, but most importantly it was safe. Luna had found it after she'd fallen from the cliff above several days ago. The fall had given the filly a few scrapes and a sprained hind leg, but after a week Luna had fully recovered and was able to prance around again, like now.

Near the back of the cave and around a cluster of stalagmites was what the sister's called home. There wasn't much in the way of furnishings, just a pine needle bed, a few trinkets from past travels, and a beginner's book of spells Celestia had "borrowed" from a traveling elderly unicorn. Celestia collapsed onto the makeshift bed, the day's adventure to find some food had drained much of her energy. The bouncing blue ball of fur on the other hoof hadn't run out of energy yet, if nothing else she seemed to gain more of it as the night progressed.

"Luna, why don't you get some sleep," with her hoof Celestia patted the ground next to where she lay.

"But I don't wanna!" Luna scrunched her nose at the thought of going to bed so early.

Celestia didn't argue back, instead the white mare stared at the filly, her pink eyes boring into Luna's turquoise. Eventually all resistance left Luna as she cringed under the "stare."

"S-sorry," Luna squeaked apologetically, looking down at her hooves.

"It's alright. Why don't you come over here and get some rest," Celestia smiled and patted the ground next to her once more. Luna trotted over and lay next to her sister, her small form huddled up next to her big sister's. The pine needle bed was itchy at best, but the warmth of her sister made it bearable. The two ponies laid there on the cave floor in silence, just enjoying the others presence.

As the silence lasted Celestia thought about their situation and what best to do about their next meal. It was getting harder to get any food these days with the Great Storm ruining all the crops. The famine was affecting everywhere that she knew of; the Earth Pony Tribe, the Pegasus Tribe, even the Unicorn Tribe was suffering from starvation. Food for "others" just wasn't available, and even if there wasn't the famine Celestia doubted that they would have given Luna or her any at all, to them they were just "monsters."

The number of times the sisters had been chased out of town was large, each time a mob with pitch forks and torches ran after them their hope dropped a little lower. They had yet to find a proper place to call "home", a place that the two could live in peace and happiness without being judged by their horns and wings. Celestia knew that there had to be a place like that out there somewhere, perhaps where their parent's had lived, where ever that was... 

For now the sisters got by living in the woods and scavenging food where they could find it.

"Hey sis, why are we the only ones with horns and wings?" Luna suddenly piped up, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she asked the tough question that even her big sister didn't know the answer for.

Celestia gave the question a moment of thought before she replied, "Well, I guess it's the same reason why Unicorns have their horns and Pegasi have their wings, each belongs to their own Tribe. I'm certain that we belong to a pony Tribe, just a small one that nopony knows about."

"Really? Because I thought that from what the villagers said we were 'monsters,' like the ones that hide in the dark and hurt ponies," Luna let out a sad grunt and laid her head on her fore hooves.

"No! We are not monsters, just different. Don't let those other pony's words get to you," Celestia ran a hoof through her little sister's light blue mane.

Luna nuzzled her sister, "Okay Tia. You're not a monster as well."

Celestia gave out a soft chuckle, "Alright, now get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, so get some rest."

"Goodnight, I love you big sis," Luna laid her muzzle down again and closed her eyes.

"I love you too little sis."











It may have been an hour or so later that Luna opened her eyes again, a shine of adventure inside each teal eye. Luna didn't feel much like sleeping at night, even though everypony else became sleepy at night oddly enough she didn't. When the moon was out she felt energized and wide awake, especially when there was a full moon like tonight's. It was as if she was one of the owls that lived in the woods that slept during the day and stayed up all night. What was that called again? Nautical? Noctronal? Nocturnal! That was it! Little Luna reasoned that that must be what she was. Though Tia didn't like the night for some reason, Luna couldn't fathom why though, the stars were so pretty at night and the moon was so beautiful! It must be because she didn't want to miss her sleep.

Luna looked over at her big sister and watched her to make sure that she was fast asleep. Eventually after watching Tia long enough she knew that she was fast asleep, several hoof pokes later it was confirmed. 'Super Top Secret Mission to Star Gaze' was a go!

Carefully Luna inched away from her sister's side, the lack of warmth chilling Luna's small body. Once she was on her hooves, Luna silently weaved along the stalagmites. Luna didn't need any light spells to see where she was going since her eyes naturally could see in the dark. Like a shadow warrior Luna made for the mouth of the cave, her sister said that she shouldn't be alone so close to the woods, but Luna just wanted to gaze at the stars. What harm can a little peek at the night sky do anyways?

