It was already fourteen o’clock when I arrived at the beginning of the path, the sun clearly visible in the cloudless sky. From my position I could saw it disappear in the wood that covered the flank of the mountain, speckling it with green and brown islands of forest. The chilling breeze persuaded me to adjust my saddle bag over the orange oilskin I had the intelligence to buy in town, completing my equipment with a pair of shoes.
The path I projected to take crossed the forest in a series of zigzags before filling straight to the high pastures. Above them stood a natural plateau that I thought would not poses a problem, and housed the group of lakes I was so eager to visit. From them, it will be easy to follow their source until I could perceive the village, which is situated in a comb. I smiled as I took out the drawing I had done at the hotel, so I’ll not have to use the rather imposing map of the entire region, admiring my handiwork. “ I can actually do things when I want!” I said to nopony in particular before heading to the forest.
True to be told, I was happy to finally undertake something in my life! Not that I never had some project before, but they never had enough importance to...thrown me out of my district and force me to climb a mountain in the middle of nowhere. Ponyville was certainly a beautiful place, providing a comfortable and absolutely riskless life to its inhabitants and transforming every day in the same choreography of socials conventions. They were the guardians of the town’s well-being; they limited considerably my liberties. At first, when I was a little filly, I hadn’t been able to grasp all those subtleties and I had benefited from the naivety of foalhood in my neighbor’s eyes, nonetheless I had quickly grew up and by this had acquired a better view of my environment.
I had noticed of those conventions affected and modified the minds of my fellow comrades and how they had seemed to pay more and more attention to my “uniqueness”. Fortunately, I had already sensed what would come next and had dissociated myself from the other children, because I had feared that one day they would hurt me and mock me for something I couldn’t change...not that I hadn’t tried to.
But this social exile came with a long period of loneliness. It took me time to understand that I was the source of my own misfortune and when I had discovered how far my lack of self-confidence had buried me, I did nothing. I was, and I am still afraid of not being accepted and I knew that the pain that would come from my destitution would be the last blow to my already fragmented life.
Now that I was far from Ponyville and my past, wandering in a cold septentrional forest, it was much easier to analyze my mistakes and to stand back. I believed that this trip to my aunt’s home will provide me more than a change of scenery, because when I had decided to harass my father until he gave up, I had knew with all my heart how much I desired this. Or maybe I was influenced by travel literatures and stories where the hero leave for an adventurous quest, looking for an answer to his existential trouble and discover the true meani- my face suddenly collided with the ground.
“Hmmp” I swore, my mouth full of dirt, moss and something floundering I would not take the risk to identify. I got up and glared at the root responsible of my disgrace, dusting my oilskin. Yet this forced break allowed my mind to alert me on a peculiar detail, as I would have already continued to walk if it was for the disturbing lack of noise from the forest.
“It wasn’t that calm before…” I unconsciously muttered, as if I was afraid somepony could hear me, observing the thousands of trunks that composed my surrounding. Nothing moved. A feeble wind was disturbing the brown leaves of the trees, playing the well-known melody of serenity. Come on, you’re not frightened of a simple wood! It’s certainly because of the cold, it kill all the noises of the nature. But my legs were already trembling and my breath accelerating, so I stopped to listen to my reason and passed from a simple walk to a nervous trot, trying to not lose the path in the sea of bush. I couldn’t help myself as I suspiciously eyed the forest over my shoulder. This riddle began to really irritate me. Why am I so anxious? I chewed on my lower lips. Something was wrong, and this feeling familiar. But where did I felt it? Huh...yesterday something happened in the train... My memories were strangely blurred, but I had the assumption it was too important for me to forget it. Come on, think Luna! Think! What did I do in the train?!...oh... my face fell, the controller! At this precise moment, I heard somepony laugh just above my right shoulder.
“Enough of all of this!!” I shouted.
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The voice giggled.
“Twilight, Twilight~...my little Twilight, we have a very special guest today…”
Something shifted in the poorly enlightened room, disturbing some speck of dust lazily dancing between the shelves.
“You would be an angel to bring her alive, would you?” The voice hummed, echoing distinctly in the old library.
“As you wish.”
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Cold. Urg. Too bad it make sense, now that I had ran like a chicken toward the edge of the forest and continued for six minutes until I decided that no, I would not freak out all the way to the village. The good point is that I advanced more quickly toward it, by the position of the sun I was more or less sure it was fifteen past, and that mean I will profit longer of its glory and so useful warm. However, I was now at the beginning of the pastures, sweating under my oilskin and completely exposed to the freezing wind that came down the slope, with a horrible headache. Higher, I could see long portions of the mountain covered in snow, called “nevet” in the old dialect of the region, which made me grimace for I know how slippery and dangerous they had the reputation to be. I glanced at the forest below me. This feeling, I was now persuaded it was from magic origins: something decided for an unknown reason to stalk me, Luna. And no matter whoever it was, it will soon learn to not meddle with my life.
