//------------------------------// // Chapter XI~The Snow~ // Story: The Machine // by ADRNEL //------------------------------// 75 years ago... A blizzard rages outside, hitting a lonely cabin in the middle of a snow covered field. Inside, a single archeologist, an Earth pony stallion, is busy writting in his journal, panicking and sweating nervously. Suddenly, the front door is knocked down as a large unicorn, wearing a black cloack, slowly walks inside, a serious look on his face. "Under the orders of the 'Brotherhood of the Fourth Sphere', you have been sentanced to immediate asssasination, under the charge blasphemy," announed the unicorn to the archeologist. "do you have any final words?" The archeologist just looks at him with a look of defiance. "Yes...do what you want to me...but just tell HER that she's only killing a stallion." was all the stallion said incredulously. The unicorn just happily grins and proceeds to fire a beam of magic at the archeologist. A loud scream is then echoes across the barren snowy landscape. Chapter XI The Snow Day 50 Winter has finally arrived in Ponyville, the trees are bare, and snow is covering the landscape. Adam is busy watching his new home slowly get built by a team of carpenter ponies. According to them, the house should be compleated in a little over a month from now. Many things have been running through the human's mind in these last few days, most of them involving Fluttershy and how he rejected her feelings because of his inability to let go, but at the same time, he cannot give up on his former girlfriend, not if there's still a chance to save her. He just gives a regretfull sigh and then decides to walk back to his temporary home at Golden Oaks Library. In the basement of the Ponyville library, its librarian Twilight Sparkle, is busy in her lab making a potion. She is so focused on the task at hoof that she fails to notice Adam walking in. "Hey Twilight, I'm home." he announces, suddenly standing behind her, starteling the unicorn mare. She nearly drops the beaker containing the potion in the process. "Don't startle me when I'm handling potions Adam!" she snaps. She then uses her magic to place the potion over a bunsen burner. "Sorry," he apologizes. "I was just out checking on the progress of my home." he explains while going over to his bed in the other side of the basement. "And Fluttershy?" Twilight bluntly asks as the human sits on his bed, she then sits next to him. Adam just gives a depressed sigh, she has been bugging him to talk to Fluttershy for almost a week. "No Twi...I haven't." "It has been a week and you still haven't talked to her!?" she exclaimes. "She loves you Adam, she poured her heart out for you!" "I know that!" the human exclaims back, quickly standing up and walking back to lab. "It's just that...I don't think I'm ready for another relationship." he explains. Twilight quickly follows suit. "But that was four years ago, Adam!" the unicorn states. "What do you think Mary would prefer? That you stay loyal to her, or that you finally find someone else to be happy with?" Adam knows that the unicorn is right, but before he can say a response he notices the potion from earlier, over the bunsen over, bubbling and now compleatly black. "Uh...Is it supposed to turn black?" he asks. Suddenly, before Twilight can answer the question, an explosion rocks the entire basement, covering the entire basement in thick purple smoke. Twilight quickly uses her magic to open one of the basement windows, causing the smoke to clear out. She checks herself out for injuries, only to find singe marks and her mane a spikey mess. She then inspects the damage; her entire lab is destroyed, and where Adam stood was a burn mark on the ground. "Oh no!" Adam is alone, standing in the middle of a barren snow covered field, as a blizzard howls around him, without his coat and scarf, he is compleatly exposed to the cold winds. "TWILIGHT!" he yells, hoping that he is not alone. He gets no response. He begins to feel his body shiver in the cold, he needs to find shelter before he freezes to death, but sees nothing but flat snow covered dessert as far as the horizon. The human picks a random direction and begins to walk through the ankle deep snow, hoping to run into something warm along the way. Not knowing that a ghostly creature is watching him from afar. After a while, the human begins to lose track of time and direction, the landscape is still the same, his hands, feet and face growing numb from the cold winds, his body having given up shivering, the first sign of hypotermia. He continues on walking, his pace slowing, clinging to hope that he can escape this barren wasteland, until he runs into an unusual sight; a ghostly form of a horse standing in front of him, its eyes glowing white. "You was planning to murder him, were you not?" "I was avenging her death, Mary deserves justice!" "Murdering a man in cold blood is not justice, and you know that Adam! For godsakes man, I know he deserves to be held acountable for what he did, but killing him will NOT SOLVE ANYTHING!" "Than what do you suggest I do, Henry? Because it's too late to bring him to justice now...now that he's dead...now that he got away with it." "Life is never fair Adam, never has been." Adam wakes up to find himself in a dark cave, lit by a small fire in the center. He gets up off the floor and looks around, trying to find the person or thing that saved him. "I see you're finally awake Adam." stated a chillingly familiar voice, the last voice he expected to hear. Adam nervously turns around, only to confirm his worst fears; the man, wearing a cap and worn clothes, the clothes of a beggar, who killed Mary is standing right in front of him. "No...no..." yelled a shocked Adam, falling over backwards and slowly inching away from the mugger, who is slowly walking towards him. "That's right Adam, the thing that you hated the most is here!" grinned the man. "Conor Murphy...the man who killed the you loved." a devilish grin forming across his face. "No...that's not possible...you died several months after you killed here." continued