Soon enough the cave entrance came into view as silver light washed the cave walls and snow with a dim light; Luna became excited since it meant that the sky was clear enough for the moon to shine though! As the little violet-blue filly rounded a bend in the cave a mixture of odd sounds perked at her ears. Luna stopped in her tracks and swiveled her ears around to get a better reception. It sounded unlike anything she had heard before; there was the sound of several whinnies, though they didn't sound like anypony that she knew. There was also another sound out there that Luna couldn't recognize; it was a swooshing, whistle like noise, like wind blowing through a tree, but at the same time it wasn't. It was odd.

Luna exited the cave into the snow beyond, her hooves grew numb and she had started to shiver from the cold, but her curiosity kept her standing there to search for the mysterious noise. She looked all around the outside of the cave, but the source of the sounds didn't come from the silent woods. It sounded too distant, but as she listened the sounds grew closer.

Looking up into the sky Luna discovered the origins of the racket, up and far off in the distance in the starry night sky. The filly's breath caught at the sight, she had never seen anything like it. Streaming across the late night sky were several blue ponies flying circles around a falling red star. The star grew brighter as it neared the cave, turning from a small pin prick into size of a pebble. As the spec of light became larger Luna started to get a clearer picture of what it was.

The star puzzled Luna; the falling star looked like a bird from its shape, but it was much too large to be any bird she knew of. The star bird didn't flap its wings as it glided along; they also looked rigid and unmovable like they were made of smooth stone. Bright orange flames spewed from its wings, leaving a thick track of smoke in its flight path. The fires shone like a beacon in the darkness; for a moment Luna watched with awe as the star bird flew amongst the valley, going dangerously close to the trees. In a moment Luna realized that the big bird was probably hurt.

As she watched the scene unfold the three ponies suddenly flew off, flying past a mountain and out of sight, it also sounded like they were laughing all the way. Humph, those meanie ponies left that poor star bird when it needed their help, Luna was sickened that they would just leave someone in need like that. The bird seemed to be in major trouble as it started to dive for the snow covered trees in the forest. There was a dull thud as the bird crashed into a crop of fir trees not too far away in the snow capped valley below. 

Luna knew that she had to help the bird, it could be seriously injured. There was only one problem though; Luna needed Celestia to go into the woods, but if she woke her sister up then Luna would have to admit to sneaking away at night and disobeying her sister's words. If she found out about Luna's star gazing then Luna doubted that she could get away with it again. But the bird really needed their help.

0A pillar of smoke started to snake into the sky from the burning birdie, as soon as Luna saw the black smoke she knew the right choice that she had to make. She turned and galloped back into the cave. The sound of Luna's hooves clacking on the rocky cave floor echoed along the walls, announcing her arrival before she had even arrived back where Celestia was.

PpThe elder sister was groggily waking up, her eyes still partly shut and her pink mane in a mess. Celestia raised her head and faced the direction of the noise. With a yawn a luminescence spell was cast, lighting the space of the cave. As Celestia's magenta eyes became used to the light she began to see things more clearly. The eyes widened into size of melons as they spotted the blue blur rushing towards her.

"Luna, why are you awake? And why do you look like you've seen a bear?" I sure hope that isn't the case, this cave started to grow on me, Celestia thought to herself.

The filly came to a screeching halt, kicking up a small dust cloud and started to babble incoherently until Celestia put a hoof in Luna's mouth, "Catch your breath, and then talk."

A few deep breaths later and Luna was ready for her report, "A giant bird fell from the sky! It was huge, larger than anything I've ever seen! It was on fire and crashed into the woods nearby; I think it might be hurt. Please sis, we need to help it!"

It took Celestia a moment to catch up with the torrent of what Luna was saying, but by the end of it Celestia was shaking her head. "Luna, what did I tell you about eating mysterious berries or mushrooms? I don't want another incident like last time."

Luna's face drooped as it became crest fallen, "You don't believe me then, don't you sis?"

Celestia had to admit that Luna didn't appear to be under the influence of a mushroom, and she did sound sincere enough as if something was really in trouble. "No, I believe you. It's just a little far fetched," Luna visibly stared to perk up, she smiled up at her sister, "And if somepony really is in trouble how can I just leave them?"

Luna jumped and gave Celestia a big hug around her neck, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The filly jumped down and raced for the entrance, obviously enjoying the excitement. She turned back to her Elder Sister and waved a hoof "Come on Tia, we need to go on a rescue!"