I wordlessly resumed my walk.
This continued for some hours, the sky stretching to a beautiful pale violet as I reduced the distance between me and the top of the pastures, which was adorned by a rocky crest. Despite the ever growing cold, the mountains were still full of surprises, colorful flowers nested in the most improbable places, mysterious flavors lingering in the air and...slugs. As long as I don’t step on them, they’re okay. As lovely and instructive at they were, the wonders of the wild life took a much darker tone as I realized they had kept me from noticing the threatening black clouds that accumulated themselves at the top of the mountains.
“Well, it’s not my lucky day!” was all I could say as I watched them circling the tree-less peaks like some deadly plague. I wasn’t sure what type of cloud they were but at this altitude the only thing I could receive is snow. I gulped. If it was a snowstorm, my fate was sealed, if it was a simple snowfall I will just freeze at bit more in my cloth shoes. Yet I have to face it since I was closer from the village than the town, and if I turned back now I would be stuck in the wood, in the middle of the night with nothing to protect me. My mind was certainly conditioned with all the tales I read in my foalhood, but this seemed the most illogic way to stay alive.
Furthermore, the night, as much I disliked to point it, was a danger to me too: far from the magic lights of the town the word dark took a new definition for me, as I couldn’t use my magic to enlighten the path without blinding my eyes and reducing my visibility to zero. Light was, at the last resort, a luxury I would use when I was sure I couldn’t progress without it. It hardened my task a lot as I tried to climb to the top of the pastures, its white crest floating in the night like a ghost, so close and so inaccessible; but never would I surrender to my own foolishness. Or so I thought.
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The unicorn passed the gate of the castle, walking casually toward the magical shield that surrounded it, protecting it against the difficulties of the mountain’s weather. She lighted the oil lantern she was holding. Master is so generous to use all of her power to provide us an agreeable winter! But her smile turned into a grimace as she noticed the snow that slid down the bubble, evident proof of the tempest that raged outside.
“Oh no! She’s going to froze to death out there! No time to lose!” Twilight panicked, departing in a full gallop.
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The first flakes almost demoralized me. The storm that followed annihilated my hopes. A furious wind hurtled and howled down the slope, freezing my body, pushing me toward the forest, and a deadly fall. The temperature lowered to 2 C°, the wind aggravating my feel. My muscles hatched by my constant efforts to stay up, big snowflakes pierced my skin and obstructed my sight; I gritted my teeth and fought against the pain and numbness of frostbites that assailed my hooves. I was lost, and cold. So cold I was sure my skin disintegrated itself, exposing my bones to the elements...and so lost I couldn’t see the crest that was visible ahead of me some hours ago. I dragged along my frozen limbs, repeating the same acts over and over. Test the snow, drive a hoof into it, then another, then a step and another and a step...another...my eyes watered. I was going to die like a dog buried under three meter of snow! Ponies will discover my body eons after my death! It was the end of everything, I would never feel the sun on my skin, or eat a donut, or laugh at the comics in the newspapers...I would not be conscious of my existence, of my body, of my mind...all the little things, judgments, thoughts, acts that formed my person, lost in the black hole of the after-life. I should have been terrified, but a genuine sadness and a lot of regrets were the last feelings I produced as I stumbled in the snow, my body subsiding a last time and forever, like a broken machine. And to think that I wanted a fresh start...I managed poorly with the time I had.
I closed my eyes, time seemed to stretch to hours in minutes, and century in seconds...I lighted my horn...even after swallowing the realization of my imminent death, I conserved a little glimmer of hope. Maybe somepony of the village will see me in the blizzard. If I had raised my head at this precise moment, I would have seen the dancing lantern far off above me.
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Twilight tumbled down the hill and lighted her horn with a heating spell, blinking rapidly to chase away the intruding snowflakes. Never stopping once, she charged toward the feeble and flinching light on the horizon. If she still have the strength to produce a light spell then it’s not too late yet!
“Stand firm! I’m coming!” She shouted against the wind.
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I’m coming!
What was that? Luna opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, a mass of white, black...She was so cold. Her teethes wouldn’t stop to chattering and she couldn’t sense her body anymore. It burned. Nothing happened. It’s certainly my imagination. How disappointing.