Adam, scared for his life. "That he did." mused Conor. Suddenly, he is enveloped in a white light as he changes form into the ghostly horse creature he saw before losing conciousnes. "W-what are you...?" was all a shocked Adam was able to say, sitting and leaning up against the cave wall in fear. "The ponies that you have been living with call me a 'windigo'," explained the blue ghost creature telepathically to the human. "I one of the few of my kind left." "A few?" asked the human, curious yet cautious at the Windigo. "Let's just say that we've been slaughtered to near extinction by the ponies over the last few millennia." continued the Windigo. "Why?" stated the human, surprised that the ponies were capable of such things. "Because they think we were the cause of the great blizzard," explained the Windigo, "sure...we tended to be the ones responsible of these things...but not that time...that blizzard was a natural occurence." he then decides to change the subject. "Besides, we feed off of hate, we need it so we can thrive and live, if it causes blizzards, then they should learn to accept it." "Feed off hate?" "Correct...first we find a victim, then we scan its memories and thoughts until we find the thing it hates the most, then feed off that hate...we may sometimes take on the form of the thing it hates, just like I did with you Adam." he explained. "Did you feed off my hate?" Adam asks, he has so many questions about this new creature. "No...you we're...special." stated the Windigo, trying not to tell him what he learned about the human. "Unlike most of our victims, you seem to be motivated by love and curiousity than hate...even when you tried to hunt down the man that killed her." he explained. Adam knows what the Windigo is talking about, after the police failed to catch the guy, he decided to take justice into his own hands by killing him, Conor Murphy, a poor Irish beggar who was homeless, unfortunaly, Conor died of syphilis before Adam can get his chance, six months after Mary's death. Adam just gets up from the cave floor and slowly walks up to the creature. "Look...maybe if I explain to the ponies...if I can get back to them...that you didn't cause the great blizzard, maybe they'll stop driving your species into extinction." offered the human. "No, it will never work...because...if you may have heard in your life...history is written by the victors, in this case the six pony leaders of the three tribes," explained the Windigo. "and continued under King Sirius and his daughter Princess Celestia." he then notices the fire start to die down. "There's a cabin about a mile straight ahead from here...go to it, it will work better as a shelter for you then a simple cave." he orders to the human. Adam is stunned...but he slowly makes his way past the creature and silently does what he says. After making sure that he's fully past the creature, he immediatly sprints out of the cave without looking, the creature also does not look back at him. "Go human...you have a destiny to fulfill." the Windigo states to himself. The sun is out, and there is not a single cloud in the sky, but it is still cold, as Adam sprints in the snow covered landscape as he begins to spot an abandoned cabin up head of him, just like the Windigo said. He cautiously walks up towards the small wooden cabin, where he finds that the door is knocked off of its hinges. He slowly walks through the door. Due to the cold tempratures, all itmes inside the cabin look the same as they were since they were last used, but inside, he sees that the interior has been ransacked, with pieces of marble scattered across the floor. He then sees a small desk next to an overturned bed, where there is one large round block of marble on it. Adam takes a close look at the block only to find that it is a head, a marble sculpted head of a stallion. "Who would smash such a perfectly sculpted statue?" mused Adam to himself curious. He then notices a journal next to it and opens it. Adam's understanding of the Equestrian writing system is a little limited, but at least he can read something and understand what it is saying. Found evidance of an advanced civilization before us, then immediatly received a blank letter with a red spot on it. That happend was seven days ago, and it isn't until now that I figured out what it meant, I've been charged with blasphemy and have been marked for assasination. I don't have much time left...but if anypony is reading this...then they have found me and have killed me. The Brotherhood- The rest has been torn off and is missing. Adam closes the journal and straightens out the bed, and just lies down on it. "Now we wait..." he states to himself, hoping that Twilight or somepony else can get him out of here. Suddenly, he begins to feel his body shake as he sees his body be enveloped in a purple aura. Next thing he knows the world around speeds by in a blur as he feels himself being forcibly pulled towards a random direction. He closes his eyes after he begins to feel lightheaded and dizzy from this new expierence. "WE DID IT!" yelled a familiar voice. Adam opens his eyes to find himself standing inside Golden Oaks Library, he looks around in confusion as he is suddenly tackled by Twilight, who proceeds to deeply hug him. "Oh...I'm glad you're okay...I thought I lost you!" exclaimed the purple unicorn, crying tears of joy. Adam can see Spike looking at the scene with confusion on the dragon's face. "What happend?" was all Adam was able to spit out, still confused. "The explosion transported you to a far away location...it took a while for Twilight to perfect a locator spell AND extraction spell." explained the dragon. Twilight lets the human go and helps him up from the ground. "Well...that explains why it took so long..." stated the human. "Where you ended up...I'm surprised you survived!" stated Twilight, happy that Adam is safe and unharmed. "Where DID I end up?" rebutted the human. "The frozen north." happily answered Spike. Adam is in compleat shock at the answer. "Oh...my..." was all he was able to say before fainting from the revalation. NEXT TIME: The Crusaders