Oh horseapple!
Luna raised her head. Somepony is here! I’m saved! She opened her mouth, uttering a strangled squeal. She was so tired; her attempt to draw the attention of her presumed savior had drained her last strength. Maybe I can sleep a bit, just a few minutes... She started to nod off…
“Don’t sleep! Or you’ll never wake up again!”
A blinding light appeared in her field of vision. The voice seemed to come from it, but it’s words were lost in the wind before reaching Luna’s ears.
“Are you okay? Can you talk?!” Something collided with her, squeezing her between the cold snow and a warm, soft, chest. Luna perceived the faint sound of a panicked heart. Purple arms hugged her, massaging her cold body with so much haste it hurt.
“I’m going to teleport us to the castle.” The warm breath of her savior tickled her ear, piercing the numbness and maze of her consciousness. Luna raised her head toward its source. The light shifted to a strange purple hue, enlightening the unicorn’s face, revealing her young appearance and soft muzzle, dark blue bangs obscuring her serious look. Her eyes locked themselves with its vibrant mauve.
She’s beautiful.
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Twilight grasped a stick and shook the dying embers of the fireplace. She had installed her guest in the warmest room of the castle, taking excessive care to assure the life of the young mare, and was now watching over her for the night. Muffled groans came from the bed and pulled Twilight toward its source. She had diagnosed a benign hypothermia, nothing a good night of sleep curled in three different blankets could defeat. However, as the night progressed, her condition morphed to an ardent fever which grandly worried Twilight. She levitated a wet towel and wiped the sweating face of her patient, Luna, as it was written in the saddle bag, then fastened the light blue mane with an elastic band. She knew Luna wasn’t going to die from a simple fever, for she had discovered, when undressing the mare, the poorly maintained wings clamped against her flanks. It had pitied her to see such a symbol of immortality abused by its owner and she had taken the time to preen and aerate them.
She’s certainly not aware of her own nature. Twilight sighed. Her “special guest” will surely be a constant source of noise, work and problems for the next three months.
“At least until Master decide what she wants to do with her.” She glanced at the books she had found in the bag. Maybe I could read one; at last I already did all I could for her. She now have to fight the fever if she wants to see the light sooner...I’ll put it back in the bag if she woke up! Let’s see what kind of literature our alicorn like!
The book, slightly damped by the snow, displayed a brown cover which title was embroidered with gold.
“The musicality of sentiments.” She read out loud. What a strange title! It couldn’t be an historical novel or a report on one country’s politic. Oh, could it be a treaty of some sort on the forming of a pony’s emotions? She eagerly began to read the first pages and noticed that it was definitely a novel, and a good one since it succeeded in capturing her attention. She wasn’t used to this type of literature since the castle library was composed with serious subjects of reflection and books to study but she recognized herself in the main character, a brave pegasus who just wanted to make friends and survive in the town she just had moved on, last week. Not that she didn’t like the castle! It was her one and only home since she woke up with master and the gardener in the middle of the mountains...and master had created it. Furthermore, Twilight appreciated the description of the social interactions between the inhabitants and the hero, it was very instructive and entertaining...And so the hours went on, the silence of the piece only troubled by the occasional mumbling of Luna and the sound of the turning pages.
However, as she progressed through the book, Twilight’s pleasure decreased as the story’s strangeness puzzled her. The pegasus developed a crush on one of the town’s guard, but acted as if she was unaffected by his advances! And then, after a long month of trepidations and misadventures together, the mare declared her love for the stallion, and then...Twilight gulped, they made love, a lot of time, and after, they fell in a disagreement because the mare do not want a baby, unlike her companion! But why would they have a sexual relation if it’s not for the babies? It doesn’t make sense!
Her cheeks as red as tomatoes, Twilight put the annoying book away. She didn’t want to think about what she read or the implications behind it, and she had lost her curiosity for the story’s development...She glanced at the window, surprised to already see the departure of the night, after only a couple of hours of reading. Okay, maybe a bit more than two hours.
She approached the bed. Luna had calmed herself during the night and was now soundly sleeping, curled in the blankets, her face peaceful.
“Well, at least somepony get a full night of sleep!” Twilight chuckled. She couldn’t help herself but found Luna cute. She knew nothing of the mare, and the way she saw her now, slowly breathing and chewing on the cushion, was the only image she had of her. She could act a way differently when she would wake up, being aggressive or annoying...but in this states of unconsciousness, everypony was the same. And even if Luna’s behavior cause problem, Master had been clear on the order. I’ll take care